Minifigure Mini-Review #6: Firework Guy

In the last review, we looked at Cactus Girl, and today we’re taking a look at Firework Guy, who's also from Series 18. On the face of it, this is a pretty fun costume. But I can tell you exactly who would wear this sort of costume to a party, and it's not fun at all. 

The main sort of person to buy this costume would be an ageing uncle, invited out of obligation and with the secret wish that he wouldn’t come. He’d carry on like he was the life of the party – but in truth, he’d forget to bring to bring a present, proceed to drink too much and then embarrass everyone with crass rocket/penis analogies. 

When he finally poured himself into a cab, hours after the party had finished and all the other guests had left, the hosts would secretly hope they’d seen him for the last time.  

Arriving home to his one-bedroom apartment in a bad part of town, he’d burst into tears because he’s still not quite over the wife that left him all those years ago for a much better guy. Deep down, he knows how little other people like him – at work, down at the pub, and worst of all, his former family. The moment his kids turned 18 and they didn’t have court-ordered visits anymore, they stopped showing up. He’s staring at the wrong end of 50, all of his ambitions have amounted to nothing and the nights can be so lonely. 

Fireworks may light up the sky, but they can never truly brighten the darkness within your soul. 

Aside from that, Firework Guy is a pretty solid Minifigure. Just make sure you keep him away from the liquor cabinet at any Lego party he might attend.

Minifigure Mini-Review #5: Cactus Girl

Minifigures are one of my favourite things about Lego. Collecting them helps stem the encroach of the void within™ and it’s a huge source of joy for me to see what they come up with each series. Well, Series 18 is finally hitting Australian shelves – and boy oh boy is it a great one. 

It’s a Costume Party theme! Today, we take a look at Cactus Girl!

My immediate thought upon seeing this Minifigure was to think of a Cactuar from Final Fantasy, and I’m sure I’m not the only one to notice it. Beyond this, the Minifigure does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s a girl in a Cactus costume.

But let’s get a little more granular. She’s specifically dressed as a saguaro, which is often thought of as being the archetypal cactus thanks to a ton of American movies that feature shots of the desert. However, there are actually 1750 known species of cactus, so it’s kind of selfish of the saguaro to hog all the attention. Yeah, we know your flower is the state wildflower of Arizona! So what?  

The arms are posable, so can be rendered at the jaunty angle of your choice. I prefer mine both up, but I’m sure you can change things according to your specific taste. Cactus Girl also comes with two faces – one happy and one anxious. I’m not totally sure on why they’ve done this, but it’s always nice to have an extra option, particularly if you like to mix and match parts.

The only real letdown is that there’s no paint on her spines. It’s understandable why they didn’t do it, but it detracts very slightly from the final effect. Nonetheless, Cactus Girl is a solid figure, and would easily be a series highlight in any other series. She’s not the standout figure from this particular series, but I do like her very much nonetheless.

Lego Review: Creator 3in1 Modular Winter Vacation (31080)

Creator is great at slice-of-life stuff, frequently accompanied by a healthy dose of the fantastic. Most of the sets would look great in a full-blown City set-up, but they also work as standalone dioramas for your desk. The Lakeside Lodge that I bought a couple of years ago is a great example, and this one probably exemplifies it even more effectively.

Today though, we take a look at the Modular Winter Vacation. The primary build of the set – seen in these photos – is essentially a chalet. Originally developed in the Swiss Alps, you can now find them dotted all over snowfields around the world. In real-life, its angled roof serves a practical function; snow naturally slides off, preventing build-up and reducing maintenance in the process. Sadly, in real life a couple who can afford to rent or own it would likely be extremely high maintenance.  

However, Lego is free of real-life WASP-ish social concerns and so the minifigures included in this set look friendly enough. There’s a guy and a girl – presumably a couple, though you can insert your own narrative here – equipped with skis and a snowboard respectively. You can make either of them bust out a sick 1080 if you want. Neither of them warrants a lot of comment; they’re both dressed in appropriate snow gear but they’re not particularly exciting. Though in a nice touch, the guy also has a frightened face printed on him too, which is great if you want to send him down the sloping roof of the house.

The chalet itself is great fun to build; a deceptively simple design that looks quite impressive, effectively creating the illusion of fallen snow and a cosy cottage. There’s two exterior elements too; a snow-capped tree and a bench for lunch.

The interior isn’t as great, but it looks generic enough that it could be a place to stay, a café or perhaps even an equipment rental store. For myself, I’m sticking with accommodation, particularly as that’s how it looks from the front.

On the roof, there’s also an area for the holidaying couple to sip on schnapps, beneath the light of a lantern. An owl also perches on the balcony, presumably drawn by the heat – and here we move to an unusual point.

Towards the end of building this set – actually, pretty much when I got to building the owl – I stumbled upon a subconscious reason as to why I may have wanted this set in the first place. Sure, it’s pretty cool in its own right, and the build featuring the Yeti looks really fun. But I think an underlying reason I wanted it was because the main build looks a lot like the way I used to picture Whitley Strieber’s cabin in Communion. Those of you who’ve read the book or seen the movie will also know that owls play a significant role in the narrative, which makes its inclusion particularly poignant. As you can see in this link, it doesn’t look much like the real thing. But I first read the book around ’98 or ’99, and I don’t think I ever saw a picture of his cabin until ’10 or ’11.

There are two other ways to build the set – a bobsled launching point, and a public toilet being attacked by a Yeti. I like both of them, but my main issue with them is that they’re sort of devoid of context on their own. Ideally I’d buy three separate copies of this set and build them all together, but in the meantime I think I’ll just maintain this build for display.

