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

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

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

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

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

Assembled/Zusammengebaut on YouTube

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

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

BrickLink Designer Program - Round 1

If you haven’t been keeping track, BrickLink is running another AFOL Designer program. This time they are going to take some of the projects from Ideas that reached 10,000 votes, but were not selected for production and try to crowd fund them. There have been a few updates to the program since it kicked off. First off, 5 of the 31 total projects have dropped out bringing us to 26 total. Secondly, BrickLink released some info on 12 May with a change to the program. Instead of one round of crowd funding, there will now be three rounds. Round one will kick off in July, round two in September, and round three in November. The info page lists how they broke the projects up. For each round, the first five projects to reach the goal will get built. So we’ll get 15 sets total versus 13 which is good. The downside is that program will take much longer to see sets.

So with that being said, let’s go through the projects in round 1. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or vote with your wallet starting 1 July 2021 on BrickLink.

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The Castle in the Forest
Designer: povoq (Daniel VAN ZONNEVELD, 37 years old, France)

If I had to predict the first set to gain crowd funding support, I’d have to say it would be this one. This one is just over 1,900 pieces and is inspired by the Forestmen theme from castle. It also includes a few Black Falcon Knight minifigures too along with a few animal figures. With the following behind castle and after seeing the demand for #21325-1: Medieval Blacksmith, I say this one will get made. I’m thinking it’ll be around $200.

You can see the designer video here.

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Sheriff’s Safe with Combination Lock
Designer: Il_Buono (Denmark)

Here is an original idea… a safe with combination lock. The safe can actually be built with a combination to open it. It will also come with printed/stickered tiles which you can put in the brick built book to remind you of the combo. Of course, it is brick built so you can just take take the safe apart too. It also comes with a few other accessories both inside and outside. I think it’s a fun set, but it will only appeal to certain people. I’m not sure it will have the draw of some other sets. It’s at around 550 pieces so I’m guessing maybe $60? We’ll see how this one does.

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LEGO Observatory Mountain View
Designer: ThomasW_BL

Here’s another original idea that fits in with the CITY theme, the projects related to space exploration, and maybe the modulars. This one has some great play features and some fun details inside. Not sure how many pieces this one is so I can’t give a cost estimate. I like this one and hope it gets picked up for crowd funding. We’ll see if everyone else likes it.

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Particle Accelerator
Designer: JKBrickworks

I’ll be honest… I saw this one and was not impressed. And then I watched the video… I didn’t realize that this one had movement. You put the ball in and it keeps it going around the round track. I could see this set appealing to the GBC crowd. It’s pretty fun, but I wonder how the price will be if the motor and battery pack are included. At ~1,500 pieces right now and then throwing in a motor and battery pack. Are we talking a $200 set? Either way, JKBrickworks did an awesome job on this one.

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The Legend of Bionicle
Designer: Sokoda

So I’m not the biggest fan of Bionicle… I will say that there seems to be a large fan base for Bionicle pushing for its return. While this isn’t at the top of my list, there probably is a group out there that would like to see this. While it is not in the original form of Bionicle, a System brick tribute may work. I’ll be curious to see where this one ends up during crowd funding. I’m sure LEGO will as well as it will be a good test run for them as to whether they should do something with Bionicle again.

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Pursuit of Flight
Designer: JKBrickworks

Here’s another entry from JKBrickworks. This one has some mechanical movement, but is turned by hand versus a motor. You can see the video here. The set is expected to be around 500 pieces and will have three different aircraft that you can set on it. I’m hoping this comes in at $40. I think this one will appeal to a wide audience and lends itself to customization either with different aircraft, different genres (Star Wars maybe), or something completely different. I’m looking forward to seeing this one get produced.

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The Great Fishing Boat
Designer: EdouardClo

The history of LEGO doesn’t have a lot of ships if you pull out the CITY versions. There are the Maersk ships, but beyond that this would be another one. This is definitely a display piece with just under 1,500 pieces, but might look great on a dock with #21310-1: Old Fishing Store. I like the ship and think there are some great details, but I’m not sure there will be a fan base for this ship. We’ll have to see what the pricing is and what the final design will be.

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Kakapo
Designer: themfledge

We had a LEGO Ideas birds set a few years back and this is a come back with another detailed bird with a baby bird and a few accessories for fun. I think it’s a cool design, but I’m not really sure what I would do with a bird other than take it apart to use the pieces. That’s just me though. There might be a fan base from the New Zealand area or just bird and wildlife lovers in general. I think this one is a wild card. It could do really well… or not so much…

Set Review - #10278-1: Police Station - 18+ - Modular Buildings Collection

It’s an annual event for LEGO. They announce the modular building in the fall and it comes out in the January timeframe. Or at least that has been the recent way it has worked. This year’s set is a Police Station as the main piece with a small donut shop and news stand on either side. The set contains 2,923 pieces and 5 minifigures. The US retail price is $199.99 which works out to $0.068 per piece. This set came out on 2 January 2021 in the US and went out of stock rather quickly. I wasn’t able to get it until April and am just getting to the review now. Before I do that, here’s the link to the Designer Video if you’re interested.

The box is black with the 18+ graphics. While I like the 18+ graphics, I don’t like the black background. It makes the set seem dark and dreary in my opinion. The front shows the full up set with a logo in the upper left corner stating this set is part of the modular building collection. I like how they’ve finally acknowledged the subtheme in writing and hope it continues.

The back shows the set next to #10270-1: Bookshop. The two look pretty good together and you could easily picture seeing them on a real street. It also has a graphic of the building showing the dimensions of the model and then how the completed build is assembled in sections. On the bottom of the back are a few snap shots of inner details.

