Review: Lego Captain America's Avenging Cycle #6865

I really waited a long time to get this set.  It was available at Hobbes and Landes and various stores in the metro but I found the price a bit steep for Cap and two Chitauri warriors. At 1,500 pesos I said no.

Good thing a friend had an extra box and sold it for 900 pesos.  Good enough for me.

The main thing that drew me to this set, aside from Cap, was the bike.  On the box cover it already looks so cool!

Captain America telling me BUY ME! BUY ME!

Okay Captain I'll buy your box.  Notwithstanding the 2 Chitauri which really doesn't excite me in anyway.

That bike piece looks really nice!

Hmmmm... I can't wait to build that bike...

A guest appearance from my Sluban mechanic...checking out the bike for Cap.

The Sluban crane set I recently acquired fits perfectly here!  HaHa!

The parts are already out! Yes!

This set actually has a couple of specialized pieces that can be useful in future builds.  Those yellow brown pieces can double as wicked blades for one.  Nice!

The minifigs. Cap and the Chitauris

Go Captain!  Take down those aliens!

Nice rubber wheels!

I always love the Lego rubber wheels.

FUN FACT:  Lego is one of the biggest manufacturers of rubber wheels.

Bike and Chitauri sky chariot almost done!

Avengers Assemble!

RAWRRRR!

Time to bash this alien chariot!

Cap stalking the Chitauri!

You have one cool bike there Earthling!

In the end the long wait for this set was worth it.  Cap is a nice addition to all the other Lego superheroes in my collection.  Getting it near the US SRP of 12 US Dollars was sweet.  Thanks KC!

If you like superheroes and The Avengers and Cap get this set!

Review: Star Diamond Series Building Electric Crane #80605

Finally I get around to getting a Star Diamond set again.  Even though it's a small one its been a long time since  I procured a Star Diamond kit.

Star Diamond is still the second best brick toy out there after Lego if you ask me.  It has top notch brick quality and is the best among the China brick toys.   

This model is pretty small with 1 minifigure but it was fun to build.  Besides it was a free toss in among a bunch of Lego I procured from a friend over the weekend.

Nice a construction guy!

The flimsy manual!

The bricks on my bed

The minifigure has to be assembled.  He is in pieces right now!

Well that wasn't so hard to build

Nice expression on the fig.

 I like the screw driver that came with the minifigure.  Awesome.

Nice articulation on the crane.  Just like Lego the arm locks into position and you can hear an audible click when you lock the arm.

Be sure to look for more Star Diamond sir!

Yep I must find more Star Diamond sets in the future!

Review: Sluban Special Force Motorcycle

Time to review this bad boy.  Saw it at The Landmark.  I couldn't resist.

First off the price isn't too bad at Php 59.75 or a little over a US dollar.

It's part of the Sluban Special Forces series

Wanna ride my bike???

One polybag of goodness!

So it has one polybag of all the bricks.  The main body of the motorcycle seems to need some more paint though.

Instructions!

The instructions seem adequate enough.  Although some friends have complained they always feel lacking.

Ah there you go.  The bricks are ok.  I still think that the cycle body needs more color to it.  The gray is too plasticky for my eyes.

I have your Sci-Fi right here buddy!

The Sluban minifig feels weird to me because of their legs.  They are not the same as Lego legs but the rest of the fig is fine.  I like the facial expression.  And that techy looking helmet is something that I can see using for a lot of sci-fi themed displays.  Alas the legs just disappoint me.

Rubber Wheel!

The wheels are RUBBER!  Awesome.  I always gets sad when the china bricktoys come with plastic wheels.  This cycle has huge wheels and they are rubber!

Wheel comes with a plastic axle attachment nice.

Okay that took some work to get those things into the middle of the wheels.  Although made of rubber they might've been really cheap rubber because they almost wouldn't budge when I was pressing the middle parts in.  So after much effort my wheels are ready.

Strange plastic jutting from the inner frame of the cycle!

I had to remove two pieces of plastic that were protruding from the middle of each half of the cycle part.  I thought at first they were there for support but when I tried putting the two halves together the two plastic parts were too long.  So I cut both off. As seen above without them the cycle body would lock perfectly together.

The bike is done here.  The two halves need some work to fit together more seamlessly.  I'll work on that in the future but for now the motorcycle is finish.  It has a future cycle vibe going for it.

Nice ride officer!

Nice action shot!  But this was more a matter of the model itself not being able to stand straight up.  The wheel design is probably the main culprit for this as the motorcycle would fall to either side.

Office passing by the Ausini Farm series

Here is the cycle again listing to the right side.

Nice!

Zooming along!

The long arm of the law!

Time to call it a night!

Overall not a bad model.  It could stand some improvements though.

Review: Lego Creator Set #31003

So I got this a couple of weeks ago for my girlfriend (who gravitates more towards Creator sets than the Friends line, because as she puts it there are more parts).  And we both completely forgot about it.

What's in the bag sir???

OH darn completely forgot about this!

Hello there Creator #31003

Me and my girlfriend like the Creator boxes because they come with 3 different models to build.  And once you build all three they contain enough bricks to create a couple more models.

I personally like them because they also come with a good mix of bricks for both the beginning builder and the advanced Lego person.

Notice the three sets of instructions below.  And that gorgeous pile of red hued bricks.

Ah which one to build first!?! Always a question with Creator sets.

Let's get a couple of guest to decide:

Well looks like Admiral Ackbar and Deadpool wants the airplane built.  I can't fault them since the plane is actually compatible with Lego minifigs.  Notice the cockpit that can sit 1 figure.  Guess Ackbar and Pool can punch it out as to who gets to fly it first.

Let's check out some of the techniques that this set teaches us shall we Deadpool:

Notice the use of the Technic piece to create a centered position from which we can connect the propeller too.  Also take note of the use of pieces normally used as mounting points for rotors.  Observe how orientation of bricks can be changed through the effective use of certain pieces.
 

And the one thing that Lego modelers must always keep in mind the creation of stable models and bricks that support each other to make the complete model stronger.  Note the yellow bricks on the wing that helps create a stronger structure.  Ackbar looks happy with his cockpit.

All they need now is the propeller!

There you go!  Complete!

Time to take it for a spin Ackbar!

It's a trap!!!!!

Nice!

Hey its my turn now Admiral!

A visit from the Sluban aviation series Express Truck

It fits right in with the Sluban Aviation series Express Delivery truck I had lying around!

Creator sets are always a great buy!