Tag: nanoblock - Page 21 - Shy Gal’s Building Blog

Review of nanoblock Moomintroll MOM-043 / NBCC_270

November 30, 2023May 13, 2026shygal

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

Number: MOM-043 / NBCC_270

Number of Pieces:110

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

This kit was rereleased in April 2026 as part of the Character Collection with a new NBCC number.

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/NBCC_273

November 23, 2023May 13, 2026shygal

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

Number: MOM-042 / NBH_062 / NBCC_273

Number of Pieces: 450

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

This kit was rereleased in April 2026 as part of the Character Collection with a new NBCC number.

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 are there 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 square between floors

nanoblock Moomin Collection

November 22, 2023May 13, 2026shygal

The Moomins are characters in the books and comics by Tove Jansson. They 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.

Review of nanoblock Umeda Sky Building NBH_172

October 26, 2023August 9, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Umeda Sky Building build. Umeda Sky Building is part of the nanoblock Sights to See collection. Wondering what else is part of the Sights to See collection? Click here for a list.

Umeda Sky Building is one of the tallest buildings in Osaka Prefecture. It is 2 towers that are connected by bridges and escalators. For more information, check out the wiki page.

Number: NBH_172

Country: Japan

Number of Pieces: 680

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

Umeda Sky Building was a kit I bought open; I ensured there were bricks and instructions. Before starting the build, I pulled the kit that arrived apart and split all the bricks into reasonable piles. I then started the build.

This build has 2 major sections there is the building and the roof.

The first thing I noticed about the build was that starting from the base layer wasn’t symmetrical. This made me excited to see how the final build would look.

The first step is to create a base layer on the 20×20 base. There are a variety of colors in the base to create the various textures around the building.

The next step is to create the base of the building. Starting in step 4, the actual windows on the outside of the building are outlined and begin creating the walls of the buildings. The building goes up in layers over the next 20 steps. Each layer is different from the previous one and needs to be carefully tracked.

The trickiest part of building the main section of the building is creating the elevators. This is because it is a chain of 1×1 bricks that can easily snap as you are adding bricks. It is also easy to miss adding a brick to any given layer since the new brick just hangs out separately from the large chunks in the directions.

After building most of the building and locking the elevators in place, it’s time to add the escalators that go across the open area between the towers. I really like that this detail is included and how the escalators are created.

The main building is completed with a few more layers of bricks that create the top of the building

The roof was very straightforward. I could lay the roof out on my pad to create the roof. Finding enough round clears took a while because they were hard to see and like moving.

After building the roof, the final step is to attach the roof to the building.

Things I liked:

That the build isn’t symmetrical
The escalators in the center of the build

Things I didn’t like:

I’m not sure what all the details at the bottom of the building are supposed to be

Review of nanoblock Korilakkuma Panda de Goron NBH_112

October 19, 2023August 9, 2023shygal

Korilakkuma Panda de Goron build and box

This post is a review of the nanoblock Korilakkuma Panda de Goron build. Korilakkuma Panda de Goron is part of the nanoblock Sights to See collection. Wondering what else is part of the Sights to See collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBH_112

Number of Pieces: 250

Difficulty Rating: 2/5

Korilakkuma Panda de Goron build front view

This is a build of Korilakkuma from the Rilakkuma line dressed up as a panda bear.

The build is made up of 2 sections. There is the base with the body and Korilakkuma’s head.

Korilakkuma Panda de Goron build front 3/4 view

The first couple of steps of the base requires the most work to get the bricks in the right place. This is because you are putting bricks on the 20×20 base to act as bases for the bear and the flowers.

After getting the base set up, you build the body of the panda costume. I really like that nanoblock kept the detail of Korilakkuma’s red bell in the build. Building the flowers was very straightforward but unique because of the use of round bricks.

Korilakkuma Panda de Goron build side view

The head is pretty straightforward. It begins with a base layer and builds up in layers. As I got to the end, I was worried because there was a gap in the head. It ended up being ok because the holes were covered by the ears. It was tricky to figure out exactly where the head was attached to the body, but I was able to figure it out.

Korilakkuma Panda de Goron build back 3/4 view

Things I liked:

I think the flowers that are in the build. I think they are cute.

Things I didn’t like:

It was a bit confusing how the head actually attaches.

Review of nanoblock London Bus NBH_113

October 12, 2023August 9, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock London Bus build. The London Bus is part of the nanoblock Sights to See collection. Wondering what else is part of the Sights to See collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBH_113

Country: UK

Number of Pieces: 300

Difficulty Rating: 3/5

The double-decker bus used to be a common sight in London. After a series of bombings, they were mostly removed. I believe they have come back to some extent in recent years.

When I opened the box, I had a pleasant surprise that there were wheels which I knew meant the finished model would be able to move when pushed. It was a nice surprise because the tour bus didn’t have moveable wheels.

The first step was by far the most confusing. This is because each layer is not drawn out. You can’t tell for sure how many studs you need in some layers.

After managing to get through the first step, the next few create the rest of the base of the bus.

The next several steps build up the sides of the bus. Sometimes you add one layer in a step, and sometimes you add 2 layers in a step. The steps by themselves are very straightforward. When you reach the top, the back corners cut in and look incredibly odd.

The final step is to attach the wheels to the bus.

There is a sticker to create the banner on the side of the bus. I didn’t add the sticker because I don’t feel like it adds anything to the build. In general, I don’t add random stickers to builds. You can read about it here.

Things I liked:

I like that the wheels on the build move

Things I didn’t like:

The indents on the back windows look funny and not how I remember the busses

Review of nanoblock Rilakkuma no oyatsu time NBH_041

October 5, 2023August 9, 2023shygal

This post is a review of the nanoblock Rilakkuma no oyatsu build. Rilakkuma no oyatsu is part of the nanoblock Sights to See collection. Wondering what else is part of the Sights to See Collection? Click here for a list.

Number: NBH_041

Difficulty Rating: 2

Rilakkuma no oyatsu time build front view

This is a build of Rilakkuma relaxing eating and afternoon snack. According to Google, oyatsu “refers to an afternoon snack that was originally eaten at yatsudoki (approximately 2 p.m.) according to the old Japanese way of counting time.”

The build shows Rilakkuma lying on his side, eating a snack, and watching tv.

Rilakkuma no oyatsu time build side view

This build is made of 2 parts. There is the base with the tv and the body. There is also the head.

The first section is building the body and tv. Both sections are built-in layers. The tv is super straightforward. I had a bit of difficulty keeping track of exactly which step I was on while I was building the body. It was easy to get back on track.

Rilakkuma no oyatsu time build back 3/4 view

The other major section was the head. It goes straight up in layers. It was a bit of a challenge to tell exactly which bricks to use when due to the coloring. I think backlines between the bricks would have been easier to see the differences.

The last step is to put everything together and add the final details. It was a bit hard to tell exactly where exactly the head went, but I was able to get something that looks close to right. There are also very straightforward details of the antenna and snack.

Rilakkuma no oyatsu time build front 3/4 view

Things I liked:

I think it is a cute build, but I’m not sure why it’s part of the Sights to See collection

Things I didn’t like:

I thought the red thing was an apple, not a tv. But it must be a tv based on the details on the box