The box contains another parts box and then the bags numbered 1, 4 through 9, 13 and 14. Opening the separate box reveals the remaining parts bags. In total, there are 24 parts bags numbered 1 through 14, a grey 32x32 base plate, a grey 16x16 plate, two nougat 8x16 plates, and the instruction booklet. The instruction booklet is wrapped for protection which is prevents damage.

The instruction book contains one page of details about the set and designer.

Really LEGO? Only the best is good enough… except for these pages of instructions. Need to get quality control on these. $199 for smeared instructions. I don’t think so.

So if you missed it, LEGO announced it would be doing away with the black background instructions. Thank goodness. The dark brown pieces are very hard to see. At least the black pieces have white outlines, but the brown ones have black outlines. Unless you have the light just so, you can’t see the pieces!

I thought these computer models of the modular buildings all lined up looked pretty cool. Can you pick out all of the different modulars?

When will they do a re-release of the Green Grocer or Market Street?

Onto the build… Bags one and two assemble the base. While the donut shop starts immediately, the police station has a foundation and is raised up slightly. This allows the inclusion of steps and an attempt for a prisoner to tunnel out of the jail cell using the hidden spoon placed below the cell.

The news stand includes some papers with printed stories related to the set. Thankfully, no stickers!

The third bag almost completes the donut shop featuring a decent display of donuts available. I like the use of the collectible minifigure poseable piece (not sure the official name) to angle the donut display shelves) This bag also includes the donut shop worker with a coffee pot to carry around. Additional details include a water cooler for the police station, and furniture for the jail cell (toilet and bench).

The fourth bag adds in stairs to the police station. A new design is used and I am a fan of the SNOT techniques used. I’m glad it’s not just the big stair piece seen in other sets. A piece of furniture is added along with a window in the back and more of the wall sections. Over to the donut shop, there is a fun front façade with a stripped awning and the donut tiles.

Build five completes the front facade for both the police station and donut shop. The donut shop includes some vines that will eventually go up the whole building. The police station has doors, some lights, a sign and some SNOT work to create the architectural designs. It isn’t overly complicated, but it does look pretty sharp. This bag includes a police officer with a radio.

Bag six finishes up the news stand, the jail cell, the top of the walls for the first level, and adds some shrubs out front of the police station. The sidewalk gets a bench and a street lamp.

The bags numbered seven start the second floor. This floor has a base and then starts to build up the second floor of the police station to include a spot to take pictures of criminals. There is also a small apartment above the donut shop with a bed, dresser, and fire escape. To add to the story, the bed flips up to reveal a hole where the donut thief can try and reach down to get free treats.

The eighth bag continues to build up floor 2 with higher walls, and it just about finishes up the small apartment. There is a door out to the fire escape and then a window with decorations around it and some greenery. The police station side has some windows added in.

Build nine includes another level of steps similar to the previous floor. No railing so be careful on the way up! This floor contains two desks, a small plant, and an investigation map on the wall. Another police officer is included in this bag. This one has some handcuffs.

The tenth bag finishes up the front façade of the police station side. It is similar in design to the first floor only it has windows versus doors and dark blue shades over the windows. The plants that started by the donut shop continue their way up the building on the second floor.

Bag 11 tops off the donut shop and studio apartment. Then then starts the third level of the police station. The plants crawling up the side of the building continue onto the top in this build.

The twelfth bag adds more to the police station with the start of an interrogation room with some sort of recording device on the wall. There is also a small bathroom next to the room. I think this is this first official set with two bathrooms.

Through a door in the hallway leads to an evidence room. There are some gems, tools used by a crook, and a hat. The top of this small room comes off fairly easy for access.

This bag includes the female police chief minifigure sporting her warm beverage mug.

Build 13 finishes off the third floor with the finishing of the front façade. The corners of the police station match the lower floors and then there are columns added between the windows. There is a bird eating a donut on the window sill and there is a window air conditioner for the bathroom. You can’t see it in the picture, but there is also a table and 2 chairs in the interrogation room.

Bag 14 completes the roof. Above the apartment/donut shop is a small water tower. The police station roof has some toping off designs on the front. It includes a new piece that I have not seen before. Brickset.com calls it “Animal Head No. 15.” There is also an antenna which I assume is tied to the police radio system.

Pictured later, but added here is an ad on the side of the building. It’s for the laundromat from #10251-1: Brick Bank. This is a fun little reference to an earlier set. Thankfully, it is printed on and not a sticker.

Before wrapping this review up, there are 5 minifigures in this set. Modular sets used to have the old standard minifigure faces with just 2 dots for eyes and a line for a mouth. I think the facial expressions help to add some detail to the set. The police look stern while the donut shop employee looks pleasant. The last one I didn’t mention is the news stand worker. He comes with a news paper, a small over the shoulder bag, and a cap. He also had a device to try and fish for donuts from the apartment above the shop.

The set is built around a story with the police trying to find the donut thief while the donut thief keeps getting away. It’s a fun addition to the set I guess, but not overly exciting to me. My preference would be to have more bricks put into the building of additional detail into the set over adding bricks to keep up with a storyline. But that’s just my opinion…

To finish things up, here are a few shots of the completed set without the minifigures. You can get a good look at the two 6x6 tiles advertising the laundromat. You can also see the plants growing up the side of the building which is a cool build. Overall it’s a good looking building. It has some good build techniques and I think it mixes in well with some of the previous modulars. There are some good pieces for MOC builders too with a lot of sand green and the light purple-ish color of the donut shop. I will admit that this is not my favorite one that has ever been done, but probably not the worst either. To me, it’s somewhere in the middle.

The price of this one is a penny under $200 so not helpful there, but at least the price per piece isn’t too bad. If you’re into the modulars, look for double VIP point opportunities or cool gift with purchase opportunities. It is hard to get sales on these, so good luck there. I suspect this one will be out for at least another year plus so don’t panic if you haven’t found it in stock when you were looking.

