I'm pretty into "block" sets. Like LEGO. Used to just be LEGO, but over time I went from "It's LEGO or nothing" to "I wish TLG (The LEGO Group) did that" to "oh, that one looks OK, I'll buy it". To expand, it was mostly over lines like Halo Mega Bloks, and once the rule had been broken I just kept buying. Often there was a vague excuse; the theme, the price, but the end result was the same. I had learnt the key fact; LEGO isn't the only block in town, and some of the other brands are just as good. Better? Ever? That would be a struggle to say, but one of the strength of Mega Bloks is it's figures. Most alt brands just copy the LEGO minifig. But Mega Blocks ones are like little action figures. Excellent.
Anyway, to get back to the point, I've got a quite diverce exposure now to how sets are presented, arranged and constructed so since I've been doing LEGO reviews for about 20 years (...and I'm probably the first to be given a set by LEGO to do a review of...) I often think of what I would say in such a review. Which this is not 'cos I got out of that game years ago. But I'm losing the point again.
Recently I assembled the Cobi Flying Scotsman set, my first Cobi set, and it included the oddest parts to help with SNOT building.
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Do you know a lot about LEGO? We're you not confused by the last sentance? If you do skip this paragraph.
About 25 years ago people started really thinking out of the box with LEGO. (This rant could and should be expanded, but for now I'll just pull random dates and facts out of nothing as the details don't matter for the purpose of this rant.) What became popular was no longer bulding things up and down, but side to side and upside down. The pieces to do this were arround since the 80s, but these things just were not done much. But that changed. As a result people learnt what could be done with LEGO and designs started going quite crazy. SNOT, or, Studs Not On Top, is one of the way people describe this.
Back to the rant.
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What's becoming common, even in LEGO, are parts that make LEGO go from SNOT possible to SNOT easy. Bricks with studs on opposing sides, plates with studs on opposing sides, but the Cobi set had that (in two depths!)... and it had what pretty much is a double length stud. You (using a tool) push into the bottom of a plate a stud, which then enables you to join another plate flush, bottom to bottom. It's weird stuff and seems like cheating. I've seen people do a similar trick using Minifig hands, so while done, it's not a commen technique without this part. But what makes it even weirder is often you go "huh, upside down.... why?!??!".
I do wonder if TLG will start using a similar part. They have, from what I have seen, taken new part ideas from other companies....
