Next Giving Drive - 1 December 2021 to 31 May 2022 - FIRST® Programs

Hopefully you’ve heard of the FIRST® LEGO® League. If you haven’t, the website says:

FIRST® LEGO® League introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16* through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem solving experience through a guided, global robotics program, helping today's students and teachers build a better future together.

Our three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.

To bring it a bit more local this time, the current drive will collect funds for my local FIRST® LEGO® League program in northwest Florida. It is run through the Doolittle Institute here locally. What do they need? Here’s what they say:

$25 = One Robot Motor

$50 = Robot Accessories

$100 = Support for their STEM Camp

$250 = Support for a FIRST Team

I’m a bit late getting this up so I’ll reach back to the sales starting 1 December 2021 and we’ll go through the end of May 2022. So let’s see how many full teams we can support!

Thanks for helping to encourage kids!

Happy building!

Set Review - #76388-1: Hogsmeade Village Visit - Harry Potter

Yes, still more 2021 Harry Potter sets. This one is #76388-1: Hogsmeade Village Visit. It was released on 5 June 2021 in the US and retails for $79.99. It contains 851 pieces which works out to $0.094 per piece. I have yet to see this one on sale, but maybe I missed an opportunity or two. Perhaps as it nears retirement?

This set brings something a little different to the theme if you’ve been sick of building Hogwarts modular builds this year. Hogsmeade is a separate area and these two buildings are a fun addition to any Harry Potter layout as well as potentially in a Winter Village themed layout.

Nothing overly exciting about the box. Set on the front and some details on the back. It highlights that you get 7 minifigures so no complaints there.

The set contains six parts bags (each numbered), two sticker sheets, and two instruction booklets. Each booklet goes with one of the buildings as well as the stickers.

Here’s a closer view of the stickers. There are quite a few, but I managed to get them attached okay. I would have preferred to have the bars printed on the window like in #75978-1: Diagon Alley, but I can’t complain considering the price point of the set.

Bag one starts Honey Dukes. I don’t actually recall seeing this store in any of the movies so I will have to go back at some point and pay close attention to spot it. While the façade has a dreary brown shade, inside is very bright with lots of colors and parts that make up the various sugary items for sale. It definitely helps to liven up the traditional, brown/tan Harry Potter builds.

You get yet another Harry Potter minifigure in this set along with the golden Ron minifigure.

The second bag finishes the front of the building to include the clear curved pieces that you have to put stickers on (good luck!). You start to build the second floor and roof as well. The set is themed for around winter time so you get a bit of “snow” draping off the front.

This bag comes with Mrs. Flume and a purple printed collectible tile.

The third bag finishes up Honey Dukes. The second floor has some storage and what I assume is space to make more goodies. You also add in the cash register and a stand in the middle of the shop. The front roofing is pretty simple, but I think it looks really good. The angles are mostly in line and there are only some minor gaps between pieces.

You also get the pieces to make a lamp post, a small bench, and then a wanted poster from “The Prisoner of Azkaban.”

This bag contains Mr. Flume. Both Mr. Flume and Mrs. Flume are unique to this set.

Okay so I started to build this set outside on a small table, but had to finish up the rest inside. Sorry for the differing picture backgrounds.

Bag four builds “The Three Broomsticks” which is like a pub I guess. This bag starts the bottom floor. The color scheme, decorations, and architectural style are all pretty cool. This would be a great building to have even if it wasn’t a Harry Potter set. The stickers add to the detail pretty well. The inside has a bar with some beverages and a table with some cups and a croissant.

This bag comes with Madam Rosmerta and she’s holding a hammer. I don’t recall her from the movie or why she has a hammer.

The fifth bag continues to build up to the second level. I like the mix of the brick textured pieces and the plain bricks. The inside builds a small room with a table, chair, fire place, and a small desk with drawers.

The Professor Minerva minifigure comes in this bag. I think this is the first time I have ever seen her show up in a set.

The sixth bag wraps up the set and includes the Dean Thomas minifigure. I really like the angled roofs and various slopes. I’m not exactly sure how functional it is in a real house/building, but it has a cool look to it. Throw on the white places to make snow and it definitely has a Winter Village feel to it.

