Review: 10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter
Posted by CapnRex101,Since the introduction of the 18+ range, LEGO has chosen some unexpected subjects for new sets, including football stadia, large-scale props and several others. The partnership with Dune might also be considered surprising, although the result looks incredible.
10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter seems impressive in official images, although there are some exposed Technic elements, which relate to its outstanding functions. Between the functions, an accurate vehicle design and eight desirable minifigures, the Dune Ornithopter should prove enjoyable!
Summary
10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter, 1,369 pieces.
£149.99 / $164.99 / €164.99 | 11.0p/12.1c/12.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
The ornithopter's functionality is unmatched and it looks marvellous, on the whole
- Perhaps the best functionality of any set outside Technic
- Impressive accuracy, overall
- Extremely robust
- Excellent minifigure selection
- Appearance compromised for function in places
- Avoidable colourful Technic pieces
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Minifigures
Most of Dune's most important characters are included, starting with Paul Atreides, played in the 2021 movie and its sequel by Timothée Chalamet. I think the double-sided head replicates Chalamet's angular features nicely, featuring prominent cheekbones, while this black hair piece approximates his onscreen hairstyle. Additionally, I am glad Paul's formal garb was chosen for the minifigure, differentiating him from other characters.
The white and metallic gold details on Paul's torso look nice, but Chani is even more detailed, wearing her stillsuit. The graphic designer has made brilliant use of metallic silver and multiple grey shades to capture the texture of the costume from the film, despite its lack of bright colour. A dark tan scarf completes the design, representing Chani's short cloak.
Chani's piercing blue eyes look superb and her second expression includes a breathing mask, matching the detail across her stillsuit. This minifigure includes a crysknife and a white gladius was a fitting choice for such a weapon, assuming a specialised element was not possible. Paul, meanwhile, wields a simple knife.
Duke Leto Atreides is also dressed in a stillsuit, although his double-sided head is unique. The grey flecks in the beard look nice and warm tan matches Oscar Isaac's skin tone, so I hope the same colour will be used for any future Poe Dameron minifigures. Otherwise, the stillsuit again looks superb and the hair component suits Leto.
In contrast with Leto's practical garb, Lady Jessica Atreides wears a golden dress, combining pearl gold and metallic gold shades. The lace pattern on the torso is accurate to the movie and this hood works well, appearing in pearl gold for the first time. Similar to Paul, I am pleased the designers selected Jessica's formal attire, which stands out among these minifigures.
However, my favourite feature of Lady Jessica's minifigure is her alternative face, covered with decorative chains. These are remarkably intricate and perhaps work best with the golden hood, although using the supplied hair piece shows the design more clearly. Leto has no such ornate decorations, but does come with a pair of binoculars.
Gurney Halleck serves as Warmaster for House Atreides and is heavily armoured for the role, making excellent use of the bulky chest armour created for LEGO Star Wars a couple of years ago. The design on the armour seamlessly matches the torso underneath and the legs feature ample detail. The only area for improvement would be adding white accents to Halleck's facial hair.
Much like Chani, Dr. Liet Kynes features bright blue eyes and a respirator on her alternative face. The dark tan cloak corresponds with the onscreen character and I love the hair element too, returning from 76218 Sanctum Sanctorum. Also, this is the third minifigure wearing a pearl dark grey stillsuit, which pairs well with the dark tan fabric, again similar to Chani's minifigure.
Unlike many of the included characters, Duncan Idaho is brightly dressed in white and dark green. His untucked shirt looks perfect and the dark brown hair piece is effective, after it was introduced in black for Disney's Tiana last year. Duncan is known for his skill as a swordsman and therefore wields two blades, while Halleck has one. Liet Kynes is equipped with a pair of Maker Hooks, used for riding Sandworms on Arrakis.
House Harkonnen is a fierce rival to House Atreides and its leader, Baron Harkonnen, looks fantastically evil! Inspired by a memorable scene from the film, this minifigure appears to float over others, thanks to his enormous fabric robe and the trans-clear stand underneath. I like the pattern on this robe, again reflecting the movie.
Viewing the baron from either side reveals that he is, in fact, a standard minifigure. The torso and legs are plain black, with the fabric component wrapped around them. The reverse of the robe is undecorated, although Baron Harkonnen does include a new head, featuring a morose expression that conveys his personality well.
Construction
10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter is quite similar to Ultimate Collector Series vehicles in some regards, although this model makes far greater use of Technic parts than I would expect from those Star Wars sets. Technic parts are integral to this design from the beginning, forming an ingenious mechanism to deploy the landing gear in unison and reinforcing the tail section.
The landing gear mechanism is tightly packed with two more to control the ornithopter blades, again comprising mostly Technic pieces. These assemblies are not particularly complex when compared with large Technic sets, although their compact design is remarkable and necessary because of the limited area inside the fuselage. In fact, I have rarely encountered such dense use of Technic!
Another layer of Technic pieces completes the central section of the fuselage, before a pair of 5x5 angled Technic bricks wrap around the assembly. Considering the volume of moving parts inside, the structure feels very strong. Next, two panels are mounted on the front using Technic pins, creating the desired angles for the ornithopter's cockpit.
The base of the cockpit is constructed around various bricks with studs on the side, again fixed to the fuselage via Technic pins. This structure is initially fragile, before layers of plates across both sides of the cockpit core and the fuselage reinforce the cockpit, so the whole ornithopter feels absolutely rigid once complete.
Reaching the final few bags, Technic returns for the landing gear. Once again, the combination of Technic and System elements is interesting and effective on the whole. However, the cockpit primarily comprises standard bricks and windscreen pieces, before the blades are attached with the final Technic elements. The blades are packaged in their own cardboard box and the larger windscreens are also packed separately, so they should arrive in pristine condition.
The Completed Model
Once assembled, the ornithopter is massive. The vehicle measures 55cm in length and has a wingspan of 80cm with the blades deployed, which does make it hard to display. However, the proportions beside minifigures are reasonable and the model remains light enough to fly around, even including a helpful grip, as the tail was specifically designed to support the whole weight of the vessel.
Of course, the model is easier to display with its blades retracted, as shown below. The vessel looks equally faithful to the source material in either configuration, accurately leaning forwards once landed. Unfortunately, the blades droop to various degrees, which is more obvious when they are folded. They are necessarily flexible though and I expect their shape will improve over time, becoming more consistent.
The ornithopter's cockpit is surprisingly accurate, considering its complex angles in the movie. Canopies designed for X-wings are attached on either side and a new canopy piece forms the front, intentionally recalling the 6x4x2 canopy used between 2002 and 2011. The angled edges look superb and the dark bluish grey frame reflects the source material as well.
Additionally, the headlights fixed underneath look good and you could modify this section of the aircraft with a weapon, as seen in the movie. Similarly, the landing legs flanking the cockpit are integrated perfectly for minifigures to access the cockpit, even though they lack actual steps. A couple of blue Technic pins are visible too, which is not ideal.
The sides of the cockpit open to reveal the interior, with seats for two minifigures and controls inside. The four-winged ornithopters used by House Atreides should have four seats, although two are enough to recreate most scenes. Also, there is room to add more passenger seat if you wish because the back of the cockpit is more than wide enough for two.
Accessing the minifigures to place them inside would be quite difficult, so the seat assembly is only attached with two studs for easy removal. I wonder whether that is why only two seats are included, as a wider structure would be harder to detach. Regardless, the cockpit is ingeniously designed, as one expects from Mike Psiaki!
Although faithful to the movie and impressively rigid, quite a few Technic elements are visible across the landing gear. These are essential for strength, but I think they could probably have been better hidden in certain areas. On the other hand, I am pleased with the mechanical detail, especially on the forward landing legs, where 6L bars represent actuators.
The aforementioned blue Technic pins are irritating, but many of the awkward Technic pieces are actually concealed on the ornithopter's belly. This mechanism is clever, as all four landing legs and the ramp move together, controlled from either side of the vessel by turning a knob. A single turn lowers the rear landing gear and the ramp, as well as pushing two light bluish grey Technic beams forward to deploy the struts beneath the cockpit.
Moreover, the 1x1 rocket bases used to control the landing gear are well disguised against the ornithopter's dark bluish grey hull. The texture around these knobs appears reasonable as well, including some black 1x2 grille slopes and studded surfaces. However, exposed Technic pieces remain a problem, most notably with the white actuators supporting the ramp.
