I've felt rather unproductive recently on BZP, so I decided to do another set review. This time, we look at the new Monster Fighters theme's largest set (for now), Vampyre Castle!
Presentation From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
The trunk dented the upper left corner of the box. Sad face.
The titular castle sits here in front of a sinister, spooky background with bats trailing from the moon and a ghostly green glow emanating from the castle, its inhabitants, and the moon. The back of the box shows the secrets and interior of the castle, allowing the potential buyer to see all the features of the set.
Building Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
This monstrous set (HA! Pun) has seven bags of pieces. For 949 pieces to the set, it's not too surprising that there are so many bags, but still, I think this is the largest set I've built to date (and probably the most expensive one I've ever bought). All the pieces from the seven bags are shown above, and I can tell you that it took a great chunk of time to build. Expect to set aside 2-3 hours to build this (or more, if you're not a seasoned System-building veteran. I took a bit longer, but I was taking pictures as I went. Also, I did take a couple breaks here and there to spend some time with friends ).
Although it is a long build, it's really cool to watch as the whole thing comes together, which is one of my favorite experiences in building a LEGO set. While time consuming, I didn't find the build too difficult, but that may be due to having past experience with System sets.
To be honest, the only annoyance for me was the stickers. While they do allow for LEGO to not have to print their designs on the pieces themselves (which honestly probably saves them some money), I am quite particular when applying stickers, and it's annoying when I mess up the first time. The stickers do glow in the dark though, along with many other pieces, so that adds a bit to the cool factor if you like glow-in-the-dark.
Set Design Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
Let's start with our heroes and their car:
The car is a pretty slick ride. For those of you who like sand green, this is your car. I'm quite the fan of the early 20th century vibe the technology in these sets gives off, and considering that Jack and Rodney's prosthetic limbs are steam-powered, the steampunk vibe is good, too. The car is a one-seater and can accommodate either Jack or Rodney, since the right leg sits on a 2×1 grate, so there are no studs to prevent Rodney from driving it. The most notable feature of the car is the net launcher, which sits in the back, and has a sort of piston that, when pushed, makes the net fly out.
It's like Spiderman's web power, only with a machine and the ability to catch bat people.
The heroes included in this set are Jack McHammer and the leader of the Monster Fighters, Dr. Rodney Rathbone. Rodney sports a very dapper vest (with pocket watch) and bowler hat, a steampunk leg, a rapier, and a revolver. Jack has a steampunk arm, a green flannel shirt with a leather vest, a knit cap, and Mjolnir.
I wouldn't doubt it if he took it right out of Thor's hand.
Now, let's dive into the castle and its villainous vampire owners.
The castle is centered on the main tower where the Moon-Eclipse-Whatchamajig stands.
As you can see in the picture, a hinge with pin pieces is what connects the parts of the castle to each other. The main tower, though, only has connections on one side. The castle is sort of connected in a sideways U or S shape, where the main area is the top branch, the bend is the drawing room/spiky death pit tower, the middle is the gate, and the final bend/line is the prison tower. Only the main/drawing room connection is hinged, though, which allows the castle to have its layout.
The inside of the main tower has five rooms; the attic/organ room, the solar eclipse machine room (which is more like a clock tower chamber than a room, like where Basil of Baker Street and Ratigan duel), the drawing room, the bedroom/potions room, and the coffin in the basement. My personal favorite is the potion/bedroom, as the bed is really neat and the potion room contains some cool pieces. I like how in the basement the curtains around the coffin are portrayed by bricks rather than fabric; I think that if they used fabric it wouldn't have the same feel.
Also, the moonstone device is really neat to behold. It has a cool mechanism for revealing the moon wheel thing behind the moonstones; the moonstones are all on 90° axle joints all connected by Y-shaped axle holders. When the moon wheel is pushed out, the axles that the moonstones aren't connected to end up between two large cart wheels behind the moon disk, and so when the disk is retracted, the moonstones return to covering the disk, which is pretty cool.
The secondary turret is cool due to the cute little map/drawing room that looks comfy-cozy until the floor falls out from under you and you land in a spiky pit of doom. However, if you survive and manage to climb into the attic, you get some treasure! I'm guessing this is the guest room of the castle.
The next portion is the gate, which features creepy old school cast iron doors and, if that doesn't prevent you from entering, a secondary gate which has fangs as the blocking mechanism.
Enter if you dare!
