This post is a review of the nanoblock Gian build. Gian is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click Here for a list.
Number: NBCC_039
Number of Pieces: 220
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
Gian is the main antagonist in the Doraemon series. He is a bully that picks on the other kids in the neighborhood, especially Nobita. For more information, check out his wiki page here.
The build is made up of 2 segments: the body and the head.
The first part is building the body. You begin with a layer of navy bricks to make up the legs. You build the body up in layers and rings while adding the outstretched arms. Once you close up the body, you add the details for the hands. This includes Gian holding a microphone in his right hand. The final step of the body is to add the legs and feet to the bottom of the body build.
The second segment of the nanoblock build is the head. Like the body, it because with a layer of bricks. It is built up in rings, basically creating a sphere. As you add the rings, you will add the details of the mouth, ears, and eyes.
Once you finish the head and close up the sphere, you attach it to the body to complete the build.
Things I liked:
The detail of adding the microphone being held in his hand
Things I didn’t like:
The color of the skin tone bricks is very close to the orange so it was a bit difficult to tell which bricks to use while building
This post is a review of the nanoblock Dialga Deluxe Edition build. Dialga is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.
Number: NBPM_094
Number of Pieces: 1020
Difficulty Rating: 4/5
Dialga is one of the generation 4 box legendary Pokemon. It is the master of time. Dialga and Palkia are the only Deluxe nanoblock Pokemon that don’t have also have standard builds.
When I opened the box, I was sad to see that the instructions were printed on a huge piece of paper instead of a booklet. Some of the deluxe kits I’ve built have had booklets and I prefer those. There were 13 bags of bricks so I knew I needed to build the Dialga on my table instead of my tray table.
Dialga is built primarily made from navy bricks. While building, the navy bricks appear to be black when I’m digging around in the bags to find the bricks. There are handful of black brciks in the head. After I realized there was black I checked each bag with a flashlight to find the black and noted which bricks were black.
The first section is the main body. The body is very straightforward and I could easily build the body on my nanoblock pad. I was surprised by how many ball joints were in the body while I was building it. I waited until the end to connect the large section together so that I was trying to balance a build and could attach them in a way that made sense.
The second section is the gem on Dialga’s chest. It is a bit tricky to keep track of which slanty pieces are needed for each step. All of the grey slanty pieces are in the bag so it’s a bit tricky to find the right piece. Once again I built this section on my nanoblock pad.
The next section is the fin on Dialga’s back. Each large section of the fin is a tower of nanoblocks. The hardest part of the tower is making sure the layers are properly overlaid so gaps are minimal. However, what makes the fin truly tricky is the center core where all the towers attach. Getting the fins properly spaced out and not overlapping or pushing on each other depends on having everything centered perfectly which is tricky.
The next step is the base of the 4 feet. Each foot is identical and goes up in layers. Each foot is a solid tower of bricks. I was able to lay all 4 feet out on my large nanoblock pad which made it easier to make sure I didn’t miss any steps on any foot because I was looking at all 4 feet at once.
The next step is to build all 4 of Dialga’s legs. Each leg is a combination of adding the leg connection to the foot and the actual leg itself. all of the brick work is fairly straightforward. The biggest problem I had was getting the leg and foot to nicely attach due to how the ball joint was lined up. I wanted the moveable areas on the socket to be at angles but the actual socket only allows for 90 degree movements.
The next 2 sections are the tail and the neck. Both are fairly straightforward with the only real difference being the tail is 3 sections connected with ball joints.
The head is very straightforward to build. The instructions also make it very clear the couple of steps that used black bricks instead of the navy. I really like that the initial head build has studs sticking out the front which allows for building on and creating Dialga’s curved face instead of it being a block.
The final step is to build the head decorations on both sides of Dialga’s head. They are identical other than 1 brick which has a side stud that is used to connect the piece to the head. Both pieces are connected by inserting a round 1×1 into a socket. This is my favorite way of connecting bricks, but I think it works in this case.
After building all the sections I needed to connect them. I would recommend getting a second pair of hands for this part so that each ball joint can be added but pressure can be kept off the already connected ball joints. First I connected the head to the neck and added the head decorations. Next, I connected the tail to the body. Then I attached the fin. Next, I attached the feet. Finally, I attached the head unit to the body.
Things I liked:
The batch builds. Building multiple identical items at once instead of having split-up identical directions.
Things I didn’t like:
I wish the instructions had been in a booklet instead of a huge piece of paper.
