Set Review - Clash of the Heroes - #76044

Okay, so I'll admit it... I don't follow Super Heroes much.  DC Comics and Marvel are not at the top of my list.  I'll be the first to admit that I don't know why Batman and Superman are fighting.  Shouldn't they be on the same side?  I should probably look that up.

In the meantime, I do follow LEGO and the sets LEGO releases.  Released on 2 January 2016, the Clash of the Heroes contains 92 pieces and 2 minifigures.  It has an armored Batman and then Superman.  Batman's head glows in the dark and has 2 different facial expressions.  Superman has the same to include one with a normal looking face and one with red eyes.  The set cost $12.99 brand new and I have yet to see it advertised for sale anywhere.  That works out to be $0.14 per piece which is rather high, but the norm for some of the smaller sets like this one.

Here is what the box looks like:

Nothing special about the box.  It shows the set on the front and the back shows some of its features to include the "super jumper" (a plastic piece that lets a figure "jump") and a Technic piece add on that allows Batman to "jump" towards Superman.

Here are the contents.  A sticker sheet with one sticker... I can't complain I guess.  There's an instruction booklet, 2 parts bags, and a larger part outside the bag.

There's an armored Batman. He comes with armor and some weapons.

This is the first instance of this Superman figure.  I only picture the figure this way, but you can rotate the head to see another face.  The same goes for Batman.

The build is fairly simple and straight forward.  The pieces are not bad, but I wouldn't buy the set just for the pieces.  Having the Bat Signal is pretty neat, but it doesn't justify the higher price either.  Here is what the final set looks like.

You'll notice behind where Batman is in the picture, there is a Technic pin.  If you put Batman in front of it and move the pin, he can "jump" forward.  The clear piece in the front of the picture is the "super jumper" so Superman can "leap" at Batman.  I noticed this feature last year, but maybe it has been around for a while.  Either way, it doesn't do much for me.  Maybe for the younger audience it has an appeal.  I tried it and Superman doesn't jump really well.  I recommend using your imagination and picking up Superman with your hand to pretend he is flying at Batman.  That way you can make a fun swooping noise with your mouth too.  Back to the intro of this post... why are they fighting anyways?  The joy of LEGO... I can always turn this set into a cafe where Superman and Batman meet up for some coffee and donuts.  

So my final opinion on this set.  Get this if you want the minifigures.  The build itself is rather simple and it is geared towards kids as opposed to an old kid like me.  The parts can be found elsewhere and if you want the Bat Signal, I'm sure you can find it online.  The minifigures are pretty good though Batman and Superman have come in various forms and these are pretty impressive.  Also, watch for chances to catch the set on sale.

The 2 heroes from this set are below if you are interested in them as well as some other versions for sale in the store on BrickLink.  

Set Review - Kwik-E-Mart - #71016

I finally finished my building backlog.  I've had this set since this summer and it is now completed.  The question I now need to answer is where do I put all of these sets.  Some day I hope to live in a place that has a giant basement that I can engulf with LEGO.  In the meantime, I will probably have to break all of these sets down and store them for the future.

Onto business... In 2014, LEGO released The Simpson's House.  A minifigure scale size home that looks pretty darn close to the one you see on TV.  The 2015 Simpson's set is the Kwik-E-Mart run by Apu.  It was released on 2 May 2015 and contains 2,179 pieces.  It has 6 minifigures, which include Homer, Bart (with a spray paint can), Marge with a shopping bag, Chief Wiggum (with a club and handcuffs), Apu Nahasapeemapetilo (yes, I had to look that one up... he has a mop to clean the floor), and Snake Jailbird.  If you just want minifigures, LEGO has released 2 collectible minifigure series sets.  Series 2 was released in 2015 and was sold out after Christmas this past year.  I have a number of figures from series 1 and series 2 in my store if you are still looking for them.   The Kwik-E-Mart is $199.99 in the US which works out to be about $0.092 per piece.  While not the greatest price, it's not too bad considering it is a licensed set.

