LEGO Brand Store Review - Cologne, Germany (Köln, Deutschland)

I recently had the opportunity to visit the LEGO Brand Store in Cologne, Germany. Most US LEGO Brand stores I have been to are in malls. This one is in a pedestrian only shopping area. Here’s a picture of the outside.

The front window highlighted a bunch of the new sets out there. From left to right there’s the Vestas Wind Turbine (#10268-1), the James Bond™ Aston Martin DB5 (#10262-1), the Technic Bugatti Chiron (#42083-1), Voltron (#21311-1), and finally the Pop Up Book (#21315-1). I found it interesting that the sets are all some of the larger new ones with only one selling for less than $100. Two of them are from the Ideas line and then two are from the Creator Expert line. These are sets geared towards an older audience. It’s interesting that they are not highlighting Star Wars or other sets geared towards kids since I visited in December 2018 (right before Christmas).

The inside looks like many of the LEGO Brand stores that I have entered in the states. We were greeted by a store worker (speaking German) who gave us a December 2018 store calendar and a LEGO comic book. He asked if my little guy wanted a copy (at least I think that’s what he said) and I responded that he was too little (in English). And you could see that he felt bad for spending that time talking to us in German when we had no idea what he was saying. Poor guy.

The store seemed well stocked and I didn’t see a whole lot of differences in sets being offered in the US. There were a few that I know aren’t on Shop @ Home, but not being near a LEGO Brand store in the US, I don’t know if maybe those sets are being offered at stores only. They were:

-#40251-1: Mini Piggy Bank - a freebie with purchase in the US during the July 2017 season, but available in Europe (according to Brickset) since 26 October 2018 for €14.99.
-#40222-1: Christmas Build-Up - a freebie with purchase in the US back in October 2016, but available in Europe since 3 October 2018 for €9.99.
-#5005156-1: Gingerbread Man - Brickset said you could get it in the US with a purchase in December 2016 and at LEGO Brand stores in the US for 2017 and again they are selling it in Europe and have been since 3 October 2018 for €4.99.

I also looked to see if there were sets available that are no longer available in the US. My only comparison is Shop @ Home. Sets may still be available at US LEGO brand stores or at other retailers like Walmart or Amazon.com. While I didn’t capture everyone of them, there were a few that stood out to me…

-#10253-1: Big Ben - This set just recently went out of stock after a sale on Shop @ Home in the US. It was readily available for €219.99 (compared to $249.99 in the US). At the going Euro to Dollar rate at the time of this posting it works out to almost exactly the same price. Since that price includes Value Added Tax (VAT) and buying it in the US, the price does not include sales tax, it is actually better to get it in Germany (unless you picked it up on sale during the Brick Friday sales)
-#10259-1: Winter Village Station - This set shows out of stock at Shop @ Home in the US as well, but was readily available in Cologne

The pick-a-brick wall had a lot of options. The pricing was €9.99 for the smaller container and €17.99 for the larger container.

Lastly, LEGO Brand Stores often have builds in them. This store included a fan build and a LEGO designer build. The fan build was placed in one of the glass covered boxes around most stores. Most of the boxes in this store had LEGO set builds in them, but one had this fan build of a Christmas scene in a town.

The other build in this store was actually out of Duplo. It was a steam train engine and it was big enough for most younger kiddos to poke their heads into. To get some of the detail like the number on the front, they used System bricks. I think it’s always cool to see some of the bigger sized builds.

So there you have it… not a lot of difference between US LEGO Brand stores. No major sets on sale that aren’t available in the US or weren’t available at some point. And while I didn’t do comparisons on all of the prices, if you factor in sales tax in the US and the exchange rate the pricing isn’t completely awful. If you find yourself in a German LEGO Brand store, pop in for a look!

Happy Building!

Set Review - #42083-1 - Bugatti Chiron - Technic - PART 2

If you missed Part 1, you can see it here. If you want to see what a real Bugatti Chiron looks like or what the factory looks like, you can see that here. If you want to see more about the set, keep reading…

Instruction Book 2 is 322 pages long. It starts off with the set of bags numbered 7 in build box 3. This section of the build is labeled rear body work and deck lid. With Book 1 being the internals, Book 2 focuses on the externals. The bags numbered 7 include the construction of the rear spoiler and then a lot of the body for the back to include the portion around the engine and part of the top of the passenger compartment. Number 8 completes a lot of the detail in the rear to include the cool looking brake lights. There are also a number of stickers that go here. I am not a fan of stickers, but I realize LEGO has to do a price balance between printed pieces and sticker sheets. The cost of the sticker sheet probably helped save a few dollars on an already expensive set. I’m not the best at sticker placement, but it looks okay.

