Sign in to follow this  
Graynar

Review: 3829 Avatar - Fire Nation Ship

Recommended Posts

Hey guys,

Here's my first real set review in a long time. After building this set, I thought it would be nice to do a review on it, it's one of the best part's packs in years. (If you like Bley)

aaaatitlepic.jpg

Here's most of the information you might want to know:

17.jpg

The price is steep, 79.99 Canadian, and 49.99 American. But compared to the Mistlands Tower set (same price as FNS -but with half the amount of pieces) the FNS is a great buy!

*Please note this is completely my opinion so I hope this review does not offend people who like this set.*

Now then, onto the review!

Over view of the whole set

The Fire Nation ship crew

The Heroes

Accessories

The Bottom of the FNS

The Ship's lower interior

Engine room

The Top Deck

The Prison

The Catapult

The Smoke Stack

The Main Tower

The Main Tower

The Tower's interior

The rear of the ship -including all deck pieces

Errors and Mistakes

The Instruction Manual (2 Errors)

(Box) Katara's hip mistake

(Back of box) Two too many

For fun (The two other sets you can build)

The two sets

The whole folder when public

The Good

The set is an awesome parts pack. I'm very impressed by the amount of usable pieces in the same colour. There is also dark red, black, and stone grey pieces but in smaller quantities.

Here are some awesome piece counts:

54- 2 by 6's (Bley)

16- 1 by 12's (Bley)

26- 1 by 3's (Bley)

25- Ladder hinge pieces (Bley)

13- Cylinder pieces (Bley) (for the smoke stack)

The set comes with 3 good Fire Nation figures, and Aang's torso is supurb. Katara's dark blue torso should be usefull. Onto the the ship it's self, the amount of Fire Nation flags (10) is very welcome, the addition of the speed boat and boiler room is very sweet. The anchor design is also very nice.

The Bad

Poor amount of accessories for the figures. There is no form of food or untensils for the crew aboard the FNS. There's not even a treasure chest! (TLC likes to include those) The roof of the main tower is flismy, but works. The speed boat has no controls and it has no engine.

The ship could use a few more Fire Nation men as the ship is seriously undermaned. The interior of the whole ship isn't very exciting, it's very plain. The 4 differen't floor pieces of the main deck (Catapult, prison, Main Tower, and Smoke stack) come off easily, except for the prison piece, because the nob you use to pick it up with break's every time. Also, the trap door piece is pretty useless. The plastic flag isn't great either (cloth would have been better).

The Ugly

The Crapapult is a piece of Megablockim trash. As it functions horribly. You push the lever to launch the dark red brick (sad, should have been better fire ball pieces) but there isn't really enough room to fire it properly, and the shot usually sails straight down.

The prison has no door, there for the prisoner can probably escape even if he/she was tied up. Also, every time you see an official picture of the FNS, you see the prison sitting up right, on top of the deck. This is in fact, not possible as the prison fall's right back down, unless it's on top of the catapult. I think it's just an advertising license so kid's can see the prison. But it's kind of annoying when you can't really do it for real. But modifications can always save the day.

The euro armours on the Fire Bender and Fire Nation soldier are brown and not red as we see in official pictures. The brown is pale and boring, but the figs still look cool.

Conclusion

Part's pack for sure. Some good figs, nice set design, not many flaws besides the prison and catapult. The holes in the main tower are a little unpleasent, but they don't degrade the set much.

The errors in printing on box art and the instruction manual are rather annoying, but they only serve as false advertising. I think LEGO's gotten cheap enough not to have editors to fix these mistakes. But it doesn't ruin the set.

Here are my ratings:

Pieces: A strong 10

Figs: A 7 (Demerits to Flesh tone and FN figs pale euro armours)

Playability: A 6 (Could of had more accessories and a better interior.

Design: 9 (It was pretty functional, minus the prison)

Overall, final score: I give it an 8.

Please feel free to discuss the set. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmmmnnnahhmmm......looks nice, well worth an import. As a fan of the show, this set's coolness is increased, hehe. Looks to have plenty of features and is one of the best sets this year, I'd think...

