MOC: Fields of Arle first player marker

Mr Grey is a bit of a fan of board games and I looking for a way to combine my love of both LEGO and games together and then it came to me, then bam, why not build some game components or some iconic imagery of a board game.

Well here is my first little foray into this, and the first thing I wanted to do is build the lighthouse first player marker from Uwe Rosenberg’s game Fields of Arle. The winter player marker, as the game comes with two, a summer and a winter version.

Summer and Winter first player markers

Fields of Arle is a two player worker placement/action drafting farming/harvest based game during the 18th Century. Whilst I don’t actually own this game yet, it is on my wishlist and I certainly will get it as I really enjoy Uwe’s games, but it was really because I saw a photo of the first player marker and it gave me the idea to do this. The first player marker is based on the Pilsum Lighthouse on Germany’s north coastline, which is one of the iconic symbols of East-Frisia, where the designer Uwe Rosenberg’s family grew up. I really like the bright red and yellow bands of the light house.

Pilsum Lighthouse on Germany’s north-west coast

Now as for the design, it really needs the windows and door, but the Brick 2X2W.Inside And Outs.Bow part is great for curves but not that good for adding other parts whilst maintaining integrity and smothness of the structure. I could have used 4×4 round for a smoother finish, but then i would not have been able to add doors etc later on. So I may alter the design to add the extra details I wanted to add.

 

I used the cheese slice pieces to try and replicate the build up of snow on the base of the lighthouse and the grey cheese part for the path. I was happy with the Shuttle Step 4x4x2 for the roof and the Sand Green colour matched really well.

But this is just a first attempt. Will try to give it another try soon, with more details added. Also build some more varied and other game components.

Thanks very much for reading and let me know what your favourite board games components that should be transformed into LEGO are.

Mr Grey

Review: 75099 – Rey’s Speeder

Ruby red speeder on a desert plane 

Theme: Star Wars Sub theme: The Force Awakens

Set number: 75099

Year released: 2015

Price: AUD$39.95 – US$19.99/£19.99

Purchase price: AUD$32 (20% off at Myer)

Pieces: 193 – 20.6 cents per piece (16.5 cents after discount)

Minifigs: 2 – Rey and Unkar’s Thug

First impressions

The first set obtained from the upcoming Star Wars movie, the Force Awakens. I bought this really on a whim and wanting some LEGO to build one afternoon. The colour of the landspeeder attracted me to it, really dig that dark red and a bit intrigued by the very different design for this landspeeder compared to previous speeders.

The box features the new box design, red and black, with the new adversary – Kylo Ren in the top right-hand corner. The back of the box goes into a lot of the features of the set and has pictorial overview of all of the accessories that the set contains. All the play parts of the set are described here as well.

Review: 42032 – Compact Track Loader

A lovely little loader 

 Theme: Technic

Set number: 42032

Year released: 2015

Price: AUD$24.95 – US$19.99/£19.99

Purchase price: AUD$19.95 (DJs  20% off)

Pieces: 252 – 7.9 cents per piece

Minifigs: Nil

 

First impressions

First things first it has been a long time between posts. Apologies for that, but will try to pump out a few more posts leading up to Christmas with some of the newer LEGO sets. But first on to a little Technic set that was released earlier this year in 2015.

Whilst I never was a big fan of Technic LEGO in my youth, it is strange that something as simple as this could bring me into its fold. Straight out I really enjoyed this build. It was fiddly enough for a small Technic set and has a enough movement for it to be fun to play with, but I will leave that till later.

First to the box, it is a small rectangular box, the front has the main design and the back shows the optional build – which I did not complete.

Front

Back

Top

Review: 10518 – My First Construction Site

 A wheel or two missing here

Theme: Duplo Sub theme: Pre-school

Set number: 10518

Year released: 2013

Price: A$29.00 – US19.99/£14.99

Purchase price: A$20.00 (Thrift store purchase)

Pieces: 43 (47 cents a piece)

Duplo figures: 2

 

First impressions

Miss Pink picked this set up yesterday from a Salvos store in Bondi. It was a bit of a gamble as it was priced at A$20 for a used set, but we have not seen much LEGO at thrift stores of late so decided to take the plunge. All the contents that were listed on the box (more on this below) were there plus two extra large 8×8 plates in green. Those are pricey parts so happy to pick them up.