Bags 9 and 10 are labeled the seats and interior on page 108 and start off box four. The seats are Technic built with some System pieces for added detail. As the build went on, I realized that there were more and more System pieces used. I’m not a good builder/designer to begin with, but I’m impressed at the ability to combine the 2 types of pieces into one set and to have it go seamlessly like they did. Bag 9 is the seats and some more of the outer paneling. Bag 10 is the dashboard, steering wheel, glove compartment, and a bunch more stickers.

Bags 11 and 12 start on page 200. This section is labeled front body, lights, and horseshoe grill. Bag 11 is mainly the doors, but there are a few details to build up the front of the car. Bag 12 is the details on the front to include the front hood (and storage area), the bumper, the grill design, and the lights. There are a lot of System pieces used in the front to include the bumper and lights. The detailing is pretty impressive between the Technic and System pieces. It still has the Technic look without windows and with the various spots for pin attachments, but it still captures the sleek look of the actual car.

Bag 13 finishes everything up with the final details, the key to raise and lower the spoiler, and much like the Porsche (#42056-1) a handbag to stick in the trunk. It completes a few details to include a lot of the long, thin tubes that help create some of the contours on the car. The instructions for bag 13 also include the wheels and rims. The rims have a 1x1 round tile with the Bugatti logo on them and thankfully that was not a sticker. You even get an extra one (not sure what I’ll do with it).

The end of the instructions give you a link to go to and put in the code on the 1x4 tile that identifies your car. Similar to #42056-1, they have some free content. I have yet to go and see what it is, but #42056-1 had some cool graphics, a certificate of ownership, and some high resolution photos of the vehicle as well. If I ever have my own brick cave someday, maybe I’ll have to print a few of these up.

Here’s a top view of the car and then a view of the front with the hood open and the bag sitting next to it. The bag is made of all System pieces versus the Technic style bag of #42056-1.

Here is a good look at the front to include the horseshoe grill and the lights. Also a view inside the car by the driver’s seat. With my smartphone and poor lighting, you can’t see all the details, but you can see the main details: steering wheel, dashboard with various dials, paddle shifters, and shifter.

Finally, here’s the back. After seeing the real car, I think the designers did a great job getting it accurate. The first picture is with the spoiler down and the second is with it up and the key still in. The key goes into a small hole behind the driver’s side rear tire. I have yet to be able to do it without peering in to try and find it. The design is impressive as it locks in the up position as well.

So the final verdict… I had a blast building it. The design is sleek and very sturdy. It’s very impressive. Unfortunately it is very expensive! I used a gift certificate, but even with that it was still high. I hit a double VIP point day so that helped some, but yikes. LEGO keeps testing the boundaries on price and it’ll be interesting to see where they finally break their fan base. While it’s a great set and I hope LEGO continues this series, I would like to see the price go back to under $300 similar to #42056-1.

What are your thoughts on this one? Too expensive? Priced right for the build?

Happy building!

The Bugatti Chiron in the Wild...

In case you didn’t see my last post, I’m in the process of building the LEGO Technic #42083-1 Bugatti Chiron. With that being said, I was walking down the street last week and a car caught my eye. It looked very familiar to a Bugatti Chiron, but I figured it couldn’t be. Most people don’t just park their $2.5M+ car right there on the street. I had to go over and take a look.

Okay, maybe I should be a little more specific. If you’ve read the blog, you know that my non-Lego job has taken me to Germany so I had to shut down sales. Living in Europe, my family has done some traveling and recently we took a couple days to go to the Alsace region of France. While there, we stopped in Strasbourg for the Christmas Market (if you’re an American and you celebrate Christmas and you have never been to a true European Christmas Market, they are pretty cool). Strasbourg happens to be near Molsheim, France (about 20 minutes away) and Molsheim is where the Bugatti factory is located.

