A Fix for WALL-E

I reviewed set number 21303 here.  It is WALL-E from Disney Pixar's movie about the trash collecting robot that ends up helping to save the human race.  Anyways, the original design was somewhat flawed.  WALL-E's eyes kept spinning around and it was tough to lock them into one place.  In reading some of the LEGO fan sites out there, there were a number of reports that a fix was in place.  I wrote to LEGO customer service and received a response back that yes indeed a fix was in place.  A few days later I received a bubble envelope in the mail.  It contained the following items:

-a small parts bag
-an instruction sheet that shows how to prep the set for the fix
-an instruction booklet for the fix

The final set doesn't look much different from a quick glance.  Here it is along with some of the extra parts.

The close up here shows the new ball joint that prevents WALL-E's eyes from randomly rotating around.  In my opinion, the fix was a success and it doesn't change the set's design drastically enough to be an issue.  I also applaud LEGO's handling of the redesign.  I was sent the fix promptly and at no cost.  It shows that LEGO values their customers and wants to make sure their products are of the highest quality.  

If you've purchased WALL-E or done the fix, I'm curious to know what you think.  Please post your thoughts in the comments.

Set Review - Blue Power Jet - #31039

The Blue Power Jet was released in the US on 15 May 2015.  It is a part of the Creator line and contains 608 pieces total.  It costs $69.99 in the US which works out to be 11.5 cents per piece.  In my opinion, this is a bit high.  I found it on sale at Amazon.com for $59.99, which works out to be 9.8 cents per piece.  Right under the average of 10 cents per piece so about average.  If you're interested in this set, I would definitely look for a sale if you can find one.  

As you can see on the box, it comes with 3 separate designs.  There is the jet, a helicopter, and a speed boat.

The set comes with 5 parts bags and a 217 page instruction booklet.  It also comes with a part separator which is $2.49 from LEGO if you buy it separately so you can't complain there.  The bags are not numbered since there are 3 different builds so it takes a bit to find the pieces you need.  It also makes it more fun.  On page 2 of the instruction booklet, it says there are 3 different builds.  There is a "quick build" which is the speed boat, a "medium build" which is the helicopter, and an "advanced build" which is the jet.  For this review, I show the jet version only.  Interestingly enough, the Blue Power Jet looks a lot like the US military's F-35 Lightning II.  

F-35A - Courtesy of www.af.mil.

You'll notice some of the differences pretty quickly.  Besides some of the differences in shape (intakes, bottom of the aircraft, tail), there's the 2 seat cockpit versus the single seat cockpit, and the landing gear being visible.  I'm getting ahead of myself... let's get into the build.  

The build is on the bottom of the picture with all of the pieces above it.  You can see how the front landing gear fits in and you see the use of the Technic pieces to hold it all together.

As the build continues, you can see some of the engine taking place.  This variant looks similar to the F-35B variant that the US Marine Corps will use.  You can see some pictures on Lockheed Martin's Flickr stream here.  You'll notice a few pictures where panels open up so the aircraft can do vertical takeoffs and landings.   In later pictures, you'll see that the top of the LEGO model has panels that open so you can see the engine inside.  Not sure if it's for maintenance purposes or if it's vertical takeoff and landing parts.  

In this photo, you can see the cockpit taking shape.  The front seat has a green 1x1 translucent tile that I assume acts as the Heads-Up-Display or HUD for the pilot.  

In this photo you'll notice that the main part of the fuselage is covered.  There are 2 panels that open up (a picture of them open will be shown later).  Also, one of the wings is installed.  When I started the build, I was confused as to how it was going to work, but in the end it turned out very nice.  My only complaint is that the top is very detailed, the bottom is very plain (another picture seen later).  You'll notice the flaperon as well.  In my opinion, there's a lot of space between the wing and flaperon, but there isn't much you can do with a model this small.  By the way, if you don't know what a flaperon is, it's an aileron that can be used as a flap as well.  The aileron help you turn the plan, the flap gives you added lift at slow speeds.  Watch the wings the next time you fly commercial and you'll see the flaps open up before landing.

Here is my final build in progress picture before the final one.  Both wings are on now.  We're just missing the tail (vertical and horizontal stabilizers) and the canopy.