You know, to attract the neighbors.
The final portion of the set is the prison, where a poor, unfortunate soul has been wasting away for a while, since he's only a skeleton now.
Poor guy, I just want to give him a hug.
However, if either of your heroes get trapped here, you can always bust them out with the nifty lever on the outside wall of the prison.
Behold, my finger's debut on BZP! Greet him with kindness, please.
And now, Lord Vampyre and his wife (does she have a name?).
As you can probably tell, LEGO seems to be enjoying making minifigures with printing on the back and front of their bodies, and it seems to be quite prevalent in this theme (as with the latest series minifigures). They also have flip faces, another trend becoming more popular (which debuted in the Studios sets that were released a decade ago. I feel so old...).
Also, note that we get another appearance of the Series 4 Mad Scientist's flask in this set, so the piece is becoming more and more widespread. We also get a translucent green wine goblet, several gems, a toad, a mushroom, and six of the seven the moonstones (zombie moonstone not included).
Note: these probably won't evolve your Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Munna, Nidorino, Nidorina, or Skitty.
And last, but certainly not least, the Manbats!
Not to be confused with Batman.
These minifigures are definitely a first for LEGO with their arms that actually spread outward. However, they don't actually move inward/outward, so the poseability of their arms is quite limited without looking rather goofy. They have ears similar to the Elf and Werewolf Series Minifigures, but are a lot bigger and more...batlike.
Also, to give you a sense of how massively huge this set is, I compared its size to the largest Fright Knights set released, Night Lord's Castle, which is the tallest castle set to date that LEGO has released.
I sense a war between Vampyre and Bat Lord brewing.
It's pretty incredible how far LEGO has come as far as detailed sets go, since you can really see the difference between the present day and the early 90s. But notice that Night Lord's Castle just barely keeps its title; in fact, the only reason it's taller than the Vampyre Castle is due to Willa's telescope at the top. Also note that Night Lord's Castle contains only 598 pieces in comparison to the Vampyre Castle's 949; a lot of those additional pieces go into the detail.
Playability The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
Have at you!
There are definitely a lot of possibilities with this set. It has several rooms which make good vignettes/settings for spooky interactions between your heroes and villains, and the appearance is right out of Halloweentown (of Nightmare Before Christmas). Along with the prison wall lever, the prisoner can be moved up and down with an axle and the moonstone device can be engaged with a similar sort of piston that the car's net launcher has. Also, the trapdoor to the spiky pit makes for some good fun.
Final Thoughts Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Let me play you the song of my people.
This set is pretty darn cool. It gives off a great spooky aura and is perfect for anyone who is a fan of Halloween, castles, and/or the Monster Fighters theme. It supplies us with a good cast of minifigs and is definitely one of the best sets released this year. If you can afford the $99.99 price tag, pick this up; you'll be glad you did.
Pros What's to like?
Hugely gigantic castle Cool minifigures Cool car Awesomely spooky Some neat pieces to grab
Cons What's not to like?
The price tag
I hope you all enjoyed my take on this set. If there are any pictures you want me to take or any aspect of the review/set you want my to clarify, just ask.
So, I be back from the untamed lands of the north, and my sleep schedule is messed up. And I have work tomorrow. Fun times.
On the other hand, I saw Legend of Korra yesterday, and OH MY GOSH SEASON FINALE MUST SEE FINAL SHOWDOWN (?) BETWEEN AMON AND KORRA AHH!!!
Also, I got the Mines of Moria LEGO set and have finished building half of it (the cool half with Balin's tomb, the doors, and the well). The rest will wait until tomorrow. I hope to review it (after I review the Vampyre Castle and Gandalf Arrives).
I have to say, Anchorage itself may not be a good-looking city (in my eyes, no city really is), but the fact that there are mountains literally surrounding it is awesome. Best horizon ever. Of all time.
So, I'm off to Alaska early on Sunday morning for an astronomy conference. KK has already been to the untamed land, so now it's my turn to conquer it with my charm.
I got the Vampyre Castle and Gandalf Arrives today at the LEGO store thanks to a handy dandy $20 off coupon along with a mini-scale Sopwith Camel. Today was a good day.
Also, for those of you who aren't aware, I have a new comic up as of yesterday! Head on over to the topic and have a laugh.