Happy building!

Set Review - #71030 - Looney Tunes - Collectible Minifigures

It’s been a bit since we’ve had a new Collectible Minifigure series and now we have the first licensed series of 2021. This one is based on Looney Tunes with a pending release of a 2021 movie. There are 12 minifigures in this series in line with Series 21. This series cost $4.99 per bag in the US which is in line with previous pricing. This series came out on in the US on 26 April 2021.

Overall, the characters are mostly non-standard with only one having a standard minifigure head. The remaining ones have molded heads. For the most part they look pretty good and like the cartoon characters. If you’re a fan of Looney Tunes, then I recommend them. Or if you’re a completionist and addicted to collecting LEGO minifigures. Otherwise, the almost $5 for a minifigure is still a bit high in my opinion. I found them for $3.95 each locally so I can’t complain.

The only thing interesting about this series is the violence of the characters. It’s interesting that LEGO and their non-violent stance would do this series. Especially with the characters that have various weapons to go after each other. Interesting…

Onto the review…

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Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat are known for going after each other. In this case, Tweety has a large hammer (that can cause the minifigure to tip over if you don’t position it right) and Sylvester has a bat. Tweety is slightly smaller while Sylvester is larger so that works. Sylvester is pretty accurate and I can see where it would be hard for Tweety to be actual size in the LEGO scale.

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Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote are two other enemies with Wile E. going after Road Runner in every sketch. Road Runner is a bit larger in scale than the skinny bird from the cartoon, but it works. I’m not sure what the bowl is that he has with him. Wile E. is pretty accurate and I like the brick built anvil that he has to attempt to drop on Road Runner.

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Petunia Pig… I don’t remember seeing her ever in one of the cartoons. Maybe she’s new? She comes with a teapot and cup. The bag actually comes with two cups.

Porky Pig looks like the cartoon pig with his blue jacket. I like the “that’s all folks” sign.

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Daffy Duck looks pretty accurate and the “rabbit season” sign is fun.

Tasmanian Devil comes with a drum stick and pie. He also has a little spinner plate so you can spin him around like he does when he enters a room. He can also be placed on the usual minifigure stand.

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Marvin the Martian comes with his helmet, eyes peaking out from under the helmet, and his ray gun. I almost missed the little skirt thing in the bag, but it fits right in…

Speedy Gonzales looks pretty accurate and comes with some cheese slopes that are decorated like cheese.

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Last 2 minifigures…

Lola Bunny is… I had to look her up. I guess she’s from the first “Space Jam” movie. I hadn’t heard of her before, but there you go…

Bugs Bunny looks like the classic Bugs. He has the typical carrot that we’re used to seeing him with.

Set Review - #10275-1: Elf Club House - Winter Village - 18+

It’s late April and I’m just reviewing the 2020 Winter Village set… late, yeah I know. It went on sale on 24 September 2020 and quickly sold out and stock levels are just starting to come back. I managed to pick this one locally. It was on sale for $89.95 so I can’t complain. The US retail price is $99.99. With 1,197 pieces, it works out to $0.084/piece.

Let’s dig into the set. The set is branded 18+ with the packaging similar to other 18+ sets. The title is on the front along with the full built set picture. The back shows some details of the set along with the back of the set. One difference with this set is that it lists it on the front as the “Winter Village Collection.” I think this is the first reference we’ve seen in packaging of the Winter Village Theme being an actual theme. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the dark packaging. It doesn’t give off the Christmas cheer and brightness of lights. It looks like the elves live in darkness. Not very merry.

The contents are 11 parts bags with two instruction booklets packaged up with a small sheet of stickers. There are only bags numbered one to five, but each number has at least two bags with number two having three.

Here are the instructions and stickers. There are two instruction booklets. Number one goes with bag one and builds all of the smaller accessories to the set. Number two builds the club house itself. No special features or information about the designer in this one.

Only five stickers for this set so I can’t complain too much. While I’d prefer there to be zero stickers, these add a bit of detail to the set and were fairly easy to attach.

The first set of bags builds a number of items. Elf number one is the only elf to come with a scarf. This elf has only one expression.

Like most other Winter Village themed sets, this one comes with a Christmas tree. Each year it seems it is built slightly different and this year is no exception. I like how this one was done. It’s small, but seems pretty proportional while still capturing what a real tree could look like. The star on top is pretty big, but I can’t complain there. Not bad.

This set also comes with a sleigh and a reindeer to pull it. This is the first time there is a molded reindeer versus a brick built one. It looks pretty good to me. I’m sure these are going for a premium on BrickLink with lots of people looking to build full up teams of reindeer to pull Santa’s sleigh. The sleigh itself is small and can only fit one minifigure with no sack of toys. It also has flames coming out the back.

Additional items are two wrapped gifts, a toy plane, a toy ship, a small piano, and an old school desktop computer. The choice of small gifts are interesting considering some are similar to sets that came out in 2020 and 2021 to include the gift with purchase for Amelia Earhart’s plane, #31109-1: Pirate Ship, and #21323-1: Grand Piano. If you watch the Designer Video, you’ll learn about the computer around the 3:15 mark.

The second build starts the club house. Like most recent builds, it doesn’t use a base plate, but instead uses a bunch of white plates attached together.

The first floor seems a bit small in my opinion. I was expecting it to be a bit larger for the price tag, but maybe my assessment was wrong. The first floor contains a small breakfast eating area with two seats and place settings, a counter with a pitcher and mug, and then a gift wrapping station. The outside is a nougat color mostly. There are three windows and then the door is brick built to fit pretty snuggly while still keeping in mind what you would expect for an elf house. The clock is installed in this build, but more on that later.

The third set of bags assembles the second floor. The outside has a nice window design with brown tiles as accents. The build itself has a lot of sand green for those of you who are fans of that color. There is also a small wreath using the rounded 1x2 plates and some tiles.