Even without the (admittedly tenuous) Communion connection, this is a really fun set. It doesn’t have a lot of other sets to go with it at the moment, but hopefully there will be more snow-themed sets in the near future. It’s an area that could have plenty of potential and hasn’t been widely explored outside of the of the Arctic-themed City sets a few years ago. Highly recommended.

Lego Review: Spinjutzu Training 70606

Theme: The Lego Ninjago Movie

Year: 2017

Price: $15AUD

I’ll be honest; I’m pretty ambivalent to the Ninjago theme as a whole. There were some very cool sets in the 2011 and 2012 releases, back when it was kind of a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe setting, but with Ninjas as the heroes. But it’s since moved into more heavily sci-fi territory, and I don’t really like the tech-heavy look they’ve gone with for the Ninjas. If I had my way, Lego would instead update the Ninja sets from the 90s, which were originally a sub-line of Castle.

However, money talks and AFOL bullshit walks – there’s no doubt that Ninjago has been a huge success for Lego. It’s spawned a huge amount of spinoff material, including books, clothes, TV series and a theatrically released movie. For any theme that isn’t City to run for 7 years continuously is a huge achievement.

As might be expected, the aforementioned film – The Lego Ninjago Movie – got its own series of building sets, which is where the subject of today’s review stems from. But if I’m not that fussed on  Ninjago, why did I pick this set up?

Well, despite my ambivalence to Ninjago specifically, I am a bit of a ninja tragic. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles helped spark my interest as a kid, but it quickly grew into its own thing. I think it was the black outfits that did it, to be quite honest. Also probably the combination of myth, folklore and flat-out pseudohistory that surrounds the subject. See also: Men in Black.   

As the name of the set implies, this looks like a small training dojo; it’s a total martial arts film cliché, which I find very endearing. There’s four primary elements and two minifigures:

• a Wing Chun-style training dummy – ideal for practicing close quarters combat
• a bop-bag style dummy, complete with samurai helmet
• a katana rack, for safe weapon storage
• a “shrine”. Presumably, this is where students bow upon entering and exiting the dojo.
• Kai (the red ninja)
• Zane (the white ninja)

The shrine is probably my favourite of the bunch. As a corner piece, it could be slotted into other sets easily enough, and it has some nice touches; the scroll on the wall and the red lantern look great, and the sides provide storage for two more weapons.

The minifigures are also pretty solid. The white ninja is particularly striking (if impractical for “real” ninja missions). While I think they should have stuck to solid red for Kai, the added black does make for a nice contrast.  My only real misgivings are about how the cowl has been split into two pieces now. I liked the turban-style mask from the original sets, as well as the armoured masks that were introduced later on. The new ones look pretty good if you can align them properly, but I don’t feel they stand up to play quite as well.  

Nonetheless, this is a nice back-to-basics set. It’s well-priced and can be enjoyed entirely separately from its larger franchise. My main disappointment is that it doesn’t include a traditional black-clad Ninja, but this seems like a relatively small gripe. 

Minifigures Mini-Review #3 – Black Canary & Swimsuit Batman

Black Canary

Of all the figures in this series, Black Canary was the only one I had to have. She’s one of my favourite superheroines, but she’s tended to fly under the merchandising radar in comparison to Wonder Woman, Supergirl or Batgirl.

Originally debuting in 1947, Black Canary’s history has become inextricably bound with Green Arrow. Sometimes lovers, sometimes married and sometimes divorced, they’ve shown impressive longevity as a superhero couple throughout the decades. But she’s no shrinking violet; as well as doing stints in the Justice Society and Justice League, she’s a core member of the Birds of Prey, delivering STREET JUSTICE all the while.

Her outfit has undergone minor alterations since her debut, but with one notable exception has stuck pretty close to her original look – leather jacket, leotard, fishnets and boots. Curiously, this minifigure renders her outfit in dark blue. It may be based on a specific comic look, but it’s not one I can identify. Perhaps it’s just meant to mimic the way highlights on her outfit are frequently drawn and coloured. However, we may well see a black-suited version in a future DC set.

As an accessory, she’s got a microphone with stand. This is a nod to her current incarnation as a rock singer as well as a superhero. It’s okay, but I think a motorbike would have been better, if impractical. She’s also got two facial expressions, neutral and screaming.  

In spite of the odd colour choice, this is still an excellent minifigure. Highly recommended.  

Swimsuit Batman

Though I wasn’t a huge fan of it, one thing I did like about The Lego Batman Movie was its fearless iconoclasm with Batman’s super-serious image. So though I mentioned previously that I didn’t want to buy every single variation of Batman that was released, this one made me laugh quite a bit when I saw it.

This version of Batman sees him bedecked in a Speedo, and wearing goggles over his cowl. This cowl-piece is presumably a new mould, so it’ll be interesting to see if it pops up anywhere else in the future. He’s also equipped with a floaty dolphin (presumably come across from the Friends theme) and the same paddle board that came with the Female Lifeguard, all the way back in Series 2.  

But MOST importantly, Swimsuit Batman has ripped abs and is T H I C C. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but apparently Batman and Black Canary had a bit of a fling in recent comics. With buns like this, it’s not hard to see why.

Though at first glance, she wasn’t so impressed.   

With apologies to @FakeEyes22

Swimsuit Batman isn’t as essential as Black Canary, but he is fun. This one will largely be down to your personal tastes. 

Minifigure Mini-Reviews #2 – Black Vulcan & Dr Hugo Strange

Time to look at a couple more minifigures from The Lego Batman Movie Series 2! Today we take a squiz at Black Vulcan and Hugo Strange.

