Set Review - #40677-1: Prisoner of Azkaban™ Figures - BrickHeadz

We have another Brickheadz Harry Potter themed multi-figure set for 2024 after 2022’s #40560-1: Professors at Hogwarts™. This one is #40677-1: Prisoner of Azkaban™ Figures. It was released on 1 March 2024 for $49.99. It contains 697 pieces which works out to $0.072 per piece. This set has figures from the third book/movie to include another Harry and Hermione Brickheadz, but our first Sirius, a Patronus, and a Dementor.

The box is standard with the Brickheadz shown on the front and then in a different order on the back.

The box contains nine numbered parts bags and then an envelope with the instructions inside.

There is an instruction booklet for each Brickheadz figure as shown here.

#221 - Harry Potter™

First up is Harry. Nothing super out of the ordinary from other past Brickheadz. He has the printed scar, glasses, and black hair. His shirt has a mud stain and then some stripes on the sleeves. There’s also a 1x2 tile printed as a chocolate bar. He’s holding a wand which is made differently to include a part to clip on the end. Then you attach a translucent piece to make it look like he’s giving a patronus charm which is cool. Harry is on the standard base for a Brickheadz figure.

#222 - Hermione Granger™

Next up is Hermione. Other than the charm that is supposed to be a necklace which holds the time turner, there isn’t much different about her. It’s the standard Brickheadz build.

#223 Stag Patronus™

This one was a fun build. Between the light blue color and then the translucent blue pieces, it’s a cool design. Also it’s not your average shape of a person which is a nice change. The figure doesn’t balance well without the stand as the head is not centered so it’s a bit front heavy. It uses some different parts too which nice.

#224 - Dementor™

This one is different as it’s a magical creature instead of a person. The center of the figure is clear pieces which is not usual and then the face has a hole in the center which is different for Brickheadz. Instead of making hair, they recreated the cape/headscarf type thing the Dementor wears. It’s not the greatest of characters to re-create, but it’s cool to see something different besides the three main Harry Potter characters in different clothing.

#225 - Sirius Black™

Last up is Sirius. He comes in his prison garb and is pretty simple, but you can see Sirius in the look. I like the use of SNOT on the face and the studs pointing down for the beard. The shirt is printed for some more detail.

Overall, I wouldn’t get this set unless you are a Harry Potter fan or a Brickheadz collector. Nothing overly spectacular about this one. On a price per brick standpoint, it’s reasonably priced, but the pieces are all rather small so it doesn’t seem like you’re getting a lot for $50. I recommend waiting for a sale, double Insider Points, or a cool GWP before scooping this one up.

For fun, I lined up all of my built Harry Potter Brickheadz for a picture. I think I have a few more put away in a box somewhere. I’ll find them at some point and take another picture.

Happy building!

Light Kit Review - LeLightGo - Kit for #42083-1: Bugatti Chiron (Technic)

The folks at LeLightGo reached out to me and asked if they could send me a light kit so I could review it on my blog. So here goes.

I was given a choice so I selected the light kit for #42083-1: Bugatti Chiron from the Technic line. In case you’re not familiar, you can see my review of the LEGO Technic set here (part 1) and here (part 2). Also, you can get up close and personal with a real Bugatti Chiron at that link (okay, maybe not super personal, but closer than I’ve ever been).

The company’s web site lists a UK address, but the shipment I received came from California. The box was roughly 6 inches long by about 5 inches wide and a little over an inch tall. It was labeled as the 42083 Classic Version.

The box just contains a bag with parts bags inside so I went to their web site. They have some general instructions for how to handle their kits under a section labeled USER GUIDE. I scrolled down and there were two instructions for set #42083. One was labeled as the “new version” and the other was just the number. As you recall, the box I received said “classic version.” I was a bit confused as to which instructions to use. I ended up opening them both and used the process of elimination to figure out what to use.

The box contained eight parts bags. One through six were labeled and then there were two others. One contained the battery container.

The build started with taking apart a few pieces in the front of the car to get to the headlights. Then you place an LED under each 1x1 clear plate. Having a wire in the way makes the connection not as solid, but it holds. You connect four LEDs on each side and then all of the wires run into the front trunk space.

The next build installs a light above the seats. This one has a wire that you then connect back to the front trunk as well. I didn’t do a good job making the connections tight so it is more obvious that I used a light kit here.

