Set Review - #21023 - Flatrion Building, New York

While I enjoy the LEGO Architecture series and I think some of the buildings they recreate are great, I don't often purchase the sets.  This one is a bit different.  The Flatiron Building is regularly $39.99 in the US.  With 471 pieces, that's $0.085 per piece.  This set has been discounted on Amazon.com in the US for a while, but I recently caught it at $25.60 or $0.054 per piece or roughly 36% off.  I'll take it!  This set was released on 2 May 2015 and can still be purchased at LEGO Shop at Home for full price.

To the build... First off, the box looks like most LEGO Architecture set boxes  Here are pictures of the front and back.

The contents include a detailed instruction book with information about the actual building as well as the LEGO instructions.  It also contains 5 bags of bricks and a brick separator.

The build starts with the standard base for the LEGO Architecture series with the name of the set on a tile.

Next up in the internal structure of the building.  It's nothing too special and you can tell that the detail comes from the SNOT (Studs Not On Top) build to come.

The details of the building are formed by putting the various pieces on mostly 4 x 8 plates.  Some translucent tiles are used as windows and then some grill pieces are used to capture the small windows on the actual building.  The pictures below are the one side and then the back of the building.  As you can see at the corners, the connections aren't exactly smooth.  There are definitely some gaps, but I can't complain based on the size and scale of the model.

The SNOT designs continue around the building to complete the details of the building.  Then some plates and bricks are placed together to capture the top of the building.  The top leaves a bit to be desired in my opinion, but when I look at pictures of the building I don't tend to focus on that area so maybe that's why they didn't put a lot of detail there.

It's not a hard build.  The SNOT techniques aren't too challenging, but it's just a lot of 1x1 tiles and plates to put on along with a bunch of 1x2s.  From a design standpoint, I think LEGO did a good job at capturing the essence of the building.  The corners are not smooth, but I think that's a challenge given the scale of this building and the curves that they are trying to replicate.  In terms of price, it's not too bad in terms of price per piece, but the pieces are rather small.  I don't think I would have purchased it if I didn't get it for 36% off.  The build wasn't super exciting and the pieces aren't really anything out of the ordinary.  Would I recommend this set to someone at the full retail price? Unless they are really into NY City or Architecture or this building, I would not.  If it interests you check Amazon.com or elsewhere for discounts.

Bricks for Bricks Update for June 2016

In the last month of our campaign, we're at $107.43 to donate to Pencils of Promise.  Thanks for those of you who have supported the campaign and bought some good LEGO items in the process.

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We've added a few sets to Brick Classifieds.  

70816: Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! - The LEGO Movie - $105 - Free Shipping
     (3 available)

70809: Lord Business' Evil Lair - The LEGO Movie - $69 and $12 shipping
     (2 available)

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Lots of discounts available in the US via Amazon.  As of the evening of 31 May, there are over 200 sets priced at 20% off or more.  Check out the Brickset Amazon List for details.

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Finally, the summer 2016 LEGO Catalog arrived at my home today.  While there are some amazing looking sets, I was initially shocked about how much of the catalog was filled with Licensed sets.  The first few pages were Star Wars sets.  Then there were Minecraft, Super Heroes, Ghost Busters, Speed Champions, Angry Birds, and Disney Princess.  Yikes!  That's a lot.  The breakdown of what's available (in the US only):

-Star Wars has a number of Rebels sets and a few new Force Awakens sets.  I'm not a huge fan of the Rebels sets.  There's an X-Wing fighter and a set from Jakku.  Both have BB-8 and a few other good minifigs though.  
-I'm not a Minecraft fan and I don't follow or sell any of the sets.  You tell me what you think.
-A few Super Heroes sets are listed.  Nothing new that I wasn't already aware of.  
-A page on the MINDSTORMS EV3 and a page on City Skylines from the Architecture line (nothing new)
-The current LEGO Ideas sets.  The Big Bang Theory (#21302) was recently discounted at Amazon for 34% off so I get the feeling it's not selling really well.
-Ghostbusters
-Modular Buildings and some of the Creator Experts buildings, but not including the new Big Ben set (and YouTube video), some of the fairground sets, and some of the vehicles.  
-Speed Champions
-The amazing looking Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS.  The You Tube Designer video is here.  It looks pretty awesome... although it's $299 so... yikes!  A few other Technic sets are listed as well.
-LEGO Simpsons & Classic are next
-Some new LEGO Creator Sets are next.  The buildings aren't as impressive as some of the older Creator houses that existed, but the Vacation Getaways brings a new style to some of the CITY Campers of the past.  The details look pretty good too.  
-NEXO Knights are next, followed by Ninjago, and Angry Birds
-As a Train fan (no new trains... come on LEGO!!!), I look at the city sets to see what might go good with future train displays.  There are some new aircraft.  Nothing drastically new, but they might be worth waiting for discounts on Amazon in a few months.  The Fun in the park - City People Pack  is a great edition to any LEGO City.  It includes a LEGO baby minifigure, the first LEGO figure in a wheel chair, and a bunch of other great minifigs to add to a CITY scene.
-The rest of the catalog hits on Disney Princess, Friends, Elves, and then the Minecraft Village on the back.

