Delightful detail captured within the obvious limitations of Lego pieces ...
586722
Delightful detail captured within the obvious limitations of Lego pieces. However, it is understandable that the presentation could be offensive to some religious believers due to its sometimes whimsical presentation.
4876940
Ok, here's the deal. These are NOT "toys" for "beginners"...they require a ton of patience and can be tedious and at times confusing. Occasionally, some pieces will break along fold lines but superglue tends to solve that. All that being said, I really enjoy these things! I was into LEGO and models when I was a kid. These are certainly more challenging than an ordinary model but the end result is a pretty cool structure. For reference, each one probably takes around 4-8 hours depending on the difficulty...For this set of four, I'd rank them as such from most difficult to easiest: Snow Speeder, Kylo Ren ship, Tie Fighter, X-wing (which is actually my favorite). Also, I know that this company sells some specialized tools for these models but if you have a utility knife and needle nose pliers, you're set (which you could probably get for cheaper anyway at a hardware store; see pictures). A little tip, use the cardboard packaging as a surface to cut pieces out, just press the utility knife down on the small tabs holding the pieces together. I plan to purchase more in the future. See my pictures for further item details. May the Force be with you!
3400217
This product is a little delicate, but that should be expected because this is a big lego piece. The quality of the set is ingenious, and the size will blow your mind. It will take about 4-6 hours, if one really works on it. I personally think it is more for show, than for play(too fragile). Overall, it is worth it!
4088068
For me, this set was mainly used as a sort of "super-detailing" set for the other Harry Potter sets I own. It is crammed with all kinds of small details, items, animals, and furniture. Lots of potions, bottles, stands, and hats. You can configure minifigs with this set, add bottles to scenes, and all kinds of very, very fun ideas. On it's own, as the set is intended, it completes two very detailed shops, with a cardboard backdrop that provides two solid walls for each shop (complete with good detail on the cardboard itself).
The set also comes with one Hermionie minifig. (Note: She's in casual, non-Hogwarts attire. I found that she looked quite decent in a spare Harry Potter body, legs, and cloak, with her head and hair substituted. Since each set comes with one Harry figure, most people are sure to have such a spare.)
One solid point off for the background being nothing more than a piece of cardboard - kids can easily destroy such a thing in a flat minute. The rest of the kit is solid Lego quality.
4423382
Rats! I forgot to order my Lego advent calendar early, and had to go with this Star Wars variety for 2016 (the Lego website was already backordered for the City and Friends themes). This version is priced at a premium---I think that's expected for "brand licensed" sets---but I'm always happy with the unique holiday pieces and the creative uses of regular components to make seasonal surprises for each day.

IMPORTANT: the box itself serves as the display scene for the assembled pieces you will build, so be careful opening it! There are small tape-tabs that close a lid flap to the main box, and that is all that needs to be opened. Slice those tabs carefully, leaving the rest of the box intact, then set it up and you're ready to go. The photo below shows how the box is used for the display scene. Like traditional advent calendars, the little "windows" you punch open are in a random order on the box, so searching for the right day is additional fun.

Although Lego does put out new advent sets every year to satisfy collectors, you could certainly re-use the set more than once if you are careful opening the box and then packing it back up. I've even used my previous-year sets to create a multi-box Advent Lego city!
4346021
Brilliant!

Longtime LEGO fan here and dubiously skeptical of most copycat block building kits, but this set is awesome! I'm loving the attention to detail structural integrity of the build on whole. Impressive on all levels. I say this with acknowledgment that IT IS a modular brick-building kit and this will limit the overall accuracy of the replica compared to the actual counterpart. My expectations, I think were reasonable and when I got into the build my expectations were exceeded dramatically... I believe the kit is that good!

Be aware of the recommended age participation for this build. It is complex with many tiny parts (just under 850). Recommended age level is 14 yrs and up. It might prove frustrating for ages younger, especially without the leadership of a patient guide.