There are a number of connections in the back. You install one on the spoiler, one along the brake light, and then one underneath the car. The one on the spoiler was tough as the wiring had to connect down through the car to the bottom to make some additional connections to lead to the power connection in the front. The one along the brake light requires you to change around the build a bit. The kit includes some knock off pieces that you install so there is one clip on the back versus two. Then you tack on the two light strips. The strips are a little too long in my opinion so getting them to fit was a bit sporty, but I eventually got the fit to work. The lights on the bottom required removing some more parts, but I eventually got all of this to work.

Once the lights in the back are attached, you have a long wire that you run to the front of the car. From there you connect all of the wires together to then connect to the power source. I didn’t have the three AAA batteries required on hand so I connected the USB plug to a USB to American power cord adapter and…

I was shocked that it all worked on the first try. It was actually fairly easy to put together despite having never done a kit like this before. The front headlights really look awesome. I think the one above the seats is a bit bright, but it does the job of lighting the cabin. You can also see the red LEDs in the rear spoiler which looks pretty good.

I think the back looks awesome. The red LEDs along the brake lights looks great and the blue that shines down on the ground is a cool contrast from the red right above it.

Thanks to LeLightGo for sending this set for me to review. Overall, it was a good first experience at LED lights and I think it helps to make the Technic Bugatti Chiron look better. I have nothing to compare this to so I can’t say whether it’s better than other companies or not, but no big complaints on this one after I figured out which instructions to follow. This set would originally cost $48.99. As of the writing of this post, it’s on sale for $38.99 plus a buy one, get one 30% off sale if you buy another kit. If you’re looking to get a light kit, definitely watch for sales and opportunities to save some funds.

Have you used light kits before? What are your opinions? Have you used LeLightGo or others? Let me know in the comments.

Happy building!

Set Review - #10326-1: Natural History Museum - Icons - Modular Building

LEGO knows that every year is they keep producing awesome looking modular buildings that I’ll shell out whatever price they set and this year is no exception. #10326-1: Natural History Museum was released on 1 December 2023 for $299.99. It contains 4,014 pieces which works out to $0.075 per piece. This one is bigger than past sets as it includes a 32x32 baseplate and a 16x32 baseplate. Lots to dig into so let’s go…

The box is pretty standard. The front shows the full set with a set name logo and mentions the modular building collection. It also has the Icons branding on the bottom. The back shows the other modular building sets available now along with some of the features of this set.

The box contains the parts bags for bags 15 through 33 and then another box. When you open that box, you get the remainder of the parts bags, a bag that isn’t numbered, the base plates, and the instructions.

The instruction book is pretty hefty as you would expect for a set of this size. You also get the banners to hang on the outside of the museum advertising exhibits.

The first bag adds the flooring to the 16x32 baseplate. You also get a female minifigure that works at the museum.

Bag two adds some of the flooring to the 32x32 baseplate and connects the two together. I like the addition of some bones in the floor that are eventually covered up to be found at some later date.

The third bag adds in more flooring. You also get some plants on the outside, and a toilet in the back. There are also some tile pieces on the floor that end up being a clay pot that has fallen over. There’s also another surprise under one of the floors that I’ll save for when you build it or another reviewer spoils it for you.

Bag four adds tiling on top of some of the raised floor areas and adds in the front steps to the museum.

Bag five starts to add in some more details including more to the bathroom, a small lab area, some steps, and finishes off the flooring patterns.

The sixth bag makes the walls higher and adds in some doors.

Bag seven starts to add in some of the displays at the museum along with the front desk area. I won’t go through each of the displays so you can have fun figuring them out when you build the set (or just read the captions in the instructions that describe each one). You also get another minifigure who is a worker at the museum.

The eighth bag builds up some of the front of the building.

Bag nine starts to build up the olive green walls. You get railings at the entrance of the building and some windows as well.

Bag 10 builds up more of the details of the front and the walls of the sides of the building.

Bag 11 continues to finish off the front of the building with windows and some more olive green pieces.

Bag 12 tops off the whole floor with tiles so it can be connected to other floors. You also add in a set of stairs to go to the second floor.

Bag 13 finishes off the first floor. The front of the building gets some columns on each side of the door and then some minifigure statues as well. There’s some additional plant life too. Since I haven’t shown the back yet, there are a few details including a pipe which leaks water to let a plant grow, and a dog checking out the trash to see if there are any bones. There is a door in the back as well.

Bag 14 builds the dinosaur skeleton. As shown on the front of the box, the skeleton is not permanently fixed to the floor so you can pick it up and move it elsewhere as desired. It’s a pretty decent build considering the size and where they had to fit it. It does have some non-white pieces for attachments, but the light gray works.

Onto the second floor…

Bag 15 assembles the plates that make the base of the floor with two spots to look down and also let the stairs connect and dinosaur skeleton peek through.