Here are the six minifigures in the set. According to Brickset.com, they are all unique to this set so a bonus for getting this set if you collect them. We get lots of Harry Potter figures, but it is nice to see some different ones in the collection.

Here’s the final build. Overall, I’m a big fan of this set. It has a lot of detail in the build considering it’s 851 pieces, but isn’t overly complicated. The ability to connect it to Harry Potter or the Winter Village theme is an added bonus. I haven’t seen it on sale yet, but be on the lookout. I recommend Potter fans pick this one up. It might not be bad for those looking to expand the Winter Village or maybe even a Castle themed village.

Happy building!

Set Review - #76387-1: Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter - Harry Potter

Continuing through the 2021 Harry Potter sets… This one is #76387-1: Hogwarts: Fluffy Encounter. It depicts the scene from the first book/movie where the three main characters encounter the creature protecting the entrance to the location where the sorcerer’s stone is being kept. This set was released in the US on 5 June 2021. It retails for $39.99 and contains 397 pieces. This puts it at $0.101 per piece. At the time of this post, I have seen it on sale at a few retailers for 20% off so be on the lookout if you want to get a better deal.

The box art is similar to other sets. The full set, minifigures, and 20th anniversary logo on the front with some of the play features on the back.

The set contains three numbered parts bags and an instruction booklet. When I opened the box, I didn’t see the sticker sheet. I only realized it was missing when I got to the first point in the instructions that asked for a sticker. After some searching, I found it. It is smaller and thankfully only has six stickers.

The first bag builds Fluffy the three-headed dog creature. It’s not a bad design considering the size of the set. Each of the legs pivot and you can swivel the heads. The heads are a single piece, but I think it’s to be expected considering the size of the set. You also get the Harry minifigure and then the gold Hermione minifigure. Are there any Harry Potter sets without Harry?

The second bag builds the main chamber where Fluffy is and where it guards the door in the floor. It’s a simple room without much detail as it has to be large enough to fit the Fluffy build in it. You’ll notice that I put the roof on backwards in this picture. Whoops!
This bag includes a brick built harp which is used to put Fluffy to sleep as well as the Ron minifigure.

The third bag completes the build. It adds two more modular rooms and then a space below a spire. One of the rooms is where the “Devil’s Snare” is located. This is where they fall in after going through the door below Fluffy. The other room just has some flames for light so you could use it as a path to another room or whatever you want.

I have it set up in the picture so that the other two rooms are stacked separately. This allows you to use the spire piece on top. However, to re-create the book/movie scene, the two smaller chambers need to go underneath the larger one and the spire has no place to go. I have not tried to combine this set with the others so maybe it can be connected elsewhere. Or maybe you can just build your own rooms to have it go on top of. Either way, for kids playing with this set and potentially not having others, they would have to figure out how to arrange it so the spire can be used (or not).

One last issue… there is a sticker that goes inside of the spire. I was challenged as an adult to apply it as you are trying to get a sticker with a weird shape onto a curved surface. Lining it up straight was a big challenge for me. Maybe kids do a better job at it? I did okay, but would have preferred to either not have the sticker or have some other form of decoration there.

This set has four minifigures. You get the golden Hermione and then Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They each have the short legs and come with a wand. All of them have dual printed heads. Not too exciting here on the minifig front as it seems you can get these three in many sets.

Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with the set. While it depicts the scene fairly well at a basic level, it leaves a lot to be desired. Unless you feel like using your own bricks to add onto the scene, You need to look into getting more of the 2021 sets to add onto it. In terms of the price, it’s a bit high. Definitely try and get the 20% off or more if you plan to pick it up.

Happy building!

Set Review - #10290-1: Pickup Truck - 18+

There have been a number of vehicles in the line formerly known as Creator Expert and now called 18+. I’m not a die hard collector of all of them so I pick and choose the ones I want to build. The latest one I picked up was #10290-1: Pickup Truck. It was announced earlier in the year, was available for pre-order in the US, and then was released on 1 October 2021 for sale. The retail price in the US is $129.99. With 1,677 pieces, it works out to $0.078 per piece which isn’t too bad.

