Shy Gal’s Building Blog - Page 24 - Your reference for LEGO and nanoblock builds

Review of nanoblock Standard Color Set NB-023

March 9, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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Number: NB-023

Number of Pieces: 850

Difficulty Rating: N/A

This is the only set of nanoblock I purchased that was not a kit for a specific build. This is because I wanted to get some bricks to make custom builds.

There are instructions for the builds on the front of a box. These builds can be completed using only the blocks provided in the set. The instructions also tell you which builds can be made simultaneously.

Listing of nanoblocks that come in standard set

The above image shows what exactly comes with the set.

Link to order:

Review of nanoblock Mewtwo NBPM_006

March 7, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Number: NBPM_006

Number of Pieces: 130

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Mewtwo is one of the most popular Pokemon from generation 1. It was also one of, if not the most powerful, Pokemon generation 1. It has remained a favorite over the years while most Pokemon favorites come in waves.

Overall the build was more complicated than the ones I had done before. Getting the arms to line up was the hardest part. This is because you depend on one stud holding things square, which I’ve found can be challenging if you try to go quickly.

Mewtwo stands on 2 2×2 bricks. I expected him to be highly tippy and challenging to get standing up, but he is very well balanced, and as long as you get the feet in the row, he stands up perfectly fine all by himself.

Things I liked:

The color that they used for the purple detail
That he stands nicely

Things I didn’t like:

Trying to get his hands to hold up right

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Gyarados NBPM-023

March 4, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Number: NBPM_023

Number of Pieces: 170

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

To me, Gyarados appears to be the fan-favorite generation 1 dragon Pokemon. It is also famous as the first shiny pokemon as the red Gyarados in generation 2, though as far as I’m aware, nanoblock hasn’t made a red version yet.

Gyarados is a more challenging build. It is built up from a small base, significantly affecting the build. When I was building the head, I found the figure kept tipping forward. It did get better when I added the tail, but it still likes to tip forward if you don’t place it on the table just so. Another thing that makes this build challenging is there are several points where you build a chain of brick to make details which can be a challenge to line up.

Overall, Gyarados is very recognizable as the pokemon is meant to represent. I think they use many uncommon techniques in the Pokemon builds, such as the use of negative space to create the inside of his mouth.

Things I liked:

How the eyes are inset is cool

Things I didn’t like:

The final build is tippy and likes to fall over if you don’t place it down just right

There is a second version of this build that was released as NBPM_055 known as Crystal Gyarados.

Link to order: Amazon

nanoblock Stickers

March 2, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

With builds, sometimes you want an amount of detail that you just can’t get from bricks alone. That is is, kits include stickers. Stickers are pretty common in LEGO builds, but typically there is a ratio of one sticker per brick. This means if you ever need to take the build apart for some reason, you can. nanoblock stickers don’t work like that, and to be honest, I very rarely put the stickers that come with my nanoblock builds on. At this point, I can think of 2 builds I used stickers on, the Pokemon Quest Eevee and my light-up Kaminarimon.

Why don’t I like nanoblock stickers?

I don’t like nanoblock stickers because using them means you can never take the build down. Now I’m pretty good at finding storage solutions, so it’s not like I take builds apart all that often. But, I plan on moving at some point in the future, and I may need to take the builds apart when I do. nanoblocks are small, so a sticker is often on several bricks, which means you can’t take those bricks apart. That may not be a big deal, except nanoblocks are staggered in such a way that you end up with a cube instead of a wall of bricks. Since you end up with a cube, you really can’t take things apart.

What about the sticker themselves?

The sticker can add a lot of detail, like the kanji on the lantern for the Kaminarimon. The stickers on my Eevee give it a face and shading on his ears. So the amount of detail can be excellent.

However, the quality of the actual stickers is not the best. I’ve had them rip and affect how things look.

Review of nanoblock Eevee NBPM_005

March 2, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Number: NBPM_005

Number of Pieces: 130

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

As of this posting, nanoblock has released kits for all 9 eeveelutions. The builds have gotten more detailed as time has passed, so the first builds are a bit simpler. I find that all the kits are recognizable for the Pokemon they are supposed to be. Eevee is the base Pokemon that evolves into all the rest of the eeveelutions and is introduced in generation 1. It is a brown Pokemon with a cream collar and tail.

