Review: Gundam Converge MSM-04 Acguy (271)

It's been almost a year since the last Gundam Converge review.  I really should search for more.  Also maybe assemble a squad for use in a game beyond the ones I use for my Demo Kit.  This set is from the second wave of 10th anniversary sets which was released in July of 2022.

Box.  I paid $10.99 at Newbury Comics for this.

Parts.

Disassembled.  The head could be Defense, or Spotting.  The right

hand could be Direct Fire, Movement, or Spotting.  The left hand could

be Direct Fire, Movement, or Spotting.  The other left hand could be

Melee, or Spotting.  The arms can be removed for White Die damage.

Assembled.

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?  Three.  (0)

Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)

Score: 0 (B).  I like the way this looks and it should fit into a squad as a melee specialist.

Review: 30674 Ninjago Zane's Dragon Power Vehicles Polybag

I went polybag hunting at the local Discovery Center after PAX East.  I managed to find a few that I didn't have so I'll be reviewing them for you this week.

Bag.  I paid $7.00 for a $.013 Price per Piece.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.09 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plates, Tiles, Rims, Wedge Plates, Rounded Plates, Axle Plates,

Wedge Studless Slope, Ingots, Jumper, Double Jumpers, Clip Plates, Bar

Plate, Padlocks, Brackets, Studless Slopes, Quarter Circle Tiles, Tile Clips, 

Transparent Cheese Slopes, Transparent Round Plates, and Minifig Machetes.

 

Build.  IO Frigate (2Rpd+d8).  Systems are Gold.

I had a little time so I made second build, this is a 2 in 1 set

after all.  Battlebot Frame (2Rh+d8).  Systems are Gold.

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+).  If you find this at the normal price the score would be +20 (A+).  It's a Frame-in-a-Bag if you get it at the MSRP.

Review: 30663 Space Hoverbike Polybag

I went polybag hunting at the local Discovery Center after PAX East.  I managed to find a few that I didn't have so I'll be reviewing them for you this week.

Bag.  I paid $7.00 for a $.015 Price per Piece.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.11 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  Plates, Hitch/Harness, Wedge Plate, Bracket, Slope, Bricks w/Axle

 Hole, Translucent Round Brick, Studless Slopes, Plates w/Door Rail,

 Jumpers, Rounded Plates, 3L Axle/Pins, Bushings, Cheese Graters,

 Inkwells, Translucent Round Plates, Printed Round Tiles, Translucent

Rock Crystal, Bricks w/Pinhole, and Translucent Round Tiles.
  

Build.  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?  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 thought this might be good when I first saw it listed on Brickset but after looking at all the parts I'm not impressed.  This may be the cheapest way to get those Printed Battery Tiles though.

Review: 30662 Animal Crossing Maple's Pumpkin Garden Polybag

I went polybag hunting at the local Discovery Center after PAX East.  I managed to find a few that I didn't have so I'll be reviewing them for you this week.

Bag.  I paid $7.00 for a $.024 Price per Piece.  MSRP is $4.99, for a $0.17 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts.  Plates w/Rounded Corners & Feet, Fence, Bar Grill,

Round Bricks, Cones, Round Brick w/Roots, Plates, Double

Large Jumper, Clip Plate, Macaroni Bricks, Round Plates w/

Flower Edge, Minifig Watering Can, Pumpkin, and Twigs.

Build.  Two 1 Hit pieces of Cover.  The tree is 20' tall in 6P scale.

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-).  As if the Discovery Center pricing wasn't bad enough, this polybag really doesn't have much to offer.  The Round Brick w/Roots is new though and might be useful if you want that level of "realism" in your builds.  If you can find it for less than $3.02, and you need the parts, it might be worth it.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides Review & Postscript

This was just going to be a postscript look at the Brick Rides/Experimotors sub-sets from Hot Wheels and how they relate to Rapid Attack but I found another car from an old release so I turned it into a review as well.

