Review: BLDR 0093 Squishmallow Reginald at the Movies

This is one of the second wave of releases from BLDR.  I jumped on this one right away because it has some interesting, and useful, pieces in what looks to be Pearl Gold.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99, for a $0.08 Price per Piece. 

Instructions.

Parts 1.  This is the "squishy belly"

piece for the "minifig" of the set.

Parts 2.  Loose in Box.  Wedge

Plates, and Bricks.

Parts 3.  Curved Bricks, Printed Curved Brick, Printed 2x2x2 Box,

1x1x3 Brick, Printed Studless Slopes, Printed Tile, Double Curved

Slope w/Cutout, Printed Brick, Plates, Bricks w/Studs on Corners,

Double  Jumpers, Jumper, Minifig Ice Cream Scoops, Brick, Macaroni 

Tiles, Corner Tiles w/Cutout, Translucent Grille Tiles, Cones, Mod.

Bricks 1x2x2/3 w/Studs on Sides & Stud Receptacle, Minifig Fezes,

Inkwells, Studs w/Bar, Chain, Bar Ball Joints, Quarter Circle Tiles,

Small Steering Wheels, Figure Ears w/Bar, and Shaped Tiles.

Parts 4.  Quarter Circle Plates, Door Frame, Printed Half Dome,

Bricks w/Studs on Side, Bricks, Half Dome, Inverted Slope, Printed

Tiles, Window, Curved Slope w/Hole & Plate, Plates, Tail, Double

Jumper, Tile, Clip Plate, Padlock, Double Brackets, 1x1x2/3 Brick

w/Studs on Side, Double Curved Slope w/Cutout, Squish Holder

Panel, Modified Tile w/Inverted Slope, Printed Figure Ears w/Bar.

Parts 5. Printed Panel, Quarter Oval Plates, Corner Wall w/o

Bottom Indentations, Plates, Curved Slope w/Plate, and Bricks.

Build.  IO Frigate (2Ras+d8[guns] 1B

[armor]).  Systems are Pearl Gold.

 

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Below.  (+5)  (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  This box was packed tight with pieces.  I'm going to have fun incorporating some of these parts into the Owen's Crossing table-setting.  All those pieces in Pearl Gold are nice.  As much as I like all the parts and colors I think this is a parts set rather than a build one.

Review: Lele Brother 9106-1 Parasaurolophus

Unlike the first Lele Brother set review, the rest of the ones I've purchased from Miniso are small, like this one.  I got the set name from my receipt.  Which is also on the sticker on the bottom of the box, which I didn't notice until I was breaking down the box.  There are nine other sets in this series.  They can all be combined into a giant build.

Box.  MSRP is $1.99, for a $0.06 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

The instructions were in

the bag with the parts.

Parts.  Studless Slopes, Clip Plates, Padlock, Bar Plate, Printed

Round Tiles, Plates, Jumpers, Inverted Studless Slope, Cheese

Slopes, Tile, Brackets, and Bricks w/Studs on Opposite Sides.

Build.  Frame (2W).

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Below.  (+5)  (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  No.  (-5)
Score: +10 (A-).  This has some good colors but the parts count holds it back.

Review: Block Tech Block Bouquet Black Rose

After finding last Monday's review, I "raided" a few more Marshalls stores to see what else was available.  I found this set at the third store.  It's different from this year's and last year's, which makes me wonder if RMS is making different sets for different distribution channels.  Again, according to the date of manufacture on the bottom of the box, this was made earlier this year.  There's also no individual set number.  Let's give it a review.

Box.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.04 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Axles, Notched Round Plate, Octagonal Bar Plates,

Inverted Tiles, Double Studless Slopes, Plates, Studless

Slopes, Angled Axle/Pin Connector, and Ball Joint Plates.

Parts 2. Quarter Circle Studless Slopes, Double Curved Wedges

 (Right), Double Curved Wedges (Left), Tiles, Large Cheese

Slopes w/Studs, Axle, Curved Slopes w/Wing End, Axle/

Pin Connectors, Travis Brick, Round Plates, and Clip Claws.

 

Parts 3.  Unlike the prior two versions, this has a third parts bag.

Rounded Clip Plates, Ball Joint Pins, Axle Connectors, Bushings, Brackets, Axle, Half Pins, Tooth Plates, Studless Slopes, Wedge Studless Slopes, Inverted Studless Slopes, Gear, Horn, and Round Large Jumper.

Build.  Two Frames (2W), and Station.
 

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Below.  (+5)  (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  Yes.  (+5)

Score: +20 (A+).  It's a good starter kit but, like last Monday's review, I'm not sure how available these sets will be.

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower 2.5

Earlier this year I reviewed a group of Make-It Blocks flower sets.  I'd seen mention of other sets in this release on Reddit but hadn't actually seen any in stores.  I was shopping for other items in Dollar Tree the other night and I stumbled across this.  It has the same parts count but there are a lot of differences from the last time I reviewed the set.

