Review: Make-It Blocks Birds 2.1

Make-It Blocks has released a second line of Birds themed sets.  It's been almost a year since my last Make-It Blocks review -- pay no attention to all those other MIB sets in my backlog pile -- so let's get going.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  Round Plate, Round Brick w/3 Bamboo Leaves, Plates, Round

Large Jumper, Wedge Plates, Bricks w. Studs on Side, Double Brackets,

Pneuma-T, Cone, Inverted Studless Slopes, Wedge Studless Slopes,

Bar Plate, Studless Slopes, Bar Studs, Clip Plate, Quarter Circle Tiles,

Printed Round Tiles, Clip Bar Holders, Tooth Plate, and, Plant Stem.

Build.  IO Frigate (2Ras+d8/2W).

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 is only the third MIB set containing a Pneuma-T.  This may be the first time we're seeing those Double Brackets though.

Terrain Workshop: Walls

Yeah, I know.  Walls.  They're usually the first piece of terrain/Cover people build when starting in MFZ: Rapid Attack.  Mainly because they're simple, cheap, and effective.  I've generally gotten away from them in favor of things that can be formed into wall-like arrangements.  But.  I made a comment recently, in response to a question on the MFZ subReddit, about a certain type of Make-It Blocks set being good for making walls.  So, in the interest of seeing if that's true and trying to help out beginners, let's basically review one -- or more -- of those sets and see what level of utility they have.

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

Parts.  2x4 Bricks, 2x3 Bricks, 2x2 Bricks,

1x4 Bricks, 1x2 Bricks, and 1x1 Bricks.

Build.  So you can make twelve simple 1 Hit walls with this set.

You can combine each of these assemblies into thicker sections by

placing them back to back.  Or you can string them into longer wall 

sections by placing them end to end.  One of the good things about

there being six different individual color sets is if you're doing some

sort of a Demo Set Up you can color code each player's "territory".

Size comparison.  Kinda tiny but anything

that's just three Bricks tall tends to be.

Moving on.  A technique that dates back to the early days of the MFZ community was making the bottom two rows of Bricks a different color than the ones above it.  The reasoning behind this is that a piece of terrain is no longer Cover once it is reduced below the height of three Bricks.  So all you really have to think about in relation to the "1 Hit is six Bricks" rule of Cover are the Bricks that are above the "Cover Demarcation Line".

I'm not sure there are any techniques here to learn but I hope this gives people ideas or options to use in their terrain builds. Flickr page.

Terrain Workshop: Snow Covered Trees

I made the first version of these nine years ago.  Back then I thought of them as "alien", maybe because of the Orange Feathered Minifig Wings I used in one of the trees.  It does come in eight colors so it can be used to represent fictional trees.

In this case we're restricting ourselves to the White version of this part

because it resembles a snow covered tree branch.  The top section is a

1x1 Cone, a Travis Brick, and four Feathered Minifig Wings.  The section

under that is a 1x1 Round Plate, a Travis Brick, and four Feathered Minifig

Wings.  Under that is two 1x1 Round Bricks and a 2x2 Round Plate. 

These don't count towards the number of Hits because they are below

the Height Minimum for Cover.  Each section above that is 1 Hit.

This tree is 3 Hits, is 20 feet

tall, and covers 18 feet from

edge to edge in 6P scale.

Since I didn't have enough pieces to make a fourth tree of the same size

I experimented a bit with some other parts I had stashed away.  Three

Apollo Studs, one 1x2 Rounded Plate and two Cloud Blades make up

the new top of the tree.  I know this is a little ridiculous but we are

playing a game based around giant-ish mecha engaged in combat.

This version of the tree is 3 Hits, is 32 feet tall, and covers 18

feet from edge to edge in 6P scale.  I hope this gives people

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

Terrain Workshop: Borrower's Trees

I was going to number this one but I believe the name is more fun.  More appropriately, the idea for this creation was borrowed from Astleyhasthis on Flickr.  I started out trying to copy the original but there are some bendy bits I'm not a fan of, so I modified it a little.

The Seaweed part is still the core of the build but, I reduced

the number of 6x5 Leaves to four.  I stacked this on top of a

Candle in the same color as the Seaweed and the 6x5 Leaves.

All of that plugs into a Round Large Jumper on top of a Plate.

This is 1 Hit in MFZ: Rapid Attack and is 18 feet tall

and 27.5 feet wide at its farthest point in 6P scale.

The version on the left uses 4x3 Leaves in an alternate color to the original.  The one on the right still uses 6x5 Leaves but in an alternate color.

If you want to make this a little taller and sturdier, you can swap

out the Candle for two Apollo Studs, and some combination of

1x1 Round Plates and 1x1 Round Bricks totaling up to five.

This changes the Hits to 2

and the height to anywhere

between 20 and 30 feet.  

I've got a bunch of Seaweed, 6x5 Leaves, and Candles so I'm going to make more than a few of these trees.  I just don't know where I'm going to use them yet.  I hope this gives people ideas or techniques to use in their terrain builds. Flickr page.

Review: Gundam Converge RX-78-2

I discovered these back before Christmas at my local Miniso store.  They got them back in stock so I figured I'd review one of the ones I missed on the prior run.  This line, according to Gundanium Gateway, is from September 2024.  It was a special summertime release called the "Movie Visual Selection" and doesn't seem to feature box numbers.  Apparently they are all recolors so this release will allow you to field a second version of a figure you might already have.

Box.  I paid $10.99 at Miniso for this.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The head can be Defense or Spotting.  The gun could be Direct Fire or Spotting.  The bazooka could be Direct Fire or Artillery.  The shield

could be Defense.  The arms could be removed for White Die damage.

Assembled.

Apparently there's a spot under the backpack to mount the bazooka

but, it also fits into the secondary shield mounting point.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:

Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Above.  (-10)

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: +5 (B+).  You can't field it as a Soldier archetype right out of the box but a Delegator archetype (2Ra/1B/2Y) is a very useful option.

Review: 30691 Convertible Monster Truck Polybag

Another 2025 polybag.  I found this one at Target in the Toy section.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 at Target for a $0.09 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Axle Plates, Rims, Wedge Plates, Curved Slopes w/Studs,

Round Plate, Brackets, Tires, Pentagonal Tile, Studless Slopes, Corner

Plates, Log Bricks, Tiles, Rounded Plates, Cheese Graters, Translucent

Cheese Slopes, Transparent Round Plates, Clip Plates, and Vehicle Spoiler.

Build.  IO Frigate (2W) 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+).  Functional, not fanciful.

Review: 30689 Birthday Party Animals Polybag

Another 2025 polybag.  I found this one at Target in the Toy section.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 at Target for a $0.08 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Bricks, Curved Brick, Slope, Axle Plates, Arches, Inverted

Slopes, Round Bricks, Large Jumper, Round Plate, Curved Slopes w/

Cutout, Jumpers, Half Round Tiles, Candle, Studless Slopes, Rounded

Plates, Printed Round Tiles, Apollo Studs, Flowers, Headlight Bricks, Bracket,

Clip Plates, Bar Bar Holders, Translucent Flames, Cone, and Cake Frosting.

Build.  Frame (2W), Station, and IO Frigate (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?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  It has a good selection of parts, price point, and quantity of parts but I feel it's more of a parts pack than a Frame or Starship builder.