Here is the final build.  I put he flaperons up, the horizontal stabilizers are pitched as well.  You can see the panels open on the fuselage to expose the engine parts.  Also, the canopy is open too.  The actual F-35 has a single canopy piece that opens at the front versus 2 pieces.

Here is a picture with everything closed up.  

Here is a view from the front.  The nose is pretty flat and not a great aerodynamic shape.  Given the small space, I can't complain with what the designer did.  I'd rather have this then, LEGO building a specific piece that is a BURP (big ugly rock piece).

Here is the bottom of the aircraft.  Very plain if you ask me.  Landing gear is exposed, the wings do not have a shape on the bottom (camber is the official term for you nerds like me), and the color scheme from the top does not continue on the bottom.  To be fair, I'm sure LEGO didn't design this to be an official model.  They built it to give someone a building experience and if you want to make it better, go for it.  Get some additional pieces and knock yourself out, right?

Overall, it's an impressive model.  Lots of great detail and fun to build.  It's not an exact replica of a fighter jet, but given the size, I can't complain.  The price is a bit high so look for it on sale or take advantage of deals on LEGO.com (double VIP points or free give aways) to help out with the higher price.  I didn't build the other 2 models, but having the instructions for 2 others is great too.  Plus, it comes with a ton of great pieces.  The darker blue color is great to build with and I'm sure there are many other things you could build with these parts and maybe a few others.  The box says it is for ages 9 to 14.  I realize I'm older than that, but it's all good.  Younger kids may have trouble with the build or it may be a good time to sit down with a kid and spend some time together away from a screen.

I hope this post was useful.  Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see something different in set reviews.  Also, let me know if you have this set and what you think.  

Finally... I do not have this set available in my store.  Sorry.  I will look to catch it on sale so I can add it to the store or to one of my sales events. 

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.

Christmas Promo Set Reviews - Gingerbread House (40139) and Christmas Train (40138)

If you are one who celebrates Christmas, then Merry Christmas to you!  I was at Target on 23 December and walked through the toy area.  It was mobbed (as to be expected) and the LEGO aisle looked like a war zone.  There were only a handful of sets left and many people were walking around talking about LEGO.  I hope you have purchased the LEGO you needed to ahead of time and weren't stuck somewhere like the picked through Target that I was at.  

The LEGO Company usually does a lot of promotions around Christmas time and also has some Christmas themed sets.  They traditionally have Advent calendars (City, Star Wars, and Friends), some decorations made out of LEGO, and continuations to the LEGO Winter Village theme.  LEGO Shop at Home has also had a number of promotions to include free shipping on all orders, double VIP points, and what I'm going to talk about today, the free Christmas promotional sets.  I'm not sure when it's started, but LEGO has released 2 sets a year that come free if your purchase more than a certain dollar amount (usually $99).  The first is available around October and the next one becomes available around Thanksgiving time.

This year there were 2 sets.  The first was set 40138, the Christmas Train.  It was available from 13 October to 13 November 2015.  The set has 233 pieces.  Here are some pictures of the box.

The box just has pictures of the set on the front and back.  The front of the box says that it's a 2015 Limited Edition set.

The set contains 4 LEGO parts bags and an instruction booklet.  There are no stickers (thankfully) and the bags aren't numbered.  With 233 parts, not having numbers isn't an issue as it was easy to find the parts needed to build the set.

Here is the final version of the set.  It is simple, yet rather detailed.  There is an engine, a car with various Christmas treats (cookies, packages, a candy cane, a lollipop, and a few other goodies), and then a caboose.  There is also a sign and tree that can go along the train's route.

Overall, this is a great set.  You can't beat the price... free... well you have to buy other stuff, but if you time your purchases knowing that this will be coming, then you're not upset about it.  While being small, the set contains a lot of great parts.  I enjoy building with the dark green color and the gold colored pieces are good too.  Plus as a town and train fan, I've found that I can never have enough landscaping pieces so an extra tree piece is good with me.  It also has a number of small pieces that are extra for the set that you can use elsewhere if you plan to keep this train together.

The next set is the Gingerbread House (40139).  It has 277 pieces and as mentioned it was available around Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday for purchases of $99 or more.  

