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Hey all,
Got a lovely selection of holiday loot thanks to my sweetie-pie, and after
building the sets I have some impressions. The sets are:
Mars Mission # 7695 MX-11 Astro Fighter
Town City # 7991 Recycle Truck
SpongeBob Squarepants # 3830 Bikini Bottom Express
Mars Mission # 7693 ETX Alien Strike
Before I get specific about the sets, I first have to say that this can be a
difficult time to be an older Lego fan. When I first built these sets I was so
upset over a variety of things that I thought I’d better wait a day or two to
post and I’m glad I did! Even though I have a strong appreciation for the
company’s history and hopes for its future, there are so many changes happening
now that it’s often hard to take them all in, and often harder to accept them.
So if I come off like a slice of bitter, old Grinch, guilty as charged!
In choosing these sets, the addition of a large selection of orange pieces to my
collection was the primary motivator. However, I was disappointed to discover
that the bright, candy-colored orange (which I’d noticed in the first run of
SpongeBob sets), is here to stay. I wish I could be enthused about it, but I
just don’t like it. The bricks have a translucent quality to them which just
makes them look very toy-ish and candy-like. I greatly preferred the previous
orange, which while not as bright in color, was deep, rich and very opaque. It
looks more solid and to my eyes conveys a more realistic appearance.
You can see an example pic here with the new orange in the front:
Thankfully, there’s not much of the older orange in my collection, so this will
be an easier change to accommodate.
My second critique has already been discussed ad nauseum, but I find it vexing
that the instruction booklets still have not been corrected so that black, dark
gray and gray are easier to distinguish. Black bricks with white outlines
worked beautifully for years, and I’d like to think that it would be a fairly
simple process to alter the virtual palette of the instruction layout program so
that this issue could be fixed. I had to check the instructions against the
parts on several occasions because I could not tell the difference (something
I’ve never had to do before).
Finally, the usage of CG imagery for the box art has created more opportunities
for the product to be misrepresented. I have details on that in the section for
the Bikini Bottom Express.
#7695 MX-11 Astro Fighter
I was mainly interested in this set for the trans-orange cockpit piece and the
new white wing plates. It goes together easily and quickly and makes a nice
little swooshable ship. Everyone already agrees that the alien/martian figure
is poorly designed, but I’m sure someone will figure out an interesting way to
use them at some point.
If all the human pilots of the Mars Mission line steer their ships by telepathy
while in hypersleep, then that should be made clear somehow. Otherwise, their
apparent ability to control their ships without instrumentation is a little
too fantastical, especially since their heads are not even oriented forward so
that they can see where they’re going! It seems that nearly every ship in the
theme has this arrangement, and it just nags at me. Yes, it’s a space fantasy
line, but most fantasy greatly benefits from real-world concepts to lend a sense
of plausibility.
#7991 Recycle Truck
This is an excellent set! It builds well and has a very solid feel and
appearance. The way the dumper functions along with the opening rear door is
quite nice, as is the addition of the articulated garbage can. My only critique
would be that the color of the yellow warning lights gets lost when placed over
orange bricks. There was also an error in the bags so that I received three 1x2
white bricks with the side clip and only one plain 1x2 brick, whereas I was
supposed to have two of each. Not a problem as far as this set is concerned,
but I hope this does not occur elsewhere.
#3830 Bikini Bottom Express
I was a very big SpongeBob fan until the fourth season, and was eagerly looking
forward to more sets from the show. However, the bus is a disappointment for a
number of reasons, partially due to the usage of CG imagery as I mentioned
above.
First, the trans-clear 1x2x2 thin-walls with portholes on them (first seen in
the Santa Fe engine) do not match the color of the orange bricks and the paint
is not applied heavily enough to make the orange areas opaque. What makes this
so irritating to me is that both the box cover and instruction booklet cover art
depict an exact match in color. It’s not until you open the booklet to the
pages where those pieces are in place on the model do they actually show that
the colors are different. In the instruction booklet, the color of orange on
the porthole pieces looks closer to the new light brown.
Here’s a picture of the cover and instruction art:
and here’s a picture of the actual model:
A very significant difference in my opinion!
The second CG issue (that you can also see in the first picture) is that the bus
driver figure is pictured sitting right in front of the wheel of the bus.
However, when you build the model you will discover that this is physically
impossible due to a red 1x6 arch that spans in front of the windshield. It was
very easy for me to substitute two 1x2 inverse-slopes in orange to solve this
problem while not compromising structural integrity or function. Why they
thought the arch was a better choice is beyond me. SpongeBob is the only figure
in the set that can actually sit and hold the wheel, and we all know that’s a
recipe for disaster! The bus driver mini-fig is probably my favorite of all the
SpongeBob mini-figs, he even has a little fin on the back of his head and his
expression is perfect!
