Animals

This post is a review of the nanoblock Beluga build. Beluga is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_214

Number of Pieces: 110

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

I purchased this kit open from Japan. It is not a very common kit, so I was excited to simply get a kit with the instructions. The finished photographed build may have some discoloration because it was built before I didn’t have control of the environment.

This beluga build is very unique amongst the large sea animals. Most of the sea animals are down on their stomachs. This build has the beluga up on its tail.

Since the beluga is standing on its tail, the build is basically a tower of bricks. The tower is much more narrow at the bottom than at the top. Building the tower consists of adding layers from a single 2×3 brick.

Building up from the 2×3 brick is very straightforward. The instructions are very clear, and it is easy to tell which bricks to add. There were also minimal places where bricks needed to be lined up or centered.

The only break in building the tower is to add the flippers to the side of the build via ball joints.

Once the main body of the beluga is built, the final step is to add the base and tail. Building the section is pretty straightforward. However, it is hard to tell where the tail section should connect to the main body. Based on the photos, I lined the tail with the back of the whale so has a smooth connection. However, it is possible that there is supposed to be a step between the back of the whale and the tail.

Things I liked:

• I really like the unique pose of the whale

Things I didn’t like:

• It isn’t clear how to connect the tail and body sections

This post is a review of the nanoblock Tree Frog build. Tree Frog is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_007

Country: 80

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

This build is unusual for an NBC kit because it starts with building 2 sections that are both attached to a clear base. The white section is clear and goes up in layers in a fairly straightforward manner. The green section, however, is different. It needs to be built from the top down, which is tricky to hold while building. Once the white and green sections are built, they are added to a pair of clear blocks to create a base.

Once the sections are added to the base, the rest of the frog goes up in straightforward layers. Eyes are added as details.

The last step is to add the feet. I wanted to use the base, so I couldn’t put the feet on at angles, as shown in the final build.

Things I liked:

• I really like the frog, and I feel like it really looks like a tree frog

Things I didn’t like:

• I hate when the photos of the final build show the finished build in a position that can’t be done. In this case, it’s angled feet on the square base

This post is a review of the nanoblock Toy Poodle build. Toy Poodle is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_060

Number of Pieces: 120

Difficulty Rating: 2

I began by building the body on my nanoblock pad. It was built up by adding several layers that created the curved shape.

Next was building the head, which was very straightforward. I really like the red detail, which looks like bows behind the ears.

Next, I added the 4 legs and paws. It was a bit tricky to tell where exactly the legs connected to the body.

The final step was to build and add the final details. First, there was the tail. Then there is the bowl holding a bone.

The poodle can be attached to the included 10×10 green base. It was a bit tricky to attach the dog to the base.

Things I liked:

• I feel like the dog is properly shaped to be a poodle. It even has poofy ears and a poofy tail.

Things I didn’t like:

• Attaching the dog to the display base was tricky

Link to order:

This post is a review of the nanoblock Meerkat build. Meerkat is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_022

Number of Pieces: 140

Difficulty Rating: 3

There are two Meerkats in this build. Both are standing on their hind legs with their paws pointing down. They are different heights, but the overall steps are identical.

The first step is to build the bodies. The body is fairly straightforward.

The next step is to build the legs and tail. These are attached to the body. The legs are a bit loose and difficult to keep straight, but I was able to keep them straight long enough to keep the Meerkat on the base.

The last step is to build and add the tail.

Things I liked:

• I like that there are multiple heights Merrkat as a part of the build

Things I didn’t like:

• There are a lot of points that are fragile, which means keeping the build together is difficult

This post is a review of the nanoblock Hokkaido Dog build. Hokkaido Dog is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_005

Number of Pieces: 110

Difficulty Rating: 2

I bought this kit used, knowing I would at least get the instructions. I ended additionally getting all the bricks to complete the kit. Sadly, however, the white has become yellow with age. The discolored bricks may be visible in my photographs.

The build begins with the body of the dog. I was able to lay the body out on my nanoblock pad.

Next, the head is built. The head is fairly straightforward. Once completed, the head is a little square, in my opinion, which doesn’t look like the actual dog breed.

The last step for the dog is to build and attach the legs. The Hokkaido Dog kit comes with a display base.

