Review: 7591 Construct-a-Zurg

[Oky]

Set #: 7591

Name: Construct-a-Zurg

Theme: Toy Story

Year of Release: 2010

Pieces: 118

Price: $24.99 USD

S@H description:

The Evil Emperor Zurg is out to conquer the galaxy!

Now you can build Buzz Lightyear’s arch-nemesis, the Evil Emperor Zurg! With his powerful sphere-shooting cannon and rotating waist, this poseable galactic overlord is more than ready to battle Buzz and his little green alien friend the next time they meet. Includes alien minifigure!

Since my Construct-a-Buzz was starting to feel lonely, I picked this set up from Walmart recently, and I thought I'd review this next in order to fill the last gap in the Toy Story review index. Let's start with the box. The box art is the same as on all the first wave Toy Story sets, except that it sports a Special Edition tag on the front, and several more on the side in different languages.

The back shows a straight-on shot of the set and its play features.

Inside the box, you will find two bags, a Midak Skyblaster, a tube, an instruction booklet, and a cardboard envelope containing Zurg's cape. No stickers! Yay.

A random instruction page showing the secret support of Zurg's body:

Click here to view the inventory page, and click here to see one of the ads in the back of the booklet.

Some notable parts: A bunch of pieces we have never seen in purple, including those new half cylinder parts; yellow Zamor Spheres; the three printed parts of the set; black 1x2 cheese slopes; and the alien's head still in its individual bag.

The only minifig included is this LGM (Little Green Man). Here he is getting his head out of its bag:

Done! Isn't he cute? He even has some back printing!

And here's the set itself, the Evil Emperor Zurg, in all his pointy might! He's pretty impressive to look at. He is quite sturdy, but he tends to lean toward the right where his weapon is.

Left side. Here you can get a good look at the disk that displays the power levels of Zurg's blaster, numbered 1-11. The choice of a textured brick in Zurg's elbows seems odd, but it does make it look more interesting I suppose.

Back view. From this angle, the evil emperor looks very similar to a certain other Dark Lord.

Here's the back without the cape:

The right side. The blaster doesn't look as good from this angle.

A bottom view where you can see that Zurg has a stick up his... well, you know.

Left over parts include two studs and some Techinc bits:

And here's a little action shot:

"Who says purple is dead!"

Compared to the "real thing", it looks pretty good, although the blaster is way inaccurate.

There's not much you can do with this set. Zurg's waist and head can turn, and you can shoot little balls with his blaster, but there is not much to shoot at except for the poor little LGM.

However, if you also have 7592 Construct-a-Buzz, you can have all sorts of fun! Example:

Bonus:

If power was measured by cape size, this little emperor would already be ruler of the universe!

Behold! The Evil Emperor Shrunkhead!

Zurg (with chipmunk voice): "Fear me!"

Hi res versions of all pics can be found in this brickshelf folder.

Ratings:

Design: I think the design is pretty good. Zurg is spot on and pretty sturdy. The only things that drag the design down are the blocky arms with unposeable elbows and the inaccurate blaster. 4/5

Parts: It's a set mostly made out of purple. Need I say more? All parts are very useful, except for maybe the blaster and the top of Zurg's head. It might have been better if the horns were silver versions of those on Mola Ram's headpiece stuck into holes on the new purple piece. But then again, this way it's sturdier and more accurate. 4/5

Minifigs: There's only one in this set, but considering it's a bonus, it's great that it's included. The LGM looks very cute and movie accurate and you just want to have a whole bunch of them! 5/5

Build: The build is rather simple really. No big surprises or challenges. Not bad either though. 3/5

Price: 118 pieces for $25 is not good, not even for a licensed set. The fact that it's limited edition is no excuse. 2/5

Playability: Well, for what it is (a buildable Zurg action figure), it's quite alright. The blaster works very well and Zurg's waist & head can be turned easily. The only thing missing are poseable elbows. And as mentioned above, it would have been nice to have some other target than the LGM. 3/5

Overall: 4/5 It's pricey, slightly inaccurate, and you need Construct-a-Buzz to be able to actually play anything with it, but it looks great on display and is a good parts pack! And it's always great to have another one of those LGMs.

