Review: 8957 Mine Mech

[Luke McAwesome]

Hello again, everyone!

Today, I'm bringing you a review of the Power Miners set 8957 Mine Mech!

8957 Mine Mech

Information

Name: 8957 Mine Mech

Theme: Power Miners

Price: USD 7.99 | GBP 6.85 | DKK 69.95 | AUD 12.99 | CAD 9.99

Minifigures: 2

Pieces: 67

LEGO Shop & Home

BrickLink

Peeron

Brickset

We'll start off with the box.

Chapter 1: The Box

Front

The front shows the Mine Mech running from what looks like a lava geiser getting ready to blow, and the saw blade arm scratching some rocks and the rock monster preparing to dine on his balanced diet of crystal. The box is awesome, and a shape I've yet to see. It's really tall! Thoguh you all probably could have figured out that much by the pics.

Top

The top shows the usual "Actual Size" box with this one holding the trans-green rockmonster, Boulderax. "Actual Size" is written in three languages; I'm not sure what they all are, except for English. Could anyone perhaps help me on this? I think they might be Spanish and Frnech, but I'm not too sure...

Back

The back shows how the saw can do a swirly-bird, and the "crushing" claws that can break most kinds of rock, it shows the combo between 8956 Stone Chopper and 8957 Mine Mech, and the Rock Monster chowing down upon some poor crystal and last shows the accessories, the pickaxe and dynamite! Not many, but at least it had dynamite. The features of this set are modest, and is good for this sized set. I've seen twenty dollar sets with less features.

Side

This picture shows Boulderax chasing after Brains. LEGO still has their sense of humor. I laughed when I got this in the store. These kinds of aren't on ther other boxes, I may be mistaken.

Chapter 2: Instructions and Stickers

Sticker Sheet

Not too many, thankfully. Picture courtesy of BrickLink. Most of them just add detail to the set, like most other sticker sheets of today.

Front

The same image as the box, minus the information. This is basically like every set LEGO has ever done.

First Page

Once again, we get the page telling us not to build outdoors.

Minifigure Page

It's rather annoying that this step takes up an entire page.

Random Page

This page shows the "bumper" section being assembled, and attached to the body of the machine.

Parts Page

67 parts are listed; not much, but it all turns into an awesome set.

Set Page

This shows all the sets in action, as well as the sets surrounding about half of the scene.

Chapter 3: Minifigure(s)

Front

Brains is very detailed. LEGO has been doing great with leg printing this year; on the Power Miners they have flashlights and chains. Boulderax has the same "rock" pattern on his body. This is the only set Boulderax comes in.

Back

At this view you can see the back of Brains' overalls which has a test-tube emblem on it, showing that he's the team's scientist. On Boulderax you can se the hinge that makes the head go up and down. Brains also has a double sided head, the back side is a terrified expression.

Accesories

A trio of dynamite sticks, a pickaxe, and a trans-green crystal. You know, we haven't seen these since 1999-2000. Almost 10 years ago! And the good thing is, we're getting them in four new colors!

Big-Mouth Boulderax

He can fit one crystal in his mouth/entire body. The head is hollow which allows a trio of dynamite sticks to fit inside. Rather brilliant, in my opinion.

Chapter 4: The Build

Parts

60 parts go into the entire build. A lot of lime, too. Which is the main color for Power Miners.

Step 6

This is where everything attaches. Notice the genius use of the BIONICLE arm connecter/section from 2005 being used as it original purpose; this is where the arms hook on. You can also see the Exo-Force waist part from 2007 being used as the part that the legs hook on to.

Step 12

The body of the mech is starting to come together! The beginning of the arms and legs have been attached, and two stickers have been applied onto the legs.

Legs

The legs are exactly identical, with some caution stickers applied on the feet. I love that LEGO is using the Exo-Force leg parts; I miss Exo-Force, they were so original. And the minifigure torsos were brilliant, I still use the battle armor on my own minifigures.

Step 18

The legs have been attached, and so has the rollcage part. I love that part, it has so many uses. It's been used in one City set so far, 7633 Construction Site. I have a feeling we'll be seeing this piece more in the future.

Arms

The arms aren't even arms, but more along the lines of tools. A saw and a claw for gripping those tiny crystals. Although we get some old BIONICLE parts in orange. Yay!

Completed

Everything's finished! Now let's see some more views:

Back

The back is kind of boring, there's not much to it except some plates and some BIONICLE and Technic parts.

Right

The right side has a drill for an arm, which I really like. I love pretending to mow the Rock Monsters down with it in cold-blooded murder.

Left

The left has a pair of claws to grab things, or get a hold of the Rock Monster(s). Orange BIONICLE talons are used on this arm, which I'm very happy to see in new colors.

With Minifigure

The minifigure adds a lot to this set; without him piloting the mech, it would look very bland.

Chapter 5: The Completed Set

It looks awesome! It's bigger than you'd think.

The set is completed, and now it's time to move on to the summary.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Summary

Playability: 7/10 - The set can't be played with too much; there's only so much you can do except move the arms and legs again and again. And the "bumper" section falls off if you move the set around too much.

Price: 10/10 - You get a lot for your money in this one, there's a lot of good parts and minifigs for the price.

Design: 6/10 - This would be for the same reasons listed under playability; there's not too much you can do with it, and a section falls off when played with too roughly.

Parts: 9/10 - A load of lime, some orange, and some bley mixed in there. The reappearence of the old Exo-Force limbs made me very happy with this purchase.

Minifigures: 10/10 - The minifigs are super detailed, which earns them a 10/10!

Overall - 8/10

The set is very nice looking, the minifigs are awesome, and it's a great parts pack. A lot of nice colors, orange, lime, bley and black. The minifigures are awesome, and the rock monsters are cute and funny, and yet slightly menacing. Just don't look them in the ey-ahhh.

This set would be nice for display, but it can fall apart if played with harshly.

So, if you love Power Miners, or just want to collect all the sets, or even just pick up something when you're going through a withdrawl, this is perfect.

Bonus Shots!

I've got a little treat for my dearest readers; some shots of the combo vehicle between Stone Chopper and Mine Mech!

I present to you... The Cave Cutter!

Left

The build is ver skeletal, and the place where the "legs" attach falls of if even touched, so this build kind of has a major flaw.

Back

The back looks just like the Stone Chopper just with a rollcage.

Right

It's more or less just the same as the left.

Front

It's just so cool from this angle; it looks really menacing. I'd hate to be a Rock Monster if I got in this thing's way!

Leftover Parts

I believe every part leftover is from the Mine Mech, though I could be wrong.

__________________

Thanks for reading, and I hoped you enjoyed my review.

-Striker

Edited September 6, 2009 by Striker
Indexed

[prateek]

Great review. I like this set but never find it. I don't really like Brains though

[Inconspicuous]

Excellent review there, Striker! I was a huge fan of the old Rock Raiders, but I am disgusted with the new ones. I totally hate the lime green/orange color scheme. I guess this isn't exactly the place to bash Power Miners Still, great review, with nice, clear pics and detailed thoughts! Thanks!

[ziljin]

Nice review.

I have both the Mine Mech and the Stone Chopper. I don't recall seeing any instructions on how to combine them together.

[Luke McAwesome]

Nice review.

I have both the Mine Mech and the Stone Chopper. I don't recall seeing any instructions on how to combine them together.

*COUGH*

[ziljin]

Thanks a lot. Shame they don't let you dl the other instructions. Far too lazy to print screen that stuff.

[Luke McAwesome]

Thanks a lot. Shame they don't let you dl the other instructions. Far too lazy to print screen that stuff.

You just use the little arrows to scroll through them.