Here are the pictures of the box.  It's a pretty large box.  The front has the standard full picture of the set while the back shows some details of the build.

Here are the contents.  I counted 17 bags total.  Plus some loose large pieces.  There is also a large instruction book and 2 pages of stickers.  There are some great pieces in this set in some great colors.  The only thing that really bothered me was the stickers.  I understand that it is probably a cost savings as it is cheaper to put stickers on then to print on parts, but it is a real pain to put stickers on parts.  That's just my opinion...  This set has a lot of stickers to add detail so if you buy it, get ready.

The first set of bags is Chief Wiggum, his car, and Snake Jailbird along with a piece separator.  The police car is a similar size, shape, and build to the Simpson's car from the Simpson's House set if you are familiar with it.  

The next set of bags gets started on the store.  The freezer and the cashier's area are included.

Here is more of the build.  The outside includes an area for the dumpster that has a door that opens.  There are also some fun arcade games, a drink dispenser, magazines, and a few other interesting details.

I didn't take pictures at every step of the way, but this stage shows how the back of the store attaches.  It hinges out so you can have access to the store on both sides.  I have a final picture with the back open later.  Homer is picture as well.  He just comes as shown, but I'm sure you could find some donuts with pink frosting in the store to put in his hands.

A little later in the build here... The Kwik-E-Mart sign is an interesting design.  The "E" is made of LEGO plates and then the rest of the sign is 2 larger stickers.  I can't complain as I'm sure it would have been much more challenging to build the whole sign out of bricks.

Here is the final set with the roof on.  I haven't watched the show enough to know that Apu grows plants on the roof.

Here is the final set with the roof removed.  You can see how the back of the store opens up to get access to it.  

Here's a few of the inside looking in from the back.  You can see a bit more of the detail to include the security cameras, donuts, and some of the items for sale.  The designers did a good job coming up with different items to sell, but as you can see there are a lot of stickers throughout the set.

Overall it's a pretty good replica of the Kwik-E-Mart from the show.  Even if you don't like the set, it comes with a lot of great pieces if you want to take it apart and build something on your own.  LEGO has been putting out more sets priced $100 or more recently.  This is most likely to cater to adult fans.  While some of these are great sets, the prices definitely keep some of the fan base out of the sets.  I'm not a raving Simpson's fan, but as an adult it's been fun to watch every now and then (definitely not a kid appropriate show).  Fans of the show should definitely look into getting this set.  The build was full of details and looks realistic compared to the show.  The only downside of the set to me was the large amount of stickers.  I'm not a fan of stickers on LEGO sets and I always have trouble putting them on straight.  

If you have the set, post in the comments and let me know what you think.

Set Review - Blue Power Jet - #31039

The Blue Power Jet was released in the US on 15 May 2015.  It is a part of the Creator line and contains 608 pieces total.  It costs $69.99 in the US which works out to be 11.5 cents per piece.  In my opinion, this is a bit high.  I found it on sale at Amazon.com for $59.99, which works out to be 9.8 cents per piece.  Right under the average of 10 cents per piece so about average.  If you're interested in this set, I would definitely look for a sale if you can find one.  

As you can see on the box, it comes with 3 separate designs.  There is the jet, a helicopter, and a speed boat.

The set comes with 5 parts bags and a 217 page instruction booklet.  It also comes with a part separator which is $2.49 from LEGO if you buy it separately so you can't complain there.  The bags are not numbered since there are 3 different builds so it takes a bit to find the pieces you need.  It also makes it more fun.  On page 2 of the instruction booklet, it says there are 3 different builds.  There is a "quick build" which is the speed boat, a "medium build" which is the helicopter, and an "advanced build" which is the jet.  For this review, I show the jet version only.  Interestingly enough, the Blue Power Jet looks a lot like the US military's F-35 Lightning II.  

F-35A - Courtesy of www.af.mil.

You'll notice some of the differences pretty quickly.  Besides some of the differences in shape (intakes, bottom of the aircraft, tail), there's the 2 seat cockpit versus the single seat cockpit, and the landing gear being visible.  I'm getting ahead of myself... let's get into the build.  

