{"title":"Bestseller","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"il-2m3-shturmovik","title":"COBI Ilyushin IL-2 1943 Set 5745","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eIl-2 (1943)\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:32 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e643 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 36.3 cm long with a 46.4 cm wingspan, in winter camouflage with the pale blue underside. The propeller and ailerons move, the wheels fold on rubber tires, and the redesigned canopy opens for a pilot and a gunner figure. A display stand with a plate and mounting points for the figures is included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe armour is the aeroplane\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost armoured aircraft have steel plates bolted onto a normal airframe. The Il-2 does not. Its forward fuselage is a shell of armour plate up to 12 mm thick, shaped and riveted into a load-bearing structure — the engine, the cooling system, the fuel tank and the pilot all sit inside it, and it is the aircraft, not an addition to it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRussian crews called it the flying tank, and German troops on the ground called it the Schwarzer Tod. Rifle-calibre fire simply bounced off, and light flak often did too, which is what let it work at a hundred metres over a battlefield where nothing else could survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe man in the back seat\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe early Il-2 had one seat. That left it defenceless from behind, and the losses were appalling — for a period the average Il-2 survived a handful of sorties.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnits cut second cockpits into the fuselage themselves before the factory version arrived. And when the two-seater was standardised, the armoured shell was not extended: the gunner sat behind it, protected by a canvas strap and a sheet of duralumin. Gunner casualties ran several times higher than pilot casualties in the same aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround 36,000 Il-2s were built, more than any other military aircraft in history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 5744 is the later Il-2M3 in postwar Polish markings, with the swept wing and a different camouflage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 643 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2, pilot and gunner · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:32\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 36.3 × 46.4 × 12.5 cm (14.3 × 18.2 × 4.9 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47027932627226,"sku":"5745","price":71.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/5745-box-front-72dpi-1200px-RGB.png?v=1703908187"},{"product_id":"large-trainstation-with-flower-shop","title":"myBrickZ Large Trainstation with Flower Shop Set 0001","description":"\u003cp\u003eElevate your cityscape with the myBrickZ Large Train Station with Flower Shop, Set 0001. This detailed set offers a charming and functional addition to your building block collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eFeatures:\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePiece Count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1,120 high-quality pieces.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDesign:\u003c\/strong\u003e The set includes an impressive main building with a train station, a cozy flower shop, a waiting hall, and a platform with four rails.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFlower Shop:\u003c\/strong\u003e Features a vibrant array of flowers and an integrated newspaper stand, making it a colorful and bustling part of the station.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eModular Build:\u003c\/strong\u003e Thanks to its plug-in system, the set allows for flexible arrangement and customization, making it easy to adapt to different layouts.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCompatibility:\u003c\/strong\u003e Fully compatible with other major building block brands, providing seamless integration into existing collections.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eProduct Details:\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBrand:\u003c\/strong\u003e myBrickZ\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eModel Number:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0001\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Durable ABS plastic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRecommended Age:\u003c\/strong\u003e Suitable for builders aged 6 and up\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis set not only offers an engaging building experience but also adds significant visual appeal to your setup with its detailed and vibrant design.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"myBrickZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47394488320282,"sku":"MB-0001","price":80.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/KartonBild.png?v=1701565955"},{"product_id":"maserati-levante","title":"COBI Maserati Levante Set 24560","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eMaserati Levante\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e97 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 14.5 cm long, under original Maserati licence, with wheels that turn on rubber tires. All markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMaserati names its cars after winds\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Levante is a wind — the easterly that blows through the Strait of Gibraltar and across the western Mediterranean, known for arriving suddenly and bringing cloud and heavy seas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is part of a pattern the company has kept for sixty years. The Ghibli is a hot Libyan desert wind. The Bora is the cold, violent downslope wind of the Adriatic. The Mistral blows down the Rhône valley into Provence. The Khamsin is Egyptian. The Grecale comes from the north-east.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe convention began in the 1960s and has outlasted several changes of ownership. It is also unusually well chosen: a wind has a character and a direction and a place it belongs to, which is more than most car names manage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Levante itself arrived in 2016 as Maserati's first SUV — a thing the company had spent decades saying it would never build — and promptly outsold everything else it made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 24565 is the Levante Trofeo, the high-performance version with a Ferrari-built V8. Set 24567 is the GranTurismo GT3 racing car and 24568 the Maserati garage, which includes a Levante and a GranCabrio.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 97 · \u003cstrong\u003eLicensed by Maserati\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eRubber tires, printed detail\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14.5 × 6.3 × 5 cm (5.7 × 2.5 × 2.0 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47394545434906,"sku":"24560","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/24560-3D-front-72dpi-1000px-RGB.png?v=1701566353"},{"product_id":"maserati-levante-trofeo","title":"COBI Maserati Levante Trofeo Set 24565","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eMaserati Levante Trofeo\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e110 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e under original Maserati licence, with wheels that turn on rubber tires. All markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFerrari built the engine\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrofeo is the top version of the Levante, and what makes it that is a 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 producing around 580 hp — assembled by Ferrari in Maranello.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is not marketing licence. Maserati and Ferrari spent years as sister companies under the same corporate roof, and Ferrari built Maserati's V8 and V6 engines for the best part of two decades. The engines were Maserati-specified rather than Ferrari units in disguise, but they were made on Ferrari's line by Ferrari's people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt ended when the group was reorganised and Maserati brought engine production back in-house with the Nettuno V6 in 2020. For a period, though, buying a fast Maserati meant buying something with a Maranello-built engine in it — and the Levante Trofeo is one of the last.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn SUV was an uncomfortable thing for Maserati to build at all. It arrived in 2016, sold in numbers the sports cars never approached, and paid for a great deal of what followed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 24560 is the standard Levante, 24567 the GranTurismo GT3 racing car and 24568 the Maserati garage set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 110 · \u003cstrong\u003eLicensed by Maserati\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eRubber tires, printed detail\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47394759868698,"sku":"24565","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/24565-3D-front-72dpi-1000px-RGB.png?v=1701567478"},{"product_id":"maserati-granturismo-gt3-racing","title":"COBI Maserati GranTurismo GT3 Racing Set 24567","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eMaserati GranTurismo GT3 Racing\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e300 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e under original Maserati licence, and includes \u003cstrong\u003ea starting position and a garage\u003c\/strong\u003e as well as the car. Two figures are supplied, a mechanic and a driver. The wheels turn on rubber tires and all markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat GT3 means, and why it matters\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGT3 is not a model designation. It is a racing category, and it is the reason a Maserati can line up against a Porsche, a Ferrari, an Audi and a Bentley in the same race and finish within seconds of them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe class was created in 2005 with an unusual principle: rather than write a narrow technical rulebook that every car must fit, the organisers let manufacturers build very different cars — front engine, mid engine, V8, V10, turbo — and then equalise them afterwards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat equalisation is called Balance of Performance. Before each event, the governing body adjusts each model's weight, engine power, fuel capacity and aerodynamics based on how it has been performing. A car that wins too easily gets heavier. A car that struggles gets power back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a deliberately artificial arrangement and motorsport purists have complained about it for twenty years. It also worked: GT3 became the most widely used racing formula in the world, with grids of forty cars from a dozen manufacturers, because a small team can buy a customer car and be competitive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe GranTurismo MC GT3 was Maserati's entry, built from 2012 — the company's first factory-supported racing programme in decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 24560, 24565 and 24568 are the other Maserati models, including the Levante and a garage set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 300 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2, a mechanic and a driver · \u003cstrong\u003eLicensed by Maserati\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eStarting position and garage included\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47394775793946,"sku":"24567","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/24567-3D-front-72dpi-1000px-RGB.png?v=1701567606"},{"product_id":"maserati-garage-set","title":"COBI Maserati Garage Set 24568","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eMaserati Garage\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:35 set built from \u003cstrong\u003e500 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e under original Maserati licence, and contains \u003cstrong\u003ethree models\u003c\/strong\u003e: a garage building with equipment, a red \u003cstrong\u003eMaserati GranCabrio Sport\u003c\/strong\u003e and a dark blue \u003cstrong\u003eMaserati Levante\u003c\/strong\u003e. Two figures are included, a mechanic and a driver. The cars have wheels that turn on rubber tires, and all markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTwo cars and somewhere to put them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the set that makes the rest of the Maserati range work as a display rather than a row.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCOBI's individual cars are around 100 pieces each and finished the moment they are built. A garage is different: it gives the cars a place to be, a reason for the mechanic figure to exist, and a scene that can be rearranged. It is also the only way to get the GranCabrio Sport, which COBI does not sell separately.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 500 pieces it is the largest set in the Maserati line and the one to buy if you are buying only one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe two cars\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe GranCabrio Sport is the convertible version of the GranTurismo, with the 4.7-litre Ferrari-built V8 — a genuine four-seat cabriolet, which is rarer than it sounds, since most convertibles of that size have rear seats nobody can use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Levante is Maserati's SUV, introduced in 2016 and named, like most Maseratis, after a Mediterranean wind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 24560 and 24565 are the Levante and the Levante Trofeo on their own, and 24567 the GranTurismo GT3 racing car with its own garage and starting position.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 500 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2, a mechanic and a driver · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:35 · \u003cstrong\u003eLicensed by Maserati\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eGarage and two cars\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47394805186842,"sku":"24568","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/24568-3D-front-72dpi-1000px-RGB.png?v=1701567782"},{"product_id":"mirage-2000-5","title":"COBI Mirage 2000-5 Set 5801","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eMirage 2000-5\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:48 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e400 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, under original Dassault Aviation licence. The wheels fold, the ailerons move and the cockpit opens for the included pilot figure. A brick display stand with a nameplate is supplied. All markings are printed; no stickers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDassault gave up on the delta, then came back to it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Mirage III was a delta and it sold everywhere. Then Dassault built the Mirage F1 with a conventional swept wing and a tailplane, and that was not a step backwards — it was an admission.