Review: 31003 Red Rotors

Here's a review of a small Creator set.

The box.









 
Three instruction books, one for each model you can build.

Parts bag 1.  There are a bunch of double cheese slopes, a couple of lampholders, a few 1x1 Trans-Clear bricks, and a couple of 1x2 Modified Plates w/Bar (closed ends).

Parts bag 2. A bunch of plates, a few stepped brackets, and a couple of those rotors w/studs.

Parts bag 3.  Slopes and bricks.





The Questions:
Can you build a frame, or frames, right away?  No, I'm not sure you can.  (-5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  below.  (+5)
If you can't build a frame right away, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  I'd say yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  Yes. (+5)
Score: 10 (A-).  I like what's in here, I just don't think it's going to be immediately useful unless this is exactly what you're looking for -- or you need a lot of red pieces.

More MFZ/Lego Pages

I've come across a few more MFZ related pages lately.

Iblitz Corporation -- A French blog that has a few entries about MFZ.

Dark Cloud --  This blog has recently started doing set reviews for MFZ.

MFDF -- A new dedicated alt-universe MFZ blog.

Arcadia: A Mobile Frame Zero World -- A new blog detailing the setting of one MFZ campaign.

MFZ Spain -- A page dedicated to bringing MFZ to Spanish speakers.

Lego FTW! -- Another pinterest page, this has a few creations that are a little large for MFZ but still look really neat.

Pimp My Bricks -- A tumblr page with a really unfortunate title.  Some really nice choices for pictures though.

Build Journal: ST-15 Hephaestus

I was looking at MittenNinja's Design Journal 1 and DJ2 entries, and seeing as I'd already copied some of his work -- and having enough pictures of a build in progress -- I figured I'd jump on another bandwagon.

It all started with a leg.  It only has axes of motion at the top and the bottom, but it looks like it has a knee joint.  And in general it looks cool, so I was willing to stick with the design and find a torso to mate it with.

I added a body to it but that didn't work.  (Click over to the blog post to see a handful of pictures.)  The connection between the torso and the legs was only one stud and there was a half stud offset to the other connection point that I couldn't fix.  This led me to set it aside while I worked on other things, hoping that my subconscious would come up with a solution.

Then MittenNinja posted this and I figured I'd attempt to build it.  I wasn't really thinking about it beyond, "hey, that's cool, let's give it a try."









But then I grabbed the legs off the previous build after I finished the torso.  That led to this.  As you can see, I changed up some of the colors in the legs as the Light Bley and Red were two colors too many.








Here's how it all breaks down.  As you can see I used different clip pieces to attach the shoulders.  This lead to a different angle of attachment for the Handlebar piece.  Which then lead to a different set up for the head and a need to fill in the chest.  I also chose different pieces to make the arm as these were what I had on hand.

The name was a choice to continue on with the Greek god naming scheme established by the original frame.  As is the model number.  Now all I have to do is make some weapons for it.

Spotlight: Matt Bace

While trying to create a post about terrain and scenery pictures I stumbled across Matt Bace's Flickr stream.  He has a lot of "4 Wide" vehicles.  This scale seems to be a match for 7P as all the "people" in these pictures are seven plates tall.

Mini Logging Crew by Matt Bace.  I really like that "Caber Toss" vehicle.  Yes, I know that's not the real name for it.

Heavy Haulers by Matt Bace.  Yes, I'll admit it, I have a thing for big trucks.

Mini Farm Machines by Matt Bace.

Utility & DPW Crews by Matt Bace.  I know it's kinda silly but, the 7P people in this are what makes it for me.

Mini Inland Ferry by Matt Bace.  This is his biggest render.  It would make for a great centerpiece for a gaming table.






He also has a number of Cuusoo projects.  Instant MFZ terrain in a set, anyone?

Transformers Rules Draft

Inspired by a topic over on the Hangar, and borrowing very heavily from Ajax's ideas, here's a rough draft of some rules for implementing Transformers in MFZ

• A transformable frame has two modes.
• A transformable frame can only transform during its turn.
•  It has to have a Transformer System.  When that system is destroyed the frame is locked into its current mode.
• A transformable frame has a different system loadout in each of its modes, while still having a maximum of four systems.
• A transformable frame cannot have more than two systems and the Transformer system in each mode.

Okay, how this works is this, we'll make a Soldier archetype into a transformer.  It has 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/1T/2W.  The T is the Transformer system.  In Mode 1 it has 2Rd/1B/1T/2W, and Mode 2 is 1G/1Y/1T/1d8G/2W.  See how that works?  You could also go 2Rd/1Y/1T/2W and 1B/1G/1T/1d8G/2W, or any number of other combinations.  This gives us a reason to have two forms -- beyond the coolness factor of transforming -- and simulates the different capabilities of each mode.  It also forces people to make choices about which mode they want to be in for the turn which is one of the main purpose of the rules of MFZ.

Technically a transforming frame can have five systems but, since it has no more than three in any one mode, I think we can handwave that away.

 How's that for a start?

Purity: Creatology Mini Blocks Review

Ian Porter from the MFZ Facebook page sent me some sets to review.  Thanks, Ian!  They're called Mini Blocks from a company called Creatology.  They seem to be a blend of Lego and Kre-O parts -- with maybe a few other unknown bits tossed in.  They cost $2.99 per pack.

This is the first bag.  As you can see this is a "Space Fighter" and has 44 pieces.  Those sloped blocks in the center of the next to last row are pretty neat.  As are the 1x1 Round Plates with Bar at the lower left.  Also, if you look at the center front plate, it has a serial number on it.  There seems to be one marked piece like that in every set.  $0.07 Price per Piece.

The legs and head are the most interesting parts of this minifig.  I'm going to have to experiment with that head and see what kind of connections I can make.








This is a "Tractor Digger" and has 40 pieces.  Nothing really interesting beyond the 1x1 Round Plates with Bar and the Tile Clips.  $0.07 Price per Piece.

This is a "Race Car" and has 37 pieces.  Once again we've got the the 1x1 Round Plates with Bar and the Tile Clips.  The steering wheel being two pieces is pretty interesting, have to see what I can do with that.  $0.08 Price per Piece.






The Questions:
Can you build a frame, or frames, right away?  No, I'm not sure you can.  (-5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  All three of these sets are below.  (+5)
If you can't build a frame right away, does it have parts you should be able to put into use right away?  I'd say yes.  (+5)
Does it have more than a handful of immediately useful parts?  No. (-5)
Score: 0 (B). That's fair.  There are a handful of interesting parts but nothing you have to have right away.  These would be good for building up a library of pieces.

I have another three packages to review at a later date.

Bandwagon!

Trends come around fairly often in the MFZ community.  Here's where I jump on a couple of bandwagons.

Several people have built versions of MittenNinja's Locust.  I'm hopping on that band wagon with my RB-5 Sentry.
Brickshelf gallery.

I also made a copy of Riptor25's Ijad Wingclaw.
Brickshelf gallery.

I joined the Olive Green bandwagon with this little beauty.
Brickshelf gallery.