Year: 2017

Technic: Embarking on a Nostalgia Road Trip down Memory Lane

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Christmas 1978: Monday Morning, 5 am.

I’d like to tell you story.  Like all good stories, it is possibly a little long winded, and feels a little irrelevant until you get to the point. This may or may not be a good story.  I’d be curious to know your opinion. But bear with me. It was Christmas Day, 1978. A Monday.  I was 9 years old. We were staying in Ballarat ( regional Victoria) with my Aunt for Christmas.  As I mentioned, I was nine.:Christmas was exciting,  even more so at five in the morning when you wake up with an exciting new form of seasonal insomnia. Monday morning at five o’clock is not a time that comes naturally to me these days, but on Christmas day as a child, it represented a definite sleep in!

Our personal family record occurred in 1977, when my brother and I got up at 3:40am on Christmas day, ten minutes after our parents had gone to bed. He proudly went in to excitedly inform our visiting relatives that he had been given a bicycle, and it was all red! Oddly enough, our relatives did not share his enthusiasm at this time.  The story however is presented on a semi annual basis to this day. But I digress.

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The labelling on my box was a little less French!
But back to 1978. I had asked for a LEGO Technical set.  I don’t recall being particularly fussed about which one. When I woke up early, I selected a box, and gave it a rattle. It wasn’t an especially big box, but it was all I was allowed to open before a civilised waking hour.  This set was number 872: Two Gear Blocks. I had no idea what this set was intended to do. And I had to wait until a civilised hour before Dad would explain that it was to slow down the rate of rotation of a motor.  This upset me a little, as the only motors I had belonged to a train set that I had received a year or two earlier. I cannot recall if it was the above Christmas, or another occasion.

870-1So, I was encouraged me to open another package. ( I suspect other members of the family had opened some presents by this stage.)
This one was a similarly sized box, that did not seem to rattle as much as the previous one.  This set had only twenty-two pieces, and was #870 – the 4.5V Technical Motor.
After assembling that battery box and connecting the wire, I was a little taken aback: this motor seemed to be spinning at a rate that rivalled even a dentist’s drill.  The role of the gear blocks became apparent. Finally, I got to the Big Box. It rattled in a most mysterious way.  Tearing off the wrapping paper revealed the  852 Helicopter set.  The box had a flip top lid, revealing all of the parts sorted into their own compartments.  The set contained a mere three hundred and sixty four pieces. As for the instructions: this was the first set where I remember using an instruction book rather than a single sheet. 852-1The 16 page manual included both the Helicopter and alternative Airplane build, as well as inspiration for installing the motor. The helicopter featured a massive 20 instruction steps. This was the greatest LEGO Challenge I had ever faced. [Editors note: The link back there will take you to a scan of the manual at Peeron.com.  This is a great resource for sourcing the instructions for LEGO® sets released prior to 2000- after which the majority of instructions appear on the customer support section of LEGO.com]
One of the best things about going away for a Family Christmas meant there was plenty of time for discussion, menu planning, basting, food preparation, cups of tea, cooking, pudding completion, meat roasting, and gravy making by parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and extended family.  By the time Christmas Lunch was ready, it was close to four o’clock in the afternoon.  But I didn’t mind.  I had completed the Helicopter.  I enjoyed spinning the rotors with side mounted steering wheel. And the blades had variable pitch, with the aid a a lever in the cockpit.  I don’t think I even noticed that Lunch was running a bit late.

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Who needs Christmas Dinner, when you can build a brand new LEGO® Technical Helicopter and demonstrate the maximum rotor pitch. Thank’s Dad for taking this picture,  thanks to my daughter for unearthing it while visiting her Grandparents!
By the end of the Christmas holiday, I had built the ‘B’ Model – a monoplane, with a propellor that spun as you pushed it along the ground, rebuilt and motorised the A model, and finally put together an unstoppable, motorised shunting vehicle that attempted to clear Granny’s finest china from the dining room table. After this I was invited to do some reading… Certainly I was hooked with building using my Technical Sets, which were undoubtably very ‘system brick’ oriented in its style.

