Cobi 2601

[Brickviller]

Okay this is my first non-Lego building block review.

I know a lot of people don't like these kind of sets but I really think that we and Lego can learn some things from other companies.

I bhought this set because in my childhood I always watched this, and I would love to have a tank like that. However when I found out they sold a similar tank in a 'battle pack'like box I know I wanted it. However the shipping cost were far to high so I didn't do it.

But a few months ago I discovered a Dutch shop selling most of the kits. And also this one.

I could get this one for 45 euro, so I decided to give it a try, and maybe buy more if this set was good.

The manufacture is Cobi, a Polish toy maker. They have various themes that Lego refused to make, like modern military and roman army kits.

The name of the set is Secret Mission.

Let's start with the box, a somewhat over-computerized render of the set. This set includes a jeep, tank, and a jet fighter. On the lower side of the box you can see the amount of bricks, minifigs and accesories. Also it says it works with other brands.

The back of the box shows the set from another angle. Also the functions of the tank are shown. Again a small strip saying the excact same thing it said at the front, the minifigs, accesories and amount of bricks.

Side of the box

Other side of the box

Upper side of the box showing some information, also a 1:1 picture of a minifig.

Underside of the box showing some information about the bricks, where they're made and so on.

My friend Bob the constuction man helps me to open the box

And this is what's inside. 3 small bags filled with bricks. I was very happy to see they were sepperated because it would be a pain to sort all this out. Also the big piece for the tank hull and rubber tracks were lose inside the box.

In this review I will only review the tank. But maybe I will review the jeep and jet in the future here. The big back contains five smaller bags and the instruction booklet. This one was very small and only a few pages long. I thought it would be a disaster to watch those small images. And seeking which bricks are added.

Bob needs to sort all pieces before he can begin.

And all pieces are sorted. I didn't thought the tank would include so much bricks. Also many bricks are very close to Lego. Like the black plates. I think some of us can't even tell the difference until they look really close to the studs and see Cobi instead of Lego.

These are the minifig parts, like Lego they have a torso, legs, head and so on. But these minifigs have noses making them different than their worldwide known cousins.

Some of the pieces, more close-ups in the next pics

One of the bricks that really impressed me were these. A 4x1 double sided plate. The set includes many of these kind of parts that are double sided. This shows that other companies also can have some good ideas.

The barrels, and some other equipment. I think the barrel design is too simplified. The previous tank I've shown earlier had brick build barrels. To me that looked better. But all in all I think that tank looked better than this one.

Some more interesting pieces.

And the black plates. Really they look like Lego, only the Cobi name on the top of the studs make the difference. If I would tell you that there is a Lego plate in this pic would you believe me?

If Bob wants to construct the tank he will need some help. His friends come to help him. Also note that the instructions are much more clear than I thought. This is because all the added bricks are in color while the ones from the previous step are white-ish. Also in every corner of each step the amount and which bricks are used are shown. This makes constructing in a lot more easy and for me partly justifies the small instruction book.

After one page we have someking of frame. But the odd thing is that it's build upside down. What?! I thought, because of all the tanks I've made non of them is build upside down. This is at least a good thing, because Lego has (as far as I know) never done this.

Again some steps further. Also the rubber tracks are added. They're really elastic like rubber bands.

And some steps later I needed to add the hull to the other upside down part of the tank. This is the underside of the tank hull showing some studs for attatchment.

And the tank hull is almost complete. However one of the construction workers began to act violently because he felt so powerfull with it's oversized-not-yet-finished-but-still-operational-green-or-dark-green-tank-hull.

And finnaly the tank is fully operational. It's very big, and looks really good. Almost something that Lego could come up with. Now we only need to put some minifigs in, but hey! Where are those?

Here they are, as I said these have noses. And their color is different. But I believe I've read that these parts can be replaced by Lego ones. Making them like Lego or like Cobi minifigs. The quality is good, but not as good as Lego. These are more or less as good as the Collectable minifigs from Lego.

