Review

LEGO® Space:1978-1992 [Book Review] Christmas sorted for fans of LEGO Space?

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As a kid growing up in the 70s, I was a little excited about the idea of space travel. I missed the moon landing: The Apollo programme had drawn to a close, Skylab was preparing to burn up in the atmosphere above Western Australia, and we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Next Big Thing in space travel – the Space Shuttle.

And so it is into this milieu that as LEGO® Minifigures were unleashed on the world, that we had worlds of Castle, Town and Space unleashed on the world. Past,Present and Future. One had a passing interest, one was the mundane and every day and the other captured my imagination from the moment I saw the catalogue that read “… coming in 1979.” I may not have had many space sets as a child, but the ones I had I could still assemble by heart after 40 years, as I emerged from my dark ages and returned to my childhood LEGO Collection. Of course, while 1979 was the release date in Australia and Europe, a limited range was released in The USA in 1978.

As I have continued to explore the worlds of LEGO Classic Space and beyond, I have seen it through old catalogue scans, battered box photos and crumpled, stained instructions, while cleaning the dust and grime off bulk lots of elements, assembling weathered spacemen and wondering if I need to get my glasses cleaned.

When I saw early mentions of Tim Johnson’s book “LEGO Space: 1978-1992” turning up for preorder on Amazon, I was excited. Tim is a passionate fan who grew up in a similar era to myself and, as a self confessed parts nerd and founder of the website NEW ELEMENTARY, he was always going to bring some interesting insights to the project.

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40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop: Finessing the Figures

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I recently reviewed the Castle revival set 40601 Majisto’s Magical Workshop, available as a gift with purchase over the Insiders weekend as well as the upcoming Black Friday sales event at LEGO.com. With a buy in of US$250 / AU$400 / £220 / €250 / CAD$330, it has received some criticism from the point of ‘cost of ownership’ as well as the fact that perhaps some of the elements that defined the look of the Dragon Knights were no longer available – particularly the distinctive halberd, plumes and helmet. There were some elements that could have beeen printed, such as Majisto’s torso, and the addition of the Dragon Knight’s shield.

The old and the new.

I accept that there are reasons for these elements not being included…

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40601 Majisto’s Workshop: Hands on review and Back of Box Builds.

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This year we celebrate 30 years since the arrival of Majisto and the Dragon Knights. (to say nothing of LEGO Dragons) onto the landscape. The modern update of 6048 Majisto’s workshop as a contemporary gift with purchase has had many builders excited about its arival, and others just as disappointed, either by the omission of certain details (such as plumes in the Knight’s helmet, and decorations on Majisto’s Torso ), or the buy in price (>400AUD/250USD) as a gift with purchase on the LEGO Insiders weekend, or over the Black Friday shopping weekend.

I was really excited to receive this set to look at, from the LEGO Group, as I was keen to see how techniques used might differ from those used in the original model. While I may not have a copy of this 6048 Majisto’s Workshop I can at least take a look at the instructions, and see how this updated set might differ from the 1993 original.

I am also keen to take a look at the original models displayed on the back of the box, and see if they might be able to be put together with this set.

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71426 Piranha Plant: Hands-On Review

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The Piranha Plant first appeared in Super Mario Brothers, back in 1985 and has been a stalwart enemy of the franchise since that time. We have seen several of these gigantic carnivorous plants crop up in the LEGO Super Mario sets, but they have been a relatively small scale models, designed to be used in the Gamer Mode for LEGO Super Mario. This 540piece sculpture looks like it might promise to bring a little more joy to a bookshelf than previously encountered Piranha Plants. I was delighted when the LEGO Group sent a copy of this set over: it feels that while we have had an onslaught of LEGO sets aimed at adults in recent years, there has been a relative paucity of sets that might come at less than $100 AUD, not releated to flowers, Star Wars or Super Heroes while still leaving enough room on your shelves for other things. This set does both with a RRP of AUD94.99 (59.99USD). This is just shy of the $99.99AUD shelf price of your standard botanical Collection set

So, is this set worthy of your time, real estate and hard earned funds? Lets take a closer look…

