Review: Build Your Own City Book

Subtitled as "The Big Unofficial Lego Builder's Book", this is a third party book about building Lego City creations.  It's full of instructions, parts lists, and pictures.  The breakdown is as follows: pages 1-19 = Intro, SNOT, Tips & Techniques; pages 20-239 = Midi-Scale; and pages 240-400 = Minifig Scale.  So, about 57% of this book is aimed at a usable scale for MFZ.

What the authors call Midi-Scale looks to be about 5P Scale in MFZ terms as the representations of people are five plates tall.  This is one of the lesser used scales but I think that the items these instructions build will still help to flesh out a gaming table.  There are 24 vehicle instructions, 4 of which are construction vehicles, 1 is a plane, 1 is a helicopter, and 3 are trains.  There are instructions for two different types of trees.  Instructions for a house with two different types of roof and two different types of floor design.  And there's instructions for a Department Store that covers 32 x 16 studs and is 23 bricks, 1 plate tall.  Each set of instructions has a little introduction blurb that also gives a tip  or trick concerning building.  There are also plenty of pictures between the instructions that show alternate builds and things that haven't been included in the instructions.

There are only five sets of instructions in the Minifig Scale section, all of which are vehicles.  There may be some techniques that can be adapted to other scales but all I've done so far is glance through this section.

Price is about $24.99 depending on the source.  With only -- roughly -- 33 sets of instructions and not all of them relevant to MFZ I can't really recommend this book.  A lot of the instructions in the Midi-Scale section are just variations on the base car design.  I've seen similar complaints about this book elsewhere.  Maybe if they put in some different instructions and reduced the size of the instructions themselves they could have fit a little more variety in the book.

Sales Alert

Last time it was Target, this time it's Walmart. They have also been clearancing items to make way for the new sets. The selection is a smorgasbord.  The ones I personally saw were 79121 Turtle Sub Undersea Chase for $45, 41051 Merida's Highland Games for $5, 70012 Razar's Chi Raider for $11, 76003 Superman: Battle of Smallville for $15, 70722 Overborg Attack for $15, 79119 Mutation Chamber Unleashed for $13, and a bunch of others that had already sold out. As always, YMMV. Good hunting!

Propaganda Wars in Mechaton/Mobile Frame Zero

There was an old Mechaton campaign that was posted on the Storygames forum.  It was awesome for what was done outside of the games and not just what happened on the table.  Battle reports mixed with propaganda posts and storytelling driven by wargaming from Malcolm Craig and Simon Carryer led to a sum greater than the individual parts.  This was neat stuff.

There's something similar happening on the Hangar at the moment, although it doesn't actually involve any games of MFZ -- that I'm aware of.  Four different frame designs, Twanks, Clankers, Twanzers, and Squibs, are being pushed by four different creators, Atavism, Skrob, Lorc, and FragsturBait respectively.  It's fun and interesting to see these people go at it -- and in the process weave a story -- without anything being contested on the table.

If anyone in the MFZ community knows of something similar that isn't posted on one of the big three social media spots -- the Hangar, the G+ group, or the Facebook page -- I'd like to hear about it.

Updated 2/25/15 @ 9:14 am EST.

Terrain & Scenery 5

Once again it has come time to show you random Lego creations from around the internet that might look good on your gaming table.

Riding an Elephant by Jag Bill.  Oh, this is neat.

IMG_3321 by Paulo Castanho.  Anyone remember Space 1999?

These look to be at 5P scale.  And there are more pictures.

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant by P. Voranc.  If you've ever to
play a game at Super Robot scale, this would make great terrain.








Permanent Moon Base and Mars Mission Launch Facility by Nostalgic Bricks.  Yeah, this would look great on a table.

msp_tractor_trailer_mk1_01 by 3D Foundry.  After doing some quick calculations on this piece, it not only looks like, it is 7P scale.  Now
all we need is some road surface or a truck stop.  :-)

Sales Alert

Target is clearancing a number of sets to make room for Spring arrivals.  I saw most of the Ultra Agents line at 30% off, one of the new Bionicle sets(70789), a small City set (60041), The Super Secret Police Dropship 70815, the Technic Snowmobile 42021, the Turtle Sub Undersea Chase 79121, and the Batman: Joker Steam Roller 76013.  Check out your local store and see what they have.  Good hunting!

Review: 30311 Swamp Police Helicopter Polybag

This was one of the two polybags Target had in their Valentine's Day section this year.

Bag.  Was available for $3.49 at Target.
This gives us a $0.07 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.  You all know how I feel about these.

Parts.  The first thing that catches my eye

-- and the whole reason I bought this set -- is 

the new piece.  The two 2x2x1 Round Brick 

w/Technic Holes have me thinking of some 

pretty interesting uses.  It also has two of its 

bigger brother, a few SNOT pieces, and some 

of the fiddly bits we all like.

Build.  Another IO Frigate.  I managed to work in the minifig
head and helmet.  I'm thinking 2Ra/2Y/1G/2W for stats.

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 sad when the City polybags are more affordable than the regular sets.

Random Starships

I guess it's time to start a set of posts for Intercept Orbit to show people all the starships I come across on Flickr.

PLNT-class Seedship by Willis Reifsnyder.  This
looks like it's about the length of an IO Cruiser.

FTW by ska2d2.  You'd have to find a way to cut six studs

in length out of it, but this would look great on a game table.

Micro Sulaco by Grantmasters.  This
fits in right under the Frigate limit.

Bf-1 VTOL by rope fish.  Render.  Not

a starship but, could pass as one.

Micro SSV Normandy by the Mugbearer.  Shrink this down
a stud or two and it would make for a great looking Cruiser.

