9457 Fangpyre Wrecking Ball

[Corydoras]

Hello,

What I really want in my Ninjago collection is a big, cool-looking and nicely designed snake vehicle that'll go well with the Samurai Mech, so I'm thinking of getting the 9457 Fangpyre Wrecking Ball set. However, I've got a few questions about it:

- Is it stable and well balanced? On some photos it seems to tilt forward because of the heavy head.

- Are there any major design flaws? I don't really like modding sets, so I only buy those that I believe are the best in terms of design.

- Does it look nice with the Samurai Mech on display? How much bigger is it?

Thanks in advance.

[1974]

I just bought one for my kid

It's quite stable and well balanced. Highly suitable for play. The head is not that heavy but it's very nicely constructed in an advanced way

No flaws as I could find, drives easily over carpet

Don't have the Mech, sorry

[Speedza-Demon]

I own all of the Snake Vehicles, and the Wrecking Ball is probably my favorite. It's the biggest, has lots of play features and is a good value for the money. The only bad thing I can say about it is that the Minifigure count is disappointing, though the set itself makes up for that.

[Aanchir]

The Wrecking Ball is very well-balanced and quite nicely designed, but one thing that has stood out to me as a flaw for quite a while is that you can't raise and lower the angle of the boom. Granted, for a wrecking ball, there's only so much you could adjust the boom before it stops being useful. But as far as a crane is concerned, I was fairly disappointed with this. The boom can pivot up and down-- the problem is that there's no way to fix it at any angle but its default angle.

I haven't built the Samurai Mech so can't really answer the final question. I get the idea that the wrecking ball will look better with the Samurai Mech than most other snake vehicles, though, since the Samurai Mech would tower over pretty much anything else (except the Rattlecopter, if you could find a way to suspend those in the air).

[Im a brickmaster.]

I would actuly suggest getting the Snake mech set. Then you could have a battle of sorts.

Thats what I planned on doing but of course never did!

[Corydoras]

Hm, hm. Well then, which would look better on display alongside the Samurai Mech, the Wrecking Ball or 9443 + 9455? Which is better value for the money? I can buy either 9457 or 9443 + 9455 with the money I have.

[Aanchir]

Hm, hm. Well then, which would look better on display alongside the Samurai Mech, the Wrecking Ball or 9443 + 9455? Which is better value for the money? I can buy either 9457 or 9443 + 9455 with the money I have.

9455 is definitely a gorgeous set and one I wish I had. It does a great job filling the gap in the top of the typical Fangpyre vehicle head sculpt, and overall just has a really shapely design. Being a mech, it's probably also easier to get into an obvious "action pose" than the Fangpyre Wrecking Ball, but I don't know how it would look against the Samurai Mech in terms of size, since I don't own it myself. 9443 would probably look nice with the Samurai Mech depending on your display setup, but it would have to be suspended in the air somehow to look its best.

Perhaps someone who actually has all three sets can give you a more definitive answer than I can. :unsure:

[DraikNova]

Since I have the Fangpyre mech, I can say it´s probably the best of the Serpentine vehicles. There´s a good chance the Samurai Mech looks better though. Since I will completing my collection of Ninjago 2012 sets soon, I´ll be able to give first-hand comparisons in less than a month.

[Corydoras]

I highly recommend getting the Samurai Mech. In my opinion it's one of the best sets LEGO has ever made - very cool-looking, very poseable and sturdy, clever design, fantastic colour scheme, lots of play features, great minifigs. A solid 10/10.

[DraikNova]

I´m planning to get it actually. I´ll give you a comparison with the Fangpyre Mech when I do.