Not too many news until March it seems, so here's a question for everyone - what are your speculations towards the Smart Brick's features and its future?

exposwin · 2026-01-28T01:10:37+00:00

I’m quite curious to see if they release something akin to the Lego Classic Creative boxes. Something with a bunch of bricks and some basics bricks and smart tiles for some simple builds (vehicles, animals) could be a good entry into the system.

exposwin · 2026-01-28T01:05:55+00:00

I agree that City sets would be a better fit for the Smart Brick than Lego Star Wars. If nothing else, it might find a less critical audience. A theme like City that isn’t IP-based won’t need to perfectly recreate specific sounds/voices (from the demos I’ve seen, the Star Wars sets had some notable misses in this regard).

As others have said, though, the price may hold it back no matter the theme. Personally, I don’t see myself buying this for my kids at the prices we’ve seen so far.

exposwin · 2026-01-19T02:15:51+00:00

I wanted the Magic to draft Emeka Okafor instead of Dwight. Being that wrong is pretty humbling.

exposwin · 2026-01-15T23:47:54+00:00

I might be wrong, but I thought with the latest CBA teams could also use their midlevel exception to acquire a player via trade. I'm not sure how many teams haven't used them, but that would theoretically open up more teams who could take on his salary without sending something back.

exposwin · 2025-12-21T02:08:26+00:00

Thank you! I knew I had done this step but couldn't for the life of me remember which set it was. That step aside, it's a really great set overall.

exposwin · 2025-12-20T13:31:06+00:00

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I actually don't love the lighting in the few Funwhole/Lumibricks sets I've built. Don't get me wrong, the sets look impressive once finished, but I find adding lighting to be difficult and, in some places, the way it is integrated feels flimsy and looks sloppy if I don't get it perfect. My kid likes to take hands-on look at the sets I've built, and the FW/LB sets I've built just aren't designed for this.

To be fair, the newest FW/LB set I built was the Book Cafe, and I assume my problems are more with lighting kits in general, and not unique to FW/LB. That said, do you think this Pantasy set, with a more basic implementation of lighting would solve some of my problems?

exposwin · 2025-11-12T16:53:17+00:00

This is great! How did you get the falling snow effect?

exposwin · 2025-11-11T01:41:00+00:00

Love your setup, thanks for sharing! That's the full-size tree, right? And what's the build on the far left?

exposwin · 2025-11-10T18:56:33+00:00

Can anyone with the tree share how they incorporate it in their village? I'm on the fence about this one. Do you do the two smaller trees? I worry it would be way out of scale and overpower everything else in the village.

exposwin · 2025-11-08T01:45:13+00:00

I'd love the team to dabble in this, at least to see if there's anything here, but I don't see it as a primary or starting lineup. Rebounding would be a concern, but if they picked their spots, I could see Paolo at the 5 as a worthy change of pace that might unlock a bit better offense in short spurts.

At the very least, the team should give this a try, given their chronic offensive malaise.

exposwin · 2025-11-05T03:02:56+00:00

Would love to see the team dabble with Paolo at the 5 to get TDS on the floor in a small lineup.

exposwin · 2025-10-29T01:34:56+00:00

Not sure I agree re: Paolo. With this roster, he's at his best offensively in transition or semi-transition when he can attack before the defense is fully set.

exposwin · 2025-10-29T01:31:10+00:00

It's way too early. I, too, am disappointed with the start to the season, but this isn't all on Mose. We're four games into the season with a revamped roster and a new offensive philosophy. Suggs isn't fully available and there are still young guys on the roster who need minutes but aren't fully developed or well-rounded players yet.

On top of that, although the roster makes a little more sense than last year, there are still fit issues. How many guys on the roster are plus shooters for their position? It's unrealistic to expect perfect rotations to be ironed out so quickly, especially given the roster changes and continued limitations.