Box. MSRP is $1.75, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  8x3 Palm Leaves, Flower Petals w/Clip, Octagonal Bar Plate,

Steering Wheel, Round Palate w/4 Petals, Round Large Jumper, Dish,

Plates, Ball Joint Plates, Round Plates, and Bricks w/Stud on Side.

Parts 2.  Tiles, Inkwell, Wedge Studless Slopes, Plates, Cheese

Slopes, Brackets, Flower w/Bar, Round Plates, Ball Joint Plates,

Bars, Clip Claws, Axle & Pin Connector, and Round Bricks.

Build.  Frame (2W), Station,

and 1 Hit piece of Cover.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away? Yes. (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio? Below. (+5) (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away? Yes. (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts? Yes. (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  The Flower Petals w/Clips are similar to ones in a Block Tech set I reviewed a little while ago.  It also looks like they've gone back to 1x2 Female Ball Joint Plates.  Which is kinda disappointing.  You can build the same amount of things with this version of the set but I think there are less interesting parts.

Review: Lele Brother 8858 Space Shuttle

This is something new from Miniso.  From what I can tell the store has always sourced from multiple companies, sometimes putting their label on the box.  The most recent set of releases -- I have other smaller sets that I haven't reviewed yet -- hasn't though.

Box.  MSRP is $3.99, for a $0.04 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Stickers.

The stickers were packed in the main parts bag.

Parts 1.  Loose in Box.  2x2x10 Type 4 Triangular Girder.

Parts 2.  Plates, Wedge Plates, Cones, Round Bricks, Mudguard

Brick, Tail, Bricks w/Pinhole, Round Bricks w/Pinholes, Round

Plates, Dish, Studless Slopes, Dome, Translucent Curved Slope,

Bricks w/Studs on Sides, Jumpers, Tiles, Grille Tile, Padlocks,

Bar Plate (closed ends), Clip Plates, Cheese Graters, Clip Tiles,

Pins, Bar Plate (open ends), Brackets, Tap, and Antenna.

Build.  IO Escort Frigate (2Rpd/2B) [Systems

are White and Dark Bley.] and HVA.

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Below.  (+5)  (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  A good selection of useful parts and some fun colors.

Review: Block Tech Block Bouquet Black Lily

So I was killing some time in between work and an appointment last week and I decided to check a few Marshalls stores to see if they had anything interesting in for the Christmas season.  Turns out they did.  Last year Block Tech made a line of botanical sets that Five Below called "Goth Flowers".  Imagine my surprise when I find one that wasn't released through Five Below, and it's different from the one from last year.  According to the date of manufacture on the bottom of the box, this was made earlier this year.  There's no individual set number though.  Let's give it a review.

Box.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.08 Price per Piece.  I bought

this on clearance at $4.00, for a $0.06 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  2x5x9 Panels w/Clip, Axles, Textured Round 3x3 Tile, 1x8 Hinge

Plates w/Angled Side Extensions, Octagonal Bar Plate, Steering Wheel,

Double Sided Round Plate, Lamp Post Base(?), Ball Joint Plates, Hinge Plates,

Bar, Angled Axle Connector w/Pinhole, and Axle/Pin Connectors.

Parts 2.  Round Plate w/Axle Hole, Round Plate w/

Pinhole, Axle Connectors, Pin Ball Joints, Axles, Bar

Connector, Bushings, Double Sided Round Plates, Grass

Stems, Levers and Bases, and 1x1x2/3 Brick.

 

Build.  Frame (2Rh[ram prow] 2Y[antenna] 2W), and Station.

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Below.  (+5)  (The Golden Ratio is $0.10 per part.)
If you can't build a frame right away, or choose not to, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  Still a good set even with two less pieces than the previous version.  Unfortunately, I've only found one copy.

Terrain Workshop: Stations

A friend of mine once said to me "Ideas aren't interesting until they keep you up at night."  I'm paraphrasing because it's been many years since that discussion.  Anyway.  This idea didn't keep me up at night but it did follow me around for several days yammering in my ear.

It all started when I was scrounging Transparent Clear parts for flight bases for another build.  I found a few 2x2 Domes and while they didn't work as flight bases something about them kept bugging me.  I held them up together, bottom to bottom, and something clicked.  Now I just needed something to hold them together.  I thought I had some Block Tech 2L Notched Axles in Transparent Clear but I was wrong.  So I defaulted to the standard Lego Black version.  I wanted to keep the shaping so I used a third Dome for the bottom.  I used a Black 1x1 Liftarm to connect them.  (And why is that piece called a Liftarm?  It's obviously a Pin Connector.)  I then topped it off with a Black 1x1 Round Tile.  For the base I went with a 4x4 Round Plate, because that's what I use for Stations, in a matching color to the bottom Dome.  To finish, I covered the open studs in 2x2 Macaroni Tiles, two in Black and two in a color matching the bottom Dome.

In 6P scale this is 13 feet tall, and 5 feet wide.  If you

want to use it as Cover, instead of a Station, it is 1 Hit.