I hope you enjoyed my second Toy Story review. As I said in the last one, more are still to come.

To the Okymobile!

[RileyC]

Im really warming to these toy story sets. It disappointing that Zurg's blaster is inaccurate but its better than nothing. The purple is amazing I just wish they could get the colour consistent enough to produce a lot of it. I just love the LGM I think they are the best minifig that will come out of this theme.

Great review!

[Dunjohn]

Hmm, looks interestinger than I thoughted. I'm afraid my Toy Story budget is depleted after Buzz, RC and Army Men, but this guy'd be next in line if I had the funds. I think he looks better than Buzz, who turned out very blocky. That's thanks to Zurg's simpler character design, but still, this looks like something I could stand on the top of the TV.

By the way, are your LGM heads as loose as mine? They don't have a regular neck slot and my guy's head basically slides off.

[ForceMaster]

Oky Wan Kenobi, ahaha, very nice review, especially Buzz vs. Zurg fight video!)

Zurg Action Figure is pretty good, but I think that his hands and armor plate aren't made really well.

One question - how much degrees the Zurg's body turns? On 360?)

[Delta 38]

Interesting set. I'll most likely get this set for the minifigure.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'Oky Wan Kenobi' for the review.

This set is better than I first thought, so what if his weapon is only a single barrel instead of a triple one he still shoot it at someone (i.e. Buzz Lightyear) !

Hey we get a little green alien - COOL !

I do think the original designers for Zurg did look at other Sci-Fi baddies to model him on too !

[Big Cam]

Not my stle of set, but I think it's nicely done. I like your review too, the small head made me laugh.

Too bad the arms are so rough and square, I wish they would have done something different for those.

[Alywin]

The top piece of Zurg's head is a new element, I believe.

It is beautiful and could be interesting for Castle or Pirate MOC.

[-JD-]

Good review Oky. Neat way of making the lower torso, but the set just doesn't cut it for me. However, the alien is adorable! Shame it isn't included in smaller sets.

The video is somewhat strange, but funny!

I'm looking forward to more reviews!

Edited January 11, 2010 by Jammiedodger714

[Deefuzz]

I wasn't sold on the "construct-a-" sets at first, but when I finally saw the Zurg one in person I snatched it right up. Also love the little alien dude it comes with.

I have only seen the Zurg at Wal-Mart though, is it exclusive to there?

[thespurs200708]

What's the best way to correct the perma-lean? I mean, Zurg tilts slightly to his right hand side due to the weight of the gun and it looks stupid when he is stood upright. Any ideas?

[jaja]

Thank you for the review and for the funny video. Ahahahaha!

The price of the set is quite expensive in comparaison of the pieces included.

I like the color and the mantle.

Excepted from the gun, the playability is limited : just one "articulation" for each arm.

I like the general aspect of Zurg.

[cheesey skrall]

not a fan on toy story, but this set looks great! if i had money i would get it

[brickme]

Nice review. After seeing that video I think you need help.

[prateek]

Great review. I didn't like this set at first, but now it seems to be growing on me. I feel sorry for Buzz in your video

[BlueDragonZ]

Great Review . I like the little green men there.

[ILikePi]

Thanks for this perfectly executed review Oky Wan!

I'm not sure whether or not to get this. It has lots of cool new purple parts and printed pieces, but on the other hand, it has an extremely high piece-to-price count.

That pic with the huge cape was really funny.

And the video was so hilarious that I had to fave it and rate it 5 stars in a heartbeat!

Edited January 12, 2010 by ILikePi

[MaxGoof]

I'm actually really torn on this set.

I loved the idea of a buildable Zurg at first, but his body is made of so few pieces, and the pieces are all large--his appearance makes me feel like he's a Megablok or something instead of a high-quality Lego set...