Enlighten 627 Not Lego Train Locomotive set review

After waiting like what seems forever, my Enlighten train finally arrived from AliExpress.  It's based on a Derwent Grange steam locomotive.

I wasn't expecting the seller to ship the box, but here it is albeit slightly crumpled.  I also got 2 duplicate instruction booklets.   

I'm a big fan of these Lego style train sets, especially as they are so hard to come by.  Enlighten makes a number of trains but most of them have been discontinued, so I figured I better grab this one before it was retired also.  It cost me just under $20 USD with free shipping from AliExpress.

This set has 168 pieces and is about 80% similar to Lego's Hogwart's Express set 4708 released back in 2001.  This set has both the locomotive and the tender, whereas the Lego set had the locomotive and a train car.  The set comes with a single minifigure.   As with most Enlighten train sets, this one did not come with any track, unlike  Ausini brand train sets which come with six or seven pieces.

The build was pretty straightforward and the Enlighten bricks are completely compatible with Lego bricks.  This non-powered train set is molded in red and black with word printing on the locomotive and tender, not stickers.  It should be noted that the red bricks have a slightly metallic sheen to them.

Pictured above is the front of the locomotive.  Unfortunately it doesn't come with a front coupler.  Derwent Grange is printed on the side and 3688 towards the rear.

Note to self: add some small round black pieces to the hopper to simulate coal.

The engine cover opens up to reveal the steam engine inside.  

There's some nicely detailed tiles inside the cab.

Both trucks under the locomotive's carriage swivel making turns on the track a breeze.  

Above is the coal car with Enlighten brand on the side of it.

Here is the undercarriage for the coal car.  The magnets on all of the couplers are quite strong.

A ladder adorns the back of the coal car.

Here is the steam locomotive pulling an Ausini brand tanker car and an Enlighten brand caboose.   Now I just need to get some more train tracks.  Do you have any Lego or clone brick train sets?

Brand: Enlighten

Set: 627

Model:  Derwent Grange Steam Locomotive

Number of Brick Pieces: 168

If you are looking for different Lego compatible train sets, you can find them on Aliexpress.

As always, thanks for visiting Its Not Lego and See you next time!

Wange brand Lego style Villa 34052 Building block Set Review

 

Hi again.  I have another building set to show you today.  This is 755 piece Wange Villa set 34052.

 It is almost a knockoff of Lego Creator set 4954 Town House.

After I built the house according to the Wange instruction booklet, I decided I wanted to update the location of the windows and doors.  In the above picture, I've added some extra details like the lamppost, the mailbox, the bicycle and some bushes.

Here's a side view of the house, which uses a lot of the smaller windows.

Another side view.

The back of the building is unfinished as per the set.  I guess you can add furniture pieces later.  You can see the height of the first and second floors from the two batman mini figures.  The original set came with a much larger baseplate and you could build a side yard and fence.  In my build, I used a smaller baseplate and didn't add the side yard.

A few more views of the side of the house.

This set was a much better build than Wange Villa set 32052.  That set had yellow brick walls whereas this set has tan bricks.  The Lego 4954 was discontinued a long time ago and now it costs a few hundred to buy it.  On the other hand this Wange set only cost me about $30 USD from AliExpress.  I liked this set quite a bit as it has lots of potential to make different buildings.  In fact, I might buy another one of these sets in the future.

Brand: Wange 

Model/Set: Creation Villa

Set number: 34052

Number of pieces: 755

Kazi Fire Station 8052 Building Block set Review (not Lego)

 I wasn't sure what to expect with this Kazi 8052 Fire Station.  I had previously built two fire vehicles made by Kazi and was overwhelmed by the smell of gasoline from both sets.  Luckily, this 300 piece set did not smell.  Also, I was impressed that the bricks fit together very well.

This set comes with two fire fighter mini figures and an emergency vehicle.  This fire station is part of Kazi's Fire Fight series.

This is how the assembled set looks according to the instructions.

I wish there was an instruction booklet instead of the one page sheet that was provided.  This is the front of the instructions.

Here's the second page of the instructions.

These are all the pieces that you get.  Ignore the light gray piece, somehow the lego plate got into the picture somehow.

Building the supports.

Cool little computer and mug.

Completing the first floor.

The garage bay with working roll-up doors.

Building the second floor of the station.

Two storeys done.  The door slides.

The third floor.  Another computer station.

Completed fire station - rear view.  See the water cooler on the second floor?

Completed fire station - front view.

Notice anything different? I rebuilt it so that it's the mirror image with the garage on the right side.

Mirror image build - rear view.

Nope you're not seeing a reflection.  I bought two of the Kazi fire station.  At some point in the future, I'm going to merge the two buildings into one.

Brand: Kazi

Set: 8052 Fire Station

Number of pieces: 300

Would I recommend this set? Yes.