Ninjago City (70620) - Billboard Advertising

I was so wrapped up describing the crab house, ATM, and comic store that I almost forgot to circle back to the billboard outside the elevator structure.

The billboard display is actually designed so that the billboard can easily be replaced, with ads rotated in and out as appropriate. This is absolutely brilliant. I mean, the billboard itself already adds so much vibrancy to the otherwise dull elevator shaft. But now there is the added capability of displaying different ads!

You can see below that the entire billboard sits between 2 rails. The replacement process is very quick and easy - simply slide the current billboard out and replace it with a different one.

There are 4 different billboards that can be displayed. Each with a lot of detail and color.

The billboards that are not in use are stored unobtrusively behind the display. This is such a brilliant use of space with the additional benefit of keeping everything in one place. Bravo Lego! I keep saying this but the thought that has gone into this set is astounding.

Ninjago City (70620) - We Are Full And In Need of Entertainment

So now that we've gotten our fill of crab, we continue to wander the shops and come across this adorable comic store.

It's a pretty tight space in the store but is pretty reminiscent of the similar stores I have been in. There are loads of items crowding the shelves from figurines to comic books to games and DVD's. It looks like they've got some kind of sale going on as well - the ad in the window is proclaiming deals of 40%, 50% and even 70% off!

Viewed from the top, the cramped quarters becomes even more apparent. There is literally only standing room in the store and even then, you'd better not be fat! The poor cashier barely has room to squeeze in behind the counter.

Ninjago City (70620) - We Need Money!

Ooops, we forgot to fill our wallets! That won't do - Ninjago City is just like any other business operation. Money makes the world go around and without it, there will be no crab, no comics or anything else. Lucky for us, there is a full functioning ATM here that spits out $100 bills.

And it really does spit them out. While testing it, I was able to get the machine to dispense the bills forcefully, launching $100 bills across our Lego building table. Talk about having money thrown at you!

Appearance-wise, Lego has nailed this (again). It looks just like the regular ATM's that you and I are accustomed to seeing. There is the keypad where you put in your card, enter your password, etc. as well as the large screen where you can view your information. And towards the bottom of the machine is the slot where your money will be dispensed.

Here is a close-up of the machine as it is dispensing it's $100 bills. The bills are kept loaded magazine-style in a slot behind the machine. The slot is capable of holding up to 13 bills, so you can have quite a bit of fun dispensing bills before having to reload the machine. Reloading is a pretty simple task as the whole ATM can be removed very easily to access the service area behind it.

The mechanism that allows dispensing is also simple, yet ingenious. It's really just like a long skinny finger that slides on a rail. There is a rod on one end that is shaped exactly like the dispensing slot. By sliding the green piece from right to left, this rod is pushed into the wall where it contacts a bill and slides it out through the dispensing slot of the ATM. You can see the red rubber band that helps the lever to retract after each dispense.

Ninjago City (70620) - Let's All Go Crabbing

I had originally intended to talk about the second floor in a single post but there was just so much to say about the outsides of the buildings that I decided to split the posts up. We'll have a closer look at the crab house in this installment.

There is an alleyway tucked in beside the restaurant where town folk disembark from the elevator and make their way to the walkways that surround the second floor. There are viewing windows on all sides of the restaurant, allowing people to look in and tantalize themselves with the sight of roasting crabs and also allowing diners to view the hustle and bustle of shoppers around them.

There is a small placard on the side of the wall proclaiming the availability of fresh roasted crab inside. Above the sign are some air ducts - both for ventilation purposes as well as to pump the aromas outside and entice more customers to come in. :)

We also get a close-up shop of the "lava lamp pillar" as I have taken to calling it. It was made by filling the inside of a hollow transparent column with little neon orange circular tiles. It just gives the restaurant that extra something in appearance and makes it really stand out. There is no doubt that the crab house is the focal point and main attraction of this second level.

Here we take a peek inside the restaurant from the perspective of a customer coming in the front door. Even before entering, you can tell that it's an upscale place from the gold decorative sidewalk in front as well as the stolid red pillars that frame the entrance. The main draw of the interior of the restaurant is definitely the crab roaster which is prominently on display.

This would be an amazing place to eat in real life. There is a sushi bar type setup where customers sit with a direct view into the kitchen. In fact, there is no separation between the customer and the kitchen at all, which is great because I've always thought that watching your food being prepared really adds to the whole dining experience. On the left wall of the restaurant, you can see of the tools that the chef uses to open up the more difficult specimens.

The crab roaster is definitely the coolest part of the restaurant. It's a large cylindrical contraption that has a rotating platform sitting in the middle. There is a crab on each side of the platform - one that is a light beige colored (to represent a raw crab) and the other a darker golden color (to represent a cooked crab). There is a gear that comes through the wall of the restaurant leading to a knob that can be turned on the outside. This knob rotates the platform so that you can alternately display either the cooked or raw crab. This, of course, gives the illusion of putting in the raw product and then having the cooked one come out a short while later. Very very cool and very very yummy!

Ninjago City (70620) - Second Floor Done!

It's been a while since mom and I lego'ed (yes, that is a new verb). I caught a nasty cold and was feeling pretty crappy for about 10 days and mom was busy watching Game of Thrones anyway. But we've started back on Ninjago City over the long weekend and got the second floor done.

The more of this set we build, the more impressed we are with the sheer scale of detail as well as the absolutely cool gadgets that are built into the set. We'll start with a few panorama shots before diving into each of the individual stores on this level.

This is the elevator side of the city - you can see the elevator shaft to the far left. Also note the huge billboard that is displayed on the outside of the structure. We will be coming back later to see this in more detail as there is more than meets the eye. Continuing to the right, we see the viewing window of the crab restaurant. At a real restaurant, this is mom's favorite hang out spot. She absolutely loves to watch people making food in the kitchen.

There is a stunning attention to detail on this level - even more so than the first level, which already blew us away when we built that. Look at those bannisters! They are loaded down with advertising and the quintessential Chinese lanterns. The shops all have air conditioners and vents coming out of them - you can see the AC unit hanging right outside the window here. And check out the lava lamp effect of the decorative column that forms part of the wall of the crab house.

Here, we rotate around to the other side of the building. Beside the crab shack is an ATM, which is sandwiched on the other side by the Comic Store. Again, there is a crazy amount of detail, from the lanterns and advertising on the handrails to the sign on the Comic Store. I love the playful font that the word is written in.

Here we see the front of the crab restaurant. There is no doubt as to what is served at this place - have a look at the giant articulated crab that looms over the front entrance to the establishment. The claws can rotate in any direction, although they unfortunately do not open and close. The large red pillars really add character to this restaurant and give it a sense of grandeur and opulence. Also of note is the intricate gold swirl of the pavement outside this joint.

This shot is also of the front entrance to the crab house but from a more distant vantage point, allowing you to see the ornate bannister decoration. I really like the dual use of the asian conical hat as the centerpiece of the decoration.