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REVIEW ~~
#9337 Mega Blocks Transforming Blok Bots: Spy
MSRP: approx. $13 USD
Pieces: 165
Age: 7+
Visual link (from box artwork):
http://www.ozbricks.com/blaktron/misc/9337_web.jpg
First impressions (unpacking)~~
The Good:
1) Plenty of trans-dark blue: 10 2x2 tiles, 4 1x3 slopes, 4 1x2 inverted slopes
2) Pleasant lack of decoration on molded feet, hand, and head (back section)
elements
3) Pleasant abundance of basic elements in black and dark grey: bricks,
plates, etc.
4) 4 of those black hinged and faceted "loincloth" elements (I love these)
5) 2 black MB 4x8x2/3 tile wings (I love these)
6) 1 black 2x2 male/male plate (I love these)
7) A variety of the cool jointed bricks in black
8) Black MB tubing, which I like
The Bad:
1) The tedious 3-part 4x4 turntable design with the T-shaped torso
base/female joint elements on either side, a simpler "stiff" turntable as in
the original Blok Bots would be much preferred (actually the lack of a ready
supply of this element -- esp. in black -- is inexcusable).
The Build ~~
The Main Model:
1) Great instructions, but one has to keep a steady eye on the color changes
from black to dark grey
2) Ewwww, one malformed element (not that common with MB in my experience)
3) The tubing goes on easier with a spot of saliva on both the tube end and
the attachment point (gross, eh?)
4) The torso build is great, except for the aforementioned T-shaped base
issue -- it's practically a "how to" lesson in building Mechas with bricks.
5) The torso build culminates in the placement of a generally single-use
element that looks sort of like a pair of cat's ears. I want to dislike
this element as well as the other single purpose elements in the set, but
this one does look very cool. On inspection I can see several ways to
replace this element with regular bricks, but it wouldn't look quite as nice.
6) The upper arms have one area of weakness where an inverted slope attaches
to a unique MB 1x2 brick that is open on one long side to accept a 1x2 plate
and has a single hole on the other side -- this element likely has
interesting uses.
7) The initial model is finished and looks great! I really dig the overall
"Borg" look to this mecha and the minifigure inside the head.
8) I have 8 elements left over at this stage, including the aforementioned
malformed element (I didn't need it for the main design, so now it's hard to
consider it much of a fault). Extra stuff with MB sets is fairly common and
could be seen as a quality control issue that favors the consumer. At times
I have received 1 or 2 extra bags of elements with MB sets.
The Alternative Model:
1) Okay, in taking apart the original model I drop the whole works against
my keyboard and chip a teeny bit of paint off the single-use cat's ears
element. Sheeesh!
2) To accomplish the alternative model, the cat's ears element is placed on
the back of the model as some kind of drag-creating spoiler.
3) The resulting model is not as coherent as the original design, but I
guess that's a drawback of transforming models. There are several design
choices that I am not that happy about -- at the same time, I could easily
fix many of these within moments with the spare elements.
Stickers ~~
1) Yes, there were stickers in this set. I have no opinion of them, I
rarely use stickers of this kind. By design, none of the stickers adheres
to more than one element.
Final Thoughts ~~
I may buy several of these at full retail or at a moderate sale price. I
would buy as many as I could lay hands to at deep discount. A great source
for interesting elements. A great build if you like the action figure appeal
of a transforming mecha. The minifigure is far nicer than most. I really
liked the head of the main model and the helmet worn by the minifigure.
Overall Score ~~
***** All five stars.
-- Hop-Frog
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