And for my next trick!

By carefully removing a Friends minidoll' arm, a LOTR ring can be used as a bracelet!

Merry Christmas!

Here's some quick photos of my Christmas haul. Hope everyone got what they wanted!

Lego Pac-Man Machine MOC

This is actually something that took me quite some time to put together, really just because it's life size; a scale I rarely work with. But after a few weeks of tweaking with different techniques, I resulted with this, and I'm really happy with it. Like I said it's not very often I make life sized anything, let alone copied directly from the real thing. But here, I think I did pretty well. The only big issue are those arrows around the centre of the joystick that are half a plate lower that the rest of the top surface. I probably could have fixed it, but because of the way the inside was build up, it would have involved a near-complete rebuild, something I'm not really up for. Other than that though, I think it was a success!

Undead Horse Antlers

 I came across this whilst playing around with different connections. I know it isn't an official connection, but its sturdy enough, and makes a really nice set of skeleton antlers.

Silver Fighter MOC

Whilst sorting through a lot of loose minifigures I had lying on my desk, I realised I had quite a few silver ones. Using a Shadow Trooper helmet from 75079, Thor's body (with replaced black hands) from 76030 and legs from an Ultron Sentry in 76029, I out together this extremely shiny figure. I don't have a particular use for him yet, but it's certainly a design I'll keep.

Lego Parrot Head MOC

Playing around recently with some table scrap, which happened in consist of a handful of the burglar rucksacks frequently used in City Police sets, I realised that two of them together made a pretty good mouth. Initially I thought of making a dinosaur or rhino, but due to a lack of small dark tan parts, I just couldn't make it work. However, after a bit of playing around, and using a disarmed minifigure to hold the bags in place, I finished this little guy. I'm pretty fond of him, but I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to tackle a body. So for now, he can just sit happily and body-less on my shelf.

41546: Forx Review

As I'm sure everyone knows, Lego's Mixels are fun, small little builds fun of colour and personality. The colour scheme used here is very appropriate for the construction theme and, unlike some of the more zany coloured Mixels, the parts included are a nice mix of colourful and useful.

The price is standard but good at $6 AUD, so I can't really complain.

What I think draws most people to this set are the two bananas used for Forx's eyebrows, made in dark grey for the first time ever. This is a really nice way to spice up the set and make it much more appealing to older buyers - it worked for me, I bought two.

The only issue I have hear is the half boulder used for the mouth. That's just it, there's only a half. But considering everything else the set does so nicely, I suppose I can let it slide.

Cost - 4/5 Playability - 5/5 Parts - 4/5 Overall - 4/5

Octopus Angles

While playing around with my new octopus, I realised it had this pretty interesting distance between front and back tentacles, meaning it could be used to hold plates at an angle. Even more interestingly, the angle is the same as one that can be achieved with a standard hinge piece.

71206: Dimensions Scooby Doo Team Pack Review

I'll start this with a disclaimer that I only purchased this set for the Lego parts, and that I don't own or intend on owning the Lego Dimensions game, so I wont be talking about it.

This set includes a big pile of sandwiches, Shaggy, Scooby, and a micro version of the Mystery Machine. Viewed as being a sort of display, I think this set looks really nice. Both minifigures are the same as the ones used in the sets, and the individual printing on their tiles looks great.

The plate of sandwiches is a simple but very effective and character appropriate build, and brings forward a few hard to find pieces like the lime green plumage, and green 1x1 round plates. There really isn't anything bad I can say about it.

The Mystery Machine looks great, and, once removed from its stand has a really nice playability. The only complaint with this is that it seems to be lacking in pieces; there are exposed studs on the roof, and the back of the van is very open, exposing how hollow it is.

Here's a better look at the plates included in the set, which, from left to right belong to Shaggy, Scooby and either the sandwiches or the van, as they have the same one. It's interesting to note, and is something that I didn't know until actually opening the set that the characters' plates only have two studs when the accessories/vehicles have four. I'm really impressed by this, as its something that just adds that bit more variety.

