Wednesday, 25 December 2013

A Very Merry LEGO Christmas!



Our Oz Brick Nation Family Photo.   -2013-

We here at Oz Brick Nation would like to thank all those who have stopped by to see our little blog.
We have only been around for a short time (6 months and 3 days) and we have already clocked up over 26,000 page views. That's an incredible number that in all honestly we didn't think we would get to so fast.
Just a couple of our stats.

Our top 5 most viewed pages are as follows.

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Our top 10 country's that have visited our humble blog are...

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Canada
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Brazil
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Thank you all again for the fantastic support so far.

From everyone here at Oz Brick Nation we would like to wish you all a Very Merry LEGO Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year!

See you all in 2014!

Tan Tile and Family.    .....2013.....

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Twenty-four Review.

We made it! It's the final day in our Advent Calendar Reviews! Boy has the month of December just flown by? I still cant believe it's Christmas tomorrow.
We have had some great models and some not so great models, but it's all LEGO and that's just awesome! It has been incredibly hard to write something every day and not sound like I'm repeating myself... In a way I'm glad this is all done now for another year, but I will miss the excitement that came from the kids each morning when we opened our Advent Calendar doors.
If you have been following our progress from the start, I hope we haven't bored you too much. And... Hey thanks for sticking with us.
So lets see what we got on our final day and crack open door number 24!


On Chloe's last day of her Friends Calendar she got this large present in Medium Azure with White "wrapping" and a printed letter tile with a wax stamp. Chloe liked how big it was. But for her last day, it's not something to get all that excited about.



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For my final day in the City Calendar I got Santa! He is very much the same as the one from The Collectible Minifigure Series 08. The only difference being his belt buckle. In this version his buckle has a more "metallic and reflective to the light" print on it. It's Fantastic that they added this version of Santa instead of the old and tiered looking one from 40059: Santa's Sleigh. This Santa was also packed in a different plastic to all the other plastic we are so used to seeing. Making me believe that this was manufactured in China. There are 3 things that throw that idea out the window. 1st: Is that the inside of his arms has the part number on it. The 2nd: On the bottom of his feet it too has a part number on it. The CMF do not have these part numbers on them. The 3rd: Is with the head, The one from China has a solid but hollow stud on top and today's one has the 3 small triangular holes inside the hollow stud. So effectively it's completely different to the CMF version.

On a side note Goggle sent me this version of my photo by adding snow... I like it! :-)

 I was totally surprised to get a spare beard.



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For Jaspa's final day in his Star Wars Calendar he got Boba's Daddy... Is he really the daddy? Either way Jaspa got Jango Fett in his very festive Christmas armor. He has some wonderful printing on both the front and back of his torso. He also comes with a back pack with a couple of tiles. Apart from his legs, it looks like he is made mostly in China with no part numbers and a solid hollow studded head. Although I have mentioned the parts that are made in China, it's just for informational purposes. I'm not too fussed as long as the quality still remains. 
Jaspa pointed straight to his little presents on his belt. He thought that it was neat and he loves this Santa inspired Jango.



Today's spares.



Well, we had 2 Great finishes and 1 not so great... I will have to do something special for Chloe to make up for today's lack luster finish.

Each of the calendars had their own strengths and weaknesses that I'm sure are pretty obvious. However each one of the 3 are completely different in how they work. Star Wars is all about Ships and Minfigures with lots of swooshing around the house. The Friends is about slowly setting up a scene and and having plenty of little role playing scenarios. Finally the City Calendar has a bit of both, a bit of swooshing and a bit of role playing, but all were fun to do!

That's it folks! It's all done! Now we wait till tomorrow to see what Big LEGO presents Santa has left us under our tree. 

Again, Thank you for sticking with us, and we hope you have an awesome and fun filled LEGO Christmas!
We will have a little something up for you tomorrow.

Tan Tile, Chloe and Jaspa signing out!


Monday, 23 December 2013

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Twenty-three Review.

We are now on our second last day of the Advent Calendar reviews. Chloe has started her School holidays and our daily routineis already changing dramatically. When she was waking at up at 7:30am for school I was able to get a start on doing each day's review. Now that Chloe and Jaspa can sleep in a little later...so am I, and that has made this whole project run a little behind these past few days, then it did for the first 20 days. Hopefully I wake up earlier tomorrow.
So what did we get on Day 23? lets go have a look.





Chloe was excited to see this cute little squirrel behind door number 23. She knew exactly what yesterdays build was intended for as soon as she saw today's and appreciated Day 22's basket even more. Nothing to build for her again today except for putting the tiny bow on the squirrel's tail.