The bus stop sign and the ticket vending machine are very nice stand-alone
units, which is nice to see as I had misgivings about such items in other
Spongebob sets.
#7693 ETX Alien Strike
I chose this set mainly for the orange cockpit, lime green, and the four new ¼
circle black saucer sections. The drill vehicle is quite rudimentary and I
really don’t care for it. I don’t think that the stickers do much to dress it
up. I hadn’t noticed before that the green alien/martian is virtually impaled
through the chest by a white rod while in its little container, which struck me
as a little macabre as it suggests that the creature has been more than
temporarily imprisoned.
The alien ship is a terrific idea, but not well executed at all IMHO. The wings
are supposed to click-hinge open and closed for attack mode, but the hinges are
VERY loose and floppy. Even my wife thought it was poor design. This is not
the first time that I’ve found certain click-hinge pieces to be far too loose to
be functional. I hope that this is just due to variances in the molding
process. They really should have doubled up on the hinges to make the joint
stronger.
Also the alien/martian pilot just about falls out of the cockpit if you turn the
ship upside down because he/she/it cannot be attached. Finally, what’s the deal
with the four blue Technic half axle/half friction pins on the underside? Are
they supposed to mesh with some other set item?
Finally, the stickers in this set really felt like an attempt to add visual
interest to otherwise “meh” vehicle designs. I will often build sets without
stickers as a way of judging the quality of the initial design, and this set
definitely fell short for me.
Well, that’s that. I hope that the company’s re-organization efforts are
fruitful that these times are just the bumps and stumbles that come from new
beginnings.
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town
(score: 0.436)
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In lugnet.reviews, David Simmons wrote:
I love this set too. I bought it at the beginning of June and built the hydra
model rather than the main model--then being out of town, haven't rebuilt it at
all.
> The light brick, with its internal spring-activated mechanism has many wonderful
> possibilities. As I built the body, I was very impressed with how the
> fiber-optic cable was woven through the modules in order to reach the head. The
> only slight drawback here is that in order for the flame part to be able to move
> freely as the head and neck are posed, it needs to hang loose and kinda flops
> around. It looks GREAT when activated, though, so no biggie!
The thing I love about this light brick is that, unlike at least the early
ExoForce ones I got, it's got a screw holding the bottom on... ==> replaceable
battery!
Peter
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town
(score: 0.386)
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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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town
(score: 0.379)
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LIST OF PRODUCT LINES AND THEMES
ME Models 550
Town System / Freight (custom)
Car Transporter
Ages 8-88; 366 Pcs. (Truck 94 pcs; trailer 58 pcs., 7 cars at 30 pieces each);
(C)2005; 12-page manual; 1 model (1 truck with trailer, and 7 car load); 103
steps; building time, about 1 hour (includes cutting stickers) at a leisurely
pace.
Price Range: USD 39.00
RATINGS (Scale: Must-Have Excellent Very-Good Good Fair Poor)
Set: Excellent / Models: Excellent / Playability: Excellent
DECALS?
Yes. Stickers are laser-printed and must be cut out with scissors or a sharp
hobby knife before application.
SPECIAL FEATURES/COMPATIBILITY
Both the truck and trailer feature top decks and ramps that can be positioned in
loading/unloading or travel positions.
SET DESCRIPTION
The car transporter reviewed here is one of ME Models’ more recent releases. It
comes packaged in a shrink-wrapped box with a full-color picture of the model on
the lid. Upon opening the box, parts for sub-assemblies are packaged in
individual zip-lock bags, and are accompanied by a comprehensive set of
instructions for the main model and a sticker sheet. The truck and trailer are
executed in blue with some white accents on the truck cab. Seven identical cars
that make up the load come in black, blue, red, yellow, and white.
SPECIAL ELEMENTS
There are no unusual or new elements in this set, as it tries to capture the
flavor of the Town sets of the 1980s.
IMPRESSION
Sometime in 2003 I happened to run across the ME Models store on BrickLink. I
don’t exactly remember how I got to it, but I do vividly remember the pictures
of what looked like actual Town sets, brightly colored vehicles of all shapes
and sizes, and a couple of homes. I bought a couple of trucks and one of the
houses to see what these sets were like.
Having bought other custom sets that came in Ziploc bags or with instructions on
CD-ROM, I was pleasantly surprised when I received my shipment, with sets in
boxes and printed instructions on semi-glossy paper. The sets were fun and
challenging to build and fit in well with my collection of Classic Town sets. So
. . . when I saw the first pictures of the car transporter I knew I had to have
it. Unfortunately the set was not available yet, and after emailing ME Models,
they assured me I would have the set in about a month. I did.
