Showing posts sorted by relevance for query jmbricklayer. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query jmbricklayer. Sort by date Show all posts

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Unboxing the Kickstarter funded JMBricklayer Marble Run Building Block set 70003

Hey brick fans!  Are you tired of seeing the same old Lego themed sets like Star Wars, City, Harry Potter and such?   Do you want to challenge yourself and build something a set that is unique, complex and exciting all at once?  If you said Yes, then you want to check out the newest set coming from JMBricklayer!

 JMBricklayer stands for Joy Makes Brilliance, and they are a rapidly growing Lego compatible building block distributor and manufacturer.  They have authorization from the manufacturers of building block sets for their global online distribution, with channels on Amazon US, CA, UK, DE, including their official worldwide online store at JMBricklayer.com. With a variety of popular themes, they have sets that cater to everyone.  

I want to sincerely thank JMBricklayer for entrusting me to build and test their newest set before it even comes to market.   I'm really looking forward to building this amazing set.

The humungous JMBricklayer Steampunk Marble Run Dinosaur Factory set 70003 has, get this, a whopping 5391+ pieces!   

But what is a Lego style Marble Run you ask?   

A  Lego style marble run is a dynamic and engaging construction toy that combines the imaginative possibilities of LEGO building blocks with the mesmerizing motion of a marble run. Designed to be compatible with standard LEGO pieces, this set allows builders to create intricate pathways, ramps, and mechanisms that guide marbles through a series of obstacles and courses.

The JMBricklayer Marble Run set checks off all the boxes!  It's Lego compatible, meaning you can use pieces and bricks from your other Lego and alternative Lego to enhance the set.  The set comes with several orange balls which serve as the marbles.  And there are so many cool courses, elevators and obstacles as we will see later in this review.

Additionally there are many elements that you won't find in other marble run sets, such as giant Dinosaurs, even flying ones, and steampunk gears and cranes and chemical tanks!



Before we unbox and look at the contents of this gigantic set, JMBricklayer is doing something unique to market and promote the Marble Run set.  It is doing a Kickstarter campaign to let as many people know about this new set as possible.  They launched the Kickstarter project on the morning of June 21, 2024 and the Super Early Bird tier sold out within an hour!   

The project is ongoing for one month and there are different tiers depending on when you decide to back the project.   Here's the link to the JMBricklayer Kickstarter page if you want to get all the details.



Here's some pics of the box that the Marble Run set comes in.

The box dimensions are 20.5 inches(H) x 20.5 inches (W) x 5.5 inches (D).  The box has a premium look with the featured set displayed on a black background.


Left side of the box shows a mechanical dinosaur.

Right side of the box features a flying Pteranodon.

Rear of the box looks at some of the extra features in the set.

Opening the flap on the box, we find more boxes with an illustration of the Marble Run set.

There are actually 3 internal boxes, labelled A and B, and another one with no letter.

Opening up box A, it contains some big bags numbered 1 thru 4.

Bags 5 thru 7 are found inside box B.

The unmarked box tells you what's inside.

They include two very thick instruction booklets. Manual A is to be used with the parts bags in box A, and Manual B is used with the corresponding box B.   Manual A has 174 pages.  Manual B continues from pages 175 thru 344, with a few extra pages of tips and troubleshooting.


The "Building Block Hose" as referred to on the unmarked box is the collection of flexible tracks that will be installed throughout the marble run.  There is also a bag of clips that will be used to secure the hose track.

The last item in the box are a battery pack and two identical motors.   Batteries do not come with the set so you have to provide 6 AA style batteries to power the two motors.

Almost forgot to mention the giant 48x48 stud baseplate that is included, on which the Marble Run set will sit.


Here's a peek into instruction manual A.  It highlights the first four stages as depicted above.

Similarily, instruction manual B reviews the remainder of the build, stages 5 through 7.

Just a quick flip through the pages, and not gonna lie, it looks quite daunting.  I've never built a Lego style marble run set in my life, so this will definitely be a first for me.   And with the size of this set of 5291 pieces, it's going to be the biggest set I've ever built as well.

So with that let's do a quick review of the details.

Brand: JMBricklayer
Set and Number: Steampunk Marble Run Dinosaur Factory 70003
Theme: Fantastic Idea
Piece Count: 5391+ pieces
Age Rating: 14+
Numbered Bags: Yes
Stickers: No
Printed Parts: No
Minifigures: No
Lighting Effect: No
Motorised: Yes - 2 motors included
Powered: Yes - 6 AA Battery pack included


Pricing:  As listed on the JMBricklayer Kickstarter page, the regular price of the Marble Run set is $189.99 USD, but with the early bird pricing there are several tiers of discounts ranging from 18% off to as high as 35% off.   The Kickstarter campaign lasts until July 2024 and assuming all funding goals are met, the Marble Run sets will start shipping in August 2024.

That's it for this blog post.  So join me in my next blog post as we start to build and explore this new world of the Marble Run.  I'll review the set in detail, show you all of the features and see if they live up to the expectation of such a large and complex set.  Along the way, I'll also point out the good parts and anything that needs improving as well.

