Store Review - LEGO® Brand Store - Saarbrücken, Germany

I wasn’t planning on it, but I had the opportunity to stop in a Brand Store in Saarbrücken, Germany during the Triple Force Friday sales event 2019 (4 to 6 October). The store front was full of some of the most recent new sets. With the focus on Star Wars, I’ll start there. The first picture I took included the new LEGO Boost Droid Commander (#75253-1), Kylo Ren’s Shuttle (#75256-1), another Millennium Falcon (#75257-1), and Yoda (#75255-1). They had all of the other new sets available as well. I didn’t look around at the sale sets to see what was available (sorry).

Additionally, they had the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer (#75252-1) assembled in the front window. Wow is it a big set! I was not the only one in the window taking pictures of the set. Still not sure if it is worth my money or not, but it’s definitely a cool display piece.

Additionally in the front window was the new Winter Village Gingerbread House (#10267-1). It was cool to see it up close and personal. I think I’ll be picking the set up at some point, but I’m not sure when.

Also on display was the new Disney Train and Station (#71044-1). Inside the store they had the Disney Castle built (#71040-1).

The LEGO Ideas Tree House (#21318-1) was on display in the front in the summer version. Inside the store they had it built in the fall version with the other set of leaves. It was neat to see how it looks with both versions if leaves.

LEGO Ideas Central Perk (#21319-1) from the TV show Friends was on display in two places. There was one in the front window and one inside the store. The one inside the store was a little easier to see and get pictures of so you get the picture here.

The Technic Land Rover (#42110-1) was available for sale and they had a built set that they were letting people touch and pick up. Props to LEGO for allowing that!

The Pick-a-Brick wall or “Suche & Baue” wall was in the back. According to Google Translate, this works out to be “Search and Build.” The wall was one of the better ones I’ve seen. There were a lot of pieces that I wanted to get, but I decided against it. There were numerous “gold” colored pieces, some different flower pieces I have never seen before, some colors that are not always out there, and a few cool pieces that would look great on MOCs for buildings. Bravo to LEGO for stocking this wall well!

I thought this display was cool. Two Statues of Liberty in different formats. The Brick Headz version (#40367-1) and the Architecture version (#21042-1). It’s cool to see the different sizes and versions next to each other. Behind it is the Architecture Trafalgar Square (#21045-1).

Most stores have some none standard builds that are usually larger in size. This one was no exception with a large Chewbacca holding a crossbow and then a Pirate Captain with a hook arm and a parrot sitting on his arm.

Overall, I was impressed with this store. They had everything in stock from what I could tell and a large amount of sets on display for viewing. There were numerous build stations for kids to play with in the store to see things before you buy. The workers were all very helpful with one dressed up as Princess Leia for Triple Force Friday. I talked to one who spoke German, French, and English and the one who rang up my purchase spoke English as well.

I purchased the LEGO® Brand Store (#40305-1) which is only available in Brand Stores. It was 24.99€ as compared to $24.99 in the US. The price I paid was roughly $27.37 with the exchange rate so the total varies since the VAT (value added tax) is factored in and the sales tax in the US varies by location. The last place I lived in the states had an 8.5% sales tax rate so it would have been $27.11… although we didn’t have a Brand Store. I’ll do a review of the set at a later date.

So if you’re in western Germany or eastern France and you’re looking for a LEGO® Brand Store, I highly recommend this one.

Happy building!

We'd be Silly to Not Make this the Next Train Based LEGO Set - LEGO® IDEAS

The Train Station: Studgate

So if you don’t regularly follow this blog or if you’re new to it, here’s the deal. I’m a huge LEGO train fan and I’ve been disappointed since the Creator Expert line ended train sets with #10233-1: Horizon Express all the way back in 2014. I posted a few times suggesting a few sets to vote for with LEGO Ideas. I was really excited when Ymarilego’s Chemical Plant achieved 10,000 votes and was disappointed when it was not selected (or the fast food stands for that matter).

If you didn’t see my post about it, there’s a video by the You Tube channel “Assembled” of an interview with Jamie Berard (my post with all the details and links is here). In the interview, Jamie says the Creator Expert line of trains ended as it was not as popular (I read profitable) for the company. They instead have tried to squeeze trains into other lines (read Harry Potter or the new Hidden Side theme).

