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Brick Breakdown: LEGO Green Lantern set

by Thita (admin) on February 20, 2015

(Written by William)

In this Brick Breakdown series I review official LEGO sets, from the perspective of looking at interesting building techniques we can all learn from. Today we will be looking at the #76025 LEGO Super Heroes Green Lantern vs. Sinestro. You can also check out the previously discussed LEGO techniques found in official LEGO sets at the end of this article. 🙂

It’s hard to believe that it took this long to get Green Lantern in a LEGO set that is more available than the super rare 2012 Comic Con exclusive. Thankfully he’s finally here and ready to join the ranks of Superman, Batman, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman. The Justice League is definitely shaping up nicely. And Green Lantern is not the only cool minifigure in this $20 set. We also get the classic villain Sinestro, and a very different looking Batman. You may notice Batman’s wings look sometimes folded and other times open. This is because he has two soft plastic wings that can be interchanged. As for techniques, we’re going to look at an underappreciated piece, and a technique we talked about before, but this time it will be used in a slightly different manner in order to show its versatility.

➡ FLEXIBLE RUBBER LEGO TECHNIC CONNECTOR

It is hard to miss a rubbery element in a box filled with hard plastic. To some, this piece looks like a modified log brick, while others see a way to connect two axles parallel. Still others want to use its flexibility as a type of springy rubber band. However, it should be noted that this piece has another name: “damper”. It’s with this name in mind that we see how the piece used here.

Essentially one end is connected to an axle while the other side is left free. Then you proceed to build the vehicle around it. It never connects to anything else in the set, but it has a very unique purpose; its rubbery sides have a minor amount of sticking power when you rub anything against it. The small amount of traction is used to damper the movement of a piece that would otherwise swing free. This helps the mechanism stay solidly in place while at the same time allowing it to still move freely.

What this does is allows you to suspend parts or assemblies in mid-rotation that would otherwise be unable to do stay that way. This is because the traction it provides can hold some weight. So if you ever find you are building something that just moves too quickly, you might want to try incorporating this nifty piece.

➡ INVERTED GRAVITY CATCH

Now we are all familiar with how gravity affects our creations; remove a support from underneath and parts fall down. This is the basis for nearly every trap-door action LEGO includes in their sets. Then there is also the gravity mechanism that we have seen in the #21117 LEGO Minecraft Ender Dragon set (see link at the end of this post to that review). In the LEGO Minecraft Ender Dragon the weight of the wings were sufficient to push a button up, therefore when you pressed the button down the wings would turn up. This is another simple but effective use of gravity.

And here we see the same technique used as a catch. The containment-unit for the lantern core is a very straight forward approach to this technique. The first step is to have a piece that will fall on its own. This is accomplished with a plate with two pin connections and a half cylinder panel that is heavier on one side than the other. This assembly is then given a catch. It’s roughly “L” shaped with the corner of the L resting and preventing the panel from falling over. The only trick is hinging the catch so it only moves upwards. Throw in a dish that looks like a target and you got a clever little design.

➡ APPLYING WHAT YOU LEARN

The rubbery LEGO Technic connector is undoubtedly a strange little piece. Between the way it looks and feels, it has a whole different set of properties that normal elements don’t have. For this reason you may want to experiment with it to find new ways to make this part work for you.

It’s sometimes said that what you don’t see is what makes something great. For LEGO creations that something is often the battle with gravity. However, techniques that utilize gravity show us that there is room to integrate and take advantage of something that we normally fight against.

So what do you think? How do you like this LEGO Super Heroes Green Lantern set? Have you had a chance to build it? Did you learn from the interesting building techniques used in the sets? Feel free to share your own experiences and tips, or ask questions in the comment section below! 😉

And you might also like to check out the other reviews in this series:

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2015 LEGO sets – New York Toy Fair report

by Thita (admin) on February 19, 2015

in Other News & Updates

We have covered the London and German Toy Fairs (see links at the end of this post) and today we will talk about some of the sets that were revealed at the recent New York Toy Fair. As you probably know already, these are the events where we can get a first glimpse of the new LEGO sets and themes of the year. While many of the sets were showcased at the previous toy fairs, the New York Toy Fair had even more. Please note that we will only focus here on the LEGO sets we haven’t seen before, for the previously revealed sets you can check out the earlier toy fair reports. I also recommend watching the video coverage from the BrickShow as they filmed all of the new sets at the toy fair. Pictures have also been added to the Brickset database. So let’s take a look. 🙂

➡ 2015 LEGO JURASSIC WORLD SETS: As we have discussed previously (see: LEGO Jurassic World Sets Coming in 2015!), LEGO is releasing a series of six sets based on the new film. Five of the sets were showcased at the toy fair and you can see them below: #75915 LEGO Jurassic World Pteranodon Capture, #75916 LEGO Jurassic World Dilophosaurus Ambush, #75917 LEGO Jurassic World Raptor Rampage, #75918 LEGO Jurassic World T-Rex Tracker, #75919 LEGO Jurassic World Ultra Dino.

