Terrain Workshop: Bamboo Trees

I know I've built bamboo before.  This design is inspired by parts from the new Lego Botanicals set "Lucky Bamboo".  The main part that caught my eye was the Apollo Stud w/Arm Down.  I'd say it's strongly related to one of my favorite parts.  That being said, I used four of them with four of the newish 1x2 Rounded Plate w/Rounded Leaf and stacked them on top of a 2x2 Round Brick and capped it off with a 2x2 Round Plate.  Then I placed that on top of two more 2x2 Round Bricks, and a Round Large Jumper.  All of this is done in an inverted fashion.  That assembly is then plugged into a 2x2 Round Tile w/Hole on top of two 2x4 Plates.  (It doesn't have to be 2x4 Plates.  You can use what ever works for you as a base.)

This is 2 Hits in Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack and is 14 feet tall and roughly 37 feet across in 6P scale.  One of the good things about this design is that you can pad it out with 2x2 Round Bricks or Plates to add height and Hits, depending on what you're aiming for.

I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds.  Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Mega Poppy

After a cavalcade of reviews, let's change it up and make some terrain.  I ended up with a bunch of 2x2 Plant Leaves w/4 Petals & Axle Hole in different colors so I decided to stack them on top of two 2L Smooth Axle Connectors -- which are joined by a 2L Notched Axle.  Then I topped them off with two 1x1 Round Plates w/Flower Edge, one in a color matching the Plant Leaves, the other in White.

Right now I have three different versions, representing either different varieties of this giant flower or maybe three different stages in the blooming cycle.  Like others builds of this nature, you can mount them individually or string them together in wall-like sections.

These are each 1 Hit and are 14 feet tall and roughly 8 feet across in 6P scale.

I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds.  Flickr page.

Review: 30709 Speed Champions Ferrari 499P - Hypercar Polybag

This was a "Gift with Purchase" for the first week of March as part of the big F1 Speed Champions release.  It's also now available at Target.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.08 Price per Piece.  

Instructions & Stickers.

Parts.  Plates, Tires, Tiles, Mudguard Tiles, Studless Slopes, Rounded Plates,

Tile w/Studs on Ends, Jumpers, Wedge Tiles, Translucent Quarter Circle

Tiles, Translucent Bar, Axle Plates, Brackets, Curved Corner Slopes, Half

Round Brick, Brick w/Axle Hole, Studless Slope w/Cutout, and Rims.

Build.  IO Frigate.

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+).  Solid parts count, decent parts selection, and decent color palette.

Review: 30702 Super Mario Toad (Pit Crew) Polybag

This was a "Gift with Purchase" for the first week of March.  As it's part of the Mario Kart line I could see a tentative connection to the F1 Speed Champions releases.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.13 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Minifig.  Round Tiles, Printed Modified Cube, Hinge Brick Top, Hinge Brick Bottom, Jumper, Round Plates, Printed Brick, Technic Pin Arms, Printed Round Brick w/Pinholes, and Leg Plate.

Parts.  Plates, Plate w/Legs, Wheel, Bricks, Round Plate, Brick w/

Studs on Side, Bar Plate, Clip Plates, Printed Tiles, Tiles w/Pin, Minifig

Wrench, Minifig Crowbar, Tile, Apollo Studs, and Minifig Handlebars.

Build.  Frame and Station.

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Above.  (-10)  (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: +5 (B+).  There are some useful parts but beyond that I don't see a reason to pursue this set.

Review: 30708 Star Wars Millennium Falcon Polybag

This can be found in the Lego section of Walmart.  A quick glance at the package art leads me to believe that the set build may fit inside the size limit for Frigates in Intercept Orbit.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 at Walmart for a $0.07 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Parts.  Quarter Circle Plates, Half Circle Plates w/Cutout, Quarter Circle Tiles,

Pin/Axle, Wedge Plates, Plates, Ingots, Taps, Minifig Binoculars, Round

Tiles w/Pinhole, Large Jumper, Dish, Truncated Cone, Brick w/Pinhole &

Plate, Translucent Plates, Apollo Studs, Rounded Plates, and Brackets.

Set Build.  IO Frigate.

Free Build.  Two IO Frigates and a HVA.

 

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 Ship-in-a-Bag right out of the gate and you can stretch it into more than that if you don't want to build it as is.  Definitely worth it.

Review: 30697 Friends Nova's Doghouse Build Polybag

Another new for 2025 polybag.  The availability might be a little wider than Wednesday's review as I found this one at Wegman's.  Friends sets are usually interesting so let's take a look.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 at Wegman's for a $0.10 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Minidoll.

Doggo.

Parts.  Plates, Arches, Double Large Jumpers, Panels,

Tiles, Slopes, Clip Plate, Printed Tile, Bricks w/Clip,

Bricks w/Studs on Side, Round Bricks, Large Cheese

Slopes, Rounded Plates, Minifig Paint Roller, Small

Bones, Translucent Round Tile, Printed Round Tiles,

Minifig Yarn Ball, Minidoll Sunglasses, Minifig

Hammer, and Round Plates w/3 Leaves.

Build.  Two 1 Hit pieces of Cover, and a Station.

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).  I like the colors, I like the parts -- The Minifig Paint Roller is always useful -- I just wish there was a little more to this set.

Review: 30703 Animal Crossing Julian's Beach Painting Polybag

Another new for 2025 polybag but it doesn't seem to be widely available.  Last year's Animal Crossing polybag at least had some interesting pieces so I decided to give this one a try as well.

Bag.  I paid $5.99 at Playnow for a $0.14 Price per Piece.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.12 Price per Piece. 

Instructions.

Minifig.  

Parts. Plates w/Rounded Corners & Feet, Plates, Wedge Plates, Round

 Plates w/Flower Edge, Printed Round Tiles, Brick, Studless Slope,

 Round Plates w/3 Leaves, Round Tiles, Minifig Paint Palette, Quarter

 Circle Tiles, Round Bricks, Bar Plates, and Minifig Paint Brushes.

Build.  A 1 Hit piece of Cover and a 2 Hit piece of Cover.

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (0)  Cover.
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Above.  (-10)  (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: 0 (B).  Again, parts count problems.  One, more piece would have shaved a penny off the PpP.  Five more pieces would have brought it down by two cents and changed the score.