The build is on the bottom of the picture with all of the pieces above it.  You can see how the front landing gear fits in and you see the use of the Technic pieces to hold it all together.

As the build continues, you can see some of the engine taking place.  This variant looks similar to the F-35B variant that the US Marine Corps will use.  You can see some pictures on Lockheed Martin's Flickr stream here.  You'll notice a few pictures where panels open up so the aircraft can do vertical takeoffs and landings.   In later pictures, you'll see that the top of the LEGO model has panels that open so you can see the engine inside.  Not sure if it's for maintenance purposes or if it's vertical takeoff and landing parts.  

In this photo, you can see the cockpit taking shape.  The front seat has a green 1x1 translucent tile that I assume acts as the Heads-Up-Display or HUD for the pilot.  

In this photo you'll notice that the main part of the fuselage is covered.  There are 2 panels that open up (a picture of them open will be shown later).  Also, one of the wings is installed.  When I started the build, I was confused as to how it was going to work, but in the end it turned out very nice.  My only complaint is that the top is very detailed, the bottom is very plain (another picture seen later).  You'll notice the flaperon as well.  In my opinion, there's a lot of space between the wing and flaperon, but there isn't much you can do with a model this small.  By the way, if you don't know what a flaperon is, it's an aileron that can be used as a flap as well.  The aileron help you turn the plan, the flap gives you added lift at slow speeds.  Watch the wings the next time you fly commercial and you'll see the flaps open up before landing.

Here is my final build in progress picture before the final one.  Both wings are on now.  We're just missing the tail (vertical and horizontal stabilizers) and the canopy.

Here is the final build.  I put he flaperons up, the horizontal stabilizers are pitched as well.  You can see the panels open on the fuselage to expose the engine parts.  Also, the canopy is open too.  The actual F-35 has a single canopy piece that opens at the front versus 2 pieces.

Here is a picture with everything closed up.  

Here is a view from the front.  The nose is pretty flat and not a great aerodynamic shape.  Given the small space, I can't complain with what the designer did.  I'd rather have this then, LEGO building a specific piece that is a BURP (big ugly rock piece).

Here is the bottom of the aircraft.  Very plain if you ask me.  Landing gear is exposed, the wings do not have a shape on the bottom (camber is the official term for you nerds like me), and the color scheme from the top does not continue on the bottom.  To be fair, I'm sure LEGO didn't design this to be an official model.  They built it to give someone a building experience and if you want to make it better, go for it.  Get some additional pieces and knock yourself out, right?

Overall, it's an impressive model.  Lots of great detail and fun to build.  It's not an exact replica of a fighter jet, but given the size, I can't complain.  The price is a bit high so look for it on sale or take advantage of deals on LEGO.com (double VIP points or free give aways) to help out with the higher price.  I didn't build the other 2 models, but having the instructions for 2 others is great too.  Plus, it comes with a ton of great pieces.  The darker blue color is great to build with and I'm sure there are many other things you could build with these parts and maybe a few others.  The box says it is for ages 9 to 14.  I realize I'm older than that, but it's all good.  Younger kids may have trouble with the build or it may be a good time to sit down with a kid and spend some time together away from a screen.

I hope this post was useful.  Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see something different in set reviews.  Also, let me know if you have this set and what you think.  

Finally... I do not have this set available in my store.  Sorry.  I will look to catch it on sale so I can add it to the store or to one of my sales events. 

Christmas Promo Set Reviews - Gingerbread House (40139) and Christmas Train (40138)

If you are one who celebrates Christmas, then Merry Christmas to you!  I was at Target on 23 December and walked through the toy area.  It was mobbed (as to be expected) and the LEGO aisle looked like a war zone.  There were only a handful of sets left and many people were walking around talking about LEGO.  I hope you have purchased the LEGO you needed to ahead of time and weren't stuck somewhere like the picked through Target that I was at.  

