Category: nanoblock Review - Page 21 - Shy Gal's Building Blog

Review of nanoblock Mimic

April 14, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Mimic build. Mimic is part of the nanoblock Dragon Quest collection. Wondering what else is part of the Dragon Quest Collection? Click Here for a list.

Number of Pieces: 160

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Mimics are a monster that appears in most Square Enix games. Unlike most monsters in these games where you have random encounters, Mimics appear to be treasure chests on the map. When you open the chest, instead of getting treasure, you enter a battle with a monster that looks like a treasure chest.

The Mimic build uses turquoise and purple, which are 2 colors you don’t see very much. The build is split into 2 parts: the chest’s top and bottom. The base is pretty solid, and a standard build. I really like the details of the eyes and teeth on the top section of the bottom. The top is building a stretched pyramid and straightforward. The 2 pieces are held together with a clear ball joint so you can position the lid exactly where you want it.

Things I liked:

How the colors look

Review of nanoblock Monotone Charmander NBPM_015

April 12, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Monotone Charmander build. Monotone Charmander is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Names:

English: Monotone Charmander
Japanese: Hitokage Monotone

Number: NBPM_0175

Number of Pieces: 130

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Monotone Charmander is a version of the Pokemon that uses greyscale instead of various colors to create the build. Since the build is identical to that of the original, I’m going to direct you there for a review of the building process. I’m only going to review the final build of the Monotone Charmander build here. For more information about the Monotone line please check out this post.

Overall the build is primarily grey. The creature has a white stomach. I still really like the detail in the tail, which uses white and dark grey to create the variation in the flames. Overall, the Pokemon is still super recognizable and looks like it could have come from the original Gameboy games. I really liked the monotone line and wish nanoblock would make more.

A surprise is that the 4 monotone starters (this build along there are builds for Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur) all come with a few extra bricks to make a Monotone Mew. This build comes with:

2 1X1 light grey
2 1×2 dark grey
6 1×2 clear

Things I liked:

I like how the grayscale turns out

Review of nanoblock Monotone Pikachu NBPM_014

April 5, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Monotone Pikachu build. Monotone Pikachu is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Number: NBPM_014

Number of Pieces: 150

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Monotone Pikachu is a version of the Pokemon that uses greyscale instead of various colors to create the figure. Since the build is identical to that of the original colored build, I’m going to direct you there for a review of the building process. I’m only going to review the final build of the Monotone Pikachu build here. For more information about the monotone collection please click here.

Overall the build is primarily light grey. The back stripes are normal grey, and its cheeks are dark grey. I like he still has all of his details even though everything is grayscale. Overall, Pikachu is still super recognizable and looks like it could have come from the original Gameboy games. I really liked the monotone line and wish nanoblock would make more.

A surprise is that the 4 monotone starters (this build along there are builds for Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur) all come with a few extra bricks to make a Monotone Mew. This build comes with:

16 1X3 light grey
6 2×6 light grey
2 2×3 clear

Things I liked:

I like how the grayscale turns out

Review of nanoblock Moltres NBPM_047

March 31, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Moltres build. Moltres is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Names:

English: Moltres
Japanese: Fire

Number: NBPM_047

Number of Pieces: 190

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Moltres is one of the legendary Pokemon from generation 1. It has been available in some form in most of the later generations. This build is for the Kanto region bird; there is no build for the Galar region Moltres. The other legendary birds are Zapdos and Articuno.

The build comprises 4 sections the body, the head, and the wings that mirror each other. In general, the builds are pretty straightforward as long as you can tell what color you need. In fact, telling which color was the most challenging part because the directions are similar in the gold, orange, and transparent red. Like Zapdos, Moltres is floating on a stand and is pretty stable.

Things I liked:

Use of transparent block in the whole build

Things I didn’t like:

The colors are super close to the bricks but it is a little hard to tell in the directions

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Articuno NBPM_048

March 28, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Articuno build. Articuno is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Names:

English: Articuno
Japanese: Freezer

Number: NBPM_048

Number of Pieces: 170

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Articuno is one of the legendary Pokemon from generation 1. It has been available in some form in most of the later generations. This build is for the Kanto region bird; there is no build for the Galar region Articuno. Articuno is an ice-type bird that is known for having a flowing tail.

This nanoblock build is made of 4 parts, the body and head combination, 2 wings, and the tail. The head body combo is a reasonably usual build. Once you start building out where the wings attach, it gets a bit more complicated. The wings themselves were simple to build but connecting them was challenging.

Then the tail, I’m not sure that I ever got the tail right. Unlike nanoblock directions, I had a lot of difficulties reading the directions. After trying to create the tail, I’m not sure if it’s supposed to rest on the table along with the base or not. It never looked right as you can see in the photo below. The build ended up constantly tipping over, so I needed to put it on a base plate.