With the odds not in my favor between one LEGO Ideas project with 10,000 votes not making it and Jamie saying LEGO is not interested, I haven’t given up hope. There is a new project out there and it is moving fast on LEGO Ideas. If you have yet to see it, then feast your eyes on this project:

This project was submitted by user Bricky_brick around May 2019. It is a 19th century train station with 2 track lines running through, a 2 car electric train (that can be motorized), 7 minifigures, and awesome use of some clear pieces that I didn’t even know existed in the collection. It looks incredible! If you go to the LEGO Ideas site, you can find it pretty easily as it is one of the top supported items. At the time of this post there are over 3,600 votes and climbing. The site for this set has some other great photos and shows what the set looks like in a pretty cool looking city scene.

So what are you waiting for… let’s make this one get to 10,000. Let’s show the LEGO Company that we are willing to put our money where our votes are to get some amazing Creator Expert-like train sets.

Thanks for your support in this matter!

So That's Why We Haven't Seen More Creator Expert Trains!

I wrote a post a while back complaining that it’s been a while since we had a Creator Expert style LEGO train. Well I think I may have found our answer.

I found an interview with LEGO Designer Jamie Berard by the show Assembled which is an interview done by Mike Psiaki. It’s about a 30 minute interview and I found it pretty interesting. They talk mainly about the new Roller Coaster set (#10261-1)., but they also talk a few more topics like set re-releases and to the point of this post, Creator Expert trains.

Mike asks why there aren’t more Creator Expert themed trains at the 27:50 mark or so. Without directly stating it, Jamie’s response is pretty much that LEGO doesn’t make the money they want to on Creator Expert themed trains. There is a subset of LEGO fans out there that love trains, they each buy one or two of the train sets and that’s it. So LEGO will release the standard LEGO CITY passenger and freight trains on a regular basis, but that’s mostly it.

Jamie also brings up some of the other ways they have tried to incorporate trains. The goal is to get a group that enjoys another theme and to add a train to that theme. He brings up #10254-1: Winter Holiday Train as an example. There is a larger group that enjoys the Winter Village theme. They may not be into a Creator Expert style train, but when a train fits in with the Winter Village theme then it is a buy for them.

After hearing that, you can tell LEGO has done that elsewhere. For example the Hogwarts Express (#75955-1) and the upcoming Hidden Side theme has a set titled Train (#70424-1). It will be interesting to see where else LEGO can add the train line into another theme in the future.

With that being said it leaves us LEGO Creator Expert train fans left out. As Mike mentions in the video interview, he likes the Winter Holiday Train, but it’s not on par with the Horizon Express (#10233-1). I don’t think the LEGO Ideas platform will work either based on Jamie’s interview response. If LEGO doesn’t think there is a market out there to sell advanced train sets, then even if a train set does get 10,000 supporters it might not go into production. Another way to get advanced train sets out there might be the Bricklink AFOL Designer Program. There are some design limitations that I’d have to look up and there are potentially some piece restrictions too, but it could be a possibility. If BrickLink sees this program as a way to increase profits in the future, then submitting train designs there might be the better way to go versus LEGO Ideas.

Dear LEGO,
I would still like to see more Creator Expert themed train sets. Thank you for your understanding!
-Bricks for Bricks

Amazing Fan Creations of Hogwarts Castle

Normally, I’d have a set review to post, but I’m in the middle of a large build so I guess you could say I’m killing time until I can finish and write a proper post. Most of my “LEGO fun time” has been consumed by building set number 71043-1, Hogwarts Castle. At 6,020 pieces, it’s the second largest set out there by piece count. I’ve been trying to enjoy the build instead of rushing through it so it’s taking a bit longer than usual.

Unlike some of the LEGO themed blogs out there, I don’t run this full time so my goal right now has been to post something new once a week. So while you’re waiting to hear what I think about the latest Hogwarts Castle set (spoiler alert, so far, it’s awesome!), I figured I’d talk about some of the ones out there that fans have created.

I realize I’m going to report on some old news here, but back in 2013, a LEGO builder named Alice Finch built a 400,000 piece Hogwarts Castle to display at a Comic Con. If you haven’t seen it yet, it is phenomenal! Definitely check out her Flickr page, a YouTube video of her set up, or if you can find it, watch the Lego Brickumentary from 2015 as she is spotlighted there too. Beyond the Brick (you can check out my post about them here) has done 3 videos out her. They are:
-A tour of her building area in her home (I’m jealous)
-A microscale version of her larger Hogwarts Castle
-An hour plus long interview with Alice about the 400,000 piece version she built

Onto the smaller scale… on the LEGO Ideas page is a submission titled “Hogwarts Castle Miniature Model.” It was submitted by user “LegoDog0126” and as of 15 January 2019, there are 12 days left with 8,435 votes total. Go to the LEGO Ideas site and do a search for it. It doesn’t say the piece count (that I could find), but you can download instructions and a fan even went out and built it (pics are on the Ideas site as well).