Back to the car… no it wasn’t just sitting there. It was in a glass enclosed case and there was a security guard outside as well. None the less, it was still the real deal. I never thought I would see a Bugatti Chiron up close and personal or at least as close as the glass would let me. I talked to our host at the B&B we stayed at and he said Bugatti factory tours are only available for car buyers and friends of workers. Good luck getting to see inside the factory.

Back to the car… Next to the car was a sign.

The sign is in French on the left, German in the middle, and English on the right. In case you can’t read the picture I posted, it reads:

“We are proud of our company roots in Molsheim, about 25 km away from Strasbourg,
where our headquarters are still today.

In 1909 Ettore Bugatti founded our company here in Alsace, and to this day Bugatti
represents the pinnacle of the automotive world.

Like the Strasbourg Christmas market we combine tradition with a clear vision.

All qualities and know-how of our company accumulated in 110 years of our existence are
contained in each and every one of the only 500 BUGATTI CHIRON going to be built..”

The sign then gives some of the stats on the vehicle.

Engine:
-8 Litre 16-Cylinder-engine
-4 turbochargers with Bugatti 2-stage turbocharging

Power:
1,500 HP (6,700 U/min)

Torque:
1,600 Nm (2,000 - 6,000 U/min)

Acceleration:
0 - 100km/h 2.4 sec (that’s roughly 0 to 60 mph)
0 - 400 km/h 32.6 sec (that’s roughly 0 to ~250 mph)

Vmax:
420 hm/h (electronically limited) (or around 260 mph)

Enough blabbing, here are a few more pics of the car. The front was white and the back was a navy blue or darker blue type color. The blue color looks similar to the blue of the LEGO version.

So I wouldn’t be interested in this vehicle if it weren’t for the LEGO version. I’m not a gear head, but I’m a huge fan now that I have a LEGO version and was super excited to actually see one of these.

But that’s not all…

If you purchased the set you saw this picture in the instruction manual.

It’s a picture of the actual car and the LEGO version with an offset in front of the Château St. Jean in Molsheim, France.

On our drive home from the Strasbourg area, I was conversing with my Non-LEGO Spouse (NLS) and talking about Bugatti and how the plant was nearby somewhere. Using the power of the internet she looked it up and told me it was about 2 minutes away. So we came upon a traffic circle, I went straight instead of turning and…

Tah-dah! Okay, we had to take a few passes to get the picture just so, but thankfully it was a Sunday and there wasn’t a lot of traffic. So there’s the full building. Just no cars in front.

Here’s a sign near the Château.

We figured the factory had to be close by and sure enough it was. We hit a traffic circle and took a different exit and saw the factory. It’s not very big although if you’re only building 500 of a vehicle and you probably take your time building it, you don’t need a big facility. We didn’t take pictures of the signs in French telling us it was private property and to not trespass. We just took our pictures and turned around. My NLS questioned why the workers didn’t have better cars. My guess is the employee discount doesn’t take much off the $2.5M price tag.

Hope you enjoyed some additional info on the Bugatti Chiron. I don’t think I’ve seen a set review or LEGO blog yet that showed pictures of the actual car or the factory. I’ll claim to be the first to include pictures of both in a LEGO review.

Happy building!

Set Review - #42083-1 - Bugatti Chiron - TECHNIC - PART 1

My guess is most people who are into LEGO and reading this blog are not able to throw down $2.5 million for a Bugatti Chiron, but thankfully LEGO came to our rescue and built a much cheaper version. Following the 2016 release of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS on the LEGO Technic line, LEGO released the Bugatti Chiron on 2 June 2018. Retail price in the US is $349.99 or $0.097 per piece. Opportunities for sales were limited on the Porsche. It just retired and I saw it on Amazon.com for 20% off for less than a day. Using VIP points to get a discount is one of the best ways to pay less for this set at this point. While it’s not $2.5M, $350 is kind of hefty for the LEGO world.

This set came with a lot of fanfare from LEGO. The lead up to its release included a number of teaser videos and trailers along with a countdown clock. After it was finally released, the videos didn’t stop. Here are a few you might want to check out if you didn’t get to see them:

LEGO builds a full scale Bugatti Chiron

LEGO shows off the build and its functions

Kicking off the review, the Bugatti Chiron is shipped in its own box inside of a box when you order it from Shop @ Home. While this method is probably more costly, I like that when you spend a bit of money, they take the time to make sure your set arrives in good condition. From the label on the box, my version was manufactured in October 2018 in Mexico. I ordered it during the double VIP points weekend in October 2018 so not bad timing for LEGO’s supply chain.

