Bill Ward – Page 47 – Bill Ward's Brickpile

Friends Second Wave #5: Emma’s Horse Trailer

Today we take a look at LEGO Friends Emmas Horse Trailer 3186.

The car and trailer are almost a perfect copy of Lego City Limited Edition Set #7635 4WD With Horse Trailer which came out a couple of years ago (sold by LEGO from 2008 through 2011, but you can still get it on Amazon at that link). The trailer is pretty much identical except for the color, and the truck is very similar but without the roof. But I love the new colors! The dark aqua for the walls of the trailer has got to prove useful somehow, and all the pink and dark red parts on both trailer and truck are great too. And as seen in Fortnight of Friends â€“ Day 8: Stephanieâ€™s Cool Convertible we get those cool panel pieces that can fit a minidoll’s feet and hold her in position for driving, since minidolls can’t sit on studs. The truck comes with the base for a treasure chest in tan, but there’s no corresponding lid, making it somewhat less than useful…

This set also includes one of the new Friends horses, previously seen in Heartlake Vet, only this time the horse is white instead of brown. But it’s still not possible for a minidoll to sit or stand in the horse’s cutout. At least now we get a saddle piece, which can fit into the cutout and can accommodate a minidoll rider. As with some of the first wave sets, there is an assortment of ribbons and bows and grooming equipment included in this set. There’s also a little hurdle for equestrian jumping and some extra haybales to raise it up for higher jumping.

Finally there is a little tack station, with an apple and carrot to feed the horse and a place to store the saddle. It has a flower which uses the regular LEGO green flower stem, but instead of the usual sprue with four tear-off flowers it comes with the 1×1 round plate with petals. I don’t recall having seen that combination used in a LEGO set before…?

Overall it seems like a really good playable set for kids … not having kids myself, I can’t really speak too much to that. I’m disappointed that instead of printed parts, this set includes stickers – but by mistake it seems I got two copies of the sticker sheet! I’m more interested in the parts, and we get some lime green 6×6 plates, a yellow box for the food in the tack station, dark tan tall slopes, and a bunch of dark red and pink pieces. I’m sure that the curved panels in dark aqua on the trailer will be useful for something too…

Friends Second Wave #4: Heartlake Flying Club

Having dispensed with the smaller sets we now tackle the medium-sized ones, starting with LEGO Friends Heartlake Flying Club #3063.

This is the first one in this series that comes in numbered bags. First we build the airplane, which is a really sweet design, very swooshable. It uses the new style handlebars first seen in Stephanie’s Pet Patrol, which are similar to the ones minifigs have been griping for years but with the ends upturned for minidoll compatibility. Here it works really well as the yoke of an airplane, flown by … Stephanie! The color scheme of the plane, with white wings and an aqua and dark aqua body, is really nice and I’m looking forward to the day when I have enough of these colors to do more MOCs with. This set comes with no fewer than six 1×4 curved slopes in light aqua, which is sure to be good for something. In addition to the plane we also get a cute yellow duckie, a dock with a cute crab and a fairly basic parts assortment, and the clubhouse for the flying club with life ring and some signs (stickers, sadly).

Since you build the plane first, it’s kind of a gradual process in disappointment – the plane has a lot of cool parts and is really swooshable, but the rest of the set is pretty forgettable in terms of parts or building techniques.

Friends Second Wave #3: Mia’s Bedroom

The third in my “Friends Second Wave” reviews is LEGO Friends 3939 Mia’s Bedroom.

This set consists of bedroom furnishings – a bed, table with a radio on it, a cabinet of some kind, and the drum set that Mia uses to keep her parents and neighbors awake at all hours of the day and night. I particularly liked the drums and the dark aqua tiles and 2×2 tile with center stud are nice parts to have in that new color. The drums themselves are well designed as well, using black telescope pieces for the cymbals and smaller drums, and a black R2D2 body for the bass drum. The furniture isn’t that exciting, though the macaroni in dark aqua could prove useful. The drum set comes with two printed tiles – one with Mia’s name and one with some sheet music.

Friends Second Wave #2: Andrea’s Bunny House

Last week I posted “Friends Second Wave: Oliviaâ€™s Speedboat” and I was going to post more reviews of the second wave of Friends sets, but the weekend got away from me … I posted all the photos on Flickr for several sets but didn’t get around to writing the reviews. But this week I’m determined to catch up. So here goes with review #2, #3938, Andrea’s Bunny House:

This is another simple, small set, featuring Andrea (previoulsy seen in Fortnight of Friends â€“ Day 3: Andreaâ€™s Stage and Fortnight of Friends â€“ Day 12: City Park CafÃ©) and an adorable little bunny rabbit. It’s a pretty simple set, but it’s nice to get some light orange bricks and pink plates. As a general rule I’m not sure it includes enough special parts to really be worth much, but the bunny is adorable!