Once she opened her packet (which was in a completely different type of plastic then the rest of the Calendars packets) Chloe set up the last 3 days of builds (and non build) together for this photo. Needless to say.... but she LOVE IT!.




Just one spare.



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In my City Calendar I got a mini pulling sled with a pair of presents. Its a neat little build and I like the use of the 2x1 plate With Spoiler as "runners". it's always nice to have more presents for under our... oh so short tree. Some really great parts in this sled.



Spares for the sled.


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Jaspa too got a sled in his Star Wars calendar... I think this is a little out of place in terms of it's look... Very rustic... this looks like it belongs in the City one and the City one should be in this one, it just looks more futuristic. Regardless of my opinion, Jaspa has a soft spot for sleds/sleighs for some reason... Even when I make him a sandwich and fold into a triangle, he insists on taking a bite out of the fold which intern, makes it look like a sleigh...  This sled also comes with Jango Fett's jet pack for extra speed! ;-) The Jet pack is only available in 1 other set 75015: Corporate Alliance Tank Droid.



2 very useful pares!


That's what we got today... did you like them?  Tomorrow is our last day...  :-( It will be exciting and sad at the same time, but more about that tomorrow.

Day Twenty-three is done... Only 2 more sleeps till Santa!

Thank you for dropping by. See you tomorrow for the final Day, Number Twenty-four!

Tan Tile... Out!

Sunday, 22 December 2013

Testing out some different Lighting and Camera settings for LEGO Photography

After doing today's review I started playing around with my Olympus camera and it's setting and changed my lighting in my light-box. It took about 20 to 30 shots to get this image to start looking decent. I used a couple of LEGO Lights and a blue light from Chloe's Crayola Glow Tent. The set I took a photo of is 10216: Winter Village Bakery.

I am by no means a photographer but I thought I would have some fun... What do you guys think of my first try at low light photography?

You can click on it for a larger view.


EDIT: With some great Tips from reader Marto to improve my shot, I did some touching up in Photoshop... Now I must try to do this for real... Thank you Marto... It's Not perfect but I am getting the idea :-)


Thanks for looking.

Tan Tile.

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Twenty-two Review.

Welcome back for Day 22. It was Jaspa's turn to sleep-in this morning. That's why we are a little later then normal. We only have 2 days left for our Advent Calendar Reviews.  Do you have any favorites yet? Which Calendar do think has been the best overall?

Lets have a look at today's reveals...






Today in Chloe's Friends Calendar she got a basket and a leaf with a drop of "snow" on it.  On the front of the box it shows that it goes on the Christmas tree, and there is also a squirrel inside it. So I guess that is what we will get him/her tomorrow!


One spare.




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This morning in my City Calendar, I got an adorable little micro build Excavator. Lego have really captured the look with so few pieces and it was easily recognizable as soon as I opened the door... Another Power Function channel taken up with today's addition. The boy will have to switch to the Red channels if there are any more.  ;-)



Plenty of spares for today


 
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Jaspa got a kid version of Boba Fett in his Star Wars Calendar and he is only available in this set.... His legs and torso are Dark Azure in color. He has a double sided print on his torso and face. Boba has the same evil smile as Jaspa... spooky. This is a fantastic looking Minifigure. I want it for myself...


Jaspa loves Minifigures and today's was no different. And for it to be a little boy, it now makes it his favorite Minifigure at the moment.
Chloe was here nor there with hers today. It just looks so odd and random from her point of view and until she gets a few day's behind her, the builds don't seem all that interesting until they are put together.

Day Twenty-two is done... Only 3 more sleeps till Santa!

Thank you for dropping by. See you tomorrow for Day Twenty-three!

Tan Tile... Out!

Saturday, 21 December 2013

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Twenty-one Review.

Good afternoon. Apologizes for the lateness of today's review  I had a very late night last night playing around with another camera and lighting set up for my light-box. So in doing that I have slept in. :-/

Hopefully you can see some improvement in the today's pictures...
Let me now if I should stick with this or go back to my old setup.

Lets see what we got today!



Chloe got a printed music sheet tile and a lantern in her Friends Calendar. I guess it's for Christmas caroling and the lantern is to see the music sheet at night :-) Chloe had no clue as to what this was this morning but when I told her she can use it along side the other 2 carolers we have from one of our winter village sets, she was kind of happy about it.


We get enough spares to make a second lantern. 



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In my City Calendar this morning I got an awesome looking micro build Train with a carriage. Our boy from Day 18 has another toy he can use his Power Functions remote with. There are 19 parts used to build this cute looking train. This thing rocks! I dig it! I'm going to need to build a Dark green one for sure.