Nevertheless, the landing gear function is fantastic, not least because everything folds exactly as shown onscreen. The vessel thus looks excellent with its landing gear retracted and can be displayed like this, although it would look even better on a stand. There are no easy connection points for a display stand though, thanks to the many moving Technic parts on the underside.
The next function involves pushing a switch on the top of the fuselage, highlighted with a red Technic bush. This moves the blades between their folded and deployed positions and works brilliantly. Thanks to a spring, the switch clicks into place when the wings are fully deployed or retracted, so the process feels smooth.
I do wonder whether this switch could have been disguised more effectively, but I also think a large switch was needed because all eight wings are fairly heavy. Technic pieces can be seen across both sides of the fuselage as well. Once again, however, this was probably unavoidable, given the set's third major function, which allows the wings to flap!
This function also explains the bulky Technic supports for each wing. While the functions have been integrated beautifully on the whole, I suspect a version of the ornithopter without flapping wings could include more accurate joints between the fuselage and each blade. Even so, these black structures look reasonable, despite the conspicuously colourful Technic pins and axles.
The blades measure 31cm in length and have been designed specifically for the ornithopter, hence their accurate moulded details. As mentioned earlier, the blades are quite flexible and therefore tend to droop, but this does not really bother me. After all, helicopter blades usually droop somewhat in reality and using a rigid plastic would probably make the blades liable to break.
Also, the flexibility of the wings augments their flapping movement. During construction, I was surprised that pressing the trigger on the tail caused the Technic elements at the base of each wing to do little more than twitch. However, a mere twitch at the base of the wings becomes far more pronounced at the wingtips, which move approximately 7cm up and down.
I have noticed a minor problem though, as repeatedly pressing the trigger often dislodges the 2x3 plate immediately behind it. This surprises me because the 2x3 plate is securely attached, but repeated collisions with the trigger nevertheless cause an issue. I am not sure how this can be resolved, but it happens much less frequently when the trigger is pressed near the front.
The trigger has been disguised quite well, while the rest of the tail is finished nicely with plates and tiles. This whole structure is incredibly strong and you can comfortably grip the ornithopter from here, with no fear of breakages. The two jet engines look great too, but a couple of yellow pieces are visible, which is again disappointing.
Overall
10327 Dune Atreides Royal Ornithopter is an incredible and completely unique set, in many respects. I cannot recall another Icons set with such advanced functionality and the blend of Technic elements with more conventional bricks and plates is tremendous. In fact, this model reminds me of 42078 Mack Anthem, which prioritised Technic, but relied heavily on System pieces for detail.
In some places, I think the Technic elements could be disguised more effectively, especially by swapping brightly-coloured parts for darker equivalents wherever possible. Even so, the model looks amazing on display and it is impossible to resist playing with the functions! In addition, the eight minifigures are lovely and I think the price of £149.99, $164.99 or €164.99 represents fair value, for a vehicle of this size.
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102 comments on this article
I'm not usually a minifig-aholic, but WOW what an assortment in one set. All highly collectible, all super detailed, and in a genre (adult-oriented sci-fi) that frankly doesn't get a lot of love in LEGO form - (not shading STAR WARS here, STAR WARS isn't just for kids, but I think of DUNE as being a very different property despite superficial similarities).
Ooops, started thinking about how much I'd lose my mind if LEGO did a BLADE RUNNER set and I got distracted.
Anyways, great looking set! Not a big enough fan of the new DUNE to buy it, but really looks exceptional to me.
I can't be the only one that remembered when we used to have black technic pins... You really think they'd reintroduce them for advanced sets like this so that the asthetics were not ruined by the more colourful ones.
@Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: what a disappointment. What an eyesore on every shelf. If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. I would have bought multiples. The trivial function of lightly flapping its wings does not justify the set being overtaken by technic elements (of every color in the rainbow). The figs aren't ideal, but I could have overlooked that. Now they just add insult to injury. "
I understand where you're coming from, but I disagree that the function is "trivial." Having built the set, it's incredible how well all of the functions work in unison without interfering with each other. The wing movement is weird, because it feels minimal, but makes a big visual impact.
I'm not a massive Dune fan and had little interest in this until I read a review elsewhere that described the Technics features. As someone who loved the 77015 Indy set this appealed to me more, especially when the reviews remarked how challenging this was to build.
It was fun to build, but personally I wouldn't say it was difficult or even that fiddly. Once it's built it does have the same "fiddle factor" as the aforementioned Indy set though as the mechanisms just invite you to activate them.
I'd also add I can't see what the fuss is about the Baron Harkonnen figure - it's just a plain black minifig with an uninspiring head and a weird bit of cloth hanging from it! The stillsuit clad figures look far better to me and feature some great detail, Especially Gurney Halleck with the brilliant shoulder piece.
I'm quite tempted by this one. We'll see how I feel after seeing both movies this month.
This set ticks all of my boxes. It has excellent play ability: not too big to swoosh around, plus the functionality of it all (box tick). It has a large assortment of minifigures (box tick). While it is not a great price per piece, it does come with lots of new and special pieces (box tick). I couldn't care less about the color of technic pins, so for me, it will look amazing on display (box tick). I am excited to build mine when it arrives and learn some new building techniques (box tick).
This is such an interesting set. It's one of those where I would love to build it, love to play with the functions that are built into it. But at the same time, absolutely not want to store it anywhere nor pay the asking price for it. It would be neat if there was a LEGO service like a library, where you could check out a set for like a week, so you could build it, play with it, dissemble, and then return it and clearly not have the overhead of cost and storage!
I think this is a fantastic set in every way. They really knocked it out of the park with this one! The one and only improvement I can think of would be to swap the red 2L axles for black 2L axles. I probably won't be able to get this one in 2024, but I hope I can get it in 2025.
Director Denis Villeneuve has given it his stamp of approval. He even got sent a copy in time for Christmas.
@chief7575 said:
"It would be neat if there was a LEGO service like a library, where you could check out a set for like a week, so you could build it, play with it, dissemble, and then return it and clearly not have the overhead of cost and storage!"
There are such services. Minifigs and rare parts get stolen from the sets all the time, and never replaced. So you'll be paying for a pristine set, and get _most_ of the set. Maybe it's enough to build the model, and maybe you'll have to sub in some of your own parts to make it work (and remember to reclaim them before sending it back).
@Zink said:
" @Mr__Thrawn said:
" @Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: what a disappointment. What an eyesore on every shelf. If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. I would have bought multiples. The trivial function of lightly flapping its wings does not justify the set being overtaken by technic elements (of every color in the rainbow). The figs aren't ideal, but I could have overlooked that. Now they just add insult to injury. "
I understand where you're coming from, but I disagree that the function is "trivial." Having built the set, it's incredible how well all of the functions work in unison without interfering with each other. The wing movement is weird, because it feels minimal, but makes a big visual impact. "
You'll have it stored with its wings folded up anyways, since it is so huge, that it fits no shelf otherwise. Folding the wings just exposes the ugliness of the feature even more. In my opinion, they should have ditched the feature entirely. Should a Lego helicopter be made up of a load of Technic elements to make the rotor spin - or should it resemble a helicopter instead."
Think of this as an old studded Technic set with three amazing manual functions (flapping wings, folding wings, and retractable landing gear). Hey presto! Then it's a stupendous companion to the Technic Airbus helicopter that has a rotor that spins at two speeds!
Very impressive!
I'll only repeat the same minor criticism I gave when it was announced, it's a Ducal Ornithopter not a Royal one!
As a lifelong Dune and Lego fan, I was ecstatic when this set was rumored. Then I saw the execution. This is solely opined from my eyes but for me personally, I don't care about functions in a set. I most enjoy a beautiful model to sit on my shelves and impress in its appearance. I appreciate the functions and originality of this set and am very happy for those whose priorities are that. What a winning set! But it's just ugly looking to me and a set I'm sad to pass on. I'm not a minifig person either but they are undoubtedly the best visual aspect of this set. Very well done! Had functions been ignored, I'm sure Lego would've knocked a detailed and accurate minifig scale model out of the park. Alas...
Looks nice from far away but the colorful Technic pieces are just awful.
But I hate the most that the movie (and this set in result) changed a key person of the book to be a woman just to accommodate the woke zeitgeist. Especially because women play already a terrific and important role in the books in both the Bene Gesserit and later the Honored Matres which are even enslaving men.