A few notes:
-Yes, I'm biased and I only spent time mentioning the themes I enjoy.  
-LEGO VIP members get free shipping on orders over $35 in June.
-Purchases over $75 get an exclusive Fountain (#40221) set which goes well with the Fun in the Park set.

Happy Building!

How to Move Your LEGO Business and Collection

Here's the part where I'm supposed to write a great blog post on the best ways to pack your LEGO collection and business up to move.  Sadly, I don't have that post in me, but perhaps I will soon.  As it's time for Bricks for Bricks to depart New Mexico.  While I wish I did this full time, I do not.  I have another job and they are moving me to Florida.  I'm excited for the move to Florida, but it does bring challenges for an AFOL.  I will lose Amazon's tax free sales to New Mexico and Albuquerque's Bricks and Minifigs store.  There is a LEGO brand store in Florida, but it will be around 7 hours away from me so that's not fun.

As for moving my collection and the store, that's another story.  These are just some of the boxes.  I have a few other staging areas in my home and it drives my NLS (Non-Lego Spouse) nuts to see the pile getting bigger.  If anyone has advice on how to do this, let me know.  My current plan is to have a good inventory of what is in each box and to take pictures of the more expensive and harder to replace items.  Beyond that, I'm just hoping for the best.

The site will remain up during the move, but I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post to the blog.  The store on this site and the Brick Classifieds store will close on 26 June 2016.  For minifig purchases from my store, I'm offering free shipping on orders over $30 of minifigs.  Just enter "MIFGSHIP" at your time of purchase.  For the Brick Classifieds store I went through and lowered some of the prices.  I'm also willing to come up with deals for purchasing more than one set.  Take a look and contact me via email with what you have in mind.  Thanks for helping me to have less stuff to move.  I hope to have the store back up and operating in Florida by the end of the summer.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions on how to move my collection or tips on what not to do, please let me know in the comments or email me at store@bricksforbricks.com.

Set Review - Disney Minifigures - #71012

Update - 19 May - The first of a few Disney Minifigures have been added to the store.  I don't have the full range for sale yet, but more will be added soon.  You can find them all here.

They have been out since 1 May so I'm a little late to the review, but it took a while for my orders to arrive.  The price in the US has remained the same at $3.99 per minifigures, but there have been a few changes.  For starters the set now includes 18 versus the standard 16 minifigures per set.  While it's great to have more figures out there, it means you need to spend more of your money if you want to complete the whole set ($71.82 vs $63.84 before taxes).  Another change, if you buy your figures from LEGO Shop at Home, they now only let you buy up to 18 versus the 32 that you used to be able to buy.  What does that mean?  You can't just order collectible minifigures and get the free shipping over $75.  Now you have to buy another set to go with them to get free shipping.  

Another area which I'm sure has been debated elsewhere is the use of Licensed material versus original LEGO designed content.  It seems that LEGO is producing more and more licensed products.  Is that a bad thing?  I'm sure people are buying them so they keep making them, but having the imaginative sets is also good too.  Does LEGO have the right mix of both between themes like CITY and NEXO KNIGHTS and others versus STAR WARS and THE SIMPSONS and others?  I'm not sure I know the answer there either.

So onto the figures...

First off we have Stitch from "Lilo & Stitch."  I think they did a good job with this figure.  It's pretty accurate and using the shorter minifig legs helps.  Next is Peter Pan.  The face and printed torso and legs do a good job at capturing him, but I wonder if they should have used the shorter legs as well since Peter is a kid.  Finally Alice from Alice in Wonderland.  I like the plastic dress much better than some of the cloth dresses that have been used on past figures.  It limits the movement of the arms, but that's okay by me.

I'm not sure how they decided which figures to do, but it's good that they did Peter Pan and Captain Hook.  Hook is pretty tall, but I think they did a good job capturing his look.  The hat is a nice touch.  Maleficient is next.  I'll be honest and say that I had no idea who that was until I got this minifigure.  Based on a Google search, I think this one was done pretty accurately.  The final one in this row is Ursula from "The Little Mermaid."  I think they did a good job capturing her look and the tentacles were done well.

