Some important notes copied from a comment reply about *why the original fan ship design looked better:* 1) Total ~1,800 pieces, which would have made it a $140+ USD set, twice as expensive and accessible to a fraction as many potential buyers. 2) Bottle diagonal dimension of 9" (double) vs. this 4.5", similar difference in ship size 3) Fully glued masts to cheat away the inherent instability of the design 4) Use of numerous cut pieces (illegal) 5) Use of discontinued pieces (not available to use) 6) Complex string rigging (completely out of the realm of allowed techniques for LEGO's techniques) The original looked way better, unquestionably, but LEGO can't put just anything on shelves. They have rules, standards, and basic logic & reason to contend with.
I think this one looks better, there were too many transparent pieces in the original one. The original ship was better, but the bottle looks way better here, there are less ugly connections between the big transparent pieces
JANGBRiCKS 8:30 Yeah definitely!! The fan is the real designer and Lego designer has only modified it. Maybe the could've been two of them. One, initials of the fan designer and second, the Lego designer.
Hey Jang - Off topic but when are we going to see one of your creations on Ideas? Even if 1% of your subscribers support you're through to the review stage! I'd really like the Hutt's Pizza or the food trucks/trolleys...
I just wanted tell you how incredibly satisfying it is to see you shoot down misinformation while still being fair towards differing opinions; you attack the misinformation without attacking the person. It seems so simple on paper, but it's something many fail to do and I admire how wonderfully you seem to be pulling it off. Great job, and thank you!
I know the Fan Designer IRL we're both in the IdahoLUG and he love this set, yes he loves his more but as he said in reference to some questions he's gotten. "Why would I be mad I have a Lego set with my picture in it?!?" Jake is an Awesome dude and I still don't know how he kept stuff secret from us in the LUG for so long XD
"... a very sudden and violent disassembly..." is the classiest way imaginable to say something in between "all falls apart" and "blow up." Kudos, Jang.
I felt the exact same about the wax initial seal when I watched the official Lego video for this set, I wish they gave the original designer some more cred.
I'm glad you called out the seal having the Lego designer's initials. I also thought that was completely bizarre and out of line. For a set being sold to the general public, it probably should not have anyone's initials on it.
Never looked at the licences plates on LEGO Vehicles or tail numbers on LEGO Aircraft? Those letters aren't just letters pulled out of the sky. They are the Designer's Initials.
I think the LEGO version of the ship in the bottle is in every way, shape and form better than how the original designer did it. The bottle is more round and looks more like a real bottle, the cork looks much better (The cork goes inside the bottle too), and the stand also looks better in my opinion. The ship is smaller and less detailed in the LEGO version, but the original designer also used alot of strings attached just between 2 studs, which to my knowledge LEGO doesn't do. And price... LEGO made it look better for a lower price in my opinion.
I'd like to call out my favorite part of this review: you brought back the Brickset infographic when you began talking about price and value. I appreciate that very much! It saves me from having to rewind to the beginning, since I tend to not pay enough attention to it there. (I honestly couldn't tell you if you even showed it at the beginning of this video.) Anyway, love your work, as always, but that small change adds greatly to the overall flow. Good call!
Great review, and I totally agree the fan designer would be feeling a little let down due to A, the many changes and B, having the wax seal initials of the lego designer. Still, this set is one I will be getting. Uniqueness always wins me over.
I see a lot of comments saying the designers initials ‘kill the whole set’ for them but tbh I don’t find it to be a huge deal. Like yeah it’s annoying, but you could just take the piece off. Anyway I’ll probably pick this up if I can, love the review!
This is the first I've heard of this set and I'm glad Lego Ideas finally came out with something worthwhile for me to get! The last set I ever got from that line was the Ghostbusters Echo-1, so I'm happy to see something excellent come from that brand!
This set's ship in the Ideas bottle: instagram.com/p/BevLyoTnw9j/ or twitter.com/JANGBRiCKS/status/959790456824410113 (just remove the flag poles as noted in the video you're now on)
I must say, I LOVE Lego ships and it pains me that they don't make many these days. I enjoy the Classic Pirate stuff and considering the major themes (Pirate, Castle, and Space) I can see them bringing Pirates back. Nexo Knights has a spacey castle theme and with it ending soon I don't see any classic Knights stuff coming out in the near future. As for space, well there's City Space stuff like shuttles but Lego wont make a rival to their successful Star Wars line. That leaves Pirates theme and I would SO SO SO LOVE if they brought back some older designs whilst giving us more detailed even better ship designs too. One can dream.
