"Less is more. I truly believe in buying a few pieces with better construction."

I wasn't sure how I felt when LEGO Mixels were first released, for me they didn't bring out the same need to collect, that the minifigure range have done over the years but I was drawn in by the pocket money prices and tried to steer the boys towards then but with no joy when series 1 and 2 were released. It wasn't until series 3 that Opeie (while in our local toy store) asked if he could please give one a try. It was that day that I saw the true awesomeness of the Mixels range

Not only were they great for the price each bag was filled with some really interesting pieces like eyes, teeth and fun joints. If you are just starting out with LEGO the Mixels are a great way to build up your parts without breaking the bank and because unlike all of the big LEGO themed kits they are not trying to recreate anything from cult movies meaning that it feels more like LEGO taking a step back to how they were originally.

With the introduction of teeth and eyes in each pack even the youngest or most novice builders could create anything using the parts and pop eyes and teeth on and instantly have a new Mixel, amazing! With the release of LEGO Mixels series 6 me and the boys built GURGGLE (Glorp Corp), KRAMM (Weldos) and BERP (Munchos). As always the use of all LEGO's small parts and joints made for a really interesting mini build. As soon as they were built though we set about creating our own and me and Opeie had a 20 minute quick build while dinner was cooking.

LEGO Mixels Series 6 is definitely worth getting your hands on and with Christmas not to far away LEGO Mixels are the perfect creative stocking filler.

"When two tribes go to war, a point is all you can score"

I love being able to transport out favourite play things wherever we go and some of the recent LEGO ranges have been great for that. There are a great selection of smaller kits, affordable at pocket money prices, perfect for entertaining kids on the go. The Mixels range have been awesome for taking out with us to places and with two of the tribes from Series 3 sitting at home waiting to be built, Opeie decided that on a recent trip to our friends house he wanted to take some to build together.

One of the great things about visiting our friends Chris and Katie is how much effort they make with the boys. They are quick are to jump in and get involved with what the boys have brought along. The tribe Opeie had taken to keep him entertained was the Spikels.

Ive said it many times before but the Mixels are awesome. At only £3 a pack there are lots of LEGO pieces to play with and there is no end to how creative you can be. Although personally i love building big buildings and structures, ranges like the Mixels have helped me to look at the smaller parts in the LEGO range a different way, which has been great as a custom builder as all my smaller details on these builds have got a lot more detailed.

With a large amount of hinges and connectors you can go all out making joints and help your creations become more articulate. Ive probably said this on every Mixels post i have written but its one of the things i love most about this range, the introduction of eyes and teeth in to the LEGO world has really opened things up for mine and the boys building and means that we can now give the creatures that we all build more personality.

We still have one more tribe left to build, the Wiztastics. Then, like the last series of reviews we wrote we will create something fun using the three tribes (remember our Mixels mask last time?)

Anyway, get to the shops and get yourself some of these. If your are new to LEGO, for the price they are a great way to test the water, if my experience is anything to go by you will be hooked by the time you have connected the first two pieces.

"Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises."

I had so much fun with the last series of LEGO Mixels that I decided to do the same with series 3. I was really excited about the release of this series because of the colours. My purple bricks are running low because of a few custom pieces I've made for people and adding some extra bright green to play with will always be a bonus. But before a bulk of the parts disappear into our ever expanding collection i suppose we should build this adorable little characters.

When we first saw Mixels in the shops way back, the boys weren't the slightest bit interested. I spent ages trying to motivate them, but nothing. It wasn't just because of the parts I was interested though. These small intricate characters teach the boys a different side to LEGO building as the placing of the large number of small parts from each kit is really cleverly thought out. There has been so many times building these that I've thought 'I'd never thought to put those pieces together'.

What i love about the Mixels range is that because of the new eyes and teeth pieces it really opens up the doors for character building and its really simple for younger builders to create custom Mixels themselves. Opeie and Seth came up with this little cutie in minutes with the pieces on the table while we were building one of the characters. You can literally throw together any shape and add teeth and eyes and voila! a little Mixel.

My favourite character from the Glorp Corp was Torts, mainly because i like the use of the facial pieces, beak etc. The Mixels range really get me thinking about my own custom pieces and i love that about them. Its great to see the boys trying out new ideas too. Although some of LEGO'S larger builds are truly amazing i personally find the Mixel range quite inspiring.

It wasn't long before me and my mini helper had built all of this tribe and they looked great, i cant say they'll stay built for long though as we have big plans for the third post. Remember when i transformed Opeie into a Mixel? (at his request of course)....

...We'll be building something interesting for the last post so stay tuned. If you are thinking about introducing your children to LEGO (and i strongly recommend it for so many great reasons) then the Mixels range is great to kick that off without splashing out big money for starters, I guarantee you be hooked though.

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."

Its my third and final post for LEGO Mixels series 2 and the last tribe to write about is the Flexers, i have loved all of this series for so many reasons being a bit of a LEGO addict. They have been great for Seth and Opeie to build when we've been out and about. A perfect size for taking places for entertainment and we even got grandad involved with the building too. For me though i have been excited about the parts, some new and some just in colours we didn't have before. Mixels have also given us some inspiration for building smaller more detailed builds.

The Flexers tribe come with three adorable characters (Kraw, Tentro and Balk) each with their own personality and TV show to back them up, if you have been watching over on Cartoon Network. The Kits although on the smaller side of the Lego ranges pack quite a lot of LEGO inside and are great for creative more detailed building. They have some interesting and really fun new parts including eyes, teeth and joints. As with all of the tribes if you buy the three you can go online to get the instructions to build a Mega Mixel or if your feeling a little more creative there is everything you need in a full tribe to create some really amazing characters. If you Google Mixels and search the images there are some great custom creations.

