Take a peek back, if you will, at my original undersea display that I put together in 2015.  It brought great personal joy to me, satisfying my love of underwater scenes that previously surfaced in my first LEGO city in the year 2000 and my zoo's aquarium in 2014.  Once I dedicated a whole table to this theme, though, I just couldn't stop thinking about it.  I doubled its size in 2016 and added a shipwreck in 2017. Behind the scenes, though, I was desperate for more.  I've given very serious consideration (and dedicated plenty of research) to all manner of techniques to add more depth & "life" to these displays, but it wasn't until today that I realized I should just add... a display.My very first flat screen TV, now over a decade old, hasn't gotten much use in the past couple of years though it still works fine, making it...

Over the past couple of days I've been tearing apart, putting back together, and shifting around large areas of New Jang City and its adjunct displays.  Table tops have been reoriented & legs removed.  Fresh ground has been prepared for new building.  In all, I have over 350 sq. ft. of easily-accessible tables dedicated to LEGO displays, with space to add still more in the future!  For the sake of context, the last time I measured the surface area it was under 250 sq. ft.Video: Crouching City, Hidden Update (Jan. 8, 2018)Time to order up some more under-table lighting and some bulk terrain parts to kickstart some of the new displays!Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

The newest big modular building for 2018 transports the much-loved series forward by a couple of decades, landing square in the middle of the 1950s.  It's not just a new gimmick with a pretty exterior; this is actually one of the more spacious big builds to date.  In addition to introducing some new prints and basic part recolors, this set brings back the classic "teal" color that was wiped from the LEGO palette over a decade ago.  Grab a snack because this is a long video!Video: LEGO Downtown Diner modular building review! 10260Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

With the second wave of TLJ sets in the books, I've gone back to take a look at the entire lot together, first checking out the (brick-based) builds, then the series of minifigs that so far number far less than we got for TFA.Videos:All LEGO Star Wars The Last Jedi sets: A Retrospective [SPOILERS!]All LEGO Star Wars The Last Jedi minifigs: 2017 summary [SPOILERS!]Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

Over the past two short weeks I've purchased more than $2,700 USD worth of new sets (above is pictured barely over 1/3rd of that) and published 42 videos of them.  That adds to the over 45 reviews made during the 5 weeks prior, with a sprinkling of hauls & throwbacks interspersed.  I haven't gone back to check previous years, but this feels like my most productive Winter season to date, though it's not yet over!  Still at least two dozen late-2017 & early 2018 items remain in the queue to cover before I can take a deep breath & relax for a moment or two.  With this volume of production obviously I've not been able to keep the blog updated, and I must apologize for that; it's not a situation I'm happy with, but I'm running right around maximum capacity, requiring some things to fall by the wayside in favor of...

A couple of months ago I wrote about a milestone I had achieved in a process with YouTube that got a little flag of what I simply called "trust" applied to my account.  That flag allowed me to proceed down a path that's very rarely opened to content creators as small and independent as me, and I'm happy to report that this week I have successfully reached the destination.I have been granted use of the Content ID system, YouTube's semi-automated copyright protection framework.  The system is unfortunately much maligned due to a history of hyperactivity and abuse by improperly-trained and overly claim-happy administrators, but in the past year or so it received an important rework that has made it much more fair for everyone.  Besides, I have no intention to use this thing for evil.  I couldn't get away with it if I tried.  Remember, I'm the guy who got a...

I hoped this set would be good.  The main build is.  The second build makes it even better!Video: LEGO Technic Racing Yacht review ⛵ 42074Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

Mega's Destiny line has demonstrated, in my view, the pinnacle of their design and production capabilities since its inception.  That has certainly not changed with this latest lowest-cost product offering.Video: Mega Construx Destiny Series 1 figures full collection reviewOriginal linkOriginal author: theJANG

Black bear!  Beehive!  Double-face head!  Alright!  Net shooter, large heli with hardly any space, hrmm.  It's a fairly average set overall, but one thing that really hurts is the price.Video: LEGO City 2018 Mountain Arrest review ? 60173Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

I'm happy to see Mega being able to take advantage of some of their WWII-themed molds actually during an era of a WWII themed Call of Duty game.  Beyond the marketing stuff, though, this is actually a rather excellent WWII miniatures set in general.Video: Mega Construx Call of Duty WWII Flamethrower Shock Troopers reviewOriginal linkOriginal author: theJANG