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Court of the Dead
Showing posts with label lego. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lego. Show all posts

Mar 20, 2017

Lego Movie Double Decker Couch 70818

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(Lower Inset) The version I wish had also been included, but then it probably would have retailed at three times the price.

This set is from the oh so pop culturally dominating Lego movie, which quickly expanded into a franchise of two spin-off films, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie, both with 2017 release dates, a direct sequel and a third spin-off, The Billion Brick Race, scheduled for release in 2019.

Prepare to see Lego climb to heights of insane levels. Though to be truthful, where else can it go?

While we ponder that, perhaps we take a seat. On this oh so nifty and imaginative DOUBLE DECKER COUCH!

I loved this set, it wasn't super difficult even at 197 pieces, but did have some interesting aspects to it's build. It is a bit fragile, so not one for the super young end of the age recommendation. Emmit's car that comes with it is solid though. The best part is all of the minifigures you get in this set.

Price wise, I was glad I picked it up on clearance, as I get it, it is a bit of a larger medium scale set, and it is cool, but for that price I would have loved it if they had also included the bricks to make the version that Emmit had originally imagined all made out of clear blue bricks. But I've gotten a bit better at finding these at my local TRUS when clearances are hitting.

Of course if you're wanting a set to get caught up on the minifigures from the Lego movie, this is a good one to get, and they all have different expressions from the Minifig blind bag releases.


Stats Rating/Information
Items Lego Movie Double Decker Couch Set70818
Made by Lego
Rarity Common.
Classification Retired product.
Condition New
Procured Toys R Us
Worth $25 to $35
Investment $15 (on clearance)
Build Time 22 minutes.
Trivia & Fun Facts The Ghost version of Vitruvius is exclusive to this set and includes new faces for all of the characters except for Ghost Vitruvius, which for the minifig collectors is a huge reason to pick up this set.

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Feb 27, 2017

Lego (not so) Super Secret Police Enforcer

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Oh so sleek a build. Ohhhh yeah. Bow Bow... chicka chicka.
The Lego Movie had an immense amount of sets and an entire minifig series devoted to it when it was released. I got a few sets from the movie here and there, but since storage space is quickly becoming a premium in my studio space, I had opted to pick up harder to find and smaller polybag builds. Don't worry, I've got larger sets in wait, some of them a few years now out of production, and some cool video reviews for those as well in the coming months.

This polybag set, the "Super Secret Police Enforcer", had 10 more pieces available in it, and that made a world of difference in the final build and overall aesthetic for this build. I know that the thing about Lego is multiple usage of common brick elements to create new and unique models, and that is very much the beauty of the simplicity of the LEGO system. That said, I am not a fan of minimalist brick count, just to barely get an idea across in model form. It's probably one of the reasons I so love the larger sets and a lot of the LEGO Ideas concepts.

It was a fun little build, and for those of you wanting to complete your Lego Movie series/sets, this one is a bit harder to find now, but fits in very well with the rest of the sets. The minifig is actually pretty well detailed and comes with a pretty kick ass futuristic pistol.




Stats Rating/Information
Items Lego Movie Super Secret Police Enforcer Polybag Set 30282
Made by Lego
Rarity Uncommon.
Classification Out of production.
Condition New
Procured Toys R Us
Worth $10 to $13
Investment $5
Build Time 10 minutes.
Trivia & Fun Facts As far as I have been able to find out, this was a vehicle design inspired by  the larger police vehicles in the movie, and was never shown in any of the actual scenes.

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Feb 13, 2017

Ninjago Skybound Plane

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Ninjago has been one of the longer running original IPs for Lego, and has successfully managed to stay very popular and in demand. The much larger dragons and mechs in the set are seriously some of the most beautiful and complex designs I've seen, and I hope to review one of those larger ones in the near future.

In the meantime, I was going through my piles of yet unopened, not yet reviewed/built sets and found a polybag that I had overlooked. This was was the "Skybound Plane" set, a simple smaller airship piloted by a single Pirate mini-fig.

This build was a bit of a let down. The minifigure is actually quite detailed, and has some cool aspects in detail, but I felt they really phoned it in on the plane design. It follows the Ninjago aesthetic pretty well for the most part, but at best, it was a 10 minute build. And surprisingly, this was the very first set I have ever opened that had NO spare bricks of any kind left over after building. That was pretty odd, as Ninjago is really REALLY popular with the age group that loses the hell out of bricks, only to have your bare feet find them later in the most pain inducing sort of "kill me now, I just impaled my foot on a bright yellow Danish stalagmite" kind of way.

