Bricking at the Library

I’m in the process of moving (again) so it has been a while since I have posted anything. Sorry for the delay. Just a quick one here…

I was at a local library recently and they had some LEGO sets on display. The library had a building club/group for kids to show up and free build. The area set up for this group had a large number of base plates attached to a wall. I counted 7 base plates high by 14 base plates long. That’s an impressive space. You can build long/tall builds that hang off the base plates, but you can make some cool 2-D pictures. Or maybe the challenge is to see how far off the base plates you can build until your build falls off the wall.

Nearby to the building area were some glass display cases with built sets inside. There were two with mainly Architecture themed sets. Most were skyline sets as you can see, but there were a few others as well. I think it was a simple, yet great display. The sets are smaller so you can put the numbers in that you see which I think helps. It also gives people the opportunity to try and identify the buildings and which cities they are from. I know my kiddo tried to pick out which ones she knew.

Next to the two smaller display cases with Architecture sets was a larger case with a bunch of different sets. The top had #10257-1: Carousel. Below it were a mix of Super Hero sets, a Harry Potter set, some BrickHeadz, and at the very bottom it looks like part of #21311-1: Voltron. It’s an eclectic collection, but it works. Hopefully it inspires some of the builders at the club the library holds.

The Library manager’s office had a copy of #31199: Iron Man from the Lego Art line on the wall. I wonder if that person is an AFOL? The manager wasn’t there so I didn’t get to ask.

Does your library have a Lego group? Do they have any sets on display? How did they do it?

Happy building!

A Scottish LEGO Designer and a German's Take on LEGO Fan Media Days

A few things to point out that I have not seen displayed across the LEGO Fan Media…

Scottish toy designer Amy Corbett built dream career from Lego - BBC.com

Here’s an article from the BBC. It you’re a big follower of LEGO, you’ll notice that many of the Designer Videos they produce and post on YouTube have mostly male designers. Occasionally, there is a female designer thrown in, but most of the time I don’t see them. The same thing goes for interviews with fan media. I’m not sure if it is just there are fewer female designers at LEGO or what, but I hope to see more female designers explaining sets in the future.

This article highlights Amy Corbett who I think became more widely recognized when she was a part of LEGO Masters Season 1 in the US last year. She is back for Season 2 this year and the BBC gives us some insight to her background beyond just her experience with LEGO Masters. It’s worth the read!

Assembled/Zusammengebaut on YouTube

I have highlighted the team at Zusammengebaut.com before. Led by Andres Lehmann, this blog gives some insight into being a LEGO fan in Germany. While my German is not so good, the power of Google Translate allows me to keep up with them.

Recently, the team participated in the Recognized LEGO Fan Media (RLFM) Days. Normally, I would see this information across multiple channels, but for some reason I only have seen information on their site. There are two videos they have posted so far with interviews with LEGO designers. The first is an interview with Marcos Bessa and Iken (didn’t catch his last name) about the new Harry Potter themed LEGO sets for summer 2021. You can view it here or below. The second is an interview with the LEGO Super Heroes Design team. You can view that one here or below. Enjoy!

Set Review - Spider-Man: Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle - #76057 - Marvel Super Heroes

The first set review of 2017 is not a 2017 set.  Sorry.  It instead is a Marvel Super Heroes set featuring Spider-Man.  Specifically it is #76057, Spider-Man: Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle.  Released on 1 August 2016 in the US, it has 1092 pieces and at a retail price of $99.99 that works out to be $0.092 per piece.  Not too bad considering it comes with 7 minifigures.  I scored the set for $58.99 on Amazon.com during the weeks leading up to Christmas and will gladly take the ~40% off deal that I got (that's $0.054 per piece).  Besides the great deal I got, I also was intrigued by the bridge as I don't recall any other sets that come with a larger sized bridge.  Onto the review...

Similar box design to other Super Heroes sets.  The back shows the play features and all of the different moving parts.  

Set contents are 8 parts bags, 2 large 8x16 tiles, and a package with the instruction book, stickers, and a comic book.  As a note, I will not be putting the stickers on this set after I build it.  The plan is to build it, do the review, sell the minifigs, and keep the parts (in my opinion, there are some good ones).