The set box itself is very flashy with a front view of the car on the top of the box and a back few of the car on the bottom with a few detailed pictures on the bottom as well.

Similar to the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (#42056-1), When you open the box up, there are parts boxes. Unlike the Porsche set, this one has the boxes and instruction booklet creating a picture of the car. Props to the designers on this one. There are 6 parts boxes, 2 instruction booklets, and a sticker sheet. Each box is numbered. The instruction books show what box of parts you are on based on what page you are on. It does not list what parts bag set you are on though so if you’re like me and you build in spurts, you have to search for where you left off. Book 1 is 305 pages long. It includes some snazzy pictures of the LEGO design and of the actual car model. It also mentions that there is a podcast you can listen to while building the set. I did not do that so if anyone else did, let me know what you thought of it.

Book 1, box 1 starts off with page 21 that says you will be building the engine and gearbox first. pages 22 and 23 show where you’ll be when finished with that section and there is a picture of what I presume is an engine and gearbox in the background. I won’t go too much into the details of the build other than to say when you’re used to building the LEGO System pieces and the last Technic build you did was over 2 years ago, it is a bit of a challenge (for me). I’ve definitely had to take my time as I’m not used to looking at instructions with the various Technic pieces.

Below are pictures of where you are at the end of each build. So all of the bags numbered 1, then numbered 2, and so on.

Here are bag sets 3 and 4. Number 3 finishes off the engine in the back of the car. It’s a very impressive design job too! They fit a lot in a small space. Number 4 starts on the front of the car to include the steering column.

On page 138 is labeled “The Marriage Process.” The book mentions that this is the way that the actual Chiron is built in that the front and back are assembled and then they join the two together. This section starts with set of bags number 4, the marriage process actually happens in number 6. Bags labeled #5 finish up the front of the car and some of the frame. I included my build and the picture on pages 140 and 141 of the set designer (Aurélien Rouffiange) merging the 2 sections of the build. Hopefully I built mine correctly.

I spent 5 posts on the Porsche (#42056-1) and I thought it was a bit much. My goal for this one is to give a quick overview instead of making you go through 5 pages of how great the build was.

With book one being complete, I figured it was a good time to post where I’m at. So far, I’m very impressed by the Bugatti Chiron. LEGO raised the bar with the Porsche 911 GT3 RS and they did it again with the Chiron. The box design and layout are impressive, the details inside the instruction book about the car and the set are cool, having the option to listen to a podcast about the project is an added bonus, and in general the build is very impressive in terms of functionality and matching what the actual car is like. While I had a gift card and purchased during a double VIP point period, at this point I say that it was a good purchase. It has definitely been worth my time and the funds I spent.

Stay turned for part 2…

Set Review - #60202-1 - People Pack - Outdoor Adventures - LEGO CITY

One of the things that LEGO has gotten right over the past couple of years is listening to fans. The People Packs associated with the CITY line seem to be a direct response to fans asking for more minifigures to be in their city scenes. The first one released in 2016 was #60134-1 - Fun at the Park and then they had #60153-1 - Fun at the Beach in 2017. 2018’s version is #60202-1 - Outdoor Adventures. Released on 2 June 2018 in the US, it is the third set in a line of CITY sets that includes minifigures for your CITY scenes. This set cost $39.99 in the US, but I waited for it to hit 20% off at Amazon.com before spending anything on it. If you are willing to wait even longer, right now (November 2018), #60153-1 - Fun at the Beach is 35% off at Amazon.com in the US. Not a bad deal if you ask me. Back to the set at hand, Outdoor Adventures is 164 pieces and 15 minifigures. It works out to $0.244 per piece if you get it at full retail in the US, but it’s misleading since you are also getting 15 minifigures. If you look at it by minifigure, that’s $2.67 per minifigure which isn’t too bad if you compare it to the Collectible Minifigures that run at $3.99 each.

Onto the set… The box is similar to most boxes. The front interestingly mentions that the boat floats. I’m wondering if the designed the raft intentionally to float or if it just happened that way and they decided to advertise it on the box that way. Is it just the boat? Do the minifigs add too much weight? Have these questions already been answered and I’m wasting your time?

