Review – Page 4 – Mostly Bricks

LEGO 30002 City Police Boat – Review

November 7, 2010February 27, 2010 by Chad

This review is for one of the impulse sets available at Target (in the US) for some kind of Easter promotion. There is also a 30001 (Fire Chief) set as well as two Star Wars sets – 30050 Republic Attack Shuttle and 30051 – X-Wing. Both of the Star Wars sets are micro-scale and while the non-licensed Police Boat and Fire Chief are $2.99, the licensed Star Wars sets are $3.49. The Star Wars sets do come with more pieces. I’ll be posting reviews of the other three sets tonight and tomorrow.

Update:
* LEGO 30001 City Fire Chief Review
* Comparison between 30001 City Police Boat and 30002 Fire Chief (flickr)

As for whether these sets will continue to be produced beyond this run, or will be available elsewhere, I have no idea. They are actually cool little sets and I think good values for the price. They are not located in the toy section in the Targets I’ve seen them – I’ve only seen and read about them being in the Easter sections. They have popped up on Amazon.com and eBay, but you’re paying more.

By the Numbers:
Set: 30002 City – Police Boat
Year of Release: 2010
Type: City / Impulse Buy
# of Pieces: 32 (including 2 extra pieces)
# of Extra pieces: 2 (see photo below)
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1 – Police Officer
Stickers? No
Price: $2.99 at Target
Ages: 5-12
Time to Complete: Less than 10 minutes

Review of LEGO Atlantis: The Movie

November 7, 2010January 15, 2010 by Chad

A quick note: I was mistaken yesterday, LEGO did do some promotion of the movie on the Atlantis.LEGO.com site, but I still believe more should have been done on LEGO.com as well as the Cartoon Network website. That’s just me.

If you’ve been following the Atlantis Theme, nothing in the movie should be a surprise. I’m going to post a short review, then some notes from the movie, and then a full synopsis of the movie (all in this post). If you don’t want to be spoiled, stop reading after the short review in the paragraph after this.

My overall impression is that it was very well done. The animation was good, the voice talent was good. As an AFOL, I wasn’t cringing at anything (and they even referrenced AFOLs at the end of the movie), it was enjoyable, and I could see kids really liking it. It showcased every single one of the existing LEGO Atlantis sets except for the 8079 Shadow Snapper. It also showed or hinted at a few large sets that we know about, but that aren’t yet available for purchase (later this year). It also showed something that… I don’t want to spoil the movie, so I’ll post it at the bottom, but let’s just say that it could either turn into a huge theme on its own, or be a sub-theme of Atlantis. It used almost all of the content from the Atlantis.LEGO.com website with the exception of the backstory around Dr. Artimus Rhodes and his great-granddaughter Professor Samantha Artesia Rhodes. This was probably due to the time constraints of a half-hour movie. It will be interesting to see if the LEGO Brickmaster Atlantis book fills in any gaps. It used all of the minifigs we’ve seen in the Atlantis sets, and everything but the Neptune Carrier was scaled appropriately.

STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO HAVE THE MOVIE SPOILED!!

Review: LEGO 8075 Atlantis Neptune Carrier

November 20, 2017January 12, 2010 by Jason

The Atlantis Neptune Carrier is by far my favorite set in LEGO’s newest series. This set has it all: four figures, a manta ray (which you build out of bricks), and three vehicles in one. This set is very reminiscent of the 7645 Mars Mission MT-61 Crystal Reaper set from a few years ago (Brickset link). Like the MT-61, the Neptune Carrier lives up to its carrier classification by housing a small exploration rover in its forward cargo area. A red ramp lowers out of the front; allowing the rover to roll out to embark on its search for Atlantean artifacts. The carrier’s second vehicle is located at the stern. This vehicle is a small, propeller-driven sea doo type which accommodates a single figure (as does the rover).

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO 8075 Atlantis Neptune Carrier (from the Atlantis theme)
Type: Submarine with Mini vehicles
# of Pieces: 475
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1 Professor Diver (Dr Jeff Fisher), 1 Eyepatch Diver, 1 Regular Diver, and 1 Manta Warrior figure.
Stickers? Yes
Price: $59.99 at the official online LEGO Shop, Also at Amazon.com (price may vary) (other places charge up to $69.99, so be a smart shopper)

LEGO Atlantis 8061 Gateway of the Squid (NEW 2010 Set)

November 20, 2017January 7, 2010 by Jason

This is a review of the static set from the LEGO Atlantis universe, 8061 Gateway of the Squid. This set makes a great desktop model. The set is reminiscent of a few of the LEGO Indiana Jones sets which is why I was a little hesitant about buying this set. One of the best parts of the set is that you can mount the giant black squid atop the main structure which makes this ideal for setting up on display.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO 8061 Atlantis: Gateway of the Squid
Type: Static playset in the new Atlantis line
# of Pieces: 353
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1 X Female Diver, 1 X Male Diver, and 1 X Squid Gatekeeper.
Stickers? One sheet of 3 stickers
Price: $39.99 at Official LEGO Store, also at Amazon.com (prices may vary at Amazon)

Review: LEGO Technic 8048 Buggy

July 20, 2020January 3, 2010 by Chad

I was able to get my hands on a LEGO Technic 8048 Buggy this weekend. It’s a dual-purpose set, it can be built as either a buggy or a tractor. This is a Technic set that I’ve been wanting. I’ll say up front that I’m not a big fan of Technic normally – I simply don’t have the time or money (or space) to invest in Technic sets and in customizing them once I’ve built them, but this set plus the 8045 Mini Telehandler were two that I wanted out of the early 2010 batch. Some of the red pieces had me definitely thinking about maybe using them with an Atlantis-based MOC. Some of these larger pieces also showed up in the Space Police 5981 Raid VPR set as well.

Overall, it’s a decent set, although as with most Technic sets, I would say avoid it if you aren’t a fan of Technic. With that said, it does have some really good pieces that could make their way into offroad-based MOCs. It’s just a matter of cost – $40 could be very expensive for a set of wheels and shock absorbers.

On with the review and a warning – if you are reading this on the front page of MostlyBricks.com, it is image-heavy. If you are reading the full review, you already realize that. You may just want to scroll to the bottom to read the full review and then come back up and look at any photos.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO Technic 8048 Buggy (2-in-1 – converts to tractor)
Year of Release: 2010
Type: Technic 2-in-1 Vehicle
# of Pieces: 314
# of Extra pieces: Depends on build
# of Minifigs and what kind: N/A
Stickers? Yes, 7
Price: $39.99 at Shop.LEGO.com or Amazon.com.
Ages: 9-16
Time to Complete: Right around an hour or so (Nearly two hours including laying all pieces out and photos)

Remember: click on the photos to see larger images at flickr (Full 8048 Buggy gallery at flickr)

Box Art – Front:

Packing Pick-a-Brick Cups (PAB) at the LEGO Store

November 7, 2010January 1, 2010 by Chad

I’ve pointed quite a few people to this thread at the Eurobricks forum by Eilif detailing their efforts at packing the Pick-a-Brick cups at the LEGO Stores. They show how they squeezed over 500 into the cup and how just tossing the pieces in at random and shaking the cup will net you a substantially lower number of LEGO pieces.

I visited a LEGO store a few days ago, and while I was incredibly pressed for time, I managed to squeeze in a decent number of pieces into two large PAB cubs, including quite a few large bricks. Due to the random nature of what’s available in the PAB section at any given time, it can be hard to plan this stuff.

Cup #1 – 485 Pieces

Various angles: