Kre-O

[Onslaught Six]

Or regular Legos for that matter. I dunno, I've always liked the idea of making transformers out of Legos (I actually made a passable Optimus Prime at one point), now instead of fan created wannabes we have actual sets (not officially Lego, but still). Y'know, here's a question: I wonder why since Hasbro has the licensing for Star Wars toys and Legos also makes Star Wars sets, couldn't Hasbro have just worked out a deal with Lego to do actual Lego sets? That's what I kinda don't get.

It's a different kind of thing. Star Wars goes through Hasbro for action figures and Lego for bricks. There is no agreement between Hasbro and Lego to expand upon for TF or otherwise.

[Shockwave]

Ok, so now that I've actually put one together here are my thoughts:

Bumblebee: I think this is a decent Lego-esque representation of the character. Downside to these is that they do not transform once assembled. You either assemble it in robot mode or alt mode. I find this a little disappointing, especially given that we've seen fans put together decent looking Lego TFs that transform without having to rebuild the whole thing. That said, again, I do think this does a good job of representing the character in this form. I also like the little Kre-O figures that come with them (Bumblebee didn't come with any, but Megatron came with 4). I think those may do a better job of representing the characters themselves, although scale would be off compared to Lego "humans". I think it also interesting to note that on the front of the packaging there is a sticker that reads "Works with leading brands" with a picture of a Lego style brick (in other words, "Works with Legos"). Robot mode actually has decent articulation for what it is and it actually comes with a full Bumblebee head rather than legoforming one out of bricks. The upside of this is that if you wanted to use the head and make a more detailed Bumblebee out of Legos you could. Not that you'd need to.

Overall: I'd give this line a B-. The only reason it doesn't get an A is because they don't transform once assembled. I think Hasbro could have engineered something to be able to allow that and the fact that they didn't really detracts from the figure imo. The execution for this line otherwise seems to be spot on. Recommended if you really like Legos and enjoy building the sets, then this line is for you. If you just want to have decent Lego esque versions of the characters in one of their modes for display then this line is for you. If you require that all of you TFs be able to transform, then you should probably skip the Kre-O line altogether.

Shockwave
Already has the Shockwave and Bumblebee from this line.

[Shockwave]

So, after having assembled the other two sets (Prowl and Megatron) I have a couple more thoughts. As I've been putting these together, I'm noticing that there are always parts left over after I've finished assembling the robot modes. Bumblebee's wasn't bad consisting of only a windshield type piece that can be tacked onto the back of him and still look normal. Prowl and Megatron on the other hand had enough left over that I was able to assemble little carts or whatever out of them. And tacking them onto the robot modes would have looked terrible. You'd think that Hasbro could have designed something that would utilize all the parts in both modes (or like in my previous review, just have them fully transformable). Overall, I still think the idea of Legoesque Transformers is a good one, and these are certainly better than BTR, but Hasbro still needs to refine the execution a bit.

[BWprowl]

Regarding the whole transformation thing, I'm not gonna say I told you so, but...oh wait, I am totally gonna say I told you so. In fact I just did. Twice.

I think I might appreciate these a little more if they were actually models of specific character designs, rather than being genericized, Movie/G1 amalgamation brand names.

[Shockwave]

Some of them are. Prowl is definitely Universe 2.0 Prowl in Lego form. Bumblebee certainly resembles the Classics model and it looks like Jazz and Mirage have also followed that same aesthetic. And I'm thoroughly convinced that the "Sentinal Prime" is actually supposed to be modelled after Inferno. But yeah, Megs is definitely the amalgamation you mentioned.

[Dominic]

Prowl and Mirage tempt me by virtue of being favorite characters. But, I am still having a hard time justifying these.

Still, I have to agree, (based on the reviews), that these are leaps and bounds ahead of the old "Built to Rule" line by virtue of including legitimate (if underdetailed) figures.


Dom
-and we could customize Silver/Blue/whateverStreak and Fracture and Blue Optimus Convoy or.....

Or maybe not.

[Tigermegatron]

Prowl and Mirage tempt me by virtue of being favorite characters. But, I am still having a hard time justifying these.

Still, I have to agree, (based on the reviews), that these are leaps and bounds ahead of the old "Built to Rule" line by virtue of including legitimate (if underdetailed) figures.
Dom
-and we could customize Silver/Blue/whateverStreak and Fracture and Blue Optimus Convoy or.....