The back shows all of the minifigures to include each piece of the minifigures that can be interchanged. It even shows how you can interchange them to make different combinations. With 14 options, I’m sure the math is out there to say how many zillions of combinations there are. The baby minifigure cannot be interchanged for obvious reasons.

The contents are 2 numbered parts bags, 2 instruction booklets, and a plastic sheet which is part of the camping tent. LEGO probably could have done this all at once, but looking at the age range, a 5 year-old probably needs it broken up. Also included is a small bag with an eagle in it.

Bag 1 starts off with a female minifigure with a camera (left of picture). She has a small bag around her neck that sits on her side. Her face has 2 sides. One side is both eyes open and the other is with one eye open as if she’s looking through the lens of the camera. Is that a first for LEGO? A character who is looking through one eye? The box shows this minifigure taking a picture of the eagle which caught a fish. It is the standard LEGO fish and the fish’s mouth attaches to the eagle’s claw area so it looks like the eagle caught the fish.

Moving to the right in the picture is a rock climber scaling a mini rock formation. The rock formation itself isn’t that great, but considering the size of the set you can’t complain. Build a bigger rock face for the minifig to scale on your own. The minifig itself has sunglasses on his face and a helmet.

Next up in my picture (center front) is a hiker with 2 hiking poles. The set comes with an extra pole just in case you lose one I guess. The minifig has a green outer shirt on with what looks like a wolf face on the shirt printed underneath.

Moving on is a boy with a back pack cooking over a portable gas cooker. He has a pot and is frying an egg. He also has a plate and a mug. The set comes with 2 fried egg 1x1 round tiles so you can put one on his plate and one in the pan or however you want to set them up.

Next up is a male minifigure with a baby carrier who is carrying a baby minifigure. As a Dad who has carried his kids in a carrier in front, I thought this minifigure was great. You have to tilt him back a bit so he does tip over due to the weight in front, but that’s what I do when I have my kid strapped to me anyways so it is realistic.

Finally is a female minifigure in racing gear and a helmet with goggles on a mountain bike. Unlike some of the bikes of the past, her legs don’t go down too far on the bike so it looks like she’s riding it pretty high up. It comes with a small jump for her to ride up and over a log. The log comes with a 2x2 round tile with the print of a log on it to make it look like it was sawed down.

The second bag starts on the left in the picture with a minifigure with a hammer who is supposedly setting up the tent. I have her standing by a lantern. Next up in the back are 3 minifigures posing for a selfie. There is an adult female with a portable lantern, the male in his Hawaiian shirt and the selfie stick (his face can be a posing face or a relaxed look), and then a girl wearing shorts who also has a portable lantern. Behind them is a sign with arrows pointing to attractions. One is to LEGO CITY and the other is to MOUNT CLUTCHMORE. A nice touch to the set I think.

In front of the picture is the raft (that supposedly really floats) and 2 minifigures with oars, life vests, and helmets.

Next up is child minifigure wearing a jacket. She has glasses on and is holding a pair of binoculars.

Finally is another female minifigure who has either sunglasses or her normal smiling face. She is holding a smart phone. My daughter helped me put this set together and insisted that we put her in the tent. Speaking of the tent, it is a simple build with 2 sleeping spaces. The plastic tent sets up nicely around the bricks and you can have both flaps open or closed as you wish.

Here are all the minifigures in a picture. I didn’t have anything to lift up the eagle and probably could have used some more bricks to stage these minifigures, but you’ll live. Bottom line, it’s a great set if you are a CITY fan and you want more minifigures to add to your CITY. Every time I get one of these People Packs, it makes me want to create a scene with all of these characters. I don’t seem to ever have the time to do that, but maybe some day. In the meantime I have the minifigures to add to the scene I’ll create. Has anyone built a scene with these minifigs?

If you want to buy this set, it is 20% off at Amazon.com in the US and Walmart too (as of November 2018). If you wait longer, the sets seem to discount further. Definitely don’t pay full price on this one.

Happy building!