The LEGO Company usually does a lot of promotions around Christmas time and also has some Christmas themed sets.  They traditionally have Advent calendars (City, Star Wars, and Friends), some decorations made out of LEGO, and continuations to the LEGO Winter Village theme.  LEGO Shop at Home has also had a number of promotions to include free shipping on all orders, double VIP points, and what I'm going to talk about today, the free Christmas promotional sets.  I'm not sure when it's started, but LEGO has released 2 sets a year that come free if your purchase more than a certain dollar amount (usually $99).  The first is available around October and the next one becomes available around Thanksgiving time.

This year there were 2 sets.  The first was set 40138, the Christmas Train.  It was available from 13 October to 13 November 2015.  The set has 233 pieces.  Here are some pictures of the box.

The box just has pictures of the set on the front and back.  The front of the box says that it's a 2015 Limited Edition set.

The set contains 4 LEGO parts bags and an instruction booklet.  There are no stickers (thankfully) and the bags aren't numbered.  With 233 parts, not having numbers isn't an issue as it was easy to find the parts needed to build the set.

Here is the final version of the set.  It is simple, yet rather detailed.  There is an engine, a car with various Christmas treats (cookies, packages, a candy cane, a lollipop, and a few other goodies), and then a caboose.  There is also a sign and tree that can go along the train's route.

Overall, this is a great set.  You can't beat the price... free... well you have to buy other stuff, but if you time your purchases knowing that this will be coming, then you're not upset about it.  While being small, the set contains a lot of great parts.  I enjoy building with the dark green color and the gold colored pieces are good too.  Plus as a town and train fan, I've found that I can never have enough landscaping pieces so an extra tree piece is good with me.  It also has a number of small pieces that are extra for the set that you can use elsewhere if you plan to keep this train together.

The next set is the Gingerbread House (40139).  It has 277 pieces and as mentioned it was available around Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday for purchases of $99 or more.  

The Gingerbread House box looks similar to the Train box.  Just a simple picture of the set with the 2015 Limited Edition marking on it.

The contents are similar to the train set as well.  There are for parts bags, an instruction booklet, and then a 2 x 12 white plate external to the bags.  

And here's the final design with front, side, and back pictures.  Despite being very small, the designers did a great job putting details in to make it look like a real gingerbread house.  Like the train, there are some great pieces in this set.  The brick textured pieces included are great and some of the candy colored pieces can also be useful with other builds.  Like the train set, there are a number of small pieces leftover for other uses if you want to keep this set together.

Overall, it's another great set.  With only 277 pieces, the designers did a good job cramming in detail with a small number of pieces.  Like the train, it's a great piece to add to your Winter Village or to have up around your house as a Christmas decoration.  

If you want to get one of these, you have to look on the secondary market.  I'm not sure what the prices on Amazon.com or EBay are, but Bricklink lists the average selling price for the train as $30.83 and $36.04 for the Gingerbread house.  I have one of each available, but I they are currently not for sale on my site yet as I'm focused on minifigures for now.

Let me know what you think of these sets in the comments section.

"It all started with a big..." Set Review - The Big Bang Theory - #21302

Released on 2 August 2015, The Big Bang Theory is one of the LEGO Ideas sets for 2015.  With 484 pieces, it captures the famous living room of Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter along with the 7 main characters.  The set costs $59.99 in the US, which puts it at around 12.4 cents per piece.  This makes it a little pricier, but if I had to guess, it's probably from licensing costs.  I've had the set for a while and have finally taken the time to put it together, take some pictures, and give a review.  Unless you live by a LEGO brand store, it's probably too late to get it for Christmas, but if you are expecting some gift certificates to LEGO, then maybe you'll want to add it to your list.  

Like many of the LEGO Ideas sets, the box is similar.  Instead of opening on the sides like most, it opens up on the top. The front of the box shows the completed set and all figures.  The back of the box shows some close up views as well as close ups on the 7 characters.

The contents include an instruction booklet that talks about the show, the show's characters, the designers of the set, and includes the instructions for the set.  There are 2 bags labeled "1" and 2 bags labeled "2."  It also includes some dark tan base plates and a small sticker page with only 2 stickers.

