Purity: Kre-O 85586 Transformers Battlechangers Ironhide Review

I finally tracked down the last of the Kre-O Battlechangers sets -- I think -- at Dollar General  recently.  Here's the review.

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

Instructions.

Stickers.

Parts.  Mostly Dark Red and Dark Grey.  Plenty of Plates, some Bar Plates, Clip Plates, Axle Plates, and Ball Joint Plates.  A couple of Bricks and Technic Bricks, some Slopes.  Wheelguards, Lampholders, a Technic Friction Pin, a Kre-O version of the Exoforce Robot Arm, and Kreon-scale Sniper Rifles  round out the interesting stuff.

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?  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.

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.

Purity: 80717 Kre-O Transformers Starscream

I got lucky a several weeks ago when I was out bargain hunting and found the last Kre-O Transformers Battle Changer set.

Box.  Base price was $5.99 at Marshall's, for a $0.08 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Stickers.

Parts.  There's a nice selection here.  Only a handful of singular parts, most have at least two of each.  As usual the Kreon bits are in the upper left corner.  The Double Bar Plate (open ends) is still really interesting as are the 1x1Round w/Bar.  Lots of Plates, Modified Plates, Slopes, Ball Joints, and other pieces.

Build.  I went old school this time and built something close to one of my Crab Mecha, and a little micro scanner unit. Stats: 2Ra+d8 (long guns) 1G (extra legs) 1Y (bot) 2W.


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+).  Another licensed set getting a max score?  Inconceivable!

Purity: 81506 Kre-O Transformers Optimus Prime vs. Megatron

For the last review of the Kre-O "transforming" Transformers week, let's look at the Optimus Prime versus Megatron kit.

Box.  Base price was $7.99 at Marshall's, for a $0.04 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Stickers.

Parts 1.  Some interesting 2x2x2 Bricks w/4 Studs on 1 Side there, otherwise it's just a bunch of Plates, Tires, Rims, and a Brick.

Parts 2.  Kreon parts in the upper right corner.  Plenty of Plates, Tiles, Bar Plates, Clip Plates and Slopes, along with Kre-O Ball Joints.

Parts 3.  Kreon parts in the upper right corner.  Dark Red this time instead of Red for a 2nd Optimus variant.  Plenty of Plates, Tiles, Tires, Rims, Bar Plates, Clip Plates and Slopes, along with Kre-O Ball Joints.  There's also a couple of Bar Clips, and that funky 1x1 Round Plate w/ Vertical Bar.

Build 1.  A Wall, it'll take two hits before being reduced to non-Cover.

Build 2.  A fairly standard Frame,

a little on the tall side.

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'm sure the MSRP is closer to $20 than what I paid for it, so the score is questionable.

Purity: Kre-O 80715 Transformers Optimus Prime

For the penultimate review of the Kre-O "transforming" Transformers sets, let's look at the Optimus Prime solo kit.

Box.  Base price was $7.99 at Marshall's, for a $0.09 Price per Piece.



Instructions.









Stickers.

Parts.  Plenty of Red and Blue.  Kreon pieces in the upper right corner.  Plenty of Clip Plates and Bar Plates, a handful of Plates, Tiles, Tires, Rims, and 2x1 Modified Plates w/Axle, a couple of 1x1 Round Bricks, Bar Clips, and Studless Slopes.  Also a couple of 1x2 Modified Technic Bricks w/Bar (closed ends).  One Flag and a Kreon-scale gun.

Build.  A relatively normal looking mech this time around, 2Rd/2B/1Y/2W.

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+).  Another licensed set getting a max score?  Inconceivable!

Purity: Kre-O 80716 Transformers Bumblebee Review

Number two in the Kre-O "transforming" Transformers sets review week.

Box.  Base price was $7.99 at Marshall's, for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Plenty of Yellow in this one.  Kreon parts in the upper right corner.  Lots of Bar Plates and Clip Plates, a fair amount of Slope pieces, a handful of Tires and Rims, some Plates and Tiles, and a few Kre-O Ball Joints.

Build.  A naked quad walker 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?  At.  (0)  (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: +15 (A).  Another decent score and this set also has some interesting parts.

Purity: Kre-O 80718 Transformers Grimlock Review

As I've managed to track down more of the Kre-O "transforming" Transformers sets, let's review them.

Box.  Base price was $7.99 at Marshall's, for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Stickers.

Parts.  That's a fair amount of Gold in that there box.  Kreon parts on are along the upper right side.  Plenty of Clip Plates and Bar Plates, a fair amount of Slopes -- regular, Inverted, and Studless -- a couple of Bar Clips, a handful of Wedge Plates, and a couple of 1x2 Bricks w/Studs on 1 Side.




Build.  Another centaur Frame for your
amusement.  2Rh/1B/1Y/1G+d8/2W.

The Questions:
Can you build something -- a frame, station, or starship -- right away?  Yes.  (+5)
Is it below, at, or above the golden ratio?  At.  (0)  (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: +15 (A).  Not a bad score and the set has some interesting parts.

Purity: Kre-O 82960 Transformers Shockwave Review

Let's finish out the week with another Kre-O set I picked up the same day as the Hound one.

Box.  I paid $7.99 for this at Marshall's, which gives us a $0.11 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Stickers.

Parts.  All that Purple.  You can see the Kreon parts that form the core of the set in the upper right corner.  A 1x2 Mod. Plate w/ Double Bars (open ends) immediately catches my eye, plus the 2x2 Hinge Brick Top Plates in the upper center.  Then the Kre-O versions of Small Ball Joints in the bottom center and right.  Plenty of other Mod. Plates, Brackets, Plates, Bricks, Slopes, Tiles, Tires, and Wheel Hubs.

Build.  This one took a bit of work but I think I pulled something out.

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+).  Just a few more pieces could have given this a better score.

Purity: Kre-O 82691 Transformers Hound Review

Another one of those never released 2015 Kre-O Transformers sets.

Box. I paid $7.99 at TJ Maxx for this, which gives us a $0.09 Price per piece.

Instructions.

Stickers.

Parts.  There's a lot here.  You can see the Kreon parts that form the core of the set in the upper right corner.  There are some intriguing 1x1 Round Bricks w/Bar in the lower center, Kreon Ball Joint pieces in the center, a silver Half Pin in the middle right, 2x2 Double Sided Plates in the lower right corner along with a 1x2-1x1 Bracket, along with all the Kre-O versions of standard -- and almost standard -- Lego parts.

Build.  A quick centaur build (2Rd/1B/1G/2W).

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 for a Transformers set.  I wonder what it would be if I knew the actual MSRP?