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Citizen Brick - Superlab Playset


TheOrcKing

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Yeah, where's Jesse?  He's one of the shows main characters and in the lab more than Mike.  Really cool looking set, wish it was a little larger for the price.

 

Well technically the scene (and episodes) this is built around, Jesse was doing his own thing and WW was in the lab solo... so it makes sense. But still, throw in the minifig, it's going to use the same body... just need a different printed head. :blink:

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OMFG!   :drool:

 

I just woke up and saw an email from them about it.  Came here to post and see you beat me to it :)

 

So of course I've ordered one  :D

 

I am a little bit bummed as it makes the build quality of the MoC I'm working on look very amateur  :cry:   It's like they took my idea and improved it  :hmm:

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Guest eightbrick

I am a little bit bummed as it makes the build quality of the MoC I'm working on look very amateur  :cry:   It's like they took my idea and improved it  :hmm:

And gave it a huge price tag. Yours was awesome, it didn't look amateur at all. At first I actually thought you were working with them xD

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Unfortunately, the amount of LEGO I get to build and display will decrease rapidly shortly when I get back to school. I've been thinking of an awesome and small set that I can keep out in my dorm room as a decoration and "centerpiece". So I ordered this set today. The television majors are going to be drooling.

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The price is pretty high, but you have to figure in a few factors other than just price per piece:

 

  • 3 custom minifigs.  They are custom painted and look great.  The Chem enthusiast was priced at $20 individually, so you could say $60 worth of minifigs.  Sure that may seem high for a minifig, but is in line if not better than many custom minifigures of this quality from other vendors
  • Printed pieces.  There looks to be quite a few custom printed pieces included in the set.  That probably isn't cheep to do when factoring in design right through to the actual print cost.
  • Design time.  This probably took quite a while to research and design.  I know from experience that takes a while.  I'm not very creative and I'm sure a decent designer could do it fairly fast, but that is still some good looking design that would have taken quite a bit of work
  • Packaging and instructions.  no doubt there is custom packaging and a set of build instructions that would cost a bit per set given the probable low production numbers

Then there is their margin on top, which I'm sure is decent.  But they have a website and business to run with plenty of taxes and overheads etc.

 

It probably is higher than it could be, but good on them for making a run at profiting off the current BrBa hype while it's hot.

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The price is pretty high, but you have to figure in a few factors other than just price per piece:

 

  • 3 custom minifigs.  They are custom painted and look great.  The Chem enthusiast was priced at $20 individually, so you could say $60 worth of minifigs.  Sure that may seem high for a minifig, but is in line if not better than many custom minifigures of this quality from other vendors
  • Printed pieces.  There looks to be quite a few custom printed pieces included in the set.  That probably isn't cheep to do when factoring in design right through to the actual print cost.
  • Design time.  This probably took quite a while to research and design.  I know from experience that takes a while.  I'm not very creative and I'm sure a decent designer could do it fairly fast, but that is still some good looking design that would have taken quite a bit of work
  • Packaging and instructions.  no doubt there is custom packaging and a set of build instructions that would cost a bit per set given the probable low production numbers

Then there is their margin on top, which I'm sure is decent.  But they have a website and business to run with plenty of taxes and overheads etc.

 

It probably is higher than it could be, but good on them for making a run at profiting off the current BrBa hype while it's hot.

 

My first purchase ever from Citizen Brick was "The Zombie Hunter" minifigure that I got for BrickBabe and a bunch of those Supercomputer printed pieces for use in MOCing. I was honestly blown away by the quality of CB's printing, designs, and packaging. It was all very high-quality. Can't wait to see this set in person and build it. 

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The price is pretty high, but you have to figure in a few factors other than just price per piece:

  • 3 custom minifigs.  They are custom painted and look great.  The Chem enthusiast was priced at $20 individually, so you could say $60 worth of minifigs.  Sure that may seem high for a minifig, but is in line if not better than many custom minifigures of this quality from other vendors.