As far as price goes, this isn't really worth it to buy if you don't own the game. I got it for $30AUD is too much for two minifigures and 100ish parts. But considering that it's not just that, and that it is an extension for the game, you're really getting two things in one.

Cost - 4/5

Playability - 3/5

Parts - 4/5

Overall - 3.5/5

Lego Diver MOC

Ok, so I know this guy technically isn't diving, but I didn't know what else to call this thing.

Overall I'm really happy with how this came out, I wanted to create something small and tall, and being on an 8x8 base, I think this does the job nicely. I'm really happy with the way the brick-built bird turned out, its definitely a design I'll keep for other uses. The only thing that bugs me is that the clips holding the fish to the wall aren't the same colour as the wall, or better yet, transparent white. But like a lot of things with Lego, it sometimes just comes down to lack of parts, rather than lack of skill. 

Review - Star Wars Shadow Troopers, 75079

For $22 AUD, this set gets you two black hooded figures, and two silver 'Shadow Stormtroopers' and their ship. Over all I'm pretty happy with this, and there's more to the speeder/ship thing than it initially seems. There's a few useful little parts in black, dark grey and transparent red, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The minifigures included are really nice, especially the new Shadow troopers. The plain red heads on the other figures are also a nice useful piece.

Cost - 4.5/5, Playability - 4/5, Parts - 4/5

Overall - 4/5

60090 Deep Sea Scuba Scooter Review

A small and relatively cheap set, 60090 gets you a diver and his under water jet, an octopus with a couple of diamonds,  and the obligatory piece of sea grass.

I really like this set, and at $9 AUD, I can't complain about the price. Parts like the flippers and divers mask, the diamonds, the grass, and of course the octopus make this set a great way to get some useful parts. I feel like this set works really well as a stand alone too. You get a diver, some treasure for him to find, and an octopus to protect it.

Interestingly, the flippers used for the minifigure are now made of hard plastic, rather than the flexible kind used in the past for themes like Atlantis. I'm a big fan of this change, as the flexible plastic just isn't as durable, and making the switch helps ensure the pieces last longer.

Cost - 4.5/5, Playability - 4/5, Parts - 4.5/5

Overall - 4.5/5

Unusual Stud Configuration

I just noticed the other day, that the Lego logo featured on all Lego studs is printed on a different angle for each blade of this old propeller piece? I've never seen this on any other pieces, is this a common thing? 

Interesting Wheel Fit

Sorting some loose parts recently I discovered that the small, thin tyre, the ones used for scooters fit perfectly around a half-height technic axle fasteners. I'm not sure what it could be used for specifically, but I thought it was worth sharing.

Frustrating Flags

Far out, this bothers me a lot. It just seems like a stupid and illogical thing to change that only causes problems? I know that pieces change and molds need to be updated and replaced, but why do this? I'm assuming it would have been around the time that brown and light and dark grey were changed, but I'm not sure? I have the old flag, the bottom one in the picture in red, yellow and blue and dark blue, and the newer one in Knights Kingdom blue, pink, gold and green.

Minifigure Leg Height

Playing with a few pieces of table-scrap, I realised that a 1x2 plate atop a pair of mini-legs is exactly the same heigh as a pair of normal legs!

Sushi Truck MOC

Built for Minifigure Series Four Kimino Girl is my latest food-style vehicle, the Sushi Truck! Built using eight collectible minifigure plates, I unknowingly used studs on every side but the top! It isn't the most sturdy build, but overall I'm fairly happy with how it came out, especially considering it was built for a minifigure without bendable legs.

Custom Design Spidermen

The first of these two is just an colour swap of the 10665 Spiderman, swapping all the blue for red and vice versa. I like this design, it makes the blue colouring a lot more central, almost removing that 'underwear on the outside' look of most super heroes. The second design, and one that I'm really fond of, is my own version of a Spiderman/Batman cross. I really like the '60s-ish look, and I personally think the duel cape works really well with this minifigure.

