NEW LEGO® SETS 2016

Looking at overseas sites and blogs, there has been much written about the upcoming sets and it was noticed that many of the first releases were available and already had reviews posted. This again makes us raise the question of how many months are we behind in having access to the new releases?

We have now done several trips into major centres to get our hands on some of the new lines with no luck! Just a few of the sets we are waiting patiently to get our hands on:

Add to this the list of sets still to launch in the year, the outlook does seem a bit bleak  as we are expecting the Rand/Dollar exchange rate (currently 16.47 to 1) to play havoc with local pricing and we may end up having to curb the number of sets on the wish list for the year. 

Whats on your wish list for 2016 and what are you looking most forward to? Must admit one of the highlights for us is the  Ghostbuster's Fire House; if and when it is available here indications are that it will retail for in excess of R 5 000,00!

Many of the suppliers of the clone brands we visitied of late are attempting to pitch pricing in line with Lego®, who would spend the same money on a "copy"; with the price outlook going forward we will end up only being able to justify buying the "micro" sets!

ENLIGHTEN #906 - WATER SPRAY FIRE BOAT

Set is from the Enlighten Fire Rescue series, consisting of 340 pieces & comes with 4 mini-figs. Two alternative builds are suggested on the back of the back, there are however no accompanying instructions.

After some research it became apparent that this is a direct copy of the Lego® World City set # 7046 from 2004.

Overall a fun build that provides much playibility for younger fans of boats and fire fighting.

LEGO® CITY#60085 - 4X4 WITH POWERBOAT

Mad about cars, trains, ships and boats, surprisingly this set was never on the list of purchases until it was recently found on special, a third off! Now I have to admit, this has come to rank as one of my favourites to date.

Yes in terms of mini-fig/city scale the 4x4 is a little on the big side, and we can criticise that there is not much detail on the interior of the cab or the boat's cockpit (some dials would have been nice), none the less for what it is meant to be, it carries it off.

The 4x4 cab comes with the mandatory coffee mug and the boat actually floats, once again though there is only really space for one mini-fig - high speed boat of this nature would have been nice to accommodate two mini-figs inside. There are no printed pieces, so prepare yourself to apply a fair amount of stickers!

Note the mini-fig on the left only comes with a blue helmet as reflected below,

COGO 13306 - BATTLE SHIP

We have always been surprisingly impressed by the smaller Cogo sets and the final model as built, disappointment was however evident with this larger set consisting of 1037 pieces and including 4 mini-figs. The design is not of the highest standard which will take away from playability as some peices tend to get bumped off. The was ultimately bought for parts and in that area doesnt disappoint.

In our opinion the mini-figs look more like baseball players apposed to sailors!

DREAMLOCK # 5503 STAR RIDERS - SNOW BAT STARSCOUT

We found this at Toys R Us recently and at R 99.00 would make for good value based on a pieces count of 178.

The name of the set is a mouth full and it is clear that the model is based on the Snow Speeder as produced by Lego®

The set does however com with only one mini-figure and no other accessories. While the print on the mini-fig torso is great and well detailed a standard mini-fig helmet is used.

The bricks are of fair quality, it is however evident that the moulding process is not as accurate (lower tolerances) as more reputable brands. There is a significant absence of stickers or printed blocks which would have added some detail and improved the overall aesthetic of the completed model. An alternative build is available, there are however no instructions included.

ADVENT CALENDARS

Well the festive season has come and gone and we managed to actually control ourselves and open each box of the advent calendar on the corresponding day!

This was our first experience of the advent calendars and it was always a great way to start the day with morning coffee, unfortunately the days sped by and now its an 11 month wait for the next Advent Calendars!
 

Each set had some really great micro-builds and provides for some really useful pieces.