Lego Tony Stark's Sakaarian Iron Man 76194

 I know nothing about the "What If" TV show but what I do know is that I absolutely LOVE Mechs and Lego always manage to put something new in to each one.  Be it a slightly different technique, a new use for a brick or simply just some cool gadgetry to decorate your mech with.  This particular beast has the lot (okay, so the gadgetry is actually just a couple of tiles with stickers applied but it works for me).

Once built the mech itself is nicely sturdy and ahs a good heft to it.  If you are going to be playing with it though I would probably remove the "spoiler" from the back of the helmet as it is only held on with 2 hinge pieces and it is going to fly off eventually.  The wheel pieces on the back do look a bit odd but looked at from the fornt this is a hulking beast in unusual colours.

The only real downside for me was that the figure does not transform in to the car.  You have to pull it in bits and then reconfigure it into the car.  Yes, not as onerous a task as breaking one build down and then constructing another as at least you pull it apart in chunks.  I was really hoping it would involve a bit of plastic origami but sadly it is more like plastic butchery.  The car itself is all a bit of a let down after the stunning looks of the mech so mine will defintiely be displayed as the mech.

Whilst I am disappointed about the non-transforming mech I have still given this full marks.  Simply put, for the price point the detailing on the mech is so GOOD and it is definitely tough enough for some rough play.  Even better the colours are so strong it really pops on an overcrowded display shelf and that makes me VERY happy.

This is a great set - yes there are things I would have liked to see but for the price point I know I am asking for a little bit too much.

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for a review copy of this product.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Lego or Amazon.  This is also an honest and unbiased opinion based on my experience with the product and is not influenced by it being a review copy.

Number Of Pieces: 369

Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.08

Build Time: 1 Hour

 Why not watch the Unboxing and Review of this set on You Tube:

Lego Boba Fett's Starship 75312

 I'll be honest, this is perhaps my favourite ship from the Star Wars Universe.  There is just about the shape and colour of it that appeals to me.  So, I was always going to be biased about this build because of that.  I sort of understand the reasoning behind changing the name of the box of the ship because of the connotations of the ship name (Slave I if you were wondering) but that is what it is called in the fictional Universe so why we had to change it I genuinely don't know.

There are some really clever building techniques used in this set.  Really, there needed to be to be able to replicate the ship with so few pieces.  It does feel incredibly strong and sturdy and it will stand up to being zoomed about the room in a small, sweaty hand.  Heck, it stood up to being zoomed about in my large sweaty hand!

The bit that made me the happiest was the fact it comes with a little service vehicle.  Nice little side build on it's own.  However, it does double duty as a display stand and that fact alone made me squee with joy as this is one ship that really doesn't do well when displayed flat as it's unique shape doesn't get shown off.

The set comes with two minifigures:

Boba Fett
The Mandalorian

Both are highly detailed prints with front leg and torso prints, side arm prints and rear prints.  The Mandalorian even comes with a little cloak.

Great little ship that really does evoke the original cinematic version.  Clever design and construction mean this is a really fun build that gives a very satisfying outcome.

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for a review copy of this product.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Lego or Amazon.  This is also an honest and unbiased opinion based on my experience with the product and is not influenced by it being a review copy.

Number Of Pieces: 593

Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.08

Buld Time: 1.5 Hours

 Why not check out my Unboxing and Review on You Tube:

Lego Lakitu Sky World 71389

 I was really excited about this set just off the images alone.  I don't know why but this set just makes me grin when I look at it.  The build experience was a lot of fun but you do need to either download instructions in pdf format onlione or download the Super Mario app to be able to get the instructions as they do not come in the box.

The set comes with Lakitu in his cloud (sadly he doesn't have any flame bombs to throw at you), you also get a bullet bill to defeat as well.  One the power up side there is a time block.  Even if you only set this course up the 60 second default time limit is a tight one so you will need those precious extra seconds.  The whole idea is to leap in to one of the cloud caddies and then slide back and forth to make Lakitu spin and eventually fall out of the ky.  You can then Mario stomp him in to submission and collect those coins.

The mechanism works really well unless you have Mario in the sky cloud and then he is just too heavy for it to spin successfully.  Only a minor issue and it really doesn't damage the gameplay.  Although this doesn't give you much in the way of ability to vary the challenge it is so well engineered you really won;t feel cheated by that aspect.

I absolutely love this set and I might even try and find some display space for it because it makes me smile that much.

PLEASE NOTE:  The Mario figure, start pipe and end flag are NOT included in this pack.  They need to be purchased separately and are necessary for the gameplay to function.