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA delta wing is superb above the speed of sound and awkward below it. It lands fast, it bleeds energy in a hard turn, and it needs a long runway. The F1 fixed all of that and was a better aircraft to operate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen the Mirage 2000 went straight back to the delta. What had changed was not aerodynamics but electronics: the 2000 was France's first production fly-by-wire fighter, and a computer making corrections dozens of times a second could compensate for everything that made a delta unpleasant. The shape that had been a compromise in 1956 became a pure advantage in 1978.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is the reason modern fighters are full of shapes that would have been unflyable a generation earlier. The Eurofighter and the Rafale are both deltas for the same reason.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhere it flies\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround 600 were built and sold to France, Brazil, Egypt, Greece, India, Peru, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan. The 2000-5 is the modernised multi-role standard with RDY radar, MICA missiles and a helmet-mounted sight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 5917 is the Mirage 2000-5F in French blue-and-white camouflage with the stork emblem. Sets 5818, 5827 and 5930 are the earlier Mirage III, and 5901 the Rafale that replaced it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 400 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 pilot · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:48 · \u003cstrong\u003eLicensed by Dassault Aviation\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eDisplay stand and nameplate\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47394910601498,"sku":"5801","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/5801-box-front-RGB-72ppi.png?v=1701569382"},{"product_id":"rafale-c","title":"COBI Rafale C Set 5802","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eRafale C\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:48 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e400 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, under original Dassault Aviation licence. The wheels fold, the ailerons move, the canopy opens for the included pilot figure and the armament is movable. A display stand with a nameplate is supplied. All markings are printed; no stickers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eOmnirole\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDassault does not call the Rafale multi-role. It calls it omnirole, and the distinction is real rather than marketing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA multi-role aircraft can do several jobs, but it is configured on the ground for the one it is about to do — bombs for a strike, missiles for air defence, a reconnaissance pod for a survey. Changing job means landing and changing the load.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Rafale was designed to carry all of it at once and switch mid-flight. A single aircraft goes out with air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground weapons and its own targeting and jamming systems on board, and the pilot can be tasked to attack a ground target, break off to intercept an aircraft, and go back — without anyone touching the pylons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reason France wanted that is arithmetic. The Rafale replaced seven different aircraft types in French service: the Jaguar, the Mirage F1, the Mirage 2000 in several versions, the Super Étendard and the Crusader. A small air force cannot afford a specialised fleet for each task, so it bought one aircraft that would not need reconfiguring between them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe C\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eC is the single-seat air force version. The M is the carrier aircraft and the B the two-seater; all three are close to identical from outside, which is itself unusual — most navalised fighters look visibly different.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 5901 is the Rafale C at this scale with 551 pieces, MICA, Meteor and AASM Hammer weapons and a newly designed vertical stabiliser. This is the earlier and simpler version of the same aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 400 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 pilot · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:48 · \u003cstrong\u003eLicensed by Dassault Aviation\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eDisplay stand and nameplate\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47394927345946,"sku":"5802","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/5802-box-front-rgb-72ppi.png?v=1701569552"},{"product_id":"f-a-18e-super-hornet™-1","title":"COBI F\/A-18E Super Hornet Set 5805","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eF\/A-18E Super Hornet\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:48 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e560 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 39 cm long, under the original Top Gun: Maverick licence in the film aircraft's markings. A full weapons load hangs under the wings, the cockpit takes a brick pilot, and a display stand with a plate carrying the aircraft name and the film logo is included. All markings are printed; no stickers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe slash in the name was new\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eF\/A-18 was the first American combat aircraft designated as both a fighter and an attack aircraft, and the slash is not a formality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmerican naval aviation had always kept the two apart. Fighters — the F-4 Phantom, the F-14 Tomcat — shot down aircraft. Attack aircraft — the A-4 Skyhawk, the A-6 Intruder, the A-7 Corsair — bombed things. They had different cockpits, different training pipelines and different squadrons, and a carrier had to find deck space for both.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Hornet did both jobs properly with one airframe and one pilot, and the Navy created the F\/A designation because neither existing letter was honest. A squadron could be assigned to air defence one day and strike the next without changing anything but the load.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is why the Hornet and then the Super Hornet swept the American carrier air wing clear. The Tomcat, the Intruder, the Corsair and the Viking are all gone, and one aircraft type now does what four used to.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 5805A is the revised Version 2 of this model, with purpose-made thin vertical fins and structural improvements — worth knowing about if the silhouette matters to you. The other Top Gun sets are 5811 and 5811A (F-14A), 5920 (F-14 from Maverick), 5859 (MiG-28), 5921 (Enemy Strike Jet) and 5922 (the carrier).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 560 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:48 · \u003cstrong\u003eOfficial Top Gun: Maverick licence\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 39 × 28.5 × 10 cm (15.4 × 11.2 × 3.9 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397546524954,"sku":"5805","price":59.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/5805-box-front-RGB-72ppi.png?v=1701644812"},{"product_id":"fire-patrol-unit","title":"COBI Fire Patrol Unit Set 1444","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eFire Patrol Unit\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e66 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 15 cm long: a fire service quad bike with a \u003cstrong\u003edetachable trailer\u003c\/strong\u003e, moving wheels on rubber tires and headlights that glow in the dark. A firefighter figure with a lowered visor is included, plus a mat and a ladder. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFire brigades really do use quads\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vehicle in this set is not invented. Fire and rescue services across Europe, Australia and the western United States operate quad bikes with trailers, and the reason is wildfire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA fire in forest, moorland or scrub does not start near a road, and an engine weighing fifteen tonnes cannot follow it. A quad with a small water or foam unit on a trailer can reach the fire front along a footpath, carry a crew member and their equipment, and get out again quickly if the wind changes — which is the part that matters most.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are also used where a fire engine would simply be in the way: festival sites, beaches, campsites, pedestrian areas and large events.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe trailer detaches on this model, which is accurate — in service the quad is used on its own for reconnaissance and with the trailer for firefighting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town. Set 1477 is the Engine 13 fire station with a sliding pole, and 26629 the Bell 429 air ambulance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 66 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 with accessories · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town · \u003cstrong\u003eDetachable trailer, glow-in-the-dark headlights\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15 × 4 × 6 cm (5.9 × 1.6 × 2.4 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397563924762,"sku":"1444","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1444BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701645675"},{"product_id":"engine-13-fire-station","title":"COBI Engine 13 Fire Station Set 1477","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eEngine 13 Fire Station\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e330 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e: a two-storey station with an exit gate, opening doors, \u003cstrong\u003ea sliding pole\u003c\/strong\u003e, two beds and a small fire engine. \u003cstrong\u003eTwo figures\u003c\/strong\u003e are included, a firefighter and a dispatcher, with a laptop and a fire extinguisher. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe pole is a real invention with a date\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery fire station in fiction has one, and it exists because of a specific man on a specific afternoon in Chicago in 1878.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEngine Company 21 was housed in a three-storey building, and the crew slept on the top floor. Getting down meant a spiral staircase, which is slow and dangerous when several men take it at once in the dark.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe company also stored hay on the upper floor for the horses, raised by a long wooden pole. One of the firefighters, George Reid, was on the third floor when the alarm came, and rather than run for the stairs he slid down the hay pole and reached the apparatus floor well ahead of everyone else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe captain, David Kenyon, asked the chief for permission to install a pole permanently. The request was met with some amusement, and it was granted. Engine 21 then began beating every other company in the city to fires, and within a few years poles were standard everywhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eModern stations are increasingly built on one floor and do not need them, which means the pole is slowly becoming a thing that exists mainly in toys.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town, COBI's contemporary civilian range. Set 1444 is the Fire Patrol Unit, and 26629 the Bell 429 air ambulance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 330 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2 with accessories · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town · \u003cstrong\u003eSliding pole, opening gate and doors, fire engine included\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397567627546,"sku":"1477","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1477BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701645801"},{"product_id":"police-snowmobile","title":"COBI Police Snowmobile Set 1544","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003ePolice Snowmobile\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e100 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 11 cm long, with small tracks, skis and \u003cstrong\u003eelements that glow in the dark\u003c\/strong\u003e. A police officer figure is included. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePolice forces really do use these\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA snowmobile with police markings sounds like something invented for a toy range. It is not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Canada and Alaska, police and mountain rescue units operate them as standard equipment, because for several months a year large areas are reachable by nothing else. A patrol car cannot leave a ploughed road; a snowmobile crosses open country at speed and carries a casualty out on a sled behind it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tasks are ordinary policing done in snow: search and rescue, accident response, checking on isolated properties, and — genuinely a large part of the work — enforcing the rules about where other snowmobiles are allowed to go.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe glowing parts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe luminous elements are the detail children notice first. They charge in daylight and glow for a while in a dark room, which is unusual in COBI's range and makes this a better set than its size suggests for a young child.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town. Sets 1547, 1548, 1565 and 1572 are other police sets, and 26628 and 26630 police helicopters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 100 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town · \u003cstrong\u003eGlow-in-the-dark elements\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11 × 6.5 × 7 cm (4.3 × 2.6 × 2.8 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397571985690,"sku":"1544","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1544BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701645910"},{"product_id":"police-patrol","title":"COBI Police Patrol Set 1547","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003ePolice Patrol\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e61 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e: a police quad bike with wheels that turn on thick rubber tires and \u003cstrong\u003efront lamps that glow in the dark\u003c\/strong\u003e. A police officer figure is included with a shortwave radio and a helmet with a lowered visor. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA quad is a serious piece of police equipment\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePolice forces use all-terrain vehicles for the same reason farmers and mountain rescue teams do: they go where a car cannot and carry a person and their kit at speed over ground that would take twenty minutes to walk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn practice that means beaches, parks, festival sites, forest tracks, dunes and the edges of motorways — and searching for a missing person, which is the job where covering ground quickly matters most.