Welcome to Flashback Friday!  Here's a 2018 set that hearkens back up to 30 years into the past.Video: LEGO City 2018 Heavy Cargo Transport review! 60183Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

In some regions this came out in early 2017.  In a limited number of others it came out in the middle of the year.  In my region, it just hit store shelves and was actually the first set of the season for me to come up with a "DO NOT sell until" embargo at the checkout register, listing a street date of Dec. 1, 2017.  A manager was kind enough to do an override... for this months-old... $4 set.Video: LEGO Ninjago Wu Cru Master's Training Grounds polybag review! 30425It's funny to see the diametrical shift in comments between two back-to-back videos, from "It is impossible for you to have this set because it does not yet even exist on the planet" to "This is set is so old it makes absolutely no sense for you to review it [sic]" in minutes!Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

The value is strong in this one.  I think this is one of the most variably playable sets we've gotten at the $30 USD price point in recent memory.Video: LEGO NEXO Knights Berserker Bomber review! 72003Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

This figure pack is about as straightforward as they come, with the only really special thing being the active camo figure and his weapon.Video: Mega Construx Halo Spartan CTF Base Crashers reviewOriginal linkOriginal author: theJANG

I went down a bit of a roller-coaster of emotion with this set today, starting out liking & looking forward to it, then feeling really let down after completing the main chassis, and finally returning to a calm state of satisfaction with the removable components docked in place.Video: LEGO NEXO Knights Axl's Rolling Arsenal review! 72006Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

A little bit of the spirit of Benny from the original LEGO Movie lives on in at least the title of this walking, large, yet miniaturized shark mech set.  This is definitely one of those times I do not envy LEGO designers, the development of this set being plagued by so many battling restrictions & requirements.  Against very difficult odds, I think they did about as good as anyone could reasonably ask.Video: LEGO Ninjago Movie garmadon, Garmadon, GARMADON review ? 70656Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

The word "drone" entered the popular lexicon via early media hype over the rise of military recon & attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) around the turn of the millennium.  Originally the term was a reference to the sound and "dumb" flight characteristics of UAVs, which resembled that of male bees.  A decade later, media again mucked with the English language by applying the term to any and all multi-rotor remote-controlled aircraft, including cheap toy versions, regardless of capabilities.  Many ignorant news reports would even call single-rotor RC helicopters & airplanes "drones" and use quadcopter visual references because that's what they had gotten the public temporarily worked up about (with worries over privacy & safety).  Now LEGO has picked up this linguistic misappropriation and applied it to a model of a flying vehicle that's clearly supposed to be operated by an onboard pilot.  In other words, it's just an aircraft.  To be...

Timestamp 0:00 in this video sums up my strongest feelings about this set: "I can't believe I actually have this!"  High-quality photos of a pre-production version were leaked out in 2014 with an expected release of 2015, but that seemed to be the end of it.  Fast forward to 2016, and a few production sets went out to reviewers, suggesting that a release was actually going to occur, but that seemed to be the end of it, again!Then, last week, I was browsing Amazon when the myth finally became reality for me, priced at $40 USD, shipped from Amazon warehouses with free shipping for Prime members.  Now, some viewers are reporting seeing this on shelves at Ross.  It's another case of a set that was produced in quantity, but never picked up by retailers as expected, then finally liquidated through clearance channels down the line.Video: Mega Bloks Call of Duty Zombies Nuketown...

Just from the pictures I expected the main build in this set to have scissoring wing transformation, Technic geared rotors with remote activation, and trigger-launched missiles.  Well, it has none of that.  It's evidently... less than meets the eye.Video: LEGO NEXO Knights Aaron's X-Bow review! 72005Original linkOriginal author: theJANG

Yep I got a couple more of these little things and I'm not particularly proud of it.  I felt like they had limited potential early on, and the situation hasn't particularly improved with time.  They're not bad, I just think they're not particularly great.Video: LEGO Star Wars BrickHeadz Finn & Capt. Phasma reviewOriginal linkOriginal author: theJANG