I have more content to add because some pieces I had ordered also arrived today and I have a group of stuff to add. Last year when I had attempted to start my Lego project, it was kicked in to initial gear by seeing Set 7346 Lego Creator Seaside House. It reminded me of one of my favorite sets that I always wanted from the Paradisa Collection from back in 1992 that I always wanted but never got. Set 6411-1 Lego Paradisa Sand Dollar Café. I did acquire it last year and it will be up pretty soon. Both sets have inspired the creation of a beach area on the opposite side of town from the planned mountain area, so I have been collecting as many beach or sea themed sets as I can acquire, some of which will be displayed here. This set has actually been sitting a round in my laundry room for about 9 months when my last attempt at the Lego project went on a hiatus. I fell on financial hardship and was also temporarily distracted by the present my brother brought back from Japan. Another toy love I have is Sylvanian Families aka Calico Critters in the U.S. and my brother brought back this adorable cat family for me as a souvenir. I couldn't decide between the two hobbies and eventually abandoned both to go on a video games kick. I would love to give the Sylvanian Families the same treatment as the Legos but that will have to wait until a later time. Legos are what I have room and passion for.
I love the Seaside House and it has so many great features. I love the way they built the wave crashing up and the sand castle. It always amazes me how much more detailed and in-depth is in these sets are than what you find in the licensed sets and sets from the 80s and even the 90s, although the 80s and 90s are still my most favorite decades of Lego.
A new thing that I have noticed within Creator that I have really liked is an increased use of flat pieces. In the 80s in 90s they were rarely used, hard to come by, and easy to loose. Their most common application seemed to be the 1 x 2 flat piece used as a telephone receiver or printed like a piece of mail. I've seen so many great applications for tiled floors and walkways, food, and the general smoothing out of normally studded pieces.
Another great application of the flat smooth pieces has been enabling the removal the roof allowing for full wall builds that still allow access to the inside of the building. The jury is still out for me on this one because unless you yank out a wall, you only have an aerial view of the room, or at least in this set. There are other creator sets that explore the use of a swinging wall that I like. Probably combining all methods would in the end be best. As seen in Set 31025 Lego Creator Mountain Hut, it's built with a split room, which admittedly is not my favorite but as a whole the Creator sets are still pretty remarkable.
This poor guy doesn't have any furniture!!!! That will be remedied in the future as I get into personal creation and inspiration. There is a great idea book that I picked up on Amazon.com The Lego Ideas Book by Daniel Lipkowitz that showcases some great furniture building ideas.
A couple more beach themed sets I picked up were some mini sets. This first one I got just after Christmas. Lego.com had had it on sale for the longest time but I never picked it up and by the time I got to it, it was sold out and not looking like it would come back in stock. Luckily I found it on Amazon.com at just below it's original price plus shipping from Lego.com. Amazon Prime 2-Day Shipping is wonderful and I encourage you to get it. It can really make a difference in price if you shop from Amazon a lot and it also has a wonderful instant video collection that goes along with it. Anyway, this particular mini set is pretty cool because it gives you everything you need for a beach barbecue and some minifigures found in previous minifigure series. It includes 8803 Series 3 Hula Dancer, 8804 Series 4 Surfer Girl, and 8684 Series 2 Surfer. The set is 850449 Lego Minifigure Accessory Pack.
The last beach themed mini set I got over this last summer. Set 40054 Summer Scene. It's super cute and has an element in it that you can't find (as far as I know in any other sets. And it goes perfect with the beach them. The baseplate is not included in either of these sets, I borrowed it from Set 6411-1 Lego Paradisa Sand Dollar Café. It seemed to be only available over the summer and now goes for an outrageous price on Amazon.com. Haven't checked Ebay's price for it.
Bucket piece!
Fill the bucket.......
With water!
So, very exciting for the beach set up. I will be picking up a couple blue baseplates and tan bricks to add to the beach and sea area and perhaps adding a dock and some sort of eatery.
Happy Building!