It's a fantastic set, which makes the use of those colorfull technic elements (especially the blue pins) such a shame. Yes, you can replace them with black ones yourself, but LEGO should just stop using them in visible places in sets that are mainly targeted at adults or older children. It's so noticable and breaks the illusion.
This has always seemed a bizarre set and if two self-confessed Dune fans on here so far don't rate it then it really is going to struggle.
Is there a legit reason why colored technic pins are used? Not even grey pins are used?
The technic pins are inexcusable in those colours and leave no one happy, just a genuine failure in execution. The figure selection is fantastic but it looks like this is a one-off for a theme with more source material. Deeply disappointing.
It's been years since I read Dune and I haven't seen the movie (or it's sequel, or the Paul Lynch version), so this set interests me, but not on a "I must have this" level. If I were to get it, though, the temptation to have Baron Harkonnen facing off against https://brickset.com/minifigs/tlm029 would be irresistible. The Technic functions also very much appeal to me. And if I were the type to extensively modify sets, I'd be very tempted to get this and try a steampunk makeover.
@ShinyBidoof said:
"This has always seemed a bizarre set and if two self-confessed Dune fans on here so far don't rate it then it really is going to struggle."
I can't find it in any of the 4 lego stores near me, and it's on a two month backorder online, I don't think that's struggling.
@BPK2300 said:
"Is there a legit reason why colored technic pins are used? Not even grey pins are used? "
The only thing I can think of is: Lego assumes that kids are dumber nowadays. In the early days of Technic, pins were either black or light grey (the old grey). Somehow, with incredible odds against me, I ALWAYS managed to build the sets I got. Apparently, 21st century kids cannot do that...
Now, there is that guy who always build in black or very very dark grey. I think his name is Batman. There was a set made for him recently: 76252. Since Batman would never accept blue pins in his world, Lego produced gunmetal grey pins for him - you can buy them on PaB, I certainly did - not black but definitely more conspicuous. The point is: 'Lego can do it if they want - but they choose not to'. Remember, pins don't have to be all the same colours. Kid sets can have pins the colour of the rainbow and 18+ sets can have pins in black.
As for this set: I am more of a Technic-guy than a minifig-guy so I love what they did here and the set is on the "buy if you can find a decent discount" list. In fact, this might be the best Technic set we get this year.
Got mine some days ago and this evening I will start building!
I don’t care about visible technic parts.
Form follows function!
Such a dilemma. A great idea but in execution deeply flawed model.
I will certainly pick this up but will wait a little bit longer till discounts hit the 35% mark.
"Perhaps the best functionality of any set outside Technic"
I have this set but haven't built it yet. But for me, the ejector seat in the James Bond Aston Martin set is going to be very, very hard to beat...
Is there any gifs or videos showing the functions?
@Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: what a disappointment. What an eyesore on every shelf. If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. I would have bought multiples. The trivial function of lightly flapping its wings does not justify the set being overtaken by technic elements (of every color in the rainbow). The figs aren't ideal, but I could have overlooked that. Now they just add insult to injury. "
I don't think I could disagree more with a comment. This is perfectly in-scale with the minifigs. A half-sized thopter would be pathetic in comparison, and probably would not fit enough blades to even resemble the on-screen vehicle. The Technic elements are hardly noticeable precisely due to the minifig-proportional size of the vehicle. The wings flapping is basically the defining feature of the ornithopter, so it's ridiculous to say it would be better with the feature done-away-with. And the figs are fine. The problem isn't the fig design, but rather the source content not being as vivid or as complex as the designs found on some other IPs or say, Ninjago. But this is DUNE.
Technic color parts sticking out is not an issue with this set, it's a Lego issue in general. So people ripping this set in particular because some pins stand out aren't being fair critics. Overall, though I noticed them when building, I am now constantly playing and looking at mine and never notice the Technic parts, they are inconsequential or in some ways add to the overall look.
@BPK2300 said:
"Is there a legit reason why colored technic pins are used? Not even grey pins are used? "
The reason we are fortunate to get so many different adult-oriented LEGO sets being made today is that the adult market for LEGO is bigger and broader than ever. Of these many, many new fans and consumers, a large segment are casual fans. Not hardcore AFOLs, but people who have recently discovered LEGO and buy the occasional set here and there as a fun diversion or secondary hobby. Some of this is due to the pandemic, some is due to LEGO's change in marketing strategy, and of course there are other factors. These casual fans are often looking for a relaxing building experience, and staring at a pile of all-black parts looking for the right one is the opposite of that. It's frustrating, and LEGO has done many, many focus group tests to confirm that. So this is why we have blue and red technic pins, and colorful interior parts for sets.
Of course, the hardcore AFOLs who live and breathe LEGO will scoff and roll their eyes at these "stupid" or "lazy" new fans. And, go nuts I guess. But the simple reality is that millions of new casual fans is the reason we have such an abundance and variety of 18+ sets on the market, and I am more than happy for these sets to keep on coming.
@Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: what a disappointment. What an eyesore on every shelf. If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. I would have bought multiples. The trivial function of lightly flapping its wings does not justify the set being overtaken by technic elements (of every color in the rainbow). The figs aren't ideal, but I could have overlooked that. Now they just add insult to injury. "
Lego minifig scale: actual size ratio is 1:42.5
An ornithopter is 22.1m
22.1/42.5 = 0.52m
= 52 cm
So the Lego set should be about 52 cm long. As it is 45.6 cm long, it is, if anything, smaller than minifig scale, not larger.
If only a billion dollar company had the capacity to come up with some solution to please both sides. Like, I don't know, throwing in a few additional pins in proper color, so everyone can decide for themselves if they want stress-free rainbow of pins or not.
@sipuss
C'mon, enough about the pins. Grab some, use a black permanent marker, let them dry, and swap them for display if it's such a great concern. They are cheap parts.
Baron Harkonnen reminds me of Palpatine, just taller...
@illennium said:
" @BPK2300 said:
"Is there a legit reason why colored technic pins are used? Not even grey pins are used? "
The reason we are fortunate to get so many different adult-oriented LEGO sets being made today is that the adult market for LEGO is bigger and broader than ever. Of these many, many new fans and consumers, a large segment are casual fans. Not hardcore AFOLs, but people who have recently discovered LEGO and buy the occasional set here and there as a fun diversion or secondary hobby. Some of this is due to the pandemic, some is due to LEGO's change in marketing strategy, and of course there are other factors. These casual fans are often looking for a relaxing building experience, and staring at a pile of all-black parts looking for the right one is the opposite of that. It's frustrating, and LEGO has done many, many focus group tests to confirm that. So this is why we have blue and red technic pins, and colorful interior parts for sets.
Of course, the hardcore AFOLs who live and breathe LEGO will scoff and roll their eyes at these "stupid" or "lazy" new fans. And, go nuts I guess. But the simple reality is that millions of new casual fans is the reason we have such an abundance and variety of 18+ sets on the market, and I am more than happy for these sets to keep on coming."
I am always surprised how often that fact gets glossed over in AFOL discussions. LEGO has to design sets at an all-skills level approach, which are not only buildable by everybody in the age range they advertise but also capable of being mass produced thousands of times. It is frankly an amazing process, in terms of selecting parts for each bag and knowing what is going where.
Yes, a fan MOC will often look better and nicer in terms of colors and shapes. But it may be more difficult to build, or have stability issues that wouldn't pass LEGO's quality control. LEGO designers have to take a big picture view on design that most fan MOC's never need to consider. While multi-color pins are a compromise solution to ensure that happens, I do not find issue with them here since it clearly ensures non-LEGO fans can have the same easy building experience across the board. The multi-color pins are not as noticeable in this set either compared to say Bionicle's 2008 Takanuva or some older Technic sets in my opinion.
Plus the minifigures look excellent, and the play feature is stunning in all the videos I have seen of it. Denis Villeneuve's Dune Part 1 got me to finally read the original Dune and it's immediate sequel Dune: Messiah; so I hold a special fondness for what this set represents.
@Brick_Master said:
"Very impressive!
