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 Grand Piano build. Grand Piano is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.
Number: NBC_017
Number of Pieces: 150
Difficulty Rating: 2
The build begins with creating the main body of the piano. It is a simple 3 layers of bricks that can easily be built on the nanoblock pad.
Next, the legs are added. It is a little hard to see where exactly to connect the bricks to the main body. Getting things lined up is important because the main piano can be connected to a 10×10 base that is provided with the kit.
The next part is the trickiest part of the build. It is building the piano cover. It is tricky because it isn’t actually connected to the main body of the piano. The large section can be built on the nanoblock pad. It was straightforward, but getting a clean line at the edge of the top section was a bit tricky. The top section lays at angles on the top of the piano. It creates the image that the Grand Piano is open.
The final step is to build the stool for the piano. It is very straightforward.
Things I liked:
I like how the piano appears to be open even though it is created by just laying a section on top of another section
Things I didn’t like:
I don’t like how there is a base for the piano but not the stool, so the matching set is at different heights
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
This post is a review of the nanoblock Blue Parakeet build. Blue Parakeet is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection series. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.
Number: NBC_016
Number of Pieces: 80
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
I’m not sure which name to identify this kit as. This is because I have 2 kits that both have the number NBC_016; however, each kit has a different name. I think the name may depend on where the kits were sold. I’m not sure where in the world these kits came from. I’ve chosen to identify this kit more as Blue Parakeet since I’m pretty sure there are multiple kits named Budgerigar.
The kit begins with bricks in two shades of blue. The parakeet goes up in layers, shifting between blues and brown to build the body.
After building the body, the head is built in white. Details like the beak and eyes are added while the head is being built.
The final step is to add the legs and feet. The parakeet comes with a base to place the finished bird on.
Things I liked:
I like the number of colors that go into the build between the shades of blue, brown, and white.
Things I didn’t like:
The fact that the kit has multiple names is confusing
This post is a review of the nanoblock Geoffrey build. Geoffrey is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.
Geoffrey is a very famous Giraffe. He is the mascot for Toys R Us.
Number: NBC_165
Number of Pieces: 160
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
Geoffrey was a kit that I bought totally opened; I did make sure there were bricks and instructions. Before starting the build, I pulled the kit that arrived apart and split all the bricks by size and color. I then started the build.
The nanoblock set has several different sections. There is the head, neck, arms, legs, and body.
A common technique in this build is to put round 1×1 into the non-ball section of the ball joint. I generally don’t care for this technique because it makes the builds much harder to put away later.
The head I was able to start building on my nanoblock pad. It went up in simple straightforward layers. The hardest part was getting the ears lined up because there was only one stud on top. After building the top of the head, it’s flipped over, and the bottom jaw and mouth are attached.
The neck is a very straightforward 2 layer chain of bricks.
The legs are very straightforward. Attention to detail is required to make sure that the legs line up straight.
The body I once again built on my pad. I enjoyed all the ways that the layers were arranged differently to create gaps in the yellow for the orange spots. After building to the top of the body, you flip the body over and add the hips and tail.
The arms are straightforward. It creates elbows in the layers of bricks.
The last step is to connect all the sections at the ball joints.
I was surprised that the final build was able to stand on its own. I’ve had a hard time posing Geoffrey to make him look like the photo on the package.
Things I liked:
That the final build is able to stand
Things I didn’t like:
I think his arms look really funny and are hard to pose well.
This post is a review of the nanoblock Snowman build. Snowman is part of the nanoblock Mini Collection. Wondering what else is part of the Mini Collection? Click here for a list.
Number: NBC_368
Number of Pieces: 160
Difficulty Rating: 2/5
There are been several snowman builds that have been released over the years. The snowman released in 2022 is different because the snowman is made up of clear white bricks and glitter bricks. These are newer and uncommon bricks used in a few nanoblock kits. The clear white bricks create a translucent effect on the snowman, which is nice.
The build begins by laying out a base layer of clear white bricks. I started the build on my nanoblock pad. The body goes up in layers. In general, each step works on two layers at once. The final step of the beginning of the body is a ring outlining the top of the body.
The next section of the body is adding the scarf and creating curves to close up the body. Several slanted pieces are clearly marked as to which ones to use. However, I had difficulty telling where to add a 1×1 brick to get the layer lined up. I was able to figure it out after moving bricks around.
The final step of the body is to add the mittens.
The head begins with a base layer that I once again laid out on my nanoblock pad. The head goes up in layers. Again there are slanted bricks that I needed to make sure I used the right slope to build the head correctly. The head adds details such as eyes, nose, and hat.
The last step is to connect the head to the body.
Things I liked:
The use of translucent and glitter blocks in the build because they are uncommon types of bricks
Things I didn’t like:
I’m not sure I like the solid white bricks edging on the hat. Since the rest of the build is clear the solids stand out