As I mentioned, I'm very impressed with this kit and am inspired to expand my experience with Mega Bloks to other models within the series, maybe the CoD Anti-Armor Helicopter Kit, since my son is a chopper pilot in the US Army. "HooAh!" Nice Job, Mega Bloks!
3772890
The set is fairly easy to put together and looks good in the end.  The best part the various little special pieces, like the dogs, pizza slice and hotdogs.  These special pieces are crafted in much more detail than lego's special pieces.  Curiously enough, Chelsea, while posable at the hips and arms, actually has her legs molded into a single dot piece ending.  So, you cannot pose her legs seprately, unlike Megablock's Halo figures or lego figurines.  But she certainly has a more human shape than the typical Lego figurines, where the details and body curves are printed on the same blocky figure mold.  Lego Friend's line has figures more akin to the Mega Blocks sets, but they take up two dots on the feet to pose.

The pool holds water because it's a singular piece.  The slide is too.  The design blocks are actually stickers.  There are two ways to look at this:  1.  It's better to have the pieces already permanently decaled for longevity and neatness, 2.  it's better to have stickers so you have the option to leave the pieces plain so you can build other things without the designs getting in the way.

Generally speaking, the pieces are easy to put together, but not as uniformly easy as Lego sets.  Also, they are a little harder to take apart than Lego pieces for rebuilding.  Mega Blocks used to be cheaper than Lego's by a wide margin, but now with the branding, run about the same price.
362747
A hilarious book that will be appreciated by any Lego fan!
553030
My 9-year-old son and I put this toy together in about an hour. While there is some element of "puzzleness," it really is more of a model than a puzzle. I don't think you could really treat it like a puzzle due to the number of seemingly identical pieces, but I guess it would be possible to ignore the numbers and arrows on the back of each piece. The towers are 3-D "puzzle" constructions which then feed into the "model" building, which involves adding the bases, roads, and suspension components.

This toy is constructed of high quality plastic pieces with some paper decorations/adornments. It if pretty large once fully assembled (46.2 inches - 117,4 cm) long and a little over a foot (30,5 cm) high. The bridge is large enough for Matchbox-type cars to be run across it, so there is some additional play value for younger children.

As for educational value, this toy is a model of the Tower Bridge in London, so there's that aspect, but the manufacturer also includes a bit of history in the instruction booklet after the assembly guidelines. I learned a bit about the bridge from this material -- did you know that construction was started in 1886 and took 8 years? Don't expect an in-depth history lesson, but I found it nice to have something included.

A solid 4 stars for this toy.
2354911
Bought for my 8-year-old son based on online photos, so yeah, like other reviewers, we were surprised / disappointed by how little actual Lego you get with this set for the price.  Not a terrific value, but he is thrilled to have these characters.  He loves the vehicle; it is reasonably unique with its sawblade action and the chain-type ninja weapon.  He also likes how the minifig has a "seatbelt" that doubles as a weapons system.  The whole thing took him less than 20 minutes to put together, but he's happy because now he can play with it. :-)
334127
This was a Christmas gift for my 8 year old who loves Legos and is quite the brick builder.  Like other reviews, we found this one a bit tedious to build, with some of the blocks not fitting easily (as another reviewer noted, we had to fiddle some of the blocks to get them to fit correctly).  This was especially true with the rooftop.  I found certain parts of the directions (especially the rooftop) are shown a bit askew, so it is difficult to ascertain where exactly within the brick to snap the opposing brick...meaning it was hard to count how many dots into the brick to snap the other brick.  The characters are really neat because they are jointed similar to how the real dolls are jointed (unlike the blocky lego figures), so there's a real playability to the set.  Although my experienced 8 year old brick builder definitely needed assistance building this set, it's VERY cool and for the most part sturdy.  The hassle at times building this was well worth the result!
4221219
I have the original LEGO Ecto 1 building kit and the model sits proudly on my shelf. This new LEGO model is slightly bigger and boxier looking (its modeled after a Cadillac hearse) and now it too sits proudly on display.

The original LEGO model could only seat two minifigs because there's more detail in the vehicle's interior. What the new model lacks on interior detail it makes up for it by allowing you to seat four minifigs (You can, if you choose, fit one proton pack in the rear).

A nice touch to this model is the side doors swing open and close as does the rear door. The roof comes off to facilitate the insertion or removal of the minifigs. There are stickers that need to be applied and for those with fat fingers (like me), I found if you use a modeling knife with a flat and pointed tip, you can use the knife to position the sticker and apply it with little difficulty.

