Lewis had most of the new Kre-O sets.
General impressions after looking them over:
-Lewis bought multiple copies of each set, meaning that I could look at everything without any real trouble.
-The merged Constructicons look like legitimate toys at first glance. At first I thought that Lewis had some old Takara toy from the 80s on display.
-The Constructicon vehicle forms look good for Lego type toys, which is damningly faint praise. The robot modes look better than early Kre-O figures, but not worth the time it will take to put them together.
-Wheeljack's car mode looks forced, almost like something a fan would come up with.
-the new Megatron's tank mode looks better than the truck.
-Kre-O marks the first Autotroopers sold at US retail, which kind of feels like salt being rubbed in to a wound.
Dom
-might buy Lewis' extra Wheeljack Kreon and a few others.
Kre-O
Re: Kre-O
Kre-O Barricade and Auto-Troopers:
Given that these are the first US retail Auto-Troopers, I felt almost obligated to buy this set. It is standard Kre-O. As a smaller set, (and one that includes 4 pretty standard figures), it was quicker and easier to assemble than other sets. But, the end results are still less than what I would hope given the money and time spent.
Barricade looks almost like Megatron, or arguably Windcharger. The chest details are painted greebles. There is an optional translucent purple chest block. I am not sure what the reasoning for this is. There are 3 Auto-Troopers. All 3 have the same basic body, with painted details that I am 90% sure are intended to evoke the TimeLines/TFA Auto-Trooper. One of the helmet pieces has a black strip painted on to it, which I am assuming indicates rank. There are two "wing" sets, one the traditional Autobot "door wings" the other "Seeker wings". (Neither makes much sense on an TFA Auto-Trooper.) There are 3 sets of weapons consisting of a heavy rifle, a single Seeker arm cannon and two pistols. The trooper heads have a frown, an open mouthed smirk and a close mouthed smirk.
Grade: C
Dom
-not sure what Barricade's greebly paint would be analogous to in TFU/CHUG.
Given that these are the first US retail Auto-Troopers, I felt almost obligated to buy this set. It is standard Kre-O. As a smaller set, (and one that includes 4 pretty standard figures), it was quicker and easier to assemble than other sets. But, the end results are still less than what I would hope given the money and time spent.
Barricade looks almost like Megatron, or arguably Windcharger. The chest details are painted greebles. There is an optional translucent purple chest block. I am not sure what the reasoning for this is. There are 3 Auto-Troopers. All 3 have the same basic body, with painted details that I am 90% sure are intended to evoke the TimeLines/TFA Auto-Trooper. One of the helmet pieces has a black strip painted on to it, which I am assuming indicates rank. There are two "wing" sets, one the traditional Autobot "door wings" the other "Seeker wings". (Neither makes much sense on an TFA Auto-Trooper.) There are 3 sets of weapons consisting of a heavy rifle, a single Seeker arm cannon and two pistols. The trooper heads have a frown, an open mouthed smirk and a close mouthed smirk.
Grade: C
Dom
-not sure what Barricade's greebly paint would be analogous to in TFU/CHUG.
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JediTricks
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Re: Kre-O
Surprised to hear the combiner looks good. Their last combiner looked like a pile.
I forgot to mention Dom, I picked up a $5 off $20 KREO coupon at SDCC I've been meaning to mail you.
I forgot to mention Dom, I picked up a $5 off $20 KREO coupon at SDCC I've been meaning to mail you.
See, that one's a camcorder, that one's a camera, that one's a phone, and they're doing "Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil", get it?
Re: Kre-O
Thanks.
As for the combiner "good for Kre-O".
As for the combiner "good for Kre-O".
Re: Kre-O
Kre-O blind pack figures.
Packaging:
While the distribution on these is terrible, (this being the first I have seen of them in person at retail), the package codes more or less guarantee that none of these are truly blind packed. The bottom of the bag has a set of clearly printed numbers. The last of those numbers corresponds to the toy inside. (Dave has a list up here. http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/KREO/MicroChanger0)
Even without internet access, a reasonably attentive person would notice that the figures are listed by a similar sequence of numbers in the packed in flier, with the last number again being the magic number. (Assuming somebody only wants 1 figure, they could easily find that figure in no more than two tries, assuming they have to buy a random figure to get the catalogue.) Review: Figures can be indentified by a magic number that is the last number in a clearly printed sequence at the bottom of the back.