Inside is a sleeping area for three elves, a small dresser, a chair, and small table with a light. There is a tile with a sticker above the bed that is a December calendar.

If you watched the designer video earlier or you’ve seen other reviews, you know that you can turn the clock and it causes the bed to tip to the side slightly. Since the elf minifigures are made with the small legs, they do not have stud holes on the backs of their legs so they don’t permanently attach to the bunk beds. Then they all fall out to the floor or the ground floor. Cute? Maybe. Did we really need this? No. Is this an 18+ set or an 8+ set? Or is the intent for families to enjoy this set? My preference would be to spend the extra bricks on details for the set and get away from the play feature. At least that’s what I want out of an 18+ set.

The fourth set of bags adds the roof, some Christmas lights, a small deck with a telescope, a tree out front, and a pole with directional signage (using stickers). I like the roof design and I think the piece usage is fairly simple to achieve some interesting angles for the build.

While not pictured in this review, you install the light brick at the apex of the roof. There is a Technic axle that you put pressure on which hits the light brick. That then lights up the club house. Most Winter Village sets have a light brick and I think it works with this set too.

This bag comes with an elf with a red megaphone. The elf has a smiling face and then a face that looks like he/she is not quite sure about things.

The last set of bags adds a chimney that is the height of the roof. It is added in the back of the building on a hinge so you can fold it in or turn it out. There is a small stocking about halfway up. If you watched the designer video, this chimney includes the waffle machine. You insert the 1x1 round printed tiles into the slot, move the 1x4 tile arm, and a waffle piece falls out onto a pan. Then you can tip the pan out to feed an elf. A clever design for playability, but again, an 18+ set? Maybe LEGO has done their research and the 18+ crowd wants playability in the Winter Village theme over design and build features…

The last elf minifigure is in this set of bags. It has a smile one one side and then the other side has eyes closed and mouth open. Maybe the elf is enjoying waffles or singing, or perhaps laughing.

So that’s it. The pictures below show the full set. It’s not a bad build with some fun techniques, good parts usage, and some good colors. The design isn’t all that thrilling and it seems a bit too much like last year’s Gingerbread House (#10267-1) in that it is a themed house for a group of characters to live in. I think we need to expand the line or call it a day. While it has been a great theme, we seem to be running out of new ideas for different buildings. There have been a few in the fan community via Ideas like a ski lodge or a chalet. We just need LEGO to pick one of these different ideas up.

I’m glad I found the set for $10 off as often these are hard to find on sale. Keep looking or find opportunities to use other methods to get discounts or Gifts with Purchase. If you’re a fan of the Winter Village line and haven’t picked this one up, I wouldn’t be in a huge rush unless you just have to have it for your collection. It was just middle of the road for me.

Happy building!

Set Review - #10295-1: Porsche 911 - Targa - 18+

Last week I posted my review of the Porsche 911 - Turbo. This week is the Targa build. Having multiple builds is a cool addition to a Creator Expert/18+ type set. As mentioned in the last review, bags one through seven are the same for both vehicles. The differences come after that. For the Targa, you select the parts in bags eight and ten. If you already have the Turbo built like I did, you have to look through the instructions a bit to determine what parts to remove as there are no instructions for how to get from one vehicle to another. This might be a bit of a challenge for non-experienced builders, but if you build sets regularly, it shouldn’t be too hard.

I removed the rear axle, all of the wheels, the engine, the rear wheel cowling, the top of the car from the front wind shield back, and some of the supports for the rear windows of the vehicle.

And here’s what you come up with…

The car is a convertible with a black top that can be removed. The rear windows are slightly different as it uses a bunch of 1x2x5 clear bricks and then a clear rounded wall element of the same length.

The rear wheel cowlings are curved tiles similar to the front of the vehicle versus the curved slope bricks used in the Turbo. Also, the rims are a gray color versus the black in the Turbo.

Here’s a closer view of the front and back of the vehicle. The back replaced the “Turbo” printed piece with a “Targa” printed piece. Another useful function, you can put the convertible top into the trunk in the front. It fits perfectly and doesn’t cause issues with it closing.

The engine compartment in the back looks different. I couldn’t tell you what the real differences are between the two vehicles so I’m not going to try and describe the brick changes using engine terms. I initially removed all of the Turbo engine components when building the Targa, but you don’t have to. So look at the instructions before you tear everything out.

Not separate to this build, but I didn’t call them out in my last review are the license plates. The set comes with an American plate with New York branding (yellow in upper left of my picture). It has Mike Psiaki’s (lead LEGO designer) trademark plate, only it has a 3 versus the 2 in the last vehicle. The bottom left plate is Japanese and has the set number. The two right plates are German with the “S” being Stuttgart, Germany where the Porsche plant is located.

I’m a fan of both builds although I think I may like the Turbo better… not sure why. To display it, I’ll probably have it in the Turbo configuration. Or you can buy two and display both (I don’t plan on that).

If you’re into the LEGO 18+ vehicle line, I recommend this set. The base vehicle and the two alternate builds are worth it. I look forward to seeing what modifications the fan community makes to these.

Happy building!

Set Review - #10295-1: Porsche 911 - Turbo - 18+

The former Creator Expert theme and now 18+ has had a number of vehicles. While I have not purchased them all, the last one I reviewed was #10265-1: Ford Mustang. On 17 February 2021, they released the next vehicle in the line, #10295-1: Porsche 911. It retails for $149.99 in the US. I contains 1,458 pieces and works out to $0.103 per piece.

So let’s see what this one has to offer…

The box has the 18+ branding with various gray pieces printed on the bottom. The rest of the box is black with the Porsche logo on the bottom right and “911” in the upper left. The front shows the Turbo version. The bag shows a larger version of the Targa. Then it shows some of the up close details of both vehicles.