I have 3 of their U.S. Army Ranger and 2 of their U.S. Marines. They are $20 each and even though I got them all for free at WWB, I still would buy them at that price. The pad-printing on them is amazing and very high quality. Citizen Brick makes top-of-the-line custom LEGO minifigures in my opinion. 

WW2 U.S. Army Ranger I really like the printed brown strap on the helmet.  

12502_web.jpg

 

The strap is historically accurate.

product_14962_1.jpg

 

Here is a picture of some U.S. Army Rangers from the 2nd Ranger Battalion during WW2.

Weymouth@Rgrs_02.gif

The back of the minifigure.

12502_back_web.jpg

 

WW2 U.S. Marine This helmet is printed in a nice camouflage. 

12510_web.jpg

Here is a picture of the helmet.

usmc_helmet1.jpg

Here is a group of U.S. Marine reenactors. The figure in comparison looks spot-on!

marchingpack.jpg

Lastly, here is the back of the minifigure. 

12510_back_web.jpg

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They definitely do things right. We were looking at another pad printer's wares this weekend (not minifigs, but other stuff) and they made the mistake of letting their items get way too "busy" looking - not true to Lego at all. CB hits the nail on the head with getting the most important things into their designs and not going too far.

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They definitely do things right. We were looking at another pad printer's wares this weekend (not minifigs, but other stuff) and they made the mistake of letting their items get way too "busy" looking - not true to Lego at all. CB hits the nail on the head with getting the most important things into their designs and not going too far.

This is SO true. To be completely honest, I am absolutely not a fan of most custom minifigs like those sold by Minifigs4U. I hate the side printing with a passion. It is definitely too busy. In design, less is more, and CB's products and custom printing is top-notch, in line with LEGO's design principals, and simply look the best. I don't normally like "custom" non-LEGO creations, but when it comes to CB I always make an exception. They are the only custom company I use or will ever use.

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I have 3 of their U.S. Army Ranger and 2 of their U.S. Marines. They are $20 each and even though I got them all for free at WWB, I still would buy them at that price. The pad-printing on them is amazing and very high quality. Citizen Brick makes top-of-the-line custom LEGO minifigures in my opinion.

Citizen Brick does get the custom & official Lego look right with those army characters but the rest seem a little too simple like 1990s simple. A majority of Minifigs4U characters feature detail much like todays current minifigures which reminds me how I'm glad to see side as well as back printing becoming almost the norm these days. Now there are some custom minifigures with way too much detail about them or look like they were actually painted on but then again, a lot of those were meant to just be a piece of art in a way more than a buyable commodity.
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  • 3 weeks later...

Just received an update email on this.  Sounds like the packaging and instructions is going to be nice and professional:

-------------------------------------------------

 

Hello,
You are receiving this e-mail because you recently purchased the Citizen Brick Superlab Playset. Good for you! This puts you in elite company as these sets are now sold out, never to return. Good hustle!

Now, as to the whereabouts of your prized playset.. Due to the logistics of hand-collating these sets, coupled with the totally unexpected popularity of this item, we are running a little behind schedule on shipping. While most sets have been sorted and bagged, we are waiting for a shipment of the custom boxes to arrive. They're really great looking, and sadly, a little slower than anticipated. As of today, we expect to be shipping the boxed, finished sets on Tuesday, Sept 10th.

Now while I think the boxes make the spectacular finishing touch on an already spectacular Lego collectible, you may not want to wait any longer. If you'd rather have your Superlab shipped sans box, we can ship the loose parts, figs and instructions (on a reusable USB flash drive)sealed in a plastic bag, as early as Monday, Sept 2ndJust e-mail us at [email protected], and we'll get yours out right away.

We regret the delay. We are flattered and humbled by your patronage and we're working as fast as we can to get these in your hands. We're also hard at work planning our next custom sets, which we think you'll love. Next time we'll be better braced for the overwhelming response we've received. Thank you, again.

Sincerely,
Joe Trupia
Owner, Citizen Brick

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