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EddieTheChronicler

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EddieTheChronicler's Stats

Reviews

4.7
Average Rating
42
Helpfulness Votes

0
Featured Reviews
9
Review Count
April 5, 2015
First Review
January 31, 2016
Last Review

EddieTheChronicler's Reviews

Heavy Lift Helicopter

Posted:January 31, 2016

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Customer Type: LEGO Fan

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

Russian Beauty

" I've built the 9396 helicopters and the 42025 cargo plane, but this set is so much better than either!!

I have always loved and admired Russian aviation design, so I was ecstatic when I saw this new Lego helicopter. Designed after the Kamov Ka-32 helicopter, this helicopter not only captures the beautiful design of the helicopter's fuselage and tail but also succeeded in capturing the co-axial rotor design!! In addition, the functions of the moving rudder and aileron, the opening ramp, and the opening bottom of the helicopter are all really really cool functions!! I saw that one reviewer complained that you couldn't use it as a toy when the bottom doors were open. I watched the Technic designer video on this set and then did this myself with my own helicopter, and the tail section is, in fact, sturdy enough to hold whilst playing with. When I open the underbelly and use the winch, I place one hand under the helicopter by the power switch, and with the other I hold on to the tail section. This works just fine for me. I have not built and do not intend to build the B model, but that really intrigued me and I think that it's another great set design. It's based off of the CH-46 Sea Knight, which were popular with Scandinavian governments before being largely sold off to civilian companies, where they remain in very active use. All in all, both designs are pretty cool, but I absolutely love the A model, the Kamov helicopter. I've always wanted a Russian plane or helicopter in a Technic set, and now I finally have one!! If anyone reading this is a serious MOCer with lots of spare parts, this helicopter would also serve as a great base for a MOC Mi-17 cargo helicopter, which I know I've always really wanted to build (Lego- that would be a great set! Just saying!) All in all, this is a very unique set, as Lego rarely bases their designs on Russian engineering; that's what made this set so special for me, and as soon as I saw it I knew I was going to get one "

I would recommend this to a friend!

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Customer Type: LEGO Fan

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

01 days

Play Experience (Optional):

5 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

5 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Challenging

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

+5points

5of 5found this review helpful.

Fire Station

Posted:July 3, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

Yes. It Is As Awesome As You Think.

" I think any kid that's a fan of Lego at some point or another will get this fixation on the Police/Fire Station sets. They look so amazing but they're so expensive, and for me I fell in love never got one because of the pricetag. But now I'm finally old enough to have a job, and that means I'm old enough to buy my own Fire Station! Now I knew that I'd probably overhyped the set after years of anticipation and excitement about this set and its predecessor. For anyone that hasn't gotten this set: Yes, it is as awesome as you think. I didn't overhype this set. It's a ton of fun, the fire truck is great, I really like the skid design on the fire helicopter since it keeps the helicopter from being knocked off the side of the helipad while not actually connecting the helicopter to the helipad, allowing the helicopter to take off without taking off the helipad. Three stories: bottom is a dispatch room with computers and a telephone, middle is an equipment room where the firemen suit up, and the top floor is a kitchen where the firemen and women can eat and relax between emergency calls. The garage is attached to the first story and the helipad is on the roof of the garage and attached to the second story. I really like the fire pole design, which allows minifigures to slid down the pole and is also very poseable, allowing firemen to be suspended, frozen in the middle of their descent.

Awesome set! If you have the opportunity to get it, get it! "

I would recommend this to a friend!

My Product Recommendations

Fire Emergency

(21)

Fire Starter Set

(2)

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

02 hrs

Play Experience (Optional):

5 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

5 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Challenging

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

+15points

16of 17found this review helpful.

High-speed Passenger Train

Posted:July 3, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

Most Realistic Bullet Train By Lego

" Over the years, Lego has produced their fair share of bullet trains. I considered purchasing 10157 when that was being sold and I thought that was a realistic train. Then I came REALLY close to purchasing 7938 because that looked like a really realistic bullet train. But as I went online to buy it, it was gone! But it wasn't just gone, it was replaced by a new train: 60051.

And wow! I just can't get over that cockpit design!! It's sleek, it's cool, it's accurate, I'm so glad I didn't get the chance to purchase the old train! I wish Lego's passenger train sets came with more track, especially switch tracks, but I already had the 7939 Cargo Train so I was able to use extra tracks to lengthen the passenger train and connect the two oval lines. It comes with a railroad crossing (which is a great idea Lego!!) and a small train platform with passengers and bike. These trains actually go pretty fast so long as the motors have fresh batteries- need to be careful around turns because of that though.

One of the great things about the RC train sets is that all of their remotes can control up to 8 trains independently. I really like that this allows you not just to run multiple trains, but to run them at different speeds and different directions (meaning that if you buy multiple trains, they can run at the same time on their own speed and direction).

This is a great set to buy. My only complaint: wish it had more track. But it does come with a nice oval, and station and track crossing, and you can always buy extra track. Definitely recommend, this set has lots of playability, lot of fun. "

I would recommend this to a friend!

