Review: 79110 Silver Mine Shootout, part 2
Posted by Huw,
What is it with mines? Not only has LEGO made dedicated mining themes
So, Silver Mine Shootout joins a rapidly growing collection of such sets, and having built it, it's clear that it shares design similarities with many of its predecessors.
Before reading this, be sure to read first, which covers the minifigs.
Box and contents
Another cracking box cover! The box is almost square, 35 x 37 cm and, at 9 cm deep, much deeper than other comparably sized boxes.
As usual the back illustrates what parts move and suggests ways to play with the set.
Inside, there's six numbered bags, a polythene bag containing large parts, and...
...two instruction manuals, a sticker sheet with 4 stickers and a plastic 'waterfall', which you'll see later.
Here are some of the interesting parts in bag one, and the polybag: a dark tan BURP, a brown slide which is probably the same as those that appear in pink in Friends sets, dark grey old-school rails, silver ingots, dark tan double-cheese and 1 x 4 trans-clear tiles, of which there are eight in total.
Construction
Bag one contains the minifigs and various other sub-assemblies that are added to the model as you build it. Construction of the mine itself begins in earnest with bag two.
It's interesting that they've used normal 6-wide train track, but then put the old-school rails on it to make it 4-wide. I can't think of any good reason for that other than stability and ease of construction. Unless, of course, a dual gauge track is needed for different sizes of mine trains...
The mine cart is an upside-down lid of a large treasure chest. Note the 'water feature' taking shape, which is made of medium blue plates, 1 x 4 trans-clear tiles and cheese. The push-rod on the left is used to get the mine cart moving.
Bag three builds the right hand side of the base of the structure.
The barrel on the left can be rotated to...
...'blast' off the wall to reveal a silver nugget.
Bag four builds upwards...
...and adds the slide which provides a means of getting from the top floor into the mine cart.
The 'water feature' is now finished, the plastic 'waterfall' part hangs vertically and, with a slit in it, presumably minifigs can walk through it, perhaps re-enacting a scene in the movie?
Bag five continues the build upwards, and the crane, built in bag one, is added. The push-lever you can just see on the left, and in the pictures above can be pushed in to 'blast' out the small BURP above the waterfall.
I've just noticed the boulder by the crane shouldn't be where it is: it's supposed to be precariously perched in the gap in the wall on the left - see the pictures below where it's in the correct position.
Bag six contains a nice surprise: this skull and new style of horn!
The finished model
Just the office with fireplace to be added from bag six and it's done. The skull, as you can see, is mounted above the office window, some sort of trophy, perhaps? There are not many stickers in the model: one is used for the 'Keep out' sign at the front of the track, and three are used on the office roof for texture, which I haven't applied.
Turning the lever above the slide raises the hinged trap-door which hits the boulder and causes it to topple over the office roof. The desk in the office has a set of weighing scales (two frying pans handle-to-handle) on it.
Overall opinion
As you can see, this set bears more than a passing resemblance to previous mines: it shares the same overall design as 7036 Dwarves' mine and features a raised office like the original Western mine, 6761. But it does have some unique and interesting features like the waterfall and slide. It's also chock-full of useful tan, dark tan, grey and brown bricks, plates and slopes.
It was an interesting and, actually, quite a challenging build, due to the number of small slopes added throughout the process. More often than not I'd have a few left over at the end of a bag and I'd have to go back and figure out where they were supposed to go :-)
I believe the price is going to be £70 in the UK and probably $70-80 in the USA, so once again it seems pretty good value.
The minifigs (in
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37 comments on this article
Cool! 99% convinced to get this! (I'm saving up for Galaxy Squad's Galactic Titan)
@Huw- Spelling error- "The mine cart is an upside-down >>lit<< (lid) of a large..."
Awesome review and set! I'll definitely have to get this one. Thanks Huw. :) Is the stagecoach next?
Great review, thanks and which set will you be reviewing next (hopefully its the Colby city showdown) :-)
Great review, and good point about the underground mines. The Prince of Persia 7572 Quest Against Time (http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=7572-1) counts as one too!
^^^^ Thanks, the spell-checker didn't catch that :)
^^^ DrDave will be doing the stagecoach over the weekend
^^ Yes, that one, tomorrow hopefully.
^ Indeed it does. Even POTC had some sort of cave, didn't it, the fountain of youth.
@Huw, ok, awesome!
One more thing, were the instructions on cardboard or just thrown in there?
I thought that I can pass this, the train and the colby city showdown...how wrong am I.
^^ Bagged with cardboard, sorry I should've mentioned that.