The Gingerbread House box looks similar to the Train box.  Just a simple picture of the set with the 2015 Limited Edition marking on it.

The contents are similar to the train set as well.  There are for parts bags, an instruction booklet, and then a 2 x 12 white plate external to the bags.  

And here's the final design with front, side, and back pictures.  Despite being very small, the designers did a great job putting details in to make it look like a real gingerbread house.  Like the train, there are some great pieces in this set.  The brick textured pieces included are great and some of the candy colored pieces can also be useful with other builds.  Like the train set, there are a number of small pieces leftover for other uses if you want to keep this set together.

Overall, it's another great set.  With only 277 pieces, the designers did a good job cramming in detail with a small number of pieces.  Like the train, it's a great piece to add to your Winter Village or to have up around your house as a Christmas decoration.  

If you want to get one of these, you have to look on the secondary market.  I'm not sure what the prices on Amazon.com or EBay are, but Bricklink lists the average selling price for the train as $30.83 and $36.04 for the Gingerbread house.  I have one of each available, but I they are currently not for sale on my site yet as I'm focused on minifigures for now.

Let me know what you think of these sets in the comments section.

"It all started with a big..." Set Review - The Big Bang Theory - #21302

Released on 2 August 2015, The Big Bang Theory is one of the LEGO Ideas sets for 2015.  With 484 pieces, it captures the famous living room of Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter along with the 7 main characters.  The set costs $59.99 in the US, which puts it at around 12.4 cents per piece.  This makes it a little pricier, but if I had to guess, it's probably from licensing costs.  I've had the set for a while and have finally taken the time to put it together, take some pictures, and give a review.  Unless you live by a LEGO brand store, it's probably too late to get it for Christmas, but if you are expecting some gift certificates to LEGO, then maybe you'll want to add it to your list.  

Like many of the LEGO Ideas sets, the box is similar.  Instead of opening on the sides like most, it opens up on the top. The front of the box shows the completed set and all figures.  The back of the box shows some close up views as well as close ups on the 7 characters.

The contents include an instruction booklet that talks about the show, the show's characters, the designers of the set, and includes the instructions for the set.  There are 2 bags labeled "1" and 2 bags labeled "2."  It also includes some dark tan base plates and a small sticker page with only 2 stickers.

The first set of bags contains the main shell of the room, part of the book shelf, Bernadette Rostenkowski, Amy Farrah Fowler, and Howard Wolowitz, Cinnamon (I had to look up Raj's dog's name), a few extra pieces, and a piece separator.  Here are a few close up pictures.

The second set of bags contains the furniture, the other shelf, a lot of the details of items that decorate the apartment, and Penny, Raj Koothrappali, Sheldon Cooper, and Leonard Hofstadter.  Besides numerous books on the shelves, there are some globe looking objects, figurines, a DNA strand, a few white boards, and some other decorations.  The next time I watch the show, I'll have to pay better attention to the items to see how close the designer got.  

The completed set is above.  The one piece I did not add in were some of the kitchen utensils to include some forks for the crew to have their takeout Chinese food.

Here's a closer view of the gang.  I'll have to pay attention to the rug next time I watch to see how accurate it is.  You can also see the green lantern, a rocket, and a few other items.  The build itself is nothing too elaborate with mostly basic techniques used to capture the details.  There are some great bricks in this set to include the brick textured pieces and some of the pieces in that make up the decoration details.  

Here are some pictures of the minifigures.  As well as some front and back shots.  Bernadette and Amy have their pants painted or maybe they are skirts.  I'm not sure which I prefer, the painted on skirts or some of the sets where there are separate "cloth skirt pieces" that you have to attach.  The only character I think isn't quite accurate is Penny.  I'm not sure if it's her hair or her outfit, but it doesn't represent Penny very well in my opinion.  The rest of the gang looks pretty good.  All of the characters have 2 facial expressions.  I only show one in the pictures.  

