The best Lego sets ever - No. 8

Hello!

Today there will be the new post about best Lego sets. This time this is a set that I already own, namely:

5978 Sphinx Secret Suprise from Adventurers theme, Egyptian Desert subtheme:



As I own this set for a rather long time, it will be easier for me to rate it.
First: this set is perfectly designed. The sphinx looks very realistically and aesthetically. The statue of Anubis, neat automobile, palm tree and ingenious in their simplicity camp with fireplace and tent fulfill it.
Second: as it may be predicted for an Adventurers set - it is very playable. I even state that the traps and hideouts in this set are the most imaginative of all from Adventurers history. They are: a mummy jumping out of the sphinx after snapping a pivot, a falling obelisk (under which there is a hideout) and a hideout in the front of the sphinx, under a grey plate.
The set contains 7 minifigs: Johnny Thunder, Dr Kilroy, Pippin Read, Baron von Barron, Slyboots, a mummy and a skeleton. The rare pieces are among others a white headcloth on the head of the skeleton and a transparent dome used as a glass-case.
Because of all these features I think that this is the best Adventurers set.

Best regards, Dr Kilroy

The best Lego sets ever - No. 9

Hello! Today there will be the next post about the best Lego sets. Now there is the time for number 9, namely:

6990 Monorail Transport System from Space theme, Futuron subtheme:



I also do not own this set. Nevertheless it is the best Lego Space set (so it will be the only representative of this theme). It was the first set, in which my favourite Monorail system, about which I have written here. It is of course present on my list of priority purchases. :)
The assortment of the parts from this set is not very extraordinary, but it is large enough to build your own Monorail train. There are few tracks, but when you will have some other sets with this technology used, you can expand them to quite large sizes. The set also contains parts with lights, a cable and so-called battery box, which allow to build MOCs with shining parts, not neccessarily related with Space or trains at all.
The main model of the set itself was well designed and it is nice looking. It is also quite playable - it contains various lockers and five minifigs - two blue astronauts and three yellow ones. The next advantage are alternative models given on the back of the instructions sheet:



It is all for today. In the next part there will be a set which is already in my possession. :)

Best regards, Dr Kilroy

The best Lego sets ever - No. 10

Hello!

Alas, I have not been posting for over one month. That was caused not only by the lack of time (which is notorious for me :) ), but also by the lack of an idea for a interesting post (which was the cause at this time). Fortunately I decided in time to write a list of ten articles (not very long), and each of them will describe one Lego set I consider distinctive. The majority of them will be the sets I own myself, as they will be easier for me to rate. I will start from the end, so today is the number 10. On this place there is:

5986 Amazon Ancient Ruins from Adventurers theme.



I do not own this set. Perhaps it is not so great set, so it could be placed in an objective list (which actually cannot be made), but it is included in mine because of the sentiment. I remember as I looked at its photos from the Brickset, building instructions from Peeron and searching if someone is selling it on the Internet. :)
Its biggest value, as for the majority of sets from Adventurers theme, is its playability achieved by various traps, which I loved to start and hand over "the bad" towards annihilation (as I have got a younger sister, I sometimes do it nawadays, too :) ).
The sets contains eight minifigs, including my namesake Dr Kilroy, Johnny Thunder, miss Pippin Read (aka Gail Storm, I never found out which is correct), Señor Palomar, sailor Gabarro and guardian Achu. The interesting part is undoubtely the golden disc, the most valuable Adventurers treasure.

Best regards, Dr Kilroy

LEGO and NASA join forces

A new post from Krzysztof:

Hello.

Recently, NASA oficially stated, that in 2011 it will cooperate with The Lego Group again. It will consist of, among others, building selected Lego sets by astronauts on the International Space Station in the space. On this occasion, in 2011 the following set will be released, or...

The International Space Station:




This is an extraordinary set because of amount of TransBlue tiles. There are 256 of them in size 1x8 studs and 24 in size 1x4 studs! Additionally the set resembles the original station very well.

