22 replies to this topic

[parchioso]

It happens again that a brick master book arrives unexpectedly in Hong Kong, but this time it is a super great one which I think is the best brick master so far. I think it is great not only because it is Starwars, the designs are really excellent!





The set includes 2 minifigs to depict a clone trooper vs Battle Droid confrontation, and each of them have 4 vehicles to fight under the following scenarios:

Battle on Christophsis
This set of models uses up all the bricks, you get a AAT Battle Tank and a NU-Class Attack Shuttle. The battle tank is simple but nicely scaled, the shuttle has good playability and looks quite cool, but it is not designed well for stand display though. This set is also not minifig scaled.







Ice Encounter
This is a very simple set, not much sophistication on the STAS (Single Trooper Airspeeders) and the LAAT (Low altitude Assault Transport).







Desert Raid
The Mobile Missile Platform in this set is very interesting and innovative in my opinion, the mountable blaster cannon is very cool. The S-Wing Speeder bike is also excellent with the red/yellow patterns.








Forest Fight
This is actually my favorite among 4, the VTS (Varied Terrain Speeder) looks like a firepowerhouse with good agility, while the AT-RT walker is definitely a formidable foe.









With so many good designs from 240 bricks, the price that I got at USD 20 is truly a bargain!

This book is so great and I think a review may not be that useful really, as most of the folks here sure will grab one no matter what others say, just hope that it arrives soon at your cities.

My blog entry for this review: http://brickand.me/2...erBookEver.aspx

[Brickdoctor]

Ugh. The only models that even look decent are the AAT and Nu Shuttle. Besides, an LAAT is the same thing as an RGS.

Thanks for the review, though.

[commdr_neyo]

Wow, great to finaly see what's inside  
If I see it here in Holland, I'll pick it up with no doubt!

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'parchioso' for the review - I have a standing order at a major book retailer here in Adelaide for this book and by the looks of it - it's COOL !
With the base plans I could build whole fleets of clone and droid vehicles - SWEET !
See I leave the book sealed and plan on building from my stock pile of parts !
Keep on bricking !

[prateek]

Oh! Very nice! For $20, this is great! I really like the Midi scale AAT and the RAS

[Solscud007]

would you mind posting the ISBN number from the back of the book?

[OnHiatus]

This is by far the most complete review of one of the brickmaster books that I've seen. Thanks, it really enables us here to make a highly informed decision about whether to purchase it or not.

[Masked Builder]

Great review!  Can't wait to get this.....

Brickdoctor, on 08 September 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

Ugh. The only models that even look decent are the AAT and Nu Shuttle.

Again I agree.  

[Ceroknight]

Much better vehicles than the atlantis one but I agree with brickdoctor, the AAT and the NU shuttle is the most descent  
Will these be available in Canada?

[Brickus]

Looks good, I'll get it if I see it.

[KielDaMan]

Thanks for the detailed review prachioso! Those are really interesting builds, I agree the AAT tank is the best among all of them - looks very accurate for a small-scaled vehicle.

But I have to disagree with the mob, the other builds are pretty decent IMO. Those are much much better than the mini-vehicles that we get from BPs. Yeah they might be inaccurate or non-canon, but the designs are quite unique and interesting. And all of these for 240 parts and $20? Not bad at all.

[parchioso]

Thanks all for the remarks.

I understand that not all the models would look great to each individual, but it is quite impressive that all these models can be built from a same set of bricks, the cost is especially good.

But one caveat in this set is this extra "part" that I found:


A warning sign of Lego quality control?

[CommanderFox]

Thanks so much for the review parchioso!
Overall it looks like a really decent set-magazine!
I do admit some of the models are not so good, but I really like the AAT, NU class shuttle, and that AT-RT
Thanks again for the review! Will definitely try to get one of these.

CF

[Brickdoctor]

ceroknight, on 09 September 2010 - 01:53 AM, said:

Much better vehicles than the atlantis one

Personally, I thought the Castle one was best.

[Oky]

Wow! A review already? Sweet, thanks! Looks like a good parts pack with some interesting models, and who would mind getting an extra clone and BD for their armies? I like how, while being non-canon, the vehicles look like they would fit into the SW universe.
I'll definitely get one or two of these with my 33% Borders discount!

KielDaMan, on 09 September 2010 - 02:59 AM, said:

But I have to disagree with the mob, the other builds are pretty decent IMO. Those are much much better than the mini-vehicles that we get from BPs.

Yes, they are pretty decent, but better than the BPs? I don't think so. I'd take the speederbike from the first clone BP and maybe even the one from the upcoming one over this weird, colorful S-Wing speederbike (which doesn't even have an S-shape) any day.
Is that really what they call it in the book?

lightningtiger, on 08 September 2010 - 10:09 PM, said:

See I leave the book sealed and plan on building from my stock pile of parts !

Then why get the book? Just to have it in your collection?

EDIT: Are those gray pieces holding the binoculars on the AAT new? I don't think I've seen them before.

Edited by Oky Wan Kenobi, 09 September 2010 - 09:14 PM.

[prateek]

Oky Wan Kenobi, on 09 September 2010 - 09:10 PM, said:

EDIT: Are those gray pieces holding the binoculars on the AAT new? I don't think I've seen them before.

Nope. They used it in a bunch of City sets as hydraulics.

BL Link

[Oky]

Ah, OK, thanks. Just goes to show how little I buy from that theme. Looks like a useful part, so it's good that they put it into a SW set.

[pedro]

Many thansk for the review parchioso, looks like a great package to pick up. It's not available here juust yet but it's very reasonably priced for pre-order so I may well just go ahead. I'm interested to try my hand at building alternates with this, I'm be keen to see what others can do with these parts too.

Oky Wan Kenobi, on 09 September 2010 - 10:21 PM, said:

Looks like a useful part, so it's good that they put it into a SW set.

I was totally unfamiliar with too so thanks for drawing my attention to it! Certainly looks very useful.

[Brickdoctor]

pedro, on 09 September 2010 - 11:15 PM, said:

It was totally unfamiliar with too so thanks for drawing my attention to it! Certainly looks very useful.

Same here.

[KielDaMan]

Oky Wan Kenobi, on 09 September 2010 - 09:10 PM, said:

Yes, they are pretty decent, but better than the BPs? I don't think so. I'd take the speederbike from the first clone BP and maybe even the one from the upcoming one over this weird, colorful S-Wing speederbike (which doesn't even have an S-shape) any day.
Is that really what they call it in the book?

Yeah some BP mini-vehicles are ok, and the 2011 ones look like definitely improved, but when I posted that I was thinking of the awful Clone Walker, Assassin droid speeder, and Hoth Rebel mini-vehicle. But these alternate builds are quite nice considering they're just derivatives of the mini-AAT and mini-RAS. Anyways, probably it's just my personal taste.

[parchioso]

Solscud007, on 08 September 2010 - 10:58 PM, said:

would you mind posting the ISBN number from the back of the book?

The ISBN# 978-1-40535-622-0

Please check out the Amazon link for reference too.

[Baylego]

Ooh, thanks for the review! I think that this mini RAS looks much better than the one that came out earlier this year. I also like the walker. The extra minifigs will also be nice to bolster my army. I think this years Brickmaster books are much better than last years were. I hope I can pick this up soon!

[Hulk_Smash]

Can you mix the builds of this? Such as build the AT RT and the STAS?