Here are today's spares.



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In Jaspa's Star Wars Calendar He got Jango Fett's Slave 1 from Episode 2. Jaspa's loves it! There are also 19 pieces to build the micro Slave 1. Now Jaspa can recreate the scene in the asteroid field above Geonosis with Obi Wan's Jedi Starfighter. This is a great looking model and feels nice in your hands, its a good size.


Jaspa's spares for today.



Chloe wasn't all that thrilled with today's build. Its more like an accessory with only 7 pieces and should have been combined with a previous days build, instead of having a whole day dedicated to it. Jaspa and I got fantastic builds today and we couldn't be happier. These Calendars have truly inspired me to try and build more thing's in this micro scale.

Well we only have 4 sleeps to go... The kids are getting very excited knowing that each day we do a Calendar door, the closer it is to Christmas morning.

Well that's it - Day Twenty-one is done...

Thank you for dropping by. See you tomorrow for Day Twenty-two!

Tan Tile... Out!

Friday, 20 December 2013

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Twenty Review.

Welcome for Day 20 in the Advent Calendar reviews. Only 5 more sleeps till Santa arrives with some larger LEGO goodies! There are only 4 days left with these Calendar reveals and each morning arrives even faster then the last. Normally the days slow down as we get closer to Christmas but these Advents have really help the time pass by.
So what did we get today?






In Chloe's Friends Calendar she finally got her Christmas Tree! And thank goodness for that! She was beginning to think that she wasn't going to get one. We still have last years in the nativity scene under our tree but now she can either replace it or add both together to build a larger one. But something tells me that the 2x4 Green plate is meant for... something. ;-)
It's also Bigger then mine :-( and she didn't have to wait an extra day for her tree topper... no fair!


Just the 2 spares.



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In my City Calendar I got an adorable looking micro fire boat to build. It looks like the boy Minifig from Day 18 can use his "Power Functions" remote to control the fire boat as well. It's great to finally start getting some toys to go under the Christmas tree. The kids loved it when I showed them. NOTE: This Boat Does NOT Float. :-P


The spares...



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In the Star Wars Calendar Jaspa got a micro Obi Wan Jedi Starfighter to build. There have been some great ships in this Calendar and Jaspa has loved every single one of them. To me it looks a bit like a Battlestar Viper.
I think I might make a few others in different color schemes like: a yellow one, a blue one or a Green one etc... Jaspa will get a kick out of it.


Today's spares.


An all round good day I think, with some great little models to build. Chloe rushed to put her pressies from Day 12 under today's tree and want's to take her own photo's when she gets home from her last day of School today (grade 1)
Because Chloe got a Christmas tree this morning and I got mine in Day 12, Jaspa wanted to know if he was getting one too :-( But Chloe - being such a great big sister offered to share hers... I also reminded him that he has one from when we went to the TRU Make & Take event. So he is using that... as well as his sister's one :-D

Well that's it, Day Twenty is done... Only 5 more sleeps to go!!

Thank you for dropping by. See you tomorrow for Day Twenty-one!

Tan Tile... Out!

Thursday, 19 December 2013

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Nineteen Review.

Day 19 is upon us and there are only 6 short days left before the final door reveal. My wife has been on night shift for the past week, and the only time she get's to see what the kids have gotten in their Advent Calendars, is when she comes and visits the website. I know it's sad... but... Hi Tash! :-) She really enjoys reading the reactions of the kids because she misses out most of the time either sleeping or is at work doing day shift. She works on the waterfront at the wharfs so she is continually doing shift work. She is most looking forward to the release of the 10241: Maersk Line Triple-E early next year. She works with these vessels 365 days a year. We already have orders from her co-workers for us to place for them upon it's release date. Bring on the new year!!
Lets now take a look at what we each got today...



In the Friends Advent Calendar Chloe got a fire pit with a stand? That's what I'm going with... It uses a Dark Blueish Grey Pyramid Brick which has only been in 2 other sets. It also has the uncommon 1x1 Reddish Brown plate with 4 knobs (Flower piece) that have only been available in somewhat larger sets.
It's a unique build in that we are building something using pieces upside down which isn't done very often. I must remember to try to do this more often.  Very cool.




The spares... love getting another 1x1 plate with 4 knobs (Flower piece) It's another of my fave pieces.




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This morning in my City Calendar I got the second part of yesterdays build of the boy and his remote control. They are 2 mini planes, one in red and the other in blue. I wonder if there will be a second Minifigure with a remote to control the second plane? Or does the boy have a Power Functions remote, and just switches the channel frequency when needed?



