Subject:
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Re: TLG and "Seeding" (Lego and MB compared)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands
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Date:
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Tue, 6 Mar 2001 08:53:23 GMT
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Viewed:
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1390 times
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> I have been working Mega
> Blocks for about six months - they don't seem to be going off, and if
> anything, they seem to me to stick more ferociously than Lego. This is no
> doubt partly to do with poor/inconsistent molding, but I'm cool with that.
> They're definitely harder on the fingertips.
I'll second that. It takes a little bit more pressure to put two MBs
together and a little bit more effort to pull them apart. I notice that my
thumbs are always a little tender after a long MB session.
I notice that although I keep my MBs mixed in with my Lego, I still tend to
preferentially select the Lego when building because it is a better brick.
However, if I know I will run out using Lego alone, then the MBs are used.
If I'm really organised, I think in advance where I'd like to use the Lego
and MBs (either in separate areas) or all mixed-up. Some MB colours match
those of Lego; some don't (see the mini-reviews below for more details).
> I haven't seen the colour mismatch thingie either. Out of 5 carriers, 7
> battleships (from at least three different production batches), and three
> tanks (from three different batches), the colours have been entirely
consistent.
I haven't seen a colour mismatch as such within an MB set, but what I have
seen is a kind of marbling effect, usually a line or swirl of a lighter
shade through the brick, as if the colour wasn't mixed through properly when
still in liquid form. In my MB aircraft carrier, this occurs in a number of
the big black tiles that are used for the flight deck and I found myself
noticing these lines in what should be a large flat black surface. However,
once I put all the stickers onto the deck, I find I don't tend to notice the
marbling lines any more.
> Bear in mind that I am speaking only of the ProBuilder line (is that
important?)
I've only bought MB Probuilder, but have looked at some of the other MB
products in the shop. The quality seems to vary between the product lines.
Certainly those large bags of large (about 2 inch high, almost Primo-sized)
MB bricks seem to be made of very "cheap and nasty" plastic, and certainly
look much poorer quality than the Probuilder bricks.
I haven't been tempted by any of the other MB product lines apart from
Probuilder range, which IMHO have MB's best quality bricks and best set
designs. Some of the other lines seem to have the same quality bricks as
Probuilder, but I do not like the designs.
Here are a few quick mini-reviews on some of the Probuilder series:
My two favourite MB Probuilders are the little jungle-green tank and the
larger red-white-blue Wave Breaker speed boat.
Little jungle-green tank. A very neat design with caterpillar tracks. I like
the jungle-green colour; it's nice to have more muted colours than the
standard Lego bright leaf green. The only thing it lacks is a minifig to
look out the hatch of the turret (but a Lego one works nicely). This is one
of the cheaper ProBuilder sets, and I would recommend this as a good set if
you are contemplating taking that first bite of the "forbidden fruit" :-)
Wave Breaker. This is a medium-large speed boat in attractive white, red,
and navy blue colours. The white is a much more arctic white than Lego white
which is creamy by comparison. The MB red looks the same colour as Lego red.
I don't have any navy blue Lego (I don't know if it exists) but the MB navy
blue is so dark that at night I have trouble distinguishing it from black.
Again, this is a nice design but could use a few people on board. A good
starter set if you don't like military themes.
Aircraft Carrier. This is the largest of the Probuilder sets (about 1700
pieces). The size of the aircraft carrier is impressive (3 feet long) and
it's a wonderful source of grey bricks, but I think the design could be
improved. I found the elevators up to the flight deck tend to get stuck, and
I found the gun enclosures very fiddly to make (bits tended to fall off into
places too small for adult fingers to easily repair). There is some
pixelation effect in the bow, given the very purist approach of building a
curved structure from 2x4 bricks. But the sheer size of the vessel tends to
make this pixelation less noticeable. Being almost entirely grey and black,
I feel the model could use a bit more colour to brighten it up, but I guess
the colours are pretty realistic as is. I think real navy ships could use a
bit more colour to brighten them up too! :-) This set also features lots of
"gender benders" (plates with 2x2 studs on both sides); these appear in some
of the smaller sets too. I know some people just buy this set as a "grey
parts pack" but I think the model is well worth building in its own right.
It is also interesting to see how MB's "engineering" differs from Lego's;
they seem to have a different approach.
Desert Patrol. This is a medium-sized sand-beige-coloured armoured vehicle.
Another good design. It is let down by the very large black wheels being
"one-sided" (i.e. must be oriented so you only see them from the "outside"
as they are hollow). The wheels also seem to be made of a cheaper grade of
plastic. Living in a part of the world with a lot of natural sandstone, I
look forward to using these bricks in building some local sandstone
buildings (city hall, etc). I think the colour would also be useful to
castle builders.
Blue Thunder. This is a large plane in bright blue (same colour as Lego
blue) and lemon yellow (Lego yellow is more egg-yolk yellow or sun yellow).
It also features a trans-lime cockpit cover. Overall the colour combination
is pretty lurid, but it might appeal to kids. I assume it's intended to be
an acrobatic plane (Blue Thunder = Blue Angels?). The tail wings are too
flimsy; fortunately MB sets have loads of extra parts so you can build
yourself a stronger set of tail wings with the extra parts. The overall
design is OK rather than good. Treat this set as a "blue parts pack", choose
some better accent colours and experiment with some design variations.
I am particularly impressed with the MB instructions. They clearly show
which bricks are already in place and which are being added at this step.
Each step usually adds a lot of bricks, and they also manage to squeeze a
large number of steps onto each page without any loss of clarity. So the
whole MB instruction booklet uses a lot less paper than Lego's massive
volumes. On a similar note, MB pack their sets quite densely, unlike Lego's
big empty boxes with a few polybags sloshing about inside.
So, comparing MB Probuilder with Lego:
* there is a different style to Probuilder (more realistic, less whimsical)
* Probuilder is more purist in its extensive use of standard pieces
* some Probuilder designs are as good as Lego, but Lego designs are better
overall
* Probuilder has a number of pieces I've never seen in Lego
* Probuilder brick quality is not as good as Lego, but "acceptable"
* Probuilder instructions are generally better than Lego's
* Probuilder is a lot cheaper (in Australia, I'd estimate Probuilder is 1/3
of the price of Lego for sets of similar piece count -- in USA, the price
difference is probably smaller due to the extensive discounts available on
Lego -- judging from Brickwise)
Kerry
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: (Lego and MB compared)
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| In lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands, Kerry Raymond writes a wonderfully rich review of the MB ProBuilder line: (...) Interesting. This has to be a new phenomenon. The last MB set I bought Creature Seekers Naval Command had numerous parts that kept (...) (24 years ago, 6-Mar-01, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: TLG and "Seeding"
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| In lugnet.general, David Zorn writes a worthy exposition of things clone related. As Dave Shuler commented (see other also worthy reply) its a trade-off - for less money I can do more stuff I enjoy. I'm sold. I can't speak to clones other than (...) (24 years ago, 2-Mar-01, to lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands)
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