The first set of bags contains the main shell of the room, part of the book shelf, Bernadette Rostenkowski, Amy Farrah Fowler, and Howard Wolowitz, Cinnamon (I had to look up Raj's dog's name), a few extra pieces, and a piece separator.  Here are a few close up pictures.

The second set of bags contains the furniture, the other shelf, a lot of the details of items that decorate the apartment, and Penny, Raj Koothrappali, Sheldon Cooper, and Leonard Hofstadter.  Besides numerous books on the shelves, there are some globe looking objects, figurines, a DNA strand, a few white boards, and some other decorations.  The next time I watch the show, I'll have to pay better attention to the items to see how close the designer got.  

The completed set is above.  The one piece I did not add in were some of the kitchen utensils to include some forks for the crew to have their takeout Chinese food.

Here's a closer view of the gang.  I'll have to pay attention to the rug next time I watch to see how accurate it is.  You can also see the green lantern, a rocket, and a few other items.  The build itself is nothing too elaborate with mostly basic techniques used to capture the details.  There are some great bricks in this set to include the brick textured pieces and some of the pieces in that make up the decoration details.  

Here are some pictures of the minifigures.  As well as some front and back shots.  Bernadette and Amy have their pants painted or maybe they are skirts.  I'm not sure which I prefer, the painted on skirts or some of the sets where there are separate "cloth skirt pieces" that you have to attach.  The only character I think isn't quite accurate is Penny.  I'm not sure if it's her hair or her outfit, but it doesn't represent Penny very well in my opinion.  The rest of the gang looks pretty good.  All of the characters have 2 facial expressions.  I only show one in the pictures.  

Overall, my opinion is mixed.  I'm a big fan of "The Big Bang Theory" show and think the set is a great representation of Sheldon's and Leonard's living room area.  I think the minifigures are great too.  There are 7 in the set and for the most part, they look a lot like the characters on the show.  On the other side, the set is a bit pricey and the build is not very exciting.  While the details are there, but it doesn't use a lot of intricate building techniques.  I recommend this set for those that are big fans of the show and would think it's cool to have the set to go with it.  Other than that, many LEGO fans would not enjoy this set for the build itself.  It does have some good pieces in it, but I'm not sure it's worth it to spend $60 for those parts.

The Bricks for Bricks store is open.  I'm still working on perfecting it so that why there hasn't been a ton of posts on it.  You'll see some minifigures from "The Big Bang Theory" set in there if you are just looking for the minifigures.

A Fix for WALL-E

If you read my post from Friday (11 Dec) you saw that I purchased LEGO's WALL-E set and I mentioned how the head swivels very easily.  LEGO had been working on a fix, but I hadn't heard what the timeline would be for it.  Well the good news is I e-mailed LEGO Shop at Home customer service and mentioned that I purchased the WALL-E set before the fix was implemented.  The response I got back was that they had sent me the new parts and instructions and I should receive it in 7-10 business days.  SCORE!  No cost to me either so another bonus.  

So once the package arrives, I'll post some info on the fix with pictures.

Set Review - Rey's Speeder - 75099

For Star Wars fans, the wait is finally over.  "The Force Awakens" opens this week in theaters.  For those of you who have been paying attention, the marketing for the movie started quite awhile ago.  As LEGO fans, that has meant that there are a number of new sets and minifigures available out already.  With a lot of the details of the movie not released yet, we're not 100% sure of what they all are, but there are some fun new sets and minifigures out there.

The first one I purchased to add to the store is Rey's Speeder which is set number 75099.  It was $19.99 at LEGO.com and I'm sure it's available through Amazon and other stores.  There are 193 pieces which works out to 10.4 cents per piece.  It's a little pricey, but most Star Wars sets are a bit more than others because of LEGO having to pay the licensing fees.  

Here are pictures of the front and back of the box.

The set contains 2 bag of bricks labeled 1 and 2.  It has the instruction book and then a sheet of stickers as well (I have to work on taking better pictures).