Paints a hell of a picture huh? Yeah, call me Bob Ross. I know you won't.

So in conclusion, although the sum of the 30 LEGO bricks to make this plane are actually pretty awesome for kitbashing and creating other cool things from, the actual build is alright. Not the most sturdy, and even for the adult collectors, it's nothing but a bit above average.

I'll be back next week, with a different polybag build, to show how a cool mini vehicle can really work out with just 10 more bricks added to the count and produce a much sleeker looking build, with the LEGO Movie Super Secret Police Enforcer polybag set!


Stats Rating/Information
Items Ninjago Skybound Plane Polybag Set 30421
Made by Lego
Rarity Uncommon.
Classification Out of production.
Condition New
Procured Toys R Us
Worth $10 to $13
Investment $5
Build Time 10 minutes.
Trivia & Fun Facts The overall aesthetic of this subseries in the Ninjago universe has a distinct Clockwork/Steampunk meets traditional Pirates sort of feel to it.

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Feb 6, 2017

LEGO Mini AT-AT is where it's at.

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Just about anyone that remembers the original Star Wars trilogy, will probably say that Empire was the best film out of the three, and had the monumental and incredible Hoth battle scene as more than likely the main reason it is considered as such.

Sure, there was great character development, the story was heading into amazing territory, but as a kid, I could never have imagined that these massive mechanical nightmares were masterfully stop motion animated by Phil Tippet and the crew at ILM. I always loved the Empire vehicles and the AT-AT is tied with the Speeder Bike for my favorite.

This build was a lot of fun, as all LEGO ones of course usually are, but I got a kick out of seeing how the LEGO designers had chibi-fied this particular design. The head moves up and down, and the legs have some decent posability to them. As a collector, whose studio space has collectable/toy space as a premium, these smaller sets are quickly becoming something I enjoy, not only building, but displaying.


Stats Rating/Information
Items Star Wars Microbuilders Set 75075
Made by Lego
Rarity Common.
Classification Available at most retail.
Condition New
Procured Cargo Largo
Worth $10
Investment $6
Build Time 24 minutes.
Trivia & Fun Facts The All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) was a four-legged combat walker used by the ground forces of the Galactic Empire. With the Imperial-class Star Destroyer and the TIE/ln space superiority starfighter, it was one of the most famous symbols of the Empire's military might..

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Jan 31, 2017

Bricktober Toys R Us mini build set 40144

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(Top) Completed build. (Bottom Left) Two of the other sets in the series. (Bottom Right) Box contents include: instructions, 2 loose plates, sticker sheet, and three polybags.
I finally am getting around to some of these Bricktober mini sets that LEGO has been releasing over the years. It's not procrastination, it's finally being able to pull the vast majority of my sets out of storage and built for review on here to enlighten and entertain the masses!

My local Toys R Us is just a five minute drive for me, and that means I spend far too much time when I can, wandering the aisles like an attention deficient 5 year old mesmerized by selections. It's where I can go to get my LEGO fix. (When I worked at Hallmark, I literally was upstairs from the LegoLand store... it's like I was born to review these things or something...).

These builds are great in that, they can be gotten free during the promotional time, (free meaning you drop cash on some other larger sets to get these), or if you are lucky, your local store will have them out for retail purchase for around $10 each. I got mine that way.

I had gotten some feedback on my reviews, and one of the requests I got was to possibly include box scans of the packaging. So when possible, I'll include a flat scan of the entire box. As someone who did design for a long time, it's odd that I often overlook the package design for the most part, past the initial marketing point of getting a consumer's attention. Like one thing I noticed was on the left side, it denotes what set number this particular minibuild was for that year. Actually didn't see that until I flattened the box.
It shows this was the 4th release for the 2015 Bricktober series.
Below, you'll find a time lapse of the 23 minute build time I took to put this together. For younger fans, it would be a challenge, as it's got a lot of small parts (and a lot of spare ones for the inevitable ones you will lose). For older collectors, these sets make for cool desk and home display because you can get them all connected together and make a mini town street view.