It took me about two hours to build this and I consider the price to be a good value for this kit. This LEGO vehicle is an excellent likeness to the movie vehicle and for fans who enjoy these particular genre of building kits, this one is highly recommended.
1915530
A few years ago I downloaded a free pdf version of these books and sent in a donation.  I'm glad to see them in print and I quickly snatched up the collection (very reasonably priced too!).

If you've been into Legos for a number of years, especially in NXT robotics or the more advanced technics sets you might be staring at pile of weird Lego parts, gears, pins, cams and beams and wonder what can I do with all of this?  Or you might be on a First Lego League team and be wondering how to get your Legos to do a certain thing like grab something or lift something.

These beautiful books provide a treasure trove of examples of how the more advanced Lego pieces work together. Overall the Lego systems has zillions of parts available but often it seems to the Lego fan that only select engineers at Lego can actually understand what the purpose of certain parts.  By studying the photos in this book one can come to some head slapping moments like "ohhh, that's a way to make a gear change direction".

Of course the drawback of buying any third party book as opposed to buying a Lego kit is that of course you most likely won't have all of the pieces depicted in the book.  But since the Lego system is so diverse you should be able to recreate what is shown in a different way or search Ebay or online Lego brick sellers for the piece you need.

The educational applications of this series of books is vast.  It takes one into the realm of simply machines and engineering.  Its a great resource or encyclopedia for anyone doing Lego robotics or First Lego League.

Thank you Yoshihito for sharing your Lego knowledge and your art!
911978
**Update December 2011: Lego has delisted this set. There are, as of writing, still supplies of this train available. At some point, prices for the set will start to appreciate quickly.**

This is a five star train for kids in the 5 to 8 year old range.  Older kids may be more interested in the City line trains (7938 and 7939) or the Harry Potter Hogwart's Express train (4841).  The City trains, incidentally, are the only ones that come as complete sets with track, motors and remote control devices.

Wow, this is a good looking train!  I believe that the photos and box art for the set don't do justice to how it looks when it is built, and how much fun it is to play with.  This is an Old West 4-4-0 steam engine, box car, passenger car, and caboose. I would describe the design as more cartoon-like than realistic, with the engine having exaggerated proportions and the cars a tad short. The set includes no track or motor. It is designed as a push train. The engine uses four new drivers (and comes with two extra un-flanged drivers) as well as a cattle-catcher (a new part). The train cars themselves are short but attractively designed.  As with the other new trains for 2010, this set is largely brick-built (i.e., few specialized plastic moldings). The set includes Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Rex, and Evil Doctor Pork Chops mini-figures. The passenger car and the caboose are designed with lift-off tops to make it easier to place characters inside, and the box car has a trap door in the roof.  The caboose and the passenger car also have doors at each end, but these are hard to close unless you lift off the top.  And I find that the engine is not as sturdy as I would like (e.g., the piston cylinders can pivot out of the proper orientation, the cattle catcher comes off when the kids hit objects -- as they are won't to do).  The train is not a difficult build, but younger children will likely need some assistance.

Regarding adding a motor, it is possible to use Lego's Power Function (PF) accessories to add one.  The easiest way is power the drivers with a motor, place an IR receiver in the engine cab, and a battery in the box car.  The problem with this method is that the drivers are large and so even at slow motor speeds, the train goes faster than it should.  It is preferable, but more of a hastle, to build a tender and put both the motor and battery box in it.  This engine deserves a tender, and a tender's wheels are a more appropriate size for the motor.  Wheels, coupling magnets and bricks can be had, piece-by-piece, directly from Lego.  Obviously, motorization is really a project for tinkerers, but isn't that what Lego is about?  In any case, the major parts that you need are (usually directly from Lego): 88002 (motor), 8884 (IR receiver), 8879 (IR transmitter), and one of the following:
-8878 (rechargeable battery) with 8887 (transformer for recharging)
-88000 (AAA battery box).