The set contains 11 numbered bags. One for each number with two numbered five. Then there is one bag not numbered with some larger pieces. The instructions are bagged up like most of the larger sets.

The first bag includes a piece separator and starts to build the base of the vehicle. It uses a lot of Technic pieces and pins to establish the base/frame.

The second bag adds some of the rear structure to the car to include the start of the wheel well area. It also starts the structure that will hold up the rear windshield area. The main section you see is the rear bench seat. I had to look it up, but the color is called Dark Orange according to Brickset.com which makes it look like it could be a leather seat.

The rear of the vehicle really starts to take shape in bag three. The main body shape is added pretty smoothly with some different angled pieces. In the back, there is a tile with the “Porsche” name printed on it and then two 1x2 clear tiles with the brake lights printed on. And I’m super glad these weren’t stickers as I wouldn’t have placed them that straight. Additionally, they added in a larger orange bow brick that makes the turn signals up. I think this is the first time LEGO has used a piece like this versus using cheese slopes or translucent bricks/plates. I like how smooth it makes the car look and how it fits right in with the curves of the vehicle.

A few other small details… you can see the the exhaust pipe underneath the driver’s side, rear of the car and then on the rear of the car you can see where the license plate can hook on.

The fourth bag adds in the driver and passenger seats. Both seats are dark orange for the head rests and then the outer seat sides. The inside portions of the seats is a medium nougat color and it is built with textured bricks. The seats are anchored in the front on the bottom and then rotate forward so a passenger can squeeze into the back seat area of the two door vehicle. In-between the seats is a parking/emergency brake handle.

The fifth bag builds out the front bumper, what will end up as the bottom of the trunk in the front, the front axle, the gearing to make the front wheels turn when you turn the steering wheel, the steering column, and a shifter to change the transmission (which is really just for show). The front turn signals are a piece that I think is new. I couldn’t find it listed on the Brickset.com site for this set. It’s a 1x3x2 brick curved slope/bow, but unlike the back of the vehicle, this one is a full piece and it is translucent orange.

I didn’t do a direct comparison, but the steering column seems to be fairly similar to the Ford Mustang. Nothing overly special here, but I’m glad they added this bit of functionality.

Last bit to comment on here… you get a large black slope as the bottom of the front trunk. At first I couldn’t figure out why this piece went there, but it makes sense when you go to build the Targa version.

The sixth bag adds in both doors, the front dashboard, and the front windshield. The doors match the shape and curvature of the rest of the vehicle. There is a slight gap when you close the door, but nothing that I am overly concerned about as it isn’t super noticeable. One advantage over the Ford Mustang is the side mirrors. Instead of being clipped on, they used a 3x3 brick plate with bow (also not on Brickset.com). That piece is white and then a translucent clear 1x2 plate is added on for the “glass.” This makes the mirror solid and keeps it from flopping around like on the Mustang if say one of your kiddos decided to drive the vehicle around on the floor.

The dashboard is the same dark orange color as the seat. It has a few printed pieces for dials to add a bit of realism.

The windscreen is in #10271-1: Fiat 500 and #10272: Old Trafford - Manchester United. It’s a 1x10x4 screen and it’s pretty sizeable, but gets the job done. It’s installed at an angle to achieve the slope of the windshield.

Bag 7 is the last of the common bags before you have to split off and decide which version of the car to build first. It adds the front of the vehicle to include the hood and headlights. Nothing overly complicated here with this part of the build. I’m a big fan of the printed Porsche logo for the hood versus using a sticker. Given my poor sticker applying skills, this would have been off center or slightly crooked so I’m glad they printed it.

The use of the clear radar dish for the headlights works well. I’m glad they attached then with a shaft/pin type piece instead of using the stud in the back. It makes it stay on a lot better and I think it helped to achieve the angle much better than trying to align a stud to that angle.

Now you have to decide whether you want to build the Turbo or the Targa. The instructions tell you that you need bags 8 and 9 for the Turbo and bags 8 and 10 for the Targa. I went with the Turbo version first.

You build the roof which is held on in the front by 1x1 clips. If you are going to display the car, then no big deal, but if you plan to play with the car, be careful as it falls off pretty easily (when your kid plays with it).

The engine is installed as well. I’m not smart enough to know what all the pieces are, but the engine in this one is different than what goes in the Targa. You then add the trunk with the rear spoiler (if that’s what it’s called). The rear also had a 2x2 bow piece with the word “Turbo” printed on it.

The rear axle is added along with the rear wheel well and coverings. A larger white, curved bow piece is used to achieve the outer wheel well which is a nice touch.

As shown in the pictures, you can open and close the doors, hood, and trunk. Along with the steering wheel functionality, this isn’t bad for a non-Technic set.

Overall, I enjoyed the build. It has some great piece usage and techniques and it’s an added bonus that there are pieces and instructions for two cars (second car design will be reviewed next week). This isn’t the first Porsche LEGO has done, but it’s a nice middle ground between the larger Technic Porsche from 2016 and the smaller Speed Champions version.

The price is a bit high if you consider piece count. To be fair, there are some larger pieces and no stickers (all printing) so maybe that’s why. If you are looking to pick this one up, look for Double VIP points or a good Gift with Purchase opportunity like I did from Shop @ Home. Don’t forget the cash back sites like Rakuten either.

Happy building!

Set Review - #21325-1: Medieval Blacksmith - LEGO® Ideas

I was not a big Castle theme fan as a kid, although I did have a few small sets. I recall having a few knights, a glow in the dark ghost, and some horses. I was definitely impressed when I saw #21325-1: Medieval Blacksmith be released as Ideas set #33. I was not a day one buyer when it was released on 2 February 2021, but I grabbed one when it was available with a good gift with purchase. This set retails for $149.99 in the US. With 2,164 pieces it works out to $0.069 per piece which isn’t bad.