Overall, my opinion is mixed.  I'm a big fan of "The Big Bang Theory" show and think the set is a great representation of Sheldon's and Leonard's living room area.  I think the minifigures are great too.  There are 7 in the set and for the most part, they look a lot like the characters on the show.  On the other side, the set is a bit pricey and the build is not very exciting.  While the details are there, but it doesn't use a lot of intricate building techniques.  I recommend this set for those that are big fans of the show and would think it's cool to have the set to go with it.  Other than that, many LEGO fans would not enjoy this set for the build itself.  It does have some good pieces in it, but I'm not sure it's worth it to spend $60 for those parts.

The Bricks for Bricks store is open.  I'm still working on perfecting it so that why there hasn't been a ton of posts on it.  You'll see some minifigures from "The Big Bang Theory" set in there if you are just looking for the minifigures.

A Fix for WALL-E

If you read my post from Friday (11 Dec) you saw that I purchased LEGO's WALL-E set and I mentioned how the head swivels very easily.  LEGO had been working on a fix, but I hadn't heard what the timeline would be for it.  Well the good news is I e-mailed LEGO Shop at Home customer service and mentioned that I purchased the WALL-E set before the fix was implemented.  The response I got back was that they had sent me the new parts and instructions and I should receive it in 7-10 business days.  SCORE!  No cost to me either so another bonus.  

So once the package arrives, I'll post some info on the fix with pictures.

Set Review - Rey's Speeder - 75099

For Star Wars fans, the wait is finally over.  "The Force Awakens" opens this week in theaters.  For those of you who have been paying attention, the marketing for the movie started quite awhile ago.  As LEGO fans, that has meant that there are a number of new sets and minifigures available out already.  With a lot of the details of the movie not released yet, we're not 100% sure of what they all are, but there are some fun new sets and minifigures out there.

The first one I purchased to add to the store is Rey's Speeder which is set number 75099.  It was $19.99 at LEGO.com and I'm sure it's available through Amazon and other stores.  There are 193 pieces which works out to 10.4 cents per piece.  It's a little pricey, but most Star Wars sets are a bit more than others because of LEGO having to pay the licensing fees.  

Here are pictures of the front and back of the box.

The set contains 2 bag of bricks labeled 1 and 2.  It has the instruction book and then a sheet of stickers as well (I have to work on taking better pictures).

The first bag includes minifigure Unkar's Thug.  Like most sets, it includes a few extra parts of the small variety.  The completed first bag picture is below.

Here's a picture of the final completed set.

There are a number of extra parts.  Rey comes with a hair piece or she can wear the helmet.  One of the trailers shows her wearing it and also shows her walking with the... is it a staff?  Or a weapon of some sort?  I guess we'll find out.  

Not having seen the movie, I don't know how accurate the design is, but it looks pretty cool.  If you're a Star Wars fan, this set might be one to consider.  I'll be selling the minifigs and the speeder in my store so if you're looking for them, let me know.  

Set Review - WALL-E - 21303

Well it's about time that I got a chance to build some more.  As you can see by the title, I assembled WALL-E which is set number 21303.  WALL-E is part of the LEGO Ideas program where fans build sets and submit them onto the site.  Then other fans can vote on them.  If a design received 10,000 votes, the LEGO Ideas team will review the set to see if they will consider it for production.

WALL-E was picked up as a 2015 set and released on 25 September 2015.  It costs $59.99 in the US and contains 677 pieces.  That works out to $0.088 per piece so around the average.  Here are a few pictures of the front and back of the box.

Like many of the previous LEGO Ideas sets, this set comes with a thick instruction book that starts with some information about the designer and the set itself.  

The set contains 9 bags along with the instructions.  The bags are not numbered like some sets are so you have to open them all and build at once.  One of the bags contains just the treads to WALL-E's tracks.  The set also contains an orange piece separator.  

The build itself was not overly challenging, but my guess is some younger children would need some help with some of the parts that are a bit more challenging to put together.  I built the set over a few nights of free time.  I completed through #38 in the instructions after my first night.

You can see most of the main part of WALL-E's structure here and the start to the door that he opens to crush garbage into blocks.  After the second night I had a good chunk of it done minus an eye and his hands.

After my third night of building, I finished the set.  Here are some pictures of the final product.

Overall, I think the design is well done.  They did a great job capturing the design of WALL-E.  Having the plant is a nice touch.  It always amazes me how people can use LEGO to construct things that look very close to the real thing.