Or maybe not.

I like the KRE-O bigger robot heads for starscream & megatron. I'm wondering how easy/hard it would be to kitbash/customize them to fit on to existing movie verse toys or other toys. like the HFTD Leader sized starscream mold & the 2007 Movie verse leader sized megatron toy mold.

[Dominic]

I might fiddle with Lewis'. But, I think it would come down to using tools and such. It would likely be expensive and time consuming. (And, would a G1 style head really work visually on a movie style body?)


Dom
-kind of misses BTR Smokescreen.

[Dominic]

Curiosity got the better of me. What can I say? This posting is largely based on Mirage, but I looked at other sets as well. Rather than review a specific set, I am just going to post general thoughts and notes.

Packaging and branding:
"Kre-O" is a pretty transparent attempt by Hasbro to take a bite out of the Lego market, and possibly to lure in new fans. The most noticable element of the packaging is a reflective sticker that advertises Kre-O's compatibility with "other" brands. All told, "Kre-O" is a bit cheaper than "Lego". If "Kre-O" had any real staying power, (which it does not seem to), I would anticipate deep discounts on "Lego" products (which are artificially expensive).

My initial reaction to seeing the package all but advertising another brand was to flash back to the dark days of 1994, when the entire Autobot side of the "Transformers" line advertised being compatible with Mattel's "Hot Wheels". But, in this case, the cross-marketing does not seem to be as desperate as it did in 1994. "Kre-O" is still a tertiary brand. But, the marketing in this case seems to be intended to advertise the product as being a cheaper (though still compatible) alternative to the more expensive brand, rather than marketing the product as being complimentary to an existing (and competing) brand.

This is one of the few times that "Transformers" is the cheap alternative to a legitimate brand. (Even the graphics on the packagine have a sort of "discount aisle" vibe to them.)


Figures/characters:
The figures are slightly more articulated than regular "Lego" figures, and about the same size. Though, given the scale and aesthetic standards of the figures, the additional shoulder and hip articulation does not really add much. There are also small holes in the sides of the figures legs, designed for attaching pegged accessories included with some sets.

Most of the sets come with at least two figures, one of the named character and a generic human figure. For the most part, the human appears to be some kind of analogue for the set characters. I have no idea if the two figures are meant to represent two aspects of the same character, of if they are intended to be 2 different (if similar characters). Official character profiles, (posted online), are not helpful on this point. Because not every TF mini-figure has a human analogue, (or a building set for that matter), I am going to assume that the human figures are intended to represent additional characters. Similarly, not ever Kre-O set has a mini figure, implying that the figures and sets might be different, if related characters.

Optimus Prime: Optimus Prime, a driver, Skywarp and Blue/Silverstreak
Sentinel Prime: Sentinel, fireman, Soundwave, thundercracker
Bumblebee: Bumblebee, driver, Red Alert
Megatron: Megatron, SWAT officer, Shockwave, specialist
Starscream: Starscream, pilot
Sideswipe: Sideswipe, driver
Prowl: Prowl, SWAT
Jazz: Jazz, racing driver
Mirage: Mirage, racing driver

The mini figures, more than anything else about the line, put Kre-O ahead of the old "built to Rule" line, damningly faint as that praise may be. (At least the mini figures resemble legitimate toys, unlike anything in the BTR sets.)

Robot/Vehicle:
While all of the mini figures are primarily G1 influenced, the building sets themselves are drawn from, and often combine, various iterations of the characters from G1, TFU, the movies, TFA and the UT. For the most part, it is impossible to change between robot and alternate mode without breaking the figure down. And, few, if any, sets can make use of every part in one mode or another. The stickers are difficult to place correctly, and are easily damaged if they have to moved and reset. At least some of the sets have rubber tires.

Verdict:
Despite being an improvement over the BTR sets, "Kre-O" is a line best suited to "Lego" fans or TF completists. The time and effort required to assembe a set in either mode is not justified by the results, and could be better spent on just about anything else. I doubt this line will be around by this time next year, or even the end of this year.

[Onslaught Six]

My initial reaction to seeing the package all but advertising another brand was to flash back to the dark days of 1994, when the entire Autobot side of the "Transformers" line advertised being compatible with Mattel's "Hot Wheels".

You mean the G2 Gobots? Because those were all factions.