Review: Lego 21319 Friends: Central Perk

Originally released in 2019 thanks to a successful Lego Ideas pitch, 21319 Central Perk(ad link) brings to life the iconic and nostalgic coffee shop from the Friends sitcom (rather then the Friends Lego theme marketed towards girls!).

Friends originally ran through basically my entire childhood in the 90s. So while I was a bit young to fully get it from the start, it was a familiar part of the TV world through most of my life, and a series I've watched through at least a couple of times now and really enjoy. Ie. This definitely hits the nostalgia button for me!

That aside, I think it's simply a very good set, with great minifigures, a pleasing and diverse range of parts in nice colours, and a great display piece. Continue below for my further thoughts and lots of images!

MOC: Venusian Balloon

This is a MOC I made recently for the Lego Ideas challenge Exploring the Cosmos. The challenge requested either a space inspired vehicle or base. I quickly landed on the idea of wanting to do something atmospheric, as I like the idea of alien life maybe being buoyant creatures existing in the upper atmosphere of Venus, or within the vast cloudy environs of the gas giants! 

I could have taken that exploration down the base path, with some sort of floating observation platform or city, but as someone who has long held a fascination with airships as a form of transport, I thought a balloon based vehicle would be fun to play with.

Here's my little blurb from the original Ideas submission, which outlines the world this vehicle exists in, and what it can do:

An airship for scientists travelling between the floating research bases in the high semi-habitable layers of the atmosphere of Venus! While the surface of Venus is inhospitable due to high temperature, pressure, and acidity, higher altitudes provide a climate similar to Earth. This balloon is used to travel between the floating bases established to allow scientists to explore the planet from this safer environment, and if lucky, to catch sight of rare flying creatures that were found to also inhabit this gentler part of Venus.

The build includes a balloon with adjustable propellers to steer and move. The one-person capsule suspended below gives the pilot views of the cloudy world and the strange creatures that live around them. The seating and control section of the capsule is connected with a single stud to make it easy to position the pilot inside, while one side of the capsule hinges open to allow this.

Also included is a cloudy stand, and one of the Venusian aliens.

Continue after the jump to check out more of the design:

Lego WALL•E revealed

Another Lego Ideas set, 21303 WALL•E, has been revealed, thanks to Smyths Toys (via Brickset) who posted several images when listing the set.

Little Lego WALL•E looks just about perfect to me, and is very close indeed to the final model suggested on the original Lego Ideas project. I cannot wait for this set! Continue after the jump for the box art:

Lego in Spaaaace

Some of my very favourite Lego sets are ones based on real-world space-stuff. Indeed throughout my childhood my dream Lego set was one the space shuttles; and I had no lack of sets to choose from, to date there have been at least fifteen different Lego representations of the space shuttles! My dream came true in 2010, when I decided to get a newly released set, what I think is the best model of a space shuttle Lego ever made (and indeed one of the best Lego sets outright), 10213 Shuttle Adventure.

This is by far the most detailed and accurate Lego model of the shuttle, one of just four that includes the fuel tanks and booster rockets. In a perhaps ironic reflection of the problems in the real shuttle program, there were design issues with the fuel tank, prompting Lego to reissue a tweaked version of the set in 2011, 20131 Shuttle Expedition.

This set is a thing of beauty, but it's just one of many wonderful Lego sets based on real space science. Continue below for a look back at Lego's long-time fascination with space.

The Big Bang Theory set revealed

Lego have revealed the next Lego Ideas set, 21302 The Big Bang Theory, which is due in August. The set brings to life the communal area in Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, and features all the main characters from the series, and a host of geeky props; including action figures, model planets, a DNA helix, white boards and more. The final design has tweaked, but remained remarkably true to the originally submitted Lego Ideas project.

The Lego Ideas Facebook page also posted close-up images of most of the minifigures, continue after the jump to check them out:

Next Lego Ideas set will be A-maze-ing

The latest Lego Ideas review results have been announced, and one new set has been confirmed, the Labyrinth Marble Maze. I think this is a really deserving selection, as the use of Lego to make a maze game is really original application of medium, and is very MOCable; with the potential to modify it with endless alternate maze designs.

