Santa Brick was good to the kids this year! Castle, Indy, Star Wars, and Bionicle...I was plenty busy on the 25th and 26th, snapping bricks together with my kids. Here we go:
Bionicle
I have seen plenty of ads for Bionicles, but never actually put one together until we received Toa Lewa. And I must say, overall I am impressed with the product line. In particular, I think they stand up well to actual play and handling. My 6- and 4- year-old boys have adventures and battles with them, and except for the random part falling off here and there (usually due to contact - as in the boys whacking the Bionicles together) they hold up nicely.
8698 - Vultraz: This is a neat kit. You get a small warrior mounted on a cool-looking attack speeder. The skyfighter (speeder) has a working cannon hanging off the frame, and it shoots small round plastic cannonballs. If you have kids in the house who put toys and things in their mouth, I'd confiscate the cannonballs. On the upside, the skyfighter has a nifty hinged compartment where you can store all the extra cannonballs. It would have been a bonus to include a melee weapon or two for the warrior so he could fight when dismounted, but that's really the only complaint I have. 7 out of 10.
8945 - Solek: His color scheme is fairly bland (white and grey), but he is armed with dual power blades (nasty-looking swords). 5 out of 10.
8946 - Photok: I call this one the Great Pumpkin (he's orange & dark grey). He's armed with dual power blades, but these suckers look like they could also function as cutters or pincers if they have a secondary use. 6 out of 10.
8686 - Toa Lewa: OK, so this one wasn't a Christmas present, but I'm throwing it in with the rest of the Bionicle kits reviewed here. Same warning as Vultraz - he has a launcher and cannon balls. In addition to the aforementioned cannon, Toa Lewa carries a really big sword into battle, and can jump around thanks to a jet pack on his back. I really like the bright green in his color scheme, as it stands out and adds to the overall appeal of this kit. 8 out of 10.
Castle
7048 - Troll Warship: It's big. It's loaded with features. I like it. There's the 20" warship, two small rowboats, and an armored green dragon with a knight rider (no, not David Hasselhoff...)
The warship has a bow-mounted bolt thrower that rotates and fires three missiles in rapid succession. Prisoners can be held in the brig (jail) or suspended from a cargo net "cage" dangling from the aft mast. The giant troll included has a drum and drumsticks to hammer out the rowing cadence, and just behind him is the removable command deck where the captain stands. There are four oars, with each rowing station protected by a shield. Chains also dangle from the sides, which only add to the flavor. The ramming prow looks like it could slice through any other ship like a hot knife through butter.
The sails stay in place thanks to clever end caps on each spar. The two crow's nests are welcome features, although they fall off way too easily. The two rowboats each have a crossbow mounted on the bow, and can be attached to the warship via two fixed docking points.
How does one attack such a nautical monstrosity? How about on the wings of an armored, fire-breathing dragon? This is an awesome part of the kit, and could easily be packaged in a kit of its very own. All the pieces snap together snugly, the wings and tail can be moved easily, and the knight astride this fearsome beast can jab at his enemies with a long lance. And yes, the dragon rider wears a motorcycle helmet - but that is cleverly concealed by his pointy "beak" visor.
Rounding out the kit are the nine figures - six troll warriors, a giant troll, a dwarf, and the knight. The price is rather steep, but overall you get a great kit just loaded with good stuff. 9 out of 10.
7037 - Tower Raid: If this was just a simple knight's tower and troll siege tower, it would be a really good kit. But once again, the LEGO master builders came up with a kit that packs some very cool features into modest sized and modest priced kits like this one.
The siege tower rolls on four wheels, sports a working battering ram, as well as a foot bridge that extends so the trolls can assault their objective. Pull back the battering ram, let go, and the rubber band causes it to swing forward. Grab the string in the back, give it a pull, and the foot bridge extends forward. I'd like to see the LEGO peeps make a giant-sized version of this :)
Why the working battering ram? So you can free the troll warrior held prisoner in the knight's tower, of course. Position the siege tower in front of the knight's tower, swing the ram, and it knocks down the outer wall. When the outer wall falls, the jail cell floor collapses, and the troll prisoner slides down and lands outside the tower, ready to escape and rejoin his green brothers.
See what I mean? Form and function! Oh, and there are also five minifigs - three troll warriors, and two knights. I'm compelled to award this one a perfect 10 out of 10!
Indiana Jones
7622 - Race for the Stolen Treasure: Let's see, you get a truck, jeep, horse, and four minifigs (Indy and three soldiers). The truck has a faux cloth top, held in place by fold-down sides. And with some cleverly-placed round silver 1x1s, it simulates the truck's shocks or suspension. The jeep is nicely done, down to the machine gun mounted on the roll bar. Both the truck and the jeep stand up pretty well to handling.
The downside? Instead of putting the Ark or a crate for the Ark in this kit, they included a golden treasure chest. Not exactly perfect storyline continuity, but close enough for LEGO Indy I guess. As a side note, the Ark from 7621 fits perfectly in the back of the truck, so I think a crate would have made more sense than a treasure chest for 7622. Let's give it an 8 out of 10.
Star Wars
7673 - MagnaGuard Starfighter: For a new kit (this is from the Clone Wars product line), they did a great job in my opinion. It looks menacing (OK, I'll say it, badass), and we just need one more so we can pair them up with General Grievous' Starfighter (7656) so they can fly cover for him (it?). One of the coolest features is the canopy - it's mounted on a set of rails, so it stays attached to the starfighter when you slide it forward to open up the cockpit. There are also a pair of flick-fire missiles in a pop-up launcher that's right behind the cockpit. The launcher falls apart often with even modest handling, so I secured it with a spare flat 2x4 brick. The flexible tubes mounted on top of each engine are nice details, as are the mounts for MagnaGuards' weapons.
Also included are two minifigures, a pair of IG-100 MagnaGuards, each armed with an Electrostaff (which can be stored as part of the ship, underneath the engine panels that are hinged). Instead of the traditional minifig head, the head and shoulder of the cloak are molded together as one unit, with a stiff "cloth" cloak that fits snugly under the shoulders. Nicely done! It would have been cool to have heads without the cloaks attached as extras, but that's just me asking for the moon :)
I guess my only criticism is that the Starfighter comes apart rather easily when handled. That's the downside of complex LEGO kits, when young hands want to play with their toys - but hey, who can blame them? I'd want to fly them around too, not just build them and stick 'em on a shelf. Ah, childhood :) Worthy of an 8 out of 10.
That's it for now. Stay tuned for my next review, and until then, have fun with your toys!
Friday, January 2, 2009
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