One note is the design of the head.  The swivel is rather loose and it doesn't stay in one place.  LEGO has come up with a new design for the swivel.  It includes some additional pieces and new instructions.  If you bought the set early on, you can find the instructions and some details here.  I e-mailed LEGO customer service to ask about how I can get the new pieces and instructions.  I will do another post once I get an answer.  In the meantime, from reading the various LEGO fan sites, it looks like if you buy WALL-E now, you will get the upgraded design.  If anyone has purchased it recently, let me know.

Should you buy this set?  In my opinion a lot depends on whether you are a fan of WALL-E or not.  Those that don't know the movie or didn't enjoy it may not enjoy having this set.  As a fan of the movie, I thought it was great and am glad I got it.  The price is about on par with other sets on a price per piece ratio so not too bad.  The build is very creative and if you want to take WALL-E apart, there are some great pieces to build other designs with.  I'm sure a lot could be done with the tracks.  Another bonus to the design, there was no sticker book.  All of the pieces that would have stickers are printed onto the parts themselves.  

If you got this set and have built it, please let us know what you think in the comments area. I'm curious to hear what other fans have thought.

How Much is a Waffle?

First off, thanks to all those who came out and supported Stapleton Elementary School in Rio Rancho.  We sold a lot of minifigures and our new addition of minifigure Christmas ornaments.  Support from Bricks for Bricks and other vendors there will help the school with many of their programs.

At the shows I go to, I get to talk to many fans of Lego.  Some are kids, some are parents with kids who are fans, some teens and adults who are fans, and many others.  I had some interesting conversations at the Stapleton Elementary School event.  One of them involved a missing waffle.  Not a real waffle, but a LEGO waffle.  It's a 2x2 round tile plate and I'm pretty sure that it comes from set 70818 The LEGO Movie: Double Decker Couch.  It looks something like this:

This screen shot comes from www.brickset.com on the parts lists for set 70818.

Long story short, a boy at a friend's house lost the waffle part and they wanted to replace it.  So they went onto E-Bay and found the part for $4.  Needless to say they weren't happy to pay that much for the new part.

So what should you do if that happens to you?  Well first off, be warned that there are a lot of folks out there on E-Bay, Amazon, and other sites looking to make a quick buck.  Did someone profit on this one?  My guess is yes.  

Set 70818 was sold on LEGO.com from 1 January 2015 to 23 November 2015.  I didn't catch when the part was lost, but if it was before 23 November, it would have been good to just buy the set for the $14.99 that it retailed for versus paying the $4.00 for the one part.  

Another option is to check with the LEGO Company themselves.  If you lost a piece, they will sell you replacements.  I have never used the service, but it is available.  You can go to their website HERE.

If you need to find the part info, you can go to www.brickset.com and type in the set number.  They will give you an inventory list with all of the info on every part in the set.

Another option is to go to Bricklink.  Bricklink is not as easy to use, but the competition is much greater so sometimes you can find some good deals.  I looked up the part and the info I found is HERE.  233 sellers are selling 1,797 waffle parts on Bricklink.  You have to weed through a few if you don't want to deal with foreign sellers.  The first US seller I found is from Texas and has the part for $0.30, but the shipping is $2.45 and the minimum order is $2.00 so you'd have to find a few more things to buy from that seller.  Either way, $0.30 is much better than $4.00 for the part.  Granted you'll probably end up paying a little more than $4 due to the minimum order, but you'll get a few more things.

I hope my suggestions helped.  Worse case, find a LEGO fan (or nerd if you want to call me that) and I'll be glad to help you find the missing piece and give you a bunch of options.

Next up! 5 Dec - 9 AM to 3 PM - E. Stapleton Elementary in Rio Rancho

Our next sale will be on 5 December 2015 from 900 AM to 300 PM at E. Stapleton Elementary for their annual Holiday Craft Fair.  The school is located at 3100 8th Ave NE  Rio Rancho, NM 87124.  You can click the link for a Google Maps view of where the school is located.

We have a few new items in to include some Star Wars sets, some new minifigures, and a few new LEGO Movie sets.  If there's anything specific you want me to have at the show, send me an e-mail here.