Bag 16 builds up some of the wall and adds the base for where the model of the solar system is placed.

Bag 17 adds in some railings around the holes in the floor so no minifigures fall down. You also build the model of the solar system which is a great design at such a small scale. This bag comes with a boy minifigure.

Bag 18 adds some displays to the floor and adds a female minifigure with a camera. This minifigure has a prosthetic leg.

Bag 19 builds up the walls around this floor.

Bag 20 adds in some windows, more walls, and a few more displays to include a map with a rocket zooming by (Classic Space symbol???).

Bags 21 and 22 build up the wall structures and add in more windows.

Bag 23 finishes the floor with tiles on the top and you add on the plastic banners.

Bag 24 adds to the columns that match and fit right in with the first floor despite the break between the two floors.

Bag 25 attaches the plates that make up the third floor/roof.

Bag 26 begins to build up the roof area with a few plants and the start of some of the decorative architecture.

Bag 27 adds in more of the roof walls and the door to the stairs to the second level.

Bag 28 starts to add more detail. The roof level includes a small office and you build out some of the details of the office. This bag comes with the museum curator minifigure.

Bag 29 adds the structure around the office area which actually looks pretty good considering there is an office inside.

Bag 30 builds up more of the architectural details for the roof.

Bag 31 finishes off the structural details, adds in a telescope for the curator to use and then adds in some sky lights that open up to both levels of the museum below for some natural light.

Flipping the set around, bag 32 adds in the roof/awning section of the front of the building that covers up the stairs leading into the museum. Now that I’ve flipped it around, you can see on the left and right side, there are some arch/window pieces. It’s hard to tell from the picture I used, but there are microfigures inside as miniature statues which is a fun detail.

Before wrapping up the build, here are the seven minifigures you get with this set minus the two statues. You get a good mix of workers and museum goers. It’s always great to have more, but I can’t complain with the offerings that come with this set.

Bag 33 adds some final details to include a park bench, a mail box, the blossoming tree, a lamp post, some birds, and the stand for the window washer to use to clean the windows.

Overall, it’s another great modular building to build. Someday I hope to assemble all of my modulars in one place, but for now, you get just an individual picture. The price continues to go up on these, but the piece count on this one is higher and it is larger so not too many complaints there. There are plenty of great pieces inside too so if you’re a MOC builder, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re a fan of the modulars, definitely look for an opportunity to snag this one. Maybe with a good GWP or double VIP points. I think it’ll be a while before we see a sale on this one.

Happy building!

Set Review - #43249-1: Stitch - Disney

LEGO is expanding the buildable characters that are less than a foot tall and about 6 to 8 inches wide. We had them with Star Wars and here we have it with Disney. #43249-1: Stitch was released on 1 March 2024 for $64.99. It contains 730 pieces which comes out to $0.089 per piece. This isn’t a bad deal, but I suspect if you wait until maybe closer to Christmas time, this set will be discounted 10% or 20%.

I took pictures during the build and somehow they got messed up when I transferred them to my computer so this won’t be the normal review (sorry).

Here’s the box. The front has the LEGO and Disney logos. It has the full set and then a cartoon drawing of Stitch on the bottom. The back shows how you can move some of the parts like his ears.

The set contains 7 parts bags, a small sticker sheet, and the instructions. The sticker sheet is the flowers for his Hawaiian shirt so it’s not a ton of stickers to place on the set.

Here’s a close up of the small instruction booklet and then I took a picture of the stickers and my computer messed it up somehow so it’s tiny. You get 12 full flowers and then 2 half flowers for the shirt.

The build starts with his torso and then adds his legs, arms, and then his head. The head comes off (as you can see). It’s attached by a Technic pin and you can rotate it as desired for display. The arms and legs don’t really move, but you can adjust his claws. As shown on the box, the ears can move and his mouth moves very slightly, but not by much.

The eye pieces are printed (thankfully) and you just put them in so it helps to make the build easier versus having brick built eyes.

The flower can be removed. There is a small piece to make a connection on his head as desired.

Here’s the final build. I added the ice cream cone in for this picture. You can take it out of his hand if you want. This picture also lets you see the stickers on his Hawaiian shirt. I’m guessing they didn’t print them on as it’s a curved piece. Maybe?

Overall it’s a fun set with some interesting SNOT techniques to get the shaping. My 6 year old helped me build it and we had a good time putting it together. It wasn’t too hard if you have experience building. The set has some playability, but is mostly a display piece. If you are a MOC builder, you get a bunch of brightly colored pieces if you just wanted to assemble this once and then take it apart. The price isn’t bad, but wait for a sale and you can get it at an even better price.