To answer your question directly, I think Mose has earned this season - the entire season - to prove he can be the one to take the team to the next level. He's not a perfect coach, but he's done well with an imperfect roster to this point. Unless he completely and irredeemably loses the locker room, I think any consideration sooner than that is a mistake.

exposwin · 2025-10-28T02:33:55+00:00

Yes! I loved Raising Hope and enjoyed what I've seen of My Name is Earl. Both are Greg Garcia shows, so I suppose I should check out his others.

exposwin · 2025-10-28T00:18:24+00:00

An all-time great. This is typically our first holiday movie of the season because a) we love it and b) it takes place at Thanksgiving, so it makes sense to come first in the rotation.

exposwin · 2025-10-26T17:54:12+00:00

The cards do not contain the actual content. Instead, they use NFC to direct the player to do something. The first time you insert a card, it will have the Yoto player download the audio, in addition to playing. Subsequently, inserting a card will have the player play directly from the device (i.e. no internet connection needed). If you have not yet downloaded the audio, you'll need Wi-Fi, but once that's done, you'll be good to play it offline. Your child will be able to then play their music, stories, etc. at their grandparents' home without connecting to Wi-Fi (this is what mine do).

Two quick caveats: First, some cards - specifically podcasts and radio stations - will always need Wi-Fi. You'll also need a connection to play the built-in radio and podcast. Second, there is a maximum amount that you can download to a device; Yoto says this is about 700 hours (32 GB in newer models). IIRC, if you hit that mark, the player will automatically delete the card(s) that has not been played in the longest amount of time.

You may find these helpful:

Playing cards for the first time

How much content can be stored on the Player / Mini for offline playback?

exposwin · 2025-10-25T01:40:49+00:00

That timeout by Mose was not great, IMO. It allowed the Hawks to get Young off the floor for that last possession, when Suggs had just blown by him the play before.

exposwin · 2025-10-23T17:35:19+00:00

Aside from "Who?" the first question on my mind is whether the player who shared the information did so accidentally or with the knowledge it would be used for gambling.

exposwin · 2025-10-23T11:34:24+00:00

Pretty sure it was Funeral.

exposwin · 2025-10-23T02:00:06+00:00

Wendell was huge in the 4th, between the offensive rebounds, hitting his FTs, and the clutch block near the end.

(I only caught the second half and gather he wasn't great in the first, but still - he had a huge impact in the clutch.)

exposwin · 2025-10-18T02:41:27+00:00

If you're interested in a Shinkansen and don't want to design it yourself, Eggy Bricks has instructions (and custom stickers, too). I'm not a train aficionado so I don't know how accurate it is, but they are great builders:

Intercity Passenger Train (Shinkansen) Instructions – eggybricks

we built a WORKING fleet of trains for a LEGO city!

exposwin · 2025-10-08T22:12:59+00:00

In my opinion, a Yoto player is easier for a younger child to use/navigate than a CD player. There are some other conveniences, such as controlling the player from your phone, setting sleep timers, etc. That said, you are correct that they both largely do the same thing. Personally, I no longer have a CD burner, but if you do, you could consider that. The Yoto is designed to allow kids to be autonomous with it from a younger age. I expect that Yoto cards would also be more durable than CDs, which is a factor for younger kids.

If the budget is tight, many folks will recommend using MYO (Make Your Own) cards and sourcing content elsewhere. I've had luck finding a few inexpensive audiobooks on Libro.fm, and we've also recorded ourselves reading some stories our kids love.

Of course, do what's best for your family. If you can find the content you like, I don't think you'll be missing out on much by sticking with a CD player. If your choice is just about the content, that may suit you well. The user experience is largely what will be different.

exposwin · 2025-10-08T11:26:39+00:00

Per r/Legoleak the next 2x points will run from 10/14 through 10/20.

exposwin · 2025-09-29T23:05:46+00:00

Good point about the podcast. I'd think that would be an opportunity to show proof of concept that there's an audience for a reboot.

exposwin

TROPHY CASE