Why am I telling you this?

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The instruction book from 8860: Image Source – Brickset.com
While I was delighted to receive the helicopter, the most coveted set that year was in fact the Technical Flagship Set: The 863 Car Chassis.  With over 600 pieces,  rack and pinion steering and a front mounted engine, this was the pinnacle of LEGO sets in this era.  I never received that set and I am thankful for this.  It was at least another 18 months before I received my next Technical set.  That set was 8860: Another Car Chassis, with a rear mounted flat four engine, all the previous bells and whistles, a variable slip differential, a two speed gearbox and rear wheel suspension.  This set was, by all accounts a great improvement over the previous version. I performed the standard 10 year old builder’s modification of increasing the gearbox to accommodate a third gear, and developing an understanding as to why the designers had decided not to include it in the first place!

This set remained in the LEGO Catalogue up until 1987.  An epic eight year run!. The next Technic Car Chassis did not appear until 1998’s 900 piece epic:  8865: Test Car.  Over the years, these sets have evolved: losing the brick and plate construction that was par for the course at this time, to a beam and panel construction style.  I am still coming to terms with the new vocabulary for working with these pieces. In 2016 we saw the release of the Technic Porsche 911 with 2704 pieces and a price tag to match.

40th Anniversary 8860 with the Modern Parts Palette

With 2017 representing the 40th year of LEGO Technic, a celebration of the 8860 is underway.  Using components from 42057 (Ultralight Helicopter); 42061 (Telehandler) and 42063 (BMW R 12 GS Adventure), you can revisit 8860, using contemporary Technic construction techniques. The construction style is quite different to that of the 1980’s – and the final model looks as if it will be a little smaller than the original 8860, but I took the first step back towards visiting Technic sets this week.

42057 Ultralight Helicopter

The Ultralight Helicopter is a small, inexpensive Technic kit, with 200 pieces – around two thirds of the original helicopter I received all those years ago.  It took around an hour to build. As an ultralight, the top rotors spin and drive the thrusting rotor, and the 2 cylinders in the engine move up and down as they do so.  The pitch of the blades do not change, but there is a lever that allows you to turn the rudder.


For me, this is a good introduction to the current crop of Technic Elements, which have certainly evolved since I last gave them a serious look (35 years ago) and includes a 40th anniversary Technic beam: it was reasonably simple and leaves me looking forward to investigating the Telehandler and BMW R 1200 Adventure Motor Cycle.  I just need to find a good way to get them cheaply.  In reality, I consider $AUD 170 a little expensive for the sake of nostalgia.  I found the Ultralight Helicopter for $AUD22 (RRP $AUD29.99).  In the current season of Easter/ School Holiday Toy Sales, I suspect I can get a better deal.  I also think completing the project may take a little time. In the mean time…



Play well

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light up your LEGO #1

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There is no doubt that adding lighting to a LEGO model will enhance it’s appearance – it adds a degree of life to it, enhancing lines, lightening shadows and highlighting features which may otherwise be a little obscure.  LEGO have offered lighting for at least 50 years, originally in the form of a light brick, with the options of a filter, and more recently with power functions, providing a pair of LED lights.  We now also see self-contained light bricks in recent sets.IMG_0691-2.jpg

While earlier  LEGO® sets used standard filament bulbs,  more recently builders have been able to look to Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to provide versatile lighting solutions. Recently,  LEGO builders have been incorporating lighting into their builds more often than ever before.

The systems used vary from simple ‘bulb and battery’ solutions, through to custom solutions for individual LEGO Sets.  There are also sophisticated, microprocessor controlled solutions available, providing preprogrammed sequential lighting patterns.  Miniaturisation of  LEDs means that they are now able to be incorporated in LEGO builds, with minimal rebuilding required for wiring.