General notes:
The basic idea here is that the sets include Kreon figures along with some extra non-figure parts that allow the figure to (sort of) Transform. The concept works about as well here as it does with the larger building sets, taking the "re-assemble" transformation schemes that plagued G1 to absurd new depths. Even with the purpose made parts, the resulting alternate modes look like something that a kid would cobble together from spare Lego parts. None of the sets manage to include all of the parts in either form. But, the Kreons are not bad efforts as far as building set figures go. The Kreons all have helmet pieces that look like empty/dead helmets for legitimate Deluxe scale toys.
Skorponok (1): (pile of bits/pile of parts)
Easily the worst of the three that I picked up. The irony here is that this is the only truly random figure that I picked up, already knowing the numbers for Sunstorm and Crankstart.) The robot mode is a mess of parts that looks like a Kreon wrapped in random bits, being the worst offender in terms of looking like somthing a kid would cobble together. The alternate mode looks sort of like a bug if you look at it long enough to visually parse the mess of parts in to something identifiable, then step back, squint and tell youself that it is supposed to be a scorpion. Despite being a pile of parts, the alternate mode does not even use all of the parts in the set, leaving out the Kreon's legs. Some of the parts might be good for customizing Vehicon trooper Kreons, but that is a question of finding alternative uses for the set, rather than being something I am crediting the designers for. To add insult to injury, I do not have, nor have I ever had, a legitimate Skorponok toy.
Grade: F
Sunstorm (9):(Kreon/pile of parts vaguely resembling a jet)
The basic Kreon is what it is. If somebody wants a Kreon Seeker and does not want to buy any of the larger sets that the core 3 are packaged with, or if they simply want to have another Seeker, this is worth it. This is a straight recolour of the moulding used for Starscream and co, with a newly mapped face. The 3 extra parts turn in to some kind of bot-portable heavy artillery. While the alternate mode does not diminish the Kreon, it adds no value to the set. The helmet is the only "extra" piece, meaning that there is no way to hide the Kreon's face. Of course, if somebody wants a Sunstorm (or any sort), it is not like there are many options, and there are even fewer reasonably priced options.
Grade: B/C
Crankstart (0):(Kreon/Kreon holding wheels and lying down while pretending to be a car)
Despite having the most extra parts left over (wheels and some other stuff) in robot mode, the basic Kreon is probably the best looking of the 3 I picked up. It strikes a nice balance between "specific" and generic". The vehicle is a noble, but ultimately doomed, effort. Besides the impossibility (or at least impracticality) of free rolling wheels, the car mode lacks stability (as two of the wheels plug in to the hands at the end of unsecured arms.) My copy has some fracture marks on the arms, but I do not know if that is a universal flaw. Crankstart uses the same helmet as the AutoTroopers (from the cycle chase set). That helmet of course is the one initially designed for the (thus far unreleased) Hound Kreon. And, Crankstart was initially a recolour of movie Beachcomber. (See where this is going?) Beachcomber and Crankstart traditionally share moulding. (I once customized a "Generations" Crankstart out of an extra Beachcomber mould Sandstorm.) With this set, Crankstart shares significant unique moulding with the only US retail release Autotroopers. (This retroactively justifies my initially tenuous Autotrooper custom figures using the TFU/Generations Beachcomber mould.) And, those Autotroopers arguably share moulding with Hound.
Grade: B/C
Dom
-not sure what to do with that extra TFU Hound figure.....
Packaging:
While the distribution on these is terrible, (this being the first I have seen of them in person at retail), the package codes more or less guarantee that none of these are truly blind packed. The bottom of the bag has a set of clearly printed numbers. The last of those numbers corresponds to the toy inside. (Dave has a list up here. http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/KREO/MicroChanger0)
Even without internet access, a reasonably attentive person would notice that the figures are listed by a similar sequence of numbers in the packed in flier, with the last number again being the magic number. (Assuming somebody only wants 1 figure, they could easily find that figure in no more than two tries, assuming they have to buy a random figure to get the catalogue.) Review: Figures can be indentified by a magic number that is the last number in a clearly printed sequence at the bottom of the back.
General notes:
The basic idea here is that the sets include Kreon figures along with some extra non-figure parts that allow the figure to (sort of) Transform. The concept works about as well here as it does with the larger building sets, taking the "re-assemble" transformation schemes that plagued G1 to absurd new depths. Even with the purpose made parts, the resulting alternate modes look like something that a kid would cobble together from spare Lego parts. None of the sets manage to include all of the parts in either form. But, the Kreons are not bad efforts as far as building set figures go. The Kreons all have helmet pieces that look like empty/dead helmets for legitimate Deluxe scale toys.