That's how the computer model of the real station looks like:




In my opinion the idea is exquisite and I will definitely belong to the group of happy owners of this station made of bricks. :)

Best regards, Dr Kilroy

White ravens, part 2 - Minifig food

Welcome! I'm sorry for being late in work, but I not always can spend so much time for writing as I should. I'll try to fill the arrears this week, but I'm pretty sure I'll fail to. :) Today we will talk about minifigs' food. This subject is quite big, so I won't focus on data or prices, but on my opinion about this or that part (I will write about prices or information when it will be necessary). So let's start:

food for minifigs can be considered as everything which is in "Food" category on Bricklink, or:

apple - appears in following colours: BrightGreen, Green and Red. Not so rare, usually costs less than one dollar.

...Which doesn't mean it can't be used well. What do you associate with apples? Athos associated it with the legend about William Tell, because he builded this scene:



Simple builded, but still looks great. I don't get the use of placing this forestman's hat on the stake, perhaps someone will illuminate me?

banana - oficially it appears in tan and yellow, but only the latter part can be considered as food, because the tan one was used in Harry Potter set 4767 as a dragon's claw. Hence it, the common yellow part is cheap, and rarer more expensive - costs somewhere around one dollar.

Unfortunately I haven't find any interesting work with a use of banana. The next food:

bread (IMO more similiar to baguette) - undoubtely rarer than apples or bananas - appears in 13 sets, in addition only in Fabuland and Belville themes. Appears in three colours: Earth Orange, Light Yellow and Tan. Costs average about 2 dollars. This part is very useful especially in building bakeries, like this, by Hippotam:



Ingenious use of the body of ship, which I will talk about another time.



Belville cakes - rare, perhaps because they appear only in Belville sets. The price of this one in the middle is 7 dollars! When summarize, they appear in 11 sets. Parts useful for all kinds of parties, banquets etc.

Finally I found the work about Alice in Wonderland. :) Here it is:



The next step:

carrot - nothing special, except it's composed of two parts. The price rather doesn't exceed one dollar. This part, like the most of food parts, has its roots in Belville theme, and then it was moved to minifig themes. This explains the carrot's monstrous size, that in terms of our sizes measures about 1,5 meters long. Polish master of vignette, Crises, has built this small work, showing dwarves guarding carrots, which are pulling by a rabbit:



I like the effect of chiaroscuro used in the tree. The next:

cherries - probably the most common Lego food, they usually appear in sets in amount of few pieces. Expect DarkPink and red, they also appear in Lime, which isn't suitable for cherries. I think they are chestnuts. :) They cost less than 15 cents. A builder which hides under a strange nick borda has built nice vignette showing a cherry-tree:



I recommend to see his gallery, I love his Castle works. The next:

croissant. Well, real croissants are made out of French pastry, without filling, eaten by Frenchmen for breakfast, but it's not a culinary blog, so let's call it a croissant. Very interesting and useful part, it is useful not only for bakeries, but also for elegant restaurants and some romantic French pubs (the best in CCC tenements). I saw it once used as a stomach, but never mind. They were released in two types - more and less baked, or Dark Orange and Earth Orange. On the vignette showed below we can see a Frenchmen eating his breakfast. Maybe he isn't very similiar to a Frenchmen, but let it be:



By Johŋ. Maybe I will write a post about Frenchmen sometime, this is rather elegant nation, after all. :)

The next food:

on Bricklink it appears as Hot Dog, but I'll call it a sausage. Well, sausage - rather useful part as the Lego meat arsenal isn't very substantial. Summarizing, there's nothing more that can be said about it. It appears in red and Flesh, or this like flesh of Arabs from Indiana Jones. I haven't find any interesting work with sausages, if someone of you have seen it, give me the link please. ;)

The next:

ice cream - well, one of the rarest parts in this category. This part hardly appears in any MOCs, I haven't seen any, at least. If someone has seen it, give me the link, please. :) A brick appears in three colours - yellow, white and Medium Orange, this last appears only in one set, Belville in addition.

The next part:

the next ice cream, but now it's a lot more common part, appears in MOCs frequently, and what's the most important, it can be seen in sets, which aren't Belville. :) They were produced in six, not frequently seen colours, the rarest are Salmon and Light Green (5$). White cost only about 40 cents, however. One MOC with this kind of ice cream has fallen into my eye - a weird vehicle builded by certain døver, which I have probably already seen somewhere:



But with ice cream use aside, this part can be used as, say, steam:



This is one of my favourite vignettes by 2 Much Caffeine.