Expect a review or two on my new acquisitions in the coming days. 8D
What I'm really awaiting on this show is the episode where Korra and Aang finally communicate about the state of the Avatar world. They've been dropping tantalizing hints these past few episodes, and I'm getting rather antsy. >>
In other news, week 2 of my summer internship is done. I'm going to be repairing a laser-locking box that will be used with a Fabry-Perot cavity. Fun times.
I hope everyone had an enjoyable, reflective Memorial Day today. Since I couldn't come up with a comic, I decided to work on another retro set review. This time, we switch gears back to the Time Cruisers with the 6493 Flying Time Vessel!
Presentation From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
I just love the backgrounds for Time Cruisers and Time Twisters. They're so trippy and cartoony yet so dark and spooky. The castle and pirate ship in the background add a nice touch to the scenery and really help reinforce the idea that this theme was about visiting various periods in history. We also see Dr. Cyber and Timmy showing off various helmets and artifacts they've received throughout their travels, and the monkey, Ingo, is sporting a flintlock pistol. Isn't it dangerous to give firearms to a monkey?
Building Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
This set contains 234 pieces, and while there are large pieces like the bow and the stern, it still took me at least an hour to build, but the inner workings of the gears and axles for the functionality in this set were fun to construct. Because of this, the construction isn't straightforward, but it isn't incredibly difficult either; it just takes some time.
Set Design Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
The vessel is, obviously, built on the bow and stern pieces that come in the set. Interestingly, these pieces seem to be unique to this set! The Pirate sets from the late 80s/early 90s had bow and stern pieces, yes, but they were not of the same dimensions as those that appear here. I find that kind of odd, but cool. Also, this set is quite large and takes up a lot of space, partially because of the mast and partially because of the wings. The rudder/propeller system doesn't help either, since there's a large peg on which the small propeller sits.
This set comes with three figures: Dr. Cyber, Timmy, and Ingo the monkey, which is one short of the entire Time Cruisers cast.
I, the hard working Ingo, do not approve of my new simian form!
It also comes with several accessories, including a pirate hat and bandana, various helmets from other LEGO themes, a flintlock pistol, two crossbows, a magic wand, and a chainsaw. Because those things always go together.
Cower before my miscellany!
Needless to say, this set has a lot of good parts to plunder.
Playability The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
There's a Titanic reference here somewhere…
Like the other Time Cruisers/Twisters sets, this set does not disappoint on functionality. The wheels are connected by bars to the underside of the wings to make them flap up and down and are also connected internally to the axle that drives the rear propeller. The cockpit also opens up via hinge revealing a treasure chest and the control panel to the ship (which, interestingly enough, no one is operating in any photos of the set. Perhaps it's on autopilot?).
However, it's the look of the ship that really hooks me in. It's a pirate ship with wings and a periscope that is fueled by the spinning of a propeller hooked onto the stern. And also has wheels. That's just awesome! It's a vehicle that can practically go anywhere — swamp, mountain, ocean, canyon, and other locales that aren't in Majora's Mask. Bottom line: this set tickles the imagination and gives a lot of good opportunity to create your own Time Cruisers adventure, and that's why it's probably my favorite set of from the line.
Final Thoughts Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Hold onto your helmets; time travel can be rough.
I love this set. It's a creative concept for a creative theme, and I wish they had done more sets like this. Not that the other Time Cruisers sets were bad, but they didn't quite stand out to me as much as this one. This vehicle can go on any journey anywhere, anywhen, giving the player nearly infinite possibilities as to where to send these characters, and that's pretty cool. Also, it has a plethora of cool pieces.
On BrickLink, you can find lots with this set at around $20 in Europe and around $30 in the US, which is not bad at all considering the original MSRP was $44 in 1996. If you have the cash, definitely consider this one, as it's a classic.
Pros What's to like?
Functionality (again)! Great pieces Looks awesome Not terribly expensive
Cons What's not to like?
There aren't more like it in this theme.
If you were to get only one Time Cruisers set, I'd say get this one. It's a very imaginative set for an imaginative theme.
Now, I only have two more sets to do from the Time Cruisers/Twisters themes, so soon I will be moving on to some other LEGO theme from the 90s. Does anyone have any suggestions/a particular theme they would like to see? I could do Fright Knights, UFO, Adventurers (hecks yes), Insectoids, and others that I have with me but can't think of off the top of my head. Suggest away!
Welcome to another installment of 90s LEGO set reviews! This entry's review is of the 6496 Whirling Time Warper of the Time Twisters theme!