My Product Recommendations

Switching Tracks

(47)

Flexible and Straight Tracks

(90)

Cargo Train

(43)

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

20 mins

Play Experience (Optional):

5 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

5 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Average

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

-1point

2of 5found this review helpful.

Helicopter Surveillance

Posted:July 3, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

Lego is turning out a bunch of _H-53s. Yay!!

" Am I the only one that's noticed Lego's _H-53 streak? First the 60013 CH-53, then the 60067 CH-53, then this MH-53J Pave Low III. The H-53 happens to be my favorite helicopter, which means I'm buying up these sets. I really liked the 60013 helicopter, and then I purchased this... this helicopter is almost twice as long!! This is actually the most complex helicopter build I've seen from a City set, and I'm really happy with this set. I've always thought City should make more helicopter sets and I'm very glad to see that they are. The truck and house are fun builds, and I like the minifigures. The helicopter is an awesome design, and also great if you want to make a modern Lego military. "

I would recommend this to a friend!

My Product Recommendations

Training Jet Transporter

(3)

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

45 mins

Play Experience (Optional):

5 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

4 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Challenging

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

+4points

4of 4found this review helpful.

Coast Guard Helicopter

Posted:July 3, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

Lego is on an _H-53 streak... and I love it.

" Am I the only one that's noticed Lego's _H-53 streak? First this Coast Guard helicopter (a CH-53), then the 60067 CH-53, then the 60046 MH-53J Pave Low III. That's my favorite helicopter so I rushed to buy this set when I first saw it online, and I really like this set. The boat and shark are cool, but the CH-53 is the main focus and that helicopter is great. I like the minifigures: a pilot, diver (which can also be a pilot), and winch operator. I think the winch is pretty cool, and it can pull itself up by pushing a button. Fun product. "

I would recommend this to a friend!

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

30 mins

Play Experience (Optional):

5 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

5 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Easy

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

+4points

4of 4found this review helpful.

Lewa – Master of Jungle

Posted:July 3, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

Bionicle is Back

" I have always been a Bionicle Air Tribe fan, and was eager to see it's return in new Bionicle. I am very happy with the 2015 Jungle tribe- I've purchased the Lewa set and seven Jungle protectors and am very happy with them. Lewa is very poseable and fun to play with. I really like the new gearbox function, and Lewa's axe cleverly doubles as his X-Glider. HIs mask is a very sleek and awesome design and I like his chest printing. Definitely recommend. "

I would recommend this to a friend!

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

40 mins

Play Experience (Optional):

5 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

5 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Average

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

0points

0of 0found this review helpful.

Helicopter

Posted:July 3, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

This Will Be A Classic Technic Set

" This set is amazing. The "A" variant is able to use Power Functions to use all of it's features, which allow you to turn the rotors, use the winch, raise and lower the wheels, and raise and lower the back ramp. To be honest, I was quite surprised that the set chose to put the raise/lower landing gear and turn rotors functions on the same gear, meaning that you can spin the rotors, raise the landing gear, but not do both at the same time. This is just personal preference, and I think that this is a great set with inventive features. Additionally, the set comes with the ability to change the angle of the rotor, an important part of flying a real helicopter.

The "B" variant, in my opinion, is the unsung hero of this set (there is a surprising lack of pics aside from Reveoon's, so I included some). With all Technic sets (that I can recall right now), the set comes with an "a" and "B" variant. The "A" variant is the set's original design. The "B" variant is Lego telling it's engineers to make something new and relative using only the parts given for the "A" variant. Many say the Technic and Creator sets are the same in this respect but in fact the Creator designers are allowed to use extra pieces for the additional models, whereas the Technic designers have a much tougher job with their much tighter parts supply. Nonetheless, the designers whipped up a truly amazing twin-rotor helicopter, which is a difficult design is you have access to as many pieces as you want. Limit the parts and create a complex and realistic design? I really don't know how the set designers did it.
I love the B variant more because of that ingenuity and the fact that you rarely see twin-rotor helicopters. The B variant comes with two of the four main features: the rotor turning and the landing gear (which once again cannot be done simultaneously). I love the landing gear design on the twin-rotor: two gears that come off of the sides of the helicopter and fold under the belly. Additionally the B variant allows the user to tilt the rotors just as the A variant does. Still really enjoy this set, was worth every penny! Definitely recommend if you find a used one for sale.

P.S. I didn't really think about this until the end of my review, but this set is H-U-G-E HUGE!!! That was my first impression of the set was wow this is big!! Huge set, huge rotor span, long helicopter, h-u-g-e!! "

Images for this Review

(click to see full-size image)

I would recommend this to a friend!

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

03 days

Play Experience (Optional):

5 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

5 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Very Challenging

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

+2points

4of 6found this review helpful.

Lord of Skull Spiders

Posted:July 2, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

2 / 5

Is... Is That What They're So Scared Of?