Here's the announcement video, which also confirms one of the other projects in this review period, the F7A Hornet from the video game Star Citizen, is still under consideration.



Continue after the jump for a closer look at the successful design, and those that didn't make it through.

Natural History Museum and other projects get to Ideas review

The Natural History Museum modular building project on Lego Ideas has become the latest to reach the ten-thousand supporter mark, and therefore qualify for the next Lego review period, where it will be considered for production as a real set. The beautiful build is based on the iconic Natural History Museum in London, featuring many of it's most famous exhibits, including Dippy the diplodocus, the huge redwood sample, and the statue of Charles Darwin. The creator of the project, tjspencer1, recently updated the project with a slightly smaller version (pictured), bringing it in line with the piece count of existing modular building sets.

I'm normally pretty sceptical of huge projects on Ideas. But I love this design, and given it would fit in so well with the other modular building sets, I really hope Lego consider going ahead with it.

Several other projects have also reached the ten-thousand mark since I last updated on Ideas, when the Marvel Helicarrier project became the first to enter the latest review period. Continue after the jump for a look at the other recent successes:

Two new Lego Ideas sets on the way

The Lego Ideas have team have announced the outcome of the first 2014 review period, and decided two of the six projects that got to the ten-thousand mark will be going into production, with another two still under consideration.

The two sets that have made it already are The Big Bang Theory, and the Lego Bird Project. The two sets both still being considered are both based on Doctor Who (fingers crossed they make it later). Here's the announcement video:



Continue after the jump for a look at the projects that will become these two new sets:

Helicarrier gets to Ideas review

The first project in the new review period on Lego Ideas has hit the ten-thousand supporters mark. That project is the Avengers Helicarrier, a ginormous rendition of the flying aircraft carrier from the Marvel cinematic universe. The new review period doesn't close until the new year, so it will be some time until we hear how it fares.

As originally submitted the model would have been over twenty-two-thousand pieces and more than two meters long! At the five-thousand supporter mark Lego Ideas recommended a more realistic build size, so the creator, YoSub Joo, redesigned to a mere six-thousand-seven-hundred piece design at a bit over a meter long - To put that in context, the biggest set by piece-count ever was 10189 Taj Mahal, and that was just short of six-thousand parts!

At both scales the proposed model is very impressive, and would certainly make a nice UCS style set. I imagine the Marvel brand is popular enough that such a set might sell. So I guess the question is, has Lego already considered making it, outside of Ideas?

Continue after the jump for more images of both versions of the model:

Hubble Space Telescope gets to Lego Ideas review

One more Lego ideas project has made it too the review stage, just in time to make it into the latest review period, which has just closed tonight. The Hubble Space Telescope is one of eight projects that will now be considered for production as a real Lego set.

The space telescope project is for a minifigure scale version of one of the most well known and influential spacecraft in the skies. Given Lego Ideas has already given us the Hayabusa and Curiosity Rover as sets, I'd say there's a pretty good chance of another space science project getting through the review - Especially as it's such an iconic subject, and so perfectly timed for Hubble's twenty-fifth birthday next year.

Pictured above is the first version of Gabriel Russo's proposed model, while below is the more recent update of the model, which has a smoother finish, and is a bit smaller too. Even if Lego made is smaller still (it's quite big as proposed), if they went for the metallic finished of the latter version of the model, that would be a very tempting set for parts alone!

Continue after the jump for a reminder of the other projects that will be considered in this review period:

Ghostbusters HQ gets to Lego Ideas review

Another Lego Ideas project has hit the ten-thousand supporters mark, and is therefore now awaiting review. The Ghostbusters HQ project will join others in the next review period starting in September.

The large set is designed to compliment the existing Ecto-1 Ghostbusters car set, which can be accommodated in the garage on the ground floor. The other floors of the building are furnished to provide all the facilities the Ghostbusters team require.