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10329 Tiny Plants: Hands-On Review

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Ever since we got our first look at the Floral Bouquet, the Botanical Collection has become a go-to place for hunting down mind bending recolours, improbably geometries and parts usage that is down right unexpected (and , dare I say, somewhat neat). The latest addition,10329 Tiny Plants is no exception. Following in the footsteps of the last year’s Succulents, this collection brings us 9 plants in total, brought to us in the context of small pot plants. – Three groups of Three, each with uniting theme: Tropical plants, Carnivorous Plants and Arid Plants. So how does the building experience stack up? I was delighted when the LEGO Group provided a copy of the set for review before its release on December 1, 2023. Let’s take a look…

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New ways to Play with the LEGO® City 60367 Passenger Airplane

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Aircraft are vital for creating connections between cities – both in real life and LEGO® Form. The first Minifigure Scale passenger planes debuted in the mid 1980s, and were relatively similar in design until 2006, with the arrival of large scale wing elements.

The New LEGO City 60367 Passenger Aircraft builds on the revitalization of the LEGO City reboot that we have seen this year. It brings us details that we have never seen executed in any of the dozens of airplane sets over the years, be they in Town, City, Friends or DUPLO. We have new livery, vehicles, uniforms and even a couple of characters that can be found in other aspects of LEGO City.

Join me as we check out all the new features and new ways to play with a LEGO Airplane.

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Jurassic Jeeps And Other Designer Insights [Designer Q&A]

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A little earlier this year, I put the two 2023 Jurassic Park sets containing the iconic Jeep Wrangler side by side, as a comparision of building techniques. I found the jeeps to be sufficienty different in the way they were constructed that it raised a few questions for me. I had the chance to put a couple of these questions to members of the design team, thanks to the LEGO Ambassadors Network. It was initially intended to address these questions at a round table meeting, but for various reasons, we ended up getting questions answered by email. I’d like to thank the team for taking the time to answer these.

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LEGO Super Mario: 71424 Donkey Kong’s Tree House [Review and Playthough]

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We have entered the 4th year of LEGO® Super Mario releases: First we met Mario, and learned to play against the clock. In 2021, we were introduced to Marios bigger brother, Luigi, and learned to play together. Last year, we met Princess Peach, and learned to share gifts with each other with each other. With each year, we have seen new and innovative ways to play as well as a new range of buildable characters.

This year, it feels a little different: There is no new Electronic Smart Character, and no set of Collectable, Buildable Fuigures. We have two subthemes of sets: one takes us back to the earliest days of Nintendo’s electronic entertainment, with Donkey Kong, and his subsequent adventures; and another featuring more Koopalings in flying ships.

Today, we will take a hands-on look at the first of these sets: 71424 Donkey Kong’s Tree House. This is the only set to feature the buildable Donkey Kong, as well as his Grandfather – Cranky Kong. According to lore, Cranky Kong is in fact the original Donkey Kong from the Arcade Game all those years ago. After All these years, I wonder if he has any misgivings towards Mario…

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LEGO® City 60363 Ice-Cream Shop is dripping with details!

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LEGO City continues to embrace a new look and feel this year, with one of the more unique-appearing sets for the latest wave being the 60363 Ice Cream Shop. We have seen plenty of ice cream and other frozen treat vendors over the last few years, mainly in food truck or slushy van forms, along with various ice cream stands and freezers. However, this is the first time LEGO City has given us a full shop for some time. Is it worth the $AUD62.99/$USD39.99/33.99€/£29.99 being asked for it? Let’s take a look.

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3660 LEGO Fabuland Fisherman’s Wharf [Retro Review]

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If you have been following the Rambling Brick for a while, you might know I have a penchant for nostalgia. If you have seen my Instagram stories looking at market finds, perhaps it becomes more obvious that 80s and 90s LEGO fascinates me now more than it did at the time. Perhaps I am seeking something more than a nostalgia fuelled dopamine kick: also looking for a feeling of relaxed contemplation while living in an increasingly complicated world. During that period of LEGO History, the typical LEGO sets maintained a degree of simplicity while still being able to produce some substantial models with relatively few elements.

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