Month: July 2022

71406. Yoshi’s Gift House Expansion Set

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , , ,

Yoshi is a fan favorite character, and the LEGO Super Mario game has changed the way in which the character his handled since Green Yoshi debuted in 2020’s 71367 Mario’s House and Yoshi. Like that set, this set provides plenty of opportunity for play and experimentation, not necessarily in the setting of the timed game. Let’s take a look at this set, which builds further on the Fruit and gifts mechanic first revealed in the Peach Starter Set. We will take a close look at that mechanic, and see how you can use it to maximise your score.

The set is based around Yoshi’s house and brings us Green Yoshi, Monty Mole, Green and Red Fruit, a present and a…fruit upgrade carousel? That said, I have come through this set with a better knowledge of the fruit powers and gift giving.

Continue reading →

Celebrate 90 Years of Play With Our Classic Themes Building Challenge.

ramblingbrick competitions, Lego , , ,

Take part in our building challenge, using Classic Themes, for a chance to win 11021: 90 Years of Play!

We are counting down to the the 90th Anniversary of the LEGO Group, founded in a Danish Carpenter’s workshop in 1932, and I thought it would be appropriate to run a little building challenge. Over the years I have run a few building challenges based on Minifigure Habitats – the last in early 2020, at the start of the pandemic. At that time, the format was picked up with by a number of communities online, not the least of which would be the regular habitat challenges being run by Jen, known as @Brickfambuilds over on Instagram.

Continue reading →

LEGO Super Mario: Goomba’s Shoe Expansion Set [Hands On Review]

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , , ,

Over the years, we have seen a number of means used to enhance Mario’s coin scoring while ‘just walking around’ be it using a power up suit or flying around in Bowser Jr’s Clown Car, or even the various rafts seen in Wiggler’s Poison swamp or Dorrie’s Beach Front. This wave sees the arrival of 71404 Goomba’s shoe, an oversized boot, with a wind up key, which Mario (or Luigi or Peach) can ride in. How does it contribute to the game?

The set is priced at $17.99 AUD /9.99USD(affiliate link) and has 76 pieces. It officially goes on sale on August 1, 2022.

Continue reading →

71410 LEGO Super Mario Buildable Characters Series 5: Hands-On Review

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , , , , , , , , ,

The LEGO Super Mario Buildable Characters were unveiled at LEGO CON, and this series represents a significant departure from the format of characters seen previously. I was fortunate to receive a shipping box for review from the LEGO Group, and I will present the contents of the box: we will look at the shipping order, the new packaging and the characters, including the characters behaviour in game, and their potential in game coin value.

Continue reading →

Getting Started with 71403 Adventures with Peach: Hands On Review.

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , , , , , , ,

Regular readers of the Rambling Brick will know I enjoy looking at the LEGO Super Mario sets. With the interactive digital brick bringing us favorite characters, Mario and Luigi. This year we see the arrival of Princess Peach. Frequently a target of kidnapping by Bowser, I was intrigued to see what sort of activities she would be engaged in.

I have been fortunate to receive some of the new wave of LEGO Super Mario sets for review, and today I would like to start with the entry level Princess Peach set, 71403 Adventures with Princess Peach. With 354 pieces, this set includes The Princess Peach digital brick, as well as several brick built characters and some new terrain elements. It will go on sale on August 1, 2022, costing $AUD89.99.

Inside the box are 6 bags, and a leaflet highlighting the sets still available in the Super Mario range, including some ideas for arranging the elements.

As with All LEGO Super Mario sets, there are NO stickers to apply.

Let’s take a look at what we get in the set: the characters, powerups and  landscape elemements, including how scoring is allocated. At the end, I will include a video demonstrating gameplay for the elements of the starter set.

Continue reading →

LEGO Atari 2600 Unveiled.

ramblingbrick Lego , ,
Atari 2600 Ad
Print Add c. 1978

Growing up in the 80’s, I could not help but be a little envious of some of my friends who had an Atari. You didn’t need to call it anything more than that (until the 400 and 800 computers were released around 1983) To be honest, I don’t remember the ‘2600’ designator even being a thing to concern ourseves aboutin the australian market, until the product was almost at end of its production run. It did take me a little while to come to realise that the 2600 I read about in American Computer Magazines of the era were referring to the same Atari VCS that we had in Australia.