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey are also used where a patrol car would be wrong for a different reason: an officer on a quad is visible and approachable in a way that one behind glass is not, which is why seaside and park units favour them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe glowing lamps\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe luminous front lights charge in daylight and glow in a dark room. It is a small thing and it is the detail a child notices first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 61 pieces this is one of the smallest sets COBI makes and a sensible first one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town. Sets 1544, 1548, 1565 and 1572 are other police sets, and 26628 and 26630 police helicopters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 61 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 with accessories · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town · \u003cstrong\u003eGlow-in-the-dark lamps\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397574279450,"sku":"1547","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1547BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701645989"},{"product_id":"police-highway-patrol","title":"COBI Police Highway Patrol Set 1548","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003ePolice Highway Patrol\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e117 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 15 cm long: a police car with moving wheels and durable printed markings, using specially shaped body bricks. A police officer figure is included. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHighway patrol is a separate job\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn most countries the police who work motorways are a distinct unit with distinct training, and the reason is that almost nothing they do resembles ordinary policing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA traffic officer spends the day at speed, stops vehicles on a hard shoulder with traffic passing at 120 km\/h a metre away, and is usually first at serious collisions — which means being trained in extrication and trauma care rather than in taking statements.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cars are different too: higher-powered, with different tyres and brakes, and fitted out for a shift spent entirely in the vehicle. A patrol car that will be driven hard for eight hours is not the same purchase as one that does short urban trips.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe other half of the work is not catching anyone. It is closing lanes, managing queues and keeping a motorway moving after something has gone wrong, which is unglamorous and is most of the job.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town. Sets 1544, 1547, 1565 and 1572 are other police sets, and 26628 and 26630 police helicopters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 117 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15 × 5.5 × 4.5 cm (5.9 × 2.2 × 1.8 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397577064730,"sku":"1548","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1548BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701646070"},{"product_id":"harbor-patrol","title":"COBI Harbor Patrol Set 1565","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eHarbor Patrol\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e300 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e and contains \u003cstrong\u003efour models\u003c\/strong\u003e: a harbour police station, a patrol car with a trailer, an inflatable pontoon and a water scooter. \u003cstrong\u003eThree figures\u003c\/strong\u003e are included with an MG machine gun with grenade launcher, an RKM machine gun and a handgun. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe largest Action Town police set COBI makes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree hundred pieces, four vehicles and three figures is unusual at this price, and it is the reason to choose this one over the smaller police sets: it contains a building.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA patrol car on its own is an object. A station with a car, a trailer, a boat and somewhere for them to be is a place, and a child decides what happens there. That kind of play outlasts a finished model by a long way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy harbour police exist separately\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost countries have a marine or harbour police unit distinct from the ordinary force, and the work genuinely is different.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are no lanes and no road, so a pursuit is a matter of interception rather than following. A boat leaves no tracks and can be abandoned. Jurisdiction changes at the water's edge and again offshore. And a large part of the job is not crime at all but rescue — marine police are frequently the first vessel to reach someone in the water, which is why these units train for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pontoon and the water scooter in this set are the two things such a unit actually uses: something stable that can take people aboard, and something fast enough to catch what it is chasing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town. Sets 1544, 1547, 1548 and 1572 are the smaller police sets, and 26628 and 26630 police helicopters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 300 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 3 with accessories · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town · \u003cstrong\u003eStation, car, trailer, pontoon and water scooter\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397579620634,"sku":"1565","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1565BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701646147"},{"product_id":"police-k-9-unit","title":"COBI Police K-9 Unit Set 1572","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003ePolice K-9 Unit\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e90 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e and contains a police car and \u003cstrong\u003etwo figures\u003c\/strong\u003e: an officer with handcuffs and a dog. Part of the Action Town range and compatible with other brick brands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe dog is the equipment\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA police dog is not a mascot, and what it does is genuinely difficult to replace with a machine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA dog's nose has something in the order of 220 million scent receptors against a human's five million, and the part of its brain that processes smell is proportionally forty times larger. It can separate one scent from a mixture the way a person picks a single voice out of a crowded room — which is why dogs find people, not just substances.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor tracking that matters more than sensitivity. A person walking leaves skin cells and disturbed vegetation, and the scent degrades over time at a predictable rate. A trained dog reads the difference between an older and a fresher part of the trail and works out which way the person went. No instrument does that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHandler and dog are trained as a pair and usually stay together for the dog's whole working life, which is why police forces treat the pairing rather than the animal as the unit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town, COBI's contemporary civilian range. Sets 1544, 1547, 1548 and 1565 are other police sets, and 26628 and 26630 are police helicopters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 90 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2, an officer and a dog · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397582864666,"sku":"1572","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1572BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701646230"},{"product_id":"at-the-vet","title":"COBI At The Vet Set 1740","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eAt The Vet\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e100 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e: a veterinary clinic with an examination table, an X-ray facility, an armchair, a desk, a laptop and a first-aid kit. The examination lamp swings on a movable arm and \u003cstrong\u003eglows in the dark\u003c\/strong\u003e. Two figures are included, a vet and a cat, with a stethoscope and a vase.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy the X-ray machine is the right detail\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA veterinary clinic uses imaging far more heavily than a doctor's surgery does, and the reason is simple: the patient cannot tell you where it hurts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA human patient describes the pain, says when it started, and answers questions. A cat does none of that, and will actively hide illness — concealing weakness is a survival instinct, and by the time a cat looks unwell it has usually been unwell for some time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo the vet works from what can be observed and measured: physical examination, blood work, and images. An X-ray answers questions the patient will not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCOBI has put the machine in a hundred-piece set, which is a better choice than another piece of furniture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town, COBI's contemporary civilian range. Set 1872 is the equestrian set and 1875 the countryside farm, both with animals that work in this scene. The random figure bags, sets 1852 and 1853, sometimes contain a vet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 100 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2, a vet and a cat · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town · \u003cstrong\u003eGlow-in-the-dark lamp\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13 × 12 × 7 cm (5.1 × 4.7 × 2.8 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47397589909786,"sku":"1740","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1740BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701646371"},{"product_id":"equestrian-competition","title":"COBI Equestrian Competition Set 1872","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eEquestrian Competition\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e320 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e: a car with a horse trailer, a jumping course with crossbars and sandbags, and a winner's podium. \u003cstrong\u003eTwo figures\u003c\/strong\u003e are included, a rider and a horse, with three cups, two riding crops and a horse cloth. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHow show jumping is actually scored\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe course in this set has crossbars to be jumped, and the sport built around them is decided by mistakes rather than by style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA rider starts with a clean sheet. Knocking a pole down costs four faults. A refusal costs four. A fall ends the round. Going over the time allowed costs one fault for every few seconds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA round with no faults is a clear round, and if several riders go clear they jump again over a shortened course against the clock — the jump-off, which is where the speed comes from. Nobody is scored on how it looked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reason it works that way is that the rules were written for an objective test of whether horse and rider could get over an obstacle course. Judging elegance is a different sport, called dressage, with a different set of rules and a great deal more argument.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town. Set 1875 is the countryside farm, which includes a horse and a rider and works with this course, and 1740 the veterinary clinic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2, a rider and a horse · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town · \u003cstrong\u003eCar with trailer, jumping course and podium\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e podium 13 × 6.5 × 9 cm; car with trailer 24.5 × 5.5 × 9 cm\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47398424215834,"sku":"1872","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1.webp?v=1701662755"},{"product_id":"countryside-farm","title":"COBI Countryside Farm Set 1875","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eCountryside Farm\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e310 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 29 cm wide: a barn with a large sliding door, a hay loft reached by a ladder, and an animal shed with a raised roof and opening doors. \u003cstrong\u003eFour figures\u003c\/strong\u003e are included — a rider, a horse, a cow and a pig — with a watering can, a broom, an axe, a spade, a barrel of carrots, a drinking trough and sandbags. Part of the Action Town range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat a farm set does that a vehicle set does not\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost of COBI's output is a single object — a tank, an aircraft, a car — that is finished when it is built and then displayed. This is the other kind of set, and the difference matters if you are buying for a child.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA barn with a sliding door, a loft with a ladder, animals and a handful of tools is not a model of anything. It is a place with things in it, and a child decides what happens there. The loft can be climbed into, the animals can be moved, the door opens and shuts, and none of it has a correct configuration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat kind of play lasts longer than a completed vehicle does, and it is the reason ranges like Action Town exist alongside the historical collection. It also mixes: the Action Town figures sold separately as sets 1852 and 1853 are the same size, and the farm animals work in any scene.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 310 pieces it is a reasonable evening's building for an adult and child together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Action Town. Sets 1740 and 1872 are the veterinary and equestrian sets, and 1477 the fire station.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 310 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 4, a rider and three animals · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Action Town\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 29 × 13 × 12.5 cm (11.4 × 5.1 × 4.9 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47398452134170,"sku":"1875","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/1875BoxVorne.jpg?v=1701662976"},{"product_id":"su-100","title":"COBI SU-100 Set 2541","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eSU-100\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e655 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 32 cm long, with working tracks, a movable gun, an opening hatch and a detailed engine under the service flap. \u003cstrong\u003eMarkings for Soviet or Polish service\u003c\/strong\u003e are supplied, along with a figure of a soldier with a Mosin rifle, a cap and a red banner. The manual includes a statistics card for the free COBI Historical Battle Game. All markings are printed; no stickers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe gun is still in service\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe SU-100 was a stopgap: take the existing SU-85 hull, put in the new D-10 100 mm gun, and get something into the field that could kill a Panther or a Tiger reliably. Around 4,500 were built from 1944.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe vehicle is long obsolete. The gun is not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe D-10 went on to arm the T-54 and then the T-55 — the most-produced tank in history, with somewhere around 100,000 built — and it stayed in production for decades in the Soviet Union, China, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere. T-55s and their derivatives are still in use in a number of armies today, and the gun in them is a direct descendant of the one on this model.