Presentation From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
Image courtesy of Peeron
The box features a shot of the titular Time Warper flying through a dark backdrop with what looks like a portal to a city in the sky and a dark forest near the bottom. Behind some mountains, a moon or other celestial object appears to be setting. There's a flying ghost and bat along with other objects flying around the vehicle. I have to say, I really like the backdrops for the Time Twisters sets. The give a good dark edge to the appearance.
Building Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
This set contains 147 pieces, of which 142 are shown here. This set is missing two TrRed magic wands, one black airplane rudder piece, and two chrome daggers (this is what happens when you own a set for a long time and leave it apart for a while). You'll notice that this has significantly more pieces than the Time Tunnelator, and for an originally $22 set, it better have more pieces. The build time for this set was around twenty minutes or so, which isn't too bad.
There are two figs to obtain in this set: Professor Millennium, Tony Twister's brother and fellow Time Twister, and the Ghost. Note that this ghost, which has a smiling face, is different than the one coming with the upcoming Monster Hunters sets, which features a more spooky moaning face. Also, you may notice that the ghost's arms are not quite as white as they should be. Being an old piece, it got a little too much sun over the years, and the body is faded.
The legs were replaced, so you can see the difference.
Set Design Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
The set foundation is a white bathtub piece which premiered in Belville theme. This piece has only ever been released in three sets: this set (1997), 5895 Family House (1996), and 5837 Flora's Bubbling Bath (2002). I'm guessing that the rarity of this piece is why BrickLink has this set at relatively higher prices compared to its original MSRP than those of other Time Twisters sets.
Curse your exclusiveness!
You also get some cool minifig accessories, such as the bugles, coins, magic wands (not shown), a chrome crystal, and a bunch of 1 × 1 clear round pieces.
Note: these bugles are not edible, nor are the coins chocolate.
Playability The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
Again, pretty cool functionality. In this set, like the Time Tunnelator, the rear wheels drive the moving parts of the set. The propeller is connected by a rubber band to the wheel axle to make it spin, and the propeller is connected to the "power drum" on top to spin the container and swirly disk around.
The skulls on the side also bob up and down exactly out of phase with one another due to the wheels having a peg that moves the side "arms" (for lack of a better word) up and down. Thus, you get a spinning propeller, rotating container of stuff, and bobbing skulls that make this vehicle come to life. I would rate the functionality of this set higher than that of the Time Tunnelator, since it simply does more stuff.
Final Thoughts Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Note: The dome piece is old/scratched up, hence the not-so-clearness.
Again, fans of functionality will like this set. It comes with two minifigures, both of which are different from the Time Tunnelator, and it comes with that unique bathtub piece, so anyone wanting to do a vignette of a bathroom would love that. This model is also more filled-in than the Tunnelator, so this set may be preferred simply from an aesthetic point of view.
What about Price? Well, as stated earlier, the MSRP was $22 in 1997. Sets available on BrickLink that are in the US are all above that price, with the lowest at $25, while most of the lots in Europe are < $20. So, if you're willing to spend a little extra on shipping, you can get a good deal.
Pros What's to like?
Functionality! (again) Cool looking vehicle Has good pieces to plunder
Cons What's not to like?
Price may be high.
If you can find a good deal on this one, pick it up. It's a good set with quite a bit to offer.
Tomorrow my roommate (of three years), a fellow physics graduate student, and I are going to watch the three extended Lord of the Rings movies. In a row. In one day.
My roommate has tried this once on another occasion, but we couldn't help but bleed into the next day. Here's hoping that we can manage it this time.
Already I'm nearly through my first week of summer research. That's kinda weird.
What I've gained from this experience thus far: aligning a laser beam so that it hits a fiber optic cord that's ~1-2 microns in diameter is tedious, painful, and annoying. However, magneto-optical traps and ultracold plasmas are awesome. I am learning a lot about optics and atomic physics despite it only being week one, and I'm sure this lab will be fun.
This weekend I hope to work on my Whirling Time Warper review (I have the pics, I just have to type and format everything) and maybe even make a new comic! Hurray for no homework and more free time!
So, I've kinda been gone recently. The reasons for that are the school year was wrapping up and I went home for a week to visit my family. In that time, I didn't go online much and thus did not visit BZP much.
However, I did get pictures of the Whirling Time Warper, which I will be reviewing next in my overarching review of the Time Cruisers/Twisters theme from LEGO, so keep your eyes peeled for that review entry.