Next:

muffin. Well, it isn't very interesting or rare part. Altough it costs one and a half dollars, which gives it a place higher than eg. an apple or a cherry, but it isn't any white raven. It rarely appears in MOCs, like the most of Belville parts. However it's interesting that it's simply a cook's hat with a print.

The next brick is:

next ice cream. Now they are ice jolly, however. They appear in six colours, but only brown and red are rare (more than one dollar). I can't tell nothing more about it. I like PipCasbar's work, showing R2-D2 selling ice cream:



A clever execution.

Finally the last point:

turkey. An obligatory part of all kinds of banquets and feasts. It appears in two colours: Dark Orange (which costs about 3,30 dollars) and Earth Orange, which costs even 16 dollars! This is a real white raven! :) It's such a legendary part, so it appears in lots of MOCs, but I'll show only one, which I liked the most, by marakoeschtra:



Great, original idea, great, original execution, what more can I say? :)

That's all.

Best regards, Dr

Lego Forestmen

Hello! I'm sorry you waited so long for a new post, but I didn't have vein. :) Today we will talk about Forestmen.

Do you remember those green guys with traditional smiled faces, bows and characteristic hats with plumes? Yeah, they are Forestmen.

Sets from this sub-theme were produced in 80-s - Lego Golden Age. Characteristic features of this Castle branch are, excluding minifigs, green baseplates, green parts used to build trees and outlook of buildings, imitating trees with black (why?) trunks with gray accents.

Now I'll show you sets from this subtheme. Sadly, only 7 (or rather 6) were released.


First is 1680 Crusader's Cart (similiar to 1877, but comes with 3 minifigs):



And this 1877 (released only in USA):



1680 includes 67 parts, 1877 60 parts.

But if I would enrich a few minifigs I wouldn't buy this set. Why? One costs about 30$. ;)

Despite the price set isn't bad, but Forestmen have got more popular, red plumes (which also are rare for me :D ). We've got also old, round shield, pitchfork, ABS sword (acrylo-nitrylo-butadienostyrene, those new, pearl swords can be bented on, which is due to the lack of this material, which is a a principal component of the bricks) and red saddle (with a part of the horse xP).

Main model is also good.

My rating: 6/10.


Now 1974, Smuggler's Hayride (released only in USA):



Contains 47 parts.

This set is slightly less interesting than listed above, contains only two minifigs - one peasant (with pitchfork :) ) and one Forestmen (with black plume :D ).

IMO the railings and color of whip don't fit properly, but everything except those is OK. :)

Trivia: under the number 1974 were realeased three sets. Really 1974 is a number of bigger set, which contains some smaller (S@H name: Product Collections).

My rating: 5/10.

There are the photos of other smaller sets in 1974:

Star Quest (31 parts):



I Flyercracker USA (69 parts):




Next set is 6054 - Forestmen's Hideout, one of the bigger sets:



Contains 191 bricks.

That's one of the bigger set from Forestmen subtheme. Unfortunately, we can find there only 2 minifigs - with red and yellow plumes. The set is perfect - in terms of parts (2 Forestmen shields, a bow, ABS sword, 3 small plant parts, 7 bigger plant parts, two pine trees [small and large] and an archery target) and in terms of playability (the building can be opened, this feature is characteristical for sets from those days). Only disadvantages are the lack of the interior and yellow round plates 1x1 instead of gold coins, but then this mould wasn't invented.

But when this is a hideout, why on the top flutters a red flag? :)

My rating: 7/10.


Now the legendary 6066 Camouflaged Outpost, first set from this subtheme:



Contains 189 bricks.

This is my favourite Forestmen set. Contains 6 minifigures - with blue, red, yellow and black (!) plumes. We can find there also a brown horse with red saddle, 2 goblets, 5 bows, a smaller kind of halberd, ABS sword, 2 small pine trees, 3 small plant parts and 8 bigger plant parts.