Skorponok (1): (pile of bits/pile of parts)
Easily the worst of the three that I picked up. The irony here is that this is the only truly random figure that I picked up, already knowing the numbers for Sunstorm and Crankstart.) The robot mode is a mess of parts that looks like a Kreon wrapped in random bits, being the worst offender in terms of looking like somthing a kid would cobble together. The alternate mode looks sort of like a bug if you look at it long enough to visually parse the mess of parts in to something identifiable, then step back, squint and tell youself that it is supposed to be a scorpion. Despite being a pile of parts, the alternate mode does not even use all of the parts in the set, leaving out the Kreon's legs. Some of the parts might be good for customizing Vehicon trooper Kreons, but that is a question of finding alternative uses for the set, rather than being something I am crediting the designers for. To add insult to injury, I do not have, nor have I ever had, a legitimate Skorponok toy.
Grade: F
Sunstorm (9):(Kreon/pile of parts vaguely resembling a jet)
The basic Kreon is what it is. If somebody wants a Kreon Seeker and does not want to buy any of the larger sets that the core 3 are packaged with, or if they simply want to have another Seeker, this is worth it. This is a straight recolour of the moulding used for Starscream and co, with a newly mapped face. The 3 extra parts turn in to some kind of bot-portable heavy artillery. While the alternate mode does not diminish the Kreon, it adds no value to the set. The helmet is the only "extra" piece, meaning that there is no way to hide the Kreon's face. Of course, if somebody wants a Sunstorm (or any sort), it is not like there are many options, and there are even fewer reasonably priced options.
Grade: B/C
Crankstart (0):(Kreon/Kreon holding wheels and lying down while pretending to be a car)
Despite having the most extra parts left over (wheels and some other stuff) in robot mode, the basic Kreon is probably the best looking of the 3 I picked up. It strikes a nice balance between "specific" and generic". The vehicle is a noble, but ultimately doomed, effort. Besides the impossibility (or at least impracticality) of free rolling wheels, the car mode lacks stability (as two of the wheels plug in to the hands at the end of unsecured arms.) My copy has some fracture marks on the arms, but I do not know if that is a universal flaw. Crankstart uses the same helmet as the AutoTroopers (from the cycle chase set). That helmet of course is the one initially designed for the (thus far unreleased) Hound Kreon. And, Crankstart was initially a recolour of movie Beachcomber. (See where this is going?) Beachcomber and Crankstart traditionally share moulding. (I once customized a "Generations" Crankstart out of an extra Beachcomber mould Sandstorm.) With this set, Crankstart shares significant unique moulding with the only US retail release Autotroopers. (This retroactively justifies my initially tenuous Autotrooper custom figures using the TFU/Generations Beachcomber mould.) And, those Autotroopers arguably share moulding with Hound.
Grade: B/C
Dom
-not sure what to do with that extra TFU Hound figure.....
Re: Kre-O
Spinister: (robot carrying helicopter bits/robot wearing helicopter bits)
Joking aside, this is easily the best of the wave 1 blind bag Kreons. Spinister actually uses every piece in both modes. And, unlike Skorponok's robot mode, the Spinister set pulls it off without looking like an pile of junk. The vehicle mode is nothing special. But, it beats Crankstart and Sunstorm by virtue of having a spinning rotor. Grade: B
Waspinator: (robot with bug wings/robot with no legs and a yellow shell piece with bug wings)
All told, this one is about as bad as Skorponok. As pointed out by David Van Domelen, this set could have been made much better with very little though or effort by the design team. At the very least, the robot legs could have been integrated in to the alternate mode. The official configuration does not use every piece in either mode. But, I managed to tweak it a bit and make a half-assed cannon drone. Ironically, I bought this set as custom fodder, and it also provides precedent to make a green Predacon out of RTS Jazz. Grade: F
Dom
-notes that Kreon helmet pieces are about the right size to work as "empty" helmets for "Generations" style figures....
Joking aside, this is easily the best of the wave 1 blind bag Kreons. Spinister actually uses every piece in both modes. And, unlike Skorponok's robot mode, the Spinister set pulls it off without looking like an pile of junk. The vehicle mode is nothing special. But, it beats Crankstart and Sunstorm by virtue of having a spinning rotor. Grade: B
Waspinator: (robot with bug wings/robot with no legs and a yellow shell piece with bug wings)
All told, this one is about as bad as Skorponok. As pointed out by David Van Domelen, this set could have been made much better with very little though or effort by the design team. At the very least, the robot legs could have been integrated in to the alternate mode. The official configuration does not use every piece in either mode. But, I managed to tweak it a bit and make a half-assed cannon drone. Ironically, I bought this set as custom fodder, and it also provides precedent to make a green Predacon out of RTS Jazz. Grade: F
Dom
-notes that Kreon helmet pieces are about the right size to work as "empty" helmets for "Generations" style figures....