In addition to the dog, there are also bricks to create a dog bowl with kibble. The bowl is very simple to build. The kibble in the bowl is just loose bricks tossed into the bowl. I don’t like it when there are loose bricks in a completed build because I worry that the bricks will get lost.

Things I liked:

• I like the shape of the tail and the detail of the collar

Things I didn’t like:

• The food in the bowl is just loose bricks that can easily fall out. I don’t like it when there are loose bricks

This post is a review of the nanoblock Nile Crocodile build. Nile Crocodile is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_058

Number of Pieces: 100

Difficulty Rating: 1

I built the main body section of the crocodile on my nanoblock pad. The base layer of the body is so long that I’m not sure it would fit on the smaller pad. The rest of the main body goes up in straightforward layers.

The next step is to attach the legs and lower jaw. Centering the lower jaw was a little difficult because it was an odd/even situation.

The final step is to add the top of the head and the tail. Getting the teeth lined up was a little tricky since the middle teeth didn’t have a wall to push against to line them up. The tail is a chain of bricks that are 2 tall. It is cool that the tail is posable, like the head and legs.

Things I liked:

• I like that the head and legs are posable

Things I didn’t like:

• I don’t like that to get the legs to be posable. There are gaps in the side of the crocodile

This post is a review of the nanoblock Sheep build. Sheep is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_054

Number of Pieces: 120

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

The first thing I noticed about this kit was the color that was provided for the body of the sheep. The bricks were cream which at a quick glance could be a damaged white brick. In looking at the directions, it became clear that the body of the sheep is off-white, not white.

The build begins by building the round body. Building the body is straightforward because it is just adding layers without too many sections overlapping the edges of the build. I built this section on my nanoblock pad.

The next step is to build the head. I had some difficulty figuring out where exactly to put the bricks because there are some gaps. I was able to figure it out by looking at the current and next steps. After building the head, it is attached to the body.

The next step is to flip the body and close up the bottom of the body.

The final step is to attach the four legs to the bottom of the body. The sheep comes with a base that the build can be placed on.

Things I liked:

• I like how round the sheep is. It looks like a super puffy sheep

Things I didn’t like:

• I don’t like the cream-colored bricks. It made me think the bricks were miscolored or damaged since the color is so rare

This post is a review of the nanoblock Red-Eared Slider build. The Red-Eared Slider is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBC_033

Number of Pieces: 70

Difficulty Rating: 1/5

The Red-Eared Slider is a turtle that has difficulty level 1. This means that the build is very straightforward.

The build begins by creating the shell. I built the small pyramid of bricks that made up the shell on my nanoblock pad.

After building the shell, the build is flipped over, and the underside of the turtle is added. The head is also built and added to the build. I like how the orange bricks add the details of the cheeks.

The last step is to add the feet.

Like most of the early builds, the Red-Eared Slider has a base. In this case, it is a clear blue square. Sadly I wasn’t able to get my turtle to line up at the angle to make the turtle look like the one in the photo.

Things I liked:

• The color selected to create the cheeks

Things I didn’t like:

• I wasn’t able to angle the turtle like how it is shown in the final build photo

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.

Number: NBC_009

Number of Pieces: 90

Difficulty Rating: 1

This was a kit that I bought used, knowing I would get the bricks and instructions. However, due to their age and used nature, the white bricks are a bit discolored. The slight yellowing of the white bricks can be seen in some of the photos.

This kit is unusual for an NBC kit compared to the other kits I have purchased. The instructions are completely in Japanese. For most other kits I have bought, the colors are at least in English. I think that this could be one of the original kits from one of the early production runs.

I know some Japanese from school, and there is a photo on the package, so I worked to build the kit and was able to match the colors to be able to build the Cockatiel.

The build begins with a base layer of white bricks. I built the layers using my nanoblock pad. The main body of the bird is white.

The body narrows to create a head. At this point, the head changes to yellow with additional colors to create details.

At this point, the build is flipped upside down, and the legs and feet are added to finish the build. The Cockatiel came with a 10×10 display stand that holds the finished bird.

Things I liked:

• It was a nice, simple build, and a cute little bird model was created. There is also a nice amount of detail, considering how low of an NBC number it has.

Things I didn’t like:

• Reading the Japanese was a bit hard, but again, I think it’s because I got such an early production run kit