My set box got a bit beat up in shipping, but I can’t complain. The front shows the full set with all of the minifigures. The back shows off some of the details of the set. The box is branded as 18+ as well. The back, upper left shows how the set is built like a modular in that you can remove the different levels and the roof to have access to the internal details. The back also points out that a light brick is included.

Before moving on, I’ll just say I’m not sure the light brick really adds anything to this build. I think we could have done without it and saved a few dollars on the set or added another minifigure or two in. As an 18+ set, I don’t think most adults like the play feature of being able to turn the light on and off. My preference would be to rig the set up with LED lights instead. That’s just my opinion though. Thoughts?

The set contains 14 numbered parts bags, a 15th bag without a number that contains some of the larger parts, and the instruction book is wrapped up. This set contains zero stickers. WHOOHOO!!!

Like most of the Ideas sets, this one contains information about the fan designer and LEGO designers in the beginning before you move onto the build.

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I lumped bags one and two together as they both start on the base of the build. Bag one builds the base plate area. I like how LEGO has gotten away from just using a base plate and had switched to using plates of different shapes and sizes to achieve the desired design. It adds in some curves as well which is nice. Bag one comes with the blacksmith minifigure and a husky dog figure.

Bag two adds to the base. The blacksmith’s shop starts to form, the stairs to the second level are started, you get more foliage around the outside, and the area where the water well will be is built up slightly.

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The third bag builds up the blacksmith’s shop. Besides the walls getting higher, the kiln is built with the light brick. A brick built blower is used to trigger the light which was a clever idea.

On the outside, there is a small garden with a few pumpkin like vegetables growing. Nearby is a bone for the dog.

The inside has a shield and some armor hanging on the wall that you can assume the blacksmith created.

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The fourth bag mostly finishes up the blacksmith shop. On the inside, you get a bunch of tools, some extra “material” to use for tools, a completed helmet, an anvil to work on, and a brick built door with some printed wood patterned tiles. The outside has another anvil and then a barrel of swords that either need work or were finished.

I like what is done on the outside with the mixture of bricks, tiles, and textured bricks to create the medieval style of architecture. The use of brown to show wooden supports is also cool. This is especially apparent on the side with the veggie garden.

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The fifth bag adds a female archer with bow, arrow, and quiver of arrows.

For this build, the biggest part is the apple tree. It’s a different type of tree than we have seen before and I like how they did it. At first I was confused as to where it was going, but it all came together, and I think it looks good with the lime green and green leaf pieces along with the red apples.

You also top off the water well with a small roof over the well and a bucket nearby.

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The sixth bag starts the second floor. This starts work on the kitchen and includes a beverage barrel with tap, a table, a butter churn, and a stove. The stove is in line with the rest of the chimney area on the building and it fits together well.

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The seventh bag continues floor two. You get some brick built chairs which are larger than most we are used to seeing, but actually fit minifigures. You also get some food on the table and there are candles on the wall. On the other side of the kitchen, you finish off the stove area and add in a pot holder attached to the wall. You also get a food preparation area where you get a few tools and a carrot with a section cut off.

On the outer section, you get a small awning with roof pieces and a sign for the blacksmith shop. The sign is printed on a tile. No stickers. YAY!

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Bag eight wraps up the second floor. Besides finishing off the walls and adding windows, you get the brown tiles on the outside which make it look like wood boards. Having been around Europe, I have seen houses with this look and I think the designers did a great job capturing that style of build.

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Bag nine starts the third floor which is the bedroom area. It is mostly the floor with the start of supports for the roof. There is a brick build animal rug on the floor which is a cool design. There is also an area for writing to include a quill and a tile with printing. There is also a chest with a compass and backpack. This is a reference to fan designer Clemens Fiedler and his passion for hiking and being outdoors.

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Bags 10 and 11 add in some more supports, a small window outcrop, a bed with a fun patterned blanket, and more roof support pieces.

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The 12th bag adds one side of the roof and another window outcropping. The roof pieces are blue, dark blue, and black. There is also some sand green as moss. I have seen a few complaints about the roof and how it was built in other reviews, but I am a fan. I like the coloring and use of tiles and bricks. As I’ve heard from other reviews, feel free to use your own brick stash to adjust the roof if you aren’t a fan of how it was designed.

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The 13th bag completes the roof. On the previous side, you add in the chimney which is in line with the stove on the second floor and blacksmith area on the first floor. The other side of the roof is built in a similar way, but with a few different details. There are some missing tiles where you can see exposed “wood” and then more “moss” on the bottom edge of the roof.

At the top of the peak, there is more sand green and then some brown pieces to complete the top.

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Bag 14 provides two knights. One is an older male with armor, a sword, and a shield. The other is a female with a battle ax and armor. They both come with hair pieces and then helmets.

Additionally you build a horse and carriage. The horse can either be attached to the carriage or you can add in a brick and tile to fill up the space so the horse doesn’t look too weird with the carriage attached.

The carriage comes with an additional shield, a plastic molded bag, and a lantern attached to the carriage. The horse can turn so the carriage turns too. The wheels remain in the same position, but the horse can pivot.

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Here is the final build with the full assembled building. While I have to admit I like the fan design better, I can’t complain about this design. It definitely has the medieval style of architecture and would look great in a castle styled scene. It makes me want to expand to set into a scene… how many times have I said that before? I need more time for building… what is this stupid work thing I have to go to?

Overall, I highly recommend this set. It’s a great build of a great theme of LEGO past. Not sure it will ever go for a discount, but look for opportunities to get a cool gift with purchase, double VIP points, or other bonuses if you want to pick this set up.

Happy building!