Stats Rating/Information
Items Bricktober Toys R Us mini build set 40144
Made by Lego
Rarity Only available at Toys R Us locations for a limited sale time from Oct to Nov.
Classification Out of Production
Condition New
Procured Toys R Us
Worth $10 - $30
Investment $8
Build Time 20 minutes.
Trivia & Fun Facts A self promotional set that was part of the ongoing series of Bricktober builds that showcase a series of fantastic miniature scale buildings ranging from a city hall, to a pizzeria, to a hotel.

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Dec 12, 2016

BrickWarriors: A Silent Era Star minifig homage

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BrickWarriors "Silent Film Star" #16/60 looks to be primarily a mix of an homage mainly to the amazing Charlie Chaplin, with just a dash of CW Fields added in.
I didn't hesitate to get this wonderfully designed minifig of the "Silent Movie Star", as I am a fan of both Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin's work. BrickWarriors' inclusion of a collector card with the limited number edition on it is an appreciated little bonus.

Now, I'm not sure if it was meant to be a complete homage to Chaplin, and if it was, they nailed it on the torso details. I will say that although the yellow skin option was not that big of a deal, to have seen this figure in a greyscale rendition would have been cool.

LEGO does produce a Bowler hat, and it's readily available online through various other sellers, so it's not hard to get one. Had there been a bowler made for this figure that also featured a bit of Chaplin's curly locks of hair sculpted to it (as his bowler was a bit smaller fitting on his head), this would have brought this figure to another level.

Most canes are just a usage of the standard hand grip sized LEGO bar elements (used to connect wheels, gears, etc.), and I was actually surprised that only one other 3rd party Lego accessory maker made an element that could be cut down some in length to make a proper looking walking cane.
Two items that would make it a more complete Lego rendition would be the addition of the LEGO Bowler hat, and modifying the "Shepard's Crook" part from another company's offering to fashion a cane for the minifig. I stood him next to my Chaplin Smurf minifig (by Schleich) just for the hell of it.
By no means do any of the points above take away from BrickWarriors' minifig offering. It's a great addition to any collection. But as a fan of Chaplin, this figure could have been a killer unique homage to the great silent film comedian. And if you want to put a little searching and work into it, you can opt to upgrade his accessories to make it all come together in a more Chaplin accurate way.
Stats Rating/Information
Items Silent Film Star Minifigure
Made by BrickWarriors
Rarity Limited Edition of 60
Classification In Production
Condition New
Procured www.brickwarriors.com
Worth $18
Investment $18
Build Time n/a
Trivia & Fun Facts Chaplin appeared on the July 6, 1925 issue of Time magazine, a U.S.-based news magazine. He was the first actor ever to appear on the magazine known for its influential cover photos.

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Dec 5, 2016

Fly high with a Lego Ninja into the sky

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(Top) Front and back of the oversized package. (Bottom) Everything that came inside, and some rather new and unique colored parts, made specifically for this flyer model.
Ninjas. What comes to mind when you think of the mysterious stealthy warriors of the far East? Death in the darkness? Sharp edged sword fights? Flying plastic minifigures? Whaaaa?

Yes, since 2011, Lego has produced 112 sets for Ninjago that have ranged from incredible temples and a variety of insanely designed Asiatic inspired dragons, to weird offshoots like a line of zip pull activated "Airjitsu Wrayth Flyers", of which one I am reviewing today.

The Ninjago line has proved to be successful enough that it is one of the more popular add ons for Lego Dimensions, and has a full length feature film debuting in 2017, hot on the heels of the wildly popular television show.
Just 43 pieces in this build.
Now let me start off by saying that under most circumstances, I don't like what I call the "gimmick set" releases, and this one really falls into that for me. The build action is definitely secondary to getting the play value out of it. That's to be expected, as it really is aimed at the younger collector of Ninjago's line.

With just the aforementioned 43 pieces in this set, the time building it was pretty slim, clocking in at just around 7 minutes. It's not a difficult build, and did have some odd assembly and brick placements, like the two hidden 1x1 bricks in the lower right hand corner images above. And of those pieces included, 14 of them were minifig parts and weapons, and two spare bricks.
The actual reason I picked up this particular one was of course the minifigure, which had these wicked transparent legs with great details overlaid on them.
But looking past those shortcomings, it's a solid set, and I did manage to try out the flyer functionality and it works quite well (at flying out of control and scaring the %$#@ out of all of my cats in the process eliciting ninja like panic reactions from the fur foot clan..).

