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The Cobra

Review: 8056 Monter crab clash

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  1. 1. How do you rate this set?

    • 1 – Poor
      1
    • 2 – Below Average
      1
    • 3 – Average
      9
    • 4 – Above Average
      2
    • 5 - Outstanding
      1


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"Oh they say that it's over - And it just had to be - They say that it's over - And we're lost children of the sea (Black sabbath - Children of the sea)

Set data:

8056: Monster crab clash

Year: 2010

Theme: Atlantis

Subtheme: N/A

Pieces: 68 + 2 extras

Price: 7 USD, 6 Euros, 5 UKP as of April 2010

Building time: less than 10 minutes

MISB on review: Yes

More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink

Notes: Available in late 2009 in the U.S.

Official description: On a dangerous deep-sea mission to recover the orange Atlantis treasure key from the murky depths of the ocean, the heroic diver comes face-to-face with the treasure's mighty guardian: a giant crab with powerful crushing claws! Set includes 1 heroic diver minifigure! Collectable orange Atlantis treasure key included; collect them all! Features monster crab with snapping claws and moveable legs!

Box front: 140x120x45 mms, or 5.8x4.12x1.12", highlighting the ring (like other boxes in this theme).

8056-01.jpg

Box front: Basic (all?) features and rings line-up; diver showing scary side of heap piece.

8056-02.jpg

Box sides: Undersea swimming, a real 1:1 ring pic (sometimes Lego misses the correct ratio!) and the usual writings.

8056-03.jpg

Box content: Two bags, stickers, instructions.

8056-04.jpg

Pieces: Black, two shades of gray, orange (and lime flippers).

8056-05.jpg

Unusual pieces: 3 kind of cylinder hinges (each of them comes 6x), the new Atlantis helmet, one of two Y joints (which I thought I already owned, and I'll prove I was right), the orange crab ring, a slope mostly seen in Exo-Force sets and another 2010 premiere: the barb.

8056-06.jpg

Random instructions page: Building one of the claws.

8056-07.jpg

Stickers: Is it a fly? No, it's a sticker sheet!

8056-08.jpg

Minifig: Also new for 2010 is Alex's head. Front looks a lot like an old one (here portrayed on the same Atlantis suit)...

8056-09.jpg

Minifig: ..and here's how their backs look like. Also note that the ring is larger than a fig, standing at 3 studs wide.

8056-10.jpg

Diving into the past: An overview of classic and modern submarine minifigs. From left to right:

Aquanaut diver (1995/1996), Aquashark diver (1995 to 1999), Ogel from Alpha team (2002), Aquaraiders diver (2007), Atlantis' Alex (2010).

8056-11.jpg

Crab core: 2x1 bricks w/axle hole hosting Tecnich pins, plates w/clips will host claws.

8056-12.jpg

Crab claws: each one is the mirror image of the other one.

8056-13.jpg

Crab legs: six legs (most real crabs have eight), and swapped claws (my bad).

8056-14.jpg

The naked crab: All pieces are now here (in the right place!), we're ready for stickers.

8056-15.jpg

The stickered crab: Bird's eye view on the fierce marine beast.

8056-16.jpg

Comparison time: Where did I see a LEGO six-legged orange and black animal? Enter Battle Arachnoid!

8056-17.jpg

8056-18.jpg

The final shot: Complete and ready for action.

8056-19.jpg

Review:

It took a while to realize that this set could be a blacker (?) rip-off of the Arachnoid stalker; that's probably my ExoForce sets lie on the highest stage of my Lego display. That takes a few points away from the MCC.

The main reason I chose to review this set was that 8057 already had 4 reviews and the Crab only one. Was it so bad? Probably no.

Monster crab clash, along with Impulse sets, features only one minifig (one of the good divers, opposed to the evil sea creature); given that sea creatures only have 3 kinds of humanoids (mantas, sharks and octopus), one was the impulse, one was in the Wreck raider and octopi is a "large sets exclusive". This makes 8056 somewhat similar to an AquaRaiders set, with human subs against bricky sea animals. As a proud owner of the Angler ambush (a 10 bucks set just like Wreck raider), let me add that that giant self illuminating fish came with printed eyes, and no stickers! Still, I'm not slaying this set. Building is fast and simple, and I wouldn't call 6 four-piece-legs "repetitive", 'cause such a short sequence would be hardly boring.

A more proper comparison would be with the 5 Euros Deep sea treasure hunter, nearly the same price for a quite different set; a comparison the DSTH would likely win.

Minifig (Alex) is not really different from other Atlantis humans; a double-sided face (with a scary "back" that will probably come back later this year in Kingdoms) and two accessories. As good as the new "helmet" looks, it would have been better without that back cut, but I fear it couldn't be helped.

MCC ends up being another average set that some may overlook for something more expensive but multi-figged. 8056 falls in the same price category of mini Creators, Tiny Turbos, City Smart car, and likely the small Kingdoms set, which will probably happen to be the best in this group.

Rating:

Color scheme: 5/5. Orange and black. Just great.

Minifigs and accessories: 4/5. A human fig with a double sided head piece and two utensils. Fair enough.

Pieces: 3,5/5. A couple of multi-angled slopes, a few hinges cylinders, two Y technic joints

Playability: 3/5. Unless you consider trying all legs posing options, there's not much to do with the set other than placing the jaws and have the crab eating the human.

Design: 3,5/5. A sort of deja-vù, but not bad after all.

Overall rating: 3/5. A fine cheap set worth its price.

The final words: Those who buy most every <10 Euros set (like me) won't pass this one.

Edited by WhiteFang
Indexed

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Thanks 'The Cobra' for this review - the crab does look interesting - only watch the Altantis special on CN again tonight - don't recall see this creature.

Always handy to have an extra one of those diving packs to use for sci-fi MOC's I guess.

Not sure if I'll buy one of these - my son can decide.

I&#39;m a conformist&#33; ! :sweet:

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This set is okay, but when a lot of good City and PoP sets are available, this is off my list :classic:

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This set is okay, but when a lot of good City and PoP sets are available, this is off my list :classic:

I feel a similar way. But I wanted the "Shark Man" so when the 8057 Wreck Raider was on sale I got that. Their is nothing wrong with the 8056 Monster Crab Clash, their is nothing spectacular about it.

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Yeah, this set just doesn't have anything spectacular to add to it, and with all the awesome Lego being released this year, I've only got room in my budget for "spectacular"

BTW, in the title you misspelled monster

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