Part 1 - Building the JMBricklayer 70003 Marble Run review is now up: https://its-not-lego.blogspot.com/2024/06/constructing-5391-piece-jmbricklayer.html




Don't forget to check out the JMBricklayer website and visit their Facebook and Instagram pages to participate in their promotions and monthly contests where you can win free sets and get exclusive discount codes up to 60% off.   For the non sale sets, you can use my special discount code itsnotlego15% to save an extra 15% off.


Want to see more JMBricklayer set reviews?  Check them out at https://bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com.

Bye for now!



Sunday, February 26, 2023

Today's Review: JMBricklayer 20104 Botanical Collection Succulent Flower Set


Welcome back to It's Not Lego, my blog where I review the latest Lego compatible building block sets.  Today I'm reviewing the 20104 9 pack Succulent set, the latest in a series of botanical building block sets from JMBricklayer.  

Thanks to JMBricklayer for providing the building set for this review!

This appealing succulent set can be found on their the JMBricklayer website or from their Amazon shop if you like it.  Sets come with free worldwide shipping.  Check out their website for more details.  Also don't forget to check out JMBricklayer's latest promotion and contests!

Use my discount code "itsnotlego15%" to save on applicable purchases from the website.

At a glance

Brand: JMBricklayer

Set: 20104 Succulent Set (9 different plants)

Theme: Botanical Collection

Piece count:  750 pieces

Numbered bags? No

Stickers or printed parts? No

Missing or deformed pieces: No

Extra parts: Yes

Minifigures: No

Lighting kit: No

Brick Quality and Clutch: Excellent

Measurements (approx): N/A

Age Rating: 14+


Unboxing

Here is the colourful box for the JMBricklayer's succulent collection.

Inside the box, it is jam packed with a total of 10 bags of parts and a package of separate instruction sheets to build 9 different succulent plants.  There are a total of 750 pieces in this set.

There is one bag of parts and a two sided instruction page for each of the 9 plants. The turquoise coloured plant also uses the extra bag of small flowers.



Here are all nine of the succulent plants completed.  Each succulent plant comes with a unique shaped planter.   They were easy to assemble and look great by themselves, in smaller groups or displayed all together.   All the flower parts clutch together very well and the quality of the pieces used is excellent. I really like all the colours and flower types.  

For the research for this blog post, I learned the names of some of the succulents, such as Haworthia, Echeveria, Graptopetalum, and Sedum to name a few.  I think flower #1 looks like a sedum, flower #5 looks like echeveria, and graptopetalum might be flower #7, and haworthia - flower #3.  If you know more about succulents, please let me know what the other flowers are called and whether I got them right or not.

There's a small handful of parts leftover afterwards.

I like them all but if I had to choose, I think the leafy green plant (pictured top left) looks the most realistic. The pink flower succulent (pictured top center) is also another favourite of mine.  


In conclusion, it was very satisfying to build these little representations of succulent plants.  They make a very nice display for your home decor.  They are small enough to not take up too much space on your desk or table but still add a pop of colour and vibrancy to your indoor space.  Best of all you don't have to maintain any of these lifelike plants.  

Here's my entire JMBricklayer botanical collection.  If you missed my other reviews, you can find them below.

JMBricklayer 20106 White Orchid

My rating for this 9 pack JMBricklayer succulent set is 5 out of 5.  Please let me know what you think and whether you agree with my rating.  

Want to see more JMBricklayer set reviews?  Check them out at https://bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com.
Thanks for visiting and see you next time, bye!

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Review of the JMBricklayer 50001 Vintage Model A Deluxe Coupe Building Block Set

 


Hey brick fans!  

I'm here to review the latest exclusive building set from JMBricklayer!  It's an exquisite reproduction of a 1931 Ford Model A and it can be built both as a coupe and as a roadster.   


About the Model A Vintage Car

The Model A was a very popular car that was produced by the Ford Motor company between 1927 and 1931, selling almost 5 million units.  1931 was the final model year before Ford phased out the Model A and subsequently introduced the model B.  For vintage car lovers, you can find more information about the Ford Model A here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_A_(1927%E2%80%931931)

This  JMBricklayer Model A is very similar to one found that was featured for sale in the St. Louis Car Museum.  https://www.stlouiscarmuseum.com/vehicles/407/1931-ford-model-a-deluxe-coupe.  JMBricklayer made it even more special in this green and dark green livery.  The light green rims are particularly striking!


About JMBricklayer


Thanks to JMBricklayer for providing the set for today's review!  They are a leading provider of high quality, Lego compatible building block sets where you can choose from a variety of themes such as Vehicles, Ships, Trains, Military, Sci-fi and much more.  

Latest update from JMBricklayer (limited time offer)!

Use the discount codes below for Model A 50001:
① For US customers:
20% off, no limit, valid for 9.20-9.27
MODELA20
Copy the Code to Buy on US Amazon JMBricklayer Amazon store

② For worldwide customers:
15% off, no limit, permanently valid for all non-discounted items: 
JMBVIP15%
Copy Code to Buy on jmbricklayer.com

See other offers below!