This vehicle is designed after a 1950s style American brand pickup truck. It is not branded after a specific company and instead takes some of the features of numerous trucks and then gives the truck a LEGO branding. Hopefully the lack branding kept the price a little lower. 10295-1: Porsche 911 has 200 fewer pieces, yet was priced $20 higher. Perhaps this was due to the fees being paid for the license?

The box front shows the full build. The upper left has a logo for the pickup truck. The bottom has sand green greebling with the 18+ branding. The back shows some of the play features and a CAD model of the truck with some basic dimensions.

The box contains 14 parts bags, the wheels, and an instruction booklet wrapped in plastic along with the stickers.

The instructions have a small bit of information in the front from the design team talking about the set. You also get two sticker sheets. One has two stickers and the other has eight.

The first bag builds a number of accessories to go with the truck. From left to right you get a wheel barrow with three flower pots. Each pot has a different set of flowers in it. The wheel barrow has a working wheel and is made of sand green for the fans of that colored brick. Next is an old fashioned milk jug. It has a sticker label so you know what is in it. Next up is a sign advertising the flowers for sale at a farm stand or market. It has a larger sticker which is not fun, but it’s a simple enough build and looks good. For the Christmas time decorations, you get a Christmas wreath and brick built gift. The wreath is scaled so that it fits on the hood of the truck with a stud that sticks out. The gift matches some of the others seen in other sets and can be set on the passenger seat on a stud there. There are then three containers of produce. You get a crate of pumpkins, a half barrel of carrots, and a half barrel of either apples or tomatoes (not really sure which they are). Lastly, there’s a watering can. It seems a bit large compared to the milk jug or even the wheel barrow, but it achieves the desired effect. Overall, they are a nice addition to the set and help you to display it how you want to based on the season.

The next set of bags builds the frame and chassis of the truck. It has some Technic parts for strength, but isn’t overly Technic build intensive.

The third set of bags builds up some of the front and adds the steering column. Like many of the previous vehicles in this line, the steering wheel is connected to the front wheels so you can turn the vehicle when moving it.

The fourth set of bags builds up some of the front sides of the truck I’m not sure if any of the pieces are new, but I like how it achieves the smooth and connected shape of the truck. This includes around the wheel wells and the front bumper. Additionally, you build the structure behind the cab. This includes a window and still maintains the smooth shape of the body of the vehicle. The mix of SNOT and stacking pieces helps to achieve this effect.

There are a lot of great little details in this set. You’ll notice on the back of the cab on the body of the truck is where the gas cap is installed. This aspect could have been easily skipped in a LEGO model, but they included it for accuracy which is cool.

Build five adds a number of details. The engine is included. I’m not an engine expert so I can’t tell you what all the parts are, but it looks pretty accurate to me. Then the front grill is added and instead of just hooking on a piece or two, you clip on each piece. It’s a pretty cool design technique. Lastly, you install the doors. This is impressive to me because you build these so they can be opened/shut, they maintain the smoothness of the body on the inside and outside, and the gaps aren’t too major with the body. The doors have a logo for “Green Farm.” I’m not sure if this is a generic term or a call out to LEGO’s efforts to “go green” and be more environmentally friendly.

Build six adds the bed of the truck. You build the bed assembly off the truck and then connect it once it is built. I appreciate the detail in this section of the build as you really have to pay attention to the instructions here to capture all of the details to include the wheel wells.

The seventh build adds a few details and the hood. Not pictured, but you get your transmission stick. Then you add the front bench seat. It doesn’t look too comfortable, but as I recall, most bench seats aren’t comfortable. Last up is the hood. It opens and closes, has a pole to keep it propped open, and as mentioned earlier, there is a jumper plate added to the front where you can attach the wreath.

The last set of bags finishes up the set. It includes the rear wheel well, wheels, fences for the back, rear bumper, tail gate, roof of the cab, and… I think that’s it. Here’s the completed product.