I wish the handful of black had been marked in some way. There are so many bricks that the few black ones were difficult to find.
This post is a review of the nanoblock Dokodemo Door & Small Light & Take Copter build. Dokodemo Door & Small Light & Take Copter is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click Here for a list.
Number: NBCC-038
Number of Pieces: 200
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
The Dokodemo Door (or Anywhere Door in English) is one of Doraemon’s many gadgets. It is one of the most popular and frequently used gadgets in the series. For information check out the Doraemon wiki page.
The main part of the kit is the door. Overall the door needs to be put together very cleanly or else the top of the door won’t attach cleanly. There are also 2 mini builds for the light and copter.
The door begins with creating the base of the door. It is a bit hard to tell how much overhang there should be past the clear bricks with the first layer of pink in the instructions. Next, you build the door frame. The door frame can be tricky because you want all 27 1×1 bricks to line up so that the frame is square.
After building the outside frame, you build the actual door. The door is built in repeating layers of pink bricks. One layer is different because that is where you add the doorknobs. A nice detail is that the knob is on both sides. After building the door you attach it to the frame.
Once you’ve completed the door, you need to add the top of the door. The build is very straightforward. Be careful attaching the top because if you haven’t done the build tightly, the top won’t attach cleanly.
The final step is to do the two mini builds for the Small Light & Take Copter which are quick and straightforward.
Things I liked:
The bonus items are nice
The fact that the door opens and closes
Things I didn’t like:
Getting the sides of the door lined up was tricky
My door is very fragile because the door is a bit taller than the sides
This post is a review of the nanoblock Brilliant Shining ver Pokemon builds. These builds are numbers NBPM_082 to NBPM_088. Each of these builds is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.
With the release of the Brillant Diamond and Shining Pearl video games, nanoblock released Pokemon from generation 4 as Brilliant Shining versions. These builds are identical to the original builds but are built using clear glitter bricks. The Pokemon in this rerelease are Lucario, Leafeon, Glaceon, Garchomp, Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup.
I’m reviewing the Brilliant Shining ver as a group because these builds are the same as the original builds, except each build is built with glitter bricks. Each build will have photos of the glitter builds and a link to the review of the original builds.
Overall I really liked building these. The clear glitter bricks fit together very nicely and tightly. In general, I find clear bricks hard to use because they seem to be tighter fitting, so I had been avoiding building the Brilliant Shining ver builds. I didn’t have this problem with the glitter version of the clear bricks, which was a pleasant surprise.
I really liked the cream bricks that were created for this build to make the main section of the body. It was also easy to tell the difference between the white and cream bricks. It was harder to tell which bricks were white in some of the later builds.
While building this build, I noticed some errors I had made in the original Lucario build, so I was able to fix my original build. I’m not sure what the difference is, but the glitter Lucario can stand on its own, while the original build isn’t able to even after making the corrections. The Brilliant Shining ver stands, but it is still a little tippy, so you want to ensure that the surface you put the finished build on is flat.
I found the Leafeon build super easy to put together. The only real difficulty I had building Leafeon was that the clear glitter white bricks got lost in all the clear glitter beige bricks.
I like the finished build, but many details are lost because of the clear bricks. I feel that the white in the eyes gets lost. It is also hard to see all the details in the ears because of how the light flows through the bricks.
Glaceon is very similar to Leafeon for a building process, so it was also easy to put together. However, it was really hard to tell the clear glitter blue and the clear glitter light blue apart, so I kept needing to recheck the color and take bits apart because I had picked the wrong color.
Overall I like the original build significantly more. This is because I can’t see the details in the build because the blues are similar.
Garchomp is generally a tricky build. This is because so many sections are built unattached to the body and attached once the section is completed. The arms are also easy to pop off as the layers that create the head.
Overall I feel that most of the details of Garchomp are lost with the clear glitter blocks. This is because the body is so dark it seems that all the yellow bricks are much darker, so the color isn’t clear. It is even hard to tell the clear black glitter from the clear dark blue glitter bricks in the actual build.
There was no real noticeable difference between building the original Turtwig and the Brilliant Shining ver.
I personally don’t really like the color of the Light Clear Green Glitter bricks. These bricks make up the main body of Turtwig. The color of the bricks is very close to the color from Leafeon, which is supposed to be more yellow.
There was no real noticeable difference between building the original Chimchar and the Brilliant Shining ver. The hands are still very fragile.