Overall until I got to the tail, I enjoyed building Articuno. Once I got to building the tail, I got frustrated and had difficulty lining everything up.

Things I liked:

It looks like the pokemon

Things I didn’t like:

The fact it was tippy no matter how I attached the tail
Hard to get the tail to attach, I don’t think I’ve gotten it right yet

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Zapdos NBPM_046

March 25, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Zapdos build. Zapdos is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Names:

English: Zapdos
Japanese: Thunder

Number: NBPM_046

Number of Pieces: 240

Difficulty Rating: 4/5

Zapdos is one of the legendary Pokemon from generation 1. It has been available in some form in most of the later generations. This build is for the Kanto region Zapdos, there is no build for the Galar region Zapdos.

The build is made up of 4 major parts along with the small body. The large parts are the head, 2 wings that are mirrored, and the tail. The body is just a basic cube that has open studs to attach the other body pieces. The head is a pretty simple build. The first real challenge I had was the wings because they don’t have a real base to have them stable so instead of using my pad I had to balance the wings on my hand. The tail is tricky as well because there are lots of chains where things are being held on by one stud.

Overall I really enjoyed the build. I think it appears way more impressive than the work that goes into it.

Things I liked:

The final nanoblock model looks cool

Things I didn’t like:

The tail was tricky to attach without it breaking

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Blastoise NBPM_019

March 21, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Blastoise build. Blastoise is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Number: NBPM_019

Number of Pieces: 220

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Blastoise is the 3rd evolution of Squirtle from generation 1. His most recognizable attribute is the cannons on his back.

Overall I found the build challenging because this was one of the first builds that was built using a ton of smaller builds. From the beginning, you are connecting smaller builds together, so it takes a while to see how you are making. In particular, I found Blastoise’s arms to be finicky because there was one stud holding up the L-shaped blocks.

Overall I really like the final build. It is solid and clean and highly recognizable as Blastoise. I feel like it has enough details, like the cannons and the white fingertips, to clarify which Pokemon you are dealing with.

Things I liked:

How the cannons look on his back

Things I didn’t like:

Getting his hands to hold and building around the hands once you added them

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Mew NBPM_045

March 18, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Mew build. Mew is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Number: NBPM_045

Number of Pieces: 90

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Mew is the first mythical Pokemon from back in generation 1.

The Mew build comprises 3 separate parts, the body, the head (and the tail), and the base. This build is also different from most Pokemon builds because it has clear bricks built into the model instead of the clear bricks being a stand. The body is a typical simple stack of bricks like an average nanoblock build. The head is basically a cube with the tail coming off. It also has the directions to build 2 sections of the head simultaneously. The last part is the stand which allows Mew to float!

Overall I really liked the build. I love that it stands very well and isn’t tippy, which is uncommon with the floating models.

Things I liked:

Really well balanced and stands well

Things I didn’t like:

I wish the tail was thicker

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Plate Set 20 x 20 NB_025

March 16, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

Plate Set with package and plate to see what it looks like unwrapped

This post is a review of the nanoblock Plate Set that contains 20×20 plates.

Number: NB_025

Number of Pieces: 2

Difficulty Rating: N/A

I have built over 75 nanoblock models over the past couple of years. Most of the time, they have come with bases or have had wide enough bottoms that they have been stable when I place them on the table. However, sometimes the structure is balanced on a pair of 2 x 2 squares. These have been hit and miss as to whether or not the builds can stand alone. I use one of these bases from a plate set to hold up the build in these cases. The most recent build I used a plate for one was on Lucario. Here is a picture of my Lucario on its base.

Sets where I have used a plate set

Articuno
Charizard
Lucario

Things I liked:

Very useful when needed.

Things I didn’t like:

Limited colors Green and Grey in the 20×20 set

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Chansey NBPM_034

March 14, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Chansey build. Chansey is part of the nanoblock Pokemon collection. Wondering what else is part of the Pokemon Collection? Click Here for a list.

Names:

English: Chansey
Japanese: Lucky

Number: NBPM_034

Number of Pieces: 140

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Chansey has been around since generation 1. They are best known as the helpers in the Pokemon Centers in both the video game and the tv show. This nanoblock build is made of 2 shades of pink for the body and white for the egg.

The Chansey build is basically a sphere with a flat base. So it is mostly building bricks on the edges of the sphere until you close up the sphere. I like how the model is made of 2 shades of pink (the lighter and the darker). The Pokemon naturally has some shading so the shades of pink adds a nice accent.

Things I liked:

It’s cute and the dark pink adds a nice detail to make it reconizable

Things I didn’t like:

It is basiclly a shpeare on feet

Link to order: