Monday, March 18, 2024

Review: Make-It Blocks Triceratops

Switching from flora to fauna, let's look at another new line of Make-It Blocks sets for this week's reviews.


Box.  MSRP is
 $1.25, for a $0.04 Price per Piece.

Instructions.













Parts.  Plates, Slopes, Wedge Plates, Hinge Plates, Clip Plates,
Curved Bricks w/Cutout, Travis Brick, Double Clip Plate,
Horns, Cheese Slopes, and Transparent Round Plates.






Build.  An Ijad Scorpion(!) mech.   

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+).  I'd say it needs a handful more parts to be super awesome but this set is a really good, inexpensive way to start a squad.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower Building Blocks 4

Finishing out a week of Make-It Blocks Flower Building Blocks sets let's swing back to other end of the parts count spectrum.


Box.  MSRP is
 $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.













Parts.  Quarter Curved Plates, Octagonal Bar Plates, Quarter Circle
Tiles, Hexagonal Windshields, Pin/Axle Connector, Bent Pin/Axle
Connector, Minifig Shields, Macaroni Bricks, Macaroni Tiles,
Round Plates, Round Large Jumper, 2x2 Round Plates w/Rounded
Bottom, Axles, Round Plates w/3 Leaves, Clip Plates, Bar Clips,
Half Pins, Apollo Studs, Clip Bar Holders, Bar, Bricks, and Tiles.




Build.  Frame, Armored Assault archetype [2Rd
(bazooka) 2B (wing panels) 1G (rocket)].


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 set has the most different types of parts of this release, a decent color divide, and plenty of useful bits.

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower Building Blocks 3

Continuing on with a week of Make-It Blocks Flower Building Blocks sets let's take a look at the set with the smallest parts count.


Box.  MSRP is
 $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.














Parts.  Quarter Curved Plates, Large Steering Wheel, Octagonal Bar Plate,
Bricks, Hexagonal Windshields, 2x2 Leaves w/4 Petals and Axle Hole, Bent
Pin/Axle Connector, Pin/Axle Connector, Macaroni Bricks, Macaroni Tiles,
Round Large Jumpers, Round Plates, Tiles, Clip Plates, Apollo Studs,
Half Pins, Axles, Flower, Bar Clips, Round Plates w/3 Leaves, and Bar



Build.  Frame. 
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 might have the least amount of parts but I think this has the best combination of parts so far.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower Building Blocks 2

It's a new week but we still have more Make-It Blocks Flower Building Blocks sets to review.  This set falls in the middle of the parts count spectrum of this release.


Box.  MSRP is
 $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.














Parts.  Quarter Curved Plates, Macaroni Bricks, Round Plates w/3
Leaves, Hexagonal Windshields, Macaroni Tiles, Tiles, Round
Plates, Bricks, Pin/Axle Connectors, Bar, Travis Bricks, Padlocks,
Clip Tiles, Half Pins, Apollo Studs, Bar Stud, Bar Clips, and Axles.





Build.  Frame.
  
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+).  
 That's a ton of Padlocks and Clip Tiles.  The Pink color is a slightly lighter shade than the one Lego uses.

Friday, March 8, 2024

Review: Make-It Blocks Flower Building Blocks 1

A ton of new Make-It Blocks sets were just released so, hold on tight, we're diving right in.  With this series we now have five(?) companies making Botanical building blocks kits.  These are by far the least expensive of all the ones I've reviewed.  Let's see how the stack up.


Box.  MSRP is
 $1.25, for a $0.01 Price per Piece.

Instructions.















Parts.  Quarter Curved Plates, Octagonal Bar Plate, Bar Clips,
Round Plates w/3 Leaves, Hexagonal Windshields, Round Plates,
Macaroni Bricks, Round Large Jumper, Bent Pin/Axle Connector,
Pin/Axle Connector, Macaroni Tiles, Travis Bricks, Bricks, Half
Pins, Apollo Studs, Axles, Tiles, and Round Plates w/4 Knobs.



Build.  Frame, 2B or possible 2Rh+d8.
 
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+).  That is a lot of Lime and Pink.  Tons of useful parts too.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Review: 30668 Easter Bunny w/Colorful Eggs Polybag

I found this in the Seasonal section of my local Target.


Bag.  MSRP is
 $4.99, for a $0.07 Price per Piece.

Instructions.






Parts.  Round Plates,  Plates, Studless Slopes, Round Large Jumpers, Printed
Round Tiles, Domes, Inverted Domes, Wedge Plates, Ball Joint Plates, Double
Curve Wedge Slopes, Round Tiles, Clip Plates, Bar Plates, Curved Bricks w/Cutout,
Inverted Double Slope, Slope, Round Plates w/3 Leaves, Curved Slope, Double
Curved Slopes, Brackets, Round Plates w/Curved Upright Leaf, and Cones.



Build.  Frame, 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+).  I like it, but I want more.  Two more of the 1x2 Clip Plates and I could have made longer legs for the Frame.  A second 2x4 Plate and I could have had the Cover piece on a solid base.  I know it's a little "gimme, gimme, gimme" but, yaknow, gimme.

Monday, March 4, 2024

Review: Mechanical Robots "Bomb Soldier"

I stumbled across the blind bag item while food shopping the other day.  Discovering, by feel, that is was made from a few parts I decided to review it and see if it could be a cheap entry point for MFZ: Rapid Attack.  The company that made this is ORBtoys.


Package. I paid $1.99 at Wegman's.

Inner package.













 Disassembled.  The gun could be Direct Fire, Artillery or
 Spotting.   The arms can be removed for White Die damage.



Assembled. According to the picture on
the back of the package, this thing is
missing a head. It also can't stand unsupported while carrying the gun.



Size Comparison.  This one is a little larger than a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as a Chub. (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems? One. (-5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage? Yes. (+5)
Score: +10 (A-).  Yeeaah.  Despite the decent score this thing ain't even close to worth it.
EDIT: As if the downsides weren't enough, this may be an unlicensed copy of a Warmachine miniature.