Review : 8899 Gator Swamp

[Jjsthekid]

Alright, Hopefully I'll improve over my last review. These pics shouldn't be to blurry or bad, but if they are, let me know and I'll fix them. Anyways, since I don't know what else to review, I'll just review this new World Racers set. Onto the review :

Set Number : 8899

Name : Gator Swamp

Theme : World Racers

Pieces : 354

Minifigs : 5

Year Released : 2010

Front of the Box :

Back of the Box :

Here is a side view of the box (Team Backyard Blasters won't win that easily) :

Now for the minifigures. Here is Team X-Treme Daredevil's Crew (One has Red and Green glasses and the other has a Serious like face) :

Their back heads (Ok, why do they have Skating helmets? I mean really, this isn't a skateboard race. But then again, Lego tends to do stuff like that alot) :

Now, here is Team Backyard Blaster's Members (One has a grumpy like face and the other has a Glass Red eye thing) :

Their Back Heads (Nothing Much to say here) :

Meet the Pitstop Member (BTW, the flag he is holding actually connects to the Trophy Holder, but I'll get to that later) :

His back head (He must be afraid of the gator. Oh and Orange Cap! ) :

Here is a close-up of the Land-Mine pieces Team Backyard Blaster's use. I'm not much of a Lego Expert, but I believe these pieces were used in BIONICLE. They are a nice detail and I'll get to what they are used for later in Part 2 :

Here is the Pitstop Member's Platform. But I don't know if he is safe from the gator... :

Before we continue that, here is a close-up of his Crane (Oh and I will warn you there are ALOT of stickers in this set. ) :

That Poor soul will be missed. :

Here is the Trophy Holder. It is connected to a little swamp tree and the Flag is connected on the other side :

Here is a close-up of the Picture on the Trophy. It shows a Swamp :

Let's start with Team X-Treme Daredevil's Boat shall we? Here is an overhead view :

Here is a side view (Yes, I did warn you there will be ALOT of stickers. 2 sheets of them to be exact..) :

Another side view (I'm not sure if they are safe in those turning chairs..) :

Here is a back view. I love the wheel feature in the back that makes it look like the boat floats when you Move it along :

I have some good news and bad news for this Comment. The Good news is Team X-Treme has weapons as well. But the bad news is, the Missles Barely work at all. You pull the rod back and it hits the missle and it is suppose to fly out. The other missle is attached to a black holder piece :

Alright, Let's move on to Backyard Blaster's Boat. Here is an overhead view (Is it just me, or is their boat a bit more detailed then X-Treme's boat?) :

Here is a side view. I love those blade weapons. Although, shouldn't the shark sticker be a Crococile? I mean, they are racing in a swamp, and that Shark Sticker should have been used for Jagged Jaws Reef. Just my opinion though :

Another side view :

Here is a close-up of the Land-Mine piece Launcher. It works much Better then X-Treme's Missle launcher. You put one in the Grey holder and hit the little grey piece to launch it. Let's Hope the landmines don't hit my camera. :

To finish off their boat, here is a nice Back view. The "Floating" feature works kind of the same as X-Treme's Boat does, but a bit differently. The wheels connect down behind the Propeller. It was kinda hard to put together though. :

Here are the Instruction Booklets (Oh and there were 3 bags I believe) :

Random Instruction Page :

Who will win? Well, that is for you to decide :

----------------------------

The Minifigures- 5/5 : I just love the figs in this set. That pitstop member blew me away with his orange hat. The crew members are pretty detailed looking and nice as well. Their back heads are ok, but I was expected them to have more scared faces than that. Oh well, they are still cool.

Pieces- 4/5 : Like with the pitstop member, those BIONICLE pieces blew me away as well. I did like the return of the big Boat platform (It was used for X-Treme's Boat). I was a little disappointed how Backyard Blasters Didn't get that piece for their boat though.

Boats- 4/5 : The Missle launcher for X-Treme's Boat brought this grade down. They could have replaced the missle launcher with some catapult, but hey, I guess it was better than nothing. They could at least made a way for them to work better though. But that is what MOCs are for.

Overall- 9.7/10 : Again, there were some things that brought the grade down that could have made it a perfect set (The missle launcher). But there were some good things too, like the Pitstop Platform, The Crocodile, and The BIONICLE Spike Pieces. It's not a bad set to buy, but If you are looking for a vechile with working weapons, then I would pass. But if you are a person who loves boats, then this is a set you should get. The Orange hat is another thing that you may want to buy the set for. Well, that is all.

I think I did better than my last review. Hope you guys enjoyed. If you have any questions about this set, feel free to ask me.

Edited May 31, 2010 by Jjsthekid

[sok117]

Sorry to say but these are really really blurry, I can make out the shapes and such of the figures, but the details are just not present. On another note, would you recommend this set?

[Jjsthekid]

Sorry to say but these are really really blurry, I can make out the shapes and such of the figures, but the details are just not present. On another note, would you recommend this set?

Sorry, I might try to fix them later. It's not a bad set though, I would recommend it. It has some decent pieces.

BTW, sorry if some of the pictures aren't showing. I'm trying to fix that as well.

[SWMAN]

A few quick suggestions. First off, try changing your background and lighting for your pictures. Pick a more neutral color like white and take slightly bigger and clearer pictures. Second, try adding a little summary at the bottom, giving your grade and recommendation.

[Jjsthekid]

A few quick suggestions. First off, try changing your background and lighting for your pictures. Pick a more neutral color like white and take slightly bigger and clearer pictures. Second, try adding a little summary at the bottom, giving your grade and recommendation.

Thanks for the advice. I'll take better pictures tomorrow during daytime. Also, I'm saving my Grade parts for the 2nd part (which will come tomorrow). I might need to get a new camera though.