LEGO at the Deutsches Museum - Munich, Germany

One of the great things about being an American living in Europe is the chance to see a lot of places you’ve never been to before without having to fly across an ocean to get there. I recently got back from a road trip with my family to see a few places and one of those stops was to Munich, Germany or München as it translates into German. While there, my family stopped at the Deutsches Museum to walk around. It was an interesting museum that had enough to keep my kiddos interested and it had some English translations too for those of us who can’t speak German.

One of the sections of the Museum was the Technical Toys area. As expected it included LEGO. The picture here is Godtfred Kirk Christiansen who was the third child of Ole Kirk Kristiansen. He was also the managing director of the LEGO Group for many years. You can read more about him on the LEGO website here. According to the museum exhibit and Google Translate it says that he was the “inventor of Lego-plastic construction kits.”

The LEGO article has some information I had never heard of. The “10 Lego Characteristics” are spot on. I definitely think they met their goal. Good thing they decided to go away from wooden toys. Otherwise, where would we be?

The museum display had some bricks placed in some fun designs, but more importantly it had some of the boxes from the very first LEGO System sets. Even better, some of the boxes are in German. The box towards the upper right corner says “System im Spiel.” Google Translate says it means “system in the game,” but a spielplatz is a playground so I’m pretty sure it is system of play or something similar.

I think the museum could use some AFOLs to help beef up the displays they have. While the designs are good, they could use some new designs. Maybe some German architecture?

It was hard to get good pictures of the boxes from behind the glass display case, but here is one of the boxes. I looked it up on Brickset and I think it is 311-4: Airplanes from 1961. Am I right? Maybe some LEGO history experts can help me out here.

Interestingly enough right next to the LEGO display was IDEMA. I took some pictures because I wasn’t familiar with this toy at all and I couldn’t read the German next to the display. The best I could find was a website from Portugal that says it was a German building toy started post World War II made of Bakelite. I had to look Bakelite up as well… it’s a kind of plastic. Anyways, IDEMA did not catch on and ended up fading away in the 1970s. Looks like part of the reason it didn’t catch on was competition from LEGO. Hard to say as I couldn’t find a lot of info on it. Here are a few pictures to include a mug shot of its German inventor Josef Dehm. Here is the website I found which looks like it is Portuguese. The site has a good picture comparison picture between IDEMA bricks and LEGO bricks. You’ll also notice a a version of London’s Tower Bridge which isn’t quite as detailed as set 10214-1, but still is pretty impressive.

And finally a Ferris Wheel along with a few other builds out of this toy. Interesting stuff. I had never heard of IDEMA before. It might be that the toy didn’t make it out of Europe so we never saw it in the States. I don’t know. If you’re in Munich and you have some free time, check the Deutsches Museum out.

Set Review - #75951-1 - Grindelwald's Escape - Fantastic Beasts - Wizarding World

The second Fantastic Beasts move will be released in the US on 16 November 2018 (if you believe everything you read on the internet). Although here in Germany you can get movie tickets for 13 November. This one is called “The Crimes of Grindelwald.” Beyond seeing the trailer, I don’t know much about the movie so no spoilers to report here. I initially thought the first movie was just an attempt to keep the series going after a successful and profitable run of Harry Potter books and movies, but the first movie was actually pretty good. Hopefully this movie will be good as well.

Onto the set… #75951-1, Grindelwald’s Escape, was released in the US on 24 August 2018. It retails for $19.99, but I was able to pick it up for 16% off at Amazon.com. It has 132 pieces and 2 minifigures so that works out to $0.151 per piece which is rather steep in my opinion. I’m not sure if this is due to the Thestral figure which is unique to this set or not. Full disclosure, I had to look “Thestral” up. Otherwise, I would have just said winged-horse. Is “Thestral” even right? Anybody?

Here is the box. It’s the standard look with the set featured on the front and the play features on the back.

I had my 4-year old help me build this set (you can see her hands in the picture). As we opened the instructions, we had to follow them exactly as printed. One of the pictures shows a minifigure separating the pieces by color. This is the first time I’ve ever done that and it actually makes building very easy since you know which pile to look in. With smaller sets, I’ve never actually bothered, but it worked good for both of us.

This set has 2 bags of parts which are not numbered and an instruction booklet. There are no stickers to apply. YAY!

