Lego Death Star (Part II)

Tonight I spent another 4 hours building the Death Star. It is so impressive. The attention to detail is awesome.

Box 2 has now been emptied....

So far we have built the garbage disposal area (with moving walls), a cargo area (with working lift up to the next level) a gun turret, and a very large cavernous area (in which Luke and Leia can swing across to escape the Stormies) as well as a working tractor beam switch for Obi Wan to disengage.

All I can say is it is freakin' awesome!!

We have also started on Box 3 but I wont give any spoilers yet.

BTW More detailed pics will be posted when the build is complete.

Lego Death Star (Part I)

Oh my. What a surprise I got this afternoon when not only did a courier turn up on a bank holiday weekend.... but the parcel they were delivering had my name on.

The Courier joked about the Lego Logo on the box - but this was no laughing matter.... only one thing could be in a box that big!

It was from Billund, Denmark.

I was ecstatic.  I didn't know what to do. I ended up just bouncing round the house.

Grabbing a knife I finally prized it open at one end.

There on the top was a little bag. It was an exclusive Hulk MiniFigure. I nearly exploded with excitement, despite knowing that as good as he was he wasn't the main attraction... he was just a bonus freebie from Lego.com.

Underneath the bag.... was a side view of a BIG Lego box.... one that had 22 Mini Figures printed on it! It could only be one thing.....

It was the LEGO DEATH STAR!!!

Again I bounced around the house, making odd excited squeaky noises.

With some help (and calming down) from Mikey we pulled out the large heavy Lego Box.

I carefully opened it.... to reveal 4 large numbered boxes.... and a instruction manual that was so thick it was spiral bound.

5 fun filled hours later and we had only emptied the first of the four boxes....

Box 1 complete. 

The big build continues... so stay posted....

The LegoLand Theme Park (Windsor)

As you have probably worked out from my earlier posts we have recently been to LegoLand (Windsor) which was just fantastic.

I've been having trouble putting into words just how fab the Theme Park was.  The excitement started about 10 miles away when I saw the first brown road sign.  Then I nearly popped when we saw the first glimpse of the huge Lego brick at the final turning before the park.

We hurriedly booked into the hotel, trying not to be too distracted by the amazing surroundings (another blog post to follow) and then dashed towards the hotels private entrance to the park.  (Hotel residents are rewarded with an extra half hour earlier in the park.)

On entering the park I was so giddy I was ready to explode.  Even the tiny little baby ducks quacking at the waters edge couldn't get my attention - not when there was endless Lego to be mesmerised by. 

The park was fantastic with Lego models everywhere you looked - from the tiniest birds in the trees to large elephants blowing water from their trunks.  It was mind-blowing!

We soon arrived at a ride.  It was the Atlantis Submarine Voyage.  Excited, we boarded; not reading any signs so not knowing what to expect.  We climbed into a large Lego submarine.  As the doors shut, I started to have doubts. My excitement had led me blindly into this but I hate enclosed spaces and as I looked around us, it suddenly felt like we were on a very young kids ride as there were bright buttons and knobs to be pushed. Thankfully, my doubts were short-lived as the Submarine windows suddenly went from darkness to spectacular views of an ocean.  Hehehe. We were now in a tank full of amazing and brightly coloured REAL (not Lego) fish and Lego Statues.  As we continued we found ourselves surrounded by sharks and rays too.  With real fish and Lego divers, mermaids, treasure chests etc, whichever way you looked it was amazing.

The next ride was the Dino Safari ride which was a gentle pootle on a small jeep through a Lego jungle to see lots of animated Lego Dinosaurs and tribal hunters.   We then took the brightly coloured (and surprisingly fast) Hill Train up and towards the Star Wars Experience. 


WOW! As a huge Star Wars fan and an even bigger Lego fan I was far from disappointed.  It took us on a journey through many of the iconic scenes from all of the 6 movies.  As an avid collector of the SW Lego I was shocked to find that there were no MiniFigures to be seen - Instead there were bigger scale models of the familiar figures.  The scenes were on a huge scale with authentic sounds and lighting to add to the overall effect.  It really was the ultimate Lego Star Wars experience.  I was mesmerised.  Star Wars fans will not be disappointed.

It was then time to get an ariel view of the park from the SkyRider, a gentle ride which gave spectacular views of the park and over MiniLand - which by the way was just as great as it sounds.  With hundreds of thousands - probably millions - of bricks they have created fantastic scenes and models from all across the globe from London to America - from Cornwall to the roads of the Tour de France.  Wherever you looked there was such amazing attention to detail.

Stan waits for his connection

Stan is happy to find a pint size St Pauls Cathedral 

We then went to explore the park some more; taking in all the amazing scenery.  The park is divided into sections and themes.  Like the Lego themes you will find in the shops there was Lego City, Lego Pirates, Lego Kingdom etc.  Every section was jam packed with themed models/sculptures, rides and attractions.  Some were for smaller kids but there really was something for everyone.  The Models were just phenomenal.  What I would give to work on even one of the imaginative Lego builds. 

There was swashbuckling fun in the Pirates area, including the Jolly Rocker - a fast swinging pirate ship which made Mikey laugh hysterically and sound like a 5yr old girl - and the Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench -  a log flume which got us very wet indeed.  

Bernard thinks he may have met his match.

It was then onto the The Knights Kingdom for some medieval mayhem under the shadow of a very grand castle where we enjoyed a trip on The Dragon - a magnificent roller coaster ride.

