Posts

Pantasy Italian Street Corner 85062 – A Colourful Corner With Some Clever Surprises

Image
Pantasy Italian Street Corner 85062 – A Colourful Corner With Some Clever Surprises Manufacturer: Pantasy Set Number: 85062 Piece Count: Approximately 2,900 RRP: $160 USD Overall Rating: 7.5/10 Get yours here! I've built and reviewed quite a few Pantasy sets now, particularly from their architectural and modular ranges, and it's always interesting to see what direction they take with each new release. The Italian Street Corner (85062) is a complete corner modular featuring a pizza restaurant, an ice cream parlour and a rather interesting central staircase connecting the buildings. What immediately caught my attention was the colour scheme. Pantasy often favours rich, darker colours in its modular buildings, particularly deep reds and greens. This time they've gone for something quite different, with a selection of lighter pastel shades. I really like the change. Another interesting point is that this model has no lighting or mechanical features. For ...

Pantasy Violin 85065 – Small Build, Beautiful Result

Image
Pantasy Violin 85065 – A Little Masterpiece Get yours here I've spoken extensively about Pantasy's Retro Collection in previous reviews, so I'm not going to spend too long covering familiar ground. However, this little model deserves some attention. The Pantasy Violin 85065 might just be my favourite of the collection to date, narrowly edging out my previous favourite. And there's a good reason for that. The Building Experience I absolutely loved building this. Watching the violin gradually come together, piece by piece, was a real pleasure. There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing a collection of bricks slowly take the shape of such a recognisable instrument. I found myself enjoying the entire process, watching the design develop and appreciating just how well it all came together. It's one of those builds where the experience is every bit as enjoyable as the finished model. Design and Display And what a lovely fi...

Pantasy Antique Clock Shop 85060 – Great Build, Curious Mechanics

Image
Pantasy Antique Clock Shop 85060 – Great Build, Questionable Mechanics Overall Score: 7.5/10 Grab yours here! I've always found clockmaking fascinating. There's something about the precision of it all, the intricate cogs, gears and mechanisms working together to keep perfect time. The idea of someone sitting at a workbench, carefully repairing an old watch or restoring an antique clock really appeals to me. So when I saw Pantasy's Antique Clock Shop, I was pretty confident this was going to be a build I'd enjoy. And I absolutely did. This is a wonderfully straightforward, uncomplicated building experience. Sometimes that's exactly what I want. Not every model needs to challenge you with elaborate techniques or complicated assemblies. There's a lot to be said for sitting down, enjoying the process and watching a lovely little building come together. The Antique Clock Shop has plenty going for it, particularly the individual clock designs, the workshop...

More Human Than Human? LUMIBRICKS Protein Farm Living Quarters Review

Image
LUMIBRICKS Blade Runner 2049 Protein Farm Living Quarters 23002 — Review Grab yours here! “It’s a protein farm. Wallace design.” — Sapper Morton I was always going to be biased with these models. Not only am I getting an excellent quality brick set, with amazing lighting and quality design, I'm getting a set based on a series of films I absolutely adore. Following K's Spinner, the Protein Farm Living Quarters is the second part of the Blade Runner 2049 collection for me. I loved the Spinner, so I was really looking forward to this one. And honestly, this was the right scene for LUMIBRICKS to build. It's dirty, weathered, cluttered and atmospheric. It's not the neon-soaked Blade Runner location you might immediately expect them to go for, but that's actually part of why I like it. There is so much here that suits what LUMIBRICKS does well. At 2,400 pieces, this is also a very different proposition to K's Spinner. This is a proper building with a dev...