Though train buffs will likely be put-off by the design, this set is going to be very, very popular among children.  Grandparents, I think this makes a perfect birthday or holiday gift.  I do recommend buying track; the engine's wheels are on two bogies, so the whole thing can get a little sideways without it.  As of early 2011, Lego discontinued their standard track pack, #7896. Two such sets gave you an oval. 7896 is still available but often at outrageous prices. In place of 7896, Lego currently offers a flex-track pack (#8867, which is enough to make a circle) and a combination straight and flex pack (#7499). I don't believe the flex track is ideal for curves, but it is not clear what Lego's plan is at the moment. There are also switches available (set #7895).  If you want to add additional old west structures, you can add 7594, Woody's Roundup (which is a scene in Toy Story 2, not 3).
2959980
I was very excited to hear about this set's release and as a Lego VIP I was able to get it prior to the July 1 release date. This set is a great value in terms of piece count (even if you pay extra to purchase through a 3rd-party seller) and has fantastic playability. It is a little short on minifigs (really should have Merry and Pippin minifigs) but the design of the set itself is magical. There are plenty of little details here for fans of both the books and the movies, as well as advanced building techniques and an attention to detail that will excite any Lego enthusiast.

Get this one while it is available because it is sure to increase in value after it is retired in a year of two!
3461306
This is a catalog of the more unique minifigs, including some movie and comic characters that have been included in sets over the years. Like similar Lego books, there's a minifig (zombie skateboarder, with skateboard) that's packaged in the cover of the book so the while the whole thing is very thick, more than half of that is the integral thin cardboard box that makes it thick enough for the minifig to fit inside, and it's a little annoying.

The book is broken up into chapters with a theme ("Everyday Heroes", "You're History!" etc.) with the minifigs in no particular order (so the contents and index will come in handy). A page is dedicated to each one and there's a surprising amount of information and trivia presented. Someone put a lot of research into this.

The pictures are about 2x bigger than the actual minifigures so the detail is excellent.

It's not a building guide or idea book, but if you like Lego, and especially minifigures of course, then there's a lot of fun to be had here.

G.
99565
Meccano has something really great here with the LaFerrari project.  It's an Italian toy company with an exclusive license from the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari.  Finding this product has proven to be somewhat difficult; luckily I found it on Amazon without a price tag over 3x msrp...how long this will last?  That seems unknown - I think this has all the makings of a rare toy in the next decade or so.

Even if you care nothing of preserving the toy, but just experiencing the challenge of the build, this will certainly offer a challenge.  Once finished, you can integrate parts with other Meccano sets for your own creations - Meccano even shares some compatibility with the Vex robotics sets.

As someone who grew up building both Legos and Erector sets, looking back, the greatest gain, the greatest sense of achievement always came from the Erector sets (eventually Meccano-Erector, or now just Meccano).  Meccano has the advantage of using materials that are actually encountered in real life.  For ex., machine screws, washers, nuts, etc., I've encountered these in non-Meccano activities; never have I encountered plastic stack/lock bricks with drilled holes that accept extruded plastic bars with proprietary pieces that slide into an imprecise position.  This, I believe, is why Meccano receives lower reviews than Lego - they seem fairly straightforward, but, inevitably, there always comes some backwards work to determine what small slip you made that it's not assembling correctly - when it's precision drilled holes and machine screws, there is a strategy to working with these in advance to prevent errors or non-lined up assembly points.  Lego is not like this, requires little material working knowledge, nor develops this knowledge with trial and error, & is fairly simple.  There is little direct transference of basic knowledge of hardware and common building materials with Lego - once a Lego project has been built, it's neat; once a Meccano project is built, it's neat & makes me wonder how I can further build beyond what a Meccano set offers.  Meccano is a launch platform to something bigger and more valuable; Lego is a launch platform to the next toy.

So, this is indeed a difficult build; it will be frustrating & it is always tempting to blame the product because you know you followed the instructions - it's frustrating knowing you have to work backwards on a long project, but it teaches and makes the effort that much more rewarding.  This set will try your patience, but once you get it, it will be a rewarding experience.

Also, a word of advice; if you intend on a set such as this, get some tools beyond what is provided, specifically a magnet assist precision screw driver set, maybe one that can extend and retract.  The basic tools you get are just that, basic.