Review of the JMBricklayer Medieval Observation Tower 30105

Intro

Today I'll be reviewing the Medieval themed JMBricklayer Observation Tower building block set.  It is a Lego compatible building block set which has over three thousand pieces.  

This will be my second medieval themed set as I also have the JMBricklayer Ancient 3-in-1 Weapon which I reviewed not too long ago. You can find that review here.  In fact, JMBricklayer has eight different medieval themed sets for you to choose from on their website. Please go and check them out if you get a chance.

Huge thanks go out to JMBricklayer.com for providing this set to me for my review! 

The Details

• Brand: JMBricklayer
• Set Name and Number: Medieval Town Observation Tower 30105
• Number of Pieces: 3061+
• Numbered bags: Yes
• Minifigures: No
• Missing or deformed pieces: No
• Extra pieces: Yes
• Stickers or Printed parts: Printed
• Age Rating: 14+

Where to get it

Here's a screenshot of the Medieval Observation Tower set from the JMBricklayer website store with the current pricing in USD of $119.  That's an excellent price for so such a large set.  They offer fast and free worldwide shipping and provide replacement parts for missing or damaged pieces.  You can contact them either through their online store or their Facebook page for queries or support.

Save 15% on all your purchases from the JMBricklayer store by using code ITSNOTLEGO15%!

Unboxing

JMBricklayer were very kind to send me the large boxed set depicting the Medieval tower on a matte black background.  As the box indicates, the set is rated for ages 14+  and has 3061 pieces.

Inside the box of the JMBricklayer Medieval Observation Tower set, we find the instruction manual and several numbered bags of parts.  The numbering of the parts bags corresponds to each section of the build and in this case there are 5 different sections.

The JMBricklayer model 30105 looks to be a rebrand of the Urge Medieval Guard Tower set based on the set number on the manual and the parts bags which say 50106.  If you search brick4.com for set 50106, it will say that the observation tower set is from Mork, not Urge.  All quite confusing.

Here are the five different sections of the build as outlined in the instruction manual.

• section 1 has 13 bags of parts to build the base and the farmhouse
• section 2 has 10 bags to build the horse stable and staircase
• section 3 has 11 bags to build the farmhouse upper level and roof
• section 4 has 12 bags to build the lower part of the watch tower
• section 5 has 11 bags to build the upper part of the watch tower, observation deck, and roof.

There are also two additional un numbered bags; one containing baseplates, a horse, a brick separator and another bag of extra pieces.

There are some wooden planks and shield parts that are printed as well as a fish tile that is also printed. No stickers, yay!

In total, there are 59 bags in this set.

Parts bags for sections 1 and 2.

Parts bags for sections 3 and 4.

Parts bags for section 5, baseplates, brick separator, and extra pieces.  Ok, let's build this thing!

Build Pics

From section 1, here's the base and some interior shots of the farmhouse.

Some exterior shots as well.  Lots of stone foundation details, and I like the torches too. Plenty of windows for good air circulation.  The staircase is nice and sturdy.  On to section 2 ...

The horse stable gets added as well as some more exterior details.  Inside the stable is a trough for water.  Gotta keep the steed well hydrated. The covered roof looks good.

The minifigs don't come with the set, but I couldn't wait to add some of my own to see if the medieval tower was minifig scale or not.  The guard just might have to duck his head to get through the front door.  The doorways could be taller to accommodate guard helmets in my opinion.

Around back, there's a rear entrance and the makings of another staircase to the second level.  Decent height for the back entrance.  Check out the vermin that lives under the stairs.  Section 3 awaits ...

On the second floor of the farmhouse, we find a barrel of swords and a table and stool.  On the table, there is a brush and what looks to be a picture of a fish.  Is one of the tower guards artistically inclined?  In lieu of the table, the placement of some cots for the soldiers would be better suited, methinks.

The roof pieces are now ready to be assembled.

This vantage point of the farmhouse looks perfect.

This side not so much.  This is the side where the observation tower will be built. It's too bad that the tower and farmhouse couldn't be separate, stand alone buildings.  I would have loved to see each being displayed on their own.  The tower build continues in section 4.

In section 4, this level of the tower has a cache of weapons and it can be accessed via the passageway to the farmhouse or from the outside staircase.  From here, the tower guards can climb up the ladder to the next level.

Section 4 builds not one but two levels of the watch tower. Here's another level with a wrap around staircase and flag pole.

