Review: 30352 Police Car Polybag

At the "start" of the year,between Christmas and Easter, we're usually treated to a bunch of new polybags.  Here are the latest releases.

Bag.  I picked this up for $3.99 at Target in the Seasonal aisles.  Which gives us a $0.08 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  That car chassis can be useful as the core piece in a build.  The Clip plates are always nice, as are regular Plates.  The Minifig Paddle can be interesting.  I like the printed Studless Slope too.

Build.  Another IO frigate, this one based on my Starhawk design.

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+).  A great score, but part of me feels like it doesn't deserve it.

Purity: B9989 Kre-O Poppy's Bug Adventure Review

Getting back to the building block systems for the final post of the week.

Box.  MSRP is $5.99.  I paid $6.99 for this at Toys'R'Us.  Which gives us a $0.24 Price per Piece -- $0.21 at MSRP.

Instructions & Stickers.

Kreon.  Once again, cloth hair.

Parts 1.  Yes, those are adhesive googly eyes like you might buy at a arts and crafts store.

Parts 2.  Not a lot here, but I like seeing parts in Lilac.

Wings 1.  Another felt piece.  This is the front.

Wings 2.  This is the back.

Build.  Yeah, it's not great.

The Questions:

Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Not really.  (-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).  The lack of parts really killed the score on this.

Review: Universal Unit Hy-Gogg

I came across this while looking for something else and I decided to grab it because I'm a fan of the Hy-Gogg.

Box.  I paid $9.99 for this at Newbury Comics.

Instructions.  Inside the box as with the Assault Kingdom kits.

Parts 1.  As you can see, this is an actual model kit.

Parts 2.  This was a pain to assemble.

Assembled.  This is probably going to need some paint to liven it up.

Size Comparison.  It's a little big but I'm sure it'll fit in a Sizing Box.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  At.  (0)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's a little larger than a Chub.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Two.  (0)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  No.  (-5)
Score: 0 (B).  Given the size and the lack of parts, I'd say it was lucky to get this score.

Build Journal: Another Brick in the Wall

You'll have to forgive the title of this post.  Recently I came across a build on Flickr that I thought was interesting and it inspired me to create something similar.  Unfortunately I can't seem to find it again so I can't give an attribution.  One thing I changed is that I made it modular and I made it into a wall section for Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack.

I wanted to build it all in Tan but I don't have the proper pieces.  It should look pretty good sitting on top of a piece of felt of the proper color.

Here's a few shots with a Chub and a Classic for scale.

They can be clipped together to form different shapes.







There's an obvious third configuration I didn't photograph.

Each section will take one Hit before being reduced under the height limit for Cover.  At some point I may try to mass produce these to make terrain for another table setting I have in mind.

Review: Gundam Converge AGX-04 Gerbera-Tetra (123)

I stumbled across a stockpile of Gundam Converge sets the other week at a local Asian grocery store and I grabbed a bunch.

Box.  I paid $8.99 for this at H Mart.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The gun is Direct Fire, the backpack could be Movement or Defense.  The helmet could be Defense or Spotting, the antenna is Spotting.  The arm blades could be Melee or Spotting.

Assembled.  The attachment points for the parts on this one -- except the backpack -- are all tiny and thin.  I was afraid I was going to break them when connecting them.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's in between a Classic and a Chub.  (+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: +20 (A+).  A good set but the fiddly nature of the parts makes me a little leery of this one.

Review: Gundam Converge RMS-106 Hi-Zack (119)

I stumbled across a stockpile of Gundam Converge sets the other week at a local Asian grocery store and I grabbed a bunch.

Box.  I paid $8.99 for this at H Mart.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The gun is Direct Fire, the shields are Defense,the backpack could be Defense, Movement, or Spotting, the helmet could be Defense or Spotting.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's in between a Classic and a Chub.  (+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: +20 (A+).  A good price and plenty of Attachments propel  this set to the top score.

Review: Gundam Converge OZ-00MS Tallgeese (89)

I stumbled across a stockpile of Gundam Converge sets the other week at a local Asian grocery store and I grabbed a bunch.

Box.  I paid $8.99 for this at H Mart.

Parts.  This is the first I've seen 

cardboard sleeves for individual parts.

Disassembled.  I see Artillery for the rifle, Defense for the shield, Defense or Movement for the back jets, and possible Spotting for the crest.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's in between a Classic and a Chub.  (+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: +20 (A+).  A good price and plenty of Attachments propel  this set to the top score.

Purity: Hsanhe Set Review 5

I occasionally go food shopping in an Asian grocery store.  They have a little section for toys, knick-knacks, and other assorted things.  I found these at that store.  The company that makes them doesn't even seem to have a website.  You can find plenty of information on their sets, but not much on the company itself.  (Even that seems to have disappeared.)

Box.  The price has changed to $2.99 per box.  That gives us a $0.08 Price per Piece which is better than the last time I bought them.

Instructions.

Parts.Several Clip Plates and Cheese Slopes, some Clip Tiles, a few Bar Plates, a couple of Lampholders, some Plates and Barbs, a Jumper, a couple of Tiles, and a Studless Slopes.

Build.  A 4P Frame that I'm pretty proud of.

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-).  You should be able to find this in bulk for a lot less online.  These sets would make good candidates for the Double Set Challenge.

Purity: Hsanhe Set Review 4

I occasionally go food shopping in an Asian grocery store.  They have a little section for toys, knick-knacks, and other assorted things.  I found these at that store.  The company that makes them doesn't even seem to have a website.  You can find plenty of information on their sets, but not much on the company itself.  (Even that seems to have disappeared.)

Box.  The price has changed to $2.99 per box.  That gives us a $0.09 Price per Piece which is better than the last time I bought them.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plenty of Clip Plates and Cheese Slopes, some Plates, Tooth Plates, Bar Plates, Barbs, a Jumper, a Lampholder, a Half Travis Brick, and two Travis Bricks.

Build.  A 4P frame and a 6P microfig.

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-).  You should be able to find this in bulk for a lot less online.  These sets would make good candidates for the Double Set Challenge.

Clone Brick Dinosaurs

I picked up a few clone brick dinosaurs the other day.  This picture on AliExpress seems to be the closest thing I could find online.  For a while now I've had this idea for a table setting bouncing around my head, Dinosaur World.  Nothing but dinosaurs and trees for terrain.  Now, instead of trying to buy up a bunch of Jurassic World sets, I'm looking at these knock off individual dinosaur sets.

Boxes.  I paid $4.99 each for these.

Stickers.

Parts.

Assembled.

Size Comparison 1.  A Chub and a Classic for an idea of size.

Size Comparison 2.  A Lego Dilphosaur for comparison.

Head Comparison.  I figured this was worth a look.  The Lego Dilphosaur needs a Friction Pin for mounting.





I figured the best system for putting numbers on these sets is the one for non-Lego kits.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Below.  (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  The Stegosaurus is the size of a Classic and the Velociraptor is a little larger than a Chub.  (+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 for the Velociraptor, no for the Stegosaurus.  (+5/-5)
Score: +20 (A+), Velociraptor.  +10 (A-), Stegosaurus.  Good scores for both sets.  But then again, I was going to buy these regardless of the score.