I voted for the Ideas project and was somewhat dissapointed by how much was changed by Lego. However now after watching your review i think it’s still a great displayset and a unique idea that hopefully will inspire Lego to make more of these. Btw. i live in a town that has a museum for ships in bottels
Shouldn't the maker's mark seal be turned counter clockwise 90 degrees? This way the initials can be read legibly if the bottle is stood upright. I also agree the initials should be of the original Ideas designer.
This is going to sound really dumb, but I think the initials kind of kill the set for me. Every time I'd look at the set I'd just get irritated about them. I don't even know what the original submitter's initials are, but I'd be annoyed that he wasn't given proper credit for his ideas.
The cork and the stand look incredible. The ship is a really believable build, it would be hard to design a better looking ship of this size. I don’t like the bottom of the bottle however and pieces in the middle of the bottle which have these endings that are easy to see. I don’t know If there is a better way to design a bottle using existing LEGO pieces though...
This is quite unique for a Lego set! It's a good thing you don't need to build the ship after building the bottle! I'm not even sure how a person is capable of building a real ship in a bottle, must be highly difficult! I wonder if the empty Lego bottle could actually hold a liquid? Anyway, very cool review!
Glad you pointed out the seal on the neck. I had that thought when I first heard about it. It should have definitely been the original creators initials.
I hope the prices for this set go back down. I really want to use this as an excuse to get back into Lego. Star Wars minifigs and a set once a year or so. This and the Saturn V just look so impressive and mature so I could display them around the house
Jang, keep this model, use the transparent glass for either an observatory on the mountain/ to give some pizazz to the top of a skyscraper/ even making a transparent see through between two tunnels
I want to get this and make my own ships, so I can have different ones to display inside the bottle :D Maybe instead of a watercraft I’ll make a small Imperial Star Destroyer... Edit: I could use a 2x2 round tile with Imperial Insignia for the wax seal, now I think I have to do this. And maybe Stormtrooper helmets for the globes!
Awesome review Jang! You showed every feature and aspect of the model and really convinced me to actually purchase this set. Keep up the great work! Also you said in the video that you wanted to see more variety on Lego Ideas, so what sort of models would you like to see, because I am on Lego Ideas and I am up for new ideas?
I mean, business isn't typically kind or considerate, so... Heck, maybe there was a legality thing, similar to how you can't use someone's name without a lot of legal agreements.
Like many people I was dismayed when I saw how much they downsized this from the original Ideas submission, but seeing it in real-time has won me over; this is a fantastic set! One of the most unique aspects is that no two Ships in a Bottle will be exactly the same due to the loose studs representing the water. Like JANG, I'm a little bothered by the wax seal initials not giving credit to the Ideas submitter. I think they at least could have included two printed pieces, one for the LEGO designer and one for the fan designer and given us the choice of which to use.
I just have a feeling, now that you’ve said it, that someone is going to try and get all the studs facing upwards, and post it, or stream it, to RU-vid. It’s the type of somewhat crazy and weird challenges people like to see.
The design looks good and the changes seem fair to me. But the initials of the Lego designer is an insult and make it feel like a rip off on the same level as Lepin. With Lego Ideas they ask and want to feature the fans ideas and yet they do this?! No way. I was shocked while watching the Lego presentation of it, they do feature the original designer but then they say "hey, we so much love ourselves that we put our name on it and not the one from the petty fans". Again, good design, good review, but Lego has to redeem itself now for that.
This looks amazing! The only thing I would have loved to see kept from the original design is the rope(s). At least having one string going through from the front, attached to the top of the masts, leading to the back, would have looked nice IMO. Would have made it look even more like a model ship too, albeit a lot harder to design and fit into the bottle. Regardless, beautiful concept (by the fan) and execution (by the LEGO designer).
I think the water studs look better when they aren't all right-side up. I feel like the 3D renders on the boxart aren't quite realistic enough. The transparency doesn't look quite right, especially with those upright studs. Strange they didn't run a physics sim on the water studs, or even do some manual tweaking to get them in a more natural non-upright position.
It would leak pretty badly, unless you sealed it up with a lot of clear silicone. There are some open gaps that are difficult to see without close inspection, plus LEGO parts don't form watertight connections. There's also no opening at the base of the neck to use, even if you sealed the rest.
