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LEGO |OT5| DARKNESS! NO MONEY! (or Break the Rules! Mix the Bags!)

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ghostmind

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TRU Canada, starting today:

BWvmuHK.jpg
 

Kipp

but I am taking tiny steps forward
Question for anyone who has experience with the motorized train sets:
Is it normal for the train to struggle to get moving when you have it at a low speed? Or do I have something put together too tight causing there to be too much friction?
 
Finished the Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ last night and am of two minds on the set. There is a ton to love in it, but it still felt slightly disappointing in the end.

The set is absolutely massive once done, and is an imposing display piece. The issue is that from the outside, it is rather plain looking with not many flourishes to make it stand out. Of course, that is how the actual building is, so it makes sense.

The real meat of the set is inside. All the little details added throughout are wonderful, and like other sets designed by Marcos Bessa, it is the building of those tiny little features that are the best part. The way that some tables and furniture come together are very surprising and fun, and I also learned of some new ways to put certain bricks together that should have been obvious before. It is touches like that that I love. The way that the chairs are built is one of the neater parts, but they don't connect to anything and thus are loose inside, which I do not like at all. At least the table on the top floor is cleverly held at an askew angle using jumper plates.
It is a bit of BS that Winston not only is missing a locker, but he doesn't even have a bed in the place.

All the little details inside are loving callbacks to the film, and it is obvious that this set was designed from a place of love. While there are lots of stickers, they really do bring the interior together with all the details, such as the computer monitors or posters on the walls, or the toaster on the table with a puddle of pink slime next to it.

The mini figures are great as well, and once again seem to be coming from a place of great love and admiration for the film. The multiple expressions for the characters are good, and it was nice to get a small assortment of ghosts as well. I just wish it came with a Gozer figure.

As for the negatives: What is up with the outside back of the building? It is ugly and exposed, and sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the nice exterior. The building goes all the way to the back edge of the baseplate, so it is obvious they ran out of space. Could they not have used a 32x32 plate on the back instead of a 16x32? That would have given a bit more space to extend the building at least one stud and have some more room for a sidewalk or something. Or, they could have just reduced the interior by one stud so we could get a solid colored back wall like the rest of the building has.

And the hinge system to open up the side of the building is a big drawback as well. It looks really nice when opened, but when closed there is a small gap visible because things don't exactly line up, and it is annoying. The other issue is that the weight of the sections that slide open case them to sag ever so slightly when opened all the way, so they drop ever so slightly below the baseplate, so swinging the side back into the closed position means sometimes having to lift the wall up to clear the plate. It is hard to describe, but it is very obvious when you have the set in front of you. JANG went on about this issue in his review as well.

In the end, I am glad that I got the set because it brought back memories of building the Death Star with all the little fun touches throughout. It is nowhere near the level of love of have for Death Star though. In the end, I know this will be a massive parts pack in a few months time.
Simple question; if you had to choose between this and Fire Brigade, which would you pick?
 
Simple question; if you had to choose between this and Fire Brigade, which would you pick?
Fire Brigade was my first modular, and one of the first sets after coming out of the dark ages. It will always have a very special place in my heart no matter what.

But for whatever love I have of Ghostbusters, and the love that this set shows for it, Fire Brigade is the superior set as far as the build goes.

I will get some pics early next week of Ghostbusters HQ to show what I love about it, but it isn't as good as Fire Brigade in the end.
 
Fire Brigade was my first modular, and one of the first sets after coming out of the dark ages. It will always have a very special place in my heart no matter what.

But for whatever love I have of Ghostbusters, and the love that this set shows for it, Fire Brigade is the superior set as far as the build goes.

I will get some pics early next week of Ghostbusters HQ to show what I love about it, but it isn't as good as Fire Brigade in the end.
Interesting. I have Fire Brigade unopened and was considering swapping it for Ghostbusters HQ since they are about the same value. I figured owning both is overkill. I'll have to reconsider now.
 
Interesting. I have Fire Brigade unopened and was considering swapping it for Ghostbusters HQ since they are about the same value. I figured owning both is overkill. I'll have to reconsider now.
Keep em both. :)

Fire Brigade is filled with more cool technique and surprises. GB HQ is a more detailed interior and nostalgia. It is all what you value more.

I will take some comparison pics next week too.

Out of curiosity, what other modulars have you built before, if any?
 
TRU Sweden has 25% off everything Lego. Obviously the site removed all the big stuff, but they were available in the shop. However, I'm kind of done for now. I just got the two remaining Elves dragons, and I might grab an Ant-Man off the site just to have a spare.

They did have a pretty damn good goodiebag. Polybags and Mixels and at least one Simpsons figure.

Edit: Wow! Three Mixels, three Friends polybags including one with a stage and light brick, and three Simpsons.

Edit 2: Yup, got the Black Panther set (I will want the figures eventually anyway) and two Ant-Man, so I can open the one I have now. If anyone is desperate for one, I might be able to help.
 
Currently building that Sonic Boom i picked up used on Ebay the other day (for 29 euro no less) and...

Holy shit, it's MASSIVE! I was NOT ready for that! After only having built Fast Flyer so far i thought this was gonna be at least similar in size but... i am now kinda scared it won't even fit into my display!

Awesome build so far though, really really glad i got it!
 
Alright, here we go! These should be self-explanatory, I think.