I don’t really like how the final Chimchar looks. The only way I can describe the final build is fuzzy. There are few places where the clear bricks are backed by a dark color, making the edges and color changes unclear. This makes the entire build seem fuzzy and unclear, which is an effect I don’t care for.
Like Chimchar, I can only really describe the finished Piplup build as fuzzy. This is because of the see-through nature of the bricks. I also think it’s a shame that Piplup’s eyes get lost in the dark blue that makes up most of the head.
This post is a review of the nanoblock Nobita build. Nobita is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click Here for a list.
Number: NBCC_037
Number of Pieces: 190
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
Nobita is the protagonist of the Doraemon series. He is lazy, which really bothers Doraemon. For more information about Nobita, check out the Doraemon wiki page about him here. This is the original nanoblock kit for Nobita and has him standing up like a normal nanoblock build. The second model is one where Nobita lying down on his back.
This build is made of 2 parts the head and the body.
The body is a simple build that begins with a base layer of navy bricks. The layers are added to the base to create the pants. Once the pants are made, you add layers of yellow to create the body. The top of the torso also has the details of a white collar. The final step of the body is to add the arms and legs. When I added the legs, the build became tippy, so it is important to make sure it is stable before adding the head.
The second part of the build is to build the head. It begins with a base of skin tone and black bricks. You then build up the head in layers creating Nobita’s glasses and eyes along with the rest of the head. Once you closed up the head, you add the mouth and the neck. The final step of the main build is to attach the head to the body.
This build, like several of the Doraemon builds, has a miniature build. This build comes with take-copter which attaches to Nobita’s head. There is also a take-copter with the Dokodemo Door build.
Things I liked:
The details of the glasses and the copter in the build
Things I didn’t like:
The feet aren’t super stable, so the build doesn’t still flat if you aren’t careful.
This post is a review of the nanoblock Metagross build. Metagross is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.
Number: NBPM_098
Number of Pieces: 230
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
Metagross was introduced in generation 3. It is the final evolution of Beldum, and the evolutions are all triggered by leveling up.
This build is made up of the main body section and Metagross’s 4 legs that are attached to the main body.
To build the main body section, I began by laying the base layer out on my nanoblock pad. The body went up in straightforward layers. I really like the depth of the grey X that makes up the front of the face. I also really like how the eyes peak out of build depending on the angle you look at the build.
The next step is to add the 4 legs. They are similar, with there being differences between the front and back legs. While building, I noticed it was easier to build the top and bottom half of the legs and connect the sections. After building the entire leg, I would attach the legs. I found this made the legs more sturdy.
Things I liked:
I really like the detail in the face and how it changes depending on how you look at the build
Things I didn’t like:
The legs aren’t pinned in via the top, so the legs can easily fall off while building or moving Metagross
This post is a review of the nanoblock Doraemon build. Doraemon is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click Here for a list.
Number: NBCC_036
Number of Pieces: 270
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
This is the second version of Doraemon I have built. The other is the sitting version which you can read the review here.
This build is broken up into the body and the head. There is also a mini build for the cream doughnut.
You begin this nanoblock build by building the body. The body is a pretty straightforward build that goes up in layers. I was worried about the second layer because the ring of bricks on the outside of the build wasn’t complete so I was worried there would be a gap. As layers are added to the body, details like the hands, bell, tail and collar are all added. Once you have built the main segment of the body, you add the feet. I was pleasantly surprised that the legs covered the gap created in layer 2.
Once the body is built, it’s time to make the head. You begin the head by building 2 pieces for the front and back of the head. These pieces are combined to create the first few layers of the head. You add on layers by adding to the outer ring of the head. Be careful adding the layers just over the mouth because they stick out and aren’t flush. Keep adding layers with the rings getting smaller. There is an odd step to add the bricks that become the space between the eyes, but it looks a little funny while building the head layer. Once you have closed up the head, it’s time to add the final details of the eyes, nose, and whiskers.
The final step is to build to connect the head to the body. There is also a mini build that is very straightforward to make your Doraemon a sweet treat.
Things I liked:
The fact that the gap was filled in, so I didn’t need to figure out how to fill the gap
The number of details that create Doraemon
Things I didn’t like:
There is a gap in the eyes that I don’t really like, and I feel is noticeable
I feel like the feet are blocky and aren’t rounded like Doraemon’s actual feet
This post is a review of the nanoblock Milotic build. Milotic is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.
