Review: 8502 Turbo

[Ratbat]

Found him sealed MISB on Ebay.

Year:1999

Piece Count:44

Price:$6.00 USD

The Packaging & Carrying Case

What is interesting about the Throwbots line, was that the plastic case that the figures could be stored in came in a box with a small window.

The Plastic case itself is pretty cool and... turquoise...

The back has some slots so it can be attached to a belt, and a spot to put your name.

The case opens up differently than the Roboriders and Bionicle canisters do.

The Pieces

A good amount of black and... turquoise...

The disks are pretty cool. The level 3 Torch disk is pictured on the side of the box, but isn't the second disk supposed to be random?

Building Process

The build is very straight forward, but interesting.

The Complete Set

Back View:

Turbo's color scheme is very striking. The... turquoise... black and small bits of yellow really make him stand out. But what really separates him from the rest of the throwbots, is the fact that he has wheels instead of limbs.

The head:

I like the fact that the mask is kept black. It makes it look like a race car driver helmet.

...Bulbasaur?

Features

Outside of the rolling wheels and head, Turbo has two features. The first is more for storage, but I'd consider it to be a play feature. Turning the gear on top will cause Turbo to angle up.

The second feature is the throwing arm. Insert the disk and and pull the arm back.

Storage

Turbo folds up to store in the carrying case. There are six slots for disks as well.

Overall

Turbo is my favorite throwbot due to the colors, and theme. I really like him, but I think you could get some more playability out of another throwbot due to the posable limbs. I'd still recommend him though.

Edited August 14, 2010 by 3D Brickthing
Indexed and poll added

[Dunjohn]

Hmm, another series I hadn't known existed. Do you know the rules for the throwing disks? Aside from that, a very nice review! Not much of a parts pack but the idea seems interesting.

[Ratbat]

Do you know the rules for the throwing disks?

No. I'm just gonna guess that the higher the level of the disk, the less hits it takes to KO/kill the opponent.

[Walter Kovacs]

Do you know the rules for the throwing disks?

I own all of the 1999 Throwbot sets, and I don't recall there ever being any "official rules" to the game. I do remember seeing pictures in the instructions of shooting the disks into the case the sets came in. I suppose you could attach some rules to that.

[Algernon]

I absolutely loved Throwbots as a kid- in my mind, they were the original Bionicle. Really fun to play with.

Turbo wasn't my favorite but he's pretty cool. My only gripe with this set is how small he is compared to the box. Good review, too!

[Mecheon]

I own all of the 1999 Throwbot sets, and I don't recall there ever being any "official rules" to the game. I do remember seeing pictures in the instructions of shooting the disks into the case the sets came in. I suppose you could attach some rules to that.

The "Rules" were that, if you had Judge's full 8 point disk, you were the envy of anyone else with Slizers. Oh yeah

I have the entire first series of these, and can confirm that the second disk in each set isn't random. Its always going to be from one of the other Slizers. So if you buy all 8, you'll have the first and second disks for everyone

[N-4K0]

Oh, memories... I had most of the Throwbot models once, or Slizers as they were called here. Turbo, City as I believe he was called under the Slizers name, was one of my favs.

[pocketmego]

I grabbed one of the first series of these when they came out. I was intrigued by this weird new idea from Lego. I knew they were on to something, but like so many others, I did not bite. However, in the post Bionicle world of Lego Constraction Figures being common place today...I wonder how a relaunch would do? I bet it would actually be considerably more successful.

[DraikNova]

I grabbed one of the first series of these when they came out. I was intrigued by this weird new idea from Lego. I knew they were on to something, but like so many others, I did not bite. However, in the post Bionicle world of Lego Constraction Figures being common place today...I wonder how a relaunch would do? I bet it would actually be considerably more successful.

I think you've given me an idea for a project...

[pocketmego]

I think you've given me an idea for a project...

That'd be cool.

[Aanchir]

I grabbed one of the first series of these when they came out. I was intrigued by this weird new idea from Lego. I knew they were on to something, but like so many others, I did not bite. However, in the post Bionicle world of Lego Constraction Figures being common place today...I wonder how a relaunch would do? I bet it would actually be considerably more successful.

Perhaps. Depends how much TLG would be willing to change it to adapt to what they've learned about their sets and their audience in the past decade. There's only so much you could change Throwbots/Slizer before it becomes something else entirely. And some of its core features like its canisters and gear-driven transforming functions are somewhat obsolete in this day and age, so they'd have to be heavily reimagined.

[Cahillrebel]

If they ever did make a Slizers relaunch, how would you remake some of the sets. Would some like Turbo and the desert one(Forgot his name) Be bigger since one is like a vehicle and the other is like a animal?

I mean Throwbots. Hard to determine which is right for the name.

[N-4K0]

the desert one(Forgot his name)

If you mean the grey and light brown one with 4 legs, it's Rock, under the Slizers name.

[ZORK64]

Nice review! I'm surprised you found a unopened Slizer these days.

I agree with you on Turbo's (City Slizer in Germany) colours, I like the turquoise too. However, he wasn't my favourite slizer (that spot goes to either the Sub Slizer, the Jungle Slizer or the Ice Slizer).

I'm still kicking myself for missing out Torch (Fire Slizer) back then.