-Tilius-

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review. I have this set, which I was originally going to get for just a parts pack, but for some unexplainable reason, I fell in love with it *wub*

I just see it as the kind of thing they USED to prodice. Everything is brick-built from small pieces. I happen to LOVE the euro armor (both designs, though especially the red), and I think it's just very well designed on the whole.

I do think your score was fair though, as I can't explain exactly why I can't bring myself to tear it apart!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Starwars - you probably can't bring yourself to tear it apart because it too so tediously long to build that big ship out of so many bricks.

I am glad to see that TLC can still build somethign with basic bricks (mostly). That being said, I find the set quite unattractive. Of course fire nation ships are supposed to be unattractive, but still....

As a parts pack it is superb, and as usual - I find myself wishing that it had old grays, not bleys. Oh well. I ended up breaking down and buying this set, against my better judgement because of the inflated cost in Canada, and my kids got lots more play out of it than out of the Air Temple with all the specialized pieces.

I was quite keen on the Avatar sets when I first saw the pics this year, but ultimately, although each had merits, neither really was as good as I had hoped. Here's hoping next years, Avatar sets, if any, are a bit better than this years.

Thanks for the nice review Graynar!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review, Graynar! Thanks for taking the time.

I've often wondered about this set, yet I have not picked one up yet. I'm waiting to catch one on sale. Having seen your photos, I get a sense of how many bricks there are. It really looks like a lot! I was looking to build up my bley collection and there are some great parts in this set.

Thanks again for the review.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i have never watched Avatar in my life..has to be a nice cartoon (i did a little search on the net) *sad*

so i dont know how this ship is supposed to look..if you have a picture please post.. :-)

Now about the set.I loved it the minute i saw it! and now i love it even more! so much detail great design and basic building!!

It gives me the feeling of a ship of the 1900s and it would be great if TLC would produce a line from that era!

I would love to get this ship but as i said i dont know what the show is all about so i would just be a crazy man with a pointless ship! X-D

I just cant get over how detailed the interior is... 8-

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I want this ship too, but I can't get it unless I ship from America >:-( . Thank you very much for this stupid decision TLC!!! I watch the show too and I have to say that it's quite good. The ship should've Uncle Iroh as he and Zuko are practicly always seen together.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It does, in the middle of the 2nd picture.

I know, not a great fig...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It does, in the middle of the 2nd picture.

I know, not a great fig...

I don't think that's the uncle, the box states that it's just a Fire Nation soldier :-| .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hmm, I'm sure I read it was da Uncle....Bricklink says it's a FN Soldier, too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Hmm, I'm sure I read it was da Uncle....Bricklink says it's a FN Soldier, too.

Nope, it's a soldier. Uncle Iroh has a mini-beard thing and he doesn't wear a helmet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review Graynar. Thanks for taking the time to share your images and thoughts of this set. I've only watched this cartoon once or twice and don't understand the story-line. What surprises me is that there's only a few sets to the theme. Perhaps Lego plans to have more in 2007.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To me, this set looks completely unrefined, like a preliminary model from a dealers' catalog. It's entirely too blocky... I know it looks pretty similar to the cartoon, but they could have at least made the design interesting. My main gripes are with the simplicity of the hull and control tower, where no innovative techniques are involved.

Looks like a rather mediocre set, only to be bought as a castle parts-pack. :-/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the review, Graynar! I totally agree with you on the fact that the alternate models should be the main ones. For those who are wondering, the alternate model to the right is actually from the cartoon itself. I guess they're going for the massive Fire Nation coal rig motif for that one. Would have been interesting for them to do that, but I guess Lego wanted to be conservative.

Anyhoo, the fire nation ship isn't exactly supposed to be riveting. It's the equivilant of a cannon fodder ship in Avatar. While I am extremely tempted to buy it, I'll wait to see what 2007 has to offer for Avatar. Awesome review, Graynar!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.