Number: NBPM_097
Number of Pieces: 200
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
Milotic is a pokemon introduced in generation 3. It is the evolution of Feebas, which doesn’t have a nanoblock build at this point. While Milotic appears to be a dragon, it is only a water type.
When I originally looked at the build, the snake shape reminded me of the Rayquaza build, so I was worried the build would very fragile. While I was building, however, I noticed that the overlapping layers were deeper, so I knew the build would be much more solid.
Then building the first 8 or so steps is creating the base of the pokemon. Each step either adds bricks to the base or locks the base layer in place. This was a build where I was glad to have my nanoblock pad because it made keeping each base layer lined up a piece of cake.
After building the base, the top of the body is rounded out. I liked the use of various colors in the back section to create the patterning on its tail.
The next step is to build Milotic’s neck. While building the neck, the long head decoration that comes off the right side of the head is also built in pink. These steps are fairly straightforward.
The next step is to build and attach the head. I had some issues when adding the bricks to top off the head, with the main section of the head falling off. I think this is because the head is so front-heavy.
The final steps are to add the details that make Milotic recognizable. The first is to add the long head decoration on the left side of Milotic’s head. The antenna on both sides of the head is also added. The final addition is the tail. Each detail is very simple to build but has a lot of impact on the final build.
Things I liked:
I like that the build is solid and that I can easily move the build as needed instead of feeling that it needs to sit in 1 place for forever.
Things I didn’t like:
In my head, Milotic is a really smooth pokemon. This build is a bit blocky and not as smooth as it could be if they kept it more snakelike
This post is a review of the nanoblock Nobita build. Nobita is part of the nanoblock Character collection. Wondering what else is part of the Character Collection? Click Here for a list.
Number: NBCC_075
Number of Pieces: 220
Difficulty Rating: 3/5
Nobita is the protagonist of the Doraemon series. He is lazy, which really bothers Doraemon. For more information about Nobita, check out the Doraemon wiki page about him here. This is the second nanoblock kit for Nobita and has him lying down instead of standing up like a normal nanoblock build.
This is an unusual build because instead of the final model standing, the final build is lying down on his back. This is created using the bricks that I call the steps. They are the bricks that are 1×2, but one stud is a brick higher with a slanted connection.
This nanoblock build is made up of the body, the head, and a little pillow.
The body begins by building a base layer. It begins using step bricks to create Nobita’s back. You make the body in layers. You eventually add the leg that crosses over the body. You keep adding onto the body with each layer, adding a step brick to create Nobita’s back that finished build will lie on. The body ends with completing the arms that go around the back of the head.
The other major piece of the build is the head. Like the body, the head is built in layers. The head is very straightforward. There are nice details to create the mouth and glasses. I also like how the eyes are a little inset which adds to the various details of the build.
The final build is a pillow for Nobita to lie on. It is simply a stack of rounded blue bricks that you curl around to make a triangular pillow.
Things I liked:
The positioning of Nobita is very unique for the nanoblock characters
Things I didn’t like:
That the navy and the black bricks were in the same bag
This post is a review of the nanoblock Gardevoir build. Gardevoir is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon collection? Click here for a list.
Number: NBPM_096
Number of Pieces: 130
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
Gardevoir is the original final evolution of Ralts. It was initially only a psychic type but became a psychic / fairy type when the fairy type was introduced.
Unlike most pokemon builds, I feel that Gardevoir isn’t really recognizable. This is for 2 major reasons.
First, the head is misshapen and doesn’t appear like the head in video games. The head in video games is much smoother and rounder than the head. Also, Gardevoir has redder eyes, so it might be slightly better if red bricks had been used for the eyes.
Secondly, I also feel that the body isn’t correct. The nanoblock Gardevoir appears to wear a skirt with visible legs. The build simply has the skirt without the legs.
The first few steps of the build create the base of Gardevoir’s skirt. Laying out the entire skirt took about half of my larger nanoblock pad.
After creating the base, the body goes up in layers of white. Then the arms are added along with the detail coming out of Gardevoir’s chest.
The head begins with creating a base layer over a few steps. The head goes up in straightforward layers adding details to the face. I feel that the head isn’t shaped in a recognizable way.
The final step is to attach the head to the body, and the build is done.
Things I liked:
I really like the detail in the skirt and how it creates Gardevoir’s hips.
Things I didn’t like:
I feel that this build isn’t very recognizable as the Pokemon Gardevoir. The head isn’t really appropriately shaped, which I find disappointing since, normally, Pokemon builds are very recognizable.
