Review: 2263 Turbo Shredder

[Masked Builder]

When I first saw the pictures of this set I knew it was one more to add to the "Must get it list." From the picture I was wondering what sort of function it had. I've yet to get it though; the set you're looking at belongs to my younger brother who graciously let me do a review.

Name: Turbo Shredder

Set Number: 2263

Pieces: 298

Price: $29.99

Ages: 7-14

Minifigs: 3

Theme: Ninjago

Year of Release: 2011

Bricklink

Brickset

S@H

Gallery with the pictures I used and some I didn't.

Spin out of danger and recover the golden scythe!

Frakjaw is escaping in his Turbo Shredder with the golden scythe! Sensei Wu has sent Jay and Cole after him. Help the fearless ninjas use Spinjitzu to avoid being swallowed up by the Turbo Shredder. Don’t forget to grab the golden weapon! Set includes Turbo Shredder, 3 minifigures and 3 weapons.

Box:

The front of the box has some red ninja art with the Ninjago logo in the upper left hand corner. Lego has put some whirl art around the ninjas that really adds to the feeling of movement. The Japanese background adds a great feel to the box art. The parts count, age range, and set number are also displayed here.

From the backside of the box the golden weapon and the minifigures included in this set are displayed. Not bad at all Lego, I think it looks great! Though I'm not sure why Jay, the blue ninja, is holding Cole's, the black ninja, golden weapon. See that little gold box in the bottom left corner? Well that's showing what golden weapon comes in the set.

As well as the 1:1 image, Lego has put the three minifigures on the top of the box in some casual poses. As well as their names, you did know those right?, and what weapons they have.

Contents:

Out of the box come three numbered baggys, two instruction manuals, and no sticker sheet, which is quite to get some sets that don't have any stickers to apply. Bag three is the fullest and thus adds the most to the set overall. While the tracks, and the wheels are loose in the box I've never been sure why. I guess to save space in the bag.

Manual:

Both manuals have the same art on the front, and the typical 1, 2 numbering style. If you ask me this sets didn't need two manuals just because the second one is so much smaller. They feature about the same art as the box only here the wheel in the back of the shredder has been cut off.

The inside of the instruction booklet is set up very nicely. I really like the color scheme Lego has going with these sets. And since the bags were numbered in this set in the corner up in the left it shows what you build with bag one.

Each page has this building on the side of the page. It adds quite a ninja feeling and adds to the overall visually pleasing pictures. It looks a bit like some sort of shrine or something. Anyone know what it is?

Right after the parts layout page this page showing a possible battle between the ninjas and the skeletons from most of the midsized sets. There's a lot of action here so look at it carefully. Again this has the same art as the top of the box. (This page also features what set I'm going to review next )

This lovely page showing most of the minifigures from the sets is a nice addition to the Ninjago sets. Most of them are in a very cool pose, though we are missing three ninjas in their Dragon outfits. All are in a fun pose or are doing some sort of attack move.

On the other side we have these two kids playing with the spinner set. There's also a display of the spinner sets currently available.

Minifigures:

The minifigures from this set are, from left to right, Frakjaw, Cole, Jay. All feature new print and the skeleton has an amazing new hat. The ninja's head dresses have been around for a few years now. The ninjas torso/leg print is new, and looks, to me, quite wonderful. Our skeleton in this set has a great new armor piece that would work well for quite a number of things.

And a back view. Not really anything special here, though you can see what the skeletons armor looks from the back. If you look carefully you can tell that the skeleton has more of a 3-D skeleton mold now. A big improvement on the older ones.

Here's a picture of the ninjas without their head gear on. Both feature new head print. I like the fact that the blue ninja has that cool scar. And Cole has those big bushy eye brows, they give me the feeling that he's mad about something.

Now for a comparison to the other ninjas. I like the ninjas elemental powers here, they're different from what Lego had the Bionicle teams be every year. The black ninja is probably my favorite, great color scheming and name for him. While I don't have any Ninjas from the old line I'm sure some of you out there do. How do you think they compare to these guys?

And Frakjaw completes my "normal", as in non-new head molds, skeleton collection. I like the new loin cloth printing on each, and they all have rivet printing near the neck line. Krazi is probably the scariest of the bunch with that red ring around his mouth. And these guys, how do you think they compare to the old ones? I think they're a big improvement.

Here's a picture with Frakjaw's hat removed. The metal strips that look like they're holding his head together are just perfect. Much like the 2008 Castle line their eyes are red. I guess so that it looks like they're undead or something like that.

The Build:

From the first bag we get, mostly Technic pieces, minifigures parts, and some plates for the Turbo Shredder. Here you can see that Lego has yet to give up putting multi-colored parts in sets. Very few of the rare, at least to me, purple parts appear here. With all of these Technic parts it's sure to be a very strong model.

Lego certainly stretched those few parts quite a ways to build this much. So far we've built the minifgures, and a nice start to the base for the tank. All of the points for the wheels, and the tracks to attach have been added here.

