Friday, December 16, 2016

Review: 41575 Mixel Cobrax

End of the week and the end of the Nindjas tribe Mixels.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.08 Price per  Piece.


Instructions.









Parts.  Several Plates, Slopes, Ball Joints, and Brackets, some Tooth Plates, Clip Plates, Modified Bricks, Minifig Sais, Robot Arms, and Large Claws, a Bar Plate, Turntable, Minifig Snake, Printed Tile, and Bar Holder w/Clip.  Then there's the two Orange Ingots in the lower right of the picture.





Build.  Something simple for this review, a Melee specialist.

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+).  Number three for Series 9.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Review: 41576 Mixel Spinza

Middle of the week and more Nindjas tribe Mixels.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99 for a $0.08 Price per  Piece.


Instructions.










Parts.  Plenty of Slopes and Plates, a few Click Hinges and Ball Joints, some Clip Plates, Tooth Plates, Tiles, and Technic bits, a couple of Brackets and Minifig Katanas, and some lovely Light Bley Apollo Studs at the bottom right.






Build. Yeah, I know, a tripod build is cheating.
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+).  Number two for Series 9.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Review: 41577 Mixel Mysto

Welcome to the beginning of the end of Mixels Series 9.

Bag.  MSRP is $4.99.  Which gives us a $0.08 Price per Piece.


Instructions.








Parts.  Plenty of Ball Joints in this one.  A decent amount of Plates and Slopes.  Some Brackets, Clip Plates, Tooth Plates, Jumpers, Lampholders, Bar Plates, Tiles, Horns, and a Bar Holder w/Clip, and a 6L Bar w/Stop Ring.



Build 1.  Yeah, it's ugly.





Build 2.  I actually had enough time to do a second build for this review.

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+).  Starting out strong for Series 9.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Review: Gundam Converge RX-78-02 Gundam (132)

I wasn't planning on doing another Converge review for a while, but when I saw this set I had to finish out this release.

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



Parts.









Disassembled.  I can see Direct Fire for the rifle, Artillery for the back mortar, Spotting for the head/antenna, and Defense for the shield.


Assembled.








Size Comparison.

The Questions:
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Above.  (-5)

Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's in between a Classic and a Chub.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Four.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +10 (A-).  A better price and this would get a better score.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Review: 40228 Geoffrey &Friends

This set seems to be regarded as a little weird in the Lego community.  It's an exclusive set to TRU.

Box.  I paid $9.99 for this at Toys'R'Us.  That's a $0.08 Price per Piece.




Instructions.








Stickers.  These look fun.

Minifigs.









Parts 1.  Plenty of parts in what Bricklink calls Bright Light Orange.  A good amount of Ball Joints, several 1x2 Bricks W/2 Studs on 1 Side, plenty of Plates, Slopes, and Tiles.





Parts 2. Clip Plates, Bar Plates, Ball Joints, Slopes, Plates, Cones, and New Headlight Bricks.




Build.  A quick, 5 minute, chicken walker.  2Rd+d8/1Y/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+).  That's kind of surprising for a licensed, TRU exclusive set.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Terrain & Scenery 9

Something quick for a busy week.


The Forest Path by P.B.  Cotton Candy color trees, very sci-fi.








Underwater Scenery by Master Data.  I don't feature underwater
builds very often.  Maybe I should start looking for more.





"Micropolized" Lego City Vehicles by Galatek.  Very neat.







Future Truckin' by Rodney Bistline.  These use some neat
techniques to make some futuristic looking big rigs.




Bateria de Misiles by fotero.  These could make nice Stations.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Review: Gundam Converge EB-05s Schwalbe Graze (134 & 135)

One of the fun things about the Converge line is that occasionally there are re-issues of older models with a pallette swap.  In this case these are similar Mobile Suits from the same anime piloted by two different people in the same faction.  This will allow you to field two copies of the same model without having to paint either one!



Box.  I paid $10.99 each for these at Newbury Comics.




Parts 1.



Disassembled 1.  I'm thinking Spotting for the helmet, Movement or Spotting for the verniers, Melee for the left arm, Melee or Direct Fire for the Right arm, and Defense for the leg shields.  The parts in the bag are extras for Gundam Barbatos.



Assembled 1.


Parts 2.


Disassembled 2.  I'm thinking Spotting for the helmet, Movement or Spotting for the verniers, Melee for the left arm, Direct Fire for the  Right arm, and Defense for the leg shields. The parts in the bag are extras for Gundam Barbatos.

Assembled 2.


Size Comparison.

The Questions (Gaelio):
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Above.  (-5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's in between a Classic and a Chub.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Four.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +10 (A-).  

The Questions (McGillis):
Is it below, at, or above $10 per Frame?  Above.  (-5)
Is it a good size to use in a game?  Yes.  It's in between a Classic and a Chub.  (+5)
How many parts does it have to represent systems?  Four.  (+5)
Does it have enough parts you can remove to represent White Dice damage?  Yes.  (+5)
Score: +10 (A-).  I think these are both better deals than the score reveals.