Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Lego AFOL Book Survey

As pointed out by Joshua and others, Lego has put out a survey about books for AFOLs.  Now is the time to mention Mobile Frame Zero and any other Lego-based games that you feel the company is not paying enough attention to.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Sales Alert

I was in Walmart last week and they had a ton of sets on Clearance.  Listings in italics are good deals, items in bold are really good deals.

31058 Mighty Dinosaurs $9.00 (174 pcs.)
31072 Extreme Engines $9.00 (109 pcs.)
31084 Pirate Roller Coaster $54.00 (923 pcs.)
31089 Sunset Track Racer $13.00 (221 pcs.)
31090 Underwater Robot $13.00 (207 pcs.)
31093 Riverside Houseboat $25.00 (396 pcs.)
31094 Race Plane $19.00 (333 pcs.)
41161 Aladdin and Jasmine's Palace Adventures $19.00 (193 pcs.)
41347 Heartlake City Resort $74.00 (1017 pcs.)
41349 Drifting Diner $17.00 (345 pcs.)
41351 Creative Tuning Shop $21.00 (413 pcs.)
41363 Mia’s Forest Adventure $9.00 (134 pcs.)
41364 Stephanie’s Buggy & Trailer $13.00 (166 pcs.)
41367 Stephanie’s Horse Jumping $25.00 (337 pcs.)
41368 Andrea’s Talent Show $35.00 (492 pcs.)
60179 Ambulance Helicopter $13.00 (190 pcs.)
60190 Arctic Ice Glider $5.00 (50 pcs.)
60191 Arctic Exploration Team $5.00 (90 pcs.)
70650 Destiny's Wing $13.00 (181 pcs.)
70651 Throne Room Showdown $13.00 ( 221 pcs.)
70659 Spinjitzu Kai $7.00 (97 pcs.)
70660 Spinjitzu Jay $7.00 (97 pcs.)
70677 Kai's Blade Cycle & Zane's Snowmobile $19.00 (376 pcs.)
70679 The Ultra Dragon $64 (951 pcs.)
70822 Unikitty’s Sweetest Friends EVER! $7.00 (78 pcs.)
70828 Pop-Up Party Bus $49.00 (1024 pcs.)
70835 Rex's Rexplorer! $89.00 (1187 pcs.)
70838 Queen Watevra's 'So-Not-Evil' Space Palace $74.00 (997 pcs.)
70839 The Rexcelsior! $109.00 (1826 pcs.)
75203 Hoth Medical Chamber $21.00 (255 pcs.)
75223 Naboo Starfighter Microfighter $7.00 (62 pcs.)
75234 AT-AP Walker $40.00 (689 pcs.)
75926 Pteranodon Chase $13.00 (126 pcs.)
75927 Stygimoloch Breakout $19.00 (222 pcs.)
75950 Aragog’s Lair $9.00 (157 pcs.)
75951 Grindelwald's Escape $13.00 (132 pcs.)
75952 Newt's Case of Magical Creatures $30.00 (694 pcs.)
75975 Watchpoint: Gibraltar $64.00  (730 pcs.)
76101 Outrider Dropship Attack $9.00 (124 pcs.)
76109 Quantum Realm Explorers $15.00 (200 pcs.)
76110 Batman: The Attack of the Talons $13.00 (155 pcs.)
76111 Batman: Brother Eye Takedown $17.00 (269 pcs.)

As always YMMV.

Good hunting.

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Non-Human 31

Here's a few pictures to gawk at because I'm feeling lazy.


Support Bot by Sunder_59.  Nice build
but, there's some render magic going on.








Mini Robodog Instruction by Gamabomb.  An interesting quad with instructions.



Eency Weency Spider...Bot by Wukoslav.  It might
be a little large but I love the way this looks.







BUX by (Flavio).  More Bionicle/Hero Factory parts goodness.





DSC_1067 by ironweasel.  This thing is massive but
I feel like it would look awesome on a battlefield.

Monday, July 8, 2019

[Guest Post] Purity: Sluban B0595A M38 Police Review

Yet another guest post by Francisco Duarte.

Hi, there, once more! This set was actually a Christmas gift, and it took me forever to get around to review it, due to several reasons.

Sluban actually seems to have some good sets floating around in Europe, and the previous two that I reviewed seemed quite solid and with a good price per part. I cannot state the price of this one, given that it was a gift, but judging from the previous sets, this ought to be around 0.03 to 0.06 Euros per part. This set contained 35 parts.

Box.







The instructions are on the back of the box, interestingly
enough.  Not that I mind, given that it allows the buyer
to assess which parts will be found therein.



Parts. Canopy, helicopter rotor, tiles, mod. bricks, bricks
with pinhole, cones, slopes, and two half skid parts.







Made a quad frame, steampunk-themed. It is equipped
with a steam engine, two searchlights and a dual mortar
launch system (G/2Y/Ra). I also made a windmill station.

Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+). This company seems to produce really good sets, although the plastic is kind of soft and thin at times. I also didn’t find any defective part on these smaller sets, but that may be luck on my part.

Friday, July 5, 2019

Battle Report: Alien Planet

I've had a couple of ideas for new table-settings in the pipeline for a while.  This is the debut for one of them.

Me (3 Frames & 12 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (5 assets) = 35 points.  (The Draz)
   Blue Defender -- 2B/1G+d8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Red Defender -- 2B/1G+d8/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Grey Defender -- 2B/1G+d8/1Y/2W + SSR.