Today, I would like to present a couple of simple options for cheap and easy lighting solutions, that can enhance your models.  In the future, I will present some examples of other, more sophisticated lighting solutions. Continue reading →

Time for Fresh Ideas

ramblingbrick Lego

tn_OWLqAhan_png.pngThis morning, it was announced that LEGO® Ideas will no longer be accepting submissions based on third party licenses that are active in the LEGO® Group’s portfolio.  These include Star Wars, Marvel and DC Super Heroes, Disney Princesses, BMW
, Bugatti and many more, including licenses from previous Ideas sets and LEGO® Dimensions. The full list of current licences can be found here.  If the licences retired, it becomes open for use, unless it was active through LEGO Ideas.

Existing submissions, based on these licences will be retained at this point. There have been a number of other, less significant changes to the Guidelines, as well as the Terms and Conditions. Further information can be found in the latest Ideas blog post.

This will be disappointing for those who night be developing submissions based on these licences, however it should help return Ideas to its original goal: to foster fan driven LEGO sets.

What do you think? is this a positive change for Ideas? Or do you think it  unnecessarily restricts options for submission? Leave your comments blow.

Play Well!

 

Play On: The LEGO Batman Movie App.

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Are you Game?

There I was, browsing through my LEGO Life newsfeed, and the announcement leapt out at me: The LEGO® Batman™ Movie App, now available for download.  So I visited my App Store of choice and tracked it down.  It had the right price: this App is free, with no claim of in-app purchases. But what would the cost be?

The opening splash screen give you some options for where to start. You can choose to watch videos, read about the Lego sets, play the game,customize your vehicle or purchase upgrades in return for studs that you collect around the game..

Let us start with the game…

The game starts of interestingly enough: Select your character: Batman or BatGirl with the promise of many others to unlock as you gain the universal unit of LEGO®game currency: the stud.  And run.  Just run. Dodge, jump over, or slide under obstacles. Occasionally, you may gain the use of a vehicle – initially the standard Batmobile from the movie, but able to be customised – and crash through barricades.

Start with Batman and Batgirl unlocked, and unlock other suits in return for studs.

Swipe left and right to dodge gates. Continue reading →

Rebrick: Build to the Future, Travel to Germany.[News/Contest]

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After the unveiling of the BMW Motorrad ‘Hover Bike’ concept model  at LEGO World last month, LEGO Rebrick are running a competition for Technic Motorcycle fans: Build to the Future.  Using primarily Technic Elements, build the BMW motorcycle of the future – 50 – 100 years from now.  Submit your entry on Rebrick by May 5th.

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There will be one grand prize and nine runners up.  The grand prize winner who will receive:
Continue reading →

Going Rogue: Distraction with Constraction (75120: K2SO)

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , ,

IMG_0140As you may have picked up over the hundred or so blog posts, I am more of a system kind of a guy:  Bricks, studs, 3.18mm bar and clip, mini figures, creator, friends, elves, superheroes, video games are my normal thing.

I have never really been invested in the constraction (constructible action figures) figures: Bionicle passed me by, Super Heroes happened in the background, Hero Factory came and went, and then Bionicle came and went again. And in the meantime, Star Wars characters started to get a go at it too.

I never bought into the mythology of Bionicles and Hero Factory.  I have admired some remarkable creations put together with these elements, but I have never actually picked up a set until now.  My curiosity was piqued a few weeks ago when I put together the Creator Mighty Dinosaurs  and first encountered the ‘ball cup with rubber, high friction.’

Continue reading →

A better, best Batman head…

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Last year, I looked at the styles of Batman head, hidden under the cowl. At the time, the majority of figures relied on the headband to provide the ‘bat eyes’. Last year’s Mighty Micro Batman, however, was sporting some nifty shades with his black balaclava!