About the Set




The set name and number is the Vintage Car Model A Deluxe Coupe 50001 featuring 1297 pieces.  Some of the special features of this model include turnable front wheels, removable roof, opening engine compartment, real rubber tires, and opening doors and rear rumble seat/trunk.  And of course we can't forget about the lighting.  This kit has headlights, sidelights, taillights and even interior lighting that makes it look more amazing.  We will look at these feature sin more detail later in this review.   Ok, can't wait to build and review the Model A!

Unboxing the contents


As with all JMBricklayer building block sets, it comes in a very sturdy box that showcases the model very nicely.


Inside the box, we find the handy instruction manual, two bags containing the special light kit, several parts bags that are numbered 1, 2 and 3.   We will look at the bag contents later.



One of the lighting kit bags contains the battery pack which uses 3 AA batteries, not included.

The other bag contains the lighting components which include a multi-port board, a USB plug, and several led lights with wires attached.


Don't worry, if this is your first time building a set with a lighting kit, because the JMBricklayer manual shows you detailed easy to follow instructions on how to attach all the lighting components and integrate them into the car.


Building the Model A


There are three major steps involved to build the Classic Model A, and you would use the parts bags that are numbered accordingly to build that step.


Step 1

For step 1, we will build the frame and undercarriage for the car.

There are a total of 8 bags of parts used in step 1.  

However, there is a bag that contains all of the wheel assemblies and I think this should be labelled for use in step 3, because it's too early to put the wheels on in step 1.

One of the cool features about the set is the steerable front wheels.  Here you can see the beginnings of the turning mechanism.  There are gears that will be later attached to the steering wheel so that when you turn the steering wheel, the front wheels will also turn in the same direction!

Here's a look at the undercarriage construction.

And here is step 1 completed.   The build quality and clutch for the bricks is excellent.  Now we can move on to the body assembly in step 2.

Step 2

For step 2, we will be assembling the engine compartment, the front grill and headlights, the sidelights, the interior and the trunk!


There are 13 numbered bags for this step.

I think Step 2 will be the most comprehensive section in this build, just by looking at all of the parts.

Now we can use the special lighting kit and put the headlights on the car.  The silver parts used on the grill are shiny but not quite chrome.

It's a good idea to test the components before installing them because you want to make sure all of the lighting components are working properly.   Here you can see that I've attached the headlights to the front grill and then attached the wires to the board.  I've also attached the USB plug to the board and that plugs into the battery box, which is powered by 3 AA batteries which you will need to provide yourself.

The connection board will be installed into the trunk later.

The Model A used a  4 cylinder engine as it's powerplant and that is faithfully reproduced in the set.

We will need to attach the sidelights and before we do, we should test that they work as well.

Ditto for the rear taillights.

Here is the engine housing.

And here we are building the interior of the vehicle.  As you can see from the picture, the headlight and sidelight wires all feed into the interior under the floor and under the seat to the rear of the car.

As mentioned earlier, the lighting board will be hidden inside the trunk behind the seat.  We do another final lighting test before embedding the board.

I love that the doors and the rear trunk/rumble seat can be opened and closed.  

With step 2 completed, we can now move to step 3 to complete the Model A!


Step 3

The final assembly of the Model A will consist of the final touches such as mounting all the wheels, bumpers, front and rear fenders and the roof, which can be removed.

There are 5 bags for step 3 and don't forget that the wheels are from a bag in step 1.

The parts for step 3 include many shiny silver pieces that will be used for the bumpers.  I like that the window glass is thoughtfully packaged separately so as not to be scratched.

Here's a look at the wheel assemblies which we found in the step 1 parts bags.

With all of the final pieces attached, the Vintage Model A looks spectacular!

Here is the back side of the car

Here is the opening hood for the engine, you can open it from either side.

The front wheels can be steered from side to side.


A very beautiful coupe!

But I cannot lie, I much prefer the Model A as a roadster!


Do you prefer the JMBricklayer Vintage car Model A as a coupe or a roadster?   In either case, the car displays beautifully and is a nice collector's item for classic car collectors!   

Where to get the Model A Deluxe Coupe?


It's now available from either the JMBricklayer website:  https://www.jmbricklayer.com/product/model-a-50001/?wpam_id=33.   

Note – Spend $69.99 or more and receive a lovely complimentary gift. Offer available on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last.


Also available on Amazon: https://amz.run/50001 (15% off code for social media: MODELA15) to get a further discount from the price of $69.94.

For US Amazon, the website link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7HNG3MB, the coupon code VIPLEGS15 for US Amazon applies only to the non-discounted Model A 50001 and is valid for one month, offering a 15% discount.  

In addition, as for the online store, the website link https://www.jmbricklayer.com/product/model-a-50001/, the coupon code VIPLEGS15 applies to all non-discounted products and offers a 15% discount. The code is valid for one year.

Don't forget to check out my other JMBricklayer set reviews on my other blog:  bricktoyreviews.blogspot.com

Hope you have enjoyed this review!   Bye for now!