And one more…

I wasn’t able to find more on this one, but there was a BrisBricks LEGO®  Fan event (Australia) back in September 2018 and a builder there displayed a giant Hogwarts castle connected by rail to Kings Cross Station. Here is the link to the article advertising the event and here is the picture. You can go to the BrisBricks site photo book here and see more pictures of the build as well as all of the other awesome MOCs. Definitely check it out… it’s pretty cool with the whole castle and the train leading to it.

Enough stalling… back to building so I can get a set review out!

Set Review - #21315-1 - Pop-Up Book - LEGO Ideas

For those of you that have been into or at least have followed the LEGO Ideas series, #21315-1, Pop-Up Book is the 23rd in the series. Has it been that many already? It was released on 2 November 2018 in the US with a retail price of $69.99. It contains 859 pieces which works out to be $0.081 each. Not too bad in terms of price per piece and if you’re willing to wait until the end of it’s shelf life, it may go one sale at some of the retailers. Onto my review…

The front of the box shows the book along with some smaller pictures of the options for what can pop-up. The back shows some better details of the two pop-up options inside that can be placed inside the book.

This set contains six bags of bricks. Bag one contains a piece separator. It also contains the 2 large brown 8x16 tiles with one having the title “ONCE UPON A BRICK” printed on it. I was super thankful that I didn’t have to apply that as a sticker and that the set contains no stickers at all. YAY! The instruction booklet starts off with some introductory pages. The first two are about the sets creators (Jason Alleman and Grant Davis) otherwise known as JK Brickworks for Jason and Grant has a Flickr page showing his work. The second two pages are about the set’s designers from the LEGO Company. You can see their YouTube video here. The final few pages give a history of pop-up books and the stories portrayed in this set. After you read it in English, you can switch to French and Spanish.

The first bag starts the build of the book’s cover. This bag is almost all parts colored what I call forest green, but Brickset calls “Earth green.” Either way, I’m a big fan of this color and even if you don’t end up liking this set, you’ll at least have a whole bunch of really great parts to build other things with out of this set in the Earth green color.

The second bag completes the cover.

The third bag really turns the set into a pop-up book. The first picture (top left) shows the addition of the “pages” in what Brickset calls “Brick Yellow,” but I think is more of a light tan. You can also see the start of “Little Red Riding Hood” with Grandma’s bed on the right and a table with a pink tea pot and mug on the left. The second picture (top right) shows the front cover which has the 8x16 brown tile with the printed “ONCE UPON A BRICK” pop-up book title. It also has the names of the designers in 1x6 brown tiles underneath. How cool is that to have the LEGO Company printing parts that have your name on them and then having them sell a set with your name on it worldwide? Awesome!

The next two pictures (bottom left and right) show the detailing on the spine of the book and then the back cover. The back matches the front only the 8x16 tile is not printed.

Bag 3 includes the Grandma and Big Bad Wolf minifigures, but I’ll cover them next.

The fourth bag finishes up the “Little Red Riding Hood” scene. This bag includes Red with her bag of goodies to bring to Grandma. The pop up portion itself includes the house with a door that you can open. One could argue that there isn’t a ton of detail here, but I think between the original designers and LEGO designers, they got it right. It’s got a good amount of detail to portray the story, but it’s not over the top to the point where it loses functionality. You have to take the minifigures out to close the book, but the rest of the parts can remain when you close it.

The minifigures are great. The wolf with the tattered outfit that he stole from Grandma is very creative. I like that the wolf also has her glasses on. I never understood how Red didn’t immediately realize that it was a wolf. I guess you can tell the story how you want after you build it. Maybe it’s not a wolf, but a storm trooper or Emmet joins Red for some cookies.

The fifth bag starts on “Jack and the Beanstalk.” It includes a microscale build of the village with clouds on top. There’s a windmill and some tiny houses. A piece that probably isn’t new, but was new to me was the cheese sloped size roof tile used on the windmill and two of the houses. I think it’s a good addition to the LEGO parts catalog. This bag also includes the Giant and a microfigure of Jack. The set comes with 2 microfigures of Jack so just in case you lose one or if Jack and his twin want to go hang out with the Giant.