Syndrome is from Disney Pixar's "The Incredibles."  It's an interesting selection as they chose him and Mr. Incredible.  Why not Mrs. Incredible?  Minnie Mouse is next.  It looks like Minnie, but it's pretty big in terms of height.  I guess it's tough if you want to get the head to look right, you have to get the rest of the body to match the size.  Next up, the Genie from "Aladdin."  I don't have much to say about this one other than I think it matches well with the character from the movie.

I think it's interesting to see Toy Story minifigures again.  They just did a line of Toy Story sets with minifigures so why do more?  The Pizza Planet Alien looks the same although it has some slight color changes from the last minifigures released.  Next up is Buzz Lightyear and This one looks almost exactly the same except for one major change... instead of the actual shaped head, it's a minifigure head.  I'm not sure why they chose a minifigure head versus the shape.  There are some slight color variations too.  You can see the original figure here.  Last in this row is Ariel... "The Little Mermaid."  While I think it's a good figure, LEGO definitely modeled it off of Marsha Queen of the Mermaids from "the LEGO Movie.."  They even matched the shell and jewel.  

Donald and Daisy look okay and the heads were done well.  I do think they are a little tall though.  Aladdin matches well although I'm not sure why they give Aladdin and the Genie a lamp.  Where's Abu?

Last up is Mickey.  He looks good to me!

As mentioned there are 18 figures total.  I'm missing the Cheshire Cat and Mr. Incredible.  I will add them to this post once I get them.  

Should you run out and pick some of these up?  That's your call.  Are you a big Disney fan?  I think some of the newer characters are nice to see like Captain Hook, Stitch, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Donald.  I'm not sure why they re-did Toy Story again... the character selection could have been a little better.  I also find it interesting that there are 2 Ariel figures with one in the Disney Princess type and the other more like a standard minifigure.   Either way, I'm sure we can expect more Disney minifigures to come.

LEGO Shipping Damage

I've ordered LEGO sets from Amazon before and they often show up trashed.  For whatever reason UPS tends to kick them around the warehouse and truck before they deliver.  Also I'm not sure what Amazon's packing plan is, but I got one small set once wrapped in a bag.  It looked like the workers at the Amazon warehouse had stepped on the bag a few times before shipping.  Luckily for me, the plan for that set was to open it and add the minifigs to the store so it wasn't a big issue.

LEGO Shop at Home tends to use FedEx for larger items and then smaller items arrive USPS or FedEx SmartPost (FedEx hauls the long distance and then delivers to the local USPS for final delivery).  The LEGO distribution point is in Southhaven, MS which is just across the state line from Tennessee.  More importantly it is right near Memphis, TN where FedEx's major hub is.  So if you select the faster shipping methods, LEGO is right there to give it to FedEx so they can fly it to you.  I would assume FedEx Ground is right there as well.

I'm not sure what the community's opinion is, but overall I've had good luck with LEGO Shop at Home in terms of damage.  Everything is usually well packed and arrives via FedEx or USPS with minimal damage.  It all changed yesterday when one of my May the 4th orders arrived.  

I ordered #75142 - Homing Spider Droid as it was on sale for $23.99 vs. the regular $29.99.  I'm not sure how well the picture captures it, but it looks like someone punched it before putting it into the box.  The set was well packed with protection and there was little space for it to get jostled around during shipping.  The other set in the box was not damaged either.  

LEGO has a returns program and I could easily do that, but I wonder if it's worth it.  I'm 99% sure that the contents in the set are not damaged.  In the end I will either build the set or break it apart and sell the minifigs so does it really matter that the box is damaged?  

I'm curious as to what your thoughts on damage to sets are?  Does it matter if your set shows up with a damaged box as long as the contents are okay?  Would it matter more if it was a larger, more expensive set?  What do you think?  Thanks for sharing!

LEGO Shop at Home May the Fourth Sale - Is/Was it Worth it?

