{"id":29457,"date":"2014-10-16T23:03:21","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T04:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=29457"},"modified":"2014-10-16T23:03:21","modified_gmt":"2014-10-17T04:03:21","slug":"lego-21103-back-to-the-future-time-machine-18-pics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=29457","title":{"rendered":"Lego #21103
Back to the Future Time Machine (18 Pics)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> I\u2019m going to try to get this review schedule back in line. If I have any advice for any expectant fathers out there, it\u2019s this \u2013 start your bicep workout now, work ahead on any special projects, and figure out how to do things with one hand. Baby Sam & I are enjoying our first few weeks together, but I have not yet perfected the art of one-handed toy photography. <\/p>\n

I made a list of stuff I really wanted to get reviewed up on the site. Sam & I looked it over, trying to pick out an easy one that would only need a half dozen or so pictures. Then we came across the LEGO Back to the Future Time Machine. The next thing I know, the little Sam-bug was handed off to Mom and I was digging through my garage for my big green bin of loose LEGOs \u2013 the kid\u2019s gonna love that bin someday \u2013 and ended up on a 20-picture project (two were edited into others for an 18-pic review). Oops. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s cool though because it was fun to setup & photograph. And I needed that. It\u2019s a good reminder that as time consuming as IAT can be, it\u2019s supposed to be fun. And gosh darn if a LEGO DeLorean isn\u2019t pretty fun. <\/p>\n

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The Back to the Future set came to us by way of LEGO CUUSOO, now called LEGO ideas. It\u2019s the same \u201ctheme\u201d that brought us the fantastic LEGO Ecto-1 and a few other swanky sets including the LEGO Exo-Suit w\/ Green Classic Astronauts (that I keep missing out on, ugh!). It\u2019s a user-submitted & peer-reviewed system that takes fan\u2019s builds and picks the cream of the crop to make sets. In both the case of Ecto-1 and the DeLorean, the popularity of the franchises helped them surge ahead and thanks to licensing agreements, both were able to become a possibility. <\/p>\n

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The Time Machine came out last summer (2013), but I didn\u2019t jump on it right away. I\u2019ve tried to stay away from LEGO, but only because they\u2019re highly addictive to me. Once Ecto-1 came out and bundling it with the Time Machine just made sense, it unleashed a storm of Marvel & DC LEGO purchases (and not to mention some Kre-O sets too\u2026 blasphemy, I know). I just get carried away easily when it comes to cool toys and LEGOs, as we all know, are amazingly cool. <\/p>\n

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The Time Machine is no different. I have one big quibble with it, so let\u2019s get that out of the way. The cab area is under-designed. It\u2019s not really tall enough to fit the mini-figures comfortably and the lack of a windshield just isn\u2019t cool. The good news is that since it\u2019s a LEGO set, these can easily be fixed. I will eventually get around to giving it a windshield, but for now I just opted to make some modifications. I raised the roof by adding a flat brick where it connects to the rear of the car to give it some height and extended the struts to keep that \u201cfake windshield\u201d look going. Unfortunately, when I took the pics I forgot to lower the struts, so my attempts to showcase the Time Machine as intended are faulty. I\u2019m sure someone who skips the text and goes right to the pictures will point that out below. Doh! Continue to Page 2…<\/a><\/p>\n

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After I fixed the roof, everything was right as rain. The scale is off between the vehicle and mini-figures, but its spot on for a LEGO vehicle. That\u2019s just what happens unless you\u2019ve going for a Smart Car build. The original designer and LEGO knocked it out of the park \u2013 it\u2019s still instantly recognizable as the Time Machine and even better, it comes with alternate pieces to get the looks right from all three films: both the original and future barcode license plates, swappable tires, and both Mr. Fusion and the exposed vacuum tube contraption on the hood that replaced the damaged microchips. I\u2019ve mostly stuck with the BTTF2 look with Mr. Fusion though I\u2019m partial to the original license plate. I mainly like it because the wheels fold down into hover mode and some clear bricks were included to give the Time Machine the appearance of flying. <\/p>\n

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Finally, there are two special bricks with special tampos that you won\u2019t need to change out: the flux capacitor and the time display. The time display is notable for having the date of the first patent on a LEGO brick displayed (certainly a notable event) and the Flux Capacitor piece is notable for a misspelling. Yep, it says \u201cSHEILD EYES FROM LIGHT\u201d. Doh. <\/p>\n

The set includes two mini-figures, Doc & Marty. Both are well done and match their looks from the first film. If there\u2019s any regret I have it\u2019s that I don\u2019t get more BTTF sets to get a few more of their iconic looks as mini-figs. Both feature a regular face and a screaming face and LEGO did their usual great job of somehow distilling the actor\u2019s likenesses into the simple mini-fig faces, particularly on Doc Brown\u2019s screaming face. I don\u2019t know how they do that. Marty includes his original skateboard, which is cool, but I don\u2019t know what to do with it. The only nitpick on the mini-figs is a LEGO Ideas rule \u2013 no new pieces. In the same way that the Ghostbusters set just looked like it dropped the ball on the hair, the Time Machine suffers too. Marty looks fine with that slightly messy hair piece, but I\u2019m not feeling the Joker hair on Doc. He looks fine, so it\u2019s not a deal-breaker. I do wish LEGO Ideas would make an exception for hair though. <\/p>\n

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Overall, this set is fantastic. I would like some new hair for Doc and I did have to mod the windshield\/roof, but that just hasn\u2019t gotten in my way of enjoying the set. I love Back to the Future though, so I\u2019m an easier mark. I\u2019ll watch it compulsively any time I see it on and I still hum the opening notes of the music randomly when I\u2019m bored. So, yeah, a LEGO BTTF Time Machine is right up my alley \u2013 but it also meets those expectations. The build is solid, the extra parts to recreate all three versions is wonderful, and the two key characters included for only $35 feels like a steal. Great set all round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \t

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