➡ 2015 LEGO SCOOBY-DOO SETS: This is another brand new theme for 2015 that we have discussed previously (see: LEGO Scooby-Doo Sets Press-Release & More!), but now we have more pictures that you can see below: #75901 LEGO Scooby Doo The Headless Horsemen, #75900 LEGO Scooby Doo Mummy Mystery Museum, #75904 LEGO Scooby Doo Mystery Mansion, #75903 LEGO Scooby Doo Haunted Lighthouse, #75902 LEGO Scooby Doo Mystery Machine Escape.

I think the LEGO Jurassic World sets look good. The blue and white color-scheme is a bit bland and too similar to LEGO City Police sets, but that’s just the result of this being a licensed theme. The dinos look great with the detailed printing. And I’m pretty sure the LEGO Scooby Doo sets are going to be a favorite for a lot of people. There are so many winning details, nicely designed minifigs, and great accessories! In the video-preview below YouTube member just2good talks about both the LEGO Jurassic World and the LEGO Scooby-Doo sets in more detail.

➡ 2015 LEGO SUPER HEROES SETS: LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes are also getting a lot of new sets this year. We have discussed some of them previously, but more have been revealed at the New York Toy Fair: #76034 LEGO DC Super Heroes Batboat Harbor Pursuit, #76035 LEGO DC Super Heroes Jokerland, #76036 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Carnage’s Shield Sky Attack, #76037 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Rhino and Sandman Supervillain Team Up, #76038 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Attack on Avengers Tower, #76039 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Marvel’s Ant-Man.

There are some really excellent sets in both the DC and Marvel line-up. I’m particularly impressed by the Ant-Man set; it includes some incredible minifigs and the addition of the large LEGO bricks is brilliant. In the video-preview below YouTube member just2good talks about both the DC and Marvel sets in more detail.

➡ 2015 LEGO STAR WARS SETS: Star Wars is a staple theme at LEGO, so it is no surprise that are getting a new wave. This is the first time we see pictures of most of these sets, so it’s quite exciting. Some of them look like real winners, while others are somewhat boring, and even controversial: #75091 LEGO Star Wars Flash Speeder, #75092 LEGO Star Wars Naboo Starfighter, #75093 LEGO Star Wars Death Star Final Duel, #75094 LEGO Star Wars Imperial Shuttle Tydirium, #75095 LEGO Star Wars TIE Fighter, #75097 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar, #75106 LEGO Star Wars Imperial Assault Carrier.

➡ 2015 LEGO MINECRAFT SETS: We have already talked about the upcoming LEGO Minecraft sets. This is the second wave of LEGO Minecraft sets that are minifigure scale, featuring more landscapes from the Minecraft terrain: #21119 LEGO Minecraft The Dungeon, #21120 LEGO Minecraft The Snow Hideout, #21121 LEGO Minecraft The Desert Outpost, #21122 LEGO Minecraft The Nether Fortress.

The LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series TIE Fighter is absolutely huge! We will talk about this set separately in more detail. The LEGO Star Wars large-scale buildable figures are an interesting idea. I think Darh Vader is fine, but Luke Skywalker looks kind of creepy. We will see how LEGO fans react to these. As far as the LEGO Minecraft sets, they look good. While I liked the micro-scale LEGO Minecraft sets, they were more a niche item for collectors. The minifigure scale sets appeal more to kids as they can build up large landscapes and have real minifig characters. Also, the color-schemes are really nice. In the video-preview below YouTube member just2good talks about both the LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Minecraft sets in more detail.

So what do you think? How do you like the upcoming 2015 LEGO sets? Which ones are you looking forward to the most? Are you saving up for any of them? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! And in the meantime you can also check out the already released 2015 LEGO sets at the Online LEGO Shop.

And you might also like to check out the following related posts:

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Brick Breakdown: LEGO Green Lantern set

2015 LEGO sets – New York Toy Fair report

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