Then we visited the Land of the Vikings making our way through a Nordic maze and then another drenching on the Vikings River Splash ride.  The final ride we went on was a little "Boating" Lake where we controlled a little two seater boat around a lake.  It was a very gentle but a perfect way to end our day!

We had such a blast at LegoLand, spending the whole day there -  arriving when it opened and leaving a mere  15 minutes before it closed.   It was such a fantastic day out.  I was gutted that the following day the park would be closed.

I would highly recommend it as a day out for anyone who likes Lego.

LegoLand Swag

During our trip to LegoLand you can imagine I was like a kid in a sweet shop. I was overwhelmed and giddy and having the time of my life - especially in the LegoLand shops.

The first stop was the BIG Lego Store.  I was awestruck. It was amazing.  We spent a good half an hour in there. I wanted everything! I wanted a box of bricks, windows and doors... .... a courier bag... and so many other exciting things.   I was obviously extremely tempted by the Death Star.... but I just couldn't justify the expense. We actually left without anything at this point as knew we'd be back nearer the end of the day. There was just too much choice and I couldn't decide.


Then it was onto the Star Wars Store. Again I nearly exploded with excitement at the sights....

The day we drove to LegoLand

We have just come back from a trip to LegoLand (Windsor) which as you can imagine was extraordinary.

En-route we met up with our good friends Kim and Robert. Robert is a fellow Lego collector and told me that he had a few spares from Series 1 if I wanted them. I only needed three to complete my collection - the Nurse, The Crash Test Dummy and the Skater. He had all three. :-) (The skater no longer had a skateboard, but I am sure I can easily remedy that).

In a very thoughtful gesture he gave me  the MiniFigs to me in this
handy (& cute) little MiniFig presentation box.

Woop!! Now my Series One is complete! Just two more to get from Series 7 and my whole collection will be complete - until the next series, obviously. ;-) 


His generosity continued when he then gave me his spare Batman set (Set 30160 - from the previous days Sun Newspaper Promotion).

My very own batman MiniFig.

It really is great to have friends that have a shared love for Lego and I have to thank them both for their generosity. If he had sold them on eBay he could have made a little packet.

So... as you can imagine I was a very happy lady as we drove towards our destination.

To be continued.....

We are off on a short break.

Oh my! Mikey has organised a top secret holibobs for me.....

He only told me a day before we set off.  It was time to pack - apparently I would need my swimming cozzie and running gear.... but my main conerns were who I'd take with me.....

Stan (Stormie), Bernard (Lizard Guy) and Roger (Hazmat Guy) won the toss and they too packed their bags.

We were all looking forward to our adventure.

Bags packed and ready to roll!

Stan and Roger enjoy the journey despite the heavy traffic. 

A couple more Series 7 MiniFigs

Series 7 still hasn't appeared in either of our toys shops and Tesco has sold out already so getting any new MiniFigs has been quite challenging.

Thankfully however on a chance visit to WHSmiths we found a box full of Series 7. The lady allowed me to have  the box which they were keeping behind the counter but she didn't seem at all pleased to let me spend time looking for the ones I needed.

She made me very uncomfortable looking and I really struggled to recognise any pieces.   Mikey found a bag with what he was sure had the Ocean King in (I wasn't convinced though) and I managed to find the short legs of the Red Riding Hood character.  After that and I just kept picking up ones I already had.  It was the first time I really haven't enjoyed the MiniFigure hunt.  After a few more disapproving looks off the staff I called it a day and only came home with two bags.

I got home with a heavy heart - unconvinced that The Ocean King was in one of my bags.  Amazingly Mikey had been right - I bow down to his superior fondling ability - and when I ripped open Bag One out fell the Ocean King. I was over the moon!

Then out came The Red Riding Hood character... she too was pretty cool.  I was now a happy bunny!

Now I only have 2 left to collect.... the Galaxy Patrol man and the Swimming Champion. I know the swim champ will be tough to find as she has very few recognisable pieces but surely the Space Cop's gun should be easy to find.

Series 7 Goodies

The Series 7 still haven't arrived in either of my local toy shops yet.  I have been trying to patiently wait as I'd much rather give my custom to the little people rather than to the supermarket giants but I couldn't wait much longer after the last disappointing haul.  So during our supermarket trip on Monday I came home with seven bags  (6 for me and 1 for my Mum)!

This time I'd spent more time fondling the bags and with Mikeys amazing ability to correctly identify, this time round I knew I would be far from disappointed.

First out of the bag was my 2nd most anticipated (after the Bunny) which was the Viking Woman.....

The Spartan Warrior and friends

In the last few weeks I have completed my Series Two collection, with the help from my Mum.  For a while now she has been buying the odd Mini Figure - unlike me she doesn't like to buy them to complete a series - she just collects the ones she thinks are "Heroic" or those with nice faces.


Anyway, the weekend before last, she started ordering herself quite a few from series One and Two. Realising she was ordering a number of figures that I didn't have - and knowing that I would sulk if she had them and I didn't - she also ordered me some too.  :-) Yay for generous Mothers!


So she bought us each....

Series 7 - Heaven and Hell

Last weekend a friend offered to sell me his spare Bunny Suit guy - despite both local toy shops still not having series 7, it was already out in Edinburgh!  Amazingly the Posties did a wonderful and speedy job and he arrived on Tuesday.  He is awesome! An instant fave!

That afternoon however, we had to do our supermarket food shop and we discovered a box of series 7 there.  Wooopee! What a great day.....