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Master Builder Academy (MBA)

2

Comments

  • cmrt1014cmrt1014 Member Posts: 396
    CCC said:

    Did anyone download the instructions when they were available?
    eg. as noted here http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=20200-1

    I have the kits, but no, but I wish I did. Anyone?

  • rocaorocao Administrator Posts: 4,290
    edited February 2013
    @Canuck26: I had five subscriptions and also had a problem, except I didn't get any for free :P

    They neglected to mail two Kit 8 and one Kit 9. It was pretty easy to illustrate this to customer service because there was no tracking number associated with the order for the missing kits.

    Replacements were sent without issue, as one would expect from LEGO. The people in the UK for whom I was ordering might realize I wasn't just making up the delay now :)
  • cmrt1014cmrt1014 Member Posts: 396
    edited February 2013
    I did a Google search, and found a copy of the instruction pdf: http://instructions.theplasticbrick.com/browser/20200-1/MBA+Space+Designer+(Kit+1)

    But, it's cut off on the right hand side. So probably a scan of the instructions, as opposed to the actual pdf from Lego. Continuing the search...
  • cmrt1014cmrt1014 Member Posts: 396
    Great site - the pdf creation bit was just fixed and the full pages are all there!

    http://instructions.theplasticbrick.com/browser/20200-1/MBA+Space+Designer+(Kit+1)
    CCC
  • CCCCCC Member Posts: 20,526
    Thanks!
  • yys4uyys4u Member Posts: 1,093
    tamamahm said:

    1) I'm not sure what happened to sets 7-9, but my speculation is that they are converting them over from mail order to a single box. They did that to the other sets.

    This is what I assumed when I looked at brickset details and said the set was available from May 2012-Jan 3 2013, I figured that meant it was available as a SUBSCRIPTION and will soon make its way to boxed sets. I can't see something like this being discontinued while Level 1 and 2 are still there. Although I could have sworn I saw sets 7-9 as boxed sets already in stores, I could have been mistaken I guess...
  • brianjandersonbrianjanderson Member Posts: 2
    I could have sworn I saw it in the Lego brick/mortar store in Glendale, CA back in January, but as of last week it was gone. I was planning on purchasing it next month online, but its no longer available. I wrote to Lego to ask them whats going on. Awaiting a response! :)
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    @brianjanderson
    Did you ever get a response?
  • akunthitaakunthita Member Posts: 1,038
    edited April 2013
    Okay, here is the picture form the LEGO Club Magazine. I'm in love with this
    image! I love steampunk! I also included all the other images of the sets within
    Level 4 in this post: http://thebrickblogger.com/2013/04/lego-master-builder-academy-level-4-coming/

    I haven't signed up for the MBA program, although I have been toying with it,
    but Level 4 is going to be it for me. I will order the whole line. Only if I
    could just find a Mr. Gold to pay for it all!...(c:
  • jadedancjadedanc Member Posts: 1,302
    Yah!!! About time lol. I have been waiting on this one for a while!
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Thanks! We used the 'secret code' to look at it in more detail, since it has been a while since we have looked at the sets. :-)
  • SarahIsabellaSarahIsabella Member Posts: 69
    I'm so pleased that they're continuing the MBA program - these new sets look awesome!
  • yys4uyys4u Member Posts: 1,093
    I'm still trying to figure out where Level 3 went.
  • wiredforsoundwiredforsound Member Posts: 31
    Very excited to add MBA Level 4 to my source bricks for my LEGO a Day 2013 project built only using the MBA Theme exclusively. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiredforsound23/sets/72157632405251889/
  • ColoradoBricksColoradoBricks Member Posts: 1,659
    @yys4u, I just noticed at the back of some promotional items that were in my LEGO bag, that Level 3 & 4 are coming on July 1st.
    mba.jpg 624.4K
    yys4utmgm528slovakiasteph
  • MorkManMorkMan Member Posts: 916
    LegoFanTexas said:

    So if I order the subscription for kits 2-6, then get the subscription for 7-9 two weeks later, could I be getting the a set every 2 weeks?? Or will they wait for the first subscription to end before renewing the next one
    I did just that, I received kit 7 just after getting kit 2, so it seem like they will come together.

    My son may not do these for another year or two, but I wanted to get them while the getting was good.

