December 2009 – Page 2 – Mostly Bricks

Review: LEGO Toy Story 7595 Army Men on Patrol (2010)

November 20, 2017December 22, 2009 by Jason

If LEGO decides to do anymore of these army men sets, then I vote for a pack of airborne troopers like in the first Toy Story. I know they will never make a bucket of 100 LEGO minifig army men, but that would be awesome if they did. Maybe, LEGO can make a LEGO army men bucket to store these guys in. That’s just a suggestion, LEGO. Oh, and then package the bucket with some figs and maybe a green tank, or something.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO 7595 Toy Story Army Men on Patrol
Type: Vehicle in Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story Line
# of Pieces: 90
# of Extra pieces: None
# of Minifigs and what kind: 4 X Green Army Men
Stickers: None
Price: $10.99 at the official online LEGO Shop, also available at Amazon.com (price may vary)

(remember – click for larger versions at flickr – full 7595 Gallery)

Box Art:

Preview – LEGO Toy Story 7594 Woody’s Roundup

November 7, 2010December 16, 2009 by Chad

This is just a quick preview of LEGO 7594 Woody’s Roundup from the Toy Story line. The full review (along with the Construct-a-Buzz one) will be up later tonight or tomorrow, but I will say it’s a very neat set. Minifigs – very well detailed, very bright. One thing that … Read more

Review: LEGO Star Wars 8084 Snowtrooper Battle Pack

November 20, 2017December 15, 2009 by Chad

This is a review of the new “2010” (2009) LEGO Star Wars 8084 Snowtrooper Battle Pack. This is a set from the original trilogy, specifically Empire Strikes Back. There’s not that much to review – you’re basically getting 4 minifigs along with a small missile launcher and radar, and a snow speederbike (which is actually well done).

The parts are excellent if you are after whites and grays. No decals/stickers – everything you see is printed. The radar scope looks great. If you are just after minifigs, you’ll have no problem using the parts for MOCs. There is nothing that is too exotic. Personally I think the snow speederbike is well done.

The minifigs are outstanding. The Snowtrooper helmet is clever – it has two actual holes for eyes, which when combined with the blank black heads, gives it kind of a 3D look. The printing of the minifigures is perfect, especially the AT-AT driver, whose helmet is incredibly detailed for something this small. The backpack for the snowtroopers is molded to the back of the helmet.

The only shortcoming is that you only get two Snowtroopers. If you want to build up an actual decent number of Snowtroopers, you are going to end up with quite a few AT-AT drivers and Imperial Officers unless you hit up BrickLink or eBay and only buy Snowtroopers, or alternatively buy several 8084 sets and then sell off the extra officers and AT-AT drivers.

By the Numbers:
Set: 8084 Star Wars / 8084 Snowtrooper Battle Pack
Year of Release: 2010 (Technically 2009)
Type: Army Builder/Battle Pack
# of Pieces: 74
# of Extra pieces: 3
# of Minifigs and what kind: 4 – Imperial Officer, AT-AT Driver, 2 Snowtroopers
Stickers? No
Price: $10.99 at Official Online LEGO Shop, also at Amazon.com (price may vary)
Ages: 6-12
Time to Complete: Less than 20 minutes

(Click for larger images at flickr – full 8084 gallery)

Preview – LEGO Toy Story 7592 Construct-a-Buzz

November 7, 2010December 14, 2009 by Chad

This is a quick preview of the new 2010 LEGO set from Toy Story, 7592 Construct-a-Buzz. It comes with 205 pieces (and few are extra) and is a large-scale version of Buzz Lightyear, along with an Alien minifig (with shortened/half-height legs).

In the words of my wife, it’s “Rockin”. It’s a very neat set. It’s just under 8 inches (21cm) tall and has some really unique parts. There were surprisingly few stickers – quite a few of the parts you see with designs on them are printed. Just about everything pivots various ways, although the elbows are locked. The visor/helmet is a really neat piece that I can imagine will be used in MOCs for interesting spaceship designs (or domes for some kind of micro/mini-scale landscapes). It’s got a couple of large purple plates for wings, and I believe you can’t get them in this color in any other set.

I’ll get the full review published later today, complete with photos of the construction, since it’s pretty unique.

Visor down:

Visor up:

Review: LEGO Atlantis 8072 Sea Jet

November 20, 2017December 14, 2009 by Chad

This is going to be very similar to the LEGO Atlantis 8073 Manta Warrior Review I posted last night, given the price point of under $4.00 and with it being an impulse set and all.

There is one big difference between the two – the 8073 is focused on Manta Warrior and his rubbery head with a small amount of scenery. This set on the other hand is focused equally on the human diver and the “Sea Jet” which was an easy to build underwater scooter of sorts. Given the ease and standard parts used in building the Sea Jet, it would be quite easy and cheap to outfit all of your human divers using BrickLink. The “wings” move up and down, as do the handlebars and grip/claw at the front.

Again, it’s what you see is what you get – there is nothing fancy about the jet or the human diver. I wouldn’t have minded seeing this combined with the Manta Warrior for a $6 set, or perhaps as part of a “Battle Pack” similar to what you see with the Star Wars lines where you get 4-5 human divers and some sea jets for around $10 – $12.

By the Numbers:
Set: Atlantis 8072 Sea Jet
Year of Release: 2010 (released at end of 2009)
Type: Impulse / Minifig/Vehicle Set from the Atlantis theme
# of Pieces: 23
# of Extra pieces: 4 (see photo below)
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1 – Human Diver
Stickers? No
Price: $3.49 at retailers, official online LEGO Shop, plus Amazon.com (price may vary)
Ages: 5-12
Time to Complete: Less than 10 minutes

Click the photos below for larger images at flickr (full 8072 Sea Jet set at flickr)

(note: The minifig in the middle is from the 8073 Atlantis Manta Warrrior)

How LEGO almost went bankrupt, plus the design of Atlantis

November 7, 2010December 14, 2009 by Chad

There is an article from the Daily Mail/Mail Online discussing the financial woes that LEGO recently went through around 4-5 years ago as well as how the Atlantis series came to be. It has a cheesy title – ‘When Lego lost its head – and how this toy story got … Read more