Review: Mega Bloks HKF93 Hot Wheels Audi R8 LMS GT2

It's been a while since I've done a regular Mega Construx review but I grabbed this the other day in Wegman's so let's take a look.  For some reason this is part of the Canadian Hot Wheels line, not the American.  Weird.  Probably good that I grabbed it then.  This is the first Medium-sized(?) Hot Wheels set I've reviewed specifically based off a real world car.

Box.  I paid $12.99, for a $0.18 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  Rounded Tile w/Studs, Printed Wedge w/Cutout, Windscreen,

 Printed Tail, Inverted Slopes w/Cutout, Bracket, Printed Double

 Studless Slopes, Panel w/Studs, Modified Plate w/Projection.

Parts 2.  Vehicle Base, Printed Mudguards, Wheels, Plates, Mudguards, Bricks, Door Rail Plates, Steering Wheel, Axle Plates, Triple Curved

Slopes, Wedge Studless Slopes, Wedge Plate, Slope, Studless

Slopes, Bar Plate, Tiles, Jumper, Brackets, and Slope w/Cutout.

Package.  This is the bag for the second set of parts.  A little overkill.  Speaking

of parts -- including the instructions and the minfig -- I only count 70 pieces.  ??

Build. IO Cruiser.  I just had an idea on how to make this a little better.

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+).  I find the number of parts with odd dimensions in this set interesting.  I'll have to keep an eye out for more copies.

Review: Mega Bloks HKT10 Pokemon Rookidee

Let's do another Series 17 Pokeball review.  Once again there's only a listing on the Canadian site.  I'll be honest, I only bought this because it looked like it had some interesting parts.

Box.  MSRP is $8.99 for a $0.41 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Printed Dome, 3/4 Dome, Wings, Double Sided Half Circle Brick

w/Ball Joint Cutout, Tile w/Stud, Plate, Double Slope w/Cutout, Claw

Pieces, Double Sided Bar Studs, Round Plate w/Bar Holder, Apollo Stud,

"Ear" Insert, Double Sided Round Bricks w/Bar Hole, Tail, and Plate.

Build.  It's fairly stable once you adjust the claws to compensate for the tail.

 

Size Comparison.  This one is pretty compact.

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-).  It has some neat bits but, UGH, that Price per Piece.

Review: Mega Bloks HKT14 Pokemon Combee

Let's do a Series 17 Pokeball review.  Once again there's only a listing on the Canadian site.  I'll be honest, I only bought this because it looked like it had some interesting parts.

Box.  MSRP is $8.99 for a $0.26 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Hexagonal Plates, Plate, Double Sided Plate, Printed Small

Domes w/Hole, Small Domes, Printed Small Dome, Round Plates, Double

Sided Half Round Plates, Dome, Jumper, Antenna, Brackets, Apollo Studs,

Transparent Bar, Wings, and Double Sided Round Bricks w/Hole.

Build.  I think it looks neat and it has a few mounting

points for Systems.  It will need a base though.

 

Size Comparison.  As you can see it has some volume.

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'd get this for the Hexagonal Plates alone.  The antenna are neat also, too bad they're Mega Bloks bar diameter.  I may possibly like the build enough to track down more to put together a squad.

Review: Mega Bloks HKT19 Pokemon Zubat's Midnight Flight

I found this sitting on an endcap in the Toy section of Walmart with other Clearance toys but it didn't have a Clearance tag on it.  I'm glad I scanned it because I got a decent discount on the set.  Also, with this review I have equaled the number of Mega Bloks reviews I did last year.  Onward and upward!

Box.  MSRP is $10.99 for a $0.18 Price per Piece.  I paid $7.00 at Walmart for a $0.12 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts 1.  This is incorporated into the packaging.  Gear Brick.

Parts 2.  Plates, Wedge Plate, Tile w/Hole and Studs on Edges, Tooth Plates, Axle,

Axle/Pin w/Stop, 1/2 Bars w/Stop, Hinge Brick (2 Plates tall), Studless Slopes,

Wedge Tile, Corrugated Brick, Slopes, Bricks, Cheese Slopes, and Bent Bar Holder.

Parts 3.  Wings, Printed Curved Slope, Tooth Plates (I inverted them

so you could see the coloring.), Curved Slope, Round Tile w/Bar

Hole, Round Tile, Double-Sided Ball Joint Plate, Half Circle

Plates, Bar Ball Joints, Double-Sided Bar Plates, Double-Sided

Half Circle Plate, and Double-Sided Half Circle Ball Joint Plate.

Parts 4.  These are in a bag inside of the second parts bag.

Pointed Bars (rubber, not plastic), and Bar Connectors.

Build.  The base is a 1 Hit piece of Cover -- 3 to destroy -- and the Frame really

needs feet.  It is super posable though and that makes it really expressive.

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+).  A really fun Pokemon and terrain in one set, not bad.  Shame about the price though.

Review: Mega Bloks HHL16 Pokemon Totodile

Let's do another Series 16 Pokeball review.  Once again there's only a listing on the Canadian site.

Box.  MSRP is $8.99 for a $0.30 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Head, Jaw, Tile w/Studs, Printed Oval Dome, Double Sided

Ball Joint Plates, Printed Double Curve Slope w/2 Studs, Tile, Tile

w/Stud, Printed Wedges w/Cutout, Double Sided Plate, Curved Slope 

w/Ball Joint Receptacle, Ball Joint Plate, Tile w/Fin, Plate, Bar Ball Joint,

Cylinder Ball Joints, Round Plate, Barb, and Round Brick w/Bar Hole.