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA weapon designed in 1944 to deal with German heavy tanks has outlived the tanks it was built against, the country that built it, and the Cold War. Very few pieces of military hardware have that kind of run.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Polish markings\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSU-100s served with the Polish forces raised in the Soviet Union and stayed in the Polish army well after the war. Several countries kept them in reserve into the 2000s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 3096 is the ISU-152 at 1:72, and sets 2595, 3088 and 3092 the T-34 family this chassis descends from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 655 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 with banner · \u003cstrong\u003eSoviet or Polish markings\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 32 × 8.5 × 11 cm (12.6 × 3.3 × 4.3 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47434470850842,"sku":"2541","price":64.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/2541-box-front.png?v=1702078045"},{"product_id":"ch-47-chinook","title":"COBI CH-47 Chinook Set 5807","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eCH-47 Chinook\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:48 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e815 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e in US Army colours. The rotors turn, a loading flap opens, and \u003cstrong\u003ea rope with a cargo hook\u003c\/strong\u003e hangs from the belly. Two pilot figures are included. All markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eNo tail rotor means all the power lifts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA conventional helicopter has a problem: the main rotor tries to spin the fuselage in the opposite direction, and a tail rotor has to counteract it. That tail rotor consumes somewhere between 5 and 15 per cent of the engine power, and it produces no lift whatever.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Chinook has two main rotors turning in opposite directions, one at each end. They cancel each other's torque, so there is nothing to counteract and no tail rotor to feed. Every bit of power goes into lifting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a helicopter that can carry close to its own empty weight. A Chinook lifts around eleven tonnes on the hook — artillery pieces, light vehicles, containers, other helicopters — and that hook is the reason the rope is in this set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTandem rotors have a second advantage nobody expects: the aircraft is far less fussy about where the load sits. A single-rotor helicopter has a narrow centre-of-gravity window; a Chinook has a long one, because there is a rotor at each end holding it up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn production since 1961\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSixty-five years and still being built, which almost nothing else in aviation can claim. The current F model shares the shape and very little else with the ones that flew in Vietnam. Around twenty countries operate it, and the US Army expects to fly Chinooks into the 2060s — a century of service.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 815 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2 pilots · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:48 · \u003cstrong\u003eCargo rope and hook included\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47434607198490,"sku":"5807","price":199.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/5807-box-front-RGB72ppi.png?v=1702079563"},{"product_id":"1937-horch-901-kfz-15","title":"COBI 1937 Horch 901 kfz.15 Set 2405","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003e1937 Horch 901 Kfz. 15\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:35 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e185 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 13 cm long, in European theatre markings. New brick types were introduced for this model, useful for building cars generally. A figure of a German driver with binoculars and a printed nameplate are included. All markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGermany tried to standardise its cars and failed\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the mid-1930s the German army set out to solve a real problem: it had hundreds of different vehicle types, each with its own parts, and no workshop could stock spares for them all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe answer was the Einheits-PKW programme — the standard car. Three universal all-wheel-drive chassis, light, medium and heavy, with bodies fitted according to role, built by several manufacturers to one specification. The Horch 901 is the medium one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn paper it was exactly right. In practice it went wrong in a way that is worth understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe engineers, given a clean sheet, produced vehicles that were genuinely excellent and completely impractical: four-wheel drive, independent suspension on all four wheels, sometimes four-wheel steering, and a level of mechanical complexity that made them slow to build, expensive to buy and difficult to repair in a field. A standard car that costs three times a civilian one and needs a trained mechanic is not a standard car.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe programme was cancelled in 1943 and replaced by simplified designs based on ordinary commercial vehicles — and by the Volkswagen Kübelwagen, which cost a fraction and worked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 2256 is the same vehicle in Afrika Korps desert paint. Sets 2802 and 2803 are the Kübelwagen that replaced this whole idea.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 185 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 driver with binoculars · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:35\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13 × 5.5 cm (5.1 × 2.2 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47434763469082,"sku":"2405","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/2405-3D-front-72dpi-1000px-RGB.png?v=1702083643"},{"product_id":"trabant-601-universal-feuerwehr","title":"COBI Trabant 601 Universal Feuerwehr Set 24555","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eTrabant 601 Universal Feuerwehr\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:35 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e77 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 10 cm long, under licence, in fire service red with FEUERWEHR lettering and a roof beacon. The wheels turn on rubber tires and all markings are printed — no stickers. A brick with the car's name is included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat the body was actually made of\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Trabant's bodywork is Duroplast, and the material is the most misunderstood thing about the car.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not plastic in the ordinary sense and it is certainly not cardboard, which is the joke everyone makes. Duroplast is a thermoset composite: cotton waste — the short fibres left over from Soviet textile mills — pressed with phenol resin under heat. The result is closer in principle to fibreglass than to anything else, with fibre providing the strength and resin holding it together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEast Germany used it because it had no steel to spare and plenty of access to Soviet cotton waste. It turned out to have real advantages: it does not rust, which is why so many Trabants survive, and the panels were reasonably resistant to knocks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe drawback nobody solved was disposal. A thermoset cannot be melted down and reused the way steel or thermoplastic can, so after 1990 there were tens of thousands of Trabant bodies that could not be recycled by any normal means. Various schemes were tried, including bacterial digestion, and most of the problem was eventually solved by grinding them up as construction filler.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome descriptions of the car claim Duroplast has a melting point similar to aluminium. It does not have a melting point at all — that is the defining property of a thermoset, and it is exactly why the disposal problem existed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe car\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 601 was launched in 1964 and built until 1990 with very little change. Just over 100 km\/h flat out, and a waiting list that ran to well over a decade — people put their children's names down at birth. The Universal is the estate version.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 77 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:35 · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10 × 5 × 4.5 cm (3.9 × 2.0 × 1.8 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47440890233114,"sku":"24555","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/24555-s2-2019-3D-box-front-1000px-72ppi-RGB.png?v=1702163046"},{"product_id":"1965-fiat-abarth-595","title":"COBI 1965 Fiat Abarth 595 White Set 24524","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003e1965 Fiat Abarth 595\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:35 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e70 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 9 cm long, in white with a red side stripe reading FIAT ABARTH 595 and the Abarth scorpion on the bonnet. The wheels rotate on tires, and the set includes a block printed with the model name and year. All markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe car that motorised Italy, then got faster\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Fiat 500 arrived in 1957 and did for Italy what the Beetle had done for Germany: it put a country on wheels that had mostly been walking. It was 2.97 metres long, air-cooled, rear-engined, and made under 18 horsepower.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1965 Abarth took that car and gave it a 595 cc engine, a sports exhaust, stiffer suspension and better brakes — roughly half again as much power in a shell that weighed barely 500 kilos. The result was quick enough to embarrass much larger cars on a mountain road, which is exactly where Italians drove.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the Youngtimer collection at 1:35. Set 24514 is the same car in plain yellow. The large 1:12 models are sets 24353 and 24354.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 70 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:35 · \u003cstrong\u003eColour:\u003c\/strong\u003e white with red stripe\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9 × 4 × 4 cm (3.5 × 1.6 × 1.6 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47440901898522,"sku":"24524","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/24524-3D-front-72dpi-1000px-RGB.png?v=1702163520"},{"product_id":"jeffreys-invention","title":"COBI Jeffrey's Invention Set 20052","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eJeffrey's Invention\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e150 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 13.5 cm long, with opening doors, storage space in the boot and \u003cstrong\u003epositional axles\u003c\/strong\u003e. A figure of Jeffrey is included. Part of the Monster Trux range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThis one is invented, and that is the point\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost of what COBI makes reproduces something that existed. This does not. Jeffrey is a character, his machine is made up, and the set is built around the idea that he assembles vehicles out of whatever is lying around.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhich makes it a different kind of purchase. There is no correct way for it to look when finished, and nothing to get wrong — so a child who takes it apart and builds something else has not ruined a model, they have done what the set suggests.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe positional axles are the feature that supports that. They can be set at different heights and angles, so the same parts make a lowered machine or one on tall wheels, and the vehicle can be changed without rebuilding it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 150 pieces it is a reasonable size for a child building alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of Monster Trux, COBI's range of invented vehicles for younger builders. Sets 20059 and 20060 are from the same line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 150 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1, Jeffrey · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Monster Trux · \u003cstrong\u003eOpening doors, boot storage, positional axles\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 13.5 × 9.8 × 9 cm (5.3 × 3.9 × 3.5 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47484061286682,"sku":"20052","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/20052BoxVorne.jpg?v=1702951413"},{"product_id":"atv-competition","title":"COBI ATV Competition Set 20059","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eATV Competition\u003c\/strong\u003e builds a quad bike \u003cstrong\u003e10.5 cm long and 5.5 cm high\u003c\/strong\u003e, fitted with \u003cstrong\u003elight-up bricks\u003c\/strong\u003e. Part of the Monster Trux range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe lighting bricks are the reason to choose this one\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCOBI makes a number of small vehicles at this price. What separates this set is that it contains genuine light-up elements rather than luminous ones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLuminous parts — the glow-in-the-dark bricks in several Action Town sets — store daylight and release it slowly. They are charming and they fade within minutes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA lighting brick has a small LED and a battery in it, and it stays lit. For a child that is the difference between a detail and a feature, and it is the thing that gets a vehicle taken into a dark room on purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMonster Trux\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCOBI's range of invented vehicles for younger builders — nothing based on a real machine, no fixed scale, and sets designed to be taken apart and rebuilt rather than displayed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 20052 and 20060 are from the same line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Monster Trux · \u003cstrong\u003eLight-up bricks included\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 10.5 × 5.5 cm (4.1 × 2.2 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47484064825626,"sku":"20059","price":27.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/20059BoxVorne.jpg?v=1702951505"},{"product_id":"vintage-racing-circuit","title":"COBI Vintage Racing Circuit Set 20060","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eVintage Racing Circuit\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e120 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e and includes a racing driver figure. Age 5+, and compatible with other brick brands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA track rather than a car\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlmost everything COBI makes is a vehicle. This is the surface it drives on, and that changes what the set does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA finished car sits on a shelf. A piece of circuit is somewhere for cars that already exist to go — and since COBI's small vehicles are all roughly the same size and fully compatible with each other, this works with whatever is already in the box: the Maserati at 1:35, the Monster Trux machines, the Action Town cars.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is the reason to buy a set like this. On its own it is a hundred and twenty pieces and a figure. Alongside four or five small cars it turns a collection into a scene, and a scene gets played with for longer than a model does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the Monster Trux line for younger builders, with sets 20052 and 20059. The small cars that suit it best are the 1:35 Maseratis (24560, 24565), the Volkswagens (24614, 24660–24663) and the Action Town vehicles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 120 · \u003cstrong\u003eFigures:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 racing driver · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 5+ · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Monster Trux\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47484066660634,"sku":"20060","price":27.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/20060BoxVorne.jpg?v=1702951575"},{"product_id":"churchill-i","title":"COBI Churchill I Set 3064","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eChurchill I\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:48 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e300 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 14.5 cm long, with a movable gun, a rotating turret and working tracks. All markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIt had two guns, and one of them was in the wrong place\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Churchill I is the first production version, and it is easy to identify because of something no later Churchill has: a howitzer in the front of the hull.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe turret held a 2-pounder, a good anti-tank gun with one fatal gap — it fired no high-explosive shell at all. So a Churchill I could destroy a tank and do nothing whatever to an anti-tank gun, a bunker or a house full of infantry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fix was to put a 3-inch howitzer in the hull front, firing high explosive, aimed by the hull gunner. That gave the tank both kinds of shell, and it came straight out of First World War thinking: the Mark I and Mark V had carried guns in hull sponsons for exactly the same reason.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt did not work. A hull-mounted gun can only shoot roughly where the tank is pointing, the two gunners could not coordinate, and the arrangement cost internal space. From the Churchill III onwards the turret got a 6-pounder that fired both types of ammunition, and the hull howitzer was replaced by a machine gun.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a good illustration of how armies solve problems: first by adding something, then by realising the answer was a better gun in the turret all along.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThis is a World of Tanks set\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCOBI produced this model and set 3061 under a Wargaming licence, which is why both are at 1:48 and why the subjects are vehicles familiar from the game rather than from museums.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 2717 is the Churchill Mk. IV at this scale and 3046 the Mk. III at 1:35 from Company of Heroes 3.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 300 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:48 · \u003cstrong\u003eWorld of Tanks licence\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14.5 × 6 × 8 cm (5.7 × 2.4 × 3.1 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47484068725018,"sku":"3064","price":59.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/3064BoxVorne.jpg?v=1702951785"},{"product_id":"t-34","title":"COBI T-34 Set 3061","description":"\u003cp\u003eCOBI's \u003cstrong\u003eT-34\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:48 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e268 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, 14.5 cm long, with a movable gun, a rotating turret and working tracks. All markings are printed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe tracks were the secret\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEveryone knows about the T-34's sloped armour. The less celebrated advantage was underneath it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA T-34's tracks are 550 mm wide — far wider than anything the Germans were using in 1941, where 380 to 400 mm was normal. Wide tracks spread the tank's weight over more ground, and ground pressure is what decides whether a vehicle drives across a field or sinks into it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the autumn rains and the spring thaw on the Eastern Front, that difference was decisive. Roads turned to liquid mud for weeks at a time — the Russians call it rasputitsa — and German tanks bogged down in terrain T-34s crossed at speed. Entire operations stopped because one side could move and the other could not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Germans noticed. The Panther and Tiger were both given very wide tracks, and the Panzer IV received extra-wide Ostketten — east tracks — specifically for winter use on the Eastern Front. The T-34 taught them that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThis is a World of Tanks set\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCOBI produced this model and set 3064 under a Wargaming licence, which is why both are at 1:48 and why the subjects are vehicles familiar from the game.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the COBI range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 2595 is the T-34\/76 at 1:28 with a removable engine, 3088 the 1:72 mini, and 2716 and 3092 the later T-34-85.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 268 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:48 · \u003cstrong\u003eWorld of Tanks licence\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14.5 × 6 × 6.5 cm (5.7 × 2.4 × 2.6 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"COBI","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47484081897754,"sku":"3061","price":59.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/3061BoxVorne.jpg?v=1702951871"},{"product_id":"kingdom-come-deliverance-skalitz-merchant","title":"Xingbao Kingdom Come Deliverance, Skalitz Merchant Set 11005","description":"\u003cp\u003eStep into the world of Kingdom Come: Deliverance with the BlueBrixx Skalitz Merchant, Set 11005. This detailed model replicates a historical marketplace from the game, offering an engaging building experience for fans and collectors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eFeatures:\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePiece Count:\u003c\/strong\u003e The set includes 399 high-quality ABS plastic pieces.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDesign:\u003c\/strong\u003e The model features a medieval merchant's stall with various goods, capturing the essence of a bustling medieval marketplace.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Once assembled, the set measures approximately 25 cm in length, 20 cm in width, and 15 cm in height.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCompatibility:\u003c\/strong\u003e Fully compatible with other major building block brands, making it easy to integrate into larger modular displays.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAge Recommendation:\u003c\/strong\u003e Suitable for ages 8 and up.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eProduct Details:\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eManufacturer:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eModel Number:\u003c\/strong\u003e 11005\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e Kingdom Come: Deliverance\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Durable ABS plastic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis set is perfect for enthusiasts of medieval history and the Kingdom Come: Deliverance game, providing a detailed and immersive building experience. It is a great addition to any modular building collection, enhancing the historical ambiance of your display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c!----\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Xingbao","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494801162522,"sku":"XB-11005","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/11005_1.png?v=1703124930"},{"product_id":"m5-stuart-tank","title":"BlueBrixx M5 Stuart Tank Set 100653","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eM5 Stuart\u003c\/strong\u003e is a model of the American light tank, built from \u003cstrong\u003e473 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e and measuring around \u003cstrong\u003e14 cm long\u003c\/strong\u003e. Designed by Adrian, released 2019.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIt ran on two Cadillac car engines\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is not a simplification. The M5 Stuart was powered by a pair of Cadillac V8 automobile engines, coupled to two Hydra-Matic automatic transmissions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reason was supply. The earlier M3 Stuart used a Continental radial — an aircraft engine — and by 1941 every radial that could be built was wanted for aeroplanes. Cadillac proposed an alternative using what it already had on the line, drove a converted tank 800 kilometres to prove it, and got the contract.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result was better than the engine it replaced. The V8s were quieter, easier to maintain, ran on lower-grade fuel, and the automatic gearboxes meant a driver needed far less training — which mattered enormously when crews were being produced in tens of thousands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround 8,900 were built. It is one of the few cases where a wartime substitution made a vehicle better rather than merely available.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe British called it the Honey\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStuart is the American name, after the Confederate cavalry general. British crews in the Western Desert, who received the tanks under Lend-Lease, called it the Honey — reportedly because a driver came back from a first test drive and said it was a honey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey meant it. The Stuart was fast, mechanically reliable and comfortable by the standards of British tanks of 1941, which had a well-earned reputation for breaking down. Its gun was too small to fight German armour by then, so it was used for reconnaissance — the job it was actually good at.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 473 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Adrian · \u003cstrong\u003eModel length:\u003c\/strong\u003e approx. 14 cm (5.5 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494806896922,"sku":"BB-100653","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/100653_2.jpg?v=1703125142"},{"product_id":"gmc-m36-jackson","title":"BlueBrixx GMC M36 Jackson Set 100655","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eGMC M36 Jackson\u003c\/strong\u003e is a model of the American tank destroyer, built from \u003cstrong\u003e653 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e at roughly 1:32 to 1:35, measuring around \u003cstrong\u003e20 cm long\u003c\/strong\u003e. Designed by Adrian. No stickers or prints. Age 12+.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe gun came off an anti-aircraft mounting\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy mid-1944 the American army had a problem it had been told it would not have. Its tank destroyers carried a 3-inch gun that could not reliably penetrate a Panther from the front at normal combat range, and Panthers were what they kept meeting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe answer was already in the inventory. The 90 mm M1 was an anti-aircraft gun — designed to throw a shell several thousand metres upwards — and a weapon built for that has exactly the high muzzle velocity that punches through armour. It was adapted for a turret and put on the M10's hull.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe M36 reached Europe in September 1944 and was the only American vehicle in wide service that could kill a Panther head-on at ordinary ranges. It arrived weeks before the Ardennes offensive, where that mattered a great deal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eOpen on top, and why\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmerican tank destroyer doctrine held that these vehicles should be fast and hard-hitting rather than protected — they were meant to rush to where enemy armour had broken through, shoot, and move. So the turret has no roof: it saves weight, and it gives the crew the all-round vision that ambush work needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn practice it meant no protection from airbursts, grenades or anything dropped from above, and crews improvised covers from whatever they could find. Late-production M36s were given a folding armoured roof, which is the army admitting the doctrine had been wrong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 100653 is the M5 Stuart, the American light tank from the same designer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 653 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e approx. 1:32–1:35 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Adrian · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12+ · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel length:\u003c\/strong\u003e approx. 20 cm (7.9 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494812795162,"sku":"BB-100655","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/100655_1.jpg?v=1703125315"},{"product_id":"locomotive-usa-4884","title":"BlueBrixx Locomotive USA 4884 Big Boy Set 102921","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eLocomotive USA 4884 \"Big Boy\"\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e1,349 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, measuring \u003cstrong\u003e85 cm long\u003c\/strong\u003e, 7 cm wide and 9 cm high. Designed by Alex, released 2019. No stickers. Note that the parts come \u003cstrong\u003ewithout bag separation\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe largest steam locomotives ever built\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnion Pacific ordered them for one specific problem: Sherman Hill, a long climb in Wyoming where trains had to be split or double-headed, which cost time and crews.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe answer was a locomotive with two sets of driving wheels under one enormous boiler, the front set hinged so the whole machine could take a curve. The wheel arrangement is 4-8-8-4, which is where the class number 4884 comes from, and the name came from an unknown shop worker who chalked \"Big Boy\" on a smokebox during construction. Union Pacific kept it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwenty-five were built between 1941 and 1944. At roughly 40 metres with tender and around 540 tonnes, they remain the largest and heaviest steam locomotives ever put into service anywhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey pulled 3,600-tonne freight trains over the mountain without help, which is precisely what they were for and essentially all they ever did.