Good Sets for Parts 9 Part 2

Here's the promised second half.

31032  Red Creatures.  221 pieces for $14.99.  Plenty of Clips, Hinges, Mixel Joints, and red pieces.

31033 Vehicle Transporter.  264 pieces for $24.99.  Plenty of SNOT, good color selection, and the set design might be good as terrain for 7P scale.

31030 Red Go-Kart.  106 pieces for $9.99.  Some SNOT, Technic, and interesting colors, along with a new piece.

31029 Cargo Heli.  132 pieces for $9.99.  Some SNOT, along with a good selection of Red and Yellow pieces.

41091 Mia's Roadster.  187 pieces for $14.99.  Some SNOT, a couple Taps, a good selection of Magenta, Medium Blue, White, and Trans-color pieces.  It's also $0.08 per piece, which is phenomenal for a Friends set.

70220 Strainor's Saber Cycle.  $161 pieces for $14.99.  Plenty of SNOT and Tecnic parts, muted color palette though.

60083 Snowplow Truck.  196 pieces for $19.99.  Some SNOT, Technic, Bar Plates, Clip Plates, and a bunch of 1x1 Round Tiles.

42035 Mining Truck.  362 pieces for $29.99.  Plenty of Yellow Technic pieces here.

42031 Cherry Picker.  155 pieces for $12.99.  Ditto.

42032 Compact Tracked Loader.  252 pieces for $19.99.  What can I say, I really like Technic sets.  Especially ones that are affordable.

Part 1, in case you missed it.

Good Sets for Parts 9, Part 1

Since we're three weeks into the new year -- and I finally got my new catalog -- let's take a look at some of the sets that might be good for MFZ.

75076 Star Wars Microfighters Republic Gunship.  105 Pieces for $9.99.  Should make a good IO Frigate.

75077 Star Wars Microfighter Homing Spider Droid.  102 Pieces for $9.99.  Looks like it could be an Ijad frame.

75086 Star Wars Battle Droid Troop Carrier.  565 Pieces for $39.99.    14 Droid bodies and a bunch of SNOT pieces.

75078 Star Wars Imperial Troop Transport.  141 Pieces for $12.99.  The minifigs are useless but the main build should be possible to tighten up the main build into an IO Frigate.

75090 Star Wars Ezra's Speeder Bike.  253 Pieces for $19.99.  A fair amount of SNOT, a new piece, and a decent selection of colors.

70817 Batman & Super Angry Kitty Attack.  115 Pieces for $9.99.  Plenty of SNOT, plus back versions of these.

21301 Birds.  580 Pieces for $44.99.  A lot of plates, but also a lot of SNOT, a large selection of colors, and 13 different Medium Blue pieces.

70223 Icebite's Claw Driller.  629 Pieces for $49.99.  A wide selection of SNOT, Technic, and colors along with several new pieces.

70228 Vultrix's Sky Scavenger.  480 Pieces for $39.99.  Ditto.

31031 Rainforest Animals.  215 Pieces for $14.99.  A fair amount of SNOT, Hinges, Clip Plates, and colors.  Plus it's $0.07 per piece.

I've got more sets on my list, so I'll drop Part 2 later this week.

Sales Alert

Another 20% off coupon on Clearance merchandise from TRU.  Just a guess, but I think they're going to keep these up until the end of the Clearance Blast.  This one expires 1/31.  Here's a link to all the Clearance Building sets at Toys'R'Us.

Here are the Sales/Clearance sets for the week at Target.

Here's Walmart's online Clearance/Rollback selection.

Maybe I should make this a weekly Tuesday post.

Non-Human 16

Five more mecha for your morning -- or whenever you happen to be viewing this -- enjoyment.

Cockroach by Max.  Fantastic use
of the windscreen in this one.

BOOTS by cmaddison.  This looks a little large

overall, but it's just too fun to not include.

LX-04 Anti Infantry Crawler by Rancorbait.  Render.
There are some interesting techniques being used here.

Black Mech Turtle by crayonbricks.  It only

uses parts from two polybags, nice design.

Ma.K Buttcheeks by Karf Oohlu.  Don't let the irreverent
name fool you, this is a neat design.

Review: 41515 Mixel Kraw

Here's the last Orange Mixel of Series 2 and the last overall of the series.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  Hinge Plates, 1x2 Plates w/Bar (closed ends), 1x1 Rounds, 1x1 Squares, Studless slopes, two types of bracket, Lampholders, Clip Tiles, Bar Holders w/Clip, and a few other bits.




Build.  Insectaur frame.  I think this is my favorite build from among all the ones I've created from the Series 2 Mixels.