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for a review copy of this product.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Lego or Amazon.  This is also an honest and unbiased opinion based on my experience with the product and is not influenced by it being a review copy.

Number Of Pieces: 484

Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.07

Build Time: 1 Hour

 

Why not check out my Unboxing and Review over on You Tube:

Lego Boss Sumo Bro Topple Tower 71388

 This is the third wave of the Lego Super Mario tie in and this set is a LOT of fun both to build and to play with.  The only downside is the premise of the attack means that you don't have too much variation available for setting your own course up.  It does, however, come with a lot of platforms that you can reconfigure to suit your needs - you are just going to loose the functionality of the Topple Tower.

The main figure here is the Sumo Bro Koopa for Mario (or Luigi) to defeat.  You do this by jumping on the brown levers which make the tower wobble and the Koopa wave his arms like a yellow King Kong on top of the Empire State building until eventually he plummets off his perch.  Mario can then stomp him down until he calls Uncle and there we go, the boss is defeated.

You also get a Crowber to defeat on your way to the tower and once you have managed to topple the Sumo Bro you can scale the tower and grab that Star block for some super speed to get you to the level finish point in quick time - very useful as you only get 60 seconds to complete each round.

PLEASE NOTE:  The Mario figure, start pipe and end flag are NOT included in this pack.  They need to be purchased separately and are necessary for the gameplay to function.

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for a review copy of this product.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Lego or Amazon.  This is also an honest and unbiased opinion based on my experience with the product and is not influenced by it being a review copy.

Number Of Pieces: 231

Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.11

Build Time: 30 Minutes

 

Why not check out my Unboxing and Review on You Tube:

Lego Bee Mario Power Up Pack 71393

 3.5 Stars

This set comes with two square base plates and a 2 x 4 plate to connect them together.  One side holds the replacement dungarees for Mario and the other is a replacement cap for him.  There is a little bit of built detailing on each plate but not a particularly large amount.  Build instructions are included on a printed fold out leaflet.

YOU DO NEED THE MARIO START COURSE OR THE LUIGI STARTER COURSE TO USE THE SUIT.

Here's the thing though - how on earth are you supposed to use the suits when playing the game in the App?  The app only gives you 60 seconds and extra time blocks are few and far between.  Honestly, just setting up with the starter pipe and the end flag I struggled to get Mario in to his new suit and moving about within the 60 second time limit.

This is why they are marked down, if you got an instant time boost when putting the suit on then fair enough it would be worth it but other than that they really are purely decorative.

The bee detailing on this set is okay, I do like that the back of the dungarees has a little print that looks like the rump of a bee.  The little antenna on the hat are super cute though.  This is perhaps the best realised concept for the suit though, the sound effect of the buzzing when Mario jumps and then hovers or flies is really fun and I did play with it for quite some time.

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for a review copy of this product.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Lego or Amazon.  This is also an honest and unbiased opinion based on my experience with the product and is not influenced by it being a review copy.

Number Of Pieces: 13

Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.70

Build Time: Less than 5 minutes

 

Why not check out my Build With Me on You Tube:

Lego Frog Mario Power Up Pack 71392

 3.5 Stars

This set comes with two square base plates and a 2 x 4 plate to connect them together.  One side holds the replacement dungarees for Mario and the other is a replacement cap for him.  There is a little bit of built detailing on each plate but not a particularly large amount.  Build instructions are included on a printed fold out leaflet.

YOU DO NEED THE MARIO START COURSE OR THE LUIGI STARTER COURSE TO USE THE SUIT.

Here's the thing though - how on earth are you supposed to use the suits when playing the game in the App?  The app only gives you 60 seconds and extra time blocks are few and far between.  Honestly, just setting up with the starter pipe and the end flag I struggled to get Mario in to his new suit and moving about within the 60 second time limit.

This is why they are marked down, if you got an instant time boost when putting the suit on then fair enough it would be worth it but other than that they really are purely decorative.

The frog detailing on this set is super cute though and I love the googly eyes on the hat.  The sound effects when jumping about are okay but would have been cuter if it had a froggy noise instead of just the jumping noise.

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Program for a review copy of this product.  The opinions expressed in this review are my own and do not reflect the opinions of Lego or Amazon.  This is also an honest and unbiased opinion based on my experience with the product and is not influenced by it being a review copy.

Number Of Pieces: 11

Approximate Price Per Piece: £0.82

Build Time: Less than 5 minutes

 

Why not check out my Build With Me over on You Tube: