Friday, September 22, 2023

Review: Make-It Blocks Pizza Restaurant

We've been talking about these for a while on the MFZ Discord, ever since I stumbled across them on the Dollar Tree website.


Box. MSRP was $1.25, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Sticker.











 


 Parts 1.  Plates, Door Panels, Tiles, Bricks, Bricks w/Pinhole, New
 Headlight Bricks, Round Bricks, Friction Pin, and Glass Pieces.







Parts 2.  Plates, Corner Bricks, Tiles, Corner Tiles, Studless Slopes, New
 Headlight Bricks, Bricks, Round Tile, Apollo Stud, Transparent Panels.






Build.  5 Hits for the top level.  I left a lot of pieces out of this build but I
remembered to include the Microfig and Nanofig for scale!  The bottom
level should be 3 Hits if it needs to be destroyed for some reason.



Build 2.  Still open at the back.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Terrain.  (0)
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: +15 (A).  A different selection of parts this time around but still a decent set.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Review: Make-It Blocks Fried Chicken Restaurant

We've been talking about these for a while on the MFZ Discord, ever since I stumbled across them on the Dollar Tree website.


Box. MSRP was $1.25, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.


Instructions & Stickers.

Parts 1. Plates, Tiles, Cheese Slopes, Friction Pin, Macaroni Bricks, New Headlight Bricks, Bricks, Bricks w/Pinhole, Translucent Panel, Door Panel, and Glass Piece.






Parts 2. Plates, Tiles, Translucent Panels, Bracket, Plates
w/Door Rail, Clip Plate, Round Plates, Apollo Stud, Translucent
Round Plate, Bricks, New Headlight Bricks, and Bar


Build.  I left out parts and changed things around this time.  The top 
level is 4 Hits, the bottom level is 3 Hits if necessary.  I left out the
Microfig and Nanofig unfortunately.  Check out the technique with the
Cheese Slope and New Headlight Brick under the Macaroni Brick.



Build 2.  Once again, it's open at the back.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Terrain.  (0)
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: +15 (A).  Another decent terrain piece for your battlefield.

Monday, September 18, 2023

Review: Make-It Blocks Hamburger Restaurant

We've been talking about these for a while on the MFZ Discord, ever since I stumbled across them on the Dollar Tree website.


Box. MSRP was $1.25, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Stickers.







 



Parts 1.  Plates, Glass Panels, Window & Door Frames, Brick Bricks, Bricks
w/Pinhole, Bricks, Tiles, Friction Pin, and Translucent 1x2x2 Panels.








Parts 2.  Plates, Tiles, Translucent Bricks, Brick, Round Flower
Plates, Tiles, Grille Tiles, Round Plate, Translucent Round Plate,
Apollo Stud, Bar, Clip Plate, Glass Panel, and Door Frame.






Build.  I put it together without a bunch of the parts, like the Glass Panels.  I included a Microfig and Nanofig so you could get an idea of size.  It's 4 Hits before it no longer counts as Cover.  If you can balance a Frame on top of the chimney it would count
as being Elevated -- If you overlook the need for it to be a 4 stud x 4 stud space.



Build 2.  As you can see the back is incomplete.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Terrain.  (0)
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: +15 (A).  Good looking, straight-out-of-the-box terrain is pretty hard to come by, so I think this is definitely worth it.

Friday, September 15, 2023

Review: 71420 Super Mario Rambi the Rhino

This set is new for 2023 and I bought it for a number of reasons.  1.) It has a banana in it -- which I use for my Aphid frames -- 2.) the price point is reasonable, 3.) it looks like it has some useful parts and, 4.) I'm curious about those 3x3(?) Brick pieces.  So let's take a look.


Box. MSRP is $10.99, for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.













Parts 1.  Modified Cubes, Bricks w/Studs on Edges & Side, Rounded Plate
w/Legs, Plates, 2x2x2/3 Plate w/2 Studs on Side, 2x3 Rounded Plate w/Pinhole,
Inverted Slope, Plates w/Pinhole, Brackets, Wedge Plate, Bricks, Brick w/Studs
on Side, Log Brick, Hinge Plate, Studless Slopes, and Printed Studless Slope.






Parts 2.  Curved Slope w/Studs, Plates, Wedge Plate, Stickered Tile, Printed Studless
Slope, Studless Slopes, Brackets, Double Jumpers, Jumper, Large Cheese Slopes,
Tile, Half Round Tiles, Quarter Round Tiles, Stadium Tiles, Apollo Studs, Bar Studs,
Rounded Plates, Friction Pins, Round Tile, Hinge Plate, Large Claw, Minifig Banana,
Bricks w/Pinhole, Headlight Bricks, 2/3 Bricks w/Open Stud, Horns, and Clip Plates. 


Parts 3.  Here's a look at those Modified Cubes.
They are 3x3 and they have anti-studs inside.

Build.  A 1 Hit piece of Cover and a Frame.  I'm sure you can do
more with this set but I wasn't feeling very creative this morning.  

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).  It's a good set with interesting parts at a decent price point.

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Paper Tokens

Over the weekend, a question was asked on the Discord about needing to use all the dice for Rapid Attack to play the game.  I commented; "If you make paper tokens for Defense and Spotting you can undercut most of the dice use in the game."  There used to be a file for those tokens on the Hangar but as that's gone I figured I'd take a crack at it.

Defense.  I've included a few "0" tokens because sometimes people choose not to have a Defense in certain situations so this allows you to show that choice.


Spotting.  There are more of the 2, 3, 4, and 5 tokens because I needed to fill out the grid.



I figure people can just print out this page and then cut out the tokens.  Hopefully people find these useful.

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Monday, September 11, 2023

Random Starships 9

It's been over a year since I've done a pretty starship picture post so let's see what's out there.



Republic TX-130 Sabre Tank by roguebantha.  Honestly, this could
be a Frigate for IO, or a hover tank for RA.  Still cool looking though.







who wouldn't want a flotilla of these on the table?



Way too big for regular ships but inspirational and maybe
could be used for terrain in IO.  Very cool looking.






than the IO Cruiser limit, this design has a neat little secret.




gigantic but it'd be awesome as terrain for an IO game.