Set Review - #21323-1: Grand Piano - LEGO® Ideas

It took a while, but I was finally able to get Ideas set #31. In case you aren’t aware, LEGO now has the ability to set up email notices on Shop @ Home to let you know when an item is back in stock. I got the notice this set was back in stock and by the time I checked, it was already on backorder. I placed my order and was entered into the backorder line. I had saved up VIP points so this $349.99 priced set in the US only cost me $50. With 3,662 pieces, at the full retail price it works out to $0.096 per piece. The release date was 2 August 2020 and this set has spent a lot of time listed as out of stock on Shop @ Home in the US. As of the writing of this post, it is still out of stock. Keep an eye out for it if this is one that you’d really like to pick up.

Onto the review…

The set showed up as a box within a box. While it makes it a bit heavier, it helps to protect the set box. At $350, you definitely want your set to show up looking pristine so I’ll take the extra packaging. For reference, the sticker on my set box shows that it was made in January 2021 in the Mexico production plant.

When I opened the box up, the set was placed with the bottom facing up. After taking the set box out and finally opening it, the internals include a number of bags of parts and then another box with more parts bags inside.

Backing up… forgot to mention the box itself. The front shows the full set with the name in fancy lettering. It highlights that it is an Ideas set and is #31. The bottom right has the Powered Up logo. It definitely gives the set a classier look as opposed to most sets. This set also as the 18+ branding on it.

The back shows the piano in a theater or concert hall. It also shows the piano with the top closed and highlights the Powered Up functions.

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Onto the contents. There are 19 bags once you open the set. It is bags 10 through 21 and then 5. Opening up the other box reveals 33 numbered bags, three un-numbered parts bags, a long Technic axle, three 6x16 tan plates, and then the instruction book which is wrapped.

The instruction book contains some information about the model, about the fan designer (Donny Chen), and some information about the LEGO Designers Woon Tze Chee and Steen Sig Andersen. Throughout the instructions, there are numerous quotes about music scattered throughout. There are 563 pages in the instruction book if you count the back cover. So get ready!

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There are 21 sets of numbered bags. Instead of going through them all one by one, I’m going to try and group them together to get you through the set quicker. Builds 1 and 2 assemble the main base of the piano and then add in the Powered Up battery box, motor, and sensor. It also adds the gears that will eventually make the keys move in self-play mode.

Seeing the size of this section of the build makes it clear how big the piano is going to be when you’re done.

Of note, one of my bags numbered one was opened when I opened the box and the pieces were all over the place. I ended up not having one piece. Not sure where it was lost, but I was able to account for it from my parts stash. I wrote LEGO about it, but never heard back. Hopefully my issue was a one off and not a repeat for multiple people.

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Builds 3 and 4 add in the Technic elements that will connect to the hammers that hit the strings. Adding them became a bit repetitive, but it wasn’t too bad. After that, you add a top layer which covers the Powered Up elements. Thankfully, you can still access them very easily so don’t worry about them being stuck in there and having to take the model apart to get to them.

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Build 5 adds more to the top section and then expands on the outer black cover of the piano.

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Build 6 and 7 step away from the first section of the build. You move onto the front of the piano which is added to the rest of the piano next.

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Build 8 adds the section built in 6 and 7 and adds some pieces to round out the front. Additionally, it adds the “strings” to the piano. Definitely a lot of gold colored pieces in this build.

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Build 9 finishes up the outer shell/covering of the piano. I’m impressed how they captured all of the angles without making large gaps. You’ll notice from the picture that you add a door to the shell. This allows you to easily access the battery box to turn it on/off or switch out batteries as needed. Smart thinking!

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Build 10 adds the legs to the piano which are all on wheels that can change direction as you need to roll your piano into the appropriate space. It also adds the pedals to the piano. Only one of the pedals actually has a function which is the far right “damper” pedal. Pressing the pedal will eventually lift up the dampers so that your note or notes continue to vibrate instead of stopping when the damper hits it (or at least mimicking the function of what a real damper pedal would do).

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Builds 11, 12, 13, and 14 build the keyboard. There are 10 black keys and 15 white keys. They all move independently. This section of the build is a bit repetitive, but not too bad. Just make sure you follow the directions carefully or you may build the keys incorrectly and they won’t fit together. You also have to make sure all of the pieces line up evenly. Otherwise, if a 1x1 is slightly angled, it will rub against one of the adjacent keys and cause it to not work as freely.

Build 11

Build 13

Build 12

Build 14

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Build 15 has you install the keyboard. The instructions just show you placing the keys in and really there are no attachments. It is fairly easy to remove the keyboard if required. You build a sub assembly, if you want to call it that, which is attached via Technic axles. You remove the axles, slide the sub assembly out, and then you can pull the keyboard out.

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Build 16 is the cover for the keys. Like a real keyboard, you can raise or lower it. Of note, one of the pieces on the inside of the cover has the word “LEGO” printed in gold on it. A nice touch as this is where the piano logo would be located.

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Build 17 adds the music stand. The stand can be raised or lowered and can hold the sheet music provided or your phone. You can also completely remove the stand fairly easily if you’d prefer it to not be there. Finally, you install some Technic pieces which will end up as the arm to hold up the top cover to the piano.

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Build 18 and 19 build the cover. It is a bit bigger than I expected and uses all black pieces.

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Build 20 finalizes the cover and then you can install it on the piano. You can completely close it, just open the front, or open up the whole thing. Definitely cool how they re-created the actual function of a real Grand Piano.

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Build 21 finishes up the build. You build an adjustable seat. This build was pretty impressive in my opinion. At first, I couldn’t understand where the build was going, but it made sense and works in a cool way. I’m a big fan. You also get a large tile which has the song the fan designer wrote to go along with his original Ideas submission.

