Purity: Kre-O 80714 Transformers Battlechangers Megatron Review

I stumbled across a bunch of Kre-O sets I didn't own when wandering through a Dollar General store recently.

Box.  Base price was $12.00 at Dollar General, for a $0.16 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Stickers.

Parts.  Lots of Translucent Purple.  Slopes, Plates, Wedge Plates, Ball Joints, Clip Plates, Bar Plates, Lampholders, Modified Bricks, Grille Tiles, a Tile, and Kreon Parts.

Build.

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+).  The price I paid kills the score a little bit but this still has good parts.

TMOH: The Generic Frame

I think there's a part of every builder that wants to create a generic frame that acts as a foundation for building interesting things.  I've been trying for a while and I think I finally accomplished it.

Flickr page.

I've internalized a lot of techniques from different builders with this design. Vitor Faria, and Phayze81 are just two of them.  Here's what it looks like all decked out.

Right now I'm just scratching the surface of what I can do with this build.  I'm hoping to make more of them once I assemble enough parts.

Purity: Block Tech Street Racer Set

I picked this up at Dollar General the other day along with a bunch of other sets.  It used to be part of the licensed "Fast & Furious" line which has now been re-named "Mean Streets".

Bag.  I paid is $1.00 which yields a $0.04 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  That Orange does not match the color on the box.  The only thing interesting to me is the Clip Tile.

Build.  A tiny IO frigate, which is
par for the course for vehicle sets.

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 bad for $1.

Sales Alert

Apparently Toys'R'Us is closing 180 stores as part of their bankruptcy proceedings.  This sucks, but we should be seeing some decent sales as they try to get rid of merchandise.

Just keep in mind, while we're hunting for bargains a lot of people are going to be losing their jobs.

Review: 30380 Kylo Ren's Shuttle Polybag

I wasn't expecting to review this yet, but I was at a new -- to me -- Target last night and this was in the checkout aisles.

Bag.  MSRP is $3.99 for a $0.12 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Bar Studs, a Padlock, Clip Plates, Grille Tiles and

Bar Plates in Dark Bley, 2x2 Inverted Studless Slopes,

Wedge Plates, Plates, a Bracket, and Cheese Slopes.

Build.  Yes, I know, it's terrible.

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-).  Falls victim to the "Star Wars Tax" but has a decent selection of parts.

Battle Report: Ice 9

The almost usual suspects got together two Saturdays ago for our first game this year.  I had been working on a new table-setting for a while and this was its debut.  Also debuting was Chuck, a new player who had been introduced to MFZ last year but hadn't had a chance to play yet.

Me (4 Frames & 16 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (6 assets) = 42 points.  (Aurelii)
   Red Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.

   Blue Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Orange Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   Yellow Soldier -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

Occam's Spork (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.

   Orange Bodyguard -- 2Rd/2Rh/2B/2W + SSR.
   Green Heavy Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W.
   Blue Heavy Assault -- 2Rd+d8/1B/1G/2W.
   Grey Shoot & Scoot -- 2Rd+d8/2G/2W + SSR(x2).
   Neon Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

Chuck (5 Frames & 20 Systems) = (5 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 35 points.  (Pre-Alphas)

   1st Dude -- 2Ra/B/1Y/2W.

   2nd Dude (soldier) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   3rd Dude (soldier) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   4th Dude (soldier) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W + SSR.
   5th Dude aka MMA -- 2Rh+d8/2Ra/1G/2W.

Tom (6 Frames & 24 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (7 assets) = 21 points.
   White Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Y/2W.
   Yellow Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Y/2W.

   Blue Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Y/2W.

   Green Armored Swarmer -- 2Rh/2B/1Y/2W.

   Grey Tank -- 2Rd+d8/2B/2W.
   Colorless Recon by Fire -- 2Ra+d8/2Y/2W.

This is what the table looked like at the start of the game.

Events of Turn 1 (DDC@11): I seize one of Tom's and one of Chuck's Stations before the game even starts.  Initiative passes to Tom who's Blue frame hits Chuck's 2nd Dude for 2.  2nd Dude tries to attack my Blue frame and fails, my Blue frame hits back for 1.  Chuck's 5th Dude hits Tom's White frame for 2 and he does the Station Dance.  Chuck's 1st Dude hits my Blue frame for 1.  My Yellow frame hits Chuck's 3rd Dude for 2.  Tom's Uncolored frame hits my Red frame for 1 and it Station Dances.  My Orange frame hits Occam Spork's Grey frame for 1.  Occam Spork's Orange frame hits my Blue frame for 2 and it Station dances.  Tom captures his Station back.  Occam Spork's Green frame hits my Orange for 3.  Tom's Yellow frame charges in and saws my Yellow frame for 2.