Tower guards can continue to ascend the tower from the inside ladders or from the exterior stairs.  Weapons can be found readily at every level.

Whoa, the tower looks massive, but we aren't done yet!   Let's move on to section 5!

Section 5 completes the top of the observation tower.  There's a large lookout platform and a crossbow that can actually be turned using the gray knob.  It's a neat play feature.  Just need to make sure you don't take out any of the guards when you turn the crossbow!

With the final section built, we just need to finish assembling the tower.

And here it is from every angle!  It looks absolutely stunning!

Gallery

Once you have finished building the observation tower, the set looks fantastic from every angle, no matter which side you look at it from.  I found that I couldn't stop taking so many pictures of the observation tower.

Quick Recap

The building is rich with details, for example,  the small horse stable, complete with carrot and pail.  There's lots of weapons such as spears and axes scattered throughout the inside and outside of the building.  

On the ground level, there is a village farmhouse and stable that has been converted into a military outpost.  The interior of the farmhouse is used to store armament such as weapons and armour, complete with interior passage ways to get to various levels. I really like the beige walls and brown timber accents used.  The blue, black and dark blue roof tiles provide an excellent contrast.

The adjoining watchtower rises over the farmhouse and looks like it might have been constructed at a later date, with it's gray stone foundation. The winding staircase on the exterior wall leads to the five different levels of the tower.  Soldiers can quickly traverse all the levels using ladders on the inside as well.

High atop of the tower is an expansive lookout that provides a strategic vantage point.  There's lots of room for guards and archers.  As mentioned during the building phase, one of the cool play features of this set is the rotating crossbow that is operated by a knob on the side of the tower.

Pros and Cons

Frankly, I cannot find any fault with the look and feel of this set.  The observation tower simply looks amazing.  The size and height of the observation tower impressed me and the clutch, quality of bricks used and the colours were all excellent.  I think it makes a great display model.

Despite this set being a rebrand of the Urge 50106 set, I was disappointed that it didn't come with the four minifigures that are included in the Urge set.  

Interior wise, I would have replaced the small table and stool on the upper floor of the farmhouse with cots or bunks for the guards.  

Structurally, the farmhouse and tower held together really well, but I didn't like the semi circles attached to the baseplate in front of the doorways.  If you try to move this set around, those particular pieces might fall off so I would recommend adding additional baseplates underneath for support.

I happened to have two spare 32x32 baseplates around, so I placed them under the observation tower and farmhouse to make it easier to carry.  You could probably just use one 16x32 baseplate and one 32x32 baseplate also.

Summary and Rating

The medieval observation tower is an impressive set and would make a nice central focal point for any medieval village display.  This was my first medieval village building set but I'm now wanting to add a few more medieval style buildings to my collection.  Because this set was lacking minifigures, I would recommend adding your own medieval themed figures. Medieval minifigures can be readily obtained individually or in lots from Aliexpress.

I would have given the JMBricklayer Medieval Observation Tower set a perfect score, except that it didn't come with the minifigures that Urge provides in their set and the base of the set could have been better supported.  My rating is therefore adjusted to 4.8 out of 5.  Other than that, it's a fantastic set!  You really have to build it and see for yourself.

Don't forget to save 15% on all your purchases from the JMBricklayer store by using code ITSNOTLEGO15%!

Set Review: Leyi LY-76030 Iron Hero MK 26 Steel Armor

 

Intro

If you're a fan of the Hulkbuster suits from the Avengers movies, but you're looking for a more affordable alternative to the official Lego set, you might want to consider the Lego Compatible Hulkbuster Mecha building set from Leyi.  

The set is Leyi LY-76030 Iron Hero MK 26 Steel Armor.  The code name for the Mark 26 Armor is called Gamma and is one of the few Iron Man suits not to have a chest mounted ARC reactor.   Here's a wiki page that describes the Mark 26 Iron Man suit in more detail.

I didn't have any great looking Mechas or Hulkbusters in my brick collection and was looking for an inexpensive yet displayable set.  I got this particular set on Aliexpress for around $30 CDN.  It came with free shipping but no further discounts.

There's a few other similarly priced Hulkbuster models on Aliexpress.

What's in the set

This set includes 768 pieces and is fully compatible with Lego bricks. 

I got my set after about 2 weeks of ordering right after Christmas and was surprised at how small the package was for 768 pieces.  The set came with a thin instruction booklet, a sticker sheet and 2 bags labelled #1 for the lower portion and #2 for the upper portion of the hulkbuster.  As you can see on the instruction booklet, this set is rated age 6 and up.