Random Stuff

I got bored one day and did a random trawl of Google for mentions of Mobile Frame Zero.

How did I not see this 'til now?!?  This webcomic references Mobile Frame Zero, although in a somewhat oblique manner.

I really should pay more attention to deviantArt.

Here's a random mention of MFZ on GeeksLeague, a French speaking blog.

Quasar Mech Works, a dead MFZ blog.

Apparently some people use Instagram for MFZ photos.

A podcast that mentions MFZ at PAX East 2014.  They start talking about it at 1:17:50 or so.

A Few Bricks Short.  A recent Lego blog that also is posting about MFZ.

Has anyone else found anything of interest to the MFZ community after trawling through the internet?

Micro Mecha

One thing I don't feature enough is mecha that are smaller than the standard 7P scale.
I show you stuff that's larger all the time, but not smaller.  Time for a change.

More Micro Mecha by Sage the 13th.
Absolutely fantastic work here.

'Lady In Pink' by Nooroyd.  The stickers put this over the top.

Micro Snowspeeders by Barton Thinks.  These would
be good for a swarm using the "X on a Plate" rule.

Microframe Peach Patrol by thomastamblyn.  He has a number

of new micro mecha, but I think this is the best of the bunch.

Lego Micro Arm Suit by uma uma.  This is
a neat little design.  Emphasis on the little.

Microframes Hero Shot by markwisski.

Let's finish this out with a group photo.

These are all really neat, so take a look around and
see what is out there at the smaller end of the scale.

Lego Ideas 3

Here's another set of Lego Ideas submissions that could prove useful to the MFZ community.

Hyperborea by Nick Royer.  While it may seem that this submission is minifig heavy, there are some set ideas that would be great for MFZ.  The Illuminati Kit for one, and the Mini-Hardsuit is another.

Turtle CS-1 and the Space Guys by Devid VII.  While the minifigs aren't useful, the turtle mech could be a good selection at 4P scale.

Eos Frame and Station by Accelerando.  I've mentioned his work before.  This is built specifically for MFZ, and mentions it by name in the description.

Micro Animals by Peter Thaler.  I've mentioned these before in another blog post and think they would make a great polybag set.

Hover Scout and Recharge Dock by iso3200.  This is a neat set I found through Brickset.  You should be able to build a couple of stations, some terrain, and maybe some sort of vehicular Frame from it.

Once again, I've backed all of these submissions.

Review: 30246 Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Polybag

As far as I know, this is a Target exclusive.

Bag.  This can be found in the checkout aisles for
$3.99.  That gives us a Price per Piece of $0.07.

Instructions.

Parts.  A lot of plates, but also a fair amount of Click Hinge Plates, 1x2 Plates w/Bar (closed ends), Jumpers, and a couple Clip Plates.  There's also a fair amount of Boat Bumpers, and some interesting Slope pieces.

Build.  Could be an IO Frigate or HVA.  There are plenty of attachment points

for armament, sensors, or defenses.

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+).  There have been a lot of good, affordable Star Wars polybags lately.  This continues the trend.

Purity: 91765 Mega Bloks Hot Wheels Sharkruiser Review

If people were on the fence about this line, now might be the time to decide as they've gone on Clearance at my local Toys'R'Us at 1/2 off.  My local Kmart also has them on Clearance at $3.

Bag.  MSRP is 23 pieces for $3.99.  Which is $0.17 per piece.  Wow.  I picked this up on sale which brought the Price per Piece down to $0.09.

Instructions.

Parts.  Not really a lot here.  The wedge tiles are nice, as are
the Studless Inverted Slopes.  The Fin Tile is pretty neat too.

Build.  An IO Frigate.  Not that great,

though I think that two sets together might make something interesting.

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?  No.  (-5)
Score: -5 (B-).  The parts count and the price really killed the score on this.  The clearance price changes the score to +10 (A-).

Purity: 91767 Mega Bloks Hot Wheels Corkscrew Buggy Review

If people were on the fence about this line, now might be the time to decide as they've gone on Clearance at my local Toys'R'Us at 1/2 off.  My local Kmart also has them on Clearance at $3.

Bag.  MSRP is 28 pieces for $3.99.  Which is $0.14 per piece.  Not good.  I picked this up on sale which brought the Price per Piece down to $0.07.

Instructions.

Parts.  Clip Tiles!  The 1x2 Cheese Slopes w/Plate are interesting, as are the 1x1-1x1 Brackets.  The 1x2 Angled Cheese Slopes are neat as is the "roll cage" piece in the upper right.  The 1x2 Cheese Slope with the print on it should come in handy for marking Pirate vehicles.

Build.  Another IO Frigate. I

know, but they're just so easy.

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?  No.  (-5)
Score: -5 (B-).  The parts count and the price really killed the score on this.  The clearance price changes the score to +10 (A-).

Purity: 91764 Mega Bloks Hot Wheels Dynamic Arrow Review

Continuing the Mega Bloks Hot Wheels polybag series reviews.

Bag.  MSRP is 31 pieces for $3.99.  Which is $0.13 per piece.  Ouch.  I picked this up on sale which brought the Price per Piece down to $0.10.

Instructions.

Parts.  Six brackets -- four 1x2-1x2, two 1x1-1x1 -- four angled tiles, a couple 1x3 Bent Plates, a couple of Wedge Tile Plates, and a handful of Studless Slopes are what sticks out to me.  The axels and central plate of the car are the same color as the last set I reviewed.  I wonder if that holds true for the entire line?

Build.  It could be an IO Frigate or HVA depending

on which way it's facing.  I really like this one.

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?  No.  (-5)
Score: B- (-5).  Not bad for a licensed set, but not that great either.  If you buy this on sale like I did, the score becomes B+ (+5).