Non-Human 24

It's a Wednesday in a short week.  Filler post!

Gold Storms by Apocalust.  This is a neat little build.
I'm stealing that arm design for one of my builds.

IMG_0727 by BobMFZ.  There are some

interesting design choices with this one.

Microscale Mech by _bidlopavidlo_.  Render.
I like this one, I may try to build a copy.

MITHRA by Javan McClung.  This is a complex beast.

Espionage Crawler-Insustrial Class by brickguy190.  Simple, but it has
a lot of room for modification.  The owner has disabled downloads.

Review: 30312 Demolition Driller Polybag

This was purchased at Toys'R'Us early last year.

Bag.  MSRP was $3.49 for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  Plenty of Tires and Rims, a couple Axle Plates, some Hinge Plates, Grille Tiles, Bar Clips, Studless Slopes, Clip Plates, Plates, a Brick, a Hinge Brick, a Motor Brick, a Minifig Ice Cream Cone, a Minifig Chainsaw Blade, and that weird Bar Tile.

Build.  Another wheeled vehicle.  2Rh/2Y/1B/1Gd8/2W.

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-).  Not the greatest of sets but it has some interesting parts.

Good Sets for Parts 12

I stopped by my local Lego store the other day and grabbed a new catalog.

75145 Eclipse Fighter.  363 Pieces for $29.99.  A Star Wars set with an $0.08 Price per Piece.  Nice!

31049 Twin Spin Helicopter.  326 Pieces for $29.99.  Less pieces than the Star Wars set but no minifigs to discard.  Plenty of neat pieces and multiple color selections.

70600 Ninja Bike Chase.  231 Pieces for $19.99.  Plenty of useful pieces in Black, Dark Blay, and, Red.

70602 Jay's Elemental Dragon.  350 Pieces for $29.99.  Some good parts in Black, Dark Blay, and Light Blay, and some interesting stuff in Trans-Light Blue.

41172 Water Dragon Adventures.  212 Pieces for $19.99.  Interesting parts in Light Blay and Medium Azure.

Review: 30346 Prison Island Helicopter Polybag

Here's a quick review for the middle of the week.

Bag.  I paid $3.99 for this at Toys'R'Us, for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  A wide range of pieces but not a high quantity of any one single part.  Plenty of Slopes and Plates, some Clip Plates, a couple of Bar Plates, some Robot Arms, a few Tiles, Minifig Handcuffs, a Minifig Radio, and a couple of other pieces.

Build.  A quick IO Frigate.

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-).  It just needed four more pieces to get the max score.

Sales Alert

It's the third week in a row for a decent Lego sale at Toys'R'Us.  Whodathunkit?

They're featuring selected Star Wars at 20% off.  Rey's Speeder and the 1st Order Snowspeeder jump immediately to mind as good deals.  20% off Classic sets.  The Classic Creative sets are already good deals, this should make them almost irresistible.  And then there is 40% off select Lego sets.  Good hunting.

Build Journal: The T.U.R.D. Bot Revisited

After a discussion recently about entry costs to MFZ, I decided to revisit my T.U.R.D. Bot design and see how much it would cost to build the core via Lego Pick-A-Brick.  Here's the original post for reference.  I've built a lot of these since that post, it has also been named by Joel Raynor on the MFZ Facebook page.  As you can see, each one is slightly different.

Pick-A-Brick Parts List
Format = Part Number, Description, Quantity, Colors, Cost.
4871 Roof Tile 4x2/45° Inv. (x1) White. ($0.30 each)
3660 Roof Tile 2c2/45° Inv. (x2) Black, Blue, Brick Yellow, Dark Stone Grey, Medium Stone Grey, Red, Reddish Brown, White, Yellow. ($0.20 each)
30602 Front, 2x2, Sport (x2) Black. ($0.30 each)
76116 Bad Robot Arm (x2) Metallic Titanium. ($0.30 each)
10201 Angle Plate 1x2/1x4 (x2) Black, Red, White. ($0.20 each)
15712 Plate 1x1 w/Upright Holder (x2) Black , Dark Stone Grey, Medium Stone Grey, Red, Sand Green, White. ($0.15 each)
3062 Round Brick 1x1 (x2) Red, White, Yellow. ($0.10 each)
44302 Plate 1x2 w/Fork/Vertical/End (x2) Black, Dark Stone Grey, Medium Stone Grey. ($0.20 each)
15571 End Ridged Tile 1x2/45° (x2) Black. ($0.10 each)
2654 Slide Shoe Round 2x2 (x1) Black, Brick Yellow, Medium Stone Grey, Translucent, White. ($0.10 each)
88072 Plate 1X2 W. Vertical Schaft (x2) Dark Stone Grey, Medium Stone Grey, White. ($0.15 each)
60478 Plate 1x2 w/Shaft Ø3.2 (x4) White, Black, Medium Stone Grey, Dark Stone Grey. ($0.10 each)
2540 Plate 1x2 w/Stick (x1) Black, Dark Stone Grey, Medium Stone Gray, White. ($0.15 each)
3023 Plate 1x2 (x1) Black, Blue, Dark Stone Grey, Medium Stone Grey, Red, Reddish Brown, White, Yellow, plus more. ($0.10 each)
4274 Connector Peg w/Knob (x2) Blue, Medium Stone Grey. ($0.15 each)
Since the 2x2 Towball Plate isn't available in PaB, we'll have to substitute a few pieces.