The spares from today's city build.



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This morning Jaspa got a Separatist Shuttle mini build. Again he pointed straight to the picture on the box when he saw what he had got. I think he has memorized the box art down to the last detail. Its a nice looking ship and captures the shape as best as it can with what parts are available. 18 parts were used to build the shuttle.


Some useful spares from this shuttle.


Chloe was more excited about getting a flame piece then the build as a whole. Before she even opened the bag, she rattled off what spares she was going to get... :-) that's my girl. She also said her Mini-dolls can now keep warm on the cold winter nights.
Jaspa loves his ships whether they are ugly or not. He said today's looks like a shark. Now he calls it his shark ship... I love his imagination.


Day Nineteen is done. I hope you enjoyed the read.


Thank you for dropping by. See you tomorrow for Day Twenty!

Tan Tile... Out!

Wednesday, 18 December 2013

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Eighteen Review.

Welcome back for Day 18. Before we start I would like to share a link that we did for a LEGO competition on Facebook. It's for the LET"S BUILD promotion that LEGO are promoting. Hit this LINK to see Chloe and Jaspa. Don't forget to Like it :-) each week for 3 weeks 2 random winners will be selected for a LEGO prize. So we will cross our fingers and see the outcome. 
What did we get today in our Advent Calendars? Scroll down to take a look....




This morning Chloe got a Snowman/woman/person... You can choose the one that suits you ;-)
She/He/It (again you choose) comes with a Reddish Brown broom, Red scarf and a Lavender beanie.
The Lavender beanie is only available at this time in one other set, the 40082: Christmas Tree Stand which we reviewed last month.



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This morning in my City Calendar I got a little boy with a remote control. He has a single sided face and torso print. His torso is kind of rare or hard to find in terms of regular set availability but they are cheap enough on Bricklink if you are after one. I'm sure we will find out what he is controlling tomorrow.


These are the Spares we got from him.


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This morning Jaspa got a Biker Scout or Scout Trooper as they like to call them these days. He has a printed face on a black head. Double sided torso print and printed legs. This Minifigure is new to 2013 and is only available in 1 other set - 10236: Ewok Village. It has some really beautiful print details on him. A great looking Minifigure!


Chloe absolutely loved her snow... err... person :-P She thought it was cute. She also loved the beanie too saying that now she has one to put her Mini-dolls, instead of our Black or Dark Blueish Grey ones.
Jaspa almost screamed the house down when he saw his Scout Trooper! He is his fathers son.
I like my little boy minifigure. It's only my second time that I have gotten that torso and with all the sets we own, it was only recently too... from the 10224: Town Hall.

Well that's it for day Eighteen.

Thank you for dropping by. See you tomorrow for Day Nineteen!

Tan Tile... Out!
 

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

LEGO Friends, City, Star Wars Advent Calendar Day Seventeen Review.

There are only 7 more days left in our Advent Calendars as we open up day 17. December has gone by way too fast for my liking. Yesterday I finally got all my Christmas shopping done and I am ready when you are Santa!
Lets see what the kids (me included) got behind our doors today ...






This morning Chloe got herself a little Ipod (or is it an Lpod) with a docking station and speakers. She commented at how it looks a bit like her real one and had a grin from ear to ear. Now her Mini-dools can "listen to music" while they skate and dance on the ice in our nativity scene.


One spare 1x1 Light Blueish Grey round plate as a spare.



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I got to complete my set of tyres with a go-kart body. Now that the 3 days of building are complete I guess the mystery accessory is a motor... But I still like the look of it being a pneumatic gun. That's the magic of LEGO - It can be anything you want it to be. It's a sweet looking ride! It kind of takes me back to when I had the 6604 formula 1 racer set as a kid.


A spare Green 1 X 2 X 2/3 roof tile which was a bit of a surprise.




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Jaspa got a Naboo royal cruiser (J-type diplomatic barge) mini build this morning. As soon as he open the door he pointed straight to the picture on the box and said "that's the ship daddy!" Obviously he has been waiting for this one everyday when he opens his doors. He was just too quick to spot it. It's a good little build, but with one stud holding each of the wings, I see them coming off all to frequently with the way Jaspa plays. "Definitely NOT Jaspa proof" as we like to say here in our household :-D
 
 

A few useful spares. 

 
We all enjoyed our little builds today and we are very happy with what we got. I know I am going to go through my parts and build a few of these little go-karts in different colors!
 
Well that's it for day Seventeen.

Thank you for dropping by. See you tomorrow for Day Eighteen!

Tan Tile... Out!