Friends Second Wave: Olivia’s Speedboat

This past January, LEGO came out with its new “Friends” line of toys aimed mainly at girls. Since there were 14 sets in the first wave, and I’d just finished a review of the Advent Calendar sets the previous month, I ran a series of blog posts I called “Fortnight of Friends.” This summer/fall, a new second wave of 8 new Friends sets came out, and I’m finally getting around to reviewing them. No guarantees that I’ll keep this up with future sets though…

This is Friends set 3937 Olivia’s Speedboat. You get Olivia with a shovel and bucket, a really clever little sand castle, a beach towel, and of course the eponymous boat (No, there’s nothing wrong with the bow of the boat, I just didn’t snap it together very well and didn’t notice it until I’d already posted the picture, and I’m too lazy to reshoot it, sorry). I like the printed life ring round 2×2 tile on the bow. The boat is made from the same new curved parts as seen in LEGO City Speed Boat 4641. I have mixed feelings about those parts, since they’re not all that useful for other kinds of models, but maybe I’ll find a clever use for them… My favorite thing in this set is the sand castle, I think it’s a really clever little model.

Book review: The LEGO Adventure Book

The latest LEGO book I’ve read is The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 1: Cars, Castles, Dinosaurs & More! by Megan H Rothrock
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a very easy book to read… I finished it in well under an hour. It’s mostly pictures, with comic-book style speech bubbles, so there’s not a lot to read, but I really enjoyed it.

The basic idea is that the author, represented by a LEGO minifig, first builds her “Idea Lab,” complete with a robotic assistant Brickbot and a levitating platform called the “Transport-o-lux” and then Brickbot sends her traveling through time and space to visit various builders and see what they’ve built. Each chapter features a different adult LEGO builder and his/her creations, and throughout the book there are instructions on how to build each of the models. The book shows a whimsical and light style which is entertaining throughout.

I really enjoyed the variety of models chosen, and the excellent photography showing the construction techniques used. In many cases however, there isn’t quite the level of detail you’d expect in a LEGO set, and it might be frustrating to try to build… but I think that’s part of the point of an idea book like this, because it challenges the imagination to come up with a solution rather than just spoon-feeding it to you.

I also really like that it is written by and starring a woman, and although all but one of the builders visited are men, the models featured throughout the book include many things that should be of interest to both boys and girls.

I think this book is absolutely perfect for what it is trying to be, a source of ideas and inspiration for creative younger LEGO builders.

Disclaimer: I was sent a free copy of this book to review.

I posted this review on Goodreads. Feel free to friend me there to see the rest of my book reviews (not just on LEGO subjects).

Book review: A Million Little Bricks

I recently read this book, A Million Little Bricks: The Unofficial Illustrated History of the Lego Phenomenon by Sarah Herman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was a little disappointed with this book to be honest. It started out all right, giving the story of the origins of the LEGO company, spelling out the trials and tribulations of the nascent toy company. But the bulk of the book is really just a list of all the different sets LEGO has produced over the years. There was only a small bit at the very end about the LEGO fan community, talking about a few of the conventions and Web sites, but I would have really preferred to see some MOC builders featured and more about the adult community.

Disclaimer: I was sent a free copy of this book to review.

I posted this review on Goodreads. Feel free to friend me there to see the rest of my book reviews (not just on LEGO subjects).

Greetings from BrickCon 2012

I’m in Seattle for the BrickCon LEGO convention this weekend. It’s a really busy weekend for me, though, because I’m also here for my other hobby, dancing – I’m attending the Seattle Fusion Festival which is taking place at the same time. Luckily the dance classes are held right at Seattle Center, which is where BrickCon is, so I can bounce back and forth between the two events, as I have been doing all weekend. Actually it’s not just this weekend that was so busy – I’m at the tail end of a two-week road trip. Last weekend I was in Colorado at the Aspen Alt. Blues Recess, another dance event, and have been exploring the western US in my van in the week in between. After BrickCon I’m heading home by way of Portland; I should be home by Wednesday.

Due to the dancing I haven’t had much time to participate in BrickCon activities. I signed up for a couple of events but didn’t make the cut for most of them. I did get to participate in a relay speed build, where teams of four people took turns assembling steps in a model. Our team finished fourth I think, but there’s only a prize for the fastest team. We did get to keep the parts from the set we built, however. The set we built was Alien Conquest Tripod Invader (7051) and we divided the parts up four ways.

Saturday night we had the BrickCon awards ceremony, and I’m pleased to report that my Kermit sculpture won yet another trophy! This time it was the “Sublime Shape” trophy (best sculpture). Kermit has now won four trophies: two at Bricks by the Bay and one at BricksCascade in Portland, and now this one. Here’s Kermit with his trophy:

Tonight (Saturday night) before going out dancing, I walked around the exhibition hall and took pictures of all the MOCs, and uploaded them to Flickr. You can see all my photos from BrickCon on Flickr by clicking the image below or viewing them as a slideshow:

If you’re in the Seattle area and read this in time, come on by Sunday October 7, from 9am-3pm we will be open to the public. If you missed it, it’s always the first weekend in October so add it to your calendar.