Black Vulcan

Truthfully, I don’t know much about Black Vulcan. Initially I assumed he was a member of the Flash family, given that he has the same “helmet” as the other Flash characters, and comes with these power bolt thingies as accessories. But it turns out he’s a character that was originally created for the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends series, and rather than super-speed he has electricity powers. Kind of like another African-American DC character with electricity powers, you say? You would be correct.  Turns out that originally the plan was to have Super Friends feature Black Lightning, but there was a rights dispute, so an ersatz workaround was created.

I’m fairly ambivalent about Hanna-Barbera cartoons in general, but I know that they’re a big part of plenty of people’s childhoods. It’s nice that Lego is getting the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends characters out there, but this is the figure I’m least excited about in this series. The leotard look doesn’t work for me.

Hugo Strange

Possessed of the most famous neckbeard in comics, Hugo Strange has a much longer history with Batman than most might realise. He was originally introduced all the way back in 1940 as a mad scientist, yet I would argue that it wasn’t until the Arkham series of video games that he really entered any kind of mainstream consciousness in association with Batman. As a result of his appearance in the games, he’s become much more prominent in Batman media, most notably showing up in the Gotham TV Series, portrayed by B.D. Wong.    

It’s nice to see a “new” addition to Batman’s Rogues Gallery, I’m still fairly cold on Hugo Strange. He’s a genius, but he’s not as megalomaniacal as Lex Luthor, and he’s creepy, yet lacks the disturbing edge of someone like Professor Pyg. I’ve just never felt like I could care that much about why he does what he does. Nonetheless, it’s a solid rendition of the character and the shelf wouldn’t be quite complete without him.  

Minifigure Mini-Reviews #1 – General Zod & Jor-El

Series 2 of the Lego Batman Movie Minifigures have started hitting Sydney stores, and I was lucky enough to grab a few of them the other evening. Now, I’ve been pretty slack in reviewing the last couple of series of Minifigures, so I’m going to try something new with these Minifigure Mini-reviews. They’re in no small part (ha!) inspired by OAFE’s Mini-Mates reviews.   

Truthfully, my impressions of this series of Minifigures are a little mixed. These two figures are great…but I didn’t love The Lego Batman Movie, so I don’t feel the need to own every single version of Batman that appeared on-screen. With that said, the series includes a number of important, unusual and/or strange characters who might not otherwise see release in Lego format. So I plan to pick up maybe…half of the series in total? Time will tell. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the two Kryptonians featured in this series – General Zod and Jor-El.

General Zod

Clearly inspired by pre-Priscilla Queen of the Desert Terence Stamp’s take on the character, Zod is rather a plain minifigure at face value. He’s wearing his black pyjama garb, and his face is printed in a fairly neutral – if slightly irritated – expression. But this is appropriate; he’s had many different looks in the comics, but this is the one that the general public probably associates with him most closely.

He didn’t really need any accessories (Kryptonite maybe? Or a clear panel to serve as a Phantom Zone?). But he does come with a newspaper, with the headline “Kneel Before Zod”. There’s another part to the joke, which can be seen in the photo.

He’s also got two face options to pick from – spin his head around and you’ll see an angry face with heat vision eyes. Perfect for battling Superman!

Given that we’ve only had the Michael Shannon version of Zod in Minifigure form previously, this is a welcome addition to the collection. He’s a key villain in the DC Universe, and his addition to the line is long overdue.

Jor-El

Live as one of them, Kal-El

Discover where you strength and your power are needed

Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage

They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be

They only lack the light to show the way

For this reason above all, their capacity for good,

I have sent them you, my only son.

Superman: The Movie is when Supes’ Jesus-like aspects began to become really heavily emphasised. And fulfilling the figurative role of "God" in this setting was Marlon Brando’s Jor-El. While this figure isn’t an exact replica of Brando’s look in the film, it’s very clearly inspired by it. He’s got the exact same hairstyle and similar robes, but it now looks a little more comic-y, thanks to the chest armour.

There has been a Jor-El figure previously, but it was based on Russell Crowe’s version of the character from Man of Steel. It wasn’t a regular release figure either, so it will cost you a comparative fortune if you go for it. This is an excellent substitute.

Lego Minifigures Series 16 (Part 1 of 4)

Well, rather tragically I never actually finished reviewing Series 15 -- I will have to get to that at some point, because it was an excellent series -- and I skipped the Disney minifigs entirely.

But here we are now, already in September and series 16 now hitting shelves in Sydney. I have mixed feelings about this series; everything from 12-15 was excellent, and while this certainly isn't a bad series, I'm a little less enthused about it. I felt similarly about series 10 though, and in hindsight that was a really good release. But let's kick things off!

Cute Little Devil

Following on from the Monsters theme of Series 14, the Cute Little Devil could easily be the younger brother of Skeleton Guy from that series. He's carrying a trick or treat basket in the shape of a jack o' lantern, and carrying a devil-appropriate pitchfork. It's a good nod to the movie Problem Child, which I remember enjoying as a kid but has probably not aged all that well. Still, maybe we can hope for a pseudo-Bow Tie Killer in the next series too.




Spooky Boy

Here's the Emo boy companion to the Spooky Girl released back in series 12 in 2014. His design matches her well but he looks like a total sad case in contrast to her cool and reserved demeanour. Also, I've long loathed the stylings of bands like My Chemical Romance and The Used, so that's a big strike against him from my perspective. Still, the print on his pants could be repurposed for some kind of metal or punk custom figure.