@Huw, ok, that's great to hear.
Great review I'm going to modify and hope to get the train set to go thru it had an idea to due a tunnel for my older train's this might just work out will try to send some picture's.
It is like the under water themes, it is an exploring feel to it that all kids love.
As a kid I remember aqua zone, how cool it was and the under water adventures i would imagine.
Mines are mysterious, cool, and full of wonder and danger. Good review.
I would love to pick this one up.
I shall be looking forward to tomorrow then, thanks and also if you get the train set you can combine it with this mine :-)
Looks a great mine set, I will struggle to pass on the one.
I'm guessing they used the larger train track pieces because it'd only require 2 of those compared to however many you'd need to build something similar (and as sturdy). Since they're already going to be producing plenty of rail for the Constitution Train set, what's a few more for this one?
Anyway, nice-looking set although being one of the pricier sets I think I'll hold off on it until I see it at a decent discount.. It also feels a bit "understaffed" with just five minifigures at that price-point, especially since the Stagecoach Escape and Colby City Showdown sets both also come with five minifigures. Another henchman to sweeten the deal wouldn't have hurt.
Cool set, I'd like to buy it but i can't :(
Looking excellent! Both me and my kids are thrilled of this one and can´t wait untill it will hit the stores! Great review Huw!
Looks like a great set! Thanks for the review!
£70 good value? Hmm... I'd rather pay what the reviewer paid! :oP (joke).
Did i miss something? Where are the Minifigs? did you review those separate? Set looks cool and I like all the tan. Looking forward to all the Lone Ranger sets. But I am always a fan of sets (Prince of Persia) with lots of bricks that can be used in other MOCS.
Thanks HUW!
EDIT: I just went back to main page and saw part one....DUH.... sorry. I left the comment in case others did what i did...LOL
@Huw when you review the train (i forgot the exact set name) can you see if the train will ride through the mine if the pieces are taken off the track to make it wider??
Okay, since I expect the Consitution Chase set to be superb, I can conclude that this is going to be a perfect theme. Congrats, TLG. Take my money.
These sets are looking brilliant, I already have money set aside to buy them as soon as they are released. To me this seems to be one of the stand-out sets, but I will reserve my absolute judgement on that for when I actually have the models in hand.
I just noticed in fact that the sticker saying 'Keep Out' on the new set is almost identical to the one in set 6761 (the only Western set I own). Assuming that is intentional, a great touch from Lego there!
May the 4th we're travelling as a family up to Danmark for a 1 week holiday trip. Off course we're going to billund and off course I will be going home with a car full of Lone Ranger sets. Can't wait!!!!!! This set is awesome, like the others and a welcome set in my overall collection. :)
This really does look cool. I feel compelled to get it, but I am low on funds at the moment.
For short moment, I thought it actually was 7036! Says a lot about how many different ways you can make a LEGO mine, even by professionals.
@Missing Brick If you get a few BURPs and place them on their sides, you get a fairly decent jagged ground. They are not entirely useless. You will find it better than using them for a mountain. Here is an example: http://mocpages.com/moc.php/352228
They are quite difficult to deal with, but you just have to find a new way to use them Perhaps they are the an interstellar ship's engines after a bit of weathering. Don't just pass them off as mountain-side-one-use-only pieces. You can find more uses for them than this thing:
http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?colorID=86&itemID=51316
Hmm - curious - is there any reason that you won't be able to run the Lone Ranger train set through here if you take out the barriers?
that slide could be used for a cool GBC model, cant wait to get one!
^^ Yes, the gap in the front is exactly 6 wide so a 6 wide train wouldn't fit. You'd need to carry out extensive modifications.
In any case, why would a huge great steam loco be coming of a mine??
I wonder if someone calculated that it was cheaper to put in two bits of straight track to use as the basis of the narrow rails, compared to the equivalent nine 2x6 plates for sleepers (or seven 2x6 and two 1x6)...
LEGO's best rendition of a mine yet. Reminds me a lot of 6761 Bandit's Secret Hide-out
^^ More than likely, and they do give the model more stability.
I like these sets for TLR, but I think Ill be waiting a lot of BOGO50s and other sales for these.
Not big enough for a train? Challenge accepted! I love the look of this set and want to figure out an easy mod to fit the steam train through it, although I imagine height would be more of a problem than stud length would be. At least the dual gauge track would make it fit a narrow gauge MOC.
That "waterfall" is exactly same as in this set. I use it as a minifigure shower curtain
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=4192-1
I reckon the set designer requested a new mold for a straight narrow gauge track, but they did this instead as a compromise without having to make a new mold.