Review: Gundam Converge ORX-005 Gaplant TR-5 (Hrairoo) (131)

One last Gundam Converge set for the week.  The tweak in the review questions is thanks to Shades Corvid.

Box.  I paid $9.95 for this at Barnes & Noble.

Parts.

Disassembled.

Assembled.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  At.  (0)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's roughly the size of a Classic.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Three.  (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +10 (A-).  One more removable piece and a slightly cheaper price and this would have been an excellent set.

Review: Gundam Converge ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos (126)

This model, and the next one, are marked #02.  So this may be a new series.

Box.  I paid $9.95 for this at Barnes & Noble.

Parts.

Disassembled.  Unfortunately you're unable to use the hands from this on the Build Burning Gundam.

Assembled.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  At.  (0)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's roughly the size of a Classic.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent at least four systems?  No.  (-5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +5 (B+).  Not having both hands be switchable hurts this set.

Review: Gundam Converge BG-011-B Build Burning Gundam (114)

I've bought a few more of these kits since the last set of reviews.

Box.  I paid $5.95 for this at Barnes & Noble.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The hands also come off.  I discovered this after I was done taking pictures.

Assembled.

I may have come up with a modified version of my usual set of questions to rate these kits.  I'm going to try it out on this one.



The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's roughly the size of a Classic.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent at least four systems?  No.  (-5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +10 (A-).  I'm still working on the grading systems but this sounds about right.

Purity: Mega Bloks CNF29 Spongebob Squarepants Patrick Wacky Pack

Not the set I had originally planned to review but plans change.

Box.  MSRP is $5.99 for a $0.14 Price per Piece.  I think I paid $2.50 for it at Kmart.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  Lots of Lime Green here.  I think the most interesting pieces are the almost Headlight Bricks and the Curved Cheese Slopes.

Build.  A Small IO Frigate with two assault weapons and one defensive Attachment.


The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  Above.  (-10) (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: -5 (B-).  I don't think any of these small sets from this line are going to get  good score.

Purity: Mega Bloks DPJ10 Destiny Atheon Review

The new sets from Mega Bloks for the Destiny computer game have finally hit the shelves.  Here's my first review.

Box.  MSRP is $19.99 for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  That's a Trans-Red Round Tile in the bottom center of the picture.  I wonder if BrickForge is upset.

Parts 2.  Those brackets in the top right corner are pretty interesting.

Parts 3.  Lots of Trans-Black pieces here -- especially the Tile Clips in the bottom row -- and those Trans-Blue Brackets are neat.

Parts 4.  A fair amount of Trans-Blue in here.

Parts 5.  Those blue bricks in the middle are two bricks tall, can fit a Technic Pin in either end, and have studs on two sides.

Parts 6.  The Technic Pin Bars and Technic Pin Clips are pretty interesting, as are the Cheese Slopes w/Studs in the lower right corner.

Parts 7.  Bar Whip Antennas are interesting.

Build.  Two frames and a Station with plenty of parts left over.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At.  (0) (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: +15 (A).  Another good score for a licensed Mega Bloks set with lots of interesting parts to play with.

Sales Alert

Toys'R'Us once again has a good Lego sale.  20% off Ninjago, Angry Birds, and Technic, along with an online $7.98 sale on a few random sets.

Purity: Mega Bloks CNH23 Halo Covenant Commander Review

I reviewed a similar set a couple of years ago.  I've been curious about this one ever since I first saw it on the shelves.  As you can see, I picked this up for half price on Target clearance.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99 for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.  That is a lot of parts for a minifig.

Parts 1.  Those angled pieces on the left have an anti-stud on the bottom.

Parts 2.  The Axle Plates in the top right of the picture are not friction pins.  The bars on the Bar Plates in the middle of the picture are tiny.

Parts 3.  Nothing really new here.

Parts 4.  Kinda bummed that there wasn't a printed Round Tile in this set.

Parts 5.  The Clip Bars in the bottom row are the most interesting piece in this picture to me.

Build.  I had to cheat a bit with the hips and not fully insert them to make sure it could stand up without falling over.  I'm thinking 2Rd+d8/1B/1Y/2W for stats.

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+).  Look out Lego, Mega Bloks has a licensed set with the top score.