" Well to paraphrase Princess Leia: "Aren't you a little short for a main villain?" Seriously, the best warriors on the island had to team up to fight this thing? Couldn't a Protector just element blast it with their minigun? Measuring about 3 inches tall, it towers under all of the other Bionicle figures in this wave. And yet it's the main villain of the wave? It just seems to me that a main villain should be big and imposing, and this is... supposed to be. Maybe. But I just don't see it. It's not a threat to one Toa. It's barely a threat to a Protector. I know that it's probably just a "pawn" villain as ToaLarich said, but nonetheless this "pawn" villain was released as THE stand-alone boss villain for Bionicle's initial release, was hyped up as a worthy adversary, and yet- it's quite short compared to the Toa. Sure, length and width wise it's the largest, but as I pictured in this review the Toa can crush this thing with ease under a heroic metal boot.

The grip and crush feature is cool, but there's two problems with it. One: it doesn't really work with these figures. The legs are to small to go around even a Protector, so it doesn't really grip or crush anything larger than a piece or two. Two: it's obvious that the set was built around this feature, rather than the feature being integrated into the set. The crush feature is clever, don't get me wrong, but I think Bionicle fans would have preferred a large spider that has two legs that crush instead of a small spider that uses all six legs to crush.

Printed piece is cool, grip function is cool, but my big complaint is that leg design, and with a spider set it's pretty much all legs. These legs make the spider way too short. I even tried flipping the legs to make this thing as tall as I could and it was still way shorter than the Protectors, which are 5", almost twice as tall. Not only are the legs short, they are barely poseable. Only the "foot" piece moves, the legs don't go forward-backward or even up and down (not independently, anyway). So this set's poseability is low, in stark contrast to the rest of the wave. If you're going to buy this set, buy leg pieces from the Toa to make this set taller because this thing is way too short on its own.

Pros:
Cool printed piece (this set only)
Golden skull spider? Yes please! (this set only)
Clever grip function
I like the spikes and the teeth on this set

Cons:
WAY TOO SHORT!!!!
Clearly built around the function
Function isn't effective due to lack of leg length
Poseability largely hindered by lack of moveable legs
We've got a golden skull spider... where are it's legs??

Wrap-Up:
Honestly if Lego had just included six of the Toa leg pieces to extend the legs this set, this would have been a 5/5 set and I would have talked about how much I loved their scary villian. It would have been poseable. The function would have worked MUCH better. The legs might have actually moved. I really can't figure out why they didn't think to put that in the set, it's not like them and I'm sure it won't happen with future sets. I'm also quite suprised by their decision to not give the Golden Skull Spider legs. All of the other Skull Spiders have legs AND infection powers, why not this one? This set is just not great, which is really abnormal for Lego.

If you're a collector like me, get this set so that you have this wave's main villain. And I'm not saying this set can't be fun to play with, especially if you're 8 or 9. But honestly if you want a worthy enemy of the Toa/Protectors, just buy a bunch of regular Skull Spiders.

If you're not a collector, and you're not 8 or 9, I don't recommend this set as is. If you buy this set you'll have to buy pieces to extend the legs or it just looks bad next to the supposedly defenseless Protectors. "

Images for this Review

(click to see full-size image)

From: Valmeyer

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

30 mins

Play Experience (Optional):

2 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

2 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Average

Very Easy

Very Challenging

+2points

3of 4found this review helpful.

Protector of Jungle

Posted:April 5, 2015

EddieTheChronicler

Age: 14-18 years old

Customer Type: LEGO Fan

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Overall:

5 / 5

Very Good Value- I Bought A Second One

" I bought this set to use in a Bionicle jungle diorama and loved it. The bow can be a bit hard to position, but the set is incredibly simple to customize and modify and my moving one of the shoulder pieces the arm gains a lot of poseablity. I love that it's really easy to customize and by rearranging a few pieces a group of the exact same set become a group of unique figures, despite all being the same toy. The bow is very accurate at long range (anyone who bought the old Bionicle sets knows how rare this!), I must say I wasn't expecting much from the stud firing system and was pleasantly surprised. Finding the studs you've fired, of course, is quite a pain and can be a difficult challenge, but so long as you set up a little firing area the studs shouldn't be too hard to locate. Build was very easy, it didn't take long at all (which is a plus in my opinion). I really like the new Hero Factory build because it seems to be more durable and has more space to attach extra armor on the limbs- definitely a lot of potential for MOCs or future sets. I really hope the new design gets rid of the joint-cracking we saw in old Bionicle and early Hero Factory sets. Overall I thought this was a really great set, I actually bought one and loved it so much I bought a second, and am considering buying a third. Fantastic job, Lego! "

I would recommend this to a friend!

My Product Recommendations

Protector of Jungle

(10)

From: Valmeyer

State: Illinois

From: United States

Age: 14-18 years old

Customer Type: LEGO Fan

Building Experience: Advanced LEGO builder

Purchased For: Self

Build Time:

05 mins

Play Experience (Optional):

4 / 5

Value for Money (Optional):

5 / 5

Level of Difficulty:

Very Easy

Very Challenging

I would recommend this to a friend!

+3points

4of 5found this review helpful.