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I just wanted to take a few minutes and do some raving about how much I like
the new Lego NBA Basketball sets. Initially, I had very little interest in
the announcement of this new theme since I’m completely apathetic about the
world of professional sports. I figured that the only sets I’d probably
really be getting were the collector’s sets of 3 pro players – and these
only for the brown skin tones on the figs.
When I first saw the pictures of the new sets, I did think though that it
would be neat to have some of the parts to be able to build some outside
basketball courts for Brickmond (RichLUG’s Train & Town display). I was in
Wal-mart last weekend and decided on a whim to go ahead and purchase set
3431 Street Ball 2x2. For $20 this looked like a good set that would
provide me with enough parts to put together a little basketball court display.
In recent times, it’s been very rare for me to actually assemble a Lego set
before I end up having to scavenge parts for another project and everything
else gets dumped into the “To Be Sorted” bin. Since I really didn’t have
plans to immediately put together a basketball court for the Brickmond
display, I decided to go ahead and put together 3431 just to see how the
whole “Lego basketball” thing would work.
Not only did it work, it’s a heck of a lot of fun too! As an “adult” fan of
Lego the only playing that I typically do with a set or a MOC is the actual
building of it and then displaying it at a train show or using it in an
animation video. I really don’t “play” with my Lego – at least not in the
way my young nephews think I should.
With the Street Ball set I can barely resist playing – practically every
time I pass the table it’s sitting on I have to stop and take a few shots.
I can hear my wife laughing from the other room every time I yell out “Two
points!”
I really am impressed with how the mechanics of these sets. The figs grab
the ball with their new, curved hands. The legs have a spring mechanism at
the waist that allow you to pull the player backwards in a backbend
position. When you release the fig, he flips forward and the ball goes
flying out of his hands. The way the court for 3431 is constructed the ball
will usually stay on the court and roll back to the base of one of the figs.
The fig picks the ball up when you press him forward over the ball with arms
extended.
Kudos to the Lego engineers who figured out all the various aspects involved
in making these sets that allow you to actually play basketball.
Admittedly, I have very little experience with the soccer sets but it seems
to me that the basketball ones are better thought out, a little more
realistic in the actions the figs can perform and just overall a lot more fun.
It took a few shots to be able to score, but once you get the hang of it,
it’s really pretty simple (but not so easy that’s there’s no challenge to
it). My secret is to pull the fig way back so that the ball gets some arch
on it. Otherwise, it comes out of the fig’s hand like a bullet (in fact, I
was thinking that Brikwars fans might want to check out some of these figs
for possible battle situations -armies of figs built on these basketball
players’ legs could be used to hurl 2x2’s back and forth at each other). I
think my longest streak so far is six baskets in a row.
Soon I’ll be up to the challenge of seeing if I can get one player to pass
the ball to another. I’m not sure if that’s going to be possible though
(the passing isn’t the problem – it’s the catching).
One of the first things I thought of once I was into the fun of “street
ball” was that this set would be perfect for the BrickFest Late Night Bar
scene. I never participated in any of the soccer games but I’ve heard that
they were a lot of fun. I think 3431 makes an even better bar game because
you can have two opponents facing each other each shooting baskets at the
same time. Someone else will probably need to keep track of how many
baskets are scored (as well as chase the balls around the bar). And of
course, like most drinking games – the more drinks the players have had the
more fun there is in the execution of a simple physical task.
Speaking of taking 3431 on the road (and down to the pub…), I was having so
much fun with it, that I decided I needed a basketball set for my desk at
work. So yesterday at lunch, I went out and bought 3428 1x1 Action to keep
at the office. I haven’t had a chance to put it together and start
practicing – I’m looking forward to it though because the player bases are
not locked into the court/base so I’ll be able to move around and try
various shots from different distances.
Not only will it be fun, it will also have the added advantage (hopefully)
of disturbing the people around me who keep up a constant stream of
irrelevant, inane chatter all day long (thereby disturbing me).
When I picked up 3428 yesterday, I went ahead and got a couple of the
3-player collector’s sets. I really don’t know who any of these players are
(I grew up in the days of Dr. J and Kareem) but I did want to have some of
the heads for other creations. Of the players in the “draft” so far, the
only one I really recognize is Allen Iverson and that’s because he’s from
Virginia and occasionally returns here to be arrested. Along with the heads
and arms, I also figured that the NBA jerseys would work well for every-day
mini-fig wear – seems everywhere I go people either have a professional
sports team’s name or a clothing designer’s label plastered across their
chest. Why shouldn’t mini-figs?
I ended up getting 3564 mainly because it has a Jazz player in it. I used
to be a New Orleans Jazz fan over 20 years ago. Then I bought 3561 just
because it had Lakers and Celtics players in it – I just wanted some jerseys
from teams that I used to be at least vaguely familiar with.
I tried out the players from 3564 on the court of 3431 and you know what?
The NBA players are not as good as the mini-figs. At least that seems to be
the case for me. I know that Lego would probably say that they’re all
constructed the same, but to me the NBA figures seem to have a different
spring-action in their legs. It’s seems like they have a stronger spring.
The same action I would try with a mini-fig that would get me a basket,
sends the ball sailing over the backboard with the NBA figure. Maybe
they’re just not used to playing on a small street court.
Back to a review of 3431…
Beyond just the fun I’ve been having with the set, there are some good
pieces in it. Two of the four mini-fig heads were new to my collection. I
also like the black flattop hairpiece and stocking cap that comes with two
of them. There’s a good supply of black lattice fence pieces (12) – I’m not
sure but I may not have had any (or many) of these in this color in my
collection. Fifteen 2x2 sand green tiles are included also. Definitely
some parts here and there that I could use in other creations down the road.
For now though they’re going to stay part of the official 3431 set that I’ve
built. When I get ready to build a court for Brickmond I probably tear it down.
I think that’s about everything I wanted to say about 3431 and the
basketball sets. I just want to give my enthusiastic endorsement to the
whole Lego Basketball theme and to encourage other folks to give the sets a
try – I think you’ll be amazed at how much fun they are.
Got to go practice my hook shot now…
Greg
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Raves for 3431 and Lego Basketball in General
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| Hear hear! (...) I'll bet someone more talented than me with an RCX could come up with a decent scoreboard. (...) But I'm with you. I detest pro-sports. (I'm not entirely sure about College sports either...) But this Basketball LEGO is out and out (...) (21 years ago, 9-Jan-03, to lugnet.reviews)
| | | Re: Raves for 3431 and Lego Basketball in General
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| (...) At basketball practice tonight I worked on passing for the first time. I managed to complete 5 passes between two of the players on the 3431 court. It took me at least 50 attempts to make that many completed passes so it's far from being a (...) (21 years ago, 10-Jan-03, to lugnet.reviews)
| | | Re: Raves for 3431 and Lego Basketball in General
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| (...) Oh ya, I agree 100%!! They are very cool sets. I admit also, when I first saw pics of the sets I was not impressed. But I got the 2 on 2 streetball set also and was really surprised how fun it was. So far this is the biggest surprise for me (...) (21 years ago, 10-Jan-03, to lugnet.reviews)
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