The sixth bag finishes up “Jack and the Beanstalk” with the actual beanstalk and the castle at the top. The functionality here is very creative with the use of Technic parts to make the beanstalk expand as you open up the book.

What struck me when building this set is that LEGO has left it open for builders. The title on the front cover does not say “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Jack and the Beanstalk.” It’s an open ended title. What’s been provided is a cover with a building space. The functionality for the pop-up portion of the book has been shown and there are studs on the top and bottom of the pages that you can use to insert your own stories. A quick Google search brings up results from a whole bunch of builders who have made pop up castles, pirates, and scenes from movies. At the writing of this post, LEGO Ideas is running a contest to see what kind of design you can come up with for the pop-up book. It’s definitely worth checking out some of the contest entries just to see how creative some people are when it comes to building.

Overall, this set is a win. I was a big fan. It’s a great build with a lot of great pieces and it opens up a new building technique to explore. If the price is too steep, wait a few months and keep checking on Amazon.com, Walmart, and other retailer sites to see if they have it for a discount.

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!

Set Review - #21313 - Ship in a Bottle - LEGO Ideas

We're on the 20th LEGO Ideas set already.  Can you believe it?  Ship in a Bottle was released on 2 February 2018 in the US for $69.99.  With 962 pieces, this works out to be $0.073 per piece.  This is quite a different set from what LEGO has released in the past so let's take a look.  Here is the box, both front and back sides.

Instead of the box opening up from the sides like many sets do, this one opens up on the top.  It reveals an instruction booklet, 4 large clear pieces, and 4 sets of bags.  Numbers one and two are single bags, 3 has 3 bags, and 4 has 2 bags.  

Bag one is the ship.  The build is very detailed considering how small it is and uses a lot of SNOT techniques.  There are a number of the teal colored pieces used, but they are hidden for the most part.  The cannon ports look pretty realistic considering how small it is.  There's a crows nest, a steering column, and a bridge area too.  Pretty impressive in my opinion.

Bag two is the bottom part of the bottle.  This part was surprisingly more challenging than I expected.  Mainly the bottom part uses all clear tiles and bricks.  It was a challenge to build in the same color for that entire part of the bottle (in my opinion).  The rest of the bottle wasn't too bad, but it was more fragile than I expected.

The third set of bags are 3 bags of 1x1 round translucent blue plate (there is probably a more technical term for these pieces so I'm sorry if I screwed it up).  The instructions say that you need to complete step 59 a total of 284 times.  I don't think I've ever seen a LEGO set have 284 steps on one page.  Thankfully it's easy to dump the pieces in.

The final set of bags completes the bottle and the base.  In the picture below you can see the top of the bottle.  It is pretty realistic looking and there is a 2x2 round tile with what would be a wax seal, but is printed with the initials of the LEGO designer who made the set (a nice touch in my opinion).

The base is also a great design.  There is a brick made compass below where the bottle rests, 2 globes on either side of the base, and the name of the ship which is Leviathan.  If you want to know where the name comes from, look up the philosopher from the 1600s named Thomas Hobbes.  He has a book with the same name.  My recommendation is to avoid the book and just build the set.

Here is the completed set.  I am very impressed with the final design and how it looks.  In my opinion, it is one of those sets that is worthy of display in your Brick Cave.

Final thoughts... get this set!  It's another great model from the Ideas range and it's definitely worth it.  The build is challenging, there are some great pieces to use if you plan to build something else with the pieces, and it really looks impressive when it's done.  What are your thoughts?

We Need Another LEGO Train! Any Good Ideas?

If you've read through many of my posts, you'd know that I'm a huge fan of LEGO trains and of creating cities around those train sets.  While LEGO has released a freight train and passenger train along with the CITY line every few years, it has been a while since they released a CREATOR EXPERT themed train.  Here's the history:
     -2009 - #10194 Emerald Night
     -2011 - #10219 - Maersk Train
     -2013 - #10233 - Horizon Express
Unfortunately, LEGO didn't follow the trend in 2015 or 2017.  I haven't seen anything official as to why.  If I had to guess, the train line wasn't profitable for them.  I get that they have to run a business, but it leaves us fans out of getting new sets every few years.  

So if you're like me, what are your choices?

You can build train MOCs of your own.  That's an obvious choices, but if you're like me and you're not the best builder in the world then it's not the best option.

