Thursday, 4 December 2014

XSZ HERO FACTORY 4 - BREEZ


Not something we would normally purchase, curiosity did however the get the better of us...


                               VALUE:   ZAR 35.00
ACCURACY OF PACKAGING:  9/10
               FUN/PLAYABILITY:  7/10
                             QUALITY:  8/10
                  INSTRUCTIONS:  8/10
             MINI CHARACTERS:  -
                           OVERALL:  7/10


A blatant copy and not sure how the quality compares to the Lego® range. Simple single page instruction sheet and a quick build with the final model study affording good playability.

Friday, 21 November 2014

WANGE #8011 - THE PETRONAS TOWERS

This build turned out to be a little finicky, with parts falling down the center of the tower and disassemble required to retrieve them at times. The build also tended to be a bit monotonous with each section simply a repetition of the previous.

 PIECES:  1 160

                               VALUE:   ZAR 350.00 (ZAR 0.302 per brick)
ACCURACY OF PACKAGING:  8/10
               FUN/PLAYABILITY:  -
                             QUALITY:  8/10
                  INSTRUCTIONS:  7/10
             MINI CHARACTERS:  -
                           OVERALL:  7/10



STREET ART

Not even Luboville is safe from graffiti!


Thursday, 13 November 2014

WHAT WOULD YOU BUILD

Given an unlimited source of bricks, we were contemplating what we would build...
The first consideration was a Buddhist Monastery or Temple,



The Bates Motel is definetley high on the list



After exploring various blogs and images it dawned us that it would be great to build models based on buildings specific to South Africa;

1. Sun Coast Casino in Durban

2. Cape of Good Hope Fort in Capetown

3. Capetown's Old Station

4.Court House in Durban

5.  Old Post Office in Capetown

6. King Shaka International Airport





7. Union Buildings in Pretoria




Just some of the ideas that we contemplated... its great to dream!


Friday, 7 November 2014

ENLIGHTEN #128 RIOT TRACKING CAR

PIECES:  325

                               VALUE:   ZAR 149.00 (ZAR 0.459 per brick)
ACCURACY OF PACKAGING:  9/10
               FUN/PLAYABILITY:  8/10
                             QUALITY:  8/10
                  INSTRUCTIONS:  5/10
             MINI CHARACTERS:  6/10
                           OVERALL:  7/10
A simple one page instruction sheet and a quick build. This enlighten set is a clear copy of Lego® set #7728 with a few minor changes.



Friday, 31 October 2014

MOC WIND-TURBINE

Oh these bricks are amazing and frustrating at the same time. After many an hour of attempting to fix the blades to the motor and many failures, we finally figured it out!







At that remains now is to build the control room and sub-station.

PS VITA

A PC gamer and never been willing to convert to console! Then again with all the traveling what better way to finally play some of the Lego games.
Oh how we love ordering online; click click, ding dong and Kalahari arrives at the door with the latest parcel.





Unit charged and memory card in, only to discover the Lego collection of games has to be downloaded.


So now the wonderful wait, been three hours and still some way to go.

Thursday, 23 October 2014

KAZI #KY84007 - G1 SCOUT PLANE

After seeing the G1 Scout on the web, we were pleased to find it on our recent trip to Johannesburg. In terms of the Kazi brick, we were a little disappointed - some of the pieces tend to be a little flimsy and there are a couple of alignment issues. The instruction book is a single sheet and is seriously confusing and may make the build difficult for a younger audience.

PIECES:  281

                               VALUE:   ZAR 89.00 (ZAR 0.317 per brick)
ACCURACY OF PACKAGING:  8/10
               FUN/PLAYABILITY:  7/10
                             QUALITY:  6/10
                  INSTRUCTIONS:  4/10
             MINI CHARACTERS:  5/10
                           OVERALL:  5/10
 

 

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

WIP - LUBOVILLE UPDATE

So many distractions and so little time... Sunday the weather was pretty miserable and hence a day for the Lego room.





Invariably 'The Stairway Deli" was again torn down and rebuilt, it is so frustrating knowing what in your head and what you want and then not having the bricks to create it!
 


Time was then taken to start building a wind turbine for Luboville, which progressed quite nicely even with trying figure out the blades. Now to attach them to the motor at the top... no way don't have the part and couldn't figure a way around it!

Friday, 17 October 2014

LEGO® 60057 - CAMPER VAN



PIECES:  195

                                         VALUE:   ZAR 249.99 (ZAR 1.282 per brick)
ACCURACY OF PACKAGING:  10/10
                   FUN/PLAYABILITY:    8/10
                                    QUALITY:    9/10
                        INSTRUCTIONS:  10/10
               MINI CHARACTERS:    8/10
                                  OVERALL:    9/10
 




 

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

ENLIGHTEN # 311 - CORSAIR SERIES - KING OF THE SEAS



PIECES:  487

                               VALUE:   ZAR 300.00 (ZAR 0.616 per brick)
ACCURACY OF PACKAGING:  9/10
               FUN/PLAYABILITY:  8/10
                             QUALITY:  8/10
                  INSTRUCTIONS:  8/10
             MINI CHARACTERS:  7/10
                           OVERALL:  8/10
 
This model has been on the shelf for a while and we finally got round to the build over the weekend. Again the quality of the Enlighten bricks is evident with no alignment of clutching problems. All designs are etched on the bricks which saves having to deal with stickers. The two cannons on the deck are spring-loaded and adds to the overall playability.
The only downside is that the hull is made in three complete sections which reduces build time and limits a little of the creativity.
 



LUBOVILLE UPDATE - DECEMBER 2023

After much unpacking, sorting and yes, some procrastination we have finally stated laying out and building our brick city, Luboville. Mount ...