Quick revision of previous styles of Batman head pieces

This year’s Batman figures have focused on the LEGO® Batman Movie: variations on the second figure on the left above.

While they have had their own range of expression, they are just white lines on the black head band kind of minifig head: not even really of the type for a tennis headband.

I picked up a copy of DC Superheroes Mighty Micros: Batman vs Killer Moth 76069, to see how things had changed for the caped crusader since last year.  He is now in a small helicopter, and light stone grey.

Last year we chuckled at the DC Mighty Micro Batman’s head. This year we have seen a variation in dark blue. Continue reading →

[Press Release] 75144: Star Wars UCS Snowspeeder to be released on May the Fourth…

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Slightly earlier (April 29/4 )for VIPs.  Its not the UCS some were looking for, but it’s coming soon.  This morning (Australian Time), the LEGO Group has announced the forthcoming release of the 75144: Snowspeeder on May the Fourth 2017.  Early Access will be available for VIP Customers.

75144_Box1_na

While this has been rumoured for a while, there had been recent optimistic speculation regarding the  possible re-release of 10179: UCS Millennium Falcon (or something quite like similar).  This year is the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars’ premiere.   In October, we will celebrate 10 years since  10179: Millennium Falcon and 10143: Death Star 2 were both released.  These sets were released at a similar time to 10182 Cafe Corner, and from then on it was apparent that LEGO® Sets designed primarily for adults were going to be part of the regular offerings in the annual calendar. There will also be a new Star Wars movie released towards the end of the year…. perhaps we can only hope… (Please note… at this point, this previous statement remains one of rampant speculation). Continue reading →

Lets Cut to the Chase: Rapid Review:70904 Catwoman Cycle Chase

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IMG_0199The final set that I intend to purchase from wave one of The LEGO Batman Movie LEGO Sets, this was a simple build, but ever so elegant. Containing 139 pieces and with a RRP of $AUD34.99, this set comes with three mini figures, a vehicle and a small jewellery shop. Continue reading →

Bring your Friends to the City for Pizza, and Vice Versa

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Last time, we spoke about some of this year’s Pizza related sets. One of the things I found lacking in the Heartlake City Pizzeria was a Pizza maker, similar to the one to be found in 60150: Pizza Van. It left me wondering: can I just swap my figures over?

Crossing the Streams

At a public display earlier in the year, I had a chance to talk to lots of people.  One of the ongoing topics seemed to be along the nature of LEGO® City: A lovely little place to get robbed, burnt down, go power boating, volcano exploring or monster trucking, but not so great if you just wanted to go to the mall, bakery, supermarket, hospital, recreation centre or school.  By the end of the year, Heartlake City will have had all  of these things and more.

Now, many people were a little disheartened by the Friends’ mini-dolls when they were first released: issues with body shape, unrealistic proportions, legs unable to move independently and wrists unable to rotate.  However they have now spread across a wide variety of themes… not just ‘City’, they can also be found in Elves, DC Super Hero Girls, and Disney (princess?) sets. Mini-dolls can now be found spread across a broad range of thematic material.

So, do I need to work any magic to make this set (or any other Friend’s set) work at Minifigure scale? Can I just give the mini-dolls to the children next door, and put my Minifigure in? I took my figures and situations from the 41311 Heartlake Pizzeria, and the 60150 Pizza Van to find out.

New Dimensions

Now Minifigures and mini-dolls are proportioned a little differently to each other. But what are the real differences, and how does this work out in real life?

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Minidolls tend to be taller than Minifigures.
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Mini-doll legs are approximately ‘two plates’ taller than those of a Minifigure. Also, there is no room between the back of a mini-doll’s foot and the stud behind it, compared with a Minifigure, who can stand directly in from of a plate of brick.
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Despite being shorter overall, Minifigures have a proportionally taller torso than the mini-dolls.

 

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The wrists of a mini-doll are fixed: not all handlebars are for them!