Seth has been loving the eye pieces and has been using many of the design features on the things he has been building himself. Opeie is a big fan of anything small and fiddly so has been content playing with the ball joints and making things from them. Once all of the Flexers had been built Opeie introduced them to the other tribes...

And then introduced them to the Simpsons Characters but while watching Opeie play I'm not sure they got along...

I love the variety with LEGO, there are so many themes to chose from but what makes this building toy so amazing is that each kit can be connected to any other making it the most versatile building toy on the market. you can pretty much create anything from LEGO if you put your mind to it and its a bit of an ongoing joke in our house that when Mrs M says she needs something my response is usually "I'll make you one out of LEGO".

I wanted to create something fun for our last Mixels post to show what you can do with them and while me and Opeie were building the Frosticons tribe last week Opeie gave me all the inspiration i needed when he said "Daddy i wish i was a Mixel!" Luckily daddy has a magic lamp...

And rubbing the lamp releases a very special and magical chap (as soon as the smoke has cleared of course), who can grant a single wish. So make Opeie into a Mixel? that's doable right? 

Yes of course it is, like i said anything is possible with LEGO. Me and Opeie started it together one night but he jumped ship and went to bed, three year old's huh! Me? well i sat up till almost 2am Oops. Probably not the best move as Opeie is quite demanding from the moment he wakes up, Early!

Any way Opeie's wish came true and his Mask/Glasses were made only using Mixels pieces, there was even arms to clip over his ears, Genius...

Get to the shops and Buy some LEGO and let your creative juices flow. There really is no other toy that compares to it from a creative point and no end to the possibilities.

"From my tribe I take nothing, I am the maker of my own fortune."

Since receiving the three LEGO Mixels tribes a few weeks back our usual large scale builds that we work on have dropped in size. Thanks to the new eye pieces and teeth (which I find the most interesting) the boys have been building miniature monsters, which is great for me as a builder too as it is getting the boys more familiar with the smaller more intricate pieces that LEGO has to offer. A couple of weeks ago we reviewed the Frosticons Tribe and this time round it's the Fang Gang that are getting all our attention.

Last week Seth had one of his many hospital appointments that he has throughout the year. It's a fair drive to get there so it means me and Opeie waiting around too (which can get a little boring). As the sun was out I packed a bag of things to do including the brown bagged LEGO Mixels Fang Gang Tribe to keep us entertained. At only £3 per pack these are perfect for taking places to entertain and there are a surprisingly great amount of fun pieces inside, great for adding to our awesome LEGO collection.

There are some really interesting parts throughout the Mixels range and it's great to have parts I use a lot in custom building in different colours. One of the things that we love most about the Mixels Range and LEGO in general is that once you have collected the three piece Tribe the fun isn't over, you can go online to get the instructions to merge the three and create one of the Mega Mixels or see where your imagination takes you.

I think the collaboration between LEGO and Cartoon Network has been executed perfectly giving people the chance to build their LEGO collection at pocket money prices. Later in the week I'll be reviewing the final tribe in series 2 and creating something a little different with the help of my two little LEGO enthusiasts.

"Whatever good things we build end up building us."

LEGO!!!! It is an addiction that i have been rubbing off on to my children for many years. Not a week goes by that we don't wander in to our local Smyths store looking for new products. The Series Minifigures are a huge thing with us, one of the main reasons for me is the cost, as a parent you have so many outgoings that its not always possible to have much of a disposable income for things like toys and games (although i would happily spend every spare penny we had on LEGO but Shhhhh.....)

We completely missed series 1 of LEGO's collaboration with Cartoon Network the Mixels range and I'm kicking myself now. Mixels are perfect pocket money priced kits that are fantastic for either adding to your expanding LEGO collection or a great way to kick start the addiction that follows once you start building with this cult status building product.

Changing the subject completely (don't worry i'll find my way back). One of the things i love about visiting Mrs M's parents is how much they get involved with the boys. When we go to see them within minutes they are down on the floor playing so i tend to take a step back as its really nice to watch them building a great relationship. Today i decided to take the Frosticons tribe from LEGO Mixels series 2 with me knowing that Grandad loves building things and i left him and Opeie to a fun bit of LEGO creating.

It wasn't long before things moved to the table so that they could really get stuck in. LEGO has been such an important factor in the great relationship i have built with the boys. When we sit down to build we are a team and together we come up with some great ideas so seeing Opeie building with Grandad was lovely to watch. Grandad was really getting in to the building too which was fab, i think we'll have to gradually move him up to bigger creations it would be great to have a big family build.

 The Mixels are really great mini kits and i think in comparison to the minifigures you get a lot more LEGO for your money. From a custom builders view these kits are great for interesting new mini pieces that you don't get in other kits. The teeth and eyes used on some of the Mixels have been great new parts that we didn't already have in our ever expanding collection of bricks and have given me a great idea for a future Mixels post that we will work on over the next few weeks. 

The fact that the three kits from the same tribe (Flexers, Fang Gang and Frosticons) can be combined to make an uber Mixel is a great addition to building. Before getting these and even though i am a HUGE LEGO fan i failed to do my homework and i hadn't even realised they were a collaboration with Cartoon Network or that there was a cartoon to accompany the kits (very clever on their part as i imagine its really boosting sales). As with many of LEGO's product themes there is the Calling  all Mixels app released to run along side the products release. Its another great way to make the most of these interesting LEGO kits.

Thanks to LEGO today was another great chance for Opeie to spend some quality time with his ever doting grandparents.