Me: 49 points.

Occam's Spork: 35 points.

Chuck: 30 points.

Tom: 24 points.

Events of Turn 2 (DDC@9): My Orange frame hits Tom's Green frame for 1, Station Dance.  My Blue frame hits Tom's Green frame for 1, I re-capture Tom's Station.  Chuck seizes Tom's other Station.  Chuck's Fourth Dude hits my Blue Frame for 3, Station Dance.  Tom's Blue frame charges in, saws my Yellow frame for 5, -- destroying it -- and seizes the Station it was guarding.  Chuck recaptures the Station I stole from him at the beginning of the game.  Occam's Spork's Green frame moves forward and hits my Blue frame for 1.  Occam's Spork's Orange frame leaps forward and hits Chuck's MMA frame for 2, Chucks' frame Station Dances, and Occam's Spork seizes Chuck's Station.

Occam's Spork: 40 points.
Me: 35 points.

Chuck: 35 points.

Tom: 24 points.

Events of Turn 3 (DDC@5): Occam's Spork's Grey frame destroys my Orange frame with a 3 point hit, then seizes my Station.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits my Blue frame for 1 and I make a jump towards his Station but fall short.  Chuck's MMA frame hits Occam's Spork's Orange frame for 2.  My Red frame starts moving towards Occam's Spork's Neon frame and hits it for 1 with a SSR, Station Dance.  Tom seizes his Station back.  Tom's Yellow frame destroys Occam's Spork's Grey frame with 5 damage and seizes the Station it was guarding.  Occam's Spork's Green frame hits Chuck's Fourth Dude for 1.  Tom's Grey frame hits Occam's Spork's Blue frame for 3.

Occam's Spork: 35 points.

Chuck: 35 points.

Tom: 27 points.
Me: 14 points.

Events of Turn 4 (DDC@2): Occam's Spork's Green frame destroys my Blue frame with 1 damage.  Occam's Spork's Blue frame hits Chuck's Fourth Dude for 1.  Chuck's First Dude hits Tom's Green frame for 1.  In retaliation, Tom's Green frame hits Chuck's Fourth Dude for 1.  Occam's Spork's Orange frame hits Chuck's MMA frame for 4.  My Red frame keeps moving forward and hits Occam's Spork's Neon frame for 1.  Tom's White frame destroys Chuck's Second Dude with a 3 point hit, then seizes the Station it was guarding.  Tom's Grey frame destroys Occam's Spork's Blue frame with 3 damage.  Tom's Blue frame destroys Chuck's Fourth Dude with a heavy 6 point hit.  The Doomsday Clock it ticked to zero.

Occam's Spork: 30 points.

Tom: 30 points.
Chuck: 25 points.

Me: 7 points.

Here's a few pictures of the aftermath.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was Chuck's first game.  We really threw him in the deep end.
• The final round saw several lead swaps.
• In fact, this was a competitive game from beginning to end.
• All of Chuck's Frames were made from Architek sets.

Purity: Architek Space Animals Review

After tracking down the Star Rover set at Big Lots I found another set with it.

Box.  I paid $5.00 for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Instructions 1

Instructions 2

Instructions 3

Instructions 4

Instructions 6

Instructions 5

Parts 1.  Neck Brackets.

Parts 2.  Yellow Half Pin.

Parts 3.  2x2x2/3 Slope w/Cutout.

Parts 4.  Tan Tooth Plates.

Parts 5.  Nothing special.

Parts 6.  Tan Tooth Plates again.

Sorry for the blurry pictures.

Build.  Station and Frame (2Rd+d8/2B).

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+).  With the odd parts counts on some pieces, this could be a little better for the score.

Purity: Architek Star Rover Review

Continuing along with reviews of clone brick sets, I was alerted to the existence of this set by a post on the Facebook group.  As far as anyone can tell these sets are only available at Big Lots and through online wholesalers.

Box.  I paid $5.00 for a $0.03 Price per Piece.

Master Instructions.

Instructions 1

Instructions 3

Instructions 2

Instructions 6

Instructions 4

Instructions 5

Parts 1.  Orange Travis Brick, Headlight Bricks, and Tile Clips.

Parts 2.  Purple Tooth Plates,

Clip Plates, and Mod. Brick

2 x 1 x 1.3, Rounded.

Parts 3.  Nothing exotic here.

Parts 4.  Brown Tooth Plates

Parts 5.  Some nice Dark Red
pieces but nothing outrageous.

Parts 6.  Green Taps!

Build.  Two Frames and a Station.

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 interesting parts but it needs a little bit of filler to be better in my opinion.