Bag one contains Spider-Man, the Green Goblin, the Green Goblin's Glider, and one of the bridge piers with some webs containing Spider-Man's camera.   It also contains a piece separator which are becoming very standard with the larger sets.

The next build is the second pier.  It is the lair of Kraven the Hunter and includes his minifigure.  It also includes Aunt May and a small 4-wheeler type police vehicle.  I'm not sure what the purpose is as it doesn't include a police minifigure.  

The 2 bags that make up the third part of the build start the span of the bridge.  It also includes Spider-Girl.  Not much detail in the build yet, but you can see the start of where the bridge breaks apart.

Bag 4 adds more detail to the bridge and adds the 2 piers.

Bag 5 adds the Scorpion, starts adding to the tower, and adds a taxi.  The taxi has a number of stickers that I didn't apply, but the outside doesn't look too bad.  The inside leaves a bit to be desired as it only fits one minifigure... which isn't included.  

Bag 6 includes Scarlet Spider and finishes the majority of the tower.

Bag 7 wraps up the build with the final part of the bridge (signs fall apart and flames), the rest of the tower (the wall pieces can fall out), and the suspension cables.

I'm not going to lie, I purchased the set because it was 40% off and as a City fan, I was interested in the bridge.  So my take on the bridge... the piers leave a bit to be desired.  I realized they were developed for play and not for design, but I think they could easily be modified to make them more realistic looking. The bridge span, despite the play features, is built pretty good.  The edges of the bridge have some detail and then the bridge surface itself is done well.  The only thing I would have done differently would be to expand the width of the bridge.  Right now, you can fit only two, 4-stud wide vehicles on the bridge at a time.  I would increase it or perhaps add a second span similar to the Brooklyn Bridge in NY.  The tower has some good detail as well and could be changed to get rid of some of the play features.  I would be interested in trying to modify the bridge so a train could fit on it.  

The set itself... for a kid it isn't too bad... 7 minifigures and a bunch of play features.  The build isn't too challenging although I didn't apply the stickers.  It's retail price isn't too bad, but if you can catch it on sale again, then go for it.  For the adult fan, my opinion is to only go for it if they are big into Spider-Man or you get a great price.  I'm happy to have reviewed it and then to take it apart and use the pieces for other builds as there are some great pieces.  I really like the 1x2 bricks with the layered brick tile.  There are a number of other great parts too.

What are your thoughts?  

Happy Building!

Double VIP Points and Pencils of Promise Update

Everything I've seen is that LEGO will be having a double VIP point sale from 7 to 22 March 2016.  That means that instead of getting $5 in store credit for every 100 points (you get 1 point for every dollar you spend), you will get $10 for every 100 points you earn.  If you've been saving up to buy a big set like a modular building or one of the larger Star Wars items, now might be a good time.  Also, LEGO has released a large number of new sets as of 1 March.  There are a bunch of new Star Wars sets, some new Super Heroes sets, and more.  Definitely check out the LEGO Shop at Home site for more info.  

As for me, I'll be looking to pick up a few of the Star Wars sets, but I can't quite decide.  The Millennium Falcon?  Poe's X-Wing?  Or maybe some of the new Star Wars sets that have some of the new minifigures?  We'll see.  

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If you've looked at the Brick Classifieds items for sales or at this site you know that I am running a Pencils of Promise campaign to raise funds to build schools and support students and teachers in Ghana, Guatemala, and Laos.  The campaign started on 24 January 2016 and we are giving 15% of our profits to Pencils of Promise.  After a little over a month, we have raised $13.86.  The amount is slowly going up and I'm confident at the end of this campaign we'll donate a lot to help them out.  Thanks to all who have made purchases so far!

Set Review - Clash of the Heroes - #76044

Okay, so I'll admit it... I don't follow Super Heroes much.  DC Comics and Marvel are not at the top of my list.  I'll be the first to admit that I don't know why Batman and Superman are fighting.  Shouldn't they be on the same side?  I should probably look that up.