Lots of functionality to this set. Hood opens and closes, tail gate opens and closes, doors open and close, wheels spin and front wheels turn, and you can remove the fencing on the back. It’s not exactly a play vehicle, but you could play with it and you can find numerous ways to pose your display model.

Here are some details on the front and the back. I managed to put the license plate stickers on pretty well and the front grill logo looks pretty good. I’m a big fan of the older LEGO logo on the back gate. I’m also glad that it’s a printed element versus a sticker.

Overall, I was a big fan of this set. The brick red color is one of my favorites, the functionality is cool, the build techniques to keep it smooth without major gaps were good, and the attention to small details didn’t go unnoticed. It’s not bad pricewise considering the price per piece and as mentioned, it has more pieces and a lower price compared to the Porsche. Not sure if you’ll ever see this one on sale, but if you’re into the Creator Expert/18+ vehicles, I recommend picking this one up.

What were your thoughts on this one?

Happy building!

Biggest Give yet from Bricks for Bricks!

We were able to give $928 to Creations for Charity through our giving campaign that started in August and ended in November. Thanks to everyone who made purchases from our store so we could be so generous to a great cause!

According to the Creations for Charity site, this year they raised over $35,000! This is awesome! Thank you to everyone who donated whether it was through buying from the site, supporting the Beyond the Brick 24-Hour live stream, or making a purchase from Bricks for Bricks at our Bricklink.com store.

We will announce our next campaign soon. In the meantime, happy building!

Black Friday to Cyber Monday Sale

From Friday 26 November 2021 to Monday 29 November 2021, everything in the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink.com store is priced as follows:

5% off orders over $80

7% off orders over $110

Hopefully the Bricklink interface took my sale. If you don’t see the discount prices, let me know at store@bricksforbricks.com.

And as a reminder, 15% off the profits go to the 2021 Creations for Charity drive on 29 November. It’s looking like this will be our largest amount we have given yet so we’re excited.

Happy building!

Set Review - #30392-1: Hermione's Study Desk - Harry Potter

Yet another Harry Potter set to review and still more to come so get ready!

This one is a polybag. It’s’ #30392-1: Hermione’s Study Desk. It contains 31 pieces and was released 1 August 2021. I believe LEGO Brand Stores gave them away at one point as a gift with purchase. I got mine from Target for $4.99 which works out to a whopping $0.16 per piece.

Not super exciting, but here’s the packaging.

Here are your contents. You get a tiny instruction page folded up and then the parts. I like how the minifigure head is placed in the picture. It doesn’t look so good.

There isn’t much to this build, but it’s a 31 piece polybag so what were you expecting? There is a small desk with a quill and ink as well as a tile for paper. It also has a book with a printed tile inside. You get two 1x2 tiles printed as letters with wax marks on them. One is white and the other is tan. Then there is a small stand for the owl to perch on. Lastly, you get the Hermione minifigure. She has a wand and two facial expressions.

Oh, and don’t forget your collectible 2x2 tile.

Overall, a little pricy for what you are getting, but not a bad set. You get a few printed tiles, an owl figure, and a minifigure. I can’t complain. It’s a must for the Harry Potter LEGO fan completionists. Or just pick it up as a stocking stuffer/small Christmas gift.

Happy building!

Set Review: #40452-1: Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms - Harry Potter

Continuing with the Harry Potter theme, LEGO recently had a gift with purchase promotion for #40452-1: Hogwarts Gryffindor Dorms. The promotion started in in the US on 25 October 2021. It was scheduled to end after about two weeks, but it appears to have lasted slightly longer. I’m not sure what day it stopped. This set was thrown in when you bought $100 or more of Harry Potter sets. Of course they are all priced so you can’t buy exactly $100 so you had to shell out $110 or more. Also everyone was buying and inventory dried up fast. The set contains 148 pieces, two minifigures, and four of the collectible tiles.

The box is similar to others in the 2021 Harry Potter theme. Full set build on the front, minifigures, and similar logos. The back shows a few features to includes the 8x8 plate that you can slide in/out to display your collectible tiles.