I'll only repeat the same minor criticism I gave when it was announced, it's a Ducal Ornithopter not a Royal one! "
The Great Houses own entire planets, and the three main families have a Duke, a Baron, and an Emperor. Other than the latter, they don't appear to be using these terms in the same way we're used to. Backstory says that the name Atreides basically means "Son of Atreus", and that they claim to trace their genealogy all the way back to King Agamemnon (whose father was Atreus). In that sense, they would have a claim of royal blood.
In practice, they seem to function more like kings or princes did under the Holy Roman Emperor. A king is the ruler of one nation, where an emperor is ruler of multiple nations. What title the king takes doesn't change their effective status. I know the Lynch film refers to everything in Ducal terms, and I've only ever seen Dune I once (I'll be popping the seal on my copy later this month, before watching Dune II on the big screen). I only ever read the book once, so I have no idea if the original text, or the new films, refer to House Atreides as being royalty, but it sounds like it would not be inaccurate to do so.
Well there you go. I've officially know more about Dune from 10 minutes of reading a LEGO review than knew from the last 17 years of my life.
The model looks super impressive though! But if I do buy this (which I probably won't) it'll literally just be as a Technic and minifigure parts pack.
I do not consider myself an hardcore AFOL but I truly believe that pin colour is important. Considering the path that Lego decided to use with its Technic line, it should be even more important for them (the Lego company)
In the beginning (1977-1978-ish), the Lego Technic line was about engineering and mechanisms. Everything was visible and the intent was to explain visually the functions of a model. Even back then all the friction pins were black and the non-friction were light grey. The intent was not aesthetic but function and they managed to get the pins not distracting what needed to be seen: the mechanisms.
Nowadays, Lego has decided that functions are not quite as important since they are all buried inside the model - you can build a 20 gears transmission for a semi-truck/lorry and it won't teach anything if you can not see how it interacts when 'in use'. So, Lego is now pushing aesthetic for Technic, many model have very little functions if any (pull-back?). If aesthetic is the new goal, then it becomes even more important to remove those garish pins of every colours.
There are hardly any excuses now because the parts are put in bags following the progression of the model. Before, you had to drop all the parts in a pile and find what you needed in there. Now you only need to open the bags for the segment you are building. So it is never really hard to distinguish between parts of the same colour.
To be clear, I don't mind pins in different colours. In fact, for one of my recent MOC, I needed pins in tan and Lego has them - which was very good for me. There are pins (of different designs) in black, blue, tan, red, yellow, gunmetal, light blueish grey, dark blueish grey, orange, white (probably I forgot some). So, Lego can easily make them in black when it is important and in other colours when it suits better. Simple really.
As for the Dune set, all the red visible parts are available in black. There are currently no 'perfect' solution for the 3L friction blue pins. There is a 'workable' solution if you can use 6015356 but the model might be less rigid. For the case were you have a 2L blue pin/axle, you can use 6445394.
Just like greebling (not to be confused with gribbling which is very different), sometimes for 'effect' different colours is even desirable and I believe that's what the designers went for in this set - as I mentioned previously all the red visible parts exist and are available now in black.
@Zink said:
" @HJB2810 said:
" @Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: what a disappointment. What an eyesore on every shelf. If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. I would have bought multiples. The trivial function of lightly flapping its wings does not justify the set being overtaken by technic elements (of every color in the rainbow). The figs aren't ideal, but I could have overlooked that. Now they just add insult to injury. "
Lego minifig scale: actual size ratio is 1:42.5
An ornithopter is 22.1m
22.1/42.5 = 0.52m
= 52 cm
So the Lego set should be about 52 cm long. As it is 45.6 cm long, it is, if anything, smaller than minifig scale, not larger."
It's a helicopter. It should be helicopter sized. I would have preferred a model roughly the size of the newer 70€ X-Wing."
It's a helicopter that seats six people in the front cabin, ahead of the wings. A usual playscale helicopter seats one or two people in the front cabin, ahead of the main rotor.
This set is smaller than minifig scale, that's why it only seats two.
Have you seen how big off-brand helicopter building sets are when they make an effort to include the correct number of seats? They're huge.
That said, I do think a small playscale ornithopter at about $70 would be a pretty neat set.
@Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: what a disappointment. What an eyesore on every shelf. If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. I would have bought multiples. The trivial function of lightly flapping its wings does not justify the set being overtaken by technic elements (of every color in the rainbow). The figs aren't ideal, but I could have overlooked that. Now they just add insult to injury. "
A set "being overtaken by technic elements" is something to celebrate, not justify. That way the thing you built can actually do something more than just sit on a shelf and collect dust.
The Baron looks hilarious, but in a good way. Kind of a Lord Business thing, but played for drama not comedy, but then ALSO over the top, so it loops to being funny again.
I balk at expensive sets (just personal preference-I'd rather get several small models than a big one), but I may actually get this.
(And then try to MOC up some vehicles from the computer games.)
@xboxtravis7992:
I think I read all six of Frank Herbert’s books around the time the two Sci-Fi Channel miniseries came out on home video. I’d already seen Lynch’s original film multiple times, though. As far as the books go, I agree with one of my college friends in that the first book is great, and then they start a slow but steady slide into being unreadable. And I won’t even touch anything that followed, since I know the son and KJA (who doesn’t have a stellar reputation with fans of the SW EU) went in a very different direction than how the sixth book was clearly headed (specifically relating to the nature of two characters who are introduced very late in the text).
But I own the first movie, both miniseries, and the new movie, and enjoy each for different reasons. Apparently, in terms of the miniseries, one of those things was not the ornithopter, since I can recall the box Lynch design, and the Villenueve “dragonfly” design, but I have no memory of the SFC version. The pale canvas-style stillsuits, on the other hand, are easy to recall.
@HOBBES:
Black 3L friction pins may no longer be in production, but there’s a seller with over 12,000 listed about 3/$1, so it’s possible to obtain them without breaking the bank. I’ve also been informed about what appears to be a pearl-dark-grey friction axle-pin, but I have no idea what set it comes in, and it’s not popping out at me on BL.
@iwybs:
40450 is a minifig-scale model of a plane that could seat up to six passengers, in addition to the pilot. That’s seven people in a model that looks like, at best, a coffin for two. Minifig-scale is hard to nail down because minifigs exist in three wildly different main scales (height, width, and depth). So a set like this can be, simultaneously, too large and too small.
@PurpleDave said:
" @iwybs:
40450 is a minifig-scale model of a plane that could seat up to six passengers, in addition to the pilot. That’s seven people in a model that looks like, at best, a coffin for two. Minifig-scale is hard to nail down because minifigs exist in three wildly different main scales (height, width, and depth). So a set like this can be, simultaneously, too large and too small."
The scale of that aircraft is "between 1:50 and 1:57", according to the Brickset review. To me, true minifig scale ranges from 1:32 to 1:40. (I prefer 1:38, which is 1 stud = 1 foot). 40450 is just way too small for true minifig scale. It's even too small for minifig playscale, since it doesn't seat a single minifig. It's a nice little plane though.
The 10327 Dune Ornithopter is built to about 1:48 scale, if we take the 22.1 m figure earlier in the comments as true. That's below true minifig scale in my opinion, but with seating for two in the front it's pretty good minifig playscale. Of course, minifig playscale varies wildly and gets increasingly compressed as the scale length of the source material gets larger (as in many Star Wars sets), so I can understand why someone might prefer a $70 brick-built playset with more seats, no Technic functions, and very simple wing/ramp/foot articulation to a $165 Icons model that's stuffed with amazing Technic functions and is very swooshable, but has only two seats and (gasp! quelle horreur!) red axles and blue pins.
@PurpleDave said:
" @xboxtravis7992 :
I think I read all six of Frank Herbert’s books around the time the two Sci-Fi Channel miniseries came out on home video. I’d already seen Lynch’s original film multiple times, though. As far as the books go, I agree with one of my college friends in that the first book is great, and then they start a slow but steady slide into being unreadable. And I won’t even touch anything that followed, since I know the son and KJA (who doesn’t have a stellar reputation with fans of the SW EU) went in a very different direction than how the sixth book was clearly headed (specifically relating to the nature of two characters who are introduced very late in the text).
But I own the first movie, both miniseries, and the new movie, and enjoy each for different reasons. Apparently, in terms of the miniseries, one of those things was not the ornithopter, since I can recall the box Lynch design, and the Villenueve “dragonfly” design, but I have no memory of the SFC version. The pale canvas-style stillsuits, on the other hand, are easy to recall.