The fact Ideas has already generated a Ghostbusters set seems to me to be both a blessing and a curse: Clearly Lego have already determined brand-fit and marketability, and based on how well the Ecto-1 is performing they will be able to determine if other sets are also likely to be successful. However, like the Minecraft sets, if they have established other Ghostbusters sets could do well, they might just go ahead and make them anyway, without any input required from other Ideas projects.

It's also quite a large set, so Lego would have to be really confident Ghostbusters sells. Plus if it were to be sold without the Ecto-1 included, there would literally be a big car sized void in the model - I rather feel the building is lacking without the vehicle it houses.

Anywho, I'm sure the Lego review panel will let us know something soon enough. Until then you can see more of model on the Swiss Ghostbusters website. And continue after the jump for a video of it being built:

Fossil Museum, and other dinosuars from Lego Ideas

A few days ago a new project appeared on Lego Ideas, and instantly became my new favourite: Fossil Museum is the kind of Lego set I dream of; it's got dinosaurs, it's got a nicely thought-out design, and would slot neatly into wider Lego world. I love dinosaurs, and fossil skeleton displays are at the heart of that love; the wonder and the majesty of a fully assembled dinosaur is just spectacular; you don't need fancy interactive exhibitions and overly designed displays to appreciate the beauty of these amazing animals.

And it seems I'm far from the only one, the project has had a remarkable rush of supports in just its first few days. The creator, whatpumpkin, had included a range of dinosaurs, so there's something for all dinosaur tastes: Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, Spinosaurus, two Deinonychus, and a Pteranodon. If you haven't already, please add your support, and let's get this great design made into a real set.

Dinosaurs have come up in several nice Lego Ideas projects (indeed I have thoughts on a making a couple myself), continue after the jump for a look at some other great dinosaur projects you should support!

Behold, the new face of Kong

I've been working on improving my King Kong model (and Lego Ideas project) recently, and saved the trickiest bit for last, his face. I quite liked the old face, but felt it was very much an impressionistic take on a gorilla, lacking the character of Kong. The detail of the brow was also all wrong, set back from the eyes, rather than above them.

I went through many iterations of the mark II face; struggling to get the details and proportions to work, but have finally landed on what you see here, which ended up not retaining any of the details of the mark I face. I hope the new face comes across as more expressive, emotive and characterful. Much of this comes from the use of the new printed eyes from the Mixels sets, which are maybe a little more cartoony than is ideal - If this ever did get made into a set I would hope new printed eyes that are more gorilla-esque might be created. For now these eyes will do though. The brow design also means they can move, which gives Kong some different expressions.

More images after the jump:

WALL•E gets to Lego Ideas review

Another Lego Ideas project has passed the ten-thousand supporters mark, and thus is now in the pool for review and consideration for production as a real Lego set. That project is WALL•E, built by no less than one of the animators from the film, Angus MacLane.

MacLane started building the Lego version of model while working on the film, and refined him over the course of the production. The version pictured here is his most recent iteration, and I hope pretty much exactly what Lego delivers as a set, as it's pretty spot-on.

I think this project must have a pretty good chance of going to production: It's bang on brand-fit, got the weight of someone associated with the film being linked to it, and Lego already has a relationship with Disney. I'd certain buy one!

You can see more photos of WALL•E on MacLane's Flickr gallery, the newer version of the model is at the top of his gallery, and the older version can be found in an album.

Lego Ideas King Kong update: New body!

Continuing work on updating my King Kong model for my Lego Ideas project, I set out to improve his back legs this week, but before I knew it that lead to me reworking bottom, arms, and chest too!

My initial objective was to redesign his legs to allow him to stand upright. Kong does this a few times in the films, most notably right at the top of the Empire State Building, so I felt it was an important pose for the model to be able to pull off. The mark I Kong could almost do it, but because of the shape of his legs and the body around them, they had to be twisted in at a weird angle. It was also perilously unstable!

To make the pose possible I decided to use a completely different hinge, the really strong Technic beam joint found in AT-AT walker sets. This made for a really stable joint, but also meant completely redesigning the leg and adjacent body to build the beam ends in, in place of the brick connected joints I used previously. I also made the legs come out from the center of the body slightly further, so they have more freedom of movement without hitting the sides of the body. All the rebuilding also meant Kong’s bottom was destroyed, so I completely redesigned that to look better, and fit around the new joints.