If you live in the UK, Australia, or New Zealand, you got 10% off all LEGO Star Wars sets.  How awesome is that?  Granted if you do a currency conversion, more often than not the price is lower in the states, but still it would have been great to have 10% off all Star Wars sets in the USA too.  Sadly we did not.  If you looked at the sales, the majority of the items up for sale are already discounted on Amazon and have been for quite some time.  Many of the buildable figures have been discounted for a few months on Amazon in the US now.  The set discounts for LEGO Shop at Home in the US weren't much different from what Amazon has been offering either.  The Battle on Takodana (#75139) has been around 15% off on Amazon and Amazon increased it to 20% off to match LEGO's sale.  The Resistance Troop Transporter (#75140) has been 20% off at Amazon for a while too and LEGO matched this for their sale.  The 3 "deals" I saw through LEGO Shop at Home (in the US) were the Imperial Shuttle Tydirium (#75094) at 20% off (vs. 18% off on Amazon), the Homing Spider Droid (#75142) at 20% off, and the Sith Infiltrator (#75096) at 20% off.  Sadly, none of the Ultimate Collector Series Star Wars builds or larger Star Wars sets like the Millennium Falcon (#75105) were discounted.  

While it sounds like I'm complaining, the free shipping, double VIP points, First Order Stormtrooper minifig, and LEGO Force Awakens movie poster definitely help some.  You won't get any of that from Amazon.  

If you've been saving up for some Star Wars sets, you still have time as the sale ends on 4 May.  I bought a few items for the store to include sets and minifigs.  Let me know if you have purchased anything through the sale and your thoughts on LEGO's discounts.  You can post in the comments or email me at store@bricksforbricks.com.

May The 4th Be With You!

A lot of junk shows up in the mail whenever I go to check it.  Lucky for me, on Thursday I received some mail from the LEGO® company.  It was an advertisement for LEGO's® Star Wars™ Day promotions.  From 30 April to 4 May at LEGO® Stores or from LEGO® Shop at Home, you can get the following:

     -Free Exclusive First Order Stormtroopers™ Minifigure
     -Double VIP points on all Star Wars™ Purchases
     -Free Star Wars™: The Force Awakens Poster on all Star Wars™ Purchases
     -A number of Star Wars™ LEGO® sets will be on sale

Also, if you've been paying attention.  The new LEGO® Star Wars™ Assault on Hoth™ (#75098) will be released on 30 April.  It's $249 and contains 2,144 pieces.  I haven't seen too many reviews of the set on any of the fan sites yet, but it looks like an interesting one.  

So if you'e been saving up for some Star Wars™ LEGO® sets, this might be the chance to get a good deal or at least some fun freebies. 

Set Review - Homing Spider Droid - #75142 - Star Wars

Another Star Wars set review I must do.  And I'll stop writing like Yoda now.  This is the Homing Spider Droid, #75142.  It comes from episode III in the second released trilogy.  This set is $29.99 in the US and contains 310 pieces.  That's $0.097 per piece which isn't too bad considering it's a Star Wars set.  This set was released on 1 March 2016 in the US and is still available now.  I got mine from LEGO Shop at home for double VIP points so I can't complain.  So should you get it too?

So let's get started.  The box front is pretty standard in the same theme that most of the other recent Star Wars sets I have reviewed have followed.   

The back also follows the same pattern.  It shows all the play features and the "weapons" included in the set.

The box contents are 3 bags of bricks, an instruction booklet that is shoved into the box and has a permanent crease, and the round Technic piece that serves as the main piece of the larger homing spider droid.

Bag 1 has 2 of the Battle Droids, completes the smaller homing spider droid, and starts the larger droid.  The Battle Droids are the same as previous sets.  The smaller homing spider droid is a simple build.  Nothing too special about it to talk about.

Battle Droids

The start of the larger homing spider droid.

Smaller Battle Droid with extra pieces.

41st Kashyyk Clone Trooper

Bag 2 continues with the larger homing spider droid.  In my opinion there are some good pieces included that could be useful in some MOCs or other builds.  It also includes a 41st Kashyyk Clone Trooper.  Last year LEGO released a minifigure pack of Kashyyk Clone Troopers.  This one is slightly different.  Last years are here and here.  The uniform is slightly different and they have the LEGO "shooting" blaster that flicks a 1x1 round plate.  This set has the standard LEGO Star Wars blaster.

Larger Homing Spider Droid build at the end of bag 2.

The final bag includes Yoda with a green light saber and adds the legs to the homing spider droid along with the weapon on the bottom.  The droid is a little flimsy and I think there was definitely a balance the designers took between making a larger, more expensive droid and a smaller, more affordable droid meant for kids aged 7 to 12 to play with.  As mentioned, there are some good pieces to used for MOCs too so if you don't like the droids, use the pieces elsewhere.

Yoda with light saber.

The final set with minifigures.