    I have a son that just turned 5 and another son that turns 3 in July (hence the LEGOland trip), how young can these kits be used for? I'm not thinking the 3 year old, but the 5 year old. Are they too complicated?
  • ColoradoBricksColoradoBricks Member Posts: 1,659
    They are rated 8+. While the builds are not that complicated (1 through 9), the vocabulary in the instructions might be (sideway building, locking, etc). The instructions are very detailed with lot of text and explain all kind of different build techniques in depth. They are intended to be sort of a building technique reference. That said, models can be build just by looking at the pictures.
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    @MorkMan
    My son started Level 1 when he was 4 1/2.

    He had no issue with it. He loves it, and at 6 he has been waiting for Level 4 for a while.

    What I would say, though, is that one of the huge benefits of the program is learning the techniques. Because of that, I did read to my son about the techniques. The first level talked about sideways building and locking...so we read about what those were, and then I would read to him the info about those, the TIPS it gave etc.

    He really took the info in, and would point out when he was doing those techniques.
    What is great about the first six kits, is that there are three builds in each kit. This really gave him a ton of info about the techniques he was learning about, and after building all three, he would make his own model using the techniques.

    He was an early reader, so with Level 3 last year, he was able to read all the directions himself, but I did read him the story in that level.

    Overall... I would highly recommend the program, especially if he has some experience building. My son has really loved it. I wish they could have kept the shipment option, because he especially liked that. Just be aware for him to get the most out of the program,that you will want to take some time with him going through the large direction book.

    Also...I am a bit anal with the pieces. When he is using master builder kits, I make sure he undersands not to mix them with other Legos. The reason why is so that he can go back later and go through the sets again. He has done this a number of times, especially with 7,8 and 9. I did let him add some additional Legos to his 7,8,9 Legos to make larger sets, but the build was separate from everything else, so after a few weeks, I could pack up the set pieces. Then when he wanted to build some items 2 months later, he had his pieces all in a ziplock bag.
  • mnartgirlmnartgirl Member Posts: 3
    I personally like waiting for the box sets their nice boxes and sturdy. I just ordered the level 2 sets. Was going tor order 3 as well but not available yet.
  • MorkManMorkMan Member Posts: 916
    I, too, am pretty anal when it comes to some "special" sets. I would definitely keep the MBA set pieces separate, too. Thanks for the input.
  • Erinlyn80Erinlyn80 Member Posts: 29
    Forgive me if this is posted elsewhere but I am short on time as I have a 1 month old in the house....

    Im curious as to what happened to master builder kits 7-9 it appears they've been redesigned and are being replaced with something new? My son still has kits 4-6 waiting to be built and we had never gotten as far as purchasing kits 7-9.

    I saw something indicating there was a new level 3 coming and looked and sure enough kit 7-9 has disappeared so Im just wondering why they discontinued it or what they're up to. I also wonder if there's an old kit 7-9 and now a different one how that effects their website program but maybe they aren't calling the new one kit 7-9. I don't know but thank you in advance for your reply.
  • Erinlyn80Erinlyn80 Member Posts: 29
    Or is kit 7-9 not discontinued but just not available for purchase right now? Im very confused. I just searched again in google and found the upcoming one is 10-12 so I don't understand why in the lego store kit 7-9 isn't available to purchase and in the newest shopping catalog it isn't even shown to purchase.
  • ColoradoBricksColoradoBricks Member Posts: 1,659
    @Erinlyn80, See this thread. 7-9 was available as a subscription in June-Aug 2012 and should be available again in July 2013 along with 10-12 but as a box set, not as a subscription. In my opinion, 7-9 are the best of the series so far...
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Ditto. Sets 7-9 were my son's favorite MBA sets.

  • YellowcastleYellowcastle Administrator, Moderator Posts: 5,234
    With all these availability and date changes, i think we need an updated overview. Anyone game? :o)
  • AanchirAanchir Member Posts: 3,037
    tamamahm said:

    Ditto. Sets 7-9 were my son's favorite MBA sets.

    I didn't enjoy 7–9 as much as previous ones, to be perfectly honest. Perhaps it was because the parts were more geared towards making scenes than small stand-alone models, or perhaps it was because the challenges (which involved crafting stories and incorporating the already-designed "springboard models") were so much harder, but regardless I had less success MOCing with those sets than with previous kits.

    I never got Kit 1 myself, but I loved kits 2, 3, 4, and 5. I started to lose interest around Kit 6, not because I liked the kit less but rather because I had a huge number of Ninjago sets I hadn't yet gotten around to reviewing for The Ninjago Wiki and I felt a bit crummy building other sets when I had such a backlog of work waiting for me.

