u/ganzhimself

Started my Invisalign treatment to fix my crowded front teeth and to help fix my bite issues as I was starting to chip teeth while eating. My dentist put me on the Invisalign Moderate plan - 26 trays total (17 in the first course and 9 refinements). Had to switch providers when I was on the last tray of my refinements and was stuck for about 10 weeks with wearing my final trays. They had an issue with the iTero scanner and tried doing impressions and then the impressions were lost or damaged in transit. Took 4 weeks to get back to the office and they had the iTero back online and they just had me pick up my Vivera retainers yesterday. So happy with the fact I’m done. Wearing my Viveras for a few weeks all day, then I’ll switch to overnights only.

I wish that I had been able to afford this earlier in my life as I am finally able to have an authentic smile in pictures now without feeling self conscious. I’m also hoping that this fixed my bite issues so I don’t have any more cracked or chipped teeth just from eating. Seems much better when I’m eating, but I suppose time will tell. I’m thinking of having some shaping and surface bonding done on a few teeth for filling in some black triangles and for slightly more uniformity in the shape of my front teeth. We’ll see how I feel about it in a few months.

Continuing on with Mario themed clones, I picked up the Mario Kart - Luigi and Mach 8 (72050) from an AliExpress Chioce seller, Bricktopia-A Store, for $56 shipped. Not too bad for a 2234 piece set that wasn’t released all that long ago($0.0251/piece). Ordered April 27, and it arrived on May 11 to the US. Arrived in your typical bubble mailer and packaged in plastic.

The bags are stamped 6SJDX and the numbering scheme matches the Builder app. Typical compressed printed manual. No stickers, all printed parts the same as the Danish set. Quality on the prints is very good, nothing out of place or misprinted.

Brick quality was very good, one part with a bad mold but it was usable and actually ended up having a spare of that piece anyway. Had a few spare parts left at the end of the build.

This was a pretty great build overall, I think it’s an even better looking set than the Mario with Standard Kart, the Mach 8 Kart has a lot of detail and the flames at the back of the car turn with the rear wheels. Well worth it at the price I paid, wouldn’t hesitate to pick this one up if it’s on your radar.

After the Creel House I figured I’d also add the Upside Down to my collection. Paid around $52 USD shipped from a Choice seller on AliExpress. Manual has the code DD5180, bags were all numbered and stamped with code 7621. The steps in the manual are 1:1 with the PDF manual on the Builder App. Printing is clear and there aren’t too many steps crammed on the pages, which is nice if you prefer a printed manual.

Parts were all pretty good quality with no substantial clutch issues one way or the other. I was short one piece, looks like a bad mold. Nothing that I couldn’t replace from my spare parts bin. Mine came with a light brick, it works, but the printed part that makes a pattern on the wall doesn’t really do anything.

Stickers were good, accurate to the original set, nothing missing or misprinted as far as I can tell. Same with the printed pieces, they all were good quality prints and no real issue on detail.

Minifigs look pretty good, no back prints on them, same as the figs from the Creel House set. Not sure if the real deal figs do or not.

I did find the build a little tedious since you’re more or less building the same thing twice from the trees to the Byers’ house. It’s a nice looking display piece, so it was worth it in the end.

I’ve been eying up this set for months and finally found it at a pretty good price from an Ali Express seller. There are a few small issues, first, the scan brick does not work with the interactive Mario figures, and the printed pieces with Bowser’s face are slightly off center.

The bags are stamped with JKY008, and they are numbered, though the bag numbering doesn’t align with Lego’s PDF instructions, it’s roughly two bags in Lego’s instructions per numbered bag in this set…

Build itself was really enjoyable, parts were great for 95% of the build. Some of the tan small “nose cone” pieces seem to be slightly incorrect and don’t clutch to the axles that are supposed to hold them. Nothing a little dot of glue couldn’t fix, and the fireball projectile doesn’t fire from his mouth, but whatever. I might be doing it wrong.

Overall, this was amazing and I’m so glad I was able to get this for under $55 shipped.

Picked up this ‘23 Mustang Mach-E Premium about a month ago to replace my dying ‘14 Subaru Forester. Nightmare Moon, as my kids have dubbed her has the Extended Range battery, AWD, and the Nite Pony appearance package. Had 5,600 miles on the clock and we’ve already put close to 2k miles on it. Aside from a trim piece falling off the drivers side rear quarter window this has been an amazing vehicle. So far 40A Level 2 charging at home has more than enough for us, we don’t do too much long distance driving, but I figure I should figure out DC fast charging before we hit the road for a longer trip. Added a set of RokBlokz mudflaps to help keep the paint nice, lots of gravel around these parts. Looking forward to many miles ahead with this car.