Lego Exo Suit - Futuron version by siegfried_fm, on Flickr

Lego Exo Suit - Ice Planet version by siegfried_fm, on Flickr

Lego Exo Suit - Space Police I version by siegfried_fm, on Flickr

Lego Exo Suits - all classic themes by siegfried_fm, on Flickr

Which one is your favourite?
Love it. Love it so much. Just feel that the Space Police one needs a red windshield over the pilot to tie it all together.
 
I'm biased but man do I love the Ice Planet Exo Suit version oh so much. Honestly anything to give more love to those old space themes is always good in my book!
 
Keep em both. :)

Fire Brigade is filled with more cool technique and surprises. GB HQ is a more detailed interior and nostalgia. It is all what you value more.

I will take some comparison pics next week too.

Out of curiosity, what other modulars have you built before, if any?

Nah, I have to be wise about how I distribute funds for LEGO. There's plenty of sets I still want to get, I'm mostly a Star Wars collector, so spending that much to have two firehouses is probably not the wisest route. Plus, modulars are so big and I don't have the room for too many of them. I haven't built any modulars yet; they're setting in my backlog. I've got Fire Brigade, mostly thanks to you praising it so highly, the movie theater and Parisian Restaurant. I still haven't even built the Death Star yet.
 
I've bought Friends sets for years. I've bought most of the Elves sets so far. No shame at all. They're some of the best sets recently.

Me too. Designs are really good, but many of the colors in Friends sets lower the value to me.


The minidolls looked odd to me at first but they've grown on me so I don't mind them so much

Considering a minifig has almost no articulation and the minifig doll manages to remove 3 more points, minidolls are less appealing to me. They are good for the unique hairs. Only sets i get mostly for the minidolls are the Disney princess ones. Non-licensed minidolls are very cheap in the aftermarket.

Now if they did super hero minidolls, I'd be super interested in those from a collector perspective.
 
exosuit_blacktron01.jpg


Earlier pic.

That's sweet. Now I want to see Exo-Suit in super hero and other LEGO theme variants.

I never realized Blacktron had an upside-down triforce logo. I never owned Blacktron sets, but I'm very familiar with the color scheme and the awesome black & white minifigs.
 
exosuit_blacktron01.jpg


Earlier pic.

Man, that is sexy. But...

M-Tron wins it for me, but I'm liking that missile pod on the Space Police one.

exosuit_mtron03.jpg

M-Tron is the best there. I really think the windshield is what helps bring it together. That is just a lot of fantastic work all around.

Is there a classic Space themed one? With just blue, grey, and trans yellow?

And is there a back shot of some of them? I keep envisioning one of the old school Space Police jail cells strapped to the back of the SP one.
 
Is there a classic Space themed one? With just blue, grey, and trans yellow?

And is there a back shot of some of them? I keep envisioning one of the old school Space Police jail cells strapped to the back of the SP one.

I'm keeping the original Exo Suit as the Classic Space one, although I certainly would like to have one blue and yellow.

And obviously I have a cell on the back of it:

Lego Exo Suit - Space Police version with prisoner pod by siegfried_fm, on Flickr
 
I'm keeping the original Exo Suit as the Classic Space one, although I certainly would like to have one blue and yellow.

And obviously I have a cell on the back of it:

Lego Exo Suit - Space Police version with prisoner pod by siegfried_fm, on Flickr

:) Thought it was a cell, but the top of it looked different compared to the old pieces is what threw me off.

Is there a magnet on the M-Tron one somewhere?

And the Blacktron one would be cool if you could swap out pieces to other ones to make a frankenmech like the original ships.

Seriously, I absolutely love all of this. So much love shown to classic Space.
 
:) Thought it was a cell, but the top of it looked different compared to the old pieces is what threw me off.

Is there a magnet on the M-Tron one somewhere?

And the Blacktron one would be cool if you could swap out pieces to other ones to make a frankenmech like the original ships.

exosuit_mtron02.jpg


Swapping pieces could be done through the ball joints, I suppose :D
 

Arc07

Member
Update on the McLaren MP4/4. I'll take better pictures when it is completed.

Turbochargers and exhaust manifold using pneumatic hose.
8Wl2V5V.jpg


Radiators and intercoolers.
UfMJzjB.jpg


Rear diffuser & separate exhaust for the turbines and wastegates.
OJeq3dY.jpg


Still waiting on front suspension parts from Europe. :(
RT1iTHx.jpg

The plans are from a designer named RoscoPC and each car should run around $200-350. The rear tires are by far the most expensive piece.
 

Unicorn

Member
Omg these are all amazing. I wish I had the pieces to build my own. What current sets could get me going with good mech articulation? The red creature creation set? (dragon snake scorpion) it has ball joints and hinges.

Speaking of that I recently discovered JK Brickworks and his alternate models for various sets. Mind blowing ingenuity and engineering. Any other people to follow that do alternate builds from set boxes? Such a great idea I wish was available when I was a kid.

I recently bought an eBay lot of a thousand pieces and dug up as many of my own Legos from childhood, but I quickly found I'm scarce on pieces to do symmetry in my builds.
 

TheFuzz

Member
Bags 4 of the Firehouse done. Lots of smaller interior builds, and they're all great. Nice printed pieces that I didn't expect, too. Love Janine's desk the most.
 
I've been following Jang's hospital from the beginning and I really didn't expect him to finish already with everything else that he does. It's really beautiful and so much detail.
 
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