Also I found that the tank is extremely similar to a (old Soviet) T-55 tank. These are still in use in most eastern-Europe countries. I really like this because I always loved Soviet based tanks. And most of the building block manufactures make western-like tanks.

Front of the tank

Also the turret can turn, and it's not loose or anything but it stays nicely in place. Also the main gun can be elevated and also stays nicely in place.

The back of the tank. IMO this is a little plain compared to the previous one. No exhaust, cables, or attachment points.

Close-up of the turret. One of the hatches can be closed while to other one is open. They use a roadwheel cover to make a hatch. That's IMO really creative use of bricks. Also it has a nice machine gun on top, and somekind of light.

And now the tank is ready for duty with it's crew.

The last page of the instructions shows the tank from different angels. This helped me to see some things that weren't clear in the instructions.

A last shot of the entire set

Conclusion

This set is, for a non Lego set, very good. Some really interesting parts, building techniques, and the quality is also good (not as good as Lego however). The price wasn't too bad either being just a little bit les than Lego sets (I was told 25% lower). The playability of such a set is also very high. I think that if I wasn't into Lego I would make a big military base (idea?). Kids will love these sets because they offer great playability, and are expandable like Lego.

However some things were not so good, like the airplane. Really the airplane was bad, way to blocky. However Cobi offers some other planes that look better. Also the box art showed different colors than the real thing. But I expected that because that's mostly with these kind of box art things.

Points

Price: 4 out of 5

Playablity: 4 out of 5

quality: 3 out of 5, some of the plates wouldn't fit together and the rubber tires for the jeep were really hard to put on

Parts: 4 out of 5

Overal: 3,7 out of 5

So if you really like military like sets I would recomend the South Korean Oxford sets. But if you don't have that option this is a close second. It offers much variation in terms of verhicles and colorschemes. It can't replace Lego in any way except the themes and equipment for the minifigs.

Also here you can see the older tank called ' Groza' which I think is not better than this one. The new one uses much more parts. However the Groza came as a stand-alone set making it easier to build an army of tanks. Also the Groza has some more details at the back of the tank which I pointed out earlier.

Also when I searched the Cobi site I found this

I think it's supposed to be released later this year. I would be really happy if it's also gonna be sold over here. And this tank uses track links, like Lego does, so I wouldn't have to worry about broken rubber tracks. Also it seems they replaced the turret with a more brick-build one. I hope it will be a stand alone set, but ofcourse Lego will be my number 1.

Here you can find bigger and better pics of this set: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=467095

I wanted to thanks Puzzlingworld for offer me this set here in the Netherlands. Further I wanted to thanks brickshelf user Kelpaz for his pictures of the Groza.

[vexorian]

Is this the same set as OxFord's ? I remember that I heard about a deal between Cobi and OxFord so that Cobi can release OxFord's designs in Europe.

It looks great. But the pale colored minifigs are a turn down.

Regarding the review, I think the pictures are too small. But otherwise it is detailed.

[Brickviller]

Is this the same set as OxFord's ? I remember that I heard about a deal between Cobi and OxFord so that Cobi can release OxFord's designs in Europe.

It looks great. But the pale colored minifigs are a turn down.

Regarding the review, I think the pictures are too small. But otherwise it is detailed.

Thanks for your kind words. To answer your question, no it's not the same as oxford. Cobi has a contract with Best-lock (they make lower quality building blocks) whith designs from Oxford. I own tanks of all three companies and Oxford is the best, but is not avlaible in my country so Cobi is a a good alternative

Also larger pics can be found in my Brickshelf gallery

Edited March 25, 2011 by Brickviller

[Amideko]

Hmm what can I say, in some points I disagree with you because for me Cobi is the 2nd best brand after Lego, and the quality is getting better and better very quickly, you have to understand that Lego had patent on their bricks since 2011 so no other brand was able to use similar bricks. I don't know but I gees that you have never hold Oxfords army set in your life because the quality is not as good as Cobis and the mini figures are just too different to Legos. BTW I have the new Cobis tank and all I can say is that it's great.