[Peppermint_M]

Thanks for posting these, but they do need to have better pictures. Are you using a camera phone? You do not need the most expensive camera in out there, even the cheaper un branded digital camera can take pretty good images. Also, a tip for photographing minifigs: Without Macro Zoom, it is best to postion the camera further back and zoom into the minifigure you want to photograph. I had Macro Zoom recommended to me by Daved Morgan Marr himself, but it comes on the expensive cameras so I had to work out how to take half decent pictures.

Anywho: Thanks, can't wait to see the rest of this review.

[Shadows]

Thanks for giving this a shot. I'm not sure about the whole theme except as parts/figures, but then again, it really is just parts/figures, so that might be good if they're cheap enough.

For a second I thought "AAAAAAH SPRING LEGS!"

I had Macro Zoom recommended to me by David Morgan Marr himself

Now there's someone I'd like to see join up. He'd be right at home here.

[LuxorV]

Thanks for sharing this review, Jjsthekid.

As a small tip, I'd suggest you to check your camera's settings for compensating light shifts; it could be useful to adjust them depending on the light source (sun, flood light, incandescent ligt bulb, ...) in order to get more balanced colours (unlike I did in one of my recent MOCs... )

Now there's someone I'd like to see join up. He'd be right at home here.

I wholeheartedly subscribe to that

LuxorV

[Jjsthekid]

Part 2 Time! Thanks for your help guys. I managed to get better pictures by using a Grey background. I might try white next time. Anyways, Time for Part 2 :

Let's start with Team X-Treme Daredevil's Boat shall we? Here is an overhead view :

Here is a side view (Yes, I did warn you there will be ALOT of stickers. 2 sheets of them to be exact..) :

Another side view (I'm not sure if they are safe in those turning chairs..) :

Here is a back view. I love the wheel feature in the back that makes it look like the boat floats when you Move it along :

I have some good news and bad news for this Comment. The Good news is Team X-Treme has weapons as well. But the bad news is, the Missles Barely work at all. You pull the rod back and it hits the missle and it is suppose to fly out. The other missle is attached to a black holder piece :

Alright, Let's move on to Backyard Blaster's Boat. Here is an overhead view (Is it just me, or is their boat a bit more detailed then X-Treme's boat?) :

Here is a side view. I love those blade weapons. Although, shouldn't the shark sticker be a Crococile? I mean, they are racing in a swamp, and that Shark Sticker should have been used for Jagged Jaws Reef. Just my opinion though :

Another side view :

Here is a close-up of the Land-Mine piece Launcher. It works much Better then X-Treme's Missle launcher. You put one in the Grey holder and hit the little grey piece to launch it. Let's Hope the landmines don't hit my camera. :

To finish off their boat, here is a nice Back view. The "Floating" feature works kind of the same as X-Treme's Boat does, but a bit differently. The wheels connect down behind the Propeller. It was kinda hard to put together though. :

Here are the Instruction Booklets (Oh and there were 3 bags I believe) :

Random Instruction Page :

Who will win? Well, that is for you to decide :

----------------------------

The Minifigures- 5/5 : I just love the figs in this set. That pitstop member blew me away with his orange hat. The crew members are pretty detailed looking and nice as well. Their back heads are ok, but I was expected them to have more scared faces than that. Oh well, that are still cool.

Pieces- 4/5 : Like with the pitstop member, those BIONICLE pieces blew me away as well. I did like the return of the big Boat platform (It was used for X-Treme's Boat). I was a little disappointed how Backyard Blasters Didn't get that piece for their boat though.

Boats- 4/5 : The Missle launcher for X-Treme's Boat brought this grade down. They could have replaced the missle launcher with some catapult, but hey, I guess it was better than nothing. They could at least made a way for them to work better though. But that is what MOCs are for.

Overall- 9.7/10 : Again, there were some things that brought the grade down that could have made it a perfect set (The missle launcher). But there were some good things too, like the Pitstop Platform, The Crocodile, and The BIONICLE Spike Pieces. It's not a bad set to buy, but If you are looking for a vechile with working weapons, then I would pass. But if you are a person who loves boats, then this is a set you should get. The Orange hat is another thing that you may want to buy the set for. Well, that is all.

I think I did better than my last review. Hope you guys enjoyed. If you have any questions about this set, feel free to ask me.

Edited May 30, 2010 by Jjsthekid

[CMP]

Probably won't get it, but a very nice set. Nice review.

[General Redwater]

Great review. This set looks good, but I probably will have to pass on it.

Nice review.

-

General Redwater

[squidman85]

I like Backyard Blaster's boat.It remind me a boat from the old programme on Discovery channel.If it was set with just backyard blaster's boat,trophy and small X-treme jet(from promo),i would have bought it.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the review 'Jjsthekid' - interesting designs, the one with the lime green trim is the best.

Questionable if I will buy one of these, but anyway I'm a conformist! everyone !

[user]

Wow! I might get this set just for this guy!

Edited May 29, 2010 by computerbug

[Peppermint_M]

Wow! I might get this set just for this guy!

*snip*

New sigfig on the horizon?

Thanks for the Review. Once these sets are out in the UK it looks like i will be doing another S@H Spree...

[user]

New sigfig on the horizon?

He does look an awful lot like my EVIL TWIN!

[user]

Sorry to post again but I got this set today and I really dislike it. It has a poor design and the sticker amount made the whole building experience annoying and not pleasurable at all the only thing I actually liked about it is the figs but other than that it's a horrible set with many holes in the design and a ludicrous amount of stickers I would not recommend this set.

[TheCrimsonTrooper]

Nice review. Though, the blurry pictures leave room for something to be hoped for.