Bag two has a few more Technic parts, some lovely purple pieces, and the only printed part in the set. Most of these parts go towards the eating function of the tank. This has to be the smallest bag. Not very many parts here!

Here's how the Turbo Shredder looks after finishing adding the parts from bag two. The front, eating section, has been added along with some nice color. You can still see some of the multi-colored parts here though!

The parts from bag three add some nice variety to the set. More purple, plenty of white, and a lot less Technic parts then the other bags. Now the treads and the Power Miner wheels didn't come in the bag otherwise it would have been huge! This was the fullest bag of the three. The last of the purple parts appear here as well.

At the end of bag three and the back of manual two we've completed the Turbo shredder! It's fairly tall next to the minifigures. Thankfully all of the weird colored parts have disappeared under the other parts.

Oh whoops! I forgot to show you the new/interesting parts for this set. Here they are now. The rice hat comes in one other set one Sensi Wu, the purple parts are just plain interesting as purple is one of the rarer colors; the tracks are new parts for us. I can see us building a minifigure scale excavator with them.

The Completed Model:

The front has a very nasty skeleton feel to it. The eating section on the front reminds me of a snake skeleton, with the ribs and all. There's also a skeleton head. This is repeated throughout most of the skeleton vehicles/bases.

From the side it's apparent that this was designed with playability in mind. It's very sturdy, and the bone pieces really add a skeleton feel to the set.

The back view shows off the flames and a very nicely shaped engine. I really like the curves here.

So here's a comparison shot between the Turbo Shredder and the Skull Bike. The bike is just longer if you want to count the flames are part of the length. You can also see the same skull from the front of the turbo shredder on the Skull Bike.

Here's a nice battle picture to close this section with. I can just see those two ninjas thinking that they are so doomed.

Function:

So the shredding/eating function starts when you push the tank forward towards the ninja you want to eat.

The skull on the front of the tank starts to lift as you push it forwards. It also gets closer to the unsuspecting ninja....

And then, CHOMP! The ninja is eaten and the skull has come down on the ninja, eating him.

Here's the mechanism that works the eating function. The gear is turned by moving the tank forwards which in turn spins the cam which moves the "mouth" up and down.

Final Thoughts:

Ratings:

Playability: 8/10 The playability was great! I really like the eating function. Most of the sets have a nice function to use.

Design: 8/10 Design in this set is lovely. The fact that there's a skull on the front of the Turbo Shredder really just adds to the level of detail Lego put into this set.

Price: 7/10 The price was fairly average for a set of this size. it really wasn't a bad deal though, with all the new stuff.

Minifigures: 9/10 Minifigure design played a key part in this set if you ask me. The new minifigures might entice some of the AFOL to buy this for the rice hat.

Parts: 10/10 The parts for the Turbo shredder had a very nice variety, and some new parts too. For these reasons it ears this set a 10-out-of-10

Total: 33/50 Not a bad score. I would have liked to have seen a spinner in the set but that's me.

Eat this!

Edited January 20, 2012 by WhiteFang
Indexed

[Sisco]

Great review of an interesting set!

It's quite enjoyable to be on the Reader's side of this; I don't have to bark out complaints at you! Aren't you happy!

Seriously though, you've done a pretty good job on this review. It's insightful, has pretty good pictures, and is quite interesting to read. I really like that first picture, it's quite good.

As for the set, I'll have to give it a pass. I do like the "eating" mechanism, though. Although, I never really was into NinjaGo! in the first place, it's just a little too odd for me. I might have to get the spinners just for the ninjas, however.

[XimenaPaulina]

Excellent review MB! It's a great read from start to finish and I really like the various angle shots of the turbo shredder, makes me appreciate the vehicle better. With regards to the set, it's average for me. It has some nice selection of parts that I don't have, but still not enough to warrant a purchase from me.

[prateek]

Very nice. I think this is one of the better vehicles in NinjaGo, and the price is not too bad either. Above average from me

[Ritz Brick]

Ok, so it turns out that mark on Jay's eyebrow is supposed to be there.

In my review of the same set I mention it.

and is it just me or do Cole's eyebrows remind you of a bumblebee?

[Masked Builder]

Thanks guys! Glad you like it.

It's quite enjoyable to be on the Reader's side of this; I don't have to bark out complaints at you! Aren't you happy!

Seriously though, you've done a pretty good job on this review. It's insightful, has pretty good pictures, and is quite interesting to read. I really like that first picture, it's quite good.

It definitely is!

Ok, so it turns out that mark on Jay's eyebrow is supposed to be there.

In my review of the same set I mention it.

and is it just me or do Cole's eyebrows remind you of a bumblebee?

Hey it kind of does.....

[r1chard]

Thanks for the review and sharing this to us.

The pictures are great by the way!

I like the comparison of the ninjas and skeletons.

I like to get them all though I know this will not happen.