Spy 

Though I'm not super-enamoured with the other two figures I've mentioned, this is probably my least favourite figure in the series. Not the concept; I like the idea of a spy figure, and the print on the body is good -- but the execution of the goggles is off; they attach directly to his hairpiece, but in a weird way that doesn't actually lock in properly. Still, he's quite distinctive in that he's carrying a somewhat-realistic gun.

Mariachi

Strumming up a storm, the Mariachi is easily the most fun minifigure in this review. He's a great concept, and lends himself to buying multiples -- that way you can have a whole serenade thing going on for one of your minfigure couples. Maybe even the Spooky Boy and Spooky Girl, though I don't think they'd really go for that sort of style.







Well, that's part 1 done -- look out for parts 2 through 4 coming soon!

76063 Lego Mighty Micros: The Flash vs Captain Cold

THE BACKGROUND

Every now and then I have to remind myself that Lego is largely designed with children in mind, rather than the AFOLs. When the Mighty Micros range was first announced, I was actually quite excited. The character line-up was a good one, and featured a few characters who were either discontinued or had only been featured in sets that were rather expensive. These would be a great way to plug a few gaps in my DC and Marvel collections, and the spare bricks from the karts could be tossed aside into a box somewhere, never to be seen again. 

But then I discovered that they would be using the short minifigure legs instead of the regular ones. I was very disappointed – this was one geared much more heavily at kids than adults. I mean, it works for Robin, but who else would want a short Flash, or Catwoman? And the funny thing is, I would have HATED the core concept as a child. Why would The Flash have a car/go-kart when he’s the fastest man alive? Did Captain Cold ever have a Zamboni-eqsue vehicle in the comics? Granted, I didn’t understand marketing, cost vs profit, or being deliberately (cynically?) toyetic as a kid, but the variant versions of main characters that have no basis in comics or other media drove me up the wall as a child. I suspect I’m not the only one, either – really, if you give just about anyone the choice between a regular Batman or some kind of bizarre armour variant, you’d probably pick the regular one, I’m guessing? Which is part – though not the entire – of the reason that so many media-based action figure lines pegwarm for months after the film has gone from cinemas.

I digress. I didn’t see myself with any other options for a Flash or Captain Cold minifigure anytime soon, so I decided to bite the bullet while I was in the States recently. These guys have been selling out left, right and centre in Australia, so obviously the kids do like them; and I have to say they’ve grown on me a lot after getting them out of the box.

THE BUILD

After that lengthy rant, let’s discuss the actual product. The core conceit behind the Mighty Micros concept is that a bunch of Marvel and DC characters are having Mario Kart-style races against one another. They’re paired up in hero/villain teams (and before anyone points it out, yes I know Catwoman isn’t really a villain these days).

The karts are loosely themed around the character driving them. Captain Cold’s looks like a Zamboni, which is kind of fun even outside of the context of this set. There’s not enough Lego love for ice hockey these days. The Flash’s is a red kart-thing, with flames trailing out the back. It doesn’t really look like anything specific but it works – and the flames do give the impression that he is much, much faster than his rival. As is key for any toy car, both designs are very swooshable. And given the inherent fragility of plenty of Lego sets, rougher kids than I could probably have a pretty hectic demolition derby. 

Additionally, both are paired with loosely relevant accessories. Captain Cold gets his usual Cold Gun, and an ice-cream cone, while Flash gets a can of “Power Bolt”, which is presumably some kind of energy drink. This is continued across other sets, in mostly logical fashion – Red Skull gets the Tesseract, Catwoman gets a carton of milk, and Hulk for some obscure reason gets a chicken drumstick.   

OVERALL

I like the concept, and it seems to be selling well – but I really wish they’d used regular minifigure legs instead of the short ones we got instead. As mentioned above, it would have been a great way to make more obscure/previously released but rare characters more readily available – as it is, it's a fun novelty. 

Lupine Book Club: Sunday Afternoon Reader, Part 4

It's been quite a while since I last did one of these features -- just over a year! So for those who haven't read one before, the premise is pretty simple, really; I pull together a bunch of unusual, coffee table or outright bizarre books that I would read on a Sunday afternoon, when there's nothing on TV and I don''t have any activities planned. It's been something of a tradition since teen years, and though it fluctuates in frequency in this much busier period of my life, I always get a kick out of it. So without further ado, here's some more books perfect for Sunday afternoon.

Pic from Amazon.com

Lego Minifigure Year By Year: A Visual Dictionary
Publisher: Dorling Kindersley
Year: 2013

As some of you may have noticed, I'm a pretty big Lego fan. This doesn't just extend to building and photographing the stuff, either -- I like learning about the company itself, too. Now Lego Minifigure Year By Year: A Visual Dictionary is not a blow-by-blow expose of all of the machinations behind the scenes at The Lego Group, and nor should it be. Rather, it's a coffee table-style look at the wild and wonderful forms minifigures have taken since they were first introduced back in 1978 -- including three minifigures embossed into the cover: a Townsperson, a Robber and a Stormtrooper from Star Wars. Published in 2013, it's slightly out of date now, but not critically so. I believe there is now a newer edition doing the rounds, which excludes the Stormtrooper in favour of another figure -- perhaps one of our readers can confirm? Either way, this is an essential purchase for any Minifigure fan, no matter how casual or dedicated.