After opening the bags, there were other bags packaged inside.  Overall there were a total of 9 parts bags with the majority of pieces being small 1x1 and 1x2 bricks.   It makes it quite challenging because of all the small pieces.

The instructions were clear enough for the most part, but I do recommend checking each step to make sure you have all the right pieces.   Check twice, build once!

Here's a closer look at the sticker sheet I didn't use.

 

Building the Hulkbuster lower half

These are the sub-assemblies built from the pieces in bag #1.

The lower torso, hip sub-assembly.

Upper thigh sub-assembly.

Lower leg sub-assembly.

The feet sub-assembly.

Lower body, front side.  Knee joint flaps are adjustable.

Lower body, back side.  Gotta adjust those jets.

A closer look at the Iron Man MK 26 suit.  Here is a battle damaged (ie. defective) piece from the set.

And these are the extra pieces leftover from bag #1.

Building the Hulkbuster upper half

Tony takes a breather, as he moves on to all the pieces from bag #2.

The upper body, shoulder and arm sub-assemblies are ready for attachment.  With a few extra pieces leftover.

Upper body assembled.

The Completed Hulkbuster

The cockpit is extremely spacious.  Would have been nice if there was a control panel inside.

Ready for battle!

The view from behind.

The side view.

The jackhammer hand.

The Pros

Once completed, the Hulkbuster suit stands over 7 inches tall (180mm) and just as wide, making it the largest mecha in my collection.  

Here is the MK 26 Hulkbuster next to my Ant-man and Mr. Freeze mechas.  As the majority of Hulkbuster models are red and gold, I liked the dark green colour scheme of this particular model.

When I was looking for a mecha set, I found that many of the lower priced Hulkbuster models had very thin legs and a small waist.  I wanted an affordable mecha but still wanted it to look substantial and this hulkbuster fits the bill perfectly. 

At approximately $30 CDN, this set was one of the less expensive Hulkbuster sets and thought  this was a good balance of parts vs. price. This set is significantly more affordable than an official Lego Hulkbuster set making it a great choice for budget-conscious builders like me.

The Hulkbuster suit features  movable joints and a cockpit that opens to seat a minifigure.  It features articulation at the ankle, knee, hip, elbow and shoulder joints.  The torso can also rotate at the waist.  The hulkbuster mecha helmet is hinged above the cockpit for easy placement of the included minifigure.

The model seems sturdy enough and doesn't lose balance so I can display the Hulkbuster in a variety of poses.  I'll probably take a picture of the Hulkbuster with all of my Iron Man minifigures in the near future.  I think it will make an awesome display.

The Cons

 The Aliexpress illustrations show a slightly metallic sheen to on all the green pieces, but the actual dark green pieces were rather flat.  For example, look at the upper arm just above the silver dot, it looks shiny to me. 

I'm not a huge fan of stickers, so I didn't use the provided sticker sheet.  I was hoping that there would be many printed brick pieces but this wasn't the case for this set.

I got about 20 extra parts with the set, but there was one deformed piece (right side) which I had to replace with one of my own pieces (left side) from my own stash of parts.

In terms of design, the arms reflect the Iron Man's Mark 26 Armor which has jackhammers instead of hands at the end of the arms. So this Hulkbuster can't really hold anything.

After posing the Hulkbuster a few times for my pictures, I found the shoulder ball joints to be a bit loose. I don't know if the other ball joints will loosen over time or not.  At the moment it still displays well and I can make a few poses with the set.

Summary and Rating

Here's the quick recap of the building set:

Brand:  Leyi 

Set Number and Name:  76030 Iron Hero MK 26 Steel Armor

Piece Count:  768 pieces 

Minifigures included: Yes, 1

Stickers or Printed parts:  Stickers

Size: approximately 7 inches in height and width

Cost: around $30 CDN with free shipping

My rating for this set is 3.75 out of 5.  

The Hulkbuster is an affordable and displayable set, but I think it's tad too small and I worry that the ball joints will loosen over time with use.  I would have liked to have seen a more metallic sheen on the pieces as illustrated with printed parts instead of stickers.  

My first reaction to seeing the set for the first time was that it had a lot of really small parts, I expected larger parts for the set.  The included Iron Man minifigure is a nice touch though.  At the price of around $30 CDN, I would still recommend this set, but wouldn't want to pay any more for it.  

Thanks for visiting and let me know what you think of this set in the comment box below.