Review: Gundam Converge GAT-X303 Aegis Gundam (249)

I decided to pick this up for a review since it looks neat and it's been a while since I've done a Gundam Converge review -- December of last year, in fact.

Box.  I paid $11.99 at Newbury Comics for this.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The head vanes could be Spotting.  The head could be Spotting or Defense.  The shield could be Defense.  The wrist spikes could be Melee or Spotting.  The gun could be Direct Fire, Artillery, or Spotting.  The backpack could be Defense, Movement, or Spotting.  The leg coverings could be Defense or Movement.  The foot spikes could be Melee or Spotting.  The arms could be removed for White Die damage.

Assembled.  It looks neat but, all those little vanes and

spikes limit the places where this can be picked up.

Size Comparison.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Above.  (-10)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  In between a Chub and a Classic.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Six.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +5 (B+).  If the price was cheaper it'd have the top score.

Review: Forever Clever GJ3521-01 Cobra Ferret

After the first Forever Clever G.I. Joe review I went out and tracked down as many sets as I could.  Let's take a look at the smaller sets this week.  I bought all of these at Marshalls.

Box.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.11 Price per Piece.  

Instructions & Stickers.

Minifig. This are always annoying to assemble.  And Storm

Shadow is Grey as opposed to the White shown on the box.

Parts.  Plates, Tires, Rims, Grille Tiles, Bricks, Slopes, Axle

Plates, Tiles, Motor Brick, Bracket, Cone, Taps, and Antenna.

Build.  Another 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?  Over.  (-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-).  Better in quality than the last two but not a great selection of parts.

Review: Forever Clever GJ3521-03 Ninja Speed Cycle

After the first Forever Clever G.I. Joe review I went out and tracked down as many sets as I could.  Let's take a look at the smaller sets this week.  I bought all of these at Marshalls.

Box.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.11 Price per Piece.  

Instructions & Stickers.

Minifig. These are always annoying to assemble.  While it's an old school version

of Snake Eyes pictured in the box art, it's a post-issue 53 version in the box.

Parts.  Motorcycle, Wedge Plates, Plates (Not sure if you can see it but the Anti-Stud in the bottom of that 2x3 Plate is nonexistent.) Tiles, Slope w/Cutout, Slope, Tires, Inverted Slope, Windscreen, Jumper, Round Bricks w/Pinhole, Double Cone w/Ball Joint, Taps, 2/3 Brick w/Stud on Side, Brackets, and Rims.

Build.  Another IO Frigate (2Ras/1B).

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-).  More poor quality control cancels out the interesting parts.

Review: Forever Clever GJ3521-02 Cobra FANG

After the last Forever Clever G.I. Joe review I went out and tracked down as many sets as I could.  Let's take a look at the smaller sets this week.  I bought all of these at Marshalls.

Box.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.11 Price per Piece.  

Instructions & Stickers.

Minifig. This was annoying to assemble again.  While it shows

a Cobra trooper on the box art, that's Cobra Commander.

Parts.  Plates, Inverted Slopes, Bricks, Curved Brick, Slopes,

Jumpers, Clip Plates, Truncated Cones, Pyramid "Tile",

Hinge Brick Top, Hinge Brick Base, Brick w/Studs on Side,

Cone, Double Cone w/Ball Joint, Taps, and Minifig RPGs.

Build.  IO Frigate (2Ras/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?  No.  (-5)
Score: -5 (B-).  That melted brick is just awful.  The price isn't bad but the parts count isn't great.

Build Journal: Beat Box Bot

Last week there was a small discussion on the Discord about Minifig Scale frames.  It crops up every now and then as it tickles peoples fancies.  I've built a few at that scale.  I've even played in a game at that scale.  Let's just say I'm not immune to the allure of larger Frame designs.  So when I saw this creation, it sparked an idea in my head that I just had to chase.

The main goal at the start of this was to build a framework to support the Container and Container Cover combination and to act as a foundation for the legs.  I grabbed a bunch of 1x2x2 Bricks along with some Technic Ball Joint pieces and some Technic Bricks to do just that.

After I figured out it would work, I started in on mounting points for Systems and making it prettier.  With Dark Bley and Black being the color of the body -- aside from the White Beatbit container -- I went with Light Bley for Systems.  And instead of the Technic Bricks running down the back of the I replaced them with a Plate w/Rounded Corners & Feet and a regular Plate.  I expanded the hip section under the container using 2x2x2 Slopes and 2x2 Inverted Slopes.  I changed the feet too, you can see the construction in the picture.  I also greebled up the backside -- if that doesn't sound like some crazy English slang, I don't know what does -- along with adding more greebles to the inside of the cockpit.  Small manipulator arms finished out the changes.

I went with the standard Soldier line-up for Systems -- as that's what I usually do unless I have a specific idea in mind.

 (quad cannon)  (shield)  (leg rockets)  (sensor turret) 

Part of the "Leg Rockets" are Light Grey rather than Light Bley but I don't think you'd notice unless you're looking for it.

Here's my standard size comparison so you know just how big Minifig Scale really is.

Review: 43107 Vidiyo Hip Hop Robot Beatbox

This line has received nothing but derision from AFoLs but since I don't buy sets to build, all I care about is cost and content.  I had ulterior motives for buying this that hopefully I'll be able to talk about soon.

