Year of the Pig! (40186) - Fastest Build Ever!

As you may know, according to the Chinese Zodiac, 2019 is the Year of the Pig. One of the free gifts that Lego was giving out earlier this year was a commemorative set to celebrate the Year of the Pig. 

At only 153 pieces, we were able to get this built in under an hour, including unboxing, taking photos and finding a spot to display the finished set.

Aside from looking adorable, this set is well articulated. The ears can swivel in any direction due to the ball joint used at the connection points to the head. The arms, likewise, can swing all the way around and the feet can also pivot sideways.

The huge eyes and snout really make this figure stand out and serve well to catch the eye. It's also pretty funny that the pig is displayed on a platter of salad (at least that is what my food-oriented mind has interpreted the green leaves and red studs as!).

 The back is a little more plain but features a curly little pig tail.

As far as free sets so, this is definitely one of my favorites. The freebies aren't typically as detailed as this one, nor do they have as many pieces. The free sets typically come in a plastic bag as well, and not a proper box like this one. Well done Lego!

BB8 (75187) Final Thoughts Already!

Like I said, this was a quick and easy build.

Mom really liked the colors - her biggest complaint about Star Wars sets is that they seem to be primarily gray and she isn't wrong. So the fact that this little guy is orange and white with only hints of gray was very satisfying for her. She also very much appreciated the "cuteness" factor of the set.

It has decent heft to it for a relatively small physical footprint and certainly isn't something that is going to go rolling away on you. It balances fairly well on its own but the set includes a mounting frame for it to sit on. The frame also has the classic UCS placard attached and really elevates the elegance of the model.

It also comes with a BB8 mini-figure which sits below the model.

The only "wish list" item I have for this set would be the orientation of the welding torch. As previously mentioned, when fully extended, it sits at an angle towards the torso instead of being fully vertical. It would also have been nice if retracting the torch automatically pulled the access panel shut as well. As it stands, the hatch must be shut manually.

Nonetheless, these are very minor critiques in what is otherwise a very solid and fun build that results in a splash of color to the Star Wars sets.

BB8 (75187) - Building the Body

The body was an uncomplicated build - essentially repeating the same thing 6 times with the only differences being cosmetic ones to show different buttons on BB8's various surfaces.

It came together very rapidly, which explains the small number of update posts. Below is a closeup of the torch in extended position - it is extended and retracted by turning the center of the surface to the right.

The head is able to swivel a full 360 degrees and also has a little play in the "neck" so that it bobbles back and forth when you swivel it. The swiveling is controlled by another turning plate built into the right side of BB8.

BB8 (75187) - Back to Star Wars!

We decided to return to Star Wars with our next build - the cute little droid we all love ... BB8!! This was a relatively small build in comparison to the usual large scale projects we take on.

It was a relatively simple build. The internals of the sphere are comprised of some technique pieces that allow for the 2 movement functions - the extension of the welding torch in the "thumbs up" sign and the swiveling of the head.

Here is the torch in its extended position. I really wish that it could go further so that the flame would be fully upright instead of angled in towards the torso.

Old Fishing Store (21310) - Final Thoughts!

We had such a great time building this set. We were really blown away by 3 main things:

1 - the sheer volume of merchandise and "trinkets" included - both the inside of the shop and the outside are just jam packed with all the equipment you would expect to find in a shop like this. From scuba gear and spear guns to nets and fishing tackle - it's all there!

 

The exterior of the shop has an equally large number of accoutrements - from the fish hanging from the wall, to the seagulls and cat to the cases of fresh lobsters that just came off the boat.

2 - The unique access method - we really liked how the side walls opened up to reveal the interior. When closed, they flow seamlessly into the building and really enhance the completeness and stand-aloneness of the set. When open, they provide a large entry point to access the interior to move things around and just to see what is going on inside the shop.

3 - The overall detail in the rugged look of the set - this was the first set we came across that really accentuated the beat down, jury rigged look of this shop. From the patchwork repairs on the roof to the lopsided tiling on the walls, this look look added such character to the feel of the set.

If there was anything we would have liked to see, it would be more mini-figures. The set only comes with 4 - the proprietor, his son (or so we think), a fisherman and a fisherwoman. A few more customers or perhaps the proprietor's wife would have been nice additions that would have fleshed out the human element to the set a little more.

All in all though. this was a very fun build.

Old Fishing Store (21310) - Observation Tower Goes Up!

We finished off the last stage of the bait shop this weekend, putting up the observation tower where the store owner has a complete 360 view of what is around him.

There is a large telescope mounted to the front deck to enable really long range surveillance.

The weather vane complete with chicken on the top is a nice touch. The deck railings extend around the entirety of the tower. Unfortunately, there is no door, so access is via crawling through one of the 2 windows. Internal to the tower is a ladder that stretches all the way down to the lower level.

Somewhat surprisingly, the roof of the tower looks to be in much better shape than that of the bait shop itself. Perhaps because the original construction material is much sturdier. There has definitely been some patching done, as evidenced by the myriad of colors, but it lacks the randomly slapped on boards of the bait shop roof.

Old Fishing Store (21310) - Tiling and Roofing Complete!

After a long hiatus, we hit this hard over the weekend and finished everything but the last step of the build.

We started off with finishing the top section of the swinging wall. Visually, there is nothing too much that stands out - it continues with the green tile motif of the rest of the building. There is a vent at the top left of the wall, which swings out just as the bottom section does.

Again, we are such fans of this access design - it's very easy to operate and provides a large space for hands to get into the building and arrange things. It's also a very sleek design that hides very well once the walls are swung back into place.

The next step was to build the roof trusses - these were very standard triangular trusses. I guess you wouldn't really expect much more than the basic for a rundown fish store.

The cobbled together roof over the porch is another character building component to the set. It definitely looks run down and gives the impression that it has been repaired multiple times over the years using whatever materials were on hand. Not many of the original boards remain and the rest look like they are on the verge of falling apart.

The roof provides much the same story - it's clear that patch repairs have been made over the years as leaks have sprung up. I'm not sure how much of the original roof remains under all the random bits of flotsam that have been nailed up.

Some of the local wildlife seem to have taken a liking to the patchy roof - I guess it offers a plethora of sturdy landing spots and is high enough to give a good view of the surroundings and any tasty morsels that might be lying around.

As one would expect, there is an orange tabby cat on the prowl for scraps and defending his scavenging territory from the pesky seagulls.