Month: November 2023

Review of nanoblock Moomintroll MOM-043

November 30, 2023October 20, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Moomintroll build. Moomintroll is part of the nanoblock Moomin collection.

Number: MOM-043

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Moomintroll is the main protagonist in the Moomin books and comics. The Moomintroll build is sitting, unlike Moominmama and Moominpapa.

This build has 2 sections. There is the head and the body. Both sections are very straightforward, with good directions.

I was able to easily build the head using my pad. Most of the build is creating Moomintroll’s nose. The nose is built up in several layers. Then, the eyes and ears to the head. Since the eyes are blue on a white build, they really stand out.

The body builds up on a 10×10 base. It begins with laying out the base layer of white bricks. The second layer adds the tail. the rest of the body goes up in layers. As the layers go up Moomintroll’s tummy gets smaller and heads to his neck. The body is closed up, and you are ready to attach the head.

The last step is to combine the head and the body. There is an excellent side view shot that is helpful in getting the head placed correctly.

Things I liked:

I like that he is sitting, which makes it unique among the Moomins.

Things I didn’t like:

In a couple places on the head, the lines between the bricks are a bit hard to see

Review of nanoblock Moominhouse MOM-042/NBH_062

November 23, 2023October 20, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Moominhouse build. Moominhouse is part of the nanoblock Moomin collection.

Number: MOM-042 or NBH_062

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

The Moominhouse is the home of Moominmama, Moominpapa, and Moomintroll. It is a multi-story blue cylindrical building with a red cone-shaped roof.

When I opened the kit, I was surprised that there were 2 bags of 1×2 blue pieces. I guessed after seeing that the build would be just building the outline of the house.

The build begins by laying the outline of the building. This outline includes the porch, which comes off the front of the building.

The building goes up in simple layers. The first few layers include the main body of the house and, the building on the porch, and other details of the house. After adding the details to the base layers of the house, all that is left is to finish building the main section of the house.

For the main house, it is all blue other than the windows. Because the sides are built stacking 1×2 that rotate each, it is hard to keep the build perfectly squared. This made adding the roof a bit tricky.

After adding 3 floors to the house, it’s time to add the roof.

The roof is very straightforward. Each layer makes the roof a bit smaller and creates a cone. Adding the roof is where you can see the cumulative effect of the main tower not being perfectly square. I was able to add on my roof, so I didn’t need to go back and square the main section.

Things I liked:

How many little details there are in the house between the porch and the chimney on the roof

Things I didn’t like:

How hard it was to keep the main tower of squared between floors

nanoblock Moomin Collection

November 22, 2023December 28, 2023shygal

The Moomins are characters in the books and comics by Tove Jansson. There were originally published in Finland. The books have been translated into several languages including English (which is how I read them as a kid). In Japan, there have been several different Anime and movies over the years.

Most of the books follow the adventures of Moomintroll. However, some of the books feature other characters. Moomin.com has a lot of really great information about the world of the Moomins.

I stumbled upon the nanoblock Moomin collection on Amazon.jp and knew I needed to collect them all.

Set Number	Set Name
MOM-042	Moominhouse
MOM-043	Moomintroll
MOM-044	Little My
MOM-099	Snufkin
MOM-100	Moominpappa
MOM-101	Moominmamma

Review of nanoblock Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko NBCC_051

November 16, 2023August 9, 2023shygal

Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko build and box

This post is a review of the nanoblock Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko build. Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click Here for a list.

Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko build front view

Number: NBCC_051

Number of Pieces: 210

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko build back view

This version of Rilakkuma is dressed up in a cream and brown spotted cat costume. He is lying on his stomach with his paws out like a cat.

This build started with a large complete base of cream bricks. A custom-printed brick says 2018 San-X to identify the copyright on the build.

Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko build side view

The rest of the build is built in layers. The first four or five layers focus on the head and the body. After step six, the main focus is continuing to build the head. As you add the various layers, you primarily focus on adding cream bricks and the variously colored spots. The details of the face are created with black and white bricks.

Overall I really like this build. I think that it is a really cute costume for Rilakkuma.

Rilakkuma Motto-Nonbiri-Neko build 3/4 view

Things I liked:

I think the catsuit is really cute

Things I didn’t like:

There are some places around the head where the costume doesn’t look complete, and like there may be blocks missing

Review of nanoblock Space Invaders Invaders NBCC_108

November 9, 2023August 9, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Space Invaders Invaders build. Space Invaders Invaders is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBCC_108

Number of Pieces: 200

Difficulty Rating: 1/5

The Invaders are the monsters that you kill in the classic Space Invaders arcade game. During the game, the Invaders move down the screen as the player attempts to shoot all the Invaders before they reach the bottom of the screen.

This kit comes with 4 Invaders. Each is a different color and is 3 bricks deep.

Space Invaders is a video game where each character is made up of pixels. In the case of this nanoblock build, each stud on the top layer of the figure represents a pixel.

The basic process for building each character is basically the same, so I’ll describe the process for building the Invader once, but the process is similar for each character.

The build begins by laying a base layer of bricks in the invader’s color. I did this on my nanoblock pad because the base layer was so large.

After building the first layer, I added the second layer. This was mostly adding bricks, so the first layer was connected. In some cases, this included adding clear bricks where there are gaps or when the bricks are connected at the corner of the pixel.

Things I liked:

I liked the colors they picked for the Invaders. The original game was in black and white, so any colors could have been used

Review of nanoblock FAO Soldier Bear

November 2, 2023August 9, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock FAO Soldier Bear build. The FAO Soldier Bear is not part of any collection.

Number of Pieces: 180 pieces

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

The FAO Soldier Bear was released to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the FAO Schwarz. I didn’t know that FAO was outside the United States, so I was surprised nanoblock made a set for the anniversary.

This build is super straightforward. It begins with a white 10×10 base. From there, the entire build simply goes up in layers.

While adding the layers, you add a lot of detail. The uniform has strips and epaulet. There is also a lot of detail in the hat.

Things I liked:

I love the amount of detail in the bear and his uniform.

Things I didn’t like:

There is a layer of bricks where the feet meet the legs where it kept breaking, which was frustrating.