The first bag includes minifigure Unkar's Thug.  Like most sets, it includes a few extra parts of the small variety.  The completed first bag picture is below.

Here's a picture of the final completed set.

There are a number of extra parts.  Rey comes with a hair piece or she can wear the helmet.  One of the trailers shows her wearing it and also shows her walking with the... is it a staff?  Or a weapon of some sort?  I guess we'll find out.  

Not having seen the movie, I don't know how accurate the design is, but it looks pretty cool.  If you're a Star Wars fan, this set might be one to consider.  I'll be selling the minifigs and the speeder in my store so if you're looking for them, let me know.  

Set Review - WALL-E - 21303

Well it's about time that I got a chance to build some more.  As you can see by the title, I assembled WALL-E which is set number 21303.  WALL-E is part of the LEGO Ideas program where fans build sets and submit them onto the site.  Then other fans can vote on them.  If a design received 10,000 votes, the LEGO Ideas team will review the set to see if they will consider it for production.

WALL-E was picked up as a 2015 set and released on 25 September 2015.  It costs $59.99 in the US and contains 677 pieces.  That works out to $0.088 per piece so around the average.  Here are a few pictures of the front and back of the box.

Like many of the previous LEGO Ideas sets, this set comes with a thick instruction book that starts with some information about the designer and the set itself.  

The set contains 9 bags along with the instructions.  The bags are not numbered like some sets are so you have to open them all and build at once.  One of the bags contains just the treads to WALL-E's tracks.  The set also contains an orange piece separator.  

The build itself was not overly challenging, but my guess is some younger children would need some help with some of the parts that are a bit more challenging to put together.  I built the set over a few nights of free time.  I completed through #38 in the instructions after my first night.

You can see most of the main part of WALL-E's structure here and the start to the door that he opens to crush garbage into blocks.  After the second night I had a good chunk of it done minus an eye and his hands.

After my third night of building, I finished the set.  Here are some pictures of the final product.

Overall, I think the design is well done.  They did a great job capturing the design of WALL-E.  Having the plant is a nice touch.  It always amazes me how people can use LEGO to construct things that look very close to the real thing.

One note is the design of the head.  The swivel is rather loose and it doesn't stay in one place.  LEGO has come up with a new design for the swivel.  It includes some additional pieces and new instructions.  If you bought the set early on, you can find the instructions and some details here.  I e-mailed LEGO customer service to ask about how I can get the new pieces and instructions.  I will do another post once I get an answer.  In the meantime, from reading the various LEGO fan sites, it looks like if you buy WALL-E now, you will get the upgraded design.  If anyone has purchased it recently, let me know.

Should you buy this set?  In my opinion a lot depends on whether you are a fan of WALL-E or not.  Those that don't know the movie or didn't enjoy it may not enjoy having this set.  As a fan of the movie, I thought it was great and am glad I got it.  The price is about on par with other sets on a price per piece ratio so not too bad.  The build is very creative and if you want to take WALL-E apart, there are some great pieces to build other designs with.  I'm sure a lot could be done with the tracks.  Another bonus to the design, there was no sticker book.  All of the pieces that would have stickers are printed onto the parts themselves.  

If you got this set and have built it, please let us know what you think in the comments area. I'm curious to hear what other fans have thought.

It's a Ferrari! - Set Review - Ferrari F40 - #10248

I finally got some time to build.  WOOHOO!  I had 4 sets waiting for me.  The list includes Wall-E, The Big Bang Theory, Simpsons Kiwk-E-Mart, and the F40 Ferrari.  My first choice of build was the Ferrari and I definitely think it was a great choice, but I'll get into that later.

The F40 Ferrari (#10248) was released in 2015 under the LEGO Creator Expert line.  The age range says 14+ on the container.  It contains 1,158 pieces (I'll trust he box, I didn't count) so quite a few.  The price in the US is $99.99 so that works out to be $0.086 per piece so not too bad when it comes to LEGO.  No minifigures are included, but that was fine for me.  It also includes a piece separator to help you take it apart or help fix mistakes you may make (yes I did make some).  

