Review of the Enlighten Sunshine Hotel 1127 Building Block set (not Lego)

 I received my latest purchase from Ali Express this week.  It's a brand new set from Enlighten called the Sunshine Hotel.  Typically Enlighten makes police and fire block sets.  They also have a set of train sets but they are discontinued. I was happy to see that Enlighten made a building set for 2015 and hope that they continue the series.

Review

The Sunshine hotel set number is 1127 and according to the instruction manual, there are 628 pieces. The manual says that it comes with 4 mini figures, but there's actually only 3.    

Here's the front page of the instruction manual showing a turn of the century hotel, a vintage car and the three mini figures.

Here's the back page of the instruction manual.  As you can see the hotel is the only building in the new 2015 line-up.  The rest of the new sets include a tour bus, a police chase set, an ambulance, a delivery truck and storefront and lastly a camper.

I was pleasantly surprised that the instruction manual is printed on heavy glossy paper.

I typically don't get the original boxes when buying brick sets from Ali Express.  The 4 bags of parts and plates came in a generic brown box.  I did notice that Enlighten has started to number their bags in the same fashion as Lego.

Here are the three mini figures.  The male figure sporting the red vest and bow tie looks like he is an employee of the hotel.  The lady figure in the center has a unique hairpiece and is wearing a long dress so she comes without legs.  Lastly the gentleman figure on the right is wearing a suit and top hat.  I would imagine that the lady and gentleman are guests of the hotel.

Here is the vintage car that is included with the set. There are about 70 pieces to it. It rolls well, despite the thin wagon wheels.

It has a clear windscreen and opening doors. I like the details on the one piece grill and mirrors.

The car has several printed blocks with the words Victory. The rear of the car looks like it might be a convertible.

Sadly there's only room for one person in this car so the lady does not get to ride in it, especially in her wide dress.

Other set details include the bunch of roses and the tiara worn by the lady.  All the signs are printed blocks and not stickers.

Here's the hotel in it's entirety. Quite a tall building with three storeys.  The first floor is white, while the second floor is light yellow.  The roof is dark blue with light gray details.

This pic shows the details of the second floor facade.  It's got 4 arched windows and a bigger arch on the front face of the building.  

Here's the hotel roof with lots of little details like the S sign.  It's got a chimney and windows in the attic.  I put a skeleton mini figure in the attic to make the hotel haunted.

Here's the pic of the left side of the building. You can see that there is another window on the second floor.

The right side of the hotel.  It is only six bricks wide.

Here's the back side.

On the first floor you can see the main floor windows and the door that opens.  It's too narrow for furniture so they just give you a potted plant.  Although it's white on the outside, the first floor is dark gray on the inside.

The second floor is the restaurant or cafe in the hotel.  The set comes with 2 tables, 2 lamps and 4 swiveling chairs, but I removed one of the chairs to put the Sluban lady mini figure in.  The two mini figures in the dining room and the ome in the attic are not part of the set.  I just added them in for more interest.  Details include two mugs and vegetable platters.

There's just enough room in the attic to put a mini figure so I put a skeleton mini figure here.

More roof details.

Another second floor view.

First floor view.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the hotel set. The bricks all fit together nicely and solid.  There were no other extra pieces or bricks except for some extra flowers.  The thing I didn't like about the set was that all of the window glass pieces were scratched.  If there was one thing to improve, it would be to make the building deeper, but that would mean more bricks and consequently a higher price point.

 I might have to pick up a vintage train set to go with it.  Let's hope Enlighten continues to make more of these buildings.

Brand: Enlighten

Set: 1127 Sunshine Hotel

Pieces: 628 pieces

Minifigs: 3

Would I recommend this set? Yes.

Wange 40615 Automobile Carrier Set Review (Not Lego)

Hello and welcome to Its Not Lego, my blog that reviews all the not Lego building sets.  Today we will be reviewing this Wange Automobile truck set. It's set number 40615. Not sure why they call it an automobile carrier, when clearly it's just a cargo truck. This is my first set by Wange. The design of this truck is a close copy of Lego's Truck and Forklift set 7733 that came out in 2008.  While Lego's truck was green, the Wange version is red.

You get one mini figure with the set.  The Wange mini figure isn't that compatible with Lego minifigs, as the arms and legs are completely different.

Here's the mini fig from behind.

The rear trailer can be detached and the front axle pivots.

Here's the side view.

Here's the rear view.

There's lots of storage room inside.

The cab roof can be removed to put the mini figure inside.

Here's the whole set with more pics below.

Here's the instruction manual. The set has 310 pieces.  Build quality is average and the mini figure sucks.

Brand: Wange

Set: 40615 Automobile Carrier

Number of pieces: 310 pieces

Minifigs: 1

Would I recommend this set?  Yes, but only if the price was right.

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!