Happy building!

Bricklink Designer Program Round 4 - A Win for Castle Fans

I’ve turned picking the Bricklink Designer Program round sets into a game and round 4 was the first where I didn’t get any right. You can see my failed picks here. This round was heavy on the castle theme and even another train made the pick which is cool to see as a train fan. I’ll be curious to see if LEGO brings back the castle theme based on the popularity through Ideas, Icons, and this program. Onto the finalists for round 4…

First up is Medieval Seaside Market by user Bricks_fan_uy which contains 2,183 pieces. This one is an interesting selection with the addition of #10332: Medieval Town Square in the Icons line. I realize the differences, but it also has a lot of similarities. Either way, it’s Castle and as of late, Castle sets are super popular. This one will most likely sell out quickly.

Next up is the Merchant Boat by user NicolasCarlier which contains 1,933 pieces. This one is something different that we haven’t seen before. I like the concept. We haven’t seen a steamboat before, but maybe there’s a reason for it. We’ll see how this one does with sales.

If one Castle themed set wasn’t enough, this round gives us two. The Siege Encampment by user SleeplessNight contains 2,637 pieces. SleeplessNight designed the Mountain Fortress set from round 1. It’s a full on war scene with the equipment to take over a castle, some tents, and some areas to support the troops. It’s something we haven’t seen in Castle before so I suspect this one will go quickly too.

Next up is The Riverside Scholars by user Hanwas which will contain 2,692 pieces. This one is another unique design and is tied to the Mountain Windmill set from a while back. I like the fantasy theme, but I’m not sure this one will go like the Castle themed sets.

The last one is the Wild West Train by designer llucky which contains 2,760 pieces. llucky designed the General Store set from series 1 so he is another repeat designer for this program. It’s good to see another train set after a lot of years of no trains. This one is from a different era as I don’t think we’ve seen a western themed train set since the Toy Story train a few years back. This one should go well with llucky’s General Store set of the same era.

Does Your Community Have a LEGO Brick Builders Group?

I recently found an article online about an AFOL who set up a building club for his son and other kids to participate in. Mr. Keith Harmon used some of his own collection as well as donations from others to put the event on. I’ve seen building clubs before and they are often at local libraries or elementary schools. What struck me about this article was some of the pictures. If you look closely, there are a few pictures where adults are building/helping the kids out. That’s awesome to see. What a great opportunity to hang out with your kids and do something fun. I also like the concept of building to a theme. It looks like Mr. Harmon laid down some base plates and the kids were given the task to build up a city around it. My local library just gives kids time to build and then they display the creations around the library afterwards for the month.

Photo from TribLive.com

So I’m turning to you…

Does your town, school, church, community center have a LEGO Builder’s Club?

Is it just for kids? For kids and adults? Just for adults?

Do you have any tips for making it successful?

What keeps people coming back?

Please share your insights in the comments. I’d love to hear what works and what doesn’t work.

Thanks and happy building!

An Update and Something New

 

A few weeks ago, I let everyone know about how a charity focused on giving LEGO to kids was robbed. You can find that post here. Well I found an update to the initial call and it looks like the community showed up in force which was awesome to see. You can find the update to the story here. I didn’t see a final number on the amount raised, but it was great to see people showing up because they wanted to help. Thank you to all who supported this great cause! You can still support them by going to their site.

 

Photo from WKRC

Next up, Paul Wellington from Ohio who was on the show LEGO MASTER’S last year just start a chapter of Pass the Bricks recently. I was not aware of this charity, but you can see more about it in a local news story here. There are chapters of this charity located all around the US and in a few other countries as well. Check out their site to learn more and to see how you can help. Great job Paul!

How Much Would You Pay for a Golden Bionicle Mask

A copy of the rare Bionicle Golden Kanohi Hau Mask was found at a Goodwill in Pennsylvania recently. You can see an article from a local news station on it here or just search for it on your favorite search engine. The Goodwill store posted it on an online auction and made $23,301 for the mask. Apparently there was a bid for $33,000, but the person failed to pay.

I’m not a big Bionicle fan nor do I know all of the background, but why would you pay so much for this? Is it the uniqueness? Do they hope to be able to re-sell it for a higher amount someday? That’s a lot of cash to dump on an item you wanted “just because.”

With that being said, I guess it doesn’t hurt to stop in at your local Goodwill shop to see if they have any random LEGO items in stock.

Happy buidling!