 

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Don’t forget: Minifigures and mini-dolls have interchangeable hair and headgear, even if you cannot exchange their heads.
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Mini-doll necks are the size of a 3.18mm bar.  The heads are asymmetrical from front to back, and so they are extremely unlikely to have double sided printing.

So, lets look at these two sets, and think about the alterations that may need to be made to cross them both over.

Fitting your Minifigures in Heartlake City:

In areas where the figures are standing, there is little need to make adjustments to the original model to swap  mini-dolls for Minifigures.

Most of the pizzeria works quite well with Minifigures.  The kitchen benches are around the height you would normally use with Minifigures. Even the pizza oven is at the necessary height as is the dessert bar and the cash register.  IMG_0054In fact there are only one or two things that need to be adjusted to make it feel like a city scale set:

The seating: Often seating for Minifigures  has studs to fix the figure’s legs to.  Perhaps use plates rather than tiles on the stools, or use chairs, as are used in many LEGO City sets. However the tiles provided are satisfactory, even if your Minifigures slide on them a bit.

Most of the problems I encountered were in the various vehicles, where the legs are of significantly different length. In the delivery van accompanying the pizzeria, I replaced element 6093479 (Foot, Plate) with a steering wheel, and replaced the 1×2 tile with 2 green flower elements- providing studs (because they were spare) for the Minifigure’s legs to bind to.

Fitting Minidolls into City Sets:

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© The LEGO Group 2016

There is already a precedent for the mini-dolls working in a food cart: last year’s Amusement Park Hot Dog Van 41129. As you can see in this image from shop.lego.com, Stephanie’s hips are a plate or two higher than the counter. (i.e. counter top is 4 plates above the floor). It would seem to be the same height in the food truck, with the transparent screen rising above this height, but in the name of food safety, I think this is acceptable.

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Help the minidoll to fit into the food van AND have a means to steer it

So… the food service aspect of the truck is no problem here.   As you can see, Emma fits in here quite easily, to feed the masses at the back of the van. The main challenge seems to be to securely fit the mini-doll into the driver’s seat. By tiling the seat, and placing the ‘foot, plate’, the mini-doll can fit securely into the seat.  We then move the steering wheel forward in the cabin. This is not too tricky, but does require a little modification, and a couple of extra pieces.

The next challenge is the motor scooter: the handlebars included in this set are incompatible with mini-dolls.  Hands can only clip on if they run from side to side.  Mini-dolls’ hands run at approximately 90º to this.  Motor scooters in other LEGO® Friends sets use element 98397  for the handlebars, which are designed to fit the minidoll grips.  It is compatible with minifigures, but is not the ‘go to’ motorbike handlebar in LEGO® City.  It appears to be readily available in LEGO Friends and DC Super Hero Girls sets, as well as a few other themes- especially LEGO Ninjago.

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Don’t be afraid:

If the colour scheme does not cause you concern, you can safely integrate the architecture from Heartlake City directly into your regular, Minifigure populated town layout, with minimal alterations. Every one will fit, and you will add a higher level of functionality to your town.

Likewise, it’s not too hard to move City sets into Heartlake City.  The colors may be a little more subdued, but it will allow our LEGO® Friends to get some proper danger and excitement into their life. And you can exchange hair pieces/hats.  But your city may descend into anarchy if you have no police force to maintain civil calm. (At least there are the DC Super Hero Girls?)

Myself, I am quite happy to merely ensure the figures can safely sit in the driver’s seat without excessive peril.  But, if you are bothered by the lack of interesting businesses in your LEGO city, but feel that investing in the complete back catalog of Modular Buildings is a little extreme, why don’t you take a look at the Friends sets.  Remove the mini-dolls, and replace them with random minifigures… you may be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Have you tried moving Friend’s Buildings into your regular city?  Have you taken them the other way, with a layout occupied by minidolls? Or are you happy to have them all live together in one big town? Why not leave a comment below.

Play Well!