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eOne of them still runs\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNumber 4014 was retired in 1961 and spent fifty years in a Los Angeles museum. Union Pacific bought it back in 2013, towed it to Cheyenne, and spent five years rebuilding it — converting it to burn oil rather than coal, because nobody supplies locomotive coal any more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt steamed again in May 2019 and now tours the American west. It is the only operating Big Boy in the world, and the largest working steam locomotive anywhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBefore you start\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e85 centimetres is longer than most shelves, and the parts arrive unsorted rather than in numbered bags. Sorting by colour and shape into trays before starting is worth the half hour on a set this size.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1,349 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eNo bag separation\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 85 × 7 × 9 cm (33.5 × 2.8 × 3.5 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494816760090,"sku":"BB-102921","price":149.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102921_1.jpg?v=1703125405"},{"product_id":"police-car-usa-suv","title":"BlueBrixx Police Car USA SUV Set 101867","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003ePolice Car USA SUV\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e242 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e. Designed by Alex, released 2018. No stickers or prints. Instructions are supplied as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e after registering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAmerican police cars stopped being cars\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor forty years an American patrol car meant one thing: a large rear-wheel-drive sedan, and for most of the 1990s and 2000s that meant a Ford Crown Victoria. Departments bought them by the thousand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFord stopped building it in 2011, and there was nothing to replace it. The body-on-frame sedan had disappeared from American showrooms, because private buyers had moved to SUVs and pickups and manufacturers followed them. A police force cannot order a car nobody is making.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo forces moved to SUVs, and then discovered that they preferred them. An SUV carries far more equipment — and the amount of equipment in a patrol vehicle has grown enormously, with computers, radios, weapons, medical kit and increasingly a prisoner cage taking space a boot no longer had. It sits higher, which helps in traffic and in snow. It is easier for an officer wearing a duty belt and body armour to get in and out of quickly, which sounds trivial and is not when it happens forty times a shift.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin about a decade the sedan had essentially vanished from American policing. It is one of the clearest cases of a whole professional fleet being reshaped by what private consumers happened to want.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 107587, 107415, 108027 and 108137 are the BlueBrixx Play city buildings and vehicles this fits alongside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 242 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494867222810,"sku":"BB-101867","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/101867_1.jpg?v=1703126188"},{"product_id":"train-station","title":"BlueBrixx Train Station Set 101043","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eTrain Station\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e3,563 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, reproducing a classic railway station. Age 14+.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe instructions are not in the box\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis needs saying first, because it is unusual and it surprises people.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx supplies the building instructions for this set as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e from its website, after registering an account. There is no printed manual in the carton.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a 3,563-piece build that is a real practical difference. You will be working from a screen for many hours, which means a tablet or laptop on the table beside the parts, and it means the instructions cannot be lost but also cannot be handed to someone else with the set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is how BlueBrixx keeps the price of its larger Specials models where it is, and a great many builders prefer digital instructions anyway — you can zoom in on a step, which no printed page allows. But it should not be a discovery you make after opening the box.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA station is what turns a layout into a place\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA model railway with track and rolling stock is a mechanism. A station is where it becomes a scene: somewhere the trains are going, somewhere people would stand, a reason for the whole thing to exist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is why station buildings are disproportionately represented in every model railway range ever made, and why they are usually the most detailed structure a manufacturer produces. At 3,563 pieces this is one of the largest buildings BlueBrixx has made, and it is the centrepiece of the Trains series rather than an accessory to it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 102535 (Railway Platform) and 102788 (Freight Shed) are the other station buildings, designed to stand alongside this one. The locomotives and rolling stock are a separate part of the Trains series.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 3,563 · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14+ · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download, no printed manual\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494878069018,"sku":"BB-101043","price":349.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/101043_1.jpg?v=1703126333"},{"product_id":"freight-shed","title":"BlueBrixx Freight Shed Set 102788","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eFreight Shed\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e1,033 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e on a base of \u003cstrong\u003e38.5 × 25.5 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e, with the shed itself 24 × 14.5 cm. Sliding doors, a \u003cstrong\u003estudless interior floor\u003c\/strong\u003e, and accessories including crates, pallets and a small crane. Designed by Alex, released 2019.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe building every station had and almost none still has\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA goods shed handled the freight that was too small to fill a wagon. A farmer sending ten sacks, a shop receiving three crates, a workshop shipping a machine — all of it arrived here, was sorted, and went onward in a wagon shared with everyone else's.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat meant every station of any size needed one, along with staff to run it, and the shed was frequently the largest building in the yard. It is the reason railway freight worked at all for ordinary people rather than only for collieries and steelworks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContainers ended it. Once freight moved in standard boxes loaded by crane and handled at a few large terminals, the small shed had nothing to do, and the railways closed them in their thousands from the 1960s. A great many still stand, converted into workshops, garages and homes, which is why the shape is oddly familiar even to people who have never seen one in use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe floor is smooth on purpose\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe interior floor uses studless tiles rather than standard bricks. That is a small production cost and a significant difference: crates and pallets can be slid and rearranged, and the surface reads as concrete rather than as a brick model.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the detail that separates a building you look at from one you use as part of a layout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 101043 (Train Station) and 102535 (Railway Platform) are the other station buildings, designed to stand alongside this one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1,033 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eStudless interior floor, sliding doors, crates, pallets and crane\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBase:\u003c\/strong\u003e 38.5 × 25.5 cm · \u003cstrong\u003eShed:\u003c\/strong\u003e 24 × 14.5 cm\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47494881018138,"sku":"BB-102788","price":169.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102788_1.jpg?v=1703126404"},{"product_id":"submarine-u-96-typ-vii-c","title":"BlueBrixx Submarine U 96 Typ VII C Set 102624","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eSubmarine U 96 Type VII C\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:300 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e827 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, and the set includes \u003cstrong\u003eparts to build a U-boat pen\u003c\/strong\u003e alongside the boat, modelled on La Pallice near La Rochelle. Designed by Ralf. No stickers or prints. Age 14+. Instructions are supplied as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e after registering on the BlueBrixx website.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe bunker is the interesting half of this set\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost submarine models give you a submarine. This one gives you the thing that made submarines survivable, and it is worth knowing what you are building.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy 1941 Allied bombers could reach the French Atlantic ports, and a U-boat in dock is helpless. The German answer was concrete: enormous covered pens with roofs three and a half metres thick, later reinforced to seven metres and more, with detached burster slabs above them to set off a bomb before it reached the main roof.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey worked completely. Thousands of tonnes of bombs were dropped on the pens at Lorient, Saint-Nazaire, Brest and La Rochelle, including the heaviest weapons the RAF possessed, and not one boat inside was destroyed while the roofs held. The towns around them were flattened.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pens are still there. Demolishing them costs more than anyone is willing to spend, so they have been converted into marinas, concert venues, film studios and museums — La Pallice appears in Das Boot, filmed on location.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eU 96\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Type VIIC, the most-produced submarine class in history with over 570 built. U 96 is the boat from Das Boot, and the film follows a patrol that is broadly based on her seventh.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Type VIIC was small, cramped and had no accommodation worth the name — crews of around 44 men shared bunks in shifts. Three in four German submariners did not come home, the worst casualty rate of any arm of any service in the war.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCOBI's set 4857 is the same boat at 1:144, and 4852 and 4858 are other Type VII submarines — useful if you want U 96 larger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 827 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:300 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ralf · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eU-boat pen included\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504813523226,"sku":"BB-102624","price":99.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102624_1.jpg?v=1703285530"},{"product_id":"warship-fregate-125","title":"BlueBrixx Warship Fregate 125 Set 102718","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eWarship Frigate 125\u003c\/strong\u003e is a 1:300 model built from \u003cstrong\u003e1,047 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e. Designed by Ralf. Age 14+. Instructions are supplied as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e after registering on the BlueBrixx website.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe ship that was sent back\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn December 2017 the German navy did something it had never done before: it refused delivery of a warship and returned it to the shipyard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ship was the Baden-Württemberg, first of the F125 class. Sea trials found a persistent list to starboard, software that did not work as specified, and a list of defects long enough that the navy declined to accept her. She went back to Blohm+Voss and was finally commissioned in June 2019, roughly six years late.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe episode became a minor political scandal and a standing example in German defence procurement debates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat the class was actually trying to do\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe F125 is an unusual design and the trouble came partly from how ambitious it was.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConventional warships deploy for months and then need a long refit. The F125 was built for \u003cstrong\u003etwo-year deployments\u003c\/strong\u003e, staying on station continuously with crews flown out and rotated every four months. That required a level of automation no previous German warship had: a crew of around 120 on a 7,000-tonne ship, where a comparable frigate would carry twice that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt also meant designing for stabilisation and intervention duties — piracy, embargo enforcement, evacuation — rather than for fighting other navies. The class has no anti-submarine capability at all, which is a startling omission on paper and a deliberate choice about what the ships were for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhether that was the right bet is still argued about, and events since 2022 have made the argument sharper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1,047 · \u003cstrong\u003eScale:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1:300 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Ralf · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14+ · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504814571802,"sku":"BB-102718","price":99.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102718_1.jpg?v=1703285583"},{"product_id":"rc-technic-tractor","title":"BlueBrixx RC Technic Tractor Set 103215","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eRC Technic Tractor\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e1,652 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e as a \u003cstrong\u003eremote-controlled\u003c\/strong\u003e model with working mechanical functions. Part of the BlueBrixx-Pro Technic series, released 2020, built from CaDA parts. Age 14+, printed instructions included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy tractors are a Technic staple\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlmost every manufacturer of technical building sets makes a tractor, and it is not because tractors are glamorous.