Pic from Amazon.com

Wonder Woman: Amazon. Hero. Icon
Publisher: Universe
Year: 2010

Not far from Central Station in Sydney is a clearance bookstore called Basement Books. Most of its stock isn't that exciting, but every now and then they get in some real gems -- such as this title, which I picked up for a mere $10. Covering the iconic Amazon's history up to 2010 -- so just pre-New 52 -- it's another coffee table-style book packed full of great art, and a rough history of her publication and place in comic culture. The main issue I had with it was that there didn't seem to be much information included on the various adaptations of the character outside comics -- so no Super Friends, no merchandise and perhaps most glaringly, no Lynda Carter TV show. Still, the art alone is worth the admission price, featuring luminaries like Adam Hughes, Brian Bolland and of course, George Perez.  

Pic from Amazon.com

The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials
Publisher: New English Library (Hodder & Stoughton)
Year: 1997

Ah, where would we be without at least one UFO/paranormal-related book in a post like this? Rest easy, I've got plenty more left in the Lupine Library, I'm unlikely to run short anytime soon. This particular collection is more geared at a children/young adult audience, serving as something of a primer to the idea of extraterrestrial visitation. It looks at a number of high-profile cases where entities are claimed to have been encountered, with an accompanying illustration of the alleged creature itself. Author Patrick Huyghe divides these creatures into four distinct categories (Humanoid, Animalian, Robotic and Exotic), which is a reasonable enough system. All the usual suspects like the Greys and the Nordics make an appearance, but there are some pretty bizarre characters included. Alien encounters or evidence of mankind's impressive imaginations? You'll have to decide for yourself.

Pic from the Fighting Fantasy Wiki

Fighting Fantasy: Sword of the Samurai
Publisher: Wizard Books
Year: 1986, 2006

I've picked Sword of the Samurai here, but really we could substitute just about any Fighting Fantasy book. About 10 years ago, when I first moved out of home, I bought a ton of these books from local thrift stores and book exchanges; there were loads floating around on the Central Coast at the time, for whatever reason. A huge phenomenon in the 1980s, they're basically a more sophisticated version of a Choose Your Own Adventure book, incorporating additional rules mechanics, like dice, to regulate combat. As you might imagine, they share quite a few similarities with the then-popular text adventures for home computers. While pretty dated in a world that has mostly moved on from this style of reading and gameplay, they're still a good stopgap for anyone who's between RPG groups -- and an entertaining way to while away a few hours in an old-school fantasy landscape, where death is virtually omnipresent.

 Well, that's it for Part 4 -- hopefully it'll be less than a year till part 5!  

Lego Dimensions: Aquaman Fun Pack (71237)

Aquaman is a huge joke in the comics world; many of you are probably already rolling your eyes and scoffing at the prospect of me even mentioning Aquaman on the website as you start to read this article. He’s had an image problem for years, and DC knows it too – when they relaunched the Justice League back in 2011, they were sure to include a scene that made his powers look spectacular even in comparison to his super-powered companions. And to be fair, it did look pretty cool. It's like a weird 90s throwback to the era of EDGINESS, but not in a bad way. 

Pic from here

You'll also notice that Jason Momoa's portrayal of the character in the about-to-be-released Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice looks more than a little different to the likeness of the minifigure we are looking at today. DC and Warner Brothers obviously want to distance themselves from the Robot Chicken-esque image of Aquaman that is permeating popular culture.  

So why even pick this Lego set up? Well, I've had as many laughs as anyone else at Aquaman, but just like the above picture demonstrates, he can be pretty awesome from time to time. Also, I plan to eventually have a complete Justice League (or some variant thereof) and any Justice League worth its salt includes Aquaman. 

The minifigure looks to be identical to the release of the figure that was in included in the last two sets he was in, late last year and back in 2013. He's got the Bieber-style hair, scale-mail print on his chest and a plain green pair of pants. He's also got two faces -- one neutral, and one angry. I prefer the more neutral one myself, but your mileage may vary. He's also armed with his signature gold trident -- it's identical to the ones featured in the Atlantis sets from a few years ago.   

As with Chell in the Portal pack, the instructions only cover how to build the minifigure (which you probably could have figured out yourself). So you’ll either need a copy of the game or to visit the website for further information on how to build his vehicle. At time of writing, I can’t find a pdf version, but here’s the video that I used to build the Aqua Watercraft. The other two modes should be pretty easy to find too.

The included vehicle/s is pretty underwhelming. This might befit the Aquaman’s borderline joke status. The Aqua Watercraft is not too bad; it kind of looks like it could have been a vehicle in the 1980s Super Powers action figure range. But it's not in the same league as some of the other microbuilds we've seen in this range, such as Wonder Woman's Invisible Plane or Benny's Spaceship. The other two are just kind of blah -- though they may be of value in the game itself. And the green and orange colour scheme is unusual for Lego, so the pieces may also be of use to those interested in MOCing. 

Aquaman retails for $24.95, but you can theoretically find him for $20 at a few stores. I’ve only seen him in person once so far – and bought him straight away –  but I’m sure we’ll see more copies pop up over the next few weeks. If you're like me and don't actually own the game, the cheaper option is definitely the better one.  

Lego Creator – Lakeside Lodge (31048)

Year: 2016

Theme: Creator

Pieces: 368

Price: AUD $35-39

Lego has been having a bit of a “back to nature” subtheme with some of its Creator sets. Last year we got the Mountain Hut (ideal for weekend adventurers) and now we have the Lakeside Lodge, a place for a more subdued getaway.

Like most Creator kits, there are 3 different ways to build this set. Once upon a time this was fairly standard for Lego sets – generally there would be pics on the back of the box of alt modes, but no instructions would be included. It was then up to you to try and figure out how to build them. It was great fun, and it’s a bit of a shame that Lego seems to have ditched the idea outside of the Creative sets. But enough complaining – onto the review. In the next few weeks, I'll do my best to review the other two modes as well.   

The primary mode is probably the best in objective terms, depicting the titular Lakeside Lodge. But today we’re going to look at the second mode. It’s still a cabin – albeit a smaller one – but the roof is now flat to allow for a telescope! 

As with the other two modes, the house splits open on a hinge, allowing you to access the interior. There’s not much inside, just a small corner table with a coffee cup and a letter sitting on it. Simple, but add a laptop and you’ve got an ideal spot for a writer’s retreat. As someone who already writes for a living and has aspirations of becoming an author, the idea of a Lakeside Lodge to get away and devote myself to my craft (imagine me saying this with pretentious hand gestures while wearing a beret). But having that kind of money is a probably long way off, so I’ll just do it vicariously through this Lego set for the time being.    

The included minifigure doesn’t get a name, but he’s a presumably late 20s/early 30s guy. Dressed in a flannel shirt, tan pants and with a dimpled chin, he’s a nice generic City guy on his weekend away. He’s got the Bieber style of hairpiece, but it’s been cast in black this time. It would also work as an emo sort of hairpiece, if you’re looking at creating customs too.

So, what’s the verdict? I don’t generally collect Creator or City stuff, but every now and a set will jump out and grab me – and this is one of them. Truth be told, the telescope on the roof is a little detail that sold me on the set as a whole. I loved astronomy as a kid, and every now and then toy with idea of buying a telescope for the balcony to do a bit of stargazing. It hasn’t happened yet, but you never know; maybe next time Aldi has a sale on them. It's a great little touch that, for me, took a set that was already pretty cool to the next level. Money well spent!

Lego Minifigures Series 15 review (Part 1 of 4)

Wow! Well, it has been a frustrating, laptopless few weeks. But now I've got a new computer sorted and things should be back to their semi-regular programming. So although we have a belated start to 2016 here, it's a good one -- Minifigures Series 15 is here!

The collectible Minifigures have really been on an upswing of late. While series 10 and 11 were a mixed (though still pretty good) bag, things have been going gangbusters since series 12 onwards. And series 15 is particularly excellent. Read on for Part 1 of 4 of my thoughts on them.

SHARK SUIT GUY

Like the Hot Dog Guy back in series 13, this guy is the real breakout success from this series. I’d assume that it’s inspired by Katy Perry’s Super Bowl 2015 performance, when the now infamous Left Shark introduced it to the world. It does actually take quite a bit of time to develop a new mould, so it’s possible the figure was already in the works prior; however, the paint apps on the face have definitely been inspired by the event. One side of the face depicts a happy and excited face, while the other side shows a face in a state of panic, complete with bead of sweat trickling down the forehead.   

Naturally, this means you should have two of them, to replicate the full Katy Perry effect. This compounds the breakout success of this figure even further…and now we have a more extreme situation than the Hot Dog Guy on our hands. I ended up just ordering my two off eBay, as I was almost certain that I wouldn’t run across any in the wild. I have run into a couple since, but if you come across them, don’t just buy all of them and scalp them for an outrageous price. That ruins it for everyone.  

JANITOR

By contrast, here is the leading contender for least favourite figure from Series 15. If you run across a near-empty box, at least 90% will be Janitors.

It’s a shame, really; the Janitor may not have the most glamorous job in the world of Lego, but he’s a very well-executed figure. And really, kind of essential to any well-running Lego City or modular setup. His uniform is printed with all sorts of cool little details, including a rag sticking out of his right pocket which has some suspiciously brown stains on it. Good (perhaps too good) attention to detail guys. Kids (and me) will find this hilarious. But perhaps the real genius move is making the mop head slot on the handle both ways – no matter which way he holds it, you can have it look right. No gravity- or physics-defying antics here, which means Neil DeGrasse Tyson can rest easy.

LASER MECH

Of all the figures in Series 15, this guy is probably the best for army building. Series 12 had the Space Miners and the Battle Goddess (who make excellent Amazons to accompany Wonder Woman). Series 13 was arguably the best for army builders of any series so far, with the Galaxy Trooper, the Egyptian Warrior and the Goblin. This leaves Series 15 a little light by comparison, though there will certainly be plenty of people who invest in multiple Astronauts too. 

But for those who want to keep their Mechs as standalone characters (as I have myself), you’re not without precedent; the Mechs from Series 9 and Series 11 could easily serve either function. This guys is the most elaborate of them so far, equipped with a laser sword (which amazingly manages not to look like a total lightsaber rip-off) and transparent “energy” wings. It’s a little too busy for my personal tastes, but I do really like the Tron-inspired blue, black and silver colour scheme.   

THE FAUN

Lego has been getting quite a few Greek mythology characters into the Minifigures theme. The Minotaur in Series 6, Medusa in Series 10 (I really must track one down), the Battle Goddess (*cough*Athena*cough*) in Series 12 and now the Faun, which is definitely not the god Pan. 

Beloved by ancient Greeks in times past and by many neo-pagans in the modern world, Pan was worshipped as a fertility deity, among other things. Given the connection our forebears saw between crop success and human sexuality, some of his traditional depictions are decidedly NSFW by modern standards; ithyphallic sculptures being some of the tamer ones.  

He’s also been tremendously influential on modern pop culture, though largely in a negative sense. You know the horned, goat-man version of the devil? Well, that didn’t come out of the Bible – a bunch of evidence suggests a lot of it stems from Pan, to cut a much longer story short. But on the more positive side, he did make an appearance in The Wind in the Willows as a good guy.   