Package. I paid $1.50 at Stop & Shop for this.

Disassembled.  Body, Windscreen, and Engine.

The Windscreen piece could represent

Defense or Spotting. The Engine piece could

represent Artillery, Movement or Spotting.

Assembled.  These models don't have an attachment point on the front.  A

Stud will fit in to the negative spaces but there isn't enough clutch to hold it

in place.  There's also a "blank" spot on the left side of the chassis common

to all of the HW/MB models.  I figure that's the injection point for the mold.

Size Comparison.  This seems to have a similar volume to a Chub.

Build.  So this is what it looks like with the engine piece swapped

out and a few Lego pieces added in.  Soldier archetype: 2Rd

[gun] 1B [armor plate] 1G [supercharger] 1Y [antenna].  All

Systems are White and consist of two pieces.  Flickr page.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as 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: +5 (B+).  All the things I've said about the previous models holds true here.  I think this model is a little less useful than the others with only two attachment points on the sides of the car but it makes up for that by having six possible variations that I've seen online.

Now that I've reviewed all of the base models for the Brick Rides, I want to look at all of them together.  Of the 21(?) alternates available ten of them can be found in the "Experimotors" category.  The Custom Small Block has the most variations.  I've managed to find all of the ones from 2022 and 2023, but I'm betting the remaining two from 2021 will be harder to find.  It'd be awesome if they released two more in 2024, that way you could put together a squad of eight with just one car design.  There are four Bricking Speeds, four Bricking Trails, and four Brick and Motor so a combination of those three could get you a full squad of eight if you manage to find them all.  There are three Brickin' Delivery so far.  Hopefully there will be another in 2024 to round out the selection.

I think the tail piece from the 2023 Dark Red Bricking Speed, also

the jets, and skull plate from the Brick and Motors are the most 

useful parts in terms of looks and color.  Although engine piece

from  the 2022 Bricking Speed, the tire from the Bricking Trail

and the engine from this review all come in Bright Light Yellow

so you could have matching System pieces with a little bit of work.

All in all using these depends on which cars you have access to, the extra pieces you have access to, and how much work you're willing to put in to get them table ready.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 7

I was alerted to the existence of this model by Shades Corvid on one of the Discord serves we hang out on.  This is new for 2024.  As you can see by the package this isn't part of the "Brick Rides" or "Experimotors" sub-groups.  According to the Hot Wheels wiki all the models in the "HW Metro" sub-group haven't been released and/or discovered, so I don't know if an alt-color version of this exists.

Package. I paid $1.19 at Target for this.

Disassembled.  Wind Screen, Box, and

Base.  The Box could represent Defense

or Movement.  The Windscreen could

represent Defense or Spotting. Or, you could

use these pieces to represent White Dice.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.  These seem to

have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as 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: +5 (B+).  The parts in this set are kind of big and bulky.  The base could make for a good Movement system for another Frame though.

Review: Hot Wheels Brick Rides 6?

While shopping at Wegman's I came across one of the 2024 Hot Wheels/Mega Bloks crossover vehicles, the Dark Blue one.  I found the other one at Target almost two months later after seeing hints of its existence on the Hot Wheels wiki.

Package. I paid $1.29 at Wegman's for one of these.

Disassembled. Body, Engines, and Skull Tile. The

Engines could represent Direct Fire, Artillery, Movement

or Spotting. The Skull Tile could represent Defense.

Assembled.

Size Comparison.  These seem to have a similar volume to a Chub.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame? Below. (+5)
Is it a good size to use in a game? Yes. About the same size as 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: +5 (B+).  All the things I've said about the previous models holds true here.  I really like the attachments it comes with.

Review: Make-It Blocks Pull Back Car 3

Crossing the finish line, let's look at the last of the new line of Make-It Blocks sets for this week's reviews.

Box.  MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Stickers.