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is because on a tractor the machinery is on the outside. A sports car hides its engineering under bodywork — you build a gearbox nobody will ever see again. A tractor has nothing to hide behind: the articulated steering, the three-point hitch at the back, the power take-off, the hydraulics, the way the front axle pivots to keep all four wheels on uneven ground. All of it is visible on the finished model and all of it can be made to work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is what a technical set is for. The reward is watching the mechanism function, and a subject that puts its mechanism on the surface gives you far more of that per piece.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgricultural machinery is also genuinely sophisticated engineering that most people never look at closely, which is the other half of why it works as a model.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA note on the parts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bricks are made by CaDA, a manufacturer known particularly for technical elements. BlueBrixx both develops its own sets and sources from other manufacturers under its own name — not hidden, and worth knowing if you care where a design comes from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1,652 · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Pro Technic · \u003cstrong\u003eRemote controlled\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eCaDA parts\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14+ · \u003cstrong\u003ePrinted instructions\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504817094938,"sku":"BB-103215","price":299.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/103215_1.jpg?v=1703285687"},{"product_id":"steam-locomotive-br-92","title":"BlueBrixx Steam Locomotive BR 92 Set 102531","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eSteam Locomotive BR 92\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e404 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e — a compact tank locomotive. Designed by Alex. Age 14+. Instructions are supplied as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e after registering on the BlueBrixx website; there is no printed manual.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhere the number comes from\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBR 92 is not a name the builder chose. It is a class number from one of the largest administrative exercises in railway history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen the German state railway was formed in the 1920s it inherited the locomotive fleets of eight separate state railways — Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Baden and others — each with its own numbering, its own classes and its own names. The same type of engine could carry three different designations depending on where it happened to be standing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1925 renumbering put all of it into one system. Class numbers were grouped by purpose: express locomotives in the 01–19 range, freight from 41, and tank locomotives from 60 upwards. The 90s were shunting tank engines, and the various Prussian T 13s were gathered into Baureihe 92.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is why German locomotive classes are numbers rather than names, and why enthusiasts can tell you what an engine did from two digits.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eNo tender\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA tank locomotive carries its water in tanks alongside the boiler and its coal in a bunker behind the cab, rather than in a separate vehicle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat costs range — far less water and coal — and buys two things. It is shorter, so it fits on tight curves and in small yards. And it runs equally well in both directions, because there is nothing trailing behind that needs turning. On a branch line with no turntable, or in a yard where every movement is a reversal, that is worth more than range.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 101001 (V200), 102921 (Big Boy) and 104004 (US Shunting Locomotive) are the other locomotives, and 101043, 102535 and 102788 the station buildings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 404 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14+ · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download, no printed manual\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504819421466,"sku":"BB-102531","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102531_1.jpg?v=1703285736"},{"product_id":"steam-locomotive-br-92-green","title":"BlueBrixx Steam Locomotive BR 92 Green Set 102532","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eSteam Locomotive BR 92 Green\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e373 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, in a dark green livery. Age 14+. Instructions are supplied as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e after registering on the BlueBrixx website.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy a green locomotive is the interesting one\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGerman steam locomotives are black in almost everyone's memory, and that is a consequence of an accounting decision rather than a design tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore 1920 Germany had no national railway. It had eight state railways — Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Baden, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg and the Palatinate — each with its own workshops, its own classes and its own colours. Prussian locomotives were commonly a dark green; Bavarian ones green too, in a different shade; Saxon engines varied.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen those railways were merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the new organisation standardised everything it could, and paint was an obvious target. Black needs less preparation, hides soot and oil, costs less, and one colour across tens of thousands of locomotives simplifies every workshop in the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo the green disappeared over the 1920s as engines came in for overhaul, and a generation later everyone assumed locomotives had always been black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis model is the earlier state. It is the same machine as the black version in set 102531, in the livery it wore before somebody in an office decided that colour was an expense.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA tank locomotive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo tender: the water sits in tanks alongside the boiler and the coal in a bunker behind the cab. That costs range and buys a shorter machine that runs equally well in both directions — which is what a shunting yard or a branch line without a turntable needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 102531 is the same locomotive in black. Sets 101001, 102921, 102937 and 104004 are the other locomotives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 373 · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14+ · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download, no printed manual\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504820306202,"sku":"BB-102532","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102532_1.jpg?v=1703285778"},{"product_id":"diesel-locomotive-v36","title":"BlueBrixx Diesel Locomotive V36 Set 102937","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eDiesel Locomotive V36\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e323 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e in a grey and black livery, with a working coupling. Designed by Alex, released 2019.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe locomotive that outlasted three countries\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe V36 was ordered by the Wehrmacht. It was designed in the late 1930s as a standard heavy shunting locomotive for military depots and ports — simple, rugged, and buildable by several manufacturers at once.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat happened afterwards is what makes it interesting. When the war ended the survivors were scattered across occupied Germany and beyond, and everybody who found one kept it, because a working shunting locomotive in 1946 was worth having regardless of who had ordered it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey went into service with the Bundesbahn in the west and the Reichsbahn in the east, with the French and Soviet occupation railways, with industrial works, ports, steelworks and private lines. Some ended up in Norway, Poland and Yugoslavia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Bundesbahn ran them until 1982. A few worked in industry into the 1990s, and a considerable number survive on heritage railways — an unglamorous machine that was still doing its job half a century after the state that ordered it had ceased to exist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy diesel for shunting first\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDiesel traction reached shunting yards long before it reached main lines, and the reason is the duty cycle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA steam locomotive must be lit hours before it is needed and consumes coal and water while standing. A shunter spends most of its shift stationary, waiting. Diesel starts on demand, idles for almost nothing, and needs one man rather than two.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat arithmetic was compelling in a yard decades before anyone could build a diesel powerful enough to haul an express.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 101001 (V200), 102531 and 102532 (BR 92), 102921 (Big Boy) and 104004 (US Shunting Locomotive) are the other locomotives. Sets 101043, 102535 and 102788 are the station buildings this would work among.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 323 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eWorking coupling\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504820994330,"sku":"BB-102937","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102937_1.jpg?v=1703285829"},{"product_id":"classic-old-hingebus-tan","title":"BlueBrixx Classic Old Hingebus (Tan) Set 102960","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eClassic Old Articulated Bus\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e460 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e in tan, weighing around 450 g. Designed by Alex, bricks by Qunlong. No stickers or prints.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe back half is pushed, not steered\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn articulated bus looks as though the rear section must be doing something clever. It is not. On almost every one, the trailer simply follows.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe front section has the engine, the driver and the steered wheels. The joint is a turntable with a rubber bellows over it, and the rear axle runs straight — so the back end tracks the front through a corner the way a trailer tracks a lorry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhich creates the one problem articulated buses have: on a tight turn the rear wheels cut the corner more sharply than the front, and the middle of the vehicle swings out. Drivers are trained for it, and city bus routes are surveyed for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reason to accept all that is arithmetic. An articulated bus carries around 50 per cent more passengers than a rigid one on the same route, with one driver. On a busy urban line the driver is the largest running cost, and adding length is far cheaper than adding buses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGermany built them early and in numbers — the first were converted from bus-and-trailer combinations in the 1950s, and the layout has barely changed since.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 102632 (Double-Decker) and 102746 (Long Distance Bus) are the other buses, all designed by Alex.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 460 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e approx. 450 g\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504822141210,"sku":"BB-102960","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102960_1.jpg?v=1703285924"},{"product_id":"brixxbus","title":"BlueBrixx Brixxbus Set 102630","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eBrixxbus\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model of a modern city bus, built from \u003cstrong\u003e386 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e and weighing around 450 g. Bricks by Qunlong. No stickers or prints.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe low floor changed cities more than any other bus design\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA modern city bus has a floor about 30 centimetres above the road, level with the kerb, with no steps at the door. Until the 1990s almost none did.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe old arrangement put the floor above the axles and engine, roughly 80 centimetres up, reached by two or three steps. That is a trivial obstacle for most people and an impassable one for a wheelchair, a walking frame, a pushchair or anyone whose knees have stopped cooperating.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGetting rid of the steps meant redesigning the vehicle around the problem: portal axles with the drive taken around the outside rather than through the middle, the engine moved to the rear corner and turned sideways, air suspension that can kneel the whole bus towards the kerb, and a ramp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe effect went far beyond accessibility legislation. Boarding got faster for everyone, which shortened stop times, which improved timetables across entire networks. A design intended to admit wheelchairs made the bus quicker for the people who were already using it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is one of the clearest examples of something designers call the curb-cut effect, named after the dropped kerbs cut for wheelchairs that everyone with a suitcase, a trolley or a bicycle now uses without thinking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 102632 (Double-Decker), 102746 (Long Distance Bus) and 102960 (Articulated Bus) are the other buses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 386 · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e approx. 450 g\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504823222554,"sku":"BB-102630","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102630_1.jpg?v=1703285974"},{"product_id":"brixxbus-double-decker-bus","title":"BlueBrixx Brixxbus Double-Decker Bus Set 102632","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eBrixxbus Double-Decker Bus\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e433 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, weighing around 490 g. Designed by Alex, bricks by Qunlong. No stickers or prints.