The option I'm going for is getting the fan community to vote in a train on the LEGO Ideas platform.  If you're not familiar with it, here's how it works.  Fan builders submit their set designs to LEGO.  They can actually be built or can be built using a digital design tool.  Once uploaded, you get to post some information about the set you've built and why you think it's cool.  Then from there it's out there and people can vote on them.  If it gets 10,000 votes, LEGO considers it for a production run.  If it is selected, your set is sold, you get 1% of the earnings, and people get to buy it.  YAY!  

Here's what I think... we get some of the talented builders out there to post some awesome looking train designs and we vote them through.  Then hopefully LEGO will put one into production.  So what's out there?  I did a search through the LEGO IDEAS system and picked out a few you could vote for.

The first one is "US Train" by user "papat08" and it was posted in November 2017.  Here's a picture of what is being proposed.

It includes a diesel engine that can be modified to add a Power Functions motor, 3 intermodal rail cars with shipping containers, track with ballast, and a level crossing.  The engine is designed like a BNSF engine and is an improvement from set #10133 from back in 2007.  This set is pretty awesome in my books and I would gladly plunk down some funds to pick one up.  If you feel the same way, definitely go give it support.  At the time of this post it is at under 400 supporters, so a ways to go yet.

Another one is titled "Glacier Express" and was submitted by user "OrientExpress."  This one was posted in January 2017 and has over 400 supporters.  Here is what the user is proposing:

The set includes a steam powered engine that can be motorized with Power Functions and a passenger car along with some track.  It has some similarities to the Emerald Night set, but I like it.  Maybe an additional passenger car would help?

And finally... I've shown 2 trains so to switch things up a bit, user "Ymarilego" submitted a Chemical Plant idea on 15 January 2018.  It has over 2000 supporters at the time of this posting.

It includes a tank car with track, a tanker truck, and some pretty detailed chemical plant infrastructure along with a bunch of minifigures.  This one is another one to go out and support.

Let's bring another train set back to the Creator Expert line!  What are your thoughts?  Are there any other train sets out there I should go vote for?  

Set Review - #21310 - Old Fishing Store - LEGO Ideas

It took me too long to build this and then do the post.  Sorry...

Set #21310, the Old Fishing Store, was released on 2 September 2017 in the US.  The price is $149.99 in the US and with 2019 pieces it works out to be $0.073 per piece.  It is set number 18 in the LEGO Ideas line so let's get right to it.

Here is the box.  It's about the same size as the #21309 NASA Saturn V Rocket box.

Next up are the parts.  There are 7 sets of bags, a tan 36x36 stud base plate, an instruction book in plastic wrap, and some stickers.  While I'm not a huge fan of stickers, they weren't too bad to apply to the set.

The minifigs are all in the first set of bags.  There are 4 of them which includes 2 men, a woman, and a boy.  The 2 toned legs are something I don't recall seeing elsewhere.  I presume it is supposed to be that they are wearing boots.

The first set of bags for the build starts the base of the store.  Nothing too out of the ordinary.  A lot of brick stacking which included a number of 2x4 bricks which you don't see too often these days.  The hidden spider web is a fun touch.

The second set of bags puts in the floors to include the floor boards with printed textures on them.  I like how some of them are staggered and there are different colors used.  The tiles inside the store are a great color too.  Especially with the dark green that is used.

The third set of bags adds the start of the walls.  I'm a huge fan of the siding color choice.  The technique of angling tiles to show that they are starting to fall off as you would expect in an older wooden building near the sea is a great touch.  Anyway, this set of bags starts the details of the store and an office is built too with a desk, chair, and light with a newspaper.

The fourth part of the build just about completes the first floor of the set except for some of the details inside the store and the outer details.  It also includes the fencing around the deck outside.

The fifth set of bags completes most of the details of the store, starts to build up the roof, and completes some of the outer details to include some cases of lobster and fish.  You can see the store has fishing equipment, scuba diving equipment, some nets, and a few other items.  Yeah, a few of the items are dynamite.  I'm not sure why they'd be selling that at a store like this... who fishes with dynamite?

The sixth set of bags finishes the sidings and the roof.  The roof is creatively built with different colors of bricks, tiles, and printed tiles.  You can also see the addition of some seagulls.

The final set of bags completes the build.  The last detail is the watch tower about the office.  It includes a ladder to climb up, a telescope to look out, a flag, and a fun crab attached to the fencing around the deck of the tower.

My take on this set... it's a great build and you should get it.  It has lots of great pieces and uses some great building techniques.  At around 7 cents a piece it's not a bad deal despite the $150 price.  It's hard to say if a set like this will ever be discounted so look for opportunities to get double VIP points or one of the cool freebies LEGO gives out with purchases.  Typically the Ideas sets are around for a year or possibly a bit longer so get yours now before you have to pay a higher price on the secondary market.