BayLUG at Great Train Expo Sept 2012

My local LEGO train club, the Bay Area LEGO Train Club (part of the Bay Area LEGO Users Group) took part in the Great Train Expo model train show this past weekend in San JosÃ©, CA. We set up a LEGO layout with two loops of trains (one freight and one passenger), a downtown area, suburban houses, a campground, train yard, and more.

A number of my things were on display, including Kermit, the Robert Indiana LOVE and LEGO sculptures, my City Park, a city block featuring the Blackburn Hotel and other buildings I’ve made, the Caltrain locomotive and cars, some freight cars, houses, cars and trucks, and RV’s. (Seeing this list, I realize I need to post some of these models – even though they’ve been around for years, they’ve not all been properly blogged…)

You can see photos of the layout on my Flickr set for this event. Click the image below or view it as a slideshow.

Bricks Cascade 2012

Last weekend, I went up to Portland, Oregon for the first-ever Bricks Cascade LEGO convention.

I had a real ordeal getting up there. I had standby tickets to fly up Thursday morning from San Francisco, but the flights were all full. I bought a one-way ticket using miles instead on another airline, and then realized that flight was out of San Jose! So I had to take two BART trains, a Caltrain, and a bus to change airports. I got to the airport in plenty of time, but the plane was late coming in… and after unloading the incoming passengers, they didn’t load us right away. After a while we finally heard the mechanic was looking into an oil pressure problem, and after an hour or two delay (during which another – full – flight to Portland took off without us), they canceled the flight. We had a choice to be put on a flight from Oakland – yet another airport – that evening, but I didn’t relish the idea of riding in a crowded shuttle bus in rush-hour traffic and told them to just cancel me and give my miles back. I decided to drive up instead… it’s about a 12 hour drive, and at that point (Thursday evening around 5) I thought I could make it up there by noon Friday and still enjoy the convention events.

However, I didn’t get a ton of sleep the night before, and spending the entire day trying to fly wasn’t exactly restful. I didn’t quite make it to Redding before I started getting drowsy, so I pulled off in a rest area to take a nap. It was too warm to really sleep and I didn’t get more than a catnap before pressing on. I spent the night at a truck stop in Weed. I also took some rest breaks the next morning, and between all the sleeping, and a few stops for gas and munchies and stuff – oh, and I had to stop at a tire shop and buy two new tires for my van – I didn’t get into Portland until 5pm. I missed all the Friday activities at the convention, but at least I made it. I went to the airport and got my luggage (which made it on the first flight I missed), and went to my friend’s house where I’d be staying for the weekend, and collapsed into bed.

My hay fever allergies had been acting up even before I left, but when I got up to Oregon, they really kicked into high gear. I was completely stuffed up, and had to take a Benadryl when I went to bed in order to sleep. I had to take plenty of allergy meds all weekend just to function, but I almost completely lost my voice anyway. As I write this Thursday evening, I still have a residual cough and my voice isn’t quite right.

Saturday morning I checked in at the convention and set up Kermit before the doors opened to the public. I took a few photos, then went out for lunch (vegan waffle with fried chicken from the Flavour Spot food cart) and did my shopping at the LEGO store, then went back to the convention center. I took part in the team speed build event, where we formed four teams of six to put together the LEGO Tower Bridge #10214 set. My team finished last, but at least we got to divvy up the set and each keep 1/6 of the parts. At the award ceremony Saturday evening, they gave me a special “Planes Trains & Automobiles” award in honor of my travel misadventures, and Kermit won “Most Iconic” in the Art theme. After the ceremony I went out for dinner and Voodoo Doughnut with a couple friends, and then went back to my host’s house and to bed.

Sunday, I spent the entire day onsite, except for a brief time away for lunch at Red Robin nearby. I took a lot of photos and spent time chatting with people. Overall, the attendance was fairly light for this event, but that is probably for the best their first year. I’m sure as the word gets out, they’ll have more crowds next time. I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere that a lighter density crowd brings. They closed the doors at 3, and had a brief closing ceremonies in which my name finally came up in the drawing and I got a Friends set. We packed up all our things and cleared out the hall. One unexpected surprise was another Toyota Sienna van with Oregon “I LEGO” license plates! Turns out, one of the local Play-Well people had a Toyota minivan with a license plate to match my California “I â™¥ LEGO” plates.

I spent the evening hanging out with my hosts and headed out in the morning, but did some shopping on my way out of town and didn’t really get on the road until after noon. I got home around 5am, after a few nap breaks. It was quite an ordeal of driving, and I really should stop trying to drive all the way to/from Portland by myself in one step. Road trips are so much easier if you drive no more than 6-8 hours per day. They’re better still if not preceded by a day struggling to get on board an airplane, though.

Anyway, overall I had a great time and am looking forward to BrickCon in Seattle in October, and seeing what Bricks Cascade does for 2013! To see all my photos, click the image, or view a slideshow.