Review: 8707 Boulder Blaster

[CMP]

Hi. This is my first review here on Eurobricks, and as I was looking around, I didn't see a review of the Boulder Blaster. I may not have seen one, but it is the first (as far as I know). Anyway, on to the review.

I got this set at TRU, so naturally, it was vastly overpriced. Also, I took these pics only a few days ago, but the set was bought months ago, so, no instructions or WIP pics. Oh well.

Set Number: 8707

Part Count: 293

Theme: Power Miners

Price: (S@H, not TRU) $26.99

Minifigs: 2, engineer and Glaciator.

Ok, let's start out with the box:

Looks nice, you get a good view on the Blaster.

Top of the box:

Shows Glaciator and engineer, who is oddly holding a stick of dynamite. Why? The whole point is to shoot dynamite.

Bottom of the box:

Nothing much, just a shrunken picture of the front.

Back of the box:

Looks nice, you can see dynamite being shot, the shovelers on the front, and accesories. Good back picture, shows all the features.

And now, for the mighty Boulder Blaster itself!

Isn't it purdy?

I split the main 2 pictures- the dynamite cannon, and the base vehicle.

Dynamite cannon:

(The axle sticking out goes into the vehicle) It has 3 lights on the front, but the base vehicle has 2. Why so many lights? It doesn't look the best from the side, though. The best part is the mechanism. It's not flick-fire. You turn the wheel, and it shoots the dynamite. Pretty good distance too, if you ask me.

The base vehicle:

From here you can see the front grill, engine, a bit of the crate in the back, fuel tank, and treads. Now here are those features zoomed in.

Front Grill- I wanted to show that it can come off without much trouble, which adds to playability, without TLG even knowing!

Engine- I like it. It's overlarge and has one of those stretcher/elastic things bent over it. My only gripe is the stick. It's for lighting the dynamite, I know, but right in fron of the pilot?

Crate- Not much, but better than the usual clip for tools in this price range of Power Miners.

Fuel Tank- 3 stickers seems much, but it looks cool in that spot with the stickers on.

Treads- Beautiful. A cheap(ish) way to get them. However, it feels like some areas of the treads move easily, some others,not so much.

A final, parting picture:

And a story of how pathetic these rock monsters are:

My rating:

Build- 8/10 Simple, but no repetition besides treads.

Minifigs/Accesories- 6/10 Glaciator we have seen many times. We get an engineer instead of a miner, kudos for that, but no helmet? Is he Two-Face's brother with that face sticking out?

Playability- 9/10 Have Glaciator break the front grill off, smash the engine, steal the fuel tank, or get blasted by dynamite!

Parts- 9/10 Many 1x2 lime and black tiles, those 2 shovelers, and the treads? Awesome.

Design- 8/10 It may seem odd to some. The stick in front of the roll cage can just be removed. However, the shovelers on the front are important, not to mention there's enough space for another crate!

Price- 7/10 This is what keeps people from getting this set. People do not realize, it has 100 more pieces than Claw Digger for a measly $5! The pieces may be small, but still worth it!

Overall- 47/60 A decent set. The main function is not as good as, say, the Thunder Driller, but the other, smaller features make this set a must-have for any self-respecting Power Miners fan or someone looking for a good buy.

Feel free to comment. (If you comment badly, know this, I still have this thing in one piece, and the cannon is perfectly functional)

Edited January 5, 2010 by SmurfFangy
Indexed and poll added

[Big Cam]

You're images seem to have suffered from being resized but I like the iamges you've produced, maybe just choose a different program to re-size them.

I'm not a powerminers fan but if I was I still think I might have skipped this set, it doesn't look all that fun.

[Grimmy]

Nice comics! Nice review too. I been wanting to get one of these to have a vehicle with the rubber tracks and the orange pieces in Power Miners look like nice pieces to have. We have a couple small power miners sets at my house which we haven't put together yet. Maybe I'll make a first review too.

[Dunjohn]

The price of this set is a huge turn-off, it's €34.99 on Lego.com and looks about half the size of Rock Wrecker €29.99. It's one of the few PM sets I don't own, for that reason. I also think the design is a little bit daft: It's a snow-plough? Underground? That shoots dynamite? It just doesn't seem to pull together. I'd love that rubbery thing on the engine but other than that, the set just doesn't look as interesting as the rest of the line.

[prateek]

Good review. I love this set, it looks very chunky, which I like. BTW, the pics could be better.

[Trexxen]

I actually think this is one of the best sets out of the entire Power Miners line!

The model IS small, there's no denying that - compared to most of the other sets, it'll LOOK like a $15-20 set - it was smaller than the one with the claws, IIRC. But then you get to building it and you realize why it's so small - it's full of tiny, in some cases hard to find parts! I'm pretty sure (and now that I've said this someone is going to look and prove me wrong but eh) that the dynamite shooter portion alone is 50-75 parts, and the tiling in the vehicle looks really nice. It's one of the best sets at its price point, and definitely the best out of the PM line...so far. (Haven't touched the 2010 sets yet unfortunately. ;_;)

~Trexxen

[Princess Muttonchops]

Cool review CallMePie! I didn't even know this set existed (no Toys 'R Us in Hobart or Wagga Wagga, boo hoo). It's a cute contraption, but for that price we probably would have passed. Cool comic too!

[Forresto]

Great review! It's a set that's a little too steep for me but I still would've loved to get it. Coll comic also.

Edited January 1, 2010 by Forresto