Most of the time I design Stations to match or compliment individual squads.  These will probably end up as spares -- in case someone needs Stations in a game -- or used as Neutral stations when that rule is used.  I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their own builds.  Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Flipper Trees

This spins off from my Terrain Workshop: Undersea Accessories 3 post.  We're using the Minifig Flippers again but we're going to put them on a 2x2 Round Plate w/Pin Hole & 4 Bar Arms Up.  This time we'll have eight Flippers and the Arm Up Round Plate for nine pieces.  Which, again, is three too much for one Hit and three too little for two Hits.  It's also short of the Height Minimum for Cover.  So let's add three 2x2 Round Bricks to make this tree taller.

This is 12 feet tall and 15 feet across in 6P scale and 2 Hits.  Unlike

Monday's build, I don't feel like there's a lot of ways to vary this.

You could swap out the Round Bricks for 2x2 Round Plates and

keep building taller and taller trees that add 2 hits per section.  That

would also keep the "leaves" fairly close together for a dense foliage

look.  This is 18 feet tall and 15 feet across in 6P scale and 4 Hits.

I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds.

Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Undersea Accessories 3

A creation posted by That Bro Dad the other day on the MFZ Discord got me thinking.  It was an underwater Frame with Minifig Flippers.  Now, I generally don't use them so I've got a fair amount sitting around in my "cool bits" bag.  But, with the advent of the Inkwell, there is now a way of attaching them to a Travis Brick in a manner that doesn't use up a lot of space (i.e. Bars, Pneuma-Ts, etc.).  With that in mind, let's try and make some funky looking plants.

Four Flippers, four Inkwells, and a Travis Brick is nine pieces, which

is three too much for one Hit and three too little for two Hits.  It's also

short of the Height Minimum for Cover.  So let's add three 1x1 Round Bricks

under the brick and give this piece of vegetation some height.

This is 16 feet tall and 6 feet across in 6P scale and 2 Hits.  I used Reddish Brown

pieces because that's color I had in the parts I called out.  But, since my other undersea terrain creations don't use Reddish Brown as a core color, let's switch to Tan.

You don't have to use three 1x1 Round Bricks.  Two is enough to make

the Height Minimum.  You could fill out the parts count with a Round Tile

to cover the top stud of the Travis Brick if you wanted to.  In this case I've

used a Technic Ball Joint to top it off.  You also don't need to use a Travis

Brick as the core.  This version uses 1x1 Bricks w/Studs on Opposite Sides.  Mainly because I don't have any Tan Travis Bricks.  I also don't have many

Tan 1x1 Round Bricks so I needed more pieces to pad out the parts

count.  This is 13 feet tall and 6 feet across in 6P scale and 2 Hits.

This Light Bley version uses a Minifig Head in place of one of the 1x1

Rounds.  It has the same size and stats as the Tan version above.

We could go old school and use just use 1x1 Bricks w/Pinhole as the

core.  This is 13 feet tall and 10 feet across in 6P scale and 2 Hits.

So, as you can see, there are multiple ways to mount and display

the Minifig Flipper. And also multiple ways to pad out the build

so you hit the magic numbers for Cover.  I hope this gives people

ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds.  Flickr page.

Review: Bandai Bitlot Gundam Char's Zaku

Let's change things up and segue into something that isn't a building block of some type.  This is a new-to-me blind box collection.  I saw them at Miniso a couple of weeks ago and decided to give them a try.  Apparently they were released early this year and there is a second batch coming at the end of the year.

Box.  I paid $9.99 at Miniso for this.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The head can be Defense or Spotting.  The bazooka could be Direct

Fire, Artillery, or Spotting.  The axe could be Melee.  The shield could be Defense.

The hands could be removed for White Die damage.  The handle of the axe looks

flimsy and I didn't want to try and pull it out of the hand and maybe bend it.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:

Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  At.  (0)

Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  About the size of a Classic.  (+5)

How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Four.  (+5)

Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)

Score: +15 (A).  You can't field it as a Soldier archetype right out of the box but the stock model (2Rh/2Ra/1B/1Y) may be a useful option on the battlefield.  It also gives you a second option if you're looking to field a Zeon based squad.  The remaining two characters in the set aren't mecha but the accessories they come with  may be useful as different Systems.  Which would definitely help the RX-78.

Review: Bandai Bitlot Gundam RX-78

Let's change things up and segue into something that isn't a building block of some type.  This is a new-to-me blind box collection.  I saw them at Miniso a couple of weeks ago and decided to give them a try.  Apparently they were released early this year and there is a second batch coming at the end of the year.

Box.  I paid $9.99 at Miniso for this.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The gun could be Direct Fire or Spotting.  The shield

could be Defense. The hands could be removed for White Die

damage.  There's a stud on the back for mounting something.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:

Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  At.  (0)

Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  About the size of a Classic.  (+5)

How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Two.  (0)

Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)

Score: +10 (A-).  This is pretty disappointing.  Without a removable head the maximum number of Systems is three.