In the meantime, I do follow LEGO and the sets LEGO releases.  Released on 2 January 2016, the Clash of the Heroes contains 92 pieces and 2 minifigures.  It has an armored Batman and then Superman.  Batman's head glows in the dark and has 2 different facial expressions.  Superman has the same to include one with a normal looking face and one with red eyes.  The set cost $12.99 brand new and I have yet to see it advertised for sale anywhere.  That works out to be $0.14 per piece which is rather high, but the norm for some of the smaller sets like this one.

Here is what the box looks like:

Nothing special about the box.  It shows the set on the front and the back shows some of its features to include the "super jumper" (a plastic piece that lets a figure "jump") and a Technic piece add on that allows Batman to "jump" towards Superman.

Here are the contents.  A sticker sheet with one sticker... I can't complain I guess.  There's an instruction booklet, 2 parts bags, and a larger part outside the bag.

There's an armored Batman. He comes with armor and some weapons.

This is the first instance of this Superman figure.  I only picture the figure this way, but you can rotate the head to see another face.  The same goes for Batman.

The build is fairly simple and straight forward.  The pieces are not bad, but I wouldn't buy the set just for the pieces.  Having the Bat Signal is pretty neat, but it doesn't justify the higher price either.  Here is what the final set looks like.

You'll notice behind where Batman is in the picture, there is a Technic pin.  If you put Batman in front of it and move the pin, he can "jump" forward.  The clear piece in the front of the picture is the "super jumper" so Superman can "leap" at Batman.  I noticed this feature last year, but maybe it has been around for a while.  Either way, it doesn't do much for me.  Maybe for the younger audience it has an appeal.  I tried it and Superman doesn't jump really well.  I recommend using your imagination and picking up Superman with your hand to pretend he is flying at Batman.  That way you can make a fun swooping noise with your mouth too.  Back to the intro of this post... why are they fighting anyways?  The joy of LEGO... I can always turn this set into a cafe where Superman and Batman meet up for some coffee and donuts.  

So my final opinion on this set.  Get this if you want the minifigures.  The build itself is rather simple and it is geared towards kids as opposed to an old kid like me.  The parts can be found elsewhere and if you want the Bat Signal, I'm sure you can find it online.  The minifigures are pretty good though Batman and Superman have come in various forms and these are pretty impressive.  Also, watch for chances to catch the set on sale.

The 2 heroes from this set are below if you are interested in them as well as some other versions for sale in the store on BrickLink.  

55 Minifigures for $62 with Free Shipping???? WHAT????

At my last show in Rio Rancho I had a parent tell me that she found a large number of minifigures online for dirt cheap.  It was something like 46 minifigures for $28 or something.  The parent said I should check it out and that she had placed an order.  They hadn't arrived yet, but were due in from China.  My first thought was that these minifigures cannot be true LEGO minifigures. 

So I did a Google search... I won't post the link, but I'm sure you can find them...  I found a site selling 55 Marvel Super Hero minifigures for $61.36 with free shipping from Chenghai, China.  The cost goes down with the more sets that you purchase.  The figures are labeled as "LEGO Compatible," but clearly are not LEGO brand as if you look closely you can see the LEGO studs do not have the LEGO logo on them.  

From looking at the pictures, the representations look pretty darn accurate and very close to LEGO figures.  They clearly did some major copying of what LEGO did.  I'm sure this company has paid LEGO royalty fees for using its designs and I'll bet they've paid for the use of the various Super Hero logos and designs too.  (yes, I'm kidding there)  Not having purchased these myself, I can't say whether the quality matches LEGO or anything else related to the physical products.

Should you buy knockoff minifigures?  That's completely up to you.  My personal opinion is that you shouldn't.  Besides the fact that I sell LEGO minfigures and this is direct competition to my business, you don't know what you're going to get.  If there are issues, do you trust a seller in China to provide you with good customer service or to help fix issues?  If you're not concerned about that, then give it a shot.  If you or your kids don't care that the minifigures are not from LEGO, then you can probably save some money.  If you've purchased some knockoff minifigures, please let me know.  Send an email (store@bricksforbricks.com) or post in the comments.  I'd like to know what you think of them.

With all that being said, please know that the minifigures sold by Bricks for Bricks are all genuine LEGO branded minifigures.  There are no knock off parts for China or anywhere else.