Parts.  Pull Back Motor, Plates, Studless Slopes, Extra Large Cheese

Slopes, Corner Plates, Corner Tiles, Axle Plate, Notched Corner Tiles,

Jumpers, Large Cheese Slope, Cheese Grater, Quarter Circle Tiles, Cheese

Slopes, Round Plates, Wedge Studless Slopes, Brackets, and Stadium Tiles.

Build.  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?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +20 (A+).  I like it.  Too bad one of those Extra Large Cheese Slopes has printing on it.

Review: Make-It Blocks Pull Back Car 2

Maintaining speed, let's keep looking at another new line of Make-It Blocks sets for this week's reviews.

Box.  MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Sticker.

Parts.  Pull Back Motor, Plates, Wedge w/Cutout, Rims, Tiles, Axle Plate,

Wedge Plates, corner Plates, Studless Slope, Hinge Plates, Large Cheese

Slopes, Tires, Tiles w/Studs on End, Translucent Round Tiles, Clip Tiles, 

Cheese Slopes, Round Plates, Translucent Quarter Circle Tiles, Wedge

Studless Slopes, Brackets, Panels, Bars, and Minifig Ice Skates.

Build.  IO Frigate (1B/1Y).  Systems are in Orange.

I may just have to build more of these.

 

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+).  I like the selection of parts in this set.

Review: Make-It Blocks Pull Back Car 1

Changing gears, quite literally, let's take a look a third new line of Make-It Blocks sets for this week's reviews.

Box.  MSRP is $1.25, for a $0.02 Price per Piece.

Instructions & Sticker.

Parts.  Pull Back Motor, Transparent Windscreen, Plates, Tires, Axle Plate, Tile w/

Studs on Side, Tiles, Corner Plates, Tiles w/Studs on End, Rims, Bar Plate, Door

Rail Plate, Jumper, Studless Slopes, Bricks, Curved Bricks w/Cutout, Brick w/Studs

on Sides, Skeleton Arms, Spoiler, Brackets, Minifig Binoculars, and Cheese Slopes.

Build.  IO Frigate (1B/2Y).  Systems are Silver.

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 selection of parts and the majority being Black is always useful.

Battle Report: Back In (Intercept) Orbit

After almost six years we've returned to Intercept Orbit as a gaming group.  It's been close to ten years since we've played the RAW.  Occam's Spork was new to IO and I hadn't played in a long time so this was basically a learning experience for both of us.

Me (5 Tactical Assets & 18 Systems) = (7 Points per Asset) * (8 assets) = 56 points. (Fleet 6)
   Great White Cruiser Heavy Hunter Seeker -- 2Rs+d8/2Y/2W.
   Lime Thresher Frigate Pocket Carrier -- 2Rpd/2K/1Gd6/2W.
   Red Thresher Frigate Escort -- 2Rpd/2B/1Gd6/2W.
   Lime Frame Squad (Yellow Ace) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y+d8/2W.
   Lavender Frame Squad -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

Occam's Spork (6 Tactical Assets & 21 Systems) = (3 Points per Asset) * (9 assets) = 27 points. (Fleet 17)
   Manta Ray Cruiser Heavy Hunter Seeker -- 2Rs+d8/2Y/2W.
   Lime Stingray Frigate Light Carrier -- 2Rpd/2K/1Gd6/2W.

   Yellow Stingray Frigate Light Carrier -- 2Rpd/2K/1Gd6/2W.
   Red Stingray Frigate Heavy Escort -- 2Rpd+d8/1B/1Gd6/2W.
   White Frame Squad (Yellow Ace) -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y+d8/2W.
   Black Frame Squad -- 2Rd/1B/1G/1Y/2W.