The best part of this set is the minifigure, as his design and weapons that are included are actually pretty bad ass.

For kids, this set is pretty cool and does have a real honest to god playability factor above the standard creative realms for normal Lego sets. For the older collector,... $10, which is what the sets average, is a bit high to pay for a single minifig, if that's what you're going for. But the set does include some great bricks and other parts in it that you'd be hard pressed to find outside of these flyer sets.


Stats Rating/Information
Items Lego Airjitsu Wrayth Flyer Set 70744
Made by Lego
Rarity Common
Classification In Production
Condition New
Procured Retail Recovery Sales outlet
Worth $10
Investment $6
Build Time 7 minutes.
Trivia & Fun Facts In 2012, the LEGO Ninjago Fire Temple was awarded "Activity Toy of the Year" title at the 12th Annual Toy of the Year Awards, which is held at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Nov 28, 2016

Lego City Starter Set 60127

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Lego City sets are a great standard collector series, with all of the sets being affordable (since licensing isn't an additional cost).
I normally don't pick up any Lego sets that have to do with any of the core basic sets, but this one was available for just $5, and as I was looking at the set, something dawned on me. This is essentially a "cops and robbers" scenario, but although there are clearly two bad guys and two good guys, with money, handcuffs, a radio, and a police vehicle and get away jet ski,... no one had a gun.

Isn't that just a bit weird? I mean, I had never realized that, and after doing some research, I found some information that I listed below in the Trivia section that most people may not realize about the Lego company, which is probably why so many other companies have been highly successful at filling this almost too obvious gap.

But first, let's talk about this recent set I picked up.

Now, one little gripe I have is why Lego isn't able to polybag the Lego Minifig parts all in the same bag. I know this is a smaller set, but it's something I see happen even in some of the larger sets. And I only bring this up because putting the minifigs together is always the first step of assembly, and ask about any Lego enthusiast, those are the parts we want to put together first!

This set only had two bags. I know this is probably a weird thing to rattle on about, but has anyone actually ever found out why, WHY, why, the parts are bagged as they are? I mean I am sure there is some kind of science involved in how it's done. Precision and practically are two of Lego's main mantras!
Two polybags for parts, in a set with only 92 pieces. And yet you have to open both bags to put your minifigs together.
This set is one of the simplest ones I've ever put together. It clocked in at just under a fifteen minute assembling time, with no real difficulty. There are some new parts I'd not seen, mainly hinge bricks. The best part was the ample amount of extra parts which included a whole other cage/roll bar part, extra handcuffs, one brick of each light, and a few other cool bits (shown in the top center.)
The minifigures are always my favorite part of most sets, and one of the criminals had a backpack element that was a loot sack sort of part that you could stick the stolen money bricks in.
The two mini vehicles were night and day, in that I liked the build of the cop buggy quite a bit. It's a fun design, and has some interaction with the opening roll cage. The jet ski is a bit bland, but sturdy. The pier and hideaway mini playset was alright. I'd rather have seen a small fishing shack or something else to add to the pier, as this one's design is a bit too abstract.

The details on the minifigs are nice and pretty standard for Lego in detail and clean color usage. The best parts are the two heads on the criminals showing some interesting facial details.

Overall, the set's not bad if you can indeed find it for around $5. It doesn't hold up as much of a build challenge either. But it can make a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season.

Stats Rating/Information
Items Lego City Starter Set 60127
Made by Lego
Rarity Common
Classification In Production
Condition New
Procured Retail Recovery Sales outlet
Worth $5 to $12
Investment $5
Build Time This was a quick one, at just under 15 minutes, with no real difficulty.
Trivia & Fun Facts None of the included characters in this set include any sort of gun of any kind. Although Lego sets set in the past/sci-fi future have featured projectile based weapons from laser guns to muskets, there appears to be an active absence of modern weaponry that echoes the inventor's original ideology of not wanting the idea of war or crime to be child's play. One would surmise this is also the reason for no modern era military based official Lego sets or vehicles, yet modern warfare, by definition includes many of the WW1 planes that Lego has released, as well as some of the Indiana Jones and Lone Ranger sets.

Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Oct 21, 2016

TOY OF THE DAY: Jason Freeny Brick Baby by Mighty Jaxx

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  • world debut was at our NYCC booth!
  • 20 pieces will be available here after NYCC
  • birthed by Jason Freeny
  • produced by Mighty Jaxx
  • FREE SHIPPING for all US customers, or people with US shipping addresses
  • (1) per customer please, let's share the joy as far as possible!
  • scheduled to ship to customers in late December
  • NO discounts or coupons will apply to this item. Not enough margin. Sorry! Orders placed for this item which include use of coupons or discounts will be cancelled.

Oct 14, 2016

Brick Baby by Jason Freeny x Mighty Jaxx

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After a successful initial drop at the Tenacious Toys booth during NYCC 2016, Brick Baby by Jason Freeny and Mighty Jaxx will make it's worldwide debut on October 15th. Measuring in at 8" tall, on it's base, and weighing a hefty 2.3 kg, this Jason Freeny creation will be a great addition to any collection. Brick Baby was priced at $120 during NYCC and should be priced similarly during the release through Mighty Jaxx. These will go up for sale at 10AM EST through the Mighty Jaxx store for those who want to pick one or a few up.
Brick Baby at the Tenacious Toys Booth during NYCC 2016

Aug 1, 2016

The science of LEGO

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The hell with the "Big Bang Theory" set! This is the real deal here! Especially with my favorite, Margaret Hamilton! (The black and white photo and greyscaled LEGO minifig set.)
Science and LEGO are very much a natural compliment to one another. Not a surprise considering the science involved in making the masterful model menagerie making aspects of the LEGO brick.

But one lady, Maia Weinstock, is proposing the creation of a female LEGO minifigure set through the Ideas site that LEGO utilizes to help launch fan concepts.The women included in this set are all movers and shakers that were at NASA.

As toy collectors, we know that often there is a dearth of great role models of women in toy format. It's getting better, but it's awesome to see ideas like this laid out and thought up.

If you are interested in finding out about the project and supporting it with your vote, please head over to the LEGO Ideas site and do so.
Mario, the Artisan Rogue
www.theartisanrogue.com

Jul 5, 2016

LEGO Minifigs in Spaaaaaaaaaace!!!

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The adventurers are: Jupiter, Juno, and Galileo Galilei.
Five years ago three courageous LEGO Minifigures embarked on a mission to go where no Minifigure has gone before. After a 1.75 billion mile journey, they have arrived at Jupiter on board NASA’s JUNO spacecraft!

The three LEGO® Minifigs left earth on NASA's Juno deep-space probe on August 5th for a five-year mission to Jupiter as part of NASA and LEGO's "Bricks In Space" program, a joint partnership to inspire children and broaden awareness of the importance of planetary research.

While technically not your standard minifigs, some of whom have been sent up into our upper atmosphere (and recorded on many a GoPro and shown on YouTube), The three voyagers are 1.5" tall, but made of aluminum instead, to better withstand the rigors of space travel.

(I want to take a moment to say I live in a pretty awesome time, when I can say that a childhood favorite of mine, LEGO sent minifigs into space. That just blows my mind.)

Sort of surprised a commemorative collector's pack isn't on the horizon with more earth bound variants of these three intrepid voyagers!


- Mario, the Artisan Rogue

Lego Music Box - "All Was Well" by Wintergatan

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You'll notice a bit of Lego bricks above. Well this isn't covering your average build...
It's been a while since I last had anything to say about Lego, and it's not because there aren't a lot of things to say, to the contrary, there are always things to say! So let me get started by showing one unusual and unique creation that was made with the help of a good smattering of Lego Technique parts.

Wintergaten, who is the musical act you will see below in the video, using the Lego infused instrument, is a Swedish folktronica band from Göteborg. Martin Molin and Marcus Sjöberg previously were part of the former band Detektivbyrån.

The reason I'm posting this is because the usage of toys, especially something as wonderfully free and expressive as the Lego system of bricks, can be some of the most out of the box thinking and problem solving you will ever find.

Many of you can relate in how the mainstream doesn't totally get how toys are the most common physical representations of developments in science, imagination, art, invention, and expression. All too often, it's relegated to the idea that toys are "kid stuff". Nothing could be further from the truth.

Some major corporations use them for team building exercises, some celebrities use them for relaxation or mental challenges, and robotics and programming clubs all around the world use them for education and competition.

