Ratbat

Review: XT4

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The new wave of sets are only just hitting stores around here, and since I haven't gotten any HF at all lately with the exception of Toxic Reapa, I figured I'd give this guy a shot.

Note- I'm aware that the lighting on the pics isn't as good as it could be. My current light box isn't in good condition, so I'm waiting to make a new one

I don't plan on going into all the individual parts. It's pretty unnecessary, seeing as every piece is visible on the finished model. But he does come with a miniature torso piece that is quite nifty. It has all of the connection points necessary for the limbs to attach, as well as one in the center.

XT4Rev001.jpg

And here are the spares- whoever gets that code first can have it. It's nice that he comes with a pair of Barraki eyes, even though he only uses one.

XT4Rev002.jpg

The completed figure is certainly crazy looking. I can't argue with anyone who thinks it looks like a mess, but that's part of why I like this guy. It looks like some mad scientist's operating table came to life.

XT4Rev003.jpg

And in case anyone wants to see what it looks like without the wires attached-

XT4Rev007.jpg

A shot from the back-

XT4Rev006.jpg

The head sculpt is very unique. It's very thin, which goes well with the rest of the body. His eye looks like it's on some kind of gear. I like to think that it rotates around to focus on different things. The teeth add a good amount of personality to it.

XT4Rev004.jpg

As for his weapons, he comes with a large saw blade. It spins for endless amounts of fun. One minor nitpick is that the wire leading from his stomach to the saw sometimes gets in the way of the blade being able to spin.

He also comes with two claws/nails from last year's jungle themed sets. I like that they opted to make them asymmetrical, putting one on the top right and the other on the bottom left.

His final weapon is certainly the most noteworthy. It's primarily made out of system pieces. Two claw bits attach to the handles on the sides, but they don't actually line up. The translucent antenna becoming a laser seems a bit dated, but it works.

XT4Rev005.jpg

As for articulation, he has plenty. The only things one could complain about in my eyes is that the wires tend to clash with his head, and due to the way his feet are attached, his ankle tilt is rather limited.

XT4Rev008.jpg

XT4Rev009.jpg

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XT4Rev011.jpg

XT4Rev012.jpg

Overall, I really like XT4. But I can see why many would not end up liking this figure specifically. If you're into MOCing though, he makes a great parts pack.

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"And in case anyone wants to see what it looks like without the wires attached-"

That person would be me :laugh: Unfortnately, XT4 still doesn't look appealing enough for me to buy him, but great review anyway.

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I really like this review. Short, straight to the point, and no mucking about with the packaging that we've seen thousands of versions of.

I think XT4 makes for a good set. He's a simple build but looks complex with his multiple arms, tubes, the buzzsaw, and that head. What you said about the eye makes sense.. still can't believe the official site calls him a cyborg though.. the head doesn't look all that much organic..

I don't get why he has black 6-Length cladding on the calves when it could be yellow, but it's nice to have more of it!

Definitely want to pick this guy up.. who knows, he might be just what I need to complete two of my projects- the big, muscly torso on my Deviantart, and my samurai-like creation(comingsoontoapostnearyou)..!

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You're right about the operating table bit, he does look like one. But only after starving in the ice desert outside of the scientist's hideout for months first. He's awesome!

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Notice that this is the first time we have a head or mask which attach directly to a ball via the "ball snap".

You know, once in a while even an engineer can get good ideas that a designer can use :classic:

My all time favorite of "smallest price point" sets.

Erland

Part Design.

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Notice that this is the first time we have a head or mask which attach directly to a ball via the "ball snap".

You know, once in a while even an engineer can get good ideas that a designer can use :classic:

I did notice, for sure! I'm not sure if I'll ever have a reason to use that particular head sideways in the middle of a bone, but congrats on infiltrating the set design circle :grin:

So how's about a "2x2 plate with ball snap underneath" and "2x2 tile with ball snap", eh? That's what I want :wink:

My all time favorite of "smallest price point" sets.

Erland

Part Design.

I'm pretty sure I agree. Well, I like the shark guy too, and I've got a huge soft spot for the sets the building system premiered with (especially Surge 2). But in any case, that's why I'm going out to pick up 2 more today :sweet:

Edited by SpiderSpaceman

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I really like this review. Short, straight to the point, and no mucking about with the packaging that we've seen thousands of versions of.

I think XT4 makes for a good set. He's a simple build but looks complex with his multiple arms, tubes, the buzzsaw, and that head. What you said about the eye makes sense.. still can't believe the official site calls him a cyborg though.. the head doesn't look all that much organic..

I don't get why he has black 6-Length cladding on the calves when it could be yellow, but it's nice to have more of it!

Definitely want to pick this guy up.. who knows, he might be just what I need to complete two of my projects- the big, muscly torso on my Deviantart, and my samurai-like creation(comingsoontoapostnearyou)..!

You know you could use the wing pieces that came on Waspix(not sure if that would look good)

Excellent review, RatBat but IMO he is very interesting...I'll buy him(love weird looking robots)

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Notice that this is the first time we have a head or mask which attach directly to a ball via the "ball snap".

You know, once in a while even an engineer can get good ideas that a designer can use :classic:

My all time favorite of "smallest price point" sets.

Erland

Part Design.

Well, not including the maskless 2.0 Hero head piece, of course. Though this has an advantage over that one in that the "ball snap" can actually be used on the center of a Hero Factory beam the same way you might use a shell, whereas the 2.0 Hero head's chin would get in the way.

It's hard to think of much use for this other than as a head, since XT4's head piece doesn't provide much coverage on any size beam, but I'm curious if you could snap two of them onto the shoulders of a 9x9 or 9x11 torso beam as the start to some kind of armor. On a 9x11 torso beam, a standard 8M 2.0 torso shell could effectively be used to finish armoring the lower torso.

I seriously hope most or all of the summer set parts are included in the next LDD update... It'll be great to have access to an unlimited number of parts like these for the sake of experimentation.

In the meantime, I can see why you love this set. To be honest I'm quite amazed at how imaginative the sets at the smallest price point have been this year-- unlike 2010 and 2011, where the smaller "Hero" sets were fairly generic humanoid builds and only the larger "villain" sets showed a lot of innovation with the building system, this year the villains in the smallest price point actually show some great innovation, whereas the larger villains have more standard humanoid designs (though still creative). It really goes to show how even with the constraints created by set pricing, it hardly puts a damper on the designers' creativity.

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Interesting idea Aanchir. And SpiderSpaceman, while I don't think you could use a tile with a ball or socket, a plate is high on my list too.

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