The car transporter arrived in a shrink-wrapped box, filled with parts separated
in Ziploc bags by sub-assembly, a sticker sheet, and a comprehensive set of
instructions. I spent about an hour putting together the various assemblies that
make up the truck and its load, building at a leisurely pace. The instructions
only provide building steps for the main model, the car transporter and its
7-car load. There were no extra elements left after I had finished building the
model.
The car transporter is done in Minifig scale. One Minifig trucker is included in
the set and fits in the cab. Minifigs could also be put in the individual cars,
but need to be provided as they are not included in the set. All I had left to
do at the end was to cut the stickers from the sheet provided with the set. This
requires either a good set of scissors or a sharp hobby knife, and should be
done by an adult for the best results.
I really like the fact that the top decks of the truck and trailer can be
positioned for both loading/unloading and travel. While the truck has a
mechanism made up of two regular 1x2 hinges (with top and bottom parts), the
trailer’s top deck can be angled using a simple yet elegant design that uses
four 1x8 plates attached to four 1 x 2 - 1 x 4 Brackets. While it looks fairly
fragile, this design is surprisingly sturdy, and provides lots of opportunities
for play. My two sons have already had a lot of fun with this set. We are
already thinking about building a car dealership to go with it.
My main dislike of the set is the fact that the cars that make up the load all
have identical designs, and after building three or four of them, that part of
building the set becomes a little tedious. Based on the design, it would have
been easy to provide one or two convertibles, a station wagon, or a pickup
truck.
Also, while the overall design looks very good, I’m wondering if this truck
would look better in a 6-wide design. As is, it seems a little tall for its
width, especially when fully loaded. I may build a 6-wide version for comparison
purposes, as this thought has been bugging me for a while.
All in all though, the set fits in very well with my Classic Town collection,
both from a design and color scheme standpoint. ME Models has captured the
classic look very well. The set also looks great as a display piece, as it is
very colorful, especially when carrying a full load of cars. Given that the set
is fun to build, looks great, and provides lots of playability, I have given it
a rating of “excellent”.
There were a few small errors in the set, but nothing major considering this is
a custom kit. One 1x2 blue plate was missing and on one of the yellow cars I
ended up with two left doors instead of a left and a right. Luckily I had
spares. In addition, ME Models has already promised to send me replacement
parts.
I also noticed that the stickers that are supposed to go on the cab doors are a
little bit too big. I could not cut them small enough to get them to fit without
losing part of the sticker. I have contacted ME Models and they are looking into
the issue.
CONCLUSION
ME Models has been making retro Town sets for about 2 years. The fact that Mike
Fetsko and Erik Olson decided to design sets based on what Town used to look
like in its heyday (the 1980s) is what attracted me to their sets in the first
place. This means four-wide vehicles in basic colors that have substance, both
in design, amount of bricks per set, and building complexity. In addition, ME
Models is one of the very few custom set designers that can offer sets at
competitive prices when considering average cost per brick. At $39.00, the car
transporter averages out to about 10.6 cents per brick.
In conclusion, I would have liked to see a little more variation in cars that
make up the truck’s load, but if you like town sets that look great and provide
lots of playability, this set is excellent. Now all we need is a car dealership
to go with it…
REVIEWER INFORMATION
Review Written: April 15, 2005
By: Mark van ‘t Hooft (Lugnet Member #485)
Age 36
Favorite Lines/Themes: Town/Trains, Castle, Space
I have been collecting Lego sets for as long as I can remember. I have fairly
complete collections of Town, Classic Space, and Castle, and have lots of sets
in other ranges as well (Trains, Technic, Pirates, Wild West, Star Wars). I have
always liked sets for the sets, and can spend hours with my kids building castle
villages or space stations. I tend to build straight from the box, although with
the advent of BrickLink a few years ago I have also built up a sizeable
collection of parts for more imaginative building projects, and am constantly
amazed at the extraordinary creativity of other builders in the Lego community.
COPYRIGHT
This review is Copyright 2005, 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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town
(score: 0.344)
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEGO Set Review Form V2.4
created by Joshua Delahunty (Internet: dulcaoin@alumni.cse.ucsc.edu)
10152
Promotional / Maersk
Maersk Sealand
Ages 8+, 988 Pcs. (C)2004. 55 page manual: 1 models, 53 steps.
Price Range: $74.99 USD
RATINGS (Scale: Must-Have Excellent Very-Good Good Fair Poor)
Set: EXCELLENT. / Models: MUST-HAVE. / Playability: FAIR.
DECALS? Yes, Attractive, Covers-Multiple-Bricks
SPECIAL FEATURES/COMPATIBILITY
None.