Also, now that it's summer I hope to get some comic making done (seeing as there will be no homework to stop me).
Greetings, all! It's time for another retro set review. This time, the villainous Time Twisters and their smallest set, the Time Tunnelator!
Presentation From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
We see here one of the sibling antagonists, Tony Twister (whose face bears a striking resemblance to Black Bart of the Wild West theme), flying through a stormy backdrop with a jagged mountain to the left, a forest or something of the like near the bottom of the picture, and what looks like a portal to a city in the back-right.
Building Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
There are 80 pieces in this set, and all are pictured above. This build is pretty straightforward and doesn't take more than ten minutes. Still, there are more pieces than the Rocket Racer, so it's slightly more involved, but not by much.
Set Design Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
The set foundation is a blue wing piece, and everything kinda sprouts from there. It's interesting that, despite the fact that the set isn't really "filled in," it doesn't look very skeletal or lacking, and I think the plastic wings help that. As far as interesting pieces go, there are two trumpet pieces, two bats, and a few trans-neon orange pieces. I like the use of the black dragon wing as a rudder; it adds to the bat/evil look that this theme has going for it.
Playability The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
Oh, the functionality. In this set, when the wheels move, not only does the propeller spin, but the wings also flap up and down. The mechanism for the propeller is a rubber band belt that goes from the wheel axle to the propeller, while the flapping wings occur due to the cranks connected to the outside of the wheels; as they spin, the wings flap.
This kind of functionality will be seen again in future reviews of Time Cruisers and Twisters, and this is one of the reasons why I find this theme so cool; they have cool looking vehicles that do more than just roll on the table.
Final Thoughts Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Oblivion is at hand!
While this is a small set, the functionality is a reason I would recommend getting this set over the Rocket Racer; the friction-driven propellers in that set aren't as reliable as the cranks and gears of this set, so this set will satisfy you more if you're a fan of functionality (like me).
This set also looks cooler than the Rocket Racer and has a more diverse range of pieces in its inventory, like the bats, barrels, and bugles. Tony Twister is also a good minifigure in that he gives you a set of epaulettes in yellow and a police hat (which is odd seeing as he's a bad guy, but I digress). Given the choice between the two, I'd buy this set. It was originally listed as $10.00, but can be found now for about half of that, making this set a pretty good deal.
Pros What's to like?
Functionality!!! Cheap (~$5.00 on BrickLink) Looks cool despite being small Has good pieces to plunder
Cons What's not to like?
Small
If you're thinking of collecting the Time Twisters sets, this isn't a bad one to start with, so I highly recommend it.
I've decided that This Day Aria is my favorite song from A Canterlot Wedding. Its juxtaposition of Cadance singing about her love for Shining Armor with Chrysalis singing about her callous indifference and plot to use him is amazing.
Also, it's (at least partially) a villain song, and those tend to be awesome.
As promised, I'm going to kick off my set reviews of LEGO System circa mid-late 1990s with a review of the Time Cruisers Rocket Racer (no, not the LEGO Racers Rocket Racer). Credit to BZP for the review format.
(My apologies if you notice the yellow tint to the shadows; my digital camera decided to be rather yellow when taking these pictures, and using GIMP to re-balance the white left those yellow shadows as an artifact.)
Presentation From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
We see our protagonist, Timmy, riding in the eponymous racer through a rather dark, stormy backdrop. Pretty awesome. We can tell right off the bat that this isn't a very large set (seeing as the price was only $4.50 when it came out).
Building Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
Not very challenging at all. The build took only a couple of minutes and was fairly straightforward, seeing as there were only 15 steps. All 55 pieces are included in the above photo, and it's not surprising that they don't take very long to assemble.
Set Design Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
Nothing too sophisticated here. The body is based on a bracket piece that saw use in the Xtreme Team windsurfer/buggy set. The propellers are pretty cool in their functionality (yes, they do spin). A simple buggy/car set with a few modifications.
Playability The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
All aircraft report!
The propellers are the coolest part of this set. They are connected by an axle to a smooth base that sits on the back tires, as seen in the above photo. The tires, made of rubber, grip the smooth base of the propellers on one side, and as the tires spin, the propellers spin. Now, on my set, this works well for the (Timmy's) right-hand propeller, but not the left. I think this may be because the bricks on top are not completely aligned over the hole for the left propeller, and thus the axle grips the pieces. I'm not sure though. It's still a cool bit of functionality that I'm impressed they thought to incorporate on such a small set. You really don't see that much on newer small sets.