@HOBBES :
Black 3L friction pins may no longer be in production, but there’s a seller with over 12,000 listed about 3/$1, so it’s possible to obtain them without breaking the bank. I’ve also been informed about what appears to be a pearl-dark-grey friction axle-pin, but I have no idea what set it comes in, and it’s not popping out at me on BL.
@iwybs :
40450 is a minifig-scale model of a plane that could seat up to six passengers, in addition to the pilot. That’s seven people in a model that looks like, at best, a coffin for two. Minifig-scale is hard to nail down because minifigs exist in three wildly different main scales (height, width, and depth). So a set like this can be, simultaneously, too large and too small."
The pearl-dark-grey (The official Lego colour is Titanium Metallic - there are only 44 Lego parts in that colour on PaB) friction axle-pin comes from the Batman batcave black box (Batman would never have blue). The part number on PaB is the one mentioned on my previous post: 6445394.
I have plenty of 3L black pins that I bought as part packs when they were available - glad I did - though I do not modify official sets (I build them as garish as they come); I use my extra parts for MOCs only.
@HJB2810 said:
" @Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. "
Lego minifig scale: actual size ratio is 1:42.5
An ornithopter is 22.1m
22.1/42.5 = 0.52m
= 52 cm
So the Lego set should be about 52 cm long. As it is 45.6 cm long, it is, if anything, smaller than minifig scale, not larger."
What a burn to the self proclaimed biggest dune fan, ahahaahahah! Good job HJB!
Reading all these comments is nearly as entertaining as building LEGO!
??????
;-)
@HOBBES said:
" @BPK2300 said:
"Is there a legit reason why colored technic pins are used? Not even grey pins are used? "
The only thing I can think of is: Lego assumes that kids are dumber nowadays. "
Since this set is clearly marked as 18+ it's absurd to think that "Lego assumes kids blah blah". This is not for kids, this is for casual Lego fans or new fans, bit adults. And as the life progress many adult have worse eyesight. For an AFOL it is easy to spot every needed part but for casual Lego builders, especially with worse eyes the color coding in Lego sets is a big help.
@Zink said:
" To your plane comment I would like to add Lego cars, trains and passenger planes. All widely "too small" to fit their real-life capacity. But that is just what we accept as "minifigure scale" since humans don't actually have square legs and claw-like hands. It's Lego after all. And the Lego world works different."
I like to distinguish "true minifig scale" (a numerical scale that assigns some scale height to minifigs) and "minifig playscale". Most Lego cars, trains, and passenger planes are minifig playscale, not true minifig scale. The scale of the Icons ornithopter (1:48) is defined by the physical size of the Technic functions inside. That leaves it at an awkward size that is clearly too small for true minifig scale (which would seat six, not two), but on the very upper end of minifig playscale (which is meant for convenience and swooshability). A model that was intended primarily for minifig storytelling roleplay, as opposed to one that's intended primarily for single-handed swooshing with ingenious Technic functions, would probably be quite a bit smaller and less expensive, but I would personally find it much less impressive.
@PurpleDave said:
" @xboxtravis7992:
I think I read all six of Frank Herbert’s books around the time the two Sci-Fi Channel miniseries came out on home video. I’d already seen Lynch’s original film multiple times, though. As far as the books go, I agree with one of my college friends in that the first book is great, and then they start a slow but steady slide into being unreadable. And I won’t even touch anything that followed, since I know the son and KJA (who doesn’t have a stellar reputation with fans of the SW EU) went in a very different direction than how the sixth book was clearly headed (specifically relating to the nature of two characters who are introduced very late in the text).
But I own the first movie, both miniseries, and the new movie, and enjoy each for different reasons. Apparently, in terms of the miniseries, one of those things was not the ornithopter, since I can recall the box Lynch design, and the Villenueve “dragonfly” design, but I have no memory of the SFC version. The pale canvas-style stillsuits, on the other hand, are easy to recall.
"
Yeah I am sort of scared to touch "Children of Dune"... my sister's father in law says he likes it more than Messiah, but reading from fan opinions online it seems that most people agree that things go downhill for the series after Messiah and that the original book is still the high point. I have a copy of the Dune RPG though that came out a few years back, and it has a nice summary that covers what happens in the other books (including Frank's later books and Brian and Kevin's work) which I feel is a nicer way of getting the story beats of those entries in the franchise without having to suffer through the poorer books.
As for Kevin himself... I read one of his Jedi Academy books as a kid with the Sun Crusher and the Death Star prototype, and it was as wonky as his reputation among the Star Wars fandom suggests. The Sun Crusher alone has a sort of "tipping the balance of power" absurdity to it that makes the controversy over The Last Jedi's "Holdo Maneuver" look banal in comparison. I have also read the "Clockwork Angels" adaptation he wrote with Rush drummer Neil Peart and honestly, that was pretty fun. I can't believe that out of all the flak Kevin gets from both Dune and Star Wars fans that I can point to a book based on a prog rock album as arguably his best work.
Not my cup of tea. Very big and expensive. I would have preferred a smaller and more playable set. More minifig scale system sets, please.
It’s far more impressive than the Kingfisher. My biggest issue with this Dragonfly is the lack of eyes. Will be fairly easy to put some googly eyes on it though I spose. And far too big to go with my other Lego Insect Collection.
The midsection looks unfinished. But I cannot fathom the use of coloured technic pins. I really think they need to explain this as it’s just such an odd design choice. Only thing I can think is that it helps with the build process.
But overall, I really like it. It’s unique, interesting, and overall it looks like the ‘real thing’. The exposed technic in a way gives it a rugged machine quality, like the body of a Y Wing, and I think it looks fantastic when looking at the cockpit head on. I liked the film, have read the book. A definite buy for me.
@thor96 said:
" @HOBBES said:
" @BPK2300 said:
"Is there a legit reason why colored technic pins are used? Not even grey pins are used? "
The only thing I can think of is: Lego assumes that kids are dumber nowadays. "
Since this set is clearly marked as 18+ it's absurd to think that "Lego assumes kids blah blah". This is not for kids, this is for casual Lego fans or new fans, bit adults. And as the life progress many adult have worse eyesight. For an AFOL it is easy to spot every needed part but for casual Lego builders, especially with worse eyes the color coding in Lego sets is a big help.
"
Exactly my point: Lego rainbow-colour pins have been developed for kids. Adult (or 18+) sets should have pins the required colours. There are 45 colours of the 1x1 brick. When a set calls for 2 white, 2 medium azure, 1 red, 4 brown and 2 yellow (for example), Lego put that in the box. They could do exactly the same with Lego Technic pins.
Besides, Lego '18+' nomenclature is laughable at best.
Personally, when I first saw this, I thought meh, then I saw it move. Now it's a must.
Always astounded about what topics adults (???) discuss here! Build LEGO and have fun!
@HOBBES:
I kinda wondered about that, but I’ve only seen them on online PAB (and I wasn’t digging that up just to check one number). It didn’t come up here or on BL, which also doesn’t even show them in any inventory. I should buy some, but I’ve still got a large LEGO Store bag full of Nuhvok Va sets with close to 300 black axle-pins between them. And I’ve really cut back on their use.
@thor96:
@CapnRex101 published an article about the most accurately scaled SW sets in 2021, citing that “minifig-scale” can range anywhere from 1:32 to 1:45, which is entirely subjective as to which point in that range is “correct”. The issue is that minifigs are scaled like extremely obese toddlers, not adults. Or if they’re scaled like adults, they’re the ones who get reality shows and end up dying two years later. The issue of scale is also largely independent of the IP you’re discussing, so two of the biggest superfans of a property could still have wildly different opinions on what size a “minifig-scale” ornithopter should be. Where they should agree is the LWH ratios of the craft itself. That is, if you make it longer but not wider, both should call you out on it. And both probably have an opinion on whether or not this interpretation is even accurate to the book. I know the Lynch version got a lot of grief because it had wings that pivot, but don’t flap. It probably has more in common with a vector-thrust airplane than the ornithopter of Herbert’s imagination. This version, I can’t speak for, but I know both this and the SFC versions were pointedly given flapping wings, possibly because there were so many complaints about Lynch’s movie being so inaccurate.