The set starts off with the minifigures. There are 2 which are Seraphina Picquery (in the lighter blue) and Gellert Grindelwald in the black with white hair. I have yet to see the movie so I’m not going to comment on whether they look like the movie characters or not. They both have dual faces and both come with wands and what Brickset calls a “mini shooter.”

The Thestral is next and you apply a brick harness and the wings. I’m curious to see if this figure will become popular on the secondary market or not due to its uniqueness.

Lastly is the coach. Nothing overly spectacular about this build. My kiddo had a tough time with a few of the attachments and I had to help a lot, but still it is a fairly easy build. The pieces aren’t overly exciting, but the wheels go back to the LEGO Castle days. I like the doors to the coach as well.

My overall opinion… this set isn’t too exciting. If you’re a big fan of the movie series, then it may be worth getting for the minifigures, but it didn’t do much for me. Check for sales on Walmart, Amazon.com, and/or Target. Hopefully it’ll go down in price more if you’re looking to pick it up.

Happy building!

Sign Ups are Open for the LEGO® Inside Tour 2019

Have you ever wanted to get inside the factory in Billund, Denmark where LEGO bricks are made? Do you think it would be cool to get to spend time with LEGO designers. Would you like to have the opportunity to shop at the employee store? Are you a LEGO fanatic and would eat, breathe, and sleep LEGO given the opportunity?

If you said yes to any or all of those and you can cough up over $2,000 (not including transportation), then sign up for the LEGO® Inside Tour. Sign ups started today (29 Oct 2018) and end 2 Nov 2018 at 1000 AM CET (Denmark time). The tour is 2.5 days long and the funds you spend include meals, lodging, and some cool freebies (or not really free because you paid for them). If you want more details or if you want to sign up, go to the LEGO House Website. Also, do a web search on your favorite search engine for write-ups and videos from previous attendees.

It used to be a first come, first serve kind of thing and sign ups ended in a minute or 2. Now it appears to be a lottery system where everyone can sign up and they pick people out of that pool. I looked at a number of reports from previous attendees and they said over 5,000 applied for around 175 slots. I’m not sure how accurate those numbers are, but it’s probably fairly close.

There are 4 tour dates listed:
8-10 May 2019
12-14 June 2019
11-13 September 2019
18-20 September 2019

The form you fill out to register lets you select dates. I selected all 4 as right now I am available for any of them. If you know you can’t make one or another, don’t select it. The rules say you have a 3 day period once selected to turn it down so you are not locked in right away. The form asked for some basic information (name, contact info, age) and it asked some LEGO info. Are you in a LUG? What is your favorite theme? What do you like to do with LEGO?

I’m curious to see how they narrow it down. Or we’ll never know.

Good luck if you sign up. I hope you can attend. Or maybe I’ll get picked and I’ll see you there. Since I can drive there, it makes attending a bit more affordable. If I don’t make it and you do, let me know how it goes.

Happy building!

Set Review - #75955-1 - Hogwarts Express - Harry Potter - Wizarding World

As I’ve stated, more Harry Potter sets to review… This one is #75955-1 Hogwarts Express. It was released on 5 September 2018 in the US and retails for $79.99. I picked it up on sale at Amazon.com and since buying it the set has moved up to 20% off. Anyways, the set has 801 pieces and 6 minifigures. It works out to $0.10 per piece at retail (obviously less if you get it on sale). That’s right about average in my mind and not bad for a licensed set. Onto the review…

Standard box… Front shows the set with all of the minifigures. The back shows the play features with the Dementor appearing 3 times. I think this set will be popular just for the Dementor alone.

The set includes 7 bags of parts, an instruction book, and a sticker sheet.

Bag one starts to build Kings Cross station to include platform 9 3/4. It also includes the minifigures for Professor Remus Lupin and Ron Weasley as well as a baggage cart. 9 3/4 is a wall on Technic pins that rotates when you run a minifigure into it. Bag one also includes a piece separator.

The second bag includes the rest of the station and the Harry Potter minifigure. One of the nice features of this set is the mix between stickers and printed parts. The 2x2 newspaper tiles are printed which are 2 less stickers to worry about.

The station itself is pretty simple, but to make it any bigger would bring the price up. For the set, I think the platform gets the key part which is the wall to go through. If builders want more of the features, they can build them on themselves.

The third bag starts the engine itself with the wheels and the bottom part of the engine. The wheels are a pretty simple assembly as compared to the Emerald Night set.