Beyond this, though, the set is mainly for you to roll on the table and go "Vroom! Vroom!"
Final Thoughts Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Since the original price was $4.50, it's not a bad set for that price. I got mine for $4.00 with the other Time Cruisers sets, so it wasn't a heavy additional monetary burden for my wallet. If you see this set floating around for a low price, pick it up; you get a Timmy minifigure and a few cool MOC pieces/a cool race buggy.
Pros What's to like?
Timmy minifigure Cheap set (BrickLink has one for $1.00) Neat functionality despite being small Decent variety of pieces
Cons What's not to like?
Not incredibly exciting, but it is a small set
I honestly think that this set isn't bad at all for what it is. Back in the day, this would've made any 90's kid happy if he/she found it in their stocking on Christmas day. If you want to get some Time Cruisers sets, add this one to your cart. It's cheap, cute, and fun in its own way.
Thanks for sticking around for my review. Next time we'll head into the realm of the villainous Time Twisters.
Royal Wedding finale is best finale. Seriously, I was wowed throughout the episode. The songs were okay, but the plot was very interesting. Celestia actually fought someone! And Cadance is adorable.
Also, Jaller is best Captain of the Guard, be he pony or Matoran.
So, I bought all the remaining Time Cruisers/Twisters sets (minus 1) that KK and I need to complete the entire theme for under $80 (Mystical Mountain Time Lab, Flying Time Vessel, Rocket Racer, and the Time Tunnelator; all that remains is the Hypno Cruiser).
Also, I think that during the summer I'm going to start reviewing LEGO sets of the 90s (more from the mid to late 90s), since this is the era of my childhood when I was first introduced to and subsequently obsessed with our favorite ABS bricks, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
I'll also make some more comics over the summer. Right now is the home stretch of the semester, which means more work in a shorter amount of time, leading to more stress and less free time.
I love watching series over and over again to see if there are any subtleties the writers threw in that I never noticed during my first viewing. However, I rarely find a series that, when I watch it, I get the same feeling of suspense, the same feeling of revelation, as I do when I watch Red vs. Blue Season 6: Reconstruction.
If you haven't seen Reconstruction yet, be warned that there will be spoilers in this entry.
What is it that's so great about this particular season of a very comedic and ridiculous take on the Halo universe? Well, let's start with the premise of Red vs. Blue. We have two teams of ridiculously inept soldiers who are "at war" with each other for what they believe is the fate of the universe. Being the ineffective soldiers that they are, their battles usually end in whacky hijinks and the exchange of insults, and they very much keep those personalities in Season 6. A brief summary of the characters and their personalities:
Red Team
Sarge - Gruff and regimented leader of the Red Team, older, comes up with convoluted plans and ridiculous tactics. His hate for the Blues is only surmounted by his hatred of Grif.
Grif - Lazy comic relief who is smarter than he looks, just unmotivated. Has a sort of love/hate relationship with Simmons.
Simmons - The nerd of the Red Team, enjoys math, sucks up to Sarge every chance he gets.
Lopez - The Red team's robot who can only speak (poorly translated) Spanish. Deadpan snarker.
Donut - (absent from Reconstruction) Guy who wears pink armor and is rather effeminate. Blue Team
Church - Self-appointed leader of the Blue Team
Tucker - Lazy member of Blue Team who only thinks about picking up chicks.
Caboose - The token cool dude of Blue Team. Probably the most popular character on the show for his ridiculous lines.
Tex - A special ops soldier and Church's ex-girlfriend. The only soldier who can actually do something. Now, mix these characters with Agent Washington, a completely serious special ops soldier (like Tex) with no tolerance for humor. Surprisingly, this works extremely well (considering the number of ways they could have screwed this relationship up). Together, they are all trying to find a new threat known as the Meta who is killing off Freelancer agents (like Tex and Wash) to obtain their armor abilities and AI, which help them in battle.
Then there is the overarching banter between the Director of Project Freelancer and the Oversight Sub-Committee Chairman. These conversations open every episode in the form of audio letter and alternate between the two, and they illustrate one of the most awesome passive-agressive power struggles I've ever witnessed in any series (and they are never on screen throughout the entire season!). While brief at the beginning of each episode, the subject of the dialogue, while at first seems unrelated, is actually intertwined with the entire motivation of the events of the season.