SET DESCRIPTION
10152 is a large model of an ocean going container ship. Built in the colours
of the Maersk Sealand service, 10152 has three major colours: The famous Maersk
blue, an unusual tone of light blue with turquoise tinge; dark red for the base
of the hull; brown for decking; and grey for a bevy of cargo containers. Accent
colours include white, orange and black.
The set is unusual in that it appears to be somewhat of a realistic model but
isn't exactly to scale: Like normal Lego sets, it attempts to capture a "sense"
of the real thing by including key elements of a real cargo ship, yet is still a
cariacture in terms of true scale.
The model is constructed of normal elements including a number of slopes, basic
bricks, tiles and plates. A number of "naval" theme elements such as "Boat
Window" bridge pieces, porthole/airplane windows and spools are included.
Note: Set 10152 may return in a non Maersk colour scheme in the future.
SPECIAL ELEMENTS
-Several elements in "Maersk Blue"
-2x Boat Window 2x8x2
IMPRESSION
Lego promotional sets have been always appreciated by enthusiasts for their
quality models, selection of pieces and to some degree, their rarity.
Promotional sets are those designed and produced by Lego for a corporate
customer, sometimes in joint promotion (such as McDonalds or Kabaya),
travel/duty free (a number of ferries and airlines) or for private corporate
promotion. The latter category includes many Danish companies including the
Velux, a maker of skylights and Maersk, an international shipping conglomerate.
Access to any of the promotional sets has always been limited, in part due to
geographic location (ie, not everyone frequents some Scandinavian ferry) or
because they are not for public consumption, intended for a company's key
customers as gifts. Maersk sets seem to be quite prized, perhaps because they
contain an unusual colour of bricks that corresponds to the company's own
livery.
Without a doubt, when news of a new Maersk promotional set was announced,
enthusiasts hoped they'd have access to such a set. Fortunately, Lego Direct
offered 10152 to the public through Lego Shop at Home, allowing us a rare chance
to get very different set.
Let me take a minute to get academic. Three key axes may be used to describe a
taxonomy of Lego model sets: Detail, prototype and scale. Model Team has
always been detailed, but they were always cariactures of the real objects they
represented, using unusual colours or detailing only certain features and
representing a swath of different prototypes in a single generic model. The
Statue of Liberty, Sopwith/Baron airplane models and Santa Fe both aim to copy
real world prototypes including their colour schemes. Yet the Liberty figure
and airplanes plus the Star Destroyer aim to achieve some sort of realistic
scale, while the Santa Fe locomotive follows the unusually tall yet not wide
enough scale of Lego Trains.
The 10152 is unusual in that it has great detail, is based on a real world
prototype, but is not scaled accurately. Perhaps because the subject itself is
huge, realistic scale could not be achieved. But when you look at it, the ship
should be probably twice as large given the same sized containers.
It's really a unique set and eye catching, because it's a model of something
real. It transcends the notion that Lego is a toy, but a modelling medium. Of
course, enthusiasts have known this for years. Train fans have been building
"prototypical" engines for the longest time with such masters as Holger Matthes
and James Mathis. But it's different to see it from Lego as an official set,
especially on a subject matter that is industrial and non-traditional for toys.
Set Rating
EXCELLENT. In the vein of Model Team and Designer sets, 10152 has a beautiful selection of useful pieces that are perfectly saddled between basic bricks and single purpose bricks. They are the handy pieces that are good for building anything, from architecture to spacecraft.
Model Rating
MUST-HAVE. The model is extremely well done and quite attractive. If anything,
it is unique for its "serious" portrayal of a cargo ship minus play elements.
It looks nice as a display piece.
Playability Rating
FAIR. It's hard to call such a set "playable". While some provisions have been
made for playing, such as smooth carpet glides on the bottom of the flat hull or
removable container platforms, it's not the kind of set one would call a fun
toy. Its goal appears to be more of a display piece.
Likes/Dislikes
The only dislike I have of this set was the price, and at that, it was quite
reasonable at $75 USD. Even though at $130 Canadian it was expensive, it was
well worth it.
Scale
Something smaller that minifigure scale. However, the model is not uniformly
scaled. Parts appear at double the scale needed in some areas of the ship.
Errors
None found.
Extra Elements
Typical 1x1 round flat lights.
CONCLUSION
Yes. Highly recommended for enthusiasts, but not recommended as a gift to non
AFOLs.
REVIEWER INFORMATION
Review Written: June 17th, 2004
By: Calum Tsang, tsangc@mie.utoronto.ca
Age 27 Favorite Lines/Themes: Train, Town, Boats, Technic/Dacta/Mindstorms
I tend to buy these types of sets as display pieces.
COPYRIGHT
This review is Copyright 2004 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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town
(score: 0.314)
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