The next bag completes the engine. I was glad that the front curved piece (what’s the official term? Nose?) was printed as well as the “Hogwarts Castle” rounded tile piece on each side. The only thing that confused me on this set are the turning ratio of the front 4 wheels. There is an assembly that can be moved up to allow the wheels to turn and then put down to lock them into staying straight. For someone like me who plans on motorizing this train eventually, this piece seems unnecessary. I would rather have the front able to turn all the time without the awkward piece to lock it into place. This will be something that I redesign eventually.

Everyone else has brought this up and I have to as well. This train is not motorized. There are numerous videos and sites out there where you can see how others have motorized this train. You can use Power Functions train motor or an M motor with some Technic pieces. Either way, it is possible to motorize it without totally wrecking the design. While I would have preferred for the train to come motorized, I think this would have brought the price up pretty high… maybe over $100?

The fifth bag adds the tender and Hermione. The tender is a very simple build and it is connected by Technic pins versus the magnets of trains of old. My guess is that this helps to keep the cost down. Thoughts? I’ve heard builders complain about them and others say they are okay so we’ll see…

The next bag starts the passenger coach with a Trolley Witch. The coach is a pretty simple build and is fairly small. I think I would have made it larger, but it fits the scale of the engine. I will add that to my to-do list… re-designing the coach and adding some more.

The seventh bag completes the coach and adds a Dementor. On the positive side, the Dementor is a cool design and in my mind it matches the actual character well considering it is a minifigures. On the negative side, the coach is small and only has 4 wheels. If you go back to the coaches in the Emerald Night or Horizon Express, they have 8 wheels and each set is on a piece that pivots with a Technic pin that fits into the car itself. This one has wheels that are just attached to the car without the ability to pivot. Since it’s such a small car, the wheels are closer together and it shouldn’t be an issue that they don’t pivot. This car is similar to this old set…

So I realize that I am not the intended audience for this set. After all, the box says it is meant for ages 8 to 14. I would have beefed up the coach, motorized the engine, and added in a few pieces of straight track. I will add “building more coaches” to my LEGO building to-do list. In the meantime, I think this is a great set. It does the Hogwarts Express good justice and I think the play factor for this set is good given there are 6 minifigures. While there were a lot of stickers, I think they added some good detail to the set and they weren’t too bad to apply. In the end, I recommend buying this set. Try and pick it up on sale at Amazon.com, Walmart, or elsewhere.

Happy building!

Train Related Idea Reaches 10,000 Supporters - LEGO Ideas

A while back I wrote a post about the need for another LEGO train related set. You can find it here. I don’t know how many people read my article and then acted, but one of the sets I recommended achieved 10,000 supporters! It’s the Chemical Plant by Ymarilego. At ~1,900 bricks, it would be a pretty big set, but the LEGO Ideas set #21311-1 - Voltron is 2,321 pieces so there’s a chance that LEGO will release another big Ideas set.

The next review cycle should look at projects that reached 10,000 supporters between the September and January time frames (if LEGO follows what they did in the past). Now we just have to sit back and wait to see what they do. As far as I know, there is no way to lobby LEGO to pick one set over the other. I’m hoping this one is easier as it doesn’t have any licensing concerns to worry about. Also, it’s built in Octan colors and it would be great to get another Octan related set.

While you’re waiting, there are a few more to check out…

The Continental Comet by NickBr1cks is low on the votes (under 1,000), but looks pretty awesome as an Amtrak engine with a car. I would like to see a US based, modern train model again.

The Motorized Union Pacific SD40-2 and Cooling Wagon by Bricky_Brick is at under 1,000 votes as well. LEGO has done a BNSF set and I think a Union Pacific set would be a great addition. This one has a lot of great details too.

There are a lot of great steam trains in the running, but this one stood out to me. It’s called the Blue Tornado and it is by user dylanfarrow. Maybe it’s the color scheme used, I don’t know, but I think it looks pretty awesome. The scenery around it looks great too with the plants and track ballast. You could use this as a display model or run it on a track. It also opens up a lot of potential for making your own passenger or freight cars.

Please help bring more cool train sets to LEGO’s lineup!

And come one LEGO!!! Pick the Chemical Plant for the next Ideas round!!!

Happy building!