Box.  MSRP is $19.99, for a $0.27 Price per Piece.  As you see I

didn't pay full price for this, which leads to a $0.21 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.  If you look closely, there's a Stud on the back of the "hair" piece.

Parts 1.  These were loose in the box.  Beatbit Box, Beatbit Box

Cover, Handle, Back Base, Lego Tool, and Rounded Plate.

  

Parts 2.  Beatbits, Curved Tiles, Grille Tiles, Plates, Tiles, Jumpers, 

Angled Wedges, Inkwells, Axle/Pins, and Cover Clips.

Parts 3.  Hinge Plates, Inverted Dishes, Wheel Covers, Beatbits,

Angled Tiles, Bar Plate, Tiles, and Technic Gears.

Build.  Frame [2Rh+d8 (grinder gears) 1B (armor circle) 1Y (drone)].

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+).  Better than I expected but still horrible due to the cost.  At the price I paid for it the score is the same.

Terrain Workshop: Papercraft Quonset Hut

I've made a couple of attempts at building Quonset Huts in Lego.  They've always felt too "sturdy" for something that's basically a half tube of corrugated aluminum with walls at either end.

Version 1, not curved enough.  Brickshelf galley.

Version 2, better but still not right.  Brickshelf gallery.

The first one will take eight Hits before being completely destroyed, the second one six, and this is something with an 8 Stud by 6 Stud footprint.  Compare them to this building which covers the area of six of those Quonset Huts and only takes 10 Hits to destroy.

For some reason this part stuck in my head the other day as I was driving home from work.  Put it on top of one Brick 1x2 and one Brick w/1Stud on Side, then double it up to get one end of the Hut.  Double it again to get the other end.  Cover it in two pieces of paper, holes punched at the corners, held in place by Round Tiles.  Use a Window Frame 1x2x2.6 as a door section and top it with a Square Tile.  That totals up to 24 pieces which is 4 Hits.  It's always going to be six Studs wide and three Bricks tall, 15 feet by 9 feet in 6P scale, but you can control the length of the building by changing the length of the paper sections.

Brickshelf gallery

I guess I should have used pencil to mark out the sections of paper.  I also had to cut a third paper section because when I punched the holes the first time I was way off and it didn't fit.  The second and third pieces I measured against the framework and marked the spots for the holes.  I ended up putting the parts on a base because the doorway would have been freestanding without it.  In 6P Scale this ends up being 17.5 feet long by 15 feet wide by 9 feet tall -- not counting the doorway.

I also made a different doorway section because

I couldn't find the arched window piece at first.

Standard Size Comparisons.

I hope people like this continuing exploration of using paper in terrain builds.

Review: Mega Bloks GYG82 Pokemon Goldeen

A brand new Series 14 Pokeball review to finish out the week.  It's so new -- "How new is it?" -- it doesn't even have a listing on the official Mega Construx Pokemon pages.  Even though another set from the same release does.  I grabbed it because it had some interesting colors/pieces and it was the only one of its kind on the shelf.

Box.  MSRP is $6.99 for a $0.26 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  Those Fin pieces are rubber and have a bit of an odd texture 

when you're used to hard plastic.  The Horn is rubber as well.  That

Long Bar Ball Joint is nice, as are the Half Circle Tooth Plates.

Parts 2.  Double Sided Plate, Tile, Double Sided Half Cylinder w/Ball

 Joint Socket, Apollo Studs, Mini Bars, Double Ended Round Brick w/

Bar Hole, Macaroni Bar Connector, Apollo Stud w/4 Bars, and T Bar.

Build.  It's going to need a base if you want to use it in a

game.  Attaching Systems might be a little difficult as well.

Size Comparison.  It takes up a pretty decent amount of space. 
 

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 think it'd be fun to see a squad of these on the table for a game.

Review: 60279 Fire Hazard Truck

Not my usual thing but I saw the markdown so I figured I'd give it a try.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99, for a $0.12 Price per Piece.  As you see I

didn't pay full price for this, which leads to a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.  That dual-molded helmet looks great.

Parts 1.  Round Plate, Plates, 4x4x2/3 Wedge, Tires, 2x4 Vehicle Bases w/Suspension, Plow, Slopes, Windscreen, Mudguard Plate, Bracket,

1x2x1.6 Bricks w/Studs on Side, Round Bricks, Brick, and 2x2x2 Box.

  

Parts 2.  Plates, Studless Slopes, Printed Studless Slope, Box Door, Bracket,

Minifig Steering Wheel, Domes, Lampholders, Bar Plates, Plate w/Door Rail, Rounded

Plates, Tile, Clip Plates, Round Plates, Hinge Brick Top, Inverted Slopes, Rims,

Round Tiles, Ball Joint Plates, Flame Pieces, Minifig Visors, Stud Shooter, Minifig Megaphone, Vehicle Axles w/Cutouts & Wheel Holders, and String w/End Studs.

Build.  Battle Cart (2Rd+d8/1G/1Y), Station, and 1 Hit piece of Cover.

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+).  Wow.  That is a surprisingly useful set.  At the price I bought it for, the score is a more respectable, +15 (A).