    My twin brother and I built kits 7–9 on an afternoon when we had particularly bad weather at college, and while I loved that it had a story at its backbone, I found I just don't have the knack for crafting stories of my own. Once I enjoyed that kind of thing, but looking back at some of my old stories they were never really any good. So it's hard to motivate myself to come up with stories of my own anymore.
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Funny! Your reasons for not caring for them is exactly why my son loved them!!

    He really loved the springboard models he could create stories around. There was some sort of trap door, hidden fire pit, A door with a spinning thing. He used all of those to create his own stories for his own creative play. That is why it was really just so great for him. He loves hidden features, and this set really help him create hidden features.

  • TheLoneTensorTheLoneTensor Member Posts: 3,937
    edited June 2013
    The really sucky thing is that when MBA was initially released, sets 2-6 were in one subscription and cost $70 total. Then they split 2-3 and 4-6 into packages that are now $50 and $80 respectively. I don't think I've ever seen a set increased by 186% ($60) from the time of release.
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Yes, it is a bummer about the price. At the same time, when you look at the number of pieces on gets along with the large books, the sets were way underpriced to begin with. The only reason they were able to get away with that was due to the subscription. Once they were on the shelves, they really needed to be priced similarly to all other Lego that sit on the shelf.
    :-/

    We really loved the subscription program. Of course if my option is to buy the packaged kit, or not have the program at all, we will go with the kit.
  • murphquakemurphquake Member Posts: 651
    Depending on which store manager I speak to the boxed/in-store version of Level 3 (kits 7-9) will be in stores on/around July 1st, Level 4 (kits 10-12) may only be online at that time frame, but I also was told it will be in stores. There is a new packaging design for Level 1-Kit 1, with a white background and a more stylized rendition of the original picture, but it is not any different, nor did they do what I expected and co-pack Kits 1-3 in one box the same size as Level 2. One of the store staff seemed to think the repacked Kit 1 would have a new style brick separator in green like horizon express but there's no indication on the back of the box. With Level 4 just 2 weeks away I'm a little surprised there's no pre-order or news about it coming from TLG. I feel a bit abandoned in MBA, sadly. I really like the program and I think if they had found a better way to market it they could have a real winner on their hands.

    Whenever I see a kid check out MBA I always encourage them to try it out. I think with updated web content and a reconsideration of the prices they could make some moves. I could see each level selling well in a redone box with sorting tray and brick separator for $60. I have trouble imagining it going for $80. I do see people buy them, but not often enough.
  • meyerc13meyerc13 Member Posts: 227
    I bought the first set for my son right before they dumped the subscription and jacked up the price. If I had known they were going to do that, I wouldn't have purchased it. While I'd like to buy all of the levels, I just can't justify the price. If LEGO ever decides to put these on sale, maybe I'd jump, but if not I'm afraid I'll never get them. The included book is nice, but at the current prices these make the Architecture sets look cheap, and they also have nicer books and generally there are licensing fees involved so if anything you'd expect that MBA would be a much better value.
  • Erinlyn80Erinlyn80 Member Posts: 29
    Wow thank you for all the great responses! I didn't even know they had stopped doing them as a subscription! That's how behind we are... my son got them as a subscription and half of them have been sitting around waiting for time to do them together. That is a bummer they stopped doing that it was kind of like Christmas every other month getting them in the mail was fun (even if we didn't get to them right away).
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    meyerc13 said:

    I bought the first set for my son right before they dumped the subscription and jacked up the price. If I had known they were going to do that, I wouldn't have purchased it. While I'd like to buy all of the levels, I just can't justify the price. If LEGO ever decides to put these on sale, maybe I'd jump, but if not I'm afraid I'll never get them. The included book is nice, but at the current prices these make the Architecture sets look cheap, and they also have nicer books and generally there are licensing fees involved so if anything you'd expect that MBA would be a much better value.

    I just do not understand this at all.
    As an example, look at the MBA set for 4-6. It sells for 79.99.
    Have you compared against anything else? Just compare it against something generic like the city lines.