@Zink:
My cars (excluding Pixar’s Cars cars and some Batmobiles) all have side-by-side seating. And even some of the two-door cars end up being 4x as long as a minifig is tall. You’re talking about a 24’ long Dodge Viper RT/10, when in real life they’re only 14’7”. But the alternative options are a single-seater, or one that looks comically compressed, front-to-back. And trains, which should be 12-wide to match the gauge of the tracks, are usually limited to 6-wide due to performance and/or clearance issues. Buildings in my LUG (particularly skyscrapers) are scaled to one stud per foot, so we generally have three different scales representing buildings, cars, and trains. Plus, I throw out a couple sea captains riding those steamship costumes whenever we have any sort of water feature, be it a frog pond or a swimming pool.
I don't know... I like it, but maybe not as much as I want to like it. It's a Technic set, except it is not. It's a display set, except it is not. It's a play set, except it is not. It tries to be all three, but fails at all three because of it.
And I feel the blades are a bit of a cheat. Can't solve the problem? Just create a new (and very large) piece that doesn't feel like Lego at all (I guess that's what bothers me wit Technic as well, so I might be biased). If I was more in to Technic I might like it better.
The minifigs are weird too. I like them, but they feel misplaced in this set (since it is not really a play set).
Oh well, if it gets reaaalllyyy cheap (like the almost half off I got for Himeji Castle) I might pick it up, just to see if like it better in the flesh.
As for the coloured pins: Lego, just throw in a few extra $0,001 pins in for the (18+!) people that can appreciate it. Not that hard and just good marketing (surprise your clients with service they don't expect).
@chief7575 said:
"This is such an interesting set. It's one of those where I would love to build it, love to play with the functions that are built into it. But at the same time, absolutely not want to store it anywhere nor pay the asking price for it. It would be neat if there was a LEGO service like a library, where you could check out a set for like a week, so you could build it, play with it, dissemble, and then return it and clearly not have the overhead of cost and storage! "
It’s called Bricklink. I’ve bought about a hundred new sets that I built then sold used in great condition for 80% to more than 100% (if willing to wait to sell after the set retires).
Truly a Lego marvel of engineering. Bravo to the designer. Whom I heard was an aircraft engineer.
Fabulous model. Just swap out some of those bits for black elements. But regardless, it doesn't take away from the look imho.
Must get!
Can't say I'm much of a Dune fan, haven't read the books, haven't seen the films, and only for a short time played the PC game over 3 decades ago. But at first glance I do very much like this set. It just looks cool, and for most part I think trading some accuracy for these pretty amazing functions was absolutely worth it. And even the price sees decent for what you get.
But that color puke......why does Lego keep thinking that their customers are dumb?
I might still end up buying this set (the fact it's already available at 25% discount might help too), but I'll sure gonna need a bunch of replacement parts....
I went to my Lego Store to buy this as soon as it opened on February 1, and I was pleased to see at least 4 others buying it at the same time as me. I actually scooped the last one off the shelf, although I'm sure they had a few more in the back. Still glad I ran to go get it because it went OOS fast online!
As for the set, I couldn't be more thrilled. Excellent minifigs, excellent look, and absolutely brilliant technic functions crammed in. I would be stunned if the set had just two of its three major functions, but all three well-executed functions really put this over the top. This may be one of my favorite sets in years just because of how much I admire the ingenuity.
Now let's hope they make a Dune Part 2 set with a Sandworm :) I just want the rest of the major characters like Stilgar and Emperor Shaddam IV...
@Lance_McCormick said:
"The Baron looks hilarious, but in a good way. Kind of a Lord Business thing, but played for drama not comedy, but then ALSO over the top, so it loops to being funny again.."
As I said, I had very similar thoughts.
@Zink said:
"Should a Lego helicopter be made up of a load of Technic elements to make the rotor spin - or should it resemble a helicopter instead."
These criteria are not mutually exclusive. https://brickset.com/sets/tag-Helicopter/theme-Technic/
@SolidState said:
"The technic pins are inexcusable in those colours and leave no one happy, just a genuine failure in execution. The figure selection is fantastic but it looks like this is a one-off for a theme with more source material. Deeply disappointing."
I'm earnestly hoping this one sells extremely well and inspires future Dune sets of all shapes and sizes. I know it will never be Star Wars level popular, but I would love to see... more. Something like a micro scale sandworm devouring a harvester diorama, or a similar scale model of the compound would make me extremely happy.
There is just so much material in the stories, and it looks like they're intent on exploring it with the new films. Dune merchandise is such a rarity when compared to other sci-fi IPs I grew up with. I would love to see more of it from Lego.
This set was an instant buy for me. I hope it was the same for a large swath of Lego and/or Dune fans. I need more. Hahaha.
I just remembered a weird moment from college. I was in an acting class, and the professor started spouting praise for Linda Hunt. After a couple minutes of this, she asked if anyone knew who Linda Hunt was, and the rest of the class just looked blankly at her. I raised my hand and said she played Shadout Mapes in Lynch's Dune film. The response I got back was something like, "Oh, well you don't know Linda Hunt."
@xboxtravis7992:
DM and CoD are light enough on plot that SFC combined the two when making their follow-up miniseries, and the broadcast runtime was only one minute longer than the first miniseries that only covered the first book. Fourth book was where things really got weird, and the plot just ground to a halt. Villenueve has now said he only plans to make one more film (based on Dune Messiah), and that after that it's up to someone else to continue the series if they want.
As for KJA, I was collecting the entire EU run of adult novels, and even got the YA stuff that focused on the Solo twins (but not the stuff that focused on Anakin Solo). There was some good stuff, and some really bad stuff, and surprisingly he did a good job with the Young Jedi series, considering he just phoned it in with rehashed plots for the regular line (which is part of the reason TFA incensed me so badly).
@WizardOfOss:
There were two Dune video games. The fact that you didn't specify makes me think you mean the first game, which leaned towards being an adventure game. The second was a basic RTS, which I had zero interest in.
@ApolloVI:
Yeah, Feyd isn't even in the first film at all, and Rabban didn't make the cut (which means Bautista missed out on getting a second minifig).
@ShinyBidoof said:
"This has always seemed a bizarre set and if two self-confessed Dune fans on here so far don't rate it then it really is going to struggle."
I wouldn't consider two comments on a Brickset article comments section (which aren't known for being positive or indicative of the wider community) as a sign of public sentiment. My local LEGO Store sold out quickly, and it wasn't hardcore AFOL's buying most of the sets - it was "casual fans" (who are the lifeblood of the 18+/"Adults Welcome" Range).
I'm in this for the minifigs...but isn't Paul's hair in the movie brown?
As a hardcore Technic fan reading this comment section I must say that the model is beautiful but has far too many studs and ugly system pieces for my likings. I hate when gorgeous technic elements are paired with hideous system pieces... Yes that's what You all sound like in reverse role.
Don’t care about the Dune universe, don’t care about technic sets, don’t care about play functions BUT what I do care about are minutiae discussions like in these comments, just brilliant.
@Tynansd said:
"The midsection looks unfinished. But I cannot fathom the use of coloured technic pins. I really think they need to explain this as it’s just such an odd design choice. Only thing I can think is that it helps with the build process. "
You can’t be for real dude. It’s been explained a million times. More, it’s been explained multiple times in this very thread.
If anything, it just shows that there is no reason to explain anything, because people that demand that explanation don’t read it…
@PurpleDave said:
" @WizardOfOss :
There were two Dune video games. The fact that you didn't specify makes me think you mean the first game, which leaned towards being an adventure game. The second was a basic RTS, which I had zero interest in."
It was the first one indeed. From the little bit I remembered from it kinda an adventure game with a few RTS elements mixed in.
Excellent set. My biggest complaint is that the wing blades are moulded in a way that on the right side of the model the blades bend down where they don’t on the left side. I also see it on the pictures in the review, especially where the wings are folded.
@CapnRex101 Could you tell me which mold cavity number is written on the warped/bent blades? I have a hunch that this is another quality issue due to molding and cooling speed, because some of the blades are not bent and droop only a little due to gravity. Noticed the same problem in every other review of this set. The large rotor blades of the Technic helicopters didn't have this problem.
Also the black tow ball pins and black 2L axles are still in production and cost the same as the red ones (they even include a bunch of the black axles). There is no reason to not use these in a collectors display model like this other than Lego thinking their customers are too stupid to distinguish different parts.
@R0Sch said:
" @CapnRex101 Could you tell me which mold cavity number is written on the warped/bent blades?"