Set Review - #21309 - NASA Apollo Saturn V - LEGO Ideas

The seventeenth LEGO Ideas set (has it been that many already) was released in the USA on 2 June 2017.  The NASA Apollo Saturn V has 1,969 pieces (after the year 1969 when the USA reached the moon).  Priced at $199.99 it works out to be $0.061 per piece (which is great).  It has been sold out multiple times since it was released.  I'm lucky to have snagged one before it was sold out again.  Onto the set review...

Here is the box.  The front shows the completed set with the NASA logo.  The back shows the different stages of the rocket along with a pictorial timeline from launch to moon landing.  

The set contains 12 parts bags and a thick instruction booklet.  Like other Ideas sets, the instruction booklet has information about the set design process and the Apollo Saturn V itself.  

Bag 1 starts off with the S-1C Stage (I had to go to the instruction booklet... I didn't actually know that off the top of my nugget).  For those of you who aren't space buffs, that's the bottom stage of the Saturn 5 with the giant rockets that lift the whole thing off the launch pad.  The use of SNOT techniques starts off with this stage.  It's pretty impressive that they didn't have to use all giant BURPs.  This part was probably the most fragile of the build.  It fell apart multiple times during the build.  Thankfully it held together and the rest of the build was pretty solid after that.  

Bag 2 added more to the S-1C stage.  One of the best parts of this build (in my opinion) was the printed bricks (curved slopes).  I couldn't imagine having to apply stickers to this entire set in all of the places it would have been required.  The printed curved slopes definitely make the set look more realistic and make it look sharper.

Bag 3 continues with the stage and making the outside round.  Besides curved slopes that say "U - S - A" there are also American flag curved slopes.

Bag 4 continues to round out the S-1C stage.

Bag 5 finalizes the rounding out of the stage.  The use of 1x2 white grill tiles to make it rounded is an interesting building technique.  That part gets a bit repetitive, but it helps add realism to the actual rocket.

Bag 6 adds the 5 F-1 engines with the use of the barrel pieces.  If you look at this set you can see where a brown version was used as a look out post for a Pirates set.  Interesting use of the same piece in black for a rocket.

Bag 7 is the S-II stage.  The build starts off the same way as the last stage with an inner shell.

Bag 8 continues on the S-II stage.  I am a huge fan of the 1x6 white printed tiles.  Thank you LEGO for not using stickers here.  

Build 9 finishes out the outer shell of the stage.  4 steps to finish out each side.  

Bag 10 completes the stage and the picture here shows it attached to the S-1C stage.

Bag 11 is the S-IVB stage.  You can see the J-2 engine in the picture of it alone and then the other picture is of it attached to the rest of the model.  It's definitely getting tall and harder to photograph (for a non-pro like me).

Bag 12 has numerous items.  Pictured here is the Lunar Module on the surface of the moon along with 4 astronaut figures.  It's pretty impressive the amount of detail the builder crammed in despite the size.  The 1x2 printed American flag tile is great that it is not a sticker, but I can see myself losing it someday based on how it is attached.  

Huge fan of the use of the gold colored pieces!

Here is the Command Service Module after landing in the ocean.  It has the flotation raft and balloons out (are those the technical terms?).  This part is a simple build and once again I'm glad there are not stickers. 

The last part is the instrument unit (on the bottom, but it's the top in the picture), The covering for the lunar module, service module, and command module, and then the tip called the launch escape system.  This part of the build was pretty easy, but the instruction booklet does a good job of showing how the actual rocket was set up.

Here's the full rocket (only I'm a bad photographer so you miss the very tip).  It comes with 3 stands so you can set the rocket on its side.  This also allows you to take the stages apart and display them separately.  To be fair, the design is sturdy enough that you can set it down on the bottom stage and it will not come apart (unless you knock it on the floor).

The verdict... AWESOME!  I highly recommend this set.  It was a great build with some nice detail and interesting building techniques.  The types of pieces used are pretty good too if you would want to take it apart.  The no stickers is a real bonus too.  The downside... it went on sale in the US, was sold out, was back in stock, and has been sold out for over a month again as of the posting of this review.  LEGO has not said whether they will add more to inventory or if it is done.  If you haven't purchased one and you want one, pick it up before it sells out again.  I'm glad I caught it when I did.  If LEGO doesn't release additional inventory, my guess is this set will jump up pretty quick on the secondary market.