    The fire plane has 522 for 59.99.
    http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Fire-Plane-4209

    This museum break-in has 563 pieces. It is 69.99.
    http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Museum-Break-in-60008

    The forest police station has 633 pieces for 79.99
    http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Forest-Police-Station-4440

    LEgo MBA 4-6 has 570 pieces and is 79.99

    Basically, it has 63 less pieces than the forest police station for the same price. It has 7 more pieces compared to the museum, but cost $10 more, or has 48 piece more than the fire plane and costs $20 more. Between the firestation and the police station the delta is $20 and 100 pieces.

    When you compare MBA 4-6 against those city sets, price for the number of pieces is fairly comparable, and one is also getting

    - 3 huge direction books that teach at least 6 new building techniques, and give detailed hints and advice
    - detailed directions to make 9 different models
    - online directions to make an additional model fromeach set (3 new models) and a final supermodel that combines many of the pieces from 4-6. This is a total of 13 different builds from this one set.
    - in addition there is online content from quizzes, videos, viewing creations others have made with the MBA program, etc.

    My point is that looking at price and part numbers it is easily in the same range as those 3 city sets. Even if comparing against the fireplane set which is $20 less, the content above is easily worth $20. The amount my 6 year old has taken away from this program has been amazing. In addition, because there are so many builds involved, the amount of time my son used this MBA set, really lasted a while.

    Yes, the prices went up a ton, but really the entire series was low-balled compared to about anything else Lego had out.

    To me, the biggest bummers was the removal of the subscription program. He used each set easily for a solid 1.5 months, and when he was ready for another, I could tell him the next one was arriving very soon.
    itsnotmecmrt1014
  • TheLoneTensorTheLoneTensor Member Posts: 3,937
    tamamahm said:

    To me, the biggest bummers was the removal of the subscription program. He used each set easily for a solid 1.5 months, and when he was ready for another, I could tell him the next one was arriving very soon.

    Perhaps you could buy the sets "packs," split them up and then dole them out every 1.5 months.
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Yup. That is exactly my plan. :-)
    That way my kiddo has a set to look forward to every other month. I also found that time of 1.5 - 2m, really allows them to explore the set before moving to the next.
  • TheLoneTensorTheLoneTensor Member Posts: 3,937
    tamamahm said:

    Yup. That is exactly my plan. :-)
    That way my kiddo has a set to look forward to every other month. I also found that time of 1.5 - 2m, really allows them to explore the set before moving to the next.

    This is a great point. I feel that whenever I get a few sets at once, or a few movies at once, or a few video games at once, I like each of them a little less overall. Getting things in a stream makes me appreciate them more.
  • meyerc13meyerc13 Member Posts: 227
    I just do not understand this at all.
    As an example, look at the MBA set for 4-6. It sells for 79.99.
    Have you compared against anything else? Just compare it against something generic like the city lines.

    The fire plane has 522 for 59.99.
    http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Fire-Plane-4209

    This museum break-in has 563 pieces. It is 69.99.
    http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Museum-Break-in-60008

    The forest police station has 633 pieces for 79.99
    http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Forest-Police-Station-4440

    LEgo MBA 4-6 has 570 pieces and is 79.99

    I don't think these are valid comparisons. the fire plane has huge, specialized fuselage pieces, MBA has common parts. The police station has a bear - a new mold - which helps justify a higher price. The Museum break-in has a light brick. Plus all three sets include a bunch of minifigures, wherease MBA includes 0-1. Even with all of these additions, the City sets still average $0.11-0.12/piece MSRP, whereas MBA is $0.13-0.14/piece. Not to mention I have picked up all of those City sets at a steep discount (20-30% off MSRP for all three), wherease MBA never goes on sale.

    Yes MBA has a nicer book - as I mentioned above so do Arhcitecture sets. The two latest in that series (Leaning Tower, Imperial Hotel) average $0.10-0.11/piece. In reality they are closest in philosophy, design, minifigs, and parts selection to Creator sets. Looking at the new Family House and Tree House sets, those average $0.08-0.09/piece.

    MBA is clearly overpriced, and what makes it worse is the much lower initial price we all know was offered. Even worse, some (like me) bought the set based on the subscription model and price points, only to see that option disappear from the website days later before we had a chance to subscribe. Had I known that was coming, I wouldn't have bought it. The least they could have done was include a flyer with each purchase for 30 days before that switch explaining the change and offering a discount on the new kits... but no, they just made the cheap option disappear overnight and too bad so sad for those of us who caught during the switch.