Review: 40183 – Bricktober Town Hall

A teeny tiny town hall 

Theme: Promotional Sub Theme: Toys’R’Us

Set number: 40183

Year released: 2014

Price: AUD$14.99

Purchase price: Free when you spent over AUD$100

Pieces: 186 – 8 cents per piece

Minifigs: Nil

First impressions

These is the first of four 2014 Bricktober sets from Toys’R’US. If you spent $100 you would get this for free, but if you asked rather nicely as Miss Pink did, you could buy them on their own. The Toys’R’Us Mini-modulars are slightly different from the 10230 Advanced Model themed Mini-modulars. These are slightly narrow, using a 6×8 plate compared with the 8×8. But saying that it does not take away how cool these little ones are.

The Town Hall was our favourite, so we decided to build that first. Miss Pink had a hankering for building some LEGO on a wet rainy day, so why not crack open the Bricktober boxes. They have been sitting their staring at us for awhile now. With four months till next October why not build one of these a month till then.

Aldi Lego Books – Special Buys sale

Yesterday Aldi Australia released its Special Deals catalog (current catalog with the LEGO no longer available online), there were quite a few toys included from wooden toys, train sets and most importantly some LEGO DK books.

Three different theme books available. A LEGO City, LEGO Friends and a generic LEGO Classic style book. They are A$9.95 for each book set and come with a variety (3 each) of sticker books and book excerpts and all contain a Polybag LEGO set. I don;t think getting these purely for the LEGO is worth it, but a few of the extra goodies do make it a good purchase. But you will have to get in quick before they sell out.

Book Set 1: LEGO City – The Essential Book Collection

This set includes three little books. Two of them sticker books, an excerpt from The LEGO Book and a fire helicopter with one Minifig.

Review: 41097 – Heartlake Hot Air Balloon

A treasured adventure up in the air

Theme: Friends  Sub theme: Nil

Set number: 41097

Year released: 2015

Price: AUD$44.99 – US$29.99/£24.99

Purchase price: AUD$35.99 (David Jones 20% off)

Pieces: 254 – 17.7 cents per piece (14.1 cents after discount)

Minifigs (Minidolls): Two – Andrea and Noah

First impressions

The first review of something you could call pink in this blog. There has been a lot of grey with quite a few Star Wars reviews, but now it is time to really look at other themes of LEGO and what better to do it than with the Heartlake Hot Air Balloon.

I (Mr Grey) have never really been a big fan of the Friends theme. It is not the colours that I am not a fan of, but the Minidolls is what I don’t like. But I shall put that aside for now. This is the first LEGO set in a long time that we have built together, Mr Grey usually builds some of his sets when there is a bit of downtime, so it was nice to build this together – Pink and Grey united.

Event: Sydney Brick Show 2015 – Review Part 2

Now for part 2 of the Sydney Brick Show 2015. Moving upstairs of Sydney Town Hall to the Centennial Hall and Vestibule area where some of the main attractions were taking place in a most splendid setting. The rich detail of the Town Hall, the beautiful chandeliers and the Grand Organ all provide for a wonderful backdrop for the final part of the brick show. A really good MOC would be to do the Sydney Town Hall. One day if we can get enough parts together.

If you would like view the earlier part of the brick show you can read Part 1 here.

Whilst the atmosphere was very nice and the space looked amazing some of the displays on the outer ring were a little dark and lost some of their charm, which is a real shame. So i do apologise now for some of the photos, as juggling a little girl and trying to take photos is not necessarily easiest thing to do. But now on to the good stuff

Event: Sydney Brick Show 2015 – Review Part 1

The Sydney Brick Show 2015 overall was a fun event that had lots to offer for just about everyone. Miss Pink, Mr Grey and our little one arrived for the 3pm entry, a little late but that was the best time that suited us. Plus many of the earlier sessions had sold out and that would have been far too busy, but it did mean that we missed some of the Kid’s Comp Winners sadly – a lot had left early. This is a look around level one of the brick event.

Event: Sydney Brick Show 2015 – less than a week to go

Hi everyone,

If you are in Sydney this weekend (Saturday 18th – Sunday 10th April) and have some free time the Sydney Brick Show is on and it looks to be rather impressive. It is Sydney main Lego event and in the heart of the city.

It will be located over two floors at Sydney Town Hall, it should be full of exciting builds by AFOLs and LEGO groups from in and around Sydney. Public transport will probably be the best option by far as parking in the city is painful at the best of times.

The Brick Show Facebook page says the new Jurassic Park sets will be on show, as well as a the world’s first playable preview of the game, a new creation by Australia’s own and only LEGO certified professional the Brickman, RyanMcNaught. Below are some of the displays fromLEGO fans that will be at the show.

Gavin’s very impressive castle

LegoSamBo’s Zoolander’s centre of kids who can’t read good

IScreamClone’s space display