Subject:
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Set Review: MEGA BLOKS ProBuilder Master Series 9778 Steam Express
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands
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Date:
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Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:00:42 GMT
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Viewed:
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11700 times
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The review below is reprinted from the
BLOKS
Forum
This won’t be a formal review, but just some impressions about this set from the
perspective of a die-hard LEGO fan. I have never owned or built a MEGA BLOKS set
before, so this was a new experience for me. I had purchased one clone set
previously (a Best Lock set; a tank) and was completely disappointed with it in
all ways. I was hoping that this set would be different. And was it ever.
In a word, I would describe the 9778 as “WOW!” This is a terrific set, superior
to any LEGO set in its price range. IIRC, this set retailed for $59.95, and LEGO
sets at that price point aren’t very elaborate. And as a LEGO fan (and a LEGO
train fan at that), I am a bit embarrassed that MEGA BLOKS beat TLG to the punch
with this awesome set.
To begin, the set contains over 1300 pieces. It contains an excellent blend of
standard building bricks (such as 1x4, 2x4 bricks, and 1x4, 2x4, 2x6, 2x10
plates) and amazing specialty pieces (such as the drivers and the driver rods,
among others). Though this is a push toy, the driver rods really work,
dispelling any doubt in my mind that TLG could produce such detail if they
wanted. Heck, it took the entrepreneurial efforts of Ben Fleskes to practically
shame them into creating drivers of their own. So, in element assortment, this
set gets high marks.
The actual building experience was pretty straight-forward; it was confusing at
times to distinguish colors on the directions. At this time did I experience for
myself the quality difference between MEGA BLOKS and LEGO. Clearly, LEGO quality
is superior. MB can bind tightly, but the problem is that it doesn’t always.
Consistency, it appears, is not only the hobgoblin of little minds, but
construction toys as well. It didn’t “feel” right to place a brick on another
and literally just have it sit there, without any friction binding it to the
other. Now, in MEGA BLOKS’ defense, I will say that they were very good at
creating this model with plenty of overlapping construction techniques, so the
loose binding brick issue was kept to a minimum.
In conclusion, I am glad that I got this set. Ironically, this set is 14 wide,
which is precisely to what dimension and scale that I am planning on building
from now on. My next adventure will be to build a hybrid set, using many of the
unique MB elements, but comprising it of mostly LEGO elements. That should be
fun. And I will add (which was sadly missing from the 9778 set) a tender.
Kudos to MEGA BLOKS for creating such a fine set!
<donning asbestos flame suit for the LEGO die-hard onslaught>
JOHN
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