I also managed small Station from some of the remaining parts.

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+).  Plenty of Click Hinges and Plates 1x2 w/Bar (closed ends) make this set a good starting point.

Review: 41509 Mixel Slumbo

The last of the Blue Mixels of Series 2.

Bag.  $4.99 MSRP gets us a Price per Piece of $0.08.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plenty of Cheese Slopes, a couple of 1x4 Hinge Plates, a few Bar Claws, some Mixel Joints, two new Headlight Bricks, a handful of Clip Plate, Horizontal, some plates, some slopes, some brackets, a couple of those funky Alien Galaxy Squad pistols, and a few other parts.

Build.  Beetle Walker.

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?  Not really.  (-5)
Score: +10 (A-).  A few less Cheese Slopes and a few more Mixel Joints and this would be a really fun set.

Sales Alert

Another 20% off coupon on Clearance merchandise from TRU.  They are seriously trying to wipe me out.  This one expires 1/24.  Here's a link to all the Clearance Building sets at Toys'R'Us.

This is the only set I found in the Target online Clearance listings.

Here's Walmart's online Clearance/Rollback selection.

Review: 41512 Mixel Chomly

The third, and last, Series 2 Brown Mixel set.

Bag.  MSRP of $4.99 yields a PpP of $0.07.

Instructions.

Parts.  We have Mixel Joints, 1x2 Technic Bricks, New Headlight Bricks, 1x1 Bricks w/Vert. Clip, Cheese Slopes, Tooth Plates, 1x2 Plate w/Bar (open ends), Half Pins, Unstudded slopes, a 1x1-2x2 Bracket, and 1x1 Rund/Square plates.  Not a bad selection.

Build.  This one didn't really

flow for me, but I got it done.

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-).  While it does have a fair amount of Cheese Slopes, Spikes, 1x2 Plates, and 1x2 Unstudded Slopes, there's no more than two of any other part.  There aren't any sustainable quantities of parts.

Review: 41514 Mixel Jawg

Here's the second of the Brown Mixels from Series 2.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  A handful of plates, a bunch of Clip Tiles and Cheese Slopes, a few of those 1x2 Bricks w/2 Studs on 1 Side, 1x2 Clip Plates (vertical), 1x2 Plate wBar (closed ends), a Technic Brick, and two 1x4 Plate w/Offset Ends, 1x2 Slope Bricks, and Cheese Slope w/Plate are what I see for interestiing parts.

Build.  This set made me work for it.  I

tried to build a Frame from the start

but it wasn't happening.  I eventually

switched up to an IO Frigate then

went back and made a Frame.

Here's the frame.  It's obviously 4P.  I think it kind of looks like a Minion from the "Despicable Me" movies.

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-).  While it does have a fair amount of Clip Tiles and Cheese Slopes, they're all in varying shades of brown and there aren't plentiful quantities of other useful pieces.

Google Hangout

The third installment of the MFZ Google Hangout is scheduled for Saturday, January 17th from 3:30pm to 5:30pm (Eastern).  The main topic of discussion will be the most recent Intercept Orbit update.  I'm sure that will not be the only thing we talk about though.  Dark Cloud Blogs will, once again, be the host, and I and several others will be attending.  We hope to see you there.

Review: 41511 Mixel Flurr

This is the second of the blue Mixel sets for Series 2.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a Price per Piece of $0.11.

Instructions.

Parts.  A handful of Mixel joints and click hinges along with a generous handful of Cheese Slopes start us out.  The lightning bolt piece, bat wings, Technic Bricks w/Axle Hole, Clip Tiles, Tooth Tiles, and 1x2-1x2 brackets finish us out.  Not really too much here.

Build.  We've got a bit of a

Kaiju feel with this 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?  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?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +5 (B+).  This is the lowest scoring Mixel set I've reviewed so far.

Sales Alert

Toys'R'Us has another 20% off Clearance coupon available this week.  Luckily I found out about it early on.  It ends on Saturday (1/17).  Here's a link to all the Clearance Building sets at Toys'R'Us.  Good hunting!

Review: 41517 Mixel Balk

This is a good one to start up with after a two week break from reviewing the Series 2 Mixel sets. {insert baseball reference here}.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  Hinge plates, Mixel joints, 1x1 round tiles, Tooth plates, Bar
Holders w/Clip, Vertical Clip plates, and Cheese Slopes, oh my.

Build.  This frame looks like

something from Battletech got

some sort of Cthuloid infection.

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+).  Orange and black are always a good combo.