The set comes with two parts bags, an instruction booklet, an 8x8 plate, an 8x16 plate, and two 1x16 bricks.

For being a smaller set with not a lot of pieces, there are some decent builds in this set. The back wall uses some SNOT to achieve the rail for the 8x8 plate to slide into. I’m not sure why they chose black rails versus the tan color, but it works. Using the small fence pieces also makes for an interesting looking window. The beds are also decently designed and I like how they used jumper plates so you can angle the beds.

There are some decent pieces in the set too. I’m a fan of the chest, but mainly from its use back in the pirate days. The gold colored pieces are always fun and the rug tiles are good colors.

The plate on the back wall is an interesting way to display your purple 2x2 tiles. If you don’t like it there, you can always pull it out.

The build itself goes with the rest of the 2021 Harry Potter sets in that it can be connected with Technic pins to the other sets or stacked on top.

Overall, I can’t complain about this set. For a gift with purchase, it is a decent set.

The set has two minifigures. Ron comes with a wand and chocolate frog. He has two facial expressions. Harry just has a wand and also has a happy and scared/surprised face. While it would be great to have other characters, I can see why they chose these two based on the scenes in the dorm rooms.

What were your thoughts on this one? Worth the spend or not so much?

Happy building!

Set Review - #76395-1: Hogwarts: First Flying Lesson - Harry Potter

I should try and get through the 2021 Harry Potter sets before 2022… Here is #76395-1: Hogwarts” First Flying Lesson. It attempts to re-create the scene from the first book/movie where the students get their first flying lesson on brooms. This set was released in the US on 2 August 2021. It contains 264 pieces and retails for $29.99. This works out to $0.114 per piece which is a bit steep in my opinion.

The front of the box shows the full set. It also shows the minifigures included along with the Harry Potter logo and pictures of the movie characters. It also has the 20th anniversary LEGO Harry Potter logo on it. The back shows some of the play features and lets you know that you get to mystery tiles.

The box contains two numbered parts bags, an instruction booklet, and a sticker sheet with 5 stickers.

The first build creates the left and right sides of the modular building structure included with this set. Unlike the previous sets, this year the sets can be attached together with Technic pins. The two structures you build are fairly similar and don’t have a lot of special building techniques. On the outside are shields with logos from each house (stickers, not printed). Inside one is a trunk with some quidditch supplies. The other has a trophy case with some actual trophies inside. I like how they built this so there is a clear front and it looks like a case. There is a small detail that you may not catch which is that Harry’s Dad is listed on the one sticker that goes on the plaque inside the one case.

The second bag builds a connecting hallway with a door and an upper level/roof for the build. Not a whole lot to this part. The most in depth part here is connecting the clear rods so you can pretend the minifigs are flying. There is also a gray minifig statue with swords so you can have Neville get caught on the statue like in the movie.

With the build not being super exciting, you hope the minifigures included in the set make up for it. This set includes five. Except for the statue, each have two printed faces. The statue is all gray and comes with two swords plus and extra one in the parts bag (win!). Not much to it, but you could add it to #40516-2: Everyone is Awesome just to mix things up.

Draco Malfoy is the only minifigure not unique to the set. The same minifigure appeared in #75978-1: Diagon Alley only this one comes with a broom.

Professor Quirinus is the 20th Anniversary gold minifigure. I’m not sure why they selected him versus one of the more main characters, but okay. He did show up in the first book/movie so that might be why. The figure has the Professor Quirinus face on one side and then Voldemort face on the other side.

Madame Hooch is unique to this set as the instructor. She has two faces to include my favorite, the flying goggles.

Neville Longbottom is last in my picture. He comes with a straight face and then a scared face. He has a broom and his remembrall (had to look that one up).

Lastly, here are the 2 tiles I got. Not really a big fan of these nor do I intend to make sure I get them all.

Overall, this set is nothing really exciting. The minifigures are okay and the set itself isn’t that great. The pieces are alright, but nothing too special. Unless you are a huge Potter fan, I wouldn’t rush out to grab this one. What are your thoughts?

Happy building!