Overall, this was a great build. It uses some great techniques, it was pretty challenging, and has some great piece usage. I hooked up the Powered Up, but my batteries died. I need to get some new ones to test both of those functions. Even without Powered up, it’s a cool build. I highly recommend it. VIP points definitely helped to soften the blow of the cost. Not sure if this one will ever go on sale so save your pennies.

Of note, my Non-Lego Spouse (NLS) said this might be a set she is willing to display in our house outside of my bricking space so I’ll take it. It looks good!

What are your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Post Event Write Up -- LEGO House® - Online Fan Event - AFOL To LEGO® Designer

As mentioned last week, I attended a LEGO House® online fan event on 26 March 2021. Having attended other events in the past, LEGO has used the Microsoft Teams platform. It’s not the best or my favorite, but it works I guess. We were greeted by the host, Astrid, who is a Senior Event and Tour Manager in the LEGO House® Sales and Marketing Department. She was hosting from the Red Experience Zone in the LEGO House®. From the looks of it, there were around 50-ish people in the meeting.

Astrid - Senior Event and Tour Manager in the LEGO House® Sales and Marketing Department

The moderator for the event was Are Heiseldal (sorry for the blurry screen shot). Are was scheduled to fly to Denmark for the event originally, but I think he did a great job moderating virtually. He definitely did his research ahead of time, had some great questions lined up, and then mixed in some of the fan questions. He was supported in the background by Jan Beyer, LEGO’s AFOL Community Integration Manager.

Are Heiseldal

The first AFOL to LEGO® Designer interview was with Justin Ramsden (originally from the UK). Justin had decided to stay at work and was in the LEGO® Innovation House. He had set up his background with the sets he helped design in the background. Justin went through his story on how he joined the LEGO® Group and some of the differences he had like a documentary being filmed on him while he applied (not sure if it is still online or not, but worth a watch if you can find it). I won’t repeat the whole story here, but Justin is very charismatic and definitely seems to enjoy interacting with the fan community and talking LEGO.

He discussed his first set which was the 2015 San Diego Comic Con set: Throne of Ultron. He mentioned how he didn’t have a copy and he had to go into the vault to have an example. Then Marcos Bessa posted a picture of his copy of the set. There might be a trade happening at some point…

Justin recommended building all that you can to become a better builder/designer if you are interested in joining LEGO. Looking at his resume, he has taken advantage of switching teams and building sets in different themes. He talked about how this gave him different perspectives that he was able to bring across the company to different themes. Pretty cool.

Lastly, someone asked about the shirt he was wearing. He said his Mom made it for him. She apparently was in the livestream with us and should have taken orders because a lot of folks would have paid up right then and there.

Justin Ramsden

Marcos Bessa was up next. He is one of the multiple Portuguese designers working at Billund. He was at home, but did have a few of his sets behind him along with one of his favorite sets from back in the day. Apparently a Portuguese comedian has coined him the “Cristiano Ronaldo of Lego.” If you don’t know who this is, do some internet searches about soccer players.

Marcos told the story about how he came to work at LEGO. I enjoyed the quip about how he was trying to save up for an iPhone, saw the #10182-1: Café Corner modular building, and picked it up instead of a phone. Probably a better investment and he was still able to get the phone later while it’s a lot harder to get a Café Corner.

He has been with the LEGO® Group for 10 years now and said that part of what he likes about the job is the free bricks. Can’t say I blame him there.

I was going to ask a question and someone else got to it first, but it was how you balance your hobby and design work. I enjoy LEGO, but in my spare time. Marcos’s work is LEGO so he mentioned that after eight hours, he’s ready for something else. He enjoys other hobbies when he’s not at work. Makes sense to me.

After each of the Designers were interviewed, they did small group breakout sessions. I was randomly assigned to Marcos and his group. Some folks got to ask some great questions. I enjoyed the setup and how they broke us up.

Marcos Bessa

Two of his MOCs were mentioned during the event. The first one is his very first MOC. The second is a modular building he designed. He mentioned how he’d really like to design a modular for LEGO and it’s one of the running things he has whenever he sees Jamie Berard. We’ll see. Maybe one day, he’ll introduce a new modular building to us.

Marcos Bessa - First MOC

Marcos Bessa - Modular Building MOC

The final interview was with Milan Reindl. Milan is on the Technic team and has been since joining the LEGO® Group. His back story is that he grew up in the former Czechoslovakia. He didn’t have any LEGO bricks or sets to build with, but some friends did and he enjoyed them. Once communism ended, his family took a trip to Germany and his parents bought him a few small sets. Since he had so few pieces, he learned how to build lots of things with small pieces.

Fast forward a bunch of years, Milan became a teacher and would build things and take them into school to show his students. He eventually joined LEGO and demonstrated how he took one of his sets and built 7 or 8 cool things with only the pieces from that set. It was very impressive to see.

He has a YouTube video online of a Technic glider he built that really flies. You can video his full channel here were he talks about a lot of Technic things.

It was also pointed out that he has friends who don’t like him building with their kids. Apparently the builds he makes are too good and then the kids expect their parents to put out builds of that quality level. I wonder if they hide the bricks when he shows up?

Milan Reindl

Milan got to design the brick version of the 2017 Technic 40th anniversary logo. They let him keep his brick build version. A screenshot of him with it is below. Here’s a video of it.

Milan Reindl - 40th Anniversary Technic Build

I won’t go through all of the discussions we had, but overall I had a great time. The event was around two hours long and while I had to pay ~$32 to attend, I think it was worth it. I learned a bunch, got to hear about working at LEGO, and got to interact with fellow fans from around the world to include Australia, North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

At the end, everyone turned on their video cameras and we took a group screen shot. Can’t say I’ve ever done this before, but it was a cool idea considering we can’t be all together due to location and the pandemic.

Group shot

And one more… not sure how they did this, but here we all are in an auditorium…

Brick on!

Group Shot - Auditorium