Build.  

Size Comparison.

 

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 head design is a good deal smaller than the Ninjago dragon ones and would probably fit well on a MFZ:RA frame design.

Review: Mega Bloks HHL18 Pokemon Ledbya

Let's do a Series 16 Pokeball review.  For some reason there's only a listing on the Canadian Mega Bloks page.  I bought this because it looked neat.

Box.  MSRP is $8.99 for a $0.23 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Parts.  Printed Domes, Tiles w/Studs, Tile, Jumpers, Printed Half Domes, Double Sided Half Round Brick, Dome, Double Sided Ball Joint Plates, Ball Joint Plates, Double Sided Round Plates, Domes w/Bar Holes, Double Sided Round Bricks w/Bar Hole, Round Tiles, Horns, and Bar Ball Joints.

Build.  Getting this to stand took a little work so it might require a base.

Size Comparison.

 

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 I need to find more of these.  That price though!

Review: Mega Bloks CNC84 Halo Infinite Series 4 Blind Bag

There was a discussion last week on the MFZ Discord about there being micro starship designs included in the Halo blind bag releases from Mega Bloks.  This was precipitated by me posting a picture of the new Halo starship from Mega Bloks but that's a discussion for another time.  It was said that the starships were easier to find by touch due to having actual pieces in the bags instead of just minifigs and accessories.  This turns out to be true.  It also turns out that they sound different when shaken.  The bags with regular pieces in them have a louder, higher pitched rattle when you shake them.  Which leads to today's review.

Bag.  MSRP is $3.19, for a $0.11 Price per Piece.  Oh, and while this is

Series 4 of Halo Infinite blind bags, it's the 16th series of Halo blind bags.

Instructions.

Parts.  Angled Plate, Triple Slope Wedge, Plates, Clip Panels, Slope w/Studs,

Cheese Slope, Hinge Plates, Tile, Grille Tile, Bracket, Translucent Round

Tile, Bars w/Bar, Bar w/Tail, Clips w/Bar, Bar Clips, Translucent Bar, Bricks

w/Studs on Side, Brick w/Stud on Side and Opening in Back, and Clip Plate.

Build.  Apparently this is called a Sentinel.  I'm willing to say it's a "Frame-

in-a-Bag".  You could mount a System on each arm, the eye/sensor could

be a System, and you could pop the Grille Tile off the back or the Tile off

the head and use those locations to mount another System.  Or you could

use the base to mount some sort of System.  According to certain websites

the bag code for this, if you can find it which I couldn't, is 130226TC.

Size Comparison.  It fits nicely in the size range.

 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-).  Despite the score I think this is worth tracking down.

Review: Mega Bloks GVM30 Hot Wheels Muscle Bound

I know Mega Bloks isn't a company that has long shelf life for some of their products but it looks like this set has already been discontinued from the Hot Wheels line.

Box.  MSRP was $9.99, for a $0.10 Price per Piece.

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1.  Mod. Plate(3x4/5x5/3x4 w/2x5 indent).

   

Parts 2.  Wheels, Printed Double Triple-Curved Wedge, Printed

Studless Slope, Transparent Modified Plate 2x5 w/Studs

on Side, Transparent Windscreen, and Printed Panels.

Parts 3.  Axle Plates, Bricks, Plates, Triple Curve Slope,

Steering Wheel, Inverted Slopes, Inverted Slopes w/Cutout,

Studless Wedge, Clip Plates, Slope w/Cutout, Brackets, Bars

w/Panel, Corner Plates, Wedge Tile, and Double Jumpers. 

Parts 4. Wedge w/Cutouts, Mudguards,

and Modified Plate 2x5 w/Studs on Side.

Parts 5.  Plates, Jumper, Tall Cheese Slope, Tile, Transparent Corrugated Tiles, Cheese Slopes, Transparent Slope w/Cutout, Slope w/Cutout, Large Cheese Slopes, Plates w/Angled Wedge, Plates w/Wedge, and Brackets.

Build.  IO Cruiser.  This might actually fit in with my 13th Fleet.

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).  The Metallic Olive Green parts are what sells this set for me.  I think the only other one with that color parts is the Aristo Rat.

Review: Mega Bloks GYG34 Hot Wheels Baja Truck

After my first review of the new Mega Bloks Hot Wheels sets, I decided to give it another try since the first set was a real treasure trove of good parts.

Box.  MSRP is $9.99, for a $0.10 Price per Piece.  

Instructions.

Minifig.

Parts 1. Modified Plate(3x4/5x5/3x4 w/2x5 indent).

Parts 2.  Wheels, Printed Wedge w/Cutouts, Printed Tile

w/Studs, Window Frame, Printed Studless Slope, Plate, Mod.

Plate 2x5 w/Studs on Side, Axle Plates, and a Printed Tile.

Parts 3.  Mudguards, Extra Long Cheese Slopes, Panel, Printed Tile,

 Plates, Printed Panels, and Mod. Plate 2x5 w/Studs on Side.

 

Parts 4.  Bricks, Plates, Steering Wheel, 1x5 Plates, Slopes w/Cutout,

Clip Plates, Tile, Wedges w/Cutout, Wedge Panels, Brackets,

Axle Plate, Inverted Slopes, Bars w/Panel, Panels, and Triple Slope.

Parts 5.  Bar Plates, Grille Tiles, Plates, Jumper, and Cheese Slopes.

Build.  Intercept Orbit Cruiser and Rapid Attack Walker.

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 quite as awesome as the Bone Shaker but I managed two builds out of this set.