And if that didn't seem to make things come full circle, the big reveal in the season further seals the deal. When I watch this one moment when Washington fully reveals why the Reds and the Blues were stuck in the middle of a boxed-in canyon in the middle of nowhere, why these Freelancer AI have plagued them and caused all their problems from the get go, and why he needs to put a stop to what Project Freelancer has done and bring them to justice, I am stunned. I always watch the scene and marvel at how perfectly everything is drawn together. I get the same goosebumps during each subsequent viewing of that scene that I got the first time I watched it. The reveal is always fresh; it always keeps me on the edge of my seat; it never gets stale, and that is why I consider this the crowning moment of the entire Red vs. Blue series.
And I can't think of any other series that does that to me.
My Classical Mechanics professor quoted someone in class the other day: "The maturation of a physics student involves solving the harmonic oscillator over and over again throughout his/her career." (or something to that effect)
So, what is the harmonic oscillator? Otherwise known as the simple harmonic oscillator, it is the physical situation in which a particle is subject to a force whose strength is proportional to the displacement from equilibrium of said particle, known as Hooke's Law, or, in math terms,
F = -kx
where F is our force, x is our displacement, and k is some proportionality constant (often called the "spring constant"). That sounds swell and all, but to what situations does this apply? Well, for a simple example, consider a mass suspended on a spring. If you just let it sit in equilibrium, it doesn't really move since the spring is cancelling out the force of gravity. However, if you pull the mass slightly off of its equilibrium point and release it, the spring pulls the mass up, compresses, pushes the mass down, and repeats the process over and over. So long as there is no outside force or friction (a physicist's dream) this will continue oscillating into eternity, and the position of the mass can be mapped as a sine or cosine function.
What is the period of the oscillation? Well, it turns out that the square of the period is related to the mass and the spring constant, k in this fashion:
T2 = 4π2m/k
This is usually written in terms of angular frequency, which is 2π/T. This gives us the equation
(2π/T)2 = ω2 = k/m
This problem is also a great example of a system where total energy, call it E, is conserved. At the peak of the oscillation (when the mass is instantaneously at rest), all energy is potential energy, since the particle is at rest and there is no energy of motion. At the middle of the oscillation (when the mass is at equilibrium and moving at its fastest) the potential energy is at a minimum (zero) and the all energy in the system is kinetic energy. Kinetic energy, denoted by T (and not to be confused with period) is equal to mv2/2, and the kinetic energy of the simple harmonic oscillator is kx2/2. Thus, the total energy can be written as
E = mv2/2 + kx2/2 = p2/2m + kx2/2
Where I've made the substitution p = mv. Advanced physics students will note that this is the Hamiltonian for the simple harmonic oscillator.
Well, this is great for masses on springs, but what about more natural phenomena? What does this apply to? Well, if you like music, simple harmonic oscillation is what air undergoes when you play a wind instrument. Or a string instrument. Or anything that makes some sort of vibration. What you're doing when you play an instrument (or sing) is forcing air, string(s), or electric charge (for electronic instruments) out of equilibrium. This causes the air, string(s), and current to oscillate, which creates a tone. Patch a bunch of these tones together in the form of chords, melodies, and harmonies, and you've created music. A simpler situation is blowing over a soda/pop bottle. When you blow air over the mouth of the bottle, you create an equilibrium pressure for the air above the mouth of the bottle. Air that is slightly off of this equilibrium will oscillate in and out of the bottle, producing a pure tone. Also, if you have two atoms that can bond, the bonds that are made can act as Hooke's Law potentials. This means that, if you vibrate these atoms at a specific frequency, they will start to oscillate. This can tell physicists and chemists about the bond-lengths of molecules and what those bonds are made up of. In fact, the quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator is a major topic of interest because the potential energy between particles can often be approximated as a Hooke's Law potential near minima, even if it's much more complex elsewhere.
Also, for small angles of oscillation, pendula act as simple harmonic oscillators, and these can be used to keep track of time since the period of a pendulum can be determined by the length of its support. Nowadays, currents sent through quartz crystals provide the oscillations for timekeeping more often than pendula, but when you see an old grandfather clock from the olden days, you'll know that the pendulum inside the body is what keeps its time.
Hopefully you can now see why we physicists solve this problem so many times on our journey to physics maturity.