Bionicle 8743 Instructions Error

Looking through an original copy of the Bionicle Visorak - Boggarak set from 2005, I found a strange mistake. On page 7, the picture goes from being blue themed to red themed, appearing to be a page of Boggarak's red counterpart Vohtarak (8742) instead.

I'm not quite sure how a mistake like this can happen? The addition or subtraction of a piece I can understand because it might not be immediately obvious, but a whole palette swap for just one page?

And as if that wasn't bad enough, the back of the book, which gives you half the instructions on a combined build for two of these Bionicles, shows Boggarak above Suukorak as the two sets needed. Only Suukorak's image sits over that of Oohnorak (8744), the black Bionicle of this series.

I know this is an old-ish set, but really Lego? These things are such easy pick-ups, and I can only imagine how confusing this would be to a child...

Vending Machine MOC

Here's a nice little design that uses jumper plates to offset that 1x3 row of minifigure snacks inbetween two 1x2x3 panels. I'm really happy with this design, and I feel like it works out really well at real life scale too.

Ultron Scrap Robot MOC

Playing around with parts from the Bionicle minifigures (circa 2006), I've made my own version of the junk robot that serves as the first physical form for Ultron in the recent Avengers film of the same name. For the head, I used an offset Lego Movie robot head from 70801 underneath the Hero Factory helmet from 44023 to create one red and one silver eye. Overall I'm pretty happy with this, especially considering it was more of an accidental build.

Bat-Venom?

Using the Lego Venom head (I used the one from Juniors set 10665) underneath any standard Batman hood, you can create this really demonic looking Batman, which I think looks pretty damn great. The same effect can also be achieved with Carnage from Super Heroes 76036, but a little bit of his red colouring shows through the mask.

Keep Your Lego Clean People!

Delving through my yellow Lego recently, I found this; a cobweb and a spider's shed skin up inside a 2x2 block. I was more shocked than anything, I was amazed that this brick went unused for such a long time that someone else moved in and moved out? Maybe I do have too much Lego...

Dump Truck MOC

Here's a dump truck I've been working on for the past couple of days. I'm really pretty happy with how it turned out, except for the height of the windscreen. Unfortunately, I had to add an extra level of plates above it, which I'm not a huge fan of. Other than that, I'd say it's not too bad!

Review - The Farm, 21114

One of the first Lego Minecraft sets, The Farm features a fenced area for the included brick-built cow and sheep, as well as a farm, where Steve is growing wheat, sugar cane, carrots and pumpkins. Personally, I really enjoyed this set, and I really like how all the Minecraft themed sets have this really big focus on being able to pull apart the sets and rebuild both the secondary ideas in the back of the book, as well as making completely new creations - as seen in my photo. I feel like this isn't something that Lego has really put lots of focus on since about the late '00s with the really common 3-in-1 stuff you sadly just don't see anymore.

This set includes a cow, and sheep, a skeleton, Steve, and a pumpkin. I've decided to put the pumpkin on the list, as it's the same piece as Steve or the skeletons head. I think this is a great idea, as it allows you to recreate the in-game feature of wearing a pumpkin on your head to appear invisible to enemies.

The brick-built animals in this set are great, and I think using the 1x2 groove bricks as legs is absolute genius. However, I'm really disappointed about their heads, and that they can't be used on minifigures. Granted, I know it would have been difficult to make it work, but it would have been a great feature, not unlike the game's many different player skins. 

I'm pretty impressed with the set itself, the terrain is nice, and there's a lot of brown bricks, which are always helpful. There are a lot of other great pieces too, like the cheese-yellow carrot stalks, the trans blue water pieces, and the all the light brown blocks and plates used for the fences. I feel like there's quite a lot in this set that would ordinarily be really hard to come across in other Lego themes.

Cost wise, the set isn't a bargain, but for the amount of new molds and colours of pieces, combined with the really high amount of good old bricks, I was pretty happy with the cost - around $50 AUD.

But my favourite piece by far is the new Minecraft shovel, which, when held in this position looks just like a bass guitar!

Cost - 3.5/5, Playability - 4/5, Parts - 4.5/5

Overall - 4/5