Review: 41485 Brick Headz Finn

Honestly, I bought this to get one piece I needed.  The Brick Headz line is good for making starships though, so let's see how well this one reviews.


Box.  MSRP was $9.99 for a $0.11 Price per Piece.  As you can see I didn't pay full price.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  This was loose in the box.

Parts 2.  Plates, Modified Plates,  Tiles, Printed Tiles, Bricks, Modified Bricks, Printed Bricks, and Round Bricks.

Parts 3.  Bricks, Headlight Bricks, Plates, Round Plates, Clip Plates, Jumpers, Tiles, Printed Tiles, Minifig Nozzles, a Clip tile, and a Cone.

Build. Pocket carrier (2Rpd/1K/1Y).

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+). Decent score, but a low parts count brought it down.

Review: 30408 Friends Tulip Polybag

I visited my local Lego Discovery Center this past Friday night, mainly because I don't have anything better to do on Friday nights and, because my Lego bargain hunter senses were going off.  I originally called this out as having sixty pieces.  I was off by just a bit.

Bag.  I paid $4.00 for this which gives us a $0.04 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Bricks, Modified Bricks, Round Bricks, Plates, Round Plates, Clip Plates, Tiles, Slopes, Tiles, Quarter Circle Round Tiles, Taps, Minifig Feathers, Bars w/ Stops, Nipples, and a Jumper.

Build. 2Rh+d8/1B/1Y./

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+).  An interesting set but it's not really knocking my socks off.

[Guest Post] Purity: Sluban B0633C M38 Car Club Review

Here's another guest post from Francisco Duarte.

I must thank Mantis King for allowing me to another of these. These reviews are really fun to do and I hope they can help people sort out sets available in Europe.

While searching for new parts I stumbled upon a toy sale at a local Minipreço store (they are common in Portugal, where I live). I found a couple of boxed sets made in China by Sluban at a discount of 50%, so I got them for around 5€ - 316 parts in total. This would put each part at around 0.02 Euros or less - a true bargain. Were they at full price they would still be at 0.03 or 0.04 Euros per part, which is nothing to sneeze at.


The first of these sets is a white car, with 152 parts inside the
box. These are mostly white, with some red and black.

It comes neatly packaged.

There is a set of instructions.

Stickers.

A minifig.  (Editor comment: That neck post is so weird!)

Plates, bricks and wedge plates.

Mudguards, 1x12 plates, wings, a 4x4
plate and a 10 stud long mod. plate.

Another brick, two odd short 1x1

bricks, 1x1 bricks w/pin, cylinders,

two 1x2 Technic-like bricks, axles,

wheels, tires, a windshield, transparent

slopes and tiles, a seat, steering wheel

parts, and binoculars.

Slopes and tiles of several shapes and sizes. This
set is really diverse regarding the parts it offers.

I’ve built two IO ships. One frigate

with two support weapons systems

and a sensor array in the front, and

one carrier with two underslung

catapults, a radar and a point

defense system.

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 is really solid, and you can get two ships or a small Frame company at a very low price. The parts do fit together tightly, but one should be warned that there can be at least one defective part per box.

Review: 31092 Helicopter Adventure

One of the new Creator sets for 2019.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99 for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Plates, Slopes, Technic Bricks, Air Scoops, Truncated Cone, Engine Blades, Bar Plates, Mod. Bricks, Brackets, Mod. Plates, Tail, Windscreen.

Parts 2.  Wedge Plates, Clip Plates, Slopes, Technic bits, Plates, Round Plates, Grille Tiles, Exo-Force Arm, Round Tile, Wheels, Bracket, Technic Brick, Tile, Jumpers, Bar Plates.

Builds.  Frigate and 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?  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+).  Good set, but some weird part counts.

Sales Alert

Target is running a 20% off on select Superheroes, Friends, City, and Duplo sets sale this week.  The Friends set shown in the ad will be a real deal if it's one of the ones on sale.  The Aquaman set is just affordable though.

Good hunting.

Review: 30571 Pelican Polybag

I found this in Target this weekend, just randomly sitting on a shelf.

Bag.  I paid $3.99, for a $0.06 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Wedge Plates, Tiles, Slopes, Ball Joints, Modified Bricks, Bar Plates, Clip Plates, Round Plates, Claw Plates, Printed Tiles, Mod. Plates 2x2x2/3 w/ 2 Studs on Side, a Brick, a Minifig Fish, and a Container.

Build.  A little bit of a throwback here.

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+).  Good set, it has some fun parts.

Review: 31072 Extreme Engines

A Creator set first released in 2018 that I bought recently.

Box.  The price is $9.99, which gives us a $0.09  Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  This was loose in the box.  It
could be the keel for an IO Cruiser.

Parts 2.  Dark Azure.  Tires, Rims, Slopes, Technic Bricks, Brackets, Bricks, Bar Tiles, Bar Plates, Axles, a Plate, a Flag, an Air Scoop.  

Parts 3.  Pneuma-Ts!  More Dark Azure.  Wedge Plates, Brackets, Clip Plates, Plates, Round Plates, Slopes, Technic Axle Pins, Robot Arms, a Steering Wheel, a Boat Slider, a Jumper, and a Bar Plate.

Build.  I finally made an IO Cruiser.

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's a good set, I just feel like the quantities on certain parts are less than optimal.

Review: 41086 Year of the Pig

This is a "Bonus with Purchase" promotional set for Chinese New Year.

Box.  The price is $9.99, yielding a $0.07 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Gift Card.

Parts 1.  Plates, Slopes, Round
Plates, Bricks, Modified
Bricks, a Tile, and a Bracket.

Parts 2.  Plates, Jumpers, Tiles, Slopes, Round Plates, Round
Tiles, Printed Tiles, Turntables, Half Pins, and Leaves.

Parts 3.  Mod. Bricks, Plates, Slopes, Hinge Plates, Ball Joints, Boat Slides, Brackets, Turntable Bases, Plant Pieces, Mod Plates,  an Elephant Trunk, and a Brick.

Build.  Two Frames.

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 good set but availability might be limited.

[Guest Post] Purity: Anadel Astronave Spaceship Review

A member of the MFZ community, Francisco Duarte, recently approached me about doing a guest review of a clone brick set he had found in Europe.  I try to be open to new experiences, so I said yes.  I hope you all enjoy it.  All text and pictures below this point are by him.

Found this set while looking for interesting sets to get new parts. This was made by Anadel, apparently a Spanish company that makes Lego-compatible bricks. It cost me 4.90€ for 62 parts, including minifig, which makes 0.08€ per part, placing it under the golden ratio.

Sorry for the chink in the box, I didn’t
notice the tape when I was inspecting it.
The contents come really neatly packaged.

The instructions, with the few words
on it in both English and Spanish.

Stickers.

There’s a minifig.

These two 4x4 plates were in the bag.

Parts 1. Wings, 2x3 and 2x4
plates, plus a 2x1 brick.

Parts 2. Slopes, cones, sloped
bricks and rocket nozzles.

Parts 3. Plates, clip parts, bricks with
pin hole and an additional 2x3 plate.

I gave a go to the build in the box, and it works
wonderfully as an IO frigate (my first one).  I’d
give it a support weapons system for the missiles
and two defense systems for the lateral plates.

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 is essentially an IO frigate in a box, so there’s that.