Sejong the Great Aegis Destroyer 세종대왕함

Ah, how could I forget about this set? Here we have the Sejong the Great destroyer, named for the 15th century Joseon dynasty king famous for spearheading the development of a Korean writing system, and one of several ships of that class in the south Korean navy. It certainly caught my eye when I first saw it, given the size.

The set includes the ship, a helicopter, and several minifigs with lots of weapons.

So, how is it? Not bad altogether, but I do have a few issues with the set. The hull is just a bunch of big blocks stuck together; you can see the lines demarcating each chunk. They do not even have space to allow lower deck access. All of the real construction involves the upper structure of the ship. The main thing I dislike is the scale. Look at any of the sail ships such as the Lego Pirates sets. Those ships are quite large and the minifigs are to scale with the size of the ship for the most part. Here, the ship would need to be quite a bit larger to accommodate the minifig sailors inside. Maybe that can be a future MOC project...

Sejong the Great looks fine on my shelf, but the scale makes it just a little silly when you dwell on it :P 

Oxford: Korean House 옥스포드: 한옥

Oxford has been releasing a number of traditional Korean-themed buildings lately. This set is a Korean house, properly called "Han ohk" (한옥). As you can see, there are two separate designs for the building included.

I really love this set. Korean architecture is really quite beautiful, and while this house isn't quite capable of doing the real thing justice, it does have fantastic aesthetic appeal. 

Relaxing with some tea outside... or is it makgeolli (막걸리)? ㅎㅎㅎ

The kitchen is cramped...

Calligraphy practice book

With the roof removed

I highly recommend this set. The roof tiles were slightly annoying to put together since the first pieces hang precariously on the edge until they are connected to the rest above. It was absolutely worth it in the end though. I didn't use all the stickers. Some of them were expected to be put over multiple blocks, and what kind of sense is that if you plan on taking things apart eventually?

There are couple of other Korean-themed sets that I have my eye on. I'll be getting at least one during the summer.  The blog will be quite slow for a few months as I have to save money for new sets. In addition to the Korean stuff, expect classic pirates, LOTR, and perhaps even new castle sets...

Train Set

Here is the train set. It includes 2 Horizon Express sets together, four sets of straight and curved tracks, and stations 7937 and 7997 with their respective tracks as well.

I asked some Lego club kids to come up with a link between he two stations. The colourful tunnel was the result. Not bad for a random and quick development.

City: Train Station 7997

City station 7997 is a more traditional-style station with a large building and platform. This building has a lot of charm for me. I think it's the cafe on the second floor that does it for me :)

One of my Lego club students added some plants for decor. If we had more time that day, I would have let him add even more. Still, even little things go a long way.

This building has way more space than the other one shown here, but that is really just for a simple commuter train anyway. So... how about connecting them together and having a Horizon Express extravaganza?

Pirates of the Caribbean: Black Pearl and Isla de Muerta

This was a gift from last Christmas. Here we have a fairly nice, if simple, ship. The Black Pearl is honestly a bit underwhelming compared to other Lego pirate ships available, but it is still nice enough.

The colour of the ship is the main point for me, giving it an edgier appearance than the comparatively happy-looking ships seen earlier on this blog. But then, this is isn't an original set. It is a movie licensed-product...

The main drawbacks for me are the size and the minifigs. The Black Pearl seems like it should be longer. It also only has two cannons like Brickbeard's Bounty. What's up with that? As for the minifigs, I never cared for the Pirates films beyond the first one and I would thus much prefer the original film's crew... not the silly fish-men.

I do like the captain's chamber though. It certainly has easier access than the other ships I've seen due to the sides swinging open. 

By itself, the Black Peal is just okay. With a few other ships, it fits in rather nicely... Or at least provides some necessary variety. Will I get Queen Anne's Revenge? Probably not. I'd rather save a few dollars to get the Skull's Eye Schooner and the Imperial Flagship.

Bonus! I thought I'd mention this set here. I can't recall why I decided to get this set. There's not much to say about it really. I do like aspects of the set, and Barbossa is a cool character to have. Even that row boat can be given to the Pearl if you feel it needs one.

This set suffers from the same problem as the Moria set in LOTR. There really ought to be a little more to it. Maybe I'm just too particular with these smaller sets...

Pirates: Brickbeard's Bounty

Brickbeard's Bounty is a 2009 set, part of a limited Pirates theme revival a few years ago before Lego switched to Pirates of the Caribbean license sets. The ship has a similar design to the Black Seas Barracuda, but is noticeably smaller among other things (and under 600 pieces). This set does have a better colour scheme than the classic pirate vessels, and it feels very solid. Indeed, I think it has a certain majesty about it. I especially like the captain's chamber on this one.

I have a few minor complaints. There are only three cannons, and one of them is supposed to be positioned on the stern castle. Why not just have four cannons amidships as it should be? Why only two? Another thing is that there are no actual stairs going to the wheel. All it would take is a few blocks leading from the nearby mast. There is no crow's nest either! Finally, I do like the minifigs, but I feel that the ship needs a larger crew. And the sails! I hated putting those plug pieces on the ends of the flexible sticks. The other system with bulbous ends was more convenient.

Put a crow's nest on the damn thing!

Overall a very nice set to have to add variety to your Lego fleet, but not quite as good as the other big ships available (not counting the Pirates of the Caribbean stuff).

Here are some side-by-side shots with the "Bootleg" Barracuda.