Subject:
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Review of set 4770 - Blizzard Blaster
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.reviews
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Date:
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Tue, 2 May 2006 01:17:16 GMT
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Viewed:
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10241 times
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4770
Town / Alpha Team / Artic
Blizzard Blaster
Le Brise-Tempête
Ages 7+, 303 Pcs. (C)2005. 39 page manual: 5 model, 117 steps (for main models).
Building time about 35 minutes.
Price Range: $30USD
RATINGS (Scale: Must-Have Excellent Very-Good Good Fair Poor)
Set: Very-Good / Models: Fair / Playability: Very Good
DECALS? Yes. One sheet with two with ‘racing stripe and tubing’ pattern that
go on the ‘Wedge 12 x 3 x 1 Double’ Left and Right cockpit pieces.
SET DESCRIPTION
The Alpha Team has been fighting the evil Ogel and his minions for years, and
Ogel’s latest campaign is a plan to freeze the planet! The Alpha Team has
adapted to the new menace and last year changed their color scheme from blacks,
greens and yellows to Navy and Sand blues. The large two legged ‘mecha’ with
trans-orange lasers and a large white cannon on top can transform into the ‘Ice
Shark’ to fly across the frozen lands in pursuit of Ogel’s Ice Drone on a
miniature red and black scorpion walker.
SPECIAL ELEMENTS
This set is quite outside my usual purchasing grounds, and therefore contains a
multitude of parts in colors I’m not used to seeing. After checking out the set
at Peeron, I see this is a great place to go for Sand and Navy Blue pieces, as
it is the first source for hinges, beams, slopes, Jet Engines, etc. Need a
white spring loaded cannon for some reason? This is the only place to get it.
IMPRESSION
I picked this set up for $10 at KB-Toys a couple of months back. Even though it
isn’t the type of set I normally buy, I couldn’t pass up getting one for that
price. My one line summary? There are lots of unique parts to add to my
collection!
I’ll start with the bigger part of the set, the Blizzard Blaster itself. For
the huge number of hinges in the set (10 technic click-hinges alone), the model
has very little articulation. Yes, I am an articulation snob. In ‘mecha’ form,
the model isn’t very intimidating; it could never chase anyone down, though it
has plenty of guns to shoot poor little Ice Drones with. The two lasers mounted
on the cockpit are hinged in such a way that they can’t actually change their
aim at all… The two side-mounted lasers are much more flexible, with two axes
of freedom giving them a good range of poseability. The top mounted spring
cannon only swivels up and down, but has good range (firing a good five feet
from standing position). The model looks slightly better in ‘Ice Shark’ mode,
if only because it loses the clumsiness the mecha has.
The poor Ice Drone is riding on a tiny six legged, tailless scorpion thing.
There are no controls to drive it, there is no articulation to help fight back,
and it is just tiny. This is one spot the set loses some playability. The bad
guy is clearly the underdog in this set, and some may find themselves rooting
for Ogel’s minion! His best defense is that the Blizzard Blaster may have
trouble aiming at him!
Likes/Dislikes
Like: Hinges Galore!
Like: Tons of New Blue
Dislike: Model
CONCLUSION
In all honesty, I’d like more disposable income to get a couple more of these.
This is a parts set through and through. Great for the new(ish) Technic socket
joints, and great for blue. I would NOT recommend it for a child though. Most
of the play value for a child who doesn’t build their own models would probably
come from the cannon, and that would seem like a waste of money.
REVIEWER INFORMATION
Review Written: April 27, 2006
By: Brett Kingery (plucky)
Age 30 Favorite Lines/Themes: Castle, Star Wars
CA++++ #+++ CO LM LS++ P+++ S- Hzl M- YB75mIC17
COPYRIGHT
This review is Copyright 2006, by the author as named above. The
author grants publication rights for all uses, public and private,
with the following exceptions: all information in the document must
be published in full; any for-profit use requires express written
permission by the author for publication in full or in part.
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