Sorry for answering on behalf of CapnRex101 but the mould says: 5240 04-HN01
@socal_bricks said:
" @ShinyBidoof said:
"This has always seemed a bizarre set and if two self-confessed Dune fans on here so far don't rate it then it really is going to struggle."
I wouldn't consider two comments on a Brickset article comments section (which aren't known for being positive or indicative of the wider community) as a sign of public sentiment. My local LEGO Store sold out quickly, and it wasn't hardcore AFOL's buying most of the sets - it was "casual fans" (who are the lifeblood of the 18+/"Adults Welcome" Range)."
Dune fans who agree with the article may have nothing to say as the positivity of the article has already agreed with them so they feel no need to comment; whereas Dune fans who disagree feel that they have to comment in order to share their opinion...
For the Spice!!!!
@WizardOfOss:
I don't remember a lot about it, but I know there was a lot of JRPG-style grinding involved, as you filled the sietches with water. And I remember that you start out flying around in an ornithopter, but eventually graduate to being able to summon sandworms (at which point it's really easy to lose track of where you left your sole ornithopter). Battles were handled Risk-style, where you either had a superior force or you didn't, and you didn't actually have to handle the strategy like you did in the "sequel".
@merman:
One reason this could happen is if all of the parts are molded in the same orientation. Any difference in temperature between the two halves of the mold, issues with the way the plastic flows into the cavity, and the fact that half of the mold lifts away leaving the parts to cool for a bit in the other half all result in a difference in the amount of stress that's formed in each side of the part.
Cutting all the mold cavities facing the same way is an easy way to simplify the moldmaking process, but if you want parts like this to behave symmetrically, you need to mold half of them in "left" orientation, and the other half in "right". And then you need to get lucky and pull an exact 50:50 ratio when you open the set, and pay enough attention to keep them sorted when building the model.
It would actually look worse if one stray blade didn't match the rest. This could be fixed, of course, by buying a replacement of the correct orientation, but for anyone who didn't have access to replacement parts, or who (like me) prefers to keep the set 100% original as it came out of the box, that one mismatched blade would stand out like a sore thumb.
@IgelCampus said:
"Looks nice from far away but the colorful Technic pieces are just awful.
But I hate the most that the movie (and this set in result) changed a key person of the book to be a woman just to accommodate the woke zeitgeist. Especially because women play already a terrific and important role in the books in both the Bene Gesserit and later the Honored Matres which are even enslaving men.
"
I hadn't seen the movie yet, but you've sold me on it. ;)
@Lordmoral said:
"For the Spice!!!!"
It must flow, after all.
@IgelCampus:
Herbert's political system was, by all evidence, strictly patriarchal, even though the entire six-book series was written during the longest reign of a female monarch in recorded history. While the Bene Gesserit were indeed powerful, it was indirect power (and the Honored Matres aren't even part of the discussion, since no film or television adaptation has yet made it past the third book).
Strictly in terms of the first book, and Villenueve's Dune: Part 1 in particular, the credited female characters are a high-ranking nun, a lower ranking nun, a concubine who is also a nun, three dead nuns, a girlfriend, a maid, two slaves, and a genetic experiment that's essentially another slave (and not part of the original book). Not yet included in the story because it was split between two movies is a princess whose father's empire is going to be handed over to whoever marries her. It's not a great mix of roles, especially for a sci-fi epic set more than 10,000 years in the future.
Making Kynes female may have riled up hardcore Dune fans, but the alternative is that the casual audience (who know absolutely nothing regarding the roles of females in the 4th, 5th, and 6th books, but produce the majority of box office receipts) would walk in and see a film where every single female character is in a subservient role, and the chances of seeing the second half of the first book get produced would be significantly lower. In a story where marriages play such a significant role in politics, and characters who die don't always stay dead, Kynes is one of the most prominent characters whose gender is fairly inconsequential to the story.
If it's a dealbreaker for you, you've got Lynch's version (which is unfaithful to the story), or the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries (which has questionable acting). Or you could wait for the next adaptation, but that's probably at least a couple decades off.
@WizardOfOss said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @WizardOfOss :
There were two Dune video games. The fact that you didn't specify makes me think you mean the first game, which leaned towards being an adventure game. The second was a basic RTS, which I had zero interest in."
It was the first one indeed. From the little bit I remembered from it kinda an adventure game with a few RTS elements mixed in."
I mainly know Dune from the Dune 2 (1992) the RTS game , later remastered as Dune 2000 in 1998.
It was quite a popular game in the early days of the point and click to command troops genre, and games like Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) basicly improved on it, along with the later command and conquer + Red Alert then competing with Warcraft 2 (Westwood vs Blizzard in the early 90s, and then Age of Empires and Starcraft in the late 90s)
My experience with Dune and the story (via missions and videos) is basicly from those 3 RTS games, Dune 2, Dune 2000 and Emperor Battle for Dune, in the golden age of Westwood Studios, before EA took over most of the development, and there never was a new Dune RTS game until 2022 Spice Wars (from another studio) , but I do understand there are different followings, from purely the books, story games, or movies that might be attracted to this LEGO set. + the upcoming Dune Part 2 Movie of course.
@TeriXeri:
While the earliest RTS game appears to be a private affair that was run by the employees of a company in the San Francisco Bay area, Dune II was the game that really popularized the genre and established the basic functionality for the foreseeable future. It was the first to offer mouse support, and prior entries were typically turn-based controls overlaid on a real-time simulation. And ironically, it only exists because word came that the first game was going to be cancelled without being released. Things changed, the original game got its release (and did very well), and the RTS got retitled Dune II as a result.
IMHO, anyone greatly distressed by technic pin color in this set would likely already have plenty preferred pins in their personal LEGO stash.
This was a Day 1 purchase for me (pre-ordered actually) and I’m already getting great joy from just staring at the box. I can’t wait to actually build it.
@merman said:
" @R0Sch said:
" @CapnRex101 Could you tell me which mold cavity number is written on the warped/bent blades?"
Sorry for answering on behalf of CapnRex101 but the mould says: 5240 04-HN01
"
That's just one of the numbers. If there is an 04 cavity number there is also an 01, 02, 03 and I believe I saw 05 in RacingBrick's review and 07 in Tiago's review.
https://i.imgur.com/8NIUcvD.png
So yeah, this is a quality issue in my opinion because the blades are not supposed to be warped asymmetrically like this:
https://i.imgur.com/0tYnJUv.png
The visible colorful pins and axles are bad enough at this price, the wing blades make it worse.
To people which complain about Technic pieces: this is Lego, and most of the time if build is about things which can move they are trying to make motion possible and that's amazing for building toy!
Could it be prettier? Of course, but on the other hand this is not some smooth Cadillac but sturdy machine! I was sold (with open mind) by those functionalities over not best final touch.
Often I dislike how budget minifigs are and here have to admit, that they are marvelous! Amazing colours and prints!
@R0Sch:
Like this review, that second picture shows that it's the starboard wings that are sagging so badly. If that's consistent between every review, then it's pretty clear that all of the wings are molded in the same orientation, rather than having half of them flipped to face the other way. The port wings being flipped over, gravity is helping flatten them out. You can see there's still a slight upwards curl.
I have to admit, the wing and moulding discussion is very interesting. I’m not too concerned at this point as I imagine I’ll display with wings back but this kinda thing did used to bother me on my G.I.Joe Tomahawk before I rationalized that pre-flight droop is actually expected for many Helios in the real world. Thank you @ROSch and @PurpleDave.
@yellowcastle said:
"I have to admit, the wing and moulding discussion is very interesting. I’m not too concerned at this point as I imagine I’ll display with wings back but this kinda thing did used to bother me on my G.I.Joe Tomahawk before I rationalized that pre-flight droop is actually expected for many Helios in the real world. Thank you @ROSch and @PurpleDave."
I believe ultralights experience the same issue, just because there’s only so much you can reinforce such a thin structure before it outweighs the lift generated by making it that long to begin with. Issues with 10030 show that long parts having any amount of weight in them can induce sag over years, so it should be possible to take a set of these wings and “condition” them so they look symmetrical on display. How long that would take, or whether they would retain symmetry for any length of time, I couldn’t say. Given the amount of Technic involved in the landing gear, I’d think it should be possible to build a custom display stand that holds the craft canted at an angle where the lack of symmetry isn’t quite so obvious.