And so we looked forward to weekends, or long, lazy summer holidays, staying with friends, and playing games on the Atari until a little later at night than we should. The Walnut finish on the plastic case would have matched perfectly with the cabinet of our late 70’s colour TV. If only we had one.

2022 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Atari brand, started in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell, and the release of the coin operated game Pong, or as we thought of it ‘TV-Tennis’. It was the Atari Video Computer System (as it was called on its release, rebranded as the 2600 in 1983).

Today, The LEGO Group announce the near imminent arrival of 10306 Atari 2600. Going alonside the Nintendo Entertainment system, released in 2020, this set is full of nostaligc hits for kids of the 80s.

Continue reading →

LEGO® City Missions: 60355 Water Police Detective Missions – Review by the Target Demographic

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , , , ,

A little while ago, I took a look at one of the new LEGO City Missions sets, while sharing some insights from the development team. While I looked at the Mission to Mars set, it was unashamedly from the point of view of an AFOL who was also a Classic Space Tragic. However, I was not the target audience for the product and here at Rambling Brick Enterprises, we don’t have any of the 6+ target demographic on hand in the house, and are unlikely to for some years. Unless you consider 20 years old to be somewhat 6+. So I sought out Simon, himself a space tragic, as he also has a member of the Target Demographic around the house. What follows is their story…

Meet Simon and The Target Demographic

The Rambling Brick was kind enough to drop off a copy of the LEGO® City Water Police Detective Mission set for us to review as a family. The logic being we have a household member who is in the target demographic of these sets: a seven year old boy. The Rambling Brick wanted to know what we, and specifically the Target Demographic, made of the set and the app enabled story telling. 

Continue reading →

LEGO Creator 40568 Paris and 40569 London Postcards: Review

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , , , , ,

Small scale skylines have a favorite feature in the LEGO Architectural range. running primarily from 2016-2020, we had a surprise appearance earlier this year from a model of the Singapore Skyline. These sets have covered many major cities from around the world, and have varied immensely in their price ((30-60USD) and part count (212-857). Aimed primarily at a serious adult audience, we have seen a couple of more cheerful ‘postcard’ sets pop up in the creator range this year. Initially slated for release earlier in the year, postcards of New York and Beijing were delayed, possibly due to trade mark issuses associated with the use of the Chinese Flag. While sets are in the process of being rolled out around the world (July-August 2022), a further 2 have been revealed: London and Paris. I am thankful to the LEGO group for providing early copies of these sets for review.

Continue reading →

10497: Galaxy Explorer – Redefining an Icon. Rambling Review

ramblingbrick Lego, Review , , , , ,

When I first saw images of the new 10497: Galaxy Explorer, while preparing for LEGO Con, I found myself both a little excited and apprehensive. Excited because, like many LEGO Space Fans of a certain age, this set told us that the LEGO Group recognises the importance of Classic Space to its older fans, and there had been so much clamouring for proper Space Sets: sets not tied in with different third party licences like Super Heroes or NASA, and not linked into the increasingly complicated lore behind Monkie Kid and Ninjago. We have seen sets buying into the idea of Classic Space – exploration, team work, free of conflict – in LEGO City over the years, BUT while there might be ‘equivalent’ sets, they strive to be too realistic- insisting on putting visors on every helmet, windows and air lock doors on the moon base and insisting on astronauts only being able to drink a cup of coffee when in their standard overalls. So, to see the look of Classic Space preserved and revisited is more than welcome.

Continue reading →

Introducing Minifigures On Parade: a modular minifigure diorama format

ramblingbrick Lego , , , ,

It’s the LEGO Group’s 90th anniversary, and I think it is time we hold a parade. Get our minifigures out onto the streets, or the paths and roadways, and bring them together. But how?

In the past, I have based building challenges on an 8x8x8 Minifigure Habitat standard. This format has taken on a life of its own, with regular challenges run on instagram by @brickfambuilds, while others such as @cazmockett and @troublesbricking have worked on series of habitats using monochromatic minifigures.

42
Life, The Universe and Everything by Toubles Bricking/Dana Knudsen
Monofigure Habitats: The Whole Stack
Monofigure habitats by Caz Mockett

While the habitat format is great for creating a space for a single mini figure, it is less easy to fit 2 or more minifigures into the format.

Continue reading →