14417 Plate 1x2 Ball Ø5.9 Middle (x2) Dark Bluish Grey.  ($0.25 each)
3022 Plate 2x2 (x1) .($0.15 each)

So that gives us a base price of $5.25 for each "torso".  You're on your own for Attachments as they can take so many different forms.

I also forgot one piece from the original Bricklink parts list.  (I've already included it on the PaB list.)
60478 Plate, Mod. 1x2 w/Handle on End (Closed Ends) (x4) Black, Blue, Dark Bluish Grey, Light Bluish Grey, Red, Reddish Brown, Tan, White, Yellow.

You could also substitute the following part.
18649 Plate, Mod. 1x2 w/Handles on Ends (x2) Black, Light Bluish Grey.

I hope you try to build a few and have as much fun as I have.

Review: 70790 Lord of Skull Spiders

Don't you just love that name?

Box.  MSRP was $14.99 for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Lots of Technic Lift Bars, several Technic Knob Wheels, some Hero Factory Armor, some Hero Factory Wide Curved Blade Weapons, some Axles, and the Skull Spider Mask.

Parts 2.  Axles, Technic Pins, Axle Connectors, Axle/Pin Connectors, a couple Technic Ball Joint w/Axle Hole, a couple Exo-Force Mechanical Arms, Barbs, Claws, and a Pneumatic Hose Connector w/Axle Connector, 

Build.  Yeah, that's ugly.

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).  While there are some interesting parts in this set, I don't think it's a good starting point for Frames.

Battle Report: Another Battle for June

Only three of us got together to game this time.  We were at the Whiz in Westborogh, MA again on June 12th.  I managed to keep pretty decent notes this time around, but I still missed a few things.

The point totals for the beginning of the game were as follows:
A Team (4 frames & 15 systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points. (Cyclops)
   Purple Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W+SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W+SSR.
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y2W+SSR.
   Lime Medium Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/1B/1Gd8/2W.

Occam's Spork (4 frames & 16 systems) = (6 points per asset) * (6 assets) = 36 points.
   Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.
   Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/1Gd8/2W.
   Melee Sprinter -- 2Rh+d8/2G+d8/2W+SSR.
   Shoot & Scoot -- 2Rd+d8/2G/2W+SSR.

Me (5 frames & 20 systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 21 points. (T.U.R.D. Bots, White Squad)
   Brown Brawler -- 2Rh+d8/2B/2W+SSR.
   Blue Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W+SSR.
   Red Artillerist -- 2Ra+d8/2B/2W+SSR.
   Purple Watchtower -- 2B/1Gd8/2Y/2W.
   Pink Shoot & Scoot -- 2Rd+d8/2G/2W.

Here are the pictures from the start of the game.

Events of Turn 1 (DDC@11): Since I was forced to act first by virtue of being last, I made a push for A Team's unguarded Station.  My Red frame hit A Team's Yellow frame for 3 damage.  Her Lime frame hits my Brown frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Shoot & Scoot frame hits my Blue frame for 1, his Recon by Fire frame hits it for 3.

End of Turn 1 pictures.

A Team: 42 points.
Occam's Spork: 36 points.

Me: 21 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC@9): A Team's Yellow frame hits my Brown frame for 1.  In retaliation my Red frame kills her Yellow frame and I seize her unguarded Station.  Occam's Spork's Shoot & Scoot frame kills my Blue frame.

End of Turn 2 pictures.

Occam's Spork: 36 points.

A Team: 28 points.
Me: 21 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC@7): Occam's Spork's Melee Sprinter frame hits A Team's Purple frame for 1.  He also seizes her other Station.  In my push to grab Stations I left one of mine unguarded.  A Team seizes it.

End of Turn 3 pictures.

Occam's Spork: 42 points.

A Team: 28 points.
Me: 18 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC@4): My Red frame hits A Team's Lime frame for 1.  A Team's Purple Frame takes 5 damage and is destroyed by Occam's Spork's Melee Sprinter frame.  A Team's Orange frame hits Occam's Spork's Shoot & Scoot frame for 1.

End of Turn 4 pictures.

Occam's Spork: 42 points.

A Team: 21 points.
Me: 18 points.