Scrambler/Strider, Revisited

For some reason the instruction page for Scramblers/Striders does not appear in my top ten visited of all time posts.  Is this because it's easier to build than any of the other designs, or because people don't like it?  Anyway.  I figured maybe this frame deserved another look.

Ijad Scramblers by The Hydromancer.  A squad
of Scramblers bought from MobileFra.me.

Minifig Scale Scrambler by MRaichelson.  There's been some

controversy over minifig scale creations, but this looks great.

Scrambler by A. Yates Industrials.  This one features
A. Yates typically excellent use of color blocking.

Scrambler V2 Company by Ced23Ric.  This squad features

excellent use of stickers, color, and non-typical parts.

Ijad 'Beloved of God' company by Malcolm Craig.  This squad 
features one of the only Suzerain frames I've seen "in the brick".

ST-23 "Castor" - Solar Union Adaptation by LowestFormOfWit.  This

brickblend frame shows just what can be done with clone bricks.

Brandish by Xenovorous.  An interesting combination of a Scrambler and
a Nimrod II by Afny.  I can't believe I haven't blogged this before now.

I-ST-04E Super Strider by Soren Roberts.

Yeah, like I wasn't going to include this.  :-)

I hope this kindles some interest in the Scrambler in
the community.  Go buy some, and some accents.

Sales Alert

There's currently some Clearance sales happening in different retail outlets at the moment.  Right now I'm just focusing on Toys'R'Us as they have a 20% off Clearance toy purchase coupon.  It ends on Saturday (1/10) so jump on it while you can.  Here's a link to all the Clearance Building sets at Toys'R'Us.  Good hunting!

Review: 30274 AT-DP Polybag

For the month of January this set is a free give-away with purchase of a Star Wars set at the Lego store.  There are rumors it is sold out and that Lego will not be making any more.  So I suggest you hurry and track this down if you want it.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 which is a $0.08 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  There are a fair amount of plates  but almost half of them are Hinge plates.  There are a couple of SNOT bricks and some Technic pieces, along with a Mixel ball joint for the chin turret.  This is a good selection and should provide a good starting point for people.

Build.  I managed a Frame

and a Station out of this set.

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+).  Another Star Wars set getting the top score.  Unfortunately it has limited availability.

Polly Want A Baggy 3

Let's take a look at the new polybags for 2015 -- that are interesting for MFZ -- shall we?  Once again, I'd like to thank Brickset for the information.

30256 Ice Bear Mech.  I've already seen pictures of this posted on the Facebook group.  Minus the minifig, this looks pretty good.

30272 A-Wing Starfighter.  This looks like an IO Frigate-in-a-bag.  Then again, most Star Wars ships do.

30274 AT-DP.  This is a free giveaway at Lego stores this month with a purchase of a Star Wars set.  Jump on it now because it will more than likely sell out before the month is over.  It is chock full of all the fiddly little bits we like.  I already have one and will be reviewing it soon.

30275 TIE Advanced Prototype.  Another possible IO Frigate-in-a-bag.

30283 Off-Road.  This looks like it might be good for terrain.

30284 Tractor.  Another possible terrain set.

30285 Tiger.  Like last year's Cute Kitty set, this looks to have a bunch of useful parts.  And it comes in at $0.06 per piece.

30291 Anacondrai Battle Mech.  The Ninjago line is no stranger to mecha sets.  This one is just a little smaller than most.

30292 Jay Nano Mech.  This set, along with the previous poly bag, could be good starting points for beginning players.

30293 Kai Drifter.  Another possible IO Frigate-in-a-bag.  This one has guns that shoot!

30303 The Joker Bumper Car.  This looks like it could be the start of either a Hovertank for RA, or a Frigate for IO.

30311 Swamp Police Helicopter.  Another police helicopter, but this one has some interesting additions.

30312 Demolition Driller.  I used a few Construction polybags last year as the starting point for some interesting creations.  I think this one could be fun too.

30313 Garbage Truck.  This could be an interesting starting point, it all depends on the price.

This looks to be a bumper crop of polybags this year.

Review: 30115 Friends Jungle Boat Polybag

This is the last of the holiday polybag sets.  Well, almost.  There was a Duplo polybag but I feel no need to review it.

Bag.  MSRP is $3.99 for a $0.13 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.  Nothing useful here.

Parts.  Not a lot here.  A couple of Lever & Bases, 

Plates, Inverted Slope bricks, Clip Plate Vertical,

Rounded Brick 1x1-1/3, and a minifig Radio in

yellow are what stick out to me.  The green blob

on the lower right side is a minifig scale frog.

Build.  Fuzzy Frigate for MFZ:IO.


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'm sure there are good Friends sets.  This is not one of them.