So it's no real surprise to see Lego making it's way into music is it now?

Till my next update, enjoy the music performance in the video below. The band also has a great build video on their channel as well for how the music box was made using Technique blocks and gears.



- Mario, the Artisan Rogue

May 16, 2016

Brick Dictator: 1941 Lego World War 2 - Battle of Brody

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The cinematic shots, special effects, and music really push this into overdrive.
More and more fan made films are getting made, from Star Wars to Harry Potter and everything in between.

If you are a Lego or just a brick building fan like I am, then you can probably appreciate the very intense and immaculately well created fan film below.

June 23, 1941...

A fierce tank battle erupted between the 1st Panzer Group III Army Corps and XLVIII motorized Army Corps and five corps of the Russian 5th and 6th Army near the town of Brody.

The Soviets would end up losing on a decisive scale having been outmaneuvered, and then systematically cut apart by the surgical strikes of the Luftwaffe. It still is considered one of the largest tank engagements of WW2.
Some people might be against using toys to represent something like this, but I think it's actually brilliant.
Some of the parts were created on 3D printers, which are beginning to change the playing field in ways that no one could have seen just a few years ago. (In some instances especially in the toy industry, it can also be a bad thing, but that's a post for another time.)

So kick back, enjoy the video below, and then maybe check out the YouTube channel for Brick Dictator.

Until next time, I'm Mario, the Artisan Rogue


Feb 29, 2016

LEGO breaking update - Disney and Lego join forces to take your wallet.

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Still looking into whether or not this new series release is legit! But it certainly seems so. Disney has had a large presence with it's IP in LEGO's hands.

To quote the toy collector from Toy Story 2 "this is just like printing my own money (insert devious laughter)"

Expect a review of these suckers if this is going down, as I plan on buying a box of them when they hit.

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue

Dec 1, 2015

TOY OF THE DAY: PREORDER JASON FREENY MICRO ANATOMIC GREEN BLACK MINI FIGURE

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***PREORDER arriving mid November**

Armed with a youthful, overactive imagination, Jason Freeny creates smart, intricate works that tickle the deviant intellect through a mix of hard graphics, detailed anatomy, pop iconography and wit. Jason went full time as a working artist in 2010 and can now be found hunched over his work table developing works of candy colored madness, one of which he has chosen to feature here for his first RUN with Anatomie.

Micro Anatomic is one of Jason Freeny's most popular works till date, it combines his ever popular trademark dissection style with everyone's childhood memories.

Preorder JASON FREENY MICRO ANATOMIC GREEN BLACK MINI FIGURE today!

Nov 30, 2015

Krang's Android LEGO Body - Custom TMNT LEGO Figures!

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These figures are limited to 10 pieces, and will not be produced again. Each figure is a unique hand-made art toy. Recommended for adult collectors ONLY, not meant for play.
Created for the Boss Krang art & toy show at Acme Superstore in Florida earlier this year, This minifigure revisits the classic cartoon styling for Krang & his Android Body.
Each figure contains original lego parts, each sourced for its unique color (my goodness flesh colored parts are in short supply!), as well as two resin cast parts. The cast parts include the head antenna (cast from an original lego part in a color not available), and the hand-held communicator (custom sculpted & cast).
Each communicator has a different image of shredder taken directly from the animated series, and each is cast in a slightly different color to accurately mimic the communicator's color changes throughout the series (and often within each episode/scene).
All graphics were created & printed onto water-slide decal paper, then applied to each figure. Each figure also has hand-painted accents (the lines on the legs, etc.).
Each figure comes in a bubble case, punched for hanging, with hand cut & folded inserts (which depicts the interior of the Technodrome).

Brick Warriors - Warrior pack polybag "Demon"

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LEGO may be synonymous with the concept of interlocking bricks, but there are a fair few companies filling in the niches and edges that Lego hasn't always catered to.

I was in line just a few month back picking up some new additions to my collections at my local Toys R Us when I happened to see a small little display box filled with what I thought were LEGO polybags of some series I'd not seen before. At first glance, I thought it was the upcoming Monster themed Series, but then I realized this was a polybag add on set produced by Brick Warriors.

If you're not familiar with Brick Warriors, and you love Lego and customizing the minifigs up, you should be heading over there after you finish reading my review. Or do it now, I can wait until you come back.