  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    We will have to agree to disagree. I see the extra price coming from content of
    - books that take the time to fully explain and teach new tips
    - 13 different designs to make
    - integrated online experience, which while it has been the least useful part for a 4-6 year old kid, he has still received an experience from.

    This to me is easily worth $20 alone and I'm lowballing the price on that content.
    I am pretty sure the Architecture series does not have any of that content.
    I also think you missed the point I'm making... that something like forest police station IS the same price as MBA. The reason they are the same price is because yes, the police station does have a few of those items and a few more pieces, but MBA has all the content I mention above. In my mind that makes them equivalently priced. If we are saying MBA is ridiculously priced, then in my mind we need to be saying that about everyone one of the sets I mentioned. Same with the plane... ten dollars cheaper, but really just a fuselage as a nice specialty piece...to me the content of MBA easily balances this out.

    I also do not think we can make a comparison between, oh wait this set doesn't go on sale, and wow these sets I got on sale. If we do that, there are many sets out there that I would say are ridiculously priced, and not worth the value.

    I think the difference here is that I see the content of MBA as worth a mark-up of at least $20, and I absolutely do not see MBA as 'clearly overpriced'. In my viewpoint they took a product that was clearly underpriced, and brought it up to a similar price for selling it retail.
  • TheLoneTensorTheLoneTensor Member Posts: 3,937
    tamamahm said:

    I also do not think we can make a comparison between, oh wait this set doesn't go on sale, and wow these sets I got on sale.

    I liked all of your post except this part was hazy. When it comes down to it, it's price paid. Things like the forest police station are always on sale, so even though RRP states that it's an $80 set, it's really more like a $65 set. So in comparison, the MBA kits are more expensive.

  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    To me it is not that simple.
    The question as I see it is, "Is Lego setting the price of MBA too high relative to the price they are setting on other Lego sets?"

    If that is the question, then the only fair comparison is to understand what Lego is setting the price at, otherwise one is not addressing the question.
    Looking at the pricing of a Lego's retail price of one set, and comparing it to the sale price of another set at another retailer provides no data to do an accurate comparison to answer this question.


    If the question is "Compared to what I can get with my Lego money via sales, is MBA priced too high?",
    then at the point it is open game to include other retailers.
    Even then it is still a tricky comparison, because what sales price does one use to make the comparison?
    In addition, though, there is the overall 'duh' factor that of course anything that is an exclusive sold only via Lego one is not going to find on sale, so of course about any set one finds at a retailer IS going to be cheaper, because a savvy shopper can almost always find a sale. Because of that, to me that particular question makes no sense, so I am addressing the first question.

    Tammy
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    Much to my surprise, I saw that the Chicago Water Tower Place store had all the repackaged MBA sets (including the new level 4 set!) out today. Kit 1 is still in its own box, Kits 2 and 3 are still together, while Kits 4-6, 7-9, and the new 10-12 are all packaged 3 kits per box (which they did in the past for 4-6 and, I think, 7-9). All the sets that were available before have newly designed box art.
  • TheLoneTensorTheLoneTensor Member Posts: 3,937
    ^Did you snap some pics? It'd be cool to see the new designs.
  • tamamahmtamamahm Member Posts: 1,987
    Ooh. I might have to check mine out just in case they got them in.
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    ^^Unfortunately, I didn't think to do that until after I left the store. I may be back in a couple of days, though, so if no one else has encountered them in a store and taken photos by then, I'll try to do so.
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    Ok... so... I may have had a 10% coupon from the latest Lego catalog burning a hole in my wallet and wasn't originally planning to buy a larger set with it. But since I already have Kits 1-3 and 5, I have to admit to being tempted by the new level 4 kits since they're brand new. I may have gone back to the store this evening to pick up the new kits (my wife is going to kill me). The good news is that I did take pictures this time with my (rather lousy) camera phone.

    I've never tried posting an image here before, so please bear with me if I don't get this right the first time - I'm attaching my photos to this post.
    TheLoneTensor
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    edited June 2013
    (Sorry - ignore this post, it didn't attach the photo correctly...)
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    The box for Kits 2 & 3
    TheLoneTensor
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    The box for Kits 4-6
    TheLoneTensor
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    The box for Kits 7-9 (sorry for the blurry photos!)
    TheLoneTensor
  • Dare_WreckDare_Wreck Member Posts: 23
    Lastly, the brand new level 4 kits! I took these photos with my better camera, once I got home.
    TheLoneTensor
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