Events of Turn 5 (DDC@1): Occam's Spork's Melee Sprinter moves off A Team's Station to engage my Pink frame.  It does no damage and I leap over it to seize the now unguarded Station.  Occam's Spork's Shoot & Scoot frame destroys my Purple frame allowing him to take my Station.  He then moves it out to engage A Team's Orange frame which then leapfrogs over the Shoot & Scoot frame, shoots it for 3 damage, and seizes the Station.  My Brown frame hits A Team's Lime frame for 1 in a last ditch attempt to lower her score.  The Doomsday Clock ticks down to zero.

End of Turn 5 pictures.

Occam's Spork: 36 points.

A Team: 28 points.
Me: 15 points.

Thought & Observations:

• We had a new Archetype debut in this game, the Melee Sprinter.
• I took a few aftermath pictures but they were crappy so I deleted them.
• I didn't play as well as I could have.  I split my attention on two fronts and that hampered me.
• We actually managed to do damage to the "Evil Stargate"!

Sales Alert

Lego is marking down a number of sets that are pretty decent for MFZ.  Here's a list of what I saw and found interesting in my local store.

41105 Pop Star Show Stage.  $31.99
41103 Pop Star Recording Studio.  $11.99
70314 Beast Master's Chaos Chariot.  $23.99
70316 Jestro's Evil Mobile.  $47.99
70327 The King's Mech.  $23.99
70330 Ultimate Clay, 70331 Ultimate Macy, 70333 Ultimate Robin, 70334 Ultimate Beast Master, 70310 Knighton Battle Blaster, and 70311 Chaos Catapult. $7.99
70755 Jungle Raider.  $15.98
70730 Chain Cycle Ambush.  $23.98
71301 Ketar, Creature of Stone, 71302 Akida, Creature of Water, and 71304 Terak, Creature of Earth.  $7.98
75912 Porsche 911 GT Finish Line. $39.99
75870 Chevrolet Corvette Z06.  $11.99
75875 Ford F-150 Raptor & Ford Model A Hot Rod.  $39.99
75874 Chevrolet Camaro Drag Race.  $23.99

There are probably more on the Lego website, so check that out too.

Target has a $10 off $50 coupon for a Lego City, Superheroes, or Friends purchase.

Toys'R'Us is doing a 2 for $20 for all "Toys to Life" single figure sets.  I'm not sure how this impacts Lego Dimensions sets.  They are also doing 20% off all Speed Champions sets.

Good hunting.

Review: 30447 Captain America's Motorcycle Polybag

Taking a break from the Series 7 Mixels for the moment let's take a look at a recent polybag.

Bag.  I paid $3.99 for this at Toys'R'Us, for a $0.16 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  There's a couple of the Mod. Plate w/Arm Up, a Cone, a 1x2 Cheese Slope, some Technic bits, Wheels and Rims, and then there's the Motorcycle Frame and Cover.

Build.  Nothing.


The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  No.  (-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: -15 (C).  Honestly, I bought this set just for the Captain America minifig.

Terrain & Scenery 8

It's Friday!  Enjoy some cool creations from Flickr..

Havetsby Vehicles by Johŋ.  These are some really neat microscale vehicles.

Radow Blesk by Vinny Turbo.  Who doesn't like sportscars?

Comarca Cargo by Pierre E. Fieschi.  These would
add some real character to any gaming table.

Microfigs Vehicles by Robiwan Kenobi.  These

are awesome and quite obviously 6P scale.

Wheels of Plastic by Cole Blaq.  This looks fantastic but wouldn't stand up to table use.  It also looks like it would absorb more than five hits and be way too dense as terrain.  It has some interesting techniques though.

Random Mechs 18

I'm feeling lazy this week so here's more pictures of mecha.

Starcraft Marine by Tim Schwalfenberg.  Technically
not a mech, but still awesome looking.

LEGO: Micro Transform Robot by Umamen.

This is a really well done build.

MD-08 by ferrelferret.  Big shoulders and a giant shield.  I like it!  Built for MFZ but no picture downloads.

Mini Mech 1 by Bers Bers.  This is a neat build, full of interesting greebles.

Miner 2 by Joe Murphy.  This is a fairly old

picture but, I really like the looks of this one.

Sales Alert

Toys'R'Us is running a 20% off sale on Jurassic World and Minecraft Lego sets.  It looks like they really jacked up the prices on the Jurassic World sets.  Somebody remind me to check next week when the sales is over.

Target is running a 20% off sale on TMNT Mega Bloks sets.  I can't find a better link because Target's website looks to be optimized for smartphones.

Review: 41562 Mixel Trumpsy

The second of the Mixies tribe and the 2/3 mark for this series.

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

Instructions.

Parts.  Quite the smorgasbord.  Plenty of Ball Joints, some Round Plates, some Clip Plates, some Slopes, a couple of Brackets, a couple of 1x2 Mod. Bricks w/ Studs on Both Sides, a few printed Tiles, a 4x4 Dish, and a couple of other parts.

Build.  A Frame (2Rh/1B/1Y/1Gd8/2W).

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+).  This set makes me want to build more Yellow and Purple frames.