Overall, it's not a bad set.  The homing spider droid isn't a super exciting build, but if you're looking to recreate a Star Wars battle scene, this might be a good set to get.  The minifigures are good.  Yoda is always popular and you can't ever have too many clone troopers right?  Well maybe you can.  The battle droids aren't really exciting and tend to be in a lot of sets so nothing too special there.  I rate this set as middle of the road.  It's not bad, but there really isn't anything too special about it.  What are your thoughts?

Set Review - Burj Khalifa - #21031

The LEGO Architecture Theme is one that I don't deal with much.  I have a few of the sets, but I don't often purchase many.  With that being said, they are actually pretty impressive small scale representations of actual buildings.  I recently purchased  the LEGO version of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world located in Dubai, UAE.  This set is numbered 21031.  This is actually the second version.  The first version (21008) was released in mid-2011 and was around until the end of 2013.  The current version (21031) was released on 2 January 2016 and is still available at the time of this blog post.  It is priced at $39.99 (in the US) and with 333 pieces that puts it at $0.12 per piece.  This is a bit pricey in my opinion.  Thankfully, I got mine at a discount from Amazon for $35.90 or $0.108 per piece.  Not exactly a super deal, but I'll take it.

Here is the box front.  Like most Architecture sets it shows the completed version with the name of the building and where it is located.  

The back shows the LEGO model next to a picture of the actual building.  It also gives dimensions of the model and a quick description of the building.

Here are the contents.  The box contains two bags of bricks, a card asking the builder to take a survey and the instruction booklet.  The instruction booklet contains a few pages of details about the building (in numerous languages) along with the building instructions (and is quite thick).

As you can expect, the build uses some SNOT (Studs Not On Top) techniques.  The age listed on the box is 12+ so while younger kids can build it, they may need the help of an adult depending on their experience with LEGO builds.  Here is the first picture I took during the build.  Like most Architecture builds, the base contains a plate with the name of the building printed on it.  The instruction booklet is so thick that I had to use the scissors to prop it open for the picture.  It wouldn't stay open on it's own.  This isn't a complaint, just an observation.

Here is the next build picture.  Did I mention this set comes with a brick separator?  At this point you can see how the structure is built and where the external decorative pieces go.  

Here is the final build.  At 15 inches tall, it was hard to get a good picture with my iPhone.

Here is the set laying down.  I'm not sure this is a better view.

Here is a close up of the base.  I like this version much better than the older one from 2001.  The detail is much better and I think it looks closer to what the actual building looks like.

I thought this build was sleek and a great detailed build.  I realize many like minifigs and some of the themes that have more "playability," but the Architecture theme really stands out as a way to show how LEGO bricks can be used to re-create just about anything.  If you are interested in these sets, I only have one in my store.  It's the Leaning Tower of Pisa and can be found here.  To view the current LEGO offerings direct from LEGO you can see them here.  As always, check Walmart, Target, and Amazon online to see what discounts they are offering.  Right now, Amazon has a few Architecture sets lists at 24% off in the US.  

Do you like the Architecture theme?  Let me know what you think in the comments.

What's inside the container?

It's always fun when the delivery folks stop by and drop off a container with a distinctive rattle in it.  Some of the delivery folks have even made comments that there must be happy children inside the home given all of the LEGO orders you guys make.  I'll qualify myself as a big child.  Anyways, LEGO typically ships USPS or FedEx.  Amazon orders ship UPS or USPS.  This poor order was shipped UPS and like many previous UPS shipments, it arrived looking like someone kicked it from the street to my door.  Upon opening it, thankfully the massive dent is where some of those air pack bags were so no damage to the sets.  

So what's inside?  Well 4 sets actually, but I'm going to talk about 2 here.

The LEGO Architecture theme is one that is under represented in my opinion.  Part of it, I think, is that it is geared towards older builders and not the 7 to 12 year old range that most LEGO sets are built for.  Also, there are no minifigures which are a popular reason to buy sets (in my opinion).  I have a few LEGO Architecture sets and only 1 in the store, but I figured I would branch out and try a few more.  Amazon had a sale so I went for it.  #21031 is the Burj Khalifa... the tallest building in the world which is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  I have never seen the real building, but it's pretty amazing looking just from pictures.  The other one I purchased was #21028, New York City.  This is part of the new Skylines series where they have mini-builds of some of the famous buildings in some cities.  Right now there is only New York City, Berlin, and Venice.  I hope they expand... perhaps to some cities in Asia like Beijing?  Either way, I am looking forward to building these.

Next week I will give an update on our Pencils of Promise campaign, list where we're at on Brick Classifieds, and talk about a few things that have been added to the Bricks for Bricks store.