Here are pictures of what the container looks like.  It is a decent size, but there wasn't a lot of open space on the inside.

Here are the contents of the container.  Four bags labeled "1" and four bags labeled "2" with a large instruction book (over 100 pages) and a small sheet of stickers.

The instructions were in a bag, but not with a cardboard piece to keep them from bending like in some of the larger sets.  The instructions weren't bent in my container so I can't complain.  The stickers were flat too.

Onto the bags labeled number 1.  I'll be the first to admit that I made some mistakes in this build.  I'm not sure if I was rushing or just that it was challenging.  It wasn't anything that I couldn't fix, but I definitely think the age range listed on the container is spot on.  Younger children can build this, but will most likely need an adult to help them out (which isn't a bad thing).  Here are a few pictures of the results from the first set of bags.  Lots of SNOT (Studs Not On Top) techniques, use of Technic style pieces, and some very creative building techniques.

The bags labeled #2 were next.  I was thankful that there weren't a ton of stickers.  Most of them were of the Ferrari logo, but a few of the pieces were printed on to save the hassle.  I am not a fan of stickers, because I never seem to put them on right.  The stickers I placed on look okay, but you can definitely see they are stickers versus printed on pieces.  More creative building techniques in #2 and some amazing building techniques I haven't used in the past.  The tires and rims were great too.  I'm not sure if they have been used in a previous set, but they definitely help make the model in my opinion.  Here are some pictures of the finished product.  Note that you can open the doors, the hood, and the trunk to see the engine.  I'll admit I've never been close enough to a Ferrari to inspect it to see how realistic the engine looks, but I think it's impressive.

Overall, this was a great build.  It was challenging with some great use of building techniques to create a final item.  The vehicle is very sleek.  I'm impressed at how the designers were able to create such a streamlined model using just LEGO pieces.  I will probably never own a real Ferrari... for one, too expensive for me and two, I have never learned how to drive stick shift and don't want to learn on a Ferrari.  However for $99.99, plus tax, I am okay with owning a model of one.  The build was enjoyable and it comes with a lot of great pieces if I don't want to keep the car together.  It's a great LEGO model for an adult, teen, or for a younger kid to tag team with an adult.  

If you want to buy it, I recommend going straight through LEGO through their website or a physical store.  You can find them online, but they are all marked up much higher over the retail price.  Amazon.com lists the cheapest one at $142 today.  Sign up for the VIP program and if you time it right, you can get a free item with it or whatever they are offering.  Also, the price will get you free shipping so that'll save you some too.

Let me know if you get it or if you have one.  I'm curious to see what you think.

Set Review - LEGO Creative Supplement - #10693

Thanks to some great friends, I received a LEGO set as a gift.  It was set number 10693, the LEGO Creative Supplement.  

It got a little damaged in shipping, but the contents inside are still good.  There are 303 pieces inside and they are displayed on the back of the container.

As you can see there are a wide variety of colors in this set as well as types of pieces.  It's not just bricks, but slopes, cylinders, some SNOT (studs not on top) parts, and a few other fun pieces.  There are even a few translucent parts in the mix.  The set includes a brick separator as well and a few 1 x 1 eye tiles.  Other than that, the set does not include any other tiles or plates.

The inside contains 3 bags of bricks and a booklet of some various designs you can build.  

So why would you want a bunch of random bricks?  To build whatever you want with them, that's why!  You can use just the pieces in the set to build or you can add them to your other sets and designs to build whatever you want.  

The set is $19.99 for 303 pieces.  That's a little over $0.06 a piece.  In terms of price, it's a pretty good deal if you look at price per piece.

Is this a good set to buy?  It depends on who is buying it.  A LEGO fan who builds to the limits of the bricks he/she owns will love this set for the added parts.  A child who is used to sets with instructions and minifigures may not appreciate this set.  So it all depends.  If you're looking to get me a set, I like it!