The build for Eevee starts a bit trickier than the other earlier nanoblock kits Pokemon in the evolution chains such as the Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon builds. There are a few occasions where you need to develop smaller chunks that combine to make the pieces. You are building separate parts from the second step that create Pokemon’s fluffy collar. Once you get the more custom base, you build the model from the bottom up. The ears are much easier to build than the other early evolutions because you are only building up one color, while the evolutions have 2 color ears.

Eevee is one of my favorite Pokemon, so I am happy that the build comes out cute.

Things I liked:

Cute and recognizable

Things I didn’t like:

The ears can be tricky to line up

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Squirtle NBPM_004

February 28, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Number: NBPM_004

Number of Pieces: 120

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Squirtle is the water type starter from generation 1. It eventually evolves into Blastoise. In the anime, there is a gang of Squirtles that is terrorizing the town and wearing sunglasses. The gang is are known as the Squirtle squad and they end up being firefighters that help the town.

The build is very straightforward, like with most early Pokemon builds. It starts with a base and builds up to create the Squirtle. The directions are very straightforward building around the edge. Unlike some builds that get split into parts this build is just one solid build which makes the build very simple.

I find the build to be very recognizable. I’ve looked into trying to build sunglasses for the turtle but because his eyes are so big I haven’t been able to come up with a plan.

Things I liked:

Cute and straightforward
I think it could be easy to make a shiny becuse of how the shell it built

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Gengar NBPM_007

February 28, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Number: NBPM_007

Number of Pieces: 150

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Gengar is one of the most popular Pokemon from generation 1. There are fan rumors that there may be relations between this Pokemon and Clefable. I don’t believe the rumors because Gengar is evolved from other ghost-type Pokemon

Overall the Gengar build is much more solid than many Pokemon builds. The first 3 levels of the sphere are almost completely filled instead of just tracing the outside. The rest of the build is tracing the outside sphere until it is closed. I really like the detail in the back creating spikes without making the build more complicated. When I was adding the ears, I kept pushing them off the edge and needed to keep getting things relined up.

Things I liked:

A easy build which are nice from time to time

Things I didn’t like:

This may be picky but I feel like the color of all of Gengar is off I wish it was maybe the color of Snorlax

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Sobble NBPM_061

February 25, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Number: NBPM_061

Number of Pieces: 210

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Sobble is the water type starter from generation 8. Generally, this Pokemon looks sad in merchandise, so I was glad that the nanoblock version has a natural face.

Sobble is made up of 4 main pieces, the body, the tail, the head, and the fin on the top of his head. All of the individual pieces are relatively straightforward. The body and tail are rectangles that are built up. The head is a standard sphere shape. Things get a bit for detailed when you get to the fin. For the fin, as you can see in the photo before the fin has a lot of chaining with bricks that are single brick in depth.

Things I liked:

That it doesn’t look like Sobble is going to cry

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Bulbasaur NBPM_003

February 25, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Names:

English: Bulbasaur
Japanese: Fushigidane

Number: NBPM_003

Number of Pieces: 120

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Bulbasaur is a pokemon I feel that people are super polarized about. I know it is probably the least popular of the generation 1 starters, but I have always thought it was cute.

This was one of my early builds, so I was still learning how to follow the directions. I really learned how to use the arrows from the first step to make sure things are lined up, which was less critical with the rounder pokemon.

Overall, I felt Bulbasaur was a bit of a letdown compared to the other pokemon I had done. It doesn’t really have the detail, and I think the colors don’t flow together like they do on the actual pokemon.

Things I liked:

I liked how they gave the spot detail by having the dark green on the body

Things I didn’t like:

I feel like the greens from the main body and the bulb clash

Link to order: Amazon

Review of nanoblock Pikachu NBPM_001

February 23, 2022March 3, 2023shygal

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

Number: NBPM_001

Number of Pieces: 130

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Who else could be the first nanoblock Pokemon other than the famous Pikachu? Everybody knows him on sight and is generally part of any pilot for any kind of merchandise. I picked up my kit at a local toy shop and was super excited to build him. I could tell from the picture that it was closer to the classic fat Pikachu from the original Pokemon compared to the current more trimmed form.

Overall the build was pretty straightforward because there were apparent color cuts between the yellow body, the brown of his stripes, and the bright red for his cheeks. The two most challenging things were his ears and tail, but even those weren’t too bad. These had breakout very detailed directions.

Pikachu seems to defy physics a little, as he constantly slopes forward between the bottom layer to the top of his head.

Things I liked:

It’s like a fat pikachu

Things I didn’t like:

I think his nose looks a little odd but I’m not sure what color would have been better knowing what colors exist.

Link to order: Amazon