Lego has chosen the family-friendly route for this depiction of Pan, which is not surprising. His headpiece and legs are both new pieces; I assume we’ll get some additional figures that incorporate use them in the future. Maybe we’ll finally get some Greek or Roman mythology-inspired sets? That would be pretty amazing. But in the meantime, the Faun is a fun little figure. The main problem with him is that he’s been given a flute, not a set of Pan Pipes – yep, he’s where the name came from, so this seems like a bit of an oversight. Given that Satyrs are plural (and Wikipedia tells me that Pan himself was at times too) this could conceivably be an army building figure, but I think I’ll keep him singular. If you're particularly keen, you could probably make a custom Mr Tumnus from The Chronicles of Narnia as well.    

Well, this wraps up the first part -- look for the others coming soon! 

Lego Dimensions: Portal 2 Level Pack (71203)

Series: Lego Dimensions

Set number: 71203

Year: 2015

Riding the curious yet genius trend of collectible figurines that can be used in video games started by Skylanders, Lego Dimensions burst onto the gaming scene earlier in 2015. Now though it’s awesome that we get a bunch of existing Lego licenses turned into digital form, one of the most interesting aspects has also been the new licenses thrown into the mix – Dr Who, Back to the Future and the subject of today’s review, Portal 2. I don’t care for all of them, but it’s good to see just how broad Lego’s palette has become.  

Somewhat annoyingly, the box doesn’t include the full instructions. After you’ve built Chell’s minifigure and placed her on the stand, the instruction booklet simply advises you to continue building using the in-game instructions. For someone like me who’s not so much interested in the game as simply building the set, it’s pretty irritating. Fortunately, you can download them here. 

The minifigure is based on her look from Portal 2. Either version of Chell would have been fine, but this is the more colourful of her two looks. She’s been printed with two faces; passive/blank and cranky. I prefer the more passive one; while more aggressive one isn’t bad, they would have been better off using a print similar to Wonder Woman’s angry face. Her gun is an all-new mould. While cool, it’s cast in the soft rubbery plastic that Lego sometimes uses for its accessories. I don’t mind that for some accessories, but I think it would have been better if her gun had been the usual hard plastic. The rubbery material also makes it more difficult for it to slot into her hand, though it can be done.

From my perspective, there are two details missing from the current version. Chell’s long-fall boots are (understandably) rendered as being solely white; though I’m sure customisers will quickly figure a workaround, it would have been difficult to work in the stilts aspect of their construction and have her still be able to stand. This is an issue that also affects the NECA figure (I need to get around to reviewing her at some point), though they did include a specialised stand for her. Additionally, there isn’t a spare orange bulb piece to create a “player 2” gun. This isn’t a major drama, as anyone who’s been collecting Lego for any amount of time is likely to have a spare in their bits box. Still, it would have been a nice, if not essential, inclusion.

The other two elements are the Sentry Turret and the Companion Cube. I think the Sentry Turret is about right in terms of size, but it’s been a long time since I’ve played the games and I couldn't find any good reference shots of the two of them together from the game. The Companion Cube seems to be more ambiguous. It looks too large to me (though understandably so, given the nature of Lego bricks) but again, no good reference pics that I can find. Cosplayers seem to have run the gamut from massive to tiny with their own accessories, so I suppose it works well enough. 

Each of these two can be reassembled into a few different forms – not accurate to the original source material, as far as I know, but they have differing functions within the Lego Dimensions game. It adds some additional value to the set in gameplay terms, if not so much from a collector's perspective.  

Speaking of which...as someone who’s not playing the game it’s definitely on the overpriced side. I’m prepared to wear a bit of a premium given the in-game elements, but this thing retails for $49.95! Shop around a little and you can find it a bit cheaper, but I think it would be better value if they managed to have sold it for around the $30 mark (and of course, had the other character/team packs cheaper). Still, Lego has always been a premium brand – both in quality and in price. Concerns about price aside, I think this is a really fun set for Lego and Portal fans alike. If you can find it at a reasonable price or get given it as a gift, it's a great addition to just about any collection. This one is likely to go for big bucks on the aftermarket the moment it gets discontinued. just for the unusual nature of the license.

   

Lego Minifigures Series 14: Monsters (Part 4)

Lego Minifigures Series 14: Monsters (Part 4)

Here we are with the final instalment of this series – I actually completed my set a number of weeks ago, but time constraints enforced by starting a new job and a couple of weekends away from home have meant I’ve been, well,much slacker in putting this review online than I would have liked to have been. Never mind though – here we are now!

Spider Lady

A nice riff on Elvira and to some degree the Bride of Frankenstein, the Spider Lady also serves as a great partner for the Vampire, who appeared all the way back in Series 2!

At initial glance, she looks fairly simplistic in her design – beehive hairdo, spider-web dress and a red spider accessory. But there are a couple of little details that elevate her above your average Halloween costume. One is a little spiderweb printed on her hairpiece, which (intentionally or not) is a nice little reference to an old urban legend about beehive hairdos. She’s not my favourite figure from the series, but she’s a fun addition to the overall horror theme.

Square Foot

It’s been two years since we saw this mould – it was originally introduced as the Yeti’s head back in Series 11. Not a huge surprise that we saw it reused in this form, but it’s certainly welcome. It’s a really nice touch that he comes with a camera, given the prevalence of alleged Bigfoot/Sasquatch photos out there – his official bio over at Lego.com even makes reference to his keen amateur photographic endeavours.      

Given the iconic status that Bigfoot has in the cryptid world and wider popular culture, it was only a matter of time till we got a Lego take on him. My only real disappointment was that the paint on his teeth is a little bit sloppy. The Yeti had similar issues, so I suppose it’s not that surprising.

Banshee

What do you think of when you think of Ireland? I’d be willing to bet that leprechauns rank fairly highly. But there’s another Irish creature of folklore that’s arguably as famous – the banshee. Rendered in Lego form, she’s pretty endearing, but the banshee actually has a pretty grim history. In traditional Irish folklore, the wailing, screeching or singing of a banshee was typically seen as an omen of death. Of course, Lego didn’t go that route – she’s described as being more of an omen of inconvenience or minor accidents in her official bio.

   

Like the Specter, she uses the smoke waft/spirit piece for her legs. Her top half is dressed in a ragged peasant blouse. Her hair is also cast in translucent plastic, which adds nicely to the overall ghostly effect – however, I think they should have gone all out and simply cast her in entirely translucent plastic. It would have looked really cool, and elevated her from being fun and entertaining to being great.   

Monster Scientist

Mad scientists are a staple of the horror genre, with my personal favourite probably being the guy from Dr Butcher, M.D. aka Zombie Holocaust – a movie which lacks a lot in plot (famously lifting most of it, including actors and footage, from Zombie Flesh Eaters) but makes up for it in enthusiasm and genuinely frightening/disgusting scenes.

For some strange reason Lego have decided to be a little more restrained in their depiction of mad scientists, so they’ve given us the creator of the Fly Monster. The only real indication of this is the fly printed on the Erlenmeyer flask he’s holding, but that’s good enough for me. He’s also spilt a bunch of the purple fluid on himself, so he’s obviously not very careful. I hope that’s thick protective gear he’s wearing.

With his headpiece on, this was initially my least favourite figure from the series. He does have a full face printed underneath there, but he doesn’t look particularly sinister or zany – more like someone’s grandpa. But it has grown on me more than I expected; I suppose Lego will probably reuse the piece for a future Ultra Agents set, where it seems that anything goes.

And thus we wrap Lego Minifigures Series 14: Monsters. As always, it has been a tremendous pleasure – Lego has really been on the up-and-up with these figures. I can’t wait to see what they do for Series 15, which will presumably be launching early 2016. Stick around on the LBC, as we will have more reviews coming up shortly.    

Lego Minifigures Series 14: Monsters (Part 3)

Huzzah -- they’re finally out in Australia!

Minifigures Series 14 had an official release date of September 2015, but as is often the case they began showing up earlier in the US and UK. Well, now they’ve made their ways to the sunny shores of Sydney, and you can read my take on them, starting with Part One and Part Two.

In this instalment, I take a look at the three zombie figures that have been included as part of this series. The Monster Rocker has been slotted in here as he’s kind of a zombie too.

Zombie Pirate

Looking like some sort of refugee from the Pirates of the Caribbean series of films, the Zombie Pirate was a must-buy due to my love for all things Lego Pirates. All the stereotypical pirate elements are in place – hook hand, eyepatch and peg leg, but they’ve been nicely supplemented with a ragged, decaying coat and gigantic sword. He was a captain in life, and now in death too.

The only real downside is that I am not particularly fond of this guy’s beard-piece. It works well for conveying a hillbilly look, but it seems unnecessary here. I’m just as content to display him without it, which gives him a menacing side-burned look. He’s not as good as the Pirate Captain from Series 8, but he is pretty great nonetheless.   

Zombie Businessman

There is nothing particularly appealing about being a zombie. While I can see why people might like the idea of being a vampire, werewolf or some other supernatural creature, a zombie (at least the modern conception we have of one) does little more than lumber around, consumer human flesh and eventually rot away.   

But the Zombie Businessman is particularly depressing. Presumably some kind of mid-level executive during life, in undeath he continues going to the office every day to make sure the bills get paid. Bedecked in his tattered business suit, he looks more befuddled than menacing. It’s surprisingly endearing for an undead, shambling corpse.

His accessories rank as some of the best in the series – a suitcase (which opens up and would be great for any number of other minifigures) and a newspaper (The Zombie Times, whose headline reads simply “BRAAAINS”). I hope we see a few more colour variants of this guy in the future.

Zombie Cheerleader

I just don’t know about this one. I’ve got the previous cheerleaders released under the minifigures banner, and they were kind of endearing. This one just seems a little weird. I think it’s the missing tooth. I get that she’s a zombie and all, but it just throws her whole look out for me. She’s probably my least favourite of Series 14, but she’s still several cuts above the weak spots of other series. Fun but not essential.

Monster Rocker

Oh wow, this guy is amazing! The Monster was one of the best minifigures back in Series 4, so it’s great to see a new version of him now. And he is ready to rock!

Lego’s market research team has obviously concluded that rockabilly/punkabilly/psychobilly/punk rock fans make up a big chunk of their market and are now releasing sets to cater to that niche group of buyers. Fantastic. He’s adorned in denim, a studded belt, with a padlock necklace hanging from his neck...best of all, he’s got a back patch on his jacket reading “Shock and Roll”. Last but not least, he’s equipped with a red, bat decorated guitar (or bass, the choice is yours). Now I just hope we get more not-Universal Monsters rendered in this style. It would be incredible to have a full band line-up. One of the best minifigures Lego has done, full stop.

On another note…

Right now, it’s pretty easy to be a bit burnt out on zombies. Since 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead brought them back to the big screen just over a decade ago, zombies have penetrated through the mainstream and become ubiquitous in a way that I think few would have predicted. So much so that it’s pretty easy to feel burnt out on the whole thing. Lego is obviously riding a larger cultural trend here, but these are refreshingly fun additions to the existing plethora of zombie merchandise out there.