The outpost is builded on 2 baseplates - 8x16 and 16x16, so it can be opened.

We can enter the building through two entrances - the first can be opened by raising the black rock, second by raising the "driveway". :D

And like in 6054 - on the top there is a red flag. :)

My rating: 10/10. Yeah!

The next set in 6071 Forestmen's Crossing (only avaible in USA):



Contains 207 parts.

One of the rarest Forestmen sets. We can find there 5 minifigs - 2 with yellow and 2 with red plumes, and one, very rare, unique Forestwoman! :D Well, and one white horse with traditional Forestmen red saddle. Accesories: green whip - creeper, brown spear, 3 bows with 3 quivers, Forestmen shield, ABS sword and a chest with treasure (yellow round plates 1x1 xP ). There are also 14 parts - leaves, only large. Rare parts from this set are brown ladder, brown rope bridge and Forestwoman's headgear (green Pirate rag wrap).

Model is very playable, like all Forestmen buildings. I love all hideouts etc. :) It's a pity there aren't any hideouts in a tree, if it would appear, my rating of this set could increase a bit.

Well, and a red flag on the top - but now there's nowhere written it's hidden. ;)

My rating: 8/10.


At the end 6077 Forestmen River Fortress:



Contains 357 parts.

This is a biggest Forestmen set ever released. We can find there 2 Forestmen with red plumes, 2 Forestmen with yellow plumes, 1 Forestmen with blue plume and 1 Crusaders knight. Weapons and accesories are 2 bows, 2 quivers, 3 ABS swords, 2 spears, a lance, 2 Forestmen shields, a whip - creeper and a chest with... er... treasure. ;)

Except the main building we get from this set also a raft built from barrels and a plate.

Model is playable, gate can be opened and closed using a string, a back can be opened and in the building there is a prison, which is in the water. :)

This time on the top flutters a Monaco flag (fits better than Indonesia flag :) ).

My rating: 8/10.

My rating for whole theme: 9/10.

Regards, Dr Kilroy

Metroliner monorail, small article about monorail and announcement

BBroich transformed a famous set - 4558 Metroliner to a monorail train:



A photo is a link to gallery, you can find there few nice monorail trains.

Now when we start talking about monorail, I'll tell you a few words about it. This system was used first time in 1987 in Space set - 6990 Monorail Transport System:



System is based on track with one rail in the middle of it. It's underpined by brackets. It needs a special motor. Now these parts are very rare and expensive. IMHO the best monorail set is 6399 Airport Shuttle:



And announcement: I'll propably employ two co-bloggers - Legofan and Sprinter94 (Krzysztof) from KMFL (Polish Young Lego Fans Club).

White ravens, part 1 - Bikes

Bikes

Bikes were rare until 2009, now they are more common. They were released in 35 sets in 5 colours (first time in 1985):
- Black (released in 8 sets - BL - used 1,80$ - 6,20$, new 2,50$ - 5,00$),
- Dark Pink (released in 4 sets - BL - used 2,00$ - 7,9825$, new 3,40$ - 7,50$),
- Red (commonest, released in 26 sets - BL - used 1,00$ - 3,50$, new 1,125$ - 4,79$),
- White (released in 1 set - BL - used 5,95$ - 31,3875$, new 30$),
- Yellow (released in 1 set - BL - used 4,99$ - 20,925$, new 13,30$ - 16,00$).
__________
Bikes are used mostly in Town and Trains themes. They are made out from 5 parts - frame, 2 wheels and 2 rubber tires.

Now it's time for MOCs with bikes - that's not a common white raven, so there are lots of works with them. I chose only few of them:

Nexus7 builded beautiful diorama "Kalgoro" (4 bikes, only in red):



The photo is the link to gallery.
__________
Nias improved a bike to obtain a 'Christmas atmosphere':



Some people don't need regular bikes to make cycling vignettes. For example Mijasper builded this vignette:



Take a look on lantern!
__________
Not yet crushed bike looks like that:



Can someone tell me which part is used as saddle?
__________
There is also a version for younger cyclists:



I have got 3 bicycles (2 red and 1 black) and it's not excluded I won't buy more. Bike is a elegant means of transport for elegant towns and cities.