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BWprowl
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Re: Kre-O
I question this with all the Kre-Ons, but Waspinator especially: Why in the the Pit is there no 'backpack peg' piece? Like, sorta like the vest piece almost all these guys use, but with no front piece, just the back part with the peg on the back that the vehicle kibble clips to? That way you could still have that kibble on them, but you would also be able to see the chest details they went through the effort of printing. I'm almost certain that some Lego guys use a piece like this, and I've been tempted to just snap the front plate off my Galvatron, Waspinator, and Scorponok.
Re: Kre-O
If you snap the front of the "vest" piece off Scorponok, you ruin the "transformation". Were I going to display Scorponok, rather than stripe the figure for parts, I would just leave the "vest" piece off.
Dom
-going to give a Kreon Vehicon claws at some point.....big project that will be.
Dom
-going to give a Kreon Vehicon claws at some point.....big project that will be.
-
BWprowl
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Re: Kre-O
Nuh-uh, Scorponok doesn't use the rotor-spinny-connecty bit on his vest for any part of his transformation. You still have to have the peg bit on there, so you can spin it around for beast mode and peg the legs in, but the other part is as irrelevant as the front parts of the other characters' vests.Dominic wrote:If you snap the front of the "vest" piece off Scorponok, you ruin the "transformation". Were I going to display Scorponok, rather than stripe the figure for parts, I would just leave the "vest" piece off.
Re: Kre-O
I found the first wave of blind buy Kreons while helping Lewis procur material for Fred's Workshop/Dairycon.
Lewis got a near complete set and I (using bag codes) snagged Quickslinger (apparently the rename of Slingshot) and Insecticon.
Quickslinger is more or less the same as Sunstorm. There are a few differences, but nothing substantial. (The most obvious difference relates to the first wave including a dedicated "figure stand" brick, rather than the forced "accessories from extra pieces" of the preview wave.) Worth getting if you do not have Sunstorm. Grade: B/C
Insecticon is insect-i-crap. This figure is at least as bad, if not worse, than the beast formers from the preview wave. However, it can be made in to a passable Vehicon with minimal effort. (The painted face is close enough to pass as a slight variation of the standard Vehicon, and it uses the same helmet moulding.) Failing that, some of the parts could be used to modify an existing Vehicon figure. Grade: C (This grade is counting customizing potential.)
The package numbers: A number string is printed at the top of the baggie, with the last two digits indicating which figure is in the baggie. (he figure stand block makes it nearly impossible to figure out the contents by feeling the back. And, Dirge is may be short-packed. (Alternatively, it might also be a question of people using bag-codes to cherry-pick the most iconic character.)
40 Singe
41 Inferno
42 Springer
43 Warpath
44 Quickslinger
45 Rampage
46 Insecticon
47 Blast Off
48 Hook
49 Dirge
50 Airachnic
51 Bludgeon
Dom
-not willing to go nuts looking for Dirge.
Lewis got a near complete set and I (using bag codes) snagged Quickslinger (apparently the rename of Slingshot) and Insecticon.
Quickslinger is more or less the same as Sunstorm. There are a few differences, but nothing substantial. (The most obvious difference relates to the first wave including a dedicated "figure stand" brick, rather than the forced "accessories from extra pieces" of the preview wave.) Worth getting if you do not have Sunstorm. Grade: B/C
Insecticon is insect-i-crap. This figure is at least as bad, if not worse, than the beast formers from the preview wave. However, it can be made in to a passable Vehicon with minimal effort. (The painted face is close enough to pass as a slight variation of the standard Vehicon, and it uses the same helmet moulding.) Failing that, some of the parts could be used to modify an existing Vehicon figure. Grade: C (This grade is counting customizing potential.)
The package numbers: A number string is printed at the top of the baggie, with the last two digits indicating which figure is in the baggie. (he figure stand block makes it nearly impossible to figure out the contents by feeling the back. And, Dirge is may be short-packed. (Alternatively, it might also be a question of people using bag-codes to cherry-pick the most iconic character.)
40 Singe
41 Inferno
42 Springer
43 Warpath
44 Quickslinger
45 Rampage
46 Insecticon
47 Blast Off
48 Hook
49 Dirge
50 Airachnic
51 Bludgeon
Dom
-not willing to go nuts looking for Dirge.