You back? Well then, you saw the awesome accessories on there? Those are now what are available in these new retail sold polybags. The display box showed a lot of awesome sets, and I was at first worried, because I was hoping to get the one I really wanted, the one that had the demon wings in it. As I turned the polybag over, I was SUPREMELY surprised to find that the back was transparent. I could see the contents!? Holy cow! What a freaking concept! Of COURSE Brick Warriors doesn't want you to have to be all creepy and feel up every blind polybag out there for the right accessories. Not if these are meant to be like on the website where you can order the exact accessories you want and go all crazy custom! (Which by the way, the custom full on Brick Warrior figs they offer in low limited editions are all pretty legit as well.)
(Top) The front and clear backing to the pack. (Lower Left) All the content in the bag. (Lower Right) Cool coupon code, unfortunately expired, as it's 2015.
So let's look at this polybag and see how the quality and all holds up...

I think they got it really right by providing a clear viewing section on the back. Maximizing the branding space on the front with great clear graphics.

Opening it up, the first item out I looked over was the Demon Helm. As you can see below, the overall look and design of this is far more aggressive and wild than 90% of the official LEGO releases, including even Chima.
(Top) The Demon Helm front and back. (Bottom) Demon Shield front and back.
The parts had sort of an over the top kind of old school Warhammer Fantasy vibe that I really liked. The plastic is an ABS, it's tough, and the detail sharpness is very nice. The injection molding process is probably different though, and I'm willing to wager it is, as LEGO has what I believe a proprietary way of injection molding it's parts that leaves the cleanest and best engineered way of creating them.

(Top) Front and back views of Demon Armor. (Middle) The wings included are easy enough to attach, but as you'll note from the bottom image, the wings come still attached by a sprue connection.
The chest piece is really nice, no tampo details on it, but it more than makes up for that in some nice plate and scale mail armor design on it. The wings included in the set do come still molded together, and I recommend getting appropriate model snips to cut them apart. Here, as a test of the ABS integrity, I did what most younger kids and parents might do, I just moved the wings up and down until the plastic gave. The result was a bit of plastic damage, but I also went at it slowly. The wings are the most delicate items in this bag, but they are still well made and I love the look and how they work with the armor.
The Demon Tail and Demon Sword.
The two final parts were the ones above, and they were nice finishing touches to the assortment in the polybag. I didn't get pics of the parts on any of my minifigs, but when I tried them out, I was impressed. They look great, and "snap" into place like official parts do.

My final thoughts? If you want some fun and outlandish varied designs, get these while you can now, before some of these aren't made anymore. I know that customizers love to add additional paint details to some of these, pushing the minifig look into custom vinyl toy directions. I might try and do that in the very near future myself. Also, you can't beat the price, as it comes out cheaper to buy it this way in a bag set than to part it out and get the set online. BUT, when you start ordering in bulk on parts... then yeah the website for BrickWarriors is the way to go.

Until next time! - Mario, the Rogue Hobbyist.
 
Stats Rating/Information
Item Warrior pack polybag "Demon"
Made by Brick Warriors
Rarity Common
Classification In Production
Condition New
Procured Toys R Us - Kansas City, Missouri
Worth $7 (if bought online separately)
Investment $3 in polybag
Further Research http://www.brickwarriors.com/demon/
Trivia & Fun Facts BrickWarriors is a small business located in Wilmington, Delaware that designs and produces LEGO® compatible accessories and minifigures.

Nov 9, 2015

Introducing Gemr - the New Social Community for collectors!

by

There’s a new social community for collectors and it’s called Gemr

What makes Gemr so unique is that it allows like-minded individuals to come together as a community to not only buy, sell and/or trade their collectibles, but also discuss and learn more about the history or value of their items. 

Gemr offers a wide range of clubs including Toys, Funko, Lego, Disney, and more. Users can join these various clubs in order to showcase their collections for others to favorite and admire.


One cool aspect of the site is that users have the ability to
"CrowdScore" items in order to give people real-time market valuations of the particular product.

In addition, Gemr has an app for iOS and Android to make it easier for people to access and upload items on the go.

Best of all, it’s free to join!

You can sign up for Gemr by clicking this link: http://gemr.it/1Y06lbN

BB-8 Star Wars Premium Format(TM) Figure
Court of the Dead The Chronicle of the Underworld Court of the Dead Book