And then there was more I had to change, which you'll find after the jump:

New York World's Fair Astro-View

If you're a reader of my Star Trek site, The Trek Collective, you might recall my Drex Files in Exile post on the New York World's Fair, which included the iconic Astro-View towers, buildings which were transplanted onto a Star Trek matte painting and made forever a part of the future. Later their flying-saucer-esque design prompted them to appear in Men in Black too.

Well having become familiar with those buildings, I found myself starting to build the Astro-View towers out of Lego recently. A little while later I had created the model you see here.

My model includes a working elevator (in so much as you can clip it to any point on the rails it would have glided between back in it's operational days), and a row of luminaires (the distinctive street lights that could be seen throughout the fair).

Pleased with my little model I also decided to submit it to Lego Ideas, where, if ten-thousand people support the project, Lego might consider producing it as an actual Lego set. So if you like these buildings, in the real world, Star Trek, Men in Black, or for some other reason, please do pop over to Lego Ideas and add your support.

PS, my Lego King Kong project is also still seeking support on Ideas, I'd be delighted if you could support and share that project too!

Lego Ideas King Kong update: New hands!

I have started work improving the model for my King Kong Lego Ideas project. I decided to kick things off by improving his hands. This was motivated by the wrist connection being a weak point in the model, and the new ball-and-socket joints introduced this year offering a new way to connect the hand.

The new hand uses the ball joints, which alas are not available in black, so don't blend in seamlessly. I also redesigned the entire hand assembly, using two SNOT-plates to hold together many of the elements together in a sort sandwich, making a much more stable body part. This also allowed me to set the part holding the thumb on slightly further back, so the thumb now closes into the palm of the hand better. I also switched out the finger elements from the parts I had used a pen to make black (as the part is not available in black) to the grey colour the part is now available in, which more or less matches other "fleshy" bits of the model.

To test out his new-found dexterity, I treated Kong to a giant-sized banana. It turned out to be less of a treat for poor old Ann Darrow, as you'll see after the jump:

UCS AT-AT walker gets to Lego Ideas review

Another project has passed the ten-thousand supporter mark, so now a Ultimate Collector Series AT-AT walker awaits consideration from the Lego Ideas review board.

This has to be one of the biggest projects ever to get through to the review stage, and for that reason alone I think it's chances are slim. Another Star Wars UCS proposal, a Jawa Sandcrawler, has already tried, and failed, to get through the review. I think the AT-AT walker is arguably a much more iconic design (certainly a more interesting one!), but that could also be a limiting factor - Many Star Wars projects have got to review, but none have so far been produced as an Ideas set. I think the only chance a Star Wars project has on Ideas is something very creative, that wouldn't be likely to already have been considered by Lego for production as a set (such as the brick-build lightsaber props project, which is also awaiting review). The AT-AT walker has been released many times by Lego already, and while it is an obvious candidate for UCS treatment, I'm sure all that means is Lego have already thought about it and have it on some to-do list for future sets.

The project design is none-the-less very impressive. You can see more of it in the creator, Peter Brookdale (aka Cavegod)'s Flickr gallery.

Research Institute official images

Due out in August is another Lego Ideas set, 21110 Research Institute. Known at the project stage as the Female Minifigure Set, this build demonstrates women in science. Ahead of the release, Lego have updated their image servers, with the official images of the set, showing us the palaeontologist, astronomer, and chemist, in action.

For a look behind the scenes of this set, check out the recent Lego Ideas blog post, with a report of a visit by the project creator, Ellen Kooijman, to the Lego offices.

More images of the set continue after the jump:

Exo-Suit official images

Lego have updated their image servers with official images of the forthcoming Lego Ideas set 21109 Exo-Suit. Those include the box, front and back views of the suit, and a close-up of one of the new green space minifigures.

The images continue below, and for more on this Ideas project, check out the latest post on the Ideas blog, which looks at the development of the set from the original proposed model, to the final version pictured here.