Set Review - #71045 - Series 25 - Collectible Minifigures

It’s series 25 already! How crazy is that? This batch was released 1 January 2024 and they are still $4.99 each. Individual minifigures are #71045 or you can purchase the box of six with set #66763. There are scannable codes on the boxes to tell which minifigures are inside so it should prevent the boxes from getting broken into like we saw with the last version. I’m more of a fan of the non-licensed versions that they produce so let’s take a look at this round.

First, a picture of the boxes of six. Nothing super exciting.

My kids helped me put these together and they saw the fish with the Film Noir Detective and couldn’t figure out why it was there? Does it matter? This one is a fun concept and I’ve already seen a MOC or two posted using the minifigure as a main character.

Not our first gamer, but the E-Sports Gamer comes decked out with the most gear to include headphones, a controller, a keyboard, and the trophy.

Everything castle seems to be popular lately so we’ll see if this one joins that party. the translucent red ax blades are pretty cool. I doubt Vampire Knight will be a new sub theme, but it’s pretty creative.

We’ve had numerous Olympians before. The Sprinter here is different as he has prosthetics on.

Goatherd. Is everyone happy now? There’s a goat. I’m not sure why everyone is so excited about this goat, but it’s here. I hope you all can get some sleep at night now.

The Mushroom Sprite is very fun. The mushroom cap is a fun detail and you get a colorful butterfly as well.

The Fitness Instructor comes equipped with a kettle bell, fitness drink, and printed abs. She looks like she could kick any minifigure’s butt.

The Triceratops Costume Fan is great. Could go well with the new Natural History Museum modular or maybe as a Jurassic Park visitor.

Harpy is… um… what is it? Wings, claws, purple hair… okay?

Train Kid is fun with the costume similar to past boat and plane characters. We weren’t sure why he has an eye patch on. I assume he has an injury that he’s healing from. The printed part on the front of the train piece is a nice detail. You get two in the bag so figure out how to use the extra one.

The Fierce Barbarian could be a good addition to a Viking Village. This is not the first time we’ve had a barbarian if you can remember back to Series 17. If you have the previous one, you can now grow your barbarian horde.

Lastly, we have a Pet Groomer. This one comes with a dog that I don’t think we’ve gotten before. The minifigure has a dual printed face and the apron is printed on the torso and legs.

There you go…Happy hunting!

My Bricklink Designer Program Round 4 Picks

I’ve been writing about the Bricklink Designer Program that kicked off in 2023 for a while. I’ve voted on the last three rounds and a few of my picks are being turned into sets in the program. At the time of this post, Round 1 pre-orders just kicked off. Hopefully you survived the 30 minute website outage to grab the set(s) that you were interested in. Round 4 voting just kicked off and ends on 16 February. Like many of the past rounds, there are a lot of modular type buildings, castles, pirates, and some space items. This round also includes a number of Winter Village themed sets which corresponds to palette being released 1 December for a mid-January submission timeframe.

I made a few picks and listed them below. I also made sure to give all five “Love It” votes.

The first one is American Steam Locomotive by designer stijnd which is made up of 2,143 pieces. The fan community has been pushing for some awesome looking steam engines and I think this one would be a great addition to the lineup. I know trains aren’t the most popular theme, but this one has some great detail and would fit in this program instead of the main lineup through LEGO Icons or Ideas.

The next pick is called Blooming Bouquets. It’s by designer JackBrickLover and contains 757 pieces. While it’s on the smaller side for a modular building, I think every city could use some smaller buildings and our wallets could use some smaller sets on the cheaper side. This one still has a lot of great details and is very bright and has a good mix of colors. I like the flower on the top of the building with the butterfly.

Fire Truck is by designer KingCreations and packs a lot of detail into a build with only 412 pieces. The City theme gives us a ton of fire vehicles with new ones released each year, but we have yet to get one with this much detail and functionality. This would go great in any City layout and even includes two minifigures. As an added bonus, 412 pieces shouldn’t break the bank. Maybe $45? Please vote for this one like I did!

I had to throw in a building/modular. Here’s the Old City Canal by lukreate. It contains 3,742 pieces and is the front facade of a section of a city around a canal. While it’s not a true modular, it still has a lot of fun details and can be rearranged to give it some different views. Downsides are the high piece count (high price) and a bunch of stickers, but I think it looks pretty cool!

My last pick is The Northern Ambassador Limited by NewEletia45. This one contains 2,272 pieces. The engine looks pretty similar to the the Emerald Night or at least the wheel assembly looks similar. I like the addition of two passenger cars as well. I doubt we’d get the fans to vote for two, but I’ll hedge my bets and pick two while really hoping for one (and I’ll probably get none, but that’s okay).

Please vote for your favorites! Happy building!