Occam's Spork (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 30 points.
   White Spotting Bodyguard -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1Y/2W +SSR.
   Blue Spotting Bodyguard -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1Y/2W +SSR.

   Red Spotting Bodyguard -- 2Rd/2Rh/1B/1Y/2W +SSR.
   Orange Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

PJ_Nichts (5 Frames & 19 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 21 points.  (Branson's Raiders)
   Red Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.
   Green Hammer -- 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Orange Fast Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1G+d8/2W + SSR.
   Blue Fast Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1G+d8/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Fast Spotter -- 1G+d8/2Y/2W.


This is what the table looked like at the start of the game.














Events of Turn 1 (DDC @ 11): My Grey frame captures PJ Nicht's Black Station before the game starts.  PJ Nicht's Red frame hits my Blue frame for 1 and my Blue frame moves up beside their Black station.  PJ Nicht's Green frame hits my Blue frame for 2 in response.

Me: 42 points.
Occam's Spork: 30 points.
PJ_Nicht: 18 points.




Events of Turn 2 (DDC @ 9): My Blue frame hits PJ Nicht's Yellow frame for 2.  Occam's Spork's Red frame hits my Grey frame for 1, Station Dance.  My Grey frame then hits PJ Nicht's Yellow frame for 1 in response.  PJ Nicht's Green frame hits my Grey frame for 1.  PJ Nicht's Red frame hits my Grey frame for 4.  PJ Nicht's Blue frame hits my Blue frame for 4, destroying it, recapturing their Black Station, then moves up beside my Dark Blue Station.  PJ Nicht's Orange frame hits my Grey frame for 6, destroying it, allowing their Blue frame to capture my Dark Blue station.

Occam's Spork: 30 points.
PJ_Nicht: 21 points.
Me: 14 points.




Events of Turn 3 (DDC @ 7): Occam's Spork's White frame hits my Red frame for 1 and my Red frame races up the side of the battlefield.  Occam's Spork's Red frame hits my Red frame for 1.  PJ Nicht's Blue frame hits Occam's Spork's Red frame for 1.  PJ Nicht's Red frame hits Occam's Spork's Red frame for 4.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame captures my Brown Station.

Occam's Spork: 35 points.
PJ_Nicht: 24 points.
Me: 7 points.




Events of Turn 4 (DDC @ 4): PJ Nicht's Blue frame hits Occam's Spork's Red frame for 3, destroying it.

Occam's Spork: 30 points.
PJ_Nicht: 24 points.
Me: 7 points.


Events of Turn 5 (DDC @ 2): Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits the cover in front of ?? for 1, destroying it.  Occam's Spork's Orange frame hits PJ Nicht's Red frame for 1.  PJ Nicht's Red frame hits Occam's Spork's White frame for 3, Station Dance.  My Red frame -- after moving behind it the previous round -- punches Occam's Spork's Orange frame in the back for 5.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to zero.

Occam's Spork: 30 points.
PJ_Nicht: 24 points.
Me: 7 points.









Here's a couple of aftermath pictures.



Thoughts & Observations:
  • This is what happens when you bring the wrong squad to a game.
  • We were originally set for five players but had two drop out.
  • I really made a hash of my notes.

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Purity: Laser Pegs 18401 Squid Encounter Review

I purchased this at Marshall's a few weeks ago.  I'm generally not a fan of this line of clone bricks but the set looked weird -- and I tend to like weird -- and the price was good.

Box.  MSRP was $29.99.  I paid $16.00 for this which gives a $0.10 Price per Piece.


Instructions and Stickers.






Minifig and Light Brick.



Parts 1.  Light Blocks.




Parts 2.  Tiles, Slopes, Round Plates,
Round Tiles, Lampholders, a Plate,
and a Hinge Brick.





Parts 3.  Plates, Ball Joints, and a Brick.



Parts 4.  Slopes, Brackets, Wedge Plates, Plates, a Round Plate, and an Air Scoop.




Parts 5.  Plates, Minifig Weapons, Slopes, Wedge Plates, Dishes, Round Plates, Bricks w/Studs on 1 Side, Panel, Clip Plate, Tile Clip, Minifig Handlebar, Leaf Plate, Bar Plate, Modified Plate, and LURP.

Build.  Frame.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? At. (0) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +15 (A).  All those Ball Joint pieces are great, too bad the rest of the set isn't really as useful.

Monday, July 1, 2019

Purity: Ban Bao 6962 Neighborhood Super Car Review

I bought this recently at Burlington.  I tried searching for more information on the set but it's not under the Racers or Hi Tech categories.  The Toys'R'Us Canada website has this under a slightly different name.

Box.  I paid $6.99 for this which gives a $0.06 Price per Piece.


Instructions and Stickers.







Parts 1.  Tires, Rims, Technic Lift Arms, Technic Panel, and a Pull Back Motor.



Parts 2. Ball Joint Pins in Grey!
Black Large Technic Bushings!







Parts 3.  Technic Connectors, Lift Arms, Axles,
the other part of the Minifig Steering Wheel,
and some Trans-Red Bionicle Teeth.



Parts 4.  This bag is full of Pins, Axles, and Axle/Pins.





Build.  Hand Blades! (2rH+d8)

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  It's a fun set if you need clone Technic pieces.  It looks like I picked it up at roughly half price.