The Builder Blog

A journey in search of hidden LEGO gems

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The is Lego set 6817, the Beta Buzzer, an insectoid set complete with a robotic minifigure. The wings are quite adjustable, and the sensor or ray gun on the front can swivel around. The printed wings are pretty cool too and add a nice bit of flair to this simple set. I also love those neon green translucent bricks. So spacey and alien-looking. o.O

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This Stingray is ready to cause some trouble in the aquazone. This little build is set 6107, the Recon Ray. It comes with twin daggers for the minifigure to wield with deadly efficiency. Even sorting through all the bulk brick, this super tiny build was done in a snap.   

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For everyone I know in Japan, please enjoy these Lego tributes to the Land of the Rising Sun :)

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Han and Leia, together again.

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This is set 7146, one of my first builds from the bulk bins, and it is the first TIE Fighter that Lego made. That it is from a time when Lego was just figuring out how to make a Star Wars ship is shown pretty clearly by the vertical length of the panels relative to the width of the ship. They are a bit long. It is evident that the restrictions of the bricks available made the build a tad less accurate. The cross pattern on the panels is also made using blue brick, which also lessens the accuracy, but kinda looks cool anyway. The one real design flaw in this set though is that the panels are only held on by two pins, and they feel very loose and wobbly. That said, for its time, I’m sure this would have been a total blast for anyone to build, and many a child likely made prolonged, enraptured swooshy noises while gleefully making this thing fly around his or her bedroom in search of rebel scum to attack mercilessly. Swoosh!

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Amazingly, all the pieces for this interstellar bad boy were in the bulk bins and waiting for assembly. This is the foot-long Planetary Prowler, part of an insectoid subsection of Lego’s space theme. The antennas and eyes can move around a bit, and there is a removable engine in its thorax and a little one-man vehicle that it spawns from out of its abdomen, which also has a storage compartment. I only have one question: why are there legs when it has wheels? 

Also, anybody have a giant space boot in case this thing gets out of hand?

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Flight Slave I to Tatooine now boarding carbonite class. Mr. Han Solo, please come to Bespin boarding platform 19 . . . Mr. Han Solo . . .

Han is definitely a  nervous flyer. Maybe he will get lucky and the flight will be overbooked?

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Behold the original Lego Slave I from Star Wars in all its angular, blocky glory! I don’t have a Boba Fett to complete it, but we did have a Han-Solo-in-carbonite printed brick sitting around in the shop, and he looks like he is a nervous flyer. Chill out, Han. Just chill.

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More nostalgic goodness including a castle with some swanky steps and fancy dragon-print bricks and a magical pair of classic minifigures, Willa the Witch and Majisto, who are positively enchanting.

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Johnny Thunder is possibly my favorite minifigure (perhaps in a tie with Majisto from the castle theme). This set was super easy to rebuild, but I had to hunt down the pieces for the minifigure at the shop, and I am happy I found everything I needed. This set is %100 complete. Success!

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This is set 1888, The Black Knight’s Guard Shack. This haunted shack comes with a ghost and a wee castle guard. I saved it from the bulk pits, but was rather vexed by the fact that I could not find a shield for the guard in the store. I will check the bulk brick at the house, and it is probably there. I shall complete this! Oh, and the glow-in-the-dark ghost should have a brick at its base instead of legs, but I mistakenly gave him legs. Later, I will have to give him a hand and fix that. Bah-dum-ching.

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We are giving away a Lego Ewok Village on Youtube! Click on the video and leave a comment there to enter. See the description of the video on Youtube for the rules of the sweepstakes :)

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Indiana Jones and the Lost Lego Set! Actually, it is Lego set 7621, The Lost Tomb. It hails from 2008 and was part of a Raiders of the Lost Ark release. This beauty here was in a plastic bag in the back room of AFOL’s Brick until I figured most of pieces had to be there and took a crack at rebuilding it. It was a forgotten gem if ever there was one. It comes with Marion Ravenwood and Indie plus a skeleton minifig because it is a tomb, and it is Indiana Jones, so skeletons must abound. 

This set has some of the coolest features, and Lego really went all out--especially with the snakes. There are 10 snakes hidden up above the ark in the center on the set. Poke a lever in back, and they all come spilling down onto the unfortunate minifigure raiding the ark. I tried it out, and the snakes fell in just the perfect way as to look like they were slithering all over everything. I honestly had a moment of childish glee at the sight. Even better, the two black statues of Anubis, Egyptian god of the afterlife and mummification (wooo, scary), topple over and strike the back panels of the set, causing them to fall away if you get it just right. That skeleton minifig is hiding behind the right panel and swings in to say hello to Dr. Jones too. Lastly, the neatest (and nerdiest) thing about this set is the inclusion of the R2-D2 and C-3PO hieroglyphs in the panel above the ark. This is a reference to an Easter egg that popped up in Raiders of the Lost Ark and is a fun Lego nod to the film’s fun nod to Star Wars. Cue another moment of childish glee.

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I reclaimed this little set (6037, The Witch’s Windship) from the bulk bins a few days ago, and I made a video of it for our Youtube channel to celebrate my great triumph! The witch I found in our shop, but the cape was in the bulk stuff, so everything came together perfectly. Building it, however, I was so afraid that the crystal ball was going to be missing (as many sets from the bulk have come to a screeching halt because of just one little piece so far), but I found the mystical orb easily enough, and it was much to my relief. Anyhow, check out the video and watch the dragon rock merrily back and forth atop its master’s gondola. Witch’s Windship: Done. Thumps up and kudos all around :D

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AFOL's BRICK, Yakima, Washington. 898 likes · 56 talking about this · 114 were here. Buy Lego blocks! In the Yakima Valley, we offer Lego sets, minifigures, and bricks for building creative projects,...

This is the store I mentioned in the last post. It is the nexus from whence this blog and all the Lego fun I get up too proceeds. Most everything I build ends up there as well, on display until it finds a new home :)

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The Incredible Bulk

So this blog follows on the heels of a recently-undertaken challenge: rebuild over 144 older Lego sets that were all mixed together and then sorted by color into big plastic tubs. If it sounds like work, it is, but along this journey through the land of bulk brick and set reclamation, I look forward to piecing together a wealth of neat sets and sharing the nostalgic awesomeness that I find with the world! Huzzah! Let us build. I have already put together a couple Lego castle sets, a pirate ship (which was terribly cool) and a smattering of Star Wars ships including the original TIE Fighter and Slave 1. I hope to have pics up and to talk about most--if not each--of the sets I save from the sorting bins in the weeks and (most likely) months to come.

Additionally, as I also rummage through hordes of unidentified minifigures at the shop, I routinely come across wee Lego guys who are thoroughly neat and consummately worthy of sharing on the Internets with you all, so there should be posts highlighting minifigs spanning the full range of characters our favorite Danish toy makers have produced over their many illustrious years. 

Finally, it should be said that, while I may be adrift in a sea of bricks, I can anchor myself to the joy of completing builds and to the excitement anyone--young or old--gets when showing off a newly-constructed Lego creation to friends, family and anyone happy to share in the fun. 

Until the next post, I leave you with the AFOL’s Brick adieu:

Live long and play well.