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

Events of Round 1 (DDC@11): Occam's Spork's Yellow frigate maneuvers through my formation, captures my Blue HVA, then launches his Black frame squad onto my Cruiser.  My Lime frigate initiates an intense maneuver burn -- cutting across the bow of my Cruiser -- then hits Occam's Spork's Black frame squad for 2.  My Lavender Frame Squad is launched onto and captures Occam's Spork's Green HVA, then jumps to Occam's Spork's Lime frigate.  My Lime frame squad (Yellow Ace) is launched onto my Cruiser.  Occam's Spork's Black frame squad hits my Cruiser for 1, then hops to my Lime frigate.  My Cruiser hits Occam's Spork's Red frigate for 1 then turns to starboard.  My Lime frame squad (YA) jumps to my Lime frigate then hits Occam's Spork's Black frame squad for 3.  Occam's Spork's Cruiser hits my Cruiser for 3.  Occam's Spork's White frame squad (Yellow Ace) hits my Red frigate for 1.  Occam's Spork's White frame squad (YA) boards my Red frigate.  In response my Red frigate hits Occam's Spork's White frame squad for 2.  My Lime frame squad (YA) prevents Occam's Spork's Black frame squad from boarding my Lime frigate.  During that boarding attempt my Lime frigate hits Occam's Spork's Black frame squad for 1, destroying it.  My Lavender frame squad fails to board Occam's Spork's Lime frigate.  All HVAs on both sides begin a maneuver scramble looking for open space away from the conflict.

Me: 49 points.

Occam's Spork: 27 points.

Events of Round 2 (DDC @ 8): My Red frigate -- under control of Occam's Spork's White frame Squad (YA) -- banks to starboard and rams my Lime frigate, doing 2 damage to itself and 1 damage to the Lime frigate.  My Lime frame squad swings around the hull of my Lime frigate and hits Occam's Spork's White frame squad (YA) for 2.  My Lime frigate hits Occam's Spork's White frame squad (YA) for 4, destroying it.  Occam's Spork's Yellow frigate hits my Lime frigate for 7, destroying it, then banks to starboard.  Occam's Spork's Lime frigate banks slightly to port, moving between an asteroid and a planetoid, then hits my Cruiser for 1.  Occam's Spork's Red frigate moves forward and captures my Red HVA.  Occam's Spork's Cruiser hits my Cruiser for 1, destroying it.  My Lavender frame squad boards Occam's Spork's Lime frigate.  All HVAs on both sides continue to maneuver for open space away from the conflict.  The Doomsday Clock is ticked to five.  The game is called on account of time.

Me: 35 points.

Occam's Spork: 30 points.

Here are several during and aftermath pictures.

Round 1.

Round 1.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Round 2.

Thoughts & Observations:

• Did I say Rules As Written?  I kinda lied.  We counted Frame Squad Systems when doing PPA calculations.
• This is something I've been talking about wanting to change in the rules structure for IO for a while.
• But with only one data point I'm not sure what effect it's going to have.
• I went back and worked on a lot of different starship designs in preparation for this game.
• Since I was anticipating more players I only had two fleets with three HVAs built.
• I used a poster for the table covering for this game.
• We'll probably use less terrain next time as the book suggests three to five pieces and we had fourteen.
• We only color tagged the Frigates as there was only one Cruiser in each fleet.
• We had two successful Boardings, one unsuccessful, and one repelled.
• We had one Ram attack.  As far as I know this is the first one that did more damage to the rammer than the rammee.
• Yellow Aces and the stacking of Spots is really powerful.
• We had to cut things short due to a prior engagement for Occam's Spork.
• We lost a bunch of time in the prep/set up phase as we both were formulating our fleets from scratch.
• IO also has a few more steps than RA so that chewed up some time too.
• I was down two ships at the end of the second round so I probably would have lost if we played a longer game.
• I'm going to change up my fleet slightly for the next time I use it.
• I had mis-remembered the Yellow Ace powers so I built the fleet around a faulty idea.
• I feel like I had a less visceral reaction this time to playing IO under the regular rules than the last time we tried it.
• Flickr page.