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy Britain stacked its buses and the continent did not\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDouble-deckers are everywhere in Britain and rare almost everywhere else, and the reason is street width rather than national character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA bus can hold more people in two ways: get longer, or get taller. Longer needs road space to swing through corners, and British towns grew up around streets laid out before anyone imagined a motor vehicle — narrow, with tight junctions and buildings hard against the kerb. Taller needs none of that. It needs headroom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo Britain went up, and the continent, with wider boulevards and more room to manoeuvre, went long — which is why articulated buses are a German and French sight and double-deckers a British one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe height was then fixed by bridges. British railway overbridges set a practical ceiling, and the standard double-decker settled at around 4.4 metres because that is what fits underneath. Operators keep lists of low bridges on every route, and a driver taking a double-decker under one built for less is a recurring and expensive kind of accident.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe open rear platform of the classic buses — no door, a pole, hop on and off at the lights — disappeared for safety reasons, and is the single thing people who remember them mention first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 102960 (Articulated Bus) and 102746 (Long Distance Bus) are the other buses, all by Alex. Set 101470 is the London Taxi.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 433 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eWeight:\u003c\/strong\u003e approx. 490 g\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504823845146,"sku":"BB-102632","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102632_1.jpg?v=1703286020"},{"product_id":"long-distance-bus","title":"BlueBrixx Long Distance Bus Set 102746","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eLong Distance Bus\u003c\/strong\u003e is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e502 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, measuring \u003cstrong\u003e40.8 × 7.5 × 11.5 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e assembled, with a modelled interior. Designed by Alex, released 2019. No stickers or printed parts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA coach is not a bus with nicer seats\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe difference is under the floor, and it changes the whole vehicle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA city bus has a low floor so people can step on and off quickly at frequent stops. Everything mechanical is squeezed around that — there is no room underneath for anything else, and passengers carry what they are holding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA coach raises the floor to roughly waist height and puts a continuous luggage bay along the whole length beneath it. That is the entire design decision, and everything else follows from it: the high windows and the view they give, the single door, the steps at the entrance, the toilet at the rear, and the fact that boarding takes minutes rather than seconds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is why a coach is useless on a city route and a bus is useless between cities. They are shaped by whether the passenger is carrying a suitcase.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLong-distance coach travel in Germany was effectively banned for decades to protect the railways, and only became legal again in 2013 — after which the market exploded, consolidated, and settled into a handful of operators in about five years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSets 102960 (Articulated Bus) and 102632 (Double-Decker) are the other buses, all by Alex.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 502 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Alex · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eModelled interior\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 40.8 × 7.5 × 11.5 cm (16.1 × 3.0 × 4.5 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504824697114,"sku":"BB-102746","price":49.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102746_1.jpg?v=1703286070"},{"product_id":"manhattan-sunset-skyline-picture","title":"BlueBrixx Manhattan Sunset Skyline Picture Set 103090","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eManhattan Sunset Skyline Picture\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e2,023 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e and measures \u003cstrong\u003e78.5 × 27.5 cm, and only 4 cm deep\u003c\/strong\u003e. Designed by Marco P., from the BlueBrixx-Specials range, released 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThis is a picture, not a model\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFour centimetres of depth is the number that defines this set. It is not a skyline you walk around — it is a flat panel, built to be seen from one side and hung or leaned against a wall.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat makes it a different proposition from every other architectural set in this shop. It needs no table and no display case, it occupies wall space rather than floor space, and at nearly 80 centimetres across it works as a picture in a room where a model would look like a toy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt also solves a problem large brick models usually have: dust. A vertical panel with no horizontal surfaces collects almost none.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHow a brick picture works\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe technique is closer to mosaic than to construction. Depth is suggested by layering and by colour rather than by actual distance, so the buildings in front sit a stud or two proud of those behind and the sunset behind them is built flat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat constraint is why the sunset matters. A daytime skyline in brick is a row of grey rectangles; a sunset gives the sky a gradient to work with, and the buildings become silhouettes against it. The subject was chosen because it suits the medium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 103047 is Lower Manhattan as a full three-dimensional 1:2000 model with 21,515 pieces — the same city, the opposite approach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2,023 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Marco P. · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eReleased:\u003c\/strong\u003e 2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 78.5 × 27.5 × 4 cm (30.9 × 10.8 × 1.6 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504826269978,"sku":"BB-103090","price":199.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/103090_2.jpg?v=1703286128"},{"product_id":"truck-augsburg-2-axle-with-3-axle-suitcase-black","title":"BlueBrixx Truck Augsburg 2-Axle with 3-Axle Suitcase Black Set 102849","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eTruck Augsburg, 2-axle with 3-axle box trailer\u003c\/strong\u003e, in black, is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e403 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e. Designed by Adrian. No stickers or prints. Age 14+. Instructions are supplied as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e after registering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy it is called Augsburg\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no truck manufacturer called Augsburg. The name is a way of naming a make without naming it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMAN — the German lorry builder — stands for Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg, and its roots and its engine works are in Augsburg. BlueBrixx has no licence to use the MAN name or badge, so the model is a MAN in everything but the word, and the city does the work instead.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe practice is normal in this industry. A licence for a commercial vehicle brand costs money and takes time, and for a 403-piece model the economics rarely justify it. So manufacturers model the vehicle accurately, leave the badges off, and choose a name that tells the people who know without claiming anything.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you look at the rest of this catalogue you will find the same thing: a Formula car from 1979 rather than a named team, a Western saloon rather than a licensed film set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThree axles behind, two in front\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe configuration is not arbitrary. European weight regulations limit load per axle as well as total weight, so the number of axles determines how much a vehicle may legally carry. A three-axle trailer spreads the load enough to run at the maximum permitted gross weight where a two-axle one could not.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is why long-distance trailers in Europe have three axles almost without exception, and why the rear one frequently lifts when the trailer runs empty — an axle on the road that is not needed costs tyres and fuel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 102845 is the same truck in dark red.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 403 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Adrian · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14+ · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504827154714,"sku":"BB-102849","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102849_1.jpg?v=1703286188"},{"product_id":"truck-augsburg-2-axle-with-3-axle-suitcase-dark-red","title":"BlueBrixx Truck Augsburg 2-Axle with 3-Axle Suitcase Dark Red Set 102845","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eTruck Augsburg, 2-axle with 3-axle box trailer\u003c\/strong\u003e, in dark red, is a BlueBrixx-Specials model built from \u003cstrong\u003e403 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e. Designed by Adrian. No stickers or prints. Age 14+. Instructions are supplied as a \u003cstrong\u003efree download\u003c\/strong\u003e after registering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe box trailer is the most boring object in Europe and it moves everything\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA plain rectangular box on wheels has no moving parts, no hydraulics and nothing to look at. It is also what almost all European road freight travels in, and the shape is the result of a hard limit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEuropean regulations cap a truck and trailer at 16.5 metres overall for an articulated combination, with a maximum height of about 4 metres and a width of 2.55. Inside those numbers, the most cargo you can carry is the largest rectangle that fits — so every manufacturer converges on the same box, and the only competition left is on wall thickness, weight and how quickly the doors open.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat standardisation is why a trailer built in Spain can be pulled by a Polish tractor unit, loaded in Rotterdam with pallets sized to fit it exactly, and swapped between operators without anyone checking. The uninteresting shape is the interoperability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pallet came first, incidentally: the Euro pallet at 1,200 by 800 millimetres was standardised in the 1960s, and trailer interiors were then built around fitting them in rows without wasted space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy the name is Augsburg\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no manufacturer of that name. MAN stands for Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg, and BlueBrixx has no licence to use the badge — so the model is a MAN in everything but the word, and the city stands in for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIn the BlueBrixx range\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet 102849 is the same truck in black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 403 · \u003cstrong\u003eDesigner:\u003c\/strong\u003e Adrian · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14+ · \u003cstrong\u003eNo stickers\u003c\/strong\u003e · \u003cstrong\u003eInstructions as free download\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504827875610,"sku":"BB-102845","price":39.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/102845_1.jpg?v=1703286235"},{"product_id":"london-taxi","title":"BlueBrixx London Taxi Set 101470","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlueBrixx's \u003cstrong\u003eLondon Taxi\u003c\/strong\u003e is built from \u003cstrong\u003e1,027 blocks\u003c\/strong\u003e, measuring \u003cstrong\u003e22.5 × 9.5 × 10.5 cm\u003c\/strong\u003e assembled — the traditional black cab, with a right-hand driving position and an open passenger compartment. Released 2020. Age 12+.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe turning circle is the law\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA London taxi can turn in a circle of 7.6 metres — 25 feet — and it is not a design flourish. It is a legal requirement, written into the Conditions of Fitness that every licensed London cab must meet before it can carry a passenger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe usual explanation is the forecourt of the Savoy Hotel, which has a small roundabout too tight for an ordinary car to negotiate. Whether the Savoy is the actual origin is disputed — the rule predates the modern forecourt — but the effect is real: no ordinary saloon can be licensed as a London taxi, because almost none can turn that tightly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Conditions go further. The passenger compartment must be tall enough to sit in wearing a hat. There must be room for a wheelchair. The driver sits separately, with luggage space beside him instead of a front passenger seat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll of which means a London cab cannot be a converted ordinary car. It has to be designed as a taxi from nothing, which is why so few manufacturers have ever tried and why the shape has changed so little in seventy years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Knowledge\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe other thing that makes a London cab a London cab is the driver. Learning the Knowledge — 25,000 streets and every point of interest within six miles of Charing Cross — takes most candidates three to four years, and studies have found measurable growth in the hippocampus of drivers who complete it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the hardest qualification of its kind anywhere, and it exists for a city whose streets follow no grid and never will.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePieces:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1,027 · \u003cstrong\u003eSeries:\u003c\/strong\u003e BlueBrixx-Specials · \u003cstrong\u003eAge:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12+\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eModel dimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 22.5 × 9.5 × 10.5 cm (8.9 × 3.7 × 4.1 in)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BlueBrixx","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47504829546778,"sku":"BB-101470","price":99.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/3134\/9786\/files\/101470_1.jpg?v=1703286306"}],"url":"https:\/\/notjustcollectibles.com\/collections\/bestseller.oembed?page=45","provider":"Not Just Collectibles, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}