One of the few exceptions to the "keeping everything together" rule that I have is for my Lego stuff. I just have way too much Lego stuff, that if I open everything at one go, I'm going to guess at one toy a day, it'll probably last me for the best part of a year... and maybe some. Limiting myself to one toy a day for this year is really holding me back, and I need to put a dent in the unopened sets somehow, so...
Yup, it's another Toy Story Lego set, and a Toy Story 3 Lego set at that. It's a huge box, easily 2 feet across by one feet tall, and it showcases the set rather nicely on the front complete with a desert scene. The back of the box has another picture of the set, some action features, and the figures of the line. What's missing, and has been missing for a while now are the alternative stuff that you can construct from the pieces in the set. This is afterall a construction toy.
The set contains a number of baggies - 5 numbered big ones and a couple of smaller baggies with the figures. There's also a baggie containing the bogies with the magnets that hold the different carriages together.
There are also two instruction booklets... well, they are more like manuals thanks to their thickness. The instruction booklets are typical of all the other sets, and are clear and easy to follow. What I found interesting was that at the back of one of the booklets where they highlighted the new Fire sets, there is a blue City Corner (instead of the usual red). I don't recall the blue version being available in the stores - so this looks like an official Lego custom.
I like how they package the figures separately from the other pieces, and I guess some figures are more precious than others. Eventhough Buzz had his own baggie, he wasn't packed with the other figures in the set.
The build wasn't as tedious as I expected it to be, and in quick succession I built the carriages including the nice wooden one above.
Then there was the freight carriage and the locomotive itself (which took all of baggies number 4 and 5). There were some left over spare wheel parts which confused me... until I realised that they were included to enable motorisation of the loco! I'll have to get a Lego train engine from elsewhere though if I want to motorise it.
There's quite a lot of customised figures in the set, and that's the fun part of the set. Lego could have just used generic smileys for these, but instead they crafted out a whole host of characters that actually look like action figures, but Lego-ised. These look even better than mini-mates!
And the comparison pics - notice how Rex is basically just a smaller version of the original Rex toy, but built from bricks. Thanks to the construction, Lego Rex has 4 points of articulation - shoulders (which are technically 2 points, but the arms are locked together and they move together, so I count them as one), both hips and the tail. Had the jaw been movable, it would have exceeded the original Rex toy.
And the Buzz Lightyear toy is miles miles better than the one Mattel produced recently. There are no issues with warped plastic (and thanks to Lego's micron accuracy and the use of ABS, that's not likely to happen) or with bad paintwork (thanks again to Lego's micron accuracy even with their tampographing). The wings of the figures are removable, and underneath the spacesuit, there's even a Star Command logo. OK, so the glass visor thing doesn't enclose his face (an improvement Lego could have easily made, but that would have increased the parts count and the cost), and the figure doesn't glow in the dart, but I have to say I already prefer the Lego version to the Mattel version already.
If you're a Toy Story fan or a Lego train fan (locophiles?), I do seriously recommend this set. The minifigs are among the best that Lego has produced in a long long time (better than even the Batman minifigures!). The set is well thought out and actually fits on the City Train tracks, and can be motorised (I was going to say easily, but well, that's easily for me). All that is required to create the actual scene from the movie are a few trolls and a collapsible bridge. Do me a favour - put this on your Christmas want list. I assure you that you won't regret it!
Yup, it's another Toy Story Lego set, and a Toy Story 3 Lego set at that. It's a huge box, easily 2 feet across by one feet tall, and it showcases the set rather nicely on the front complete with a desert scene. The back of the box has another picture of the set, some action features, and the figures of the line. What's missing, and has been missing for a while now are the alternative stuff that you can construct from the pieces in the set. This is afterall a construction toy.
The set contains a number of baggies - 5 numbered big ones and a couple of smaller baggies with the figures. There's also a baggie containing the bogies with the magnets that hold the different carriages together.
There are also two instruction booklets... well, they are more like manuals thanks to their thickness. The instruction booklets are typical of all the other sets, and are clear and easy to follow. What I found interesting was that at the back of one of the booklets where they highlighted the new Fire sets, there is a blue City Corner (instead of the usual red). I don't recall the blue version being available in the stores - so this looks like an official Lego custom.
I like how they package the figures separately from the other pieces, and I guess some figures are more precious than others. Eventhough Buzz had his own baggie, he wasn't packed with the other figures in the set.
The build wasn't as tedious as I expected it to be, and in quick succession I built the carriages including the nice wooden one above.
Then there was the freight carriage and the locomotive itself (which took all of baggies number 4 and 5). There were some left over spare wheel parts which confused me... until I realised that they were included to enable motorisation of the loco! I'll have to get a Lego train engine from elsewhere though if I want to motorise it.
There's quite a lot of customised figures in the set, and that's the fun part of the set. Lego could have just used generic smileys for these, but instead they crafted out a whole host of characters that actually look like action figures, but Lego-ised. These look even better than mini-mates!
And the comparison pics - notice how Rex is basically just a smaller version of the original Rex toy, but built from bricks. Thanks to the construction, Lego Rex has 4 points of articulation - shoulders (which are technically 2 points, but the arms are locked together and they move together, so I count them as one), both hips and the tail. Had the jaw been movable, it would have exceeded the original Rex toy.
And the Buzz Lightyear toy is miles miles better than the one Mattel produced recently. There are no issues with warped plastic (and thanks to Lego's micron accuracy and the use of ABS, that's not likely to happen) or with bad paintwork (thanks again to Lego's micron accuracy even with their tampographing). The wings of the figures are removable, and underneath the spacesuit, there's even a Star Command logo. OK, so the glass visor thing doesn't enclose his face (an improvement Lego could have easily made, but that would have increased the parts count and the cost), and the figure doesn't glow in the dart, but I have to say I already prefer the Lego version to the Mattel version already.
If you're a Toy Story fan or a Lego train fan (locophiles?), I do seriously recommend this set. The minifigs are among the best that Lego has produced in a long long time (better than even the Batman minifigures!). The set is well thought out and actually fits on the City Train tracks, and can be motorised (I was going to say easily, but well, that's easily for me). All that is required to create the actual scene from the movie are a few trolls and a collapsible bridge. Do me a favour - put this on your Christmas want list. I assure you that you won't regret it!
Cool. This looks really cute. LEGO has certainly got better since the 80's! Do you have the movie making one? Man, I want that one.
ReplyDeleteThe Steven Spielberg set? Erm... that's out of production for almost 10 years now. Or is there a movie making Lego Toy Story set that I don't know anything about?
ReplyDeleteNo, the one you're talking about. lol I always wanted it. Best LEGO set ever!
ReplyDeleteAs I said, it's out of production, if you want it, you'll have to ebay for it.
ReplyDeleteNo troll orphans in the set? :)
ReplyDelete@Taz: Sadly, no :(
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know...I just think it's the best one ever and BADLY wanted that one. Not a lot of LEGO gives me the "must have" urge.
ReplyDeleteI'd love me some Legos but they're priced too high to be casual buys, and building up enough sets to have a good play would take too long :(
ReplyDelete@hockstylin: That's sad to hear. You should hang out near the stores that give away free Lego ;)
ReplyDelete@Dark: Well, I hope you get one, one of these days!