@PurpleDave said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"I have to admit, the wing and moulding discussion is very interesting. I’m not too concerned at this point as I imagine I’ll display with wings back but this kinda thing did used to bother me on my G.I.Joe Tomahawk before I rationalized that pre-flight droop is actually expected for many Helios in the real world. Thank you @ROSch and @PurpleDave."
I believe ultralights experience the same issue, just because there’s only so much you can reinforce such a thin structure before it outweighs the lift generated by making it that long to begin with. Issues with 10030 show that long parts having any amount of weight in them can induce sag over years, so it should be possible to take a set of these wings and “condition” them so they look symmetrical on display. How long that would take, or whether they would retain symmetry for any length of time, I couldn’t say. Given the amount of Technic involved in the landing gear, I’d think it should be possible to build a custom display stand that holds the craft canted at an angle where the lack of symmetry isn’t quite so obvious."
I always wanted to rotate my blades to counteract droop but Hasbro made them so difficult to remove.
@yellowcastle:
On a helicopter, the blades face the same way, so as long as they droop equally, at least it won't look weird. But perhaps you should read this:
http://www.helistart.com/DroopStops.aspx
@PurpleDave said:
" @TeriXeri :
While the earliest RTS game appears to be a private affair that was run by the employees of a company in the San Francisco Bay area, Dune II was the game that really popularized the genre and established the basic functionality for the foreseeable future. It was the first to offer mouse support, and prior entries were typically turn-based controls overlaid on a real-time simulation. And ironically, it only exists because word came that the first game was going to be cancelled without being released. Things changed, the original game got its release (and did very well), and the RTS got retitled Dune II as a result."
Yeah I learned that later, I did play Dune 2 originally on DOS on an old computer, probably 386 , as it had 16 and 40 speed on the front display + turbo button.
The point and click units was revolutionary, even while now outdated as it's only 1 unit at a time, I think Warcraft Orcs & Humans introduced groups of up to 4 units.
@yellowcastle said:
"IMHO, anyone greatly distressed by technic pin color in this set would likely already have plenty preferred pins in their personal LEGO stash."
Ah yes: Pay €150 for a set, then discard a good percentage of its parts and use some from your own stash. Sounds like the sensible thing to do. Makes me wonder why Lego doesn't just throw in random colored pieces in the first place....
Lego making a set from the Dune film surprised me. Hope to see more sets. I'd love a Sardaukar minifig.
I've got a solution to all of those who seem upset about the coloured pins showing on the landing gear - when I put mine on the display shelf, I just stood the figures in front of it.
(I hasten to add I didn't do this intentionally; I just stood back to look at it and realised you couldn't see them anyway!)
My only experience with the Dune universe comes from playing Dune 2000 during the time I was really into Command&Conquer style games.
As for the set, I too dislike these off-coloured pins. Then again I am no purist. I have wiped prints on minifig parts for my monofig collection, and on my Venator MOC I have painted antennas light bluish grey in order to save money on these hideously expensive pieces.
By now I am quite proficient at airbrushing and if I bought this set I would simply paint the off-coloured parts. Since I don't care about resale value this wouldn't be an issue for me.
@WizardOfOss said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"IMHO, anyone greatly distressed by technic pin color in this set would likely already have plenty preferred pins in their personal LEGO stash."
Ah yes: Pay €150 for a set, then discard a good percentage of its parts and use some from your own stash. Sounds like the sensible thing to do. Makes me wonder why Lego doesn't just throw in random colored pieces in the first place...."
I’m not saying it’s a perfect plan. I’m just saying that IMHO it’s a minor complaint likely from a small subset of folks who already have a readily available solution.
@yellowcastle said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"IMHO, anyone greatly distressed by technic pin color in this set would likely already have plenty preferred pins in their personal LEGO stash."
Ah yes: Pay €150 for a set, then discard a good percentage of its parts and use some from your own stash. Sounds like the sensible thing to do. Makes me wonder why Lego doesn't just throw in random colored pieces in the first place...."
I’m not saying it’s a perfect plan. I’m just saying that IMHO it’s a minor complaint likely from a small subset of folks who already have a readily available solution."
Well, considering Lego prefers to use those bright colored versions, I'd still have to Bricklink a lot. I mean, just looking at those 20 red ball pins, apparently I only have two in black, all of the others are also red. Black 2M axles? Only if I plunder my old Technic collection, those axles without the grooves. Non-blue 3M friction pins? Sorry, zero...
The problem shouldn't exist to begin with. I'm not a fan of the weird colors to begin with, but as long as it remains invisible, I can indeed consider it a minor issue. But dozens of them in plain sight? Come on, does that really not bother you in the slightest? And especially considering the premium prices Lego is asking for their products, I just don't like the idea of having to fix such completely unnecessary shortcomings with my own wallet.
@WizardOfOss said:
" @yellowcastle said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @yellowcastle said:
"IMHO, anyone greatly distressed by technic pin color in this set would likely already have plenty preferred pins in their personal LEGO stash."
Ah yes: Pay €150 for a set, then discard a good percentage of its parts and use some from your own stash. Sounds like the sensible thing to do. Makes me wonder why Lego doesn't just throw in random colored pieces in the first place...."
I’m not saying it’s a perfect plan. I’m just saying that IMHO it’s a minor complaint likely from a small subset of folks who already have a readily available solution."
Well, considering Lego prefers to use those bright colored versions, I'd still have to Bricklink a lot. I mean, just looking at those 20 red ball pins, apparently I only have two in black, all of the others are also red. Black 2M axles? Only if I plunder my old Technic collection, those axles without the grooves. Non-blue 3M friction pins? Sorry, zero...
The problem shouldn't exist to begin with. I'm not a fan of the weird colors to begin with, but as long as it remains invisible, I can indeed consider it a minor issue. But dozens of them in plain sight? Come on, does that really not bother you in the slightest? And especially considering the premium prices Lego is asking for their products, I just don't like the idea of having to fix such completely unnecessary shortcomings with my own wallet."
I understand and appreciate your frustration. While it won't likely bug the majority of purchasers to the degree it bothers you, it doesn't make the concern any less valid. I'd support our ambassadors pinging LEGO for a clarification as to why they made these aesthetic choices.
Yeah, it's just very unfortunate they keep making such choices. Like I mentioned before, overall I do *really* like this set, despite not being a Dune fan. And without the color puke, it would have been pretty close to perfect.
I will probably end up buying it eventually (especially considering it's already been discounted), thus kinda validating their decision with my wallet....
Was really really excited for this set. Loved the recent adaptation and dreamed of what could be should LEGO ever get a chance to produce official sets. While I like that they were able to do so and that they chose one of the most iconic vehicles from the film and books, I am not drawn much to the final result. It looks bulky and the intrusive presence of random colors just looks awful. While I love the minifigs the set taken together just looks off. Only holds 2 figures, despite its size, and requires a lot of pins to be replaced to more muted colors after paying a fairly high price. I hope they get to do another set and are able to give us a chance to get the figures in some other way.
Amazing set!, purchased on day 1 ! Its only drawback is the inclusion of Liet Kynes instead of Stilgar, but this can be easily corrected with a different head :-)
@Zink said:
"As the biggest Dune fan I got to say: what a disappointment. What an eyesore on every shelf. If they would have made it half as big (and therefore in-scale to the minifigs), it could have been my fave of the year. I would have bought multiples. The trivial function of lightly flapping its wings does not justify the set being overtaken by technic elements (of every color in the rainbow). The figs aren't ideal, but I could have overlooked that. Now they just add insult to injury. "
Also a big Dune fan and I love the set. I feel like this version is minifig scale. One half was big would be way too small.
Great review. Due to an unexpected financial commitment I had to cancel my preorder but I'm now waiting for a delivery date confirmation. This set look incredible with a perfect degree of both form and function and I cannot wait to build it. Yes the coloured Technic pins are irritating but thanks to RacingBrick's very helpful video on YouTube I have already parted out suitably coloured replacements (Ie: black) from my Technic bins and will replace them as I build. Great selection of minifigures and no stickers! Now I just need to watch both films...
@CapnRex101:
https://brickset.com/minifigs/poc033/bootstrap-bill
https://brickset.com/minifigs/dun008/baron-vladimir-harkonnen
^ Both played by Stellan Skarsgård. Just realized that this afternoon.