Kre-o

[JamesBenjamin]

I know there's some curiosity about these sets, and the few reviews I've seen so far all look at it from a Transformers Action Figure collector's perspective. I picked up the Bumblebee and Megatron sets earlier today, and would like to post a review for those who are interested.

I know other brands are frowned upon by some (most?) but I think it's worth at least posting a review for them.

So where should I go about it? In here?

Edit: my title got cut off... it should end "where should I?"

Edited June 13, 2011 by Rufus
Title fixed

[prateek]

Post them here in the community section

[Rufus]

I know other brands are frowned upon by some (most?) but I think it's worth at least posting a review for them.

So where should I go about it? In here?

Clone brand reviews should indeed be posted here in Community.

I looked at one of those sets. The part designs are remarkably similar to LEGO's

[IAmWillGibson]

I know, personally, I'm very interested in getting some balanced perspective on these things, being a sucker for both Transformers and LEGO. Everyone over there gets bunged up by "Bah! They don't Transform!" and everyone here will be all "Gah, they ain't LEGO!" and I'm hoping that between the two ends I can actually get a non-biased feel for the product itself, in and out of these respective vacuums.

[JamesBenjamin]

Clone brand reviews should indeed be posted here in Community.

I looked at one of those sets. The part designs are remarkably similar to LEGO's

Yeah, some parts are almost identical to Lego parts (not including the obvious plates and straight bricks), for example the weird curvy bits like this one: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=47456

But there are some parts that are distinctly different, and i found the build surprisingly engaging. I picked up Megatron and the larger bumblebee sets. I did the truck megatron build today (and took pics) and I'll probly do the Bee car tomorrow (to get pics of both vehicles together) then do both robot modes and then post a full review.

Early thoughts:

Bricks are surprisingly good quality, waaaaay better than MB and really really close to Lego quality. (my ears hear the same "plink" from both Lego and Hasbro bricks, which is not the case with other clones).

Kreon heads are shaped differently, not fully round. They have a "jaw" part that makes the heads distinct.

And the one build I did so far (Megatron truck) was surprisingly creative and complex, using SNOT techniques and an interesting amount of greebling (is that how that's spelled?)

Also: a surprising amount of "new" bricks that are useful (and not just BURPs or small BURPs)

Anywho, check back in a few days, I'll post the reviews, and let everyone know what's good and bad.

[5150 Lego]

There have been a few reviews over at the Transformers forums as well as a couple Youtube reviews. All so far have been very positive. All have said the the brick quality is good; on par with LEGO. The only complaints i've heard so far has been stress marks on the Kre-o minifigure hands. other than that, all that have reviewed have recomended them. I look farward to your full non-baised review JamesBenjamin.

[KurttKrueger]

I'm a big Transformers fan also, but I can't get over my 'Lego Clone' prejudice I'm afraid, I'm a Lego fan first and foremost.

It does rankle me that they seem to have knocked off so many of Lego's elements. I wonder if this is the knock on effect of Lego not being able to copyright their brick designs?

[Deinonychus]

I'm eager to see what you think, especially if you've acquired a few that I haven't. I've gotten four of them already and like them way more than I thought I would...especially considering the non-transforming thing.

After Built To Rule I was hesitant, but I think Hasbro has redeemed themselves.

[IAmWillGibson]

I'm eager to see what you think, especially if you've acquired a few that I haven't. I've gotten four of them already and like them way more than I thought I would...especially considering the non-transforming thing.

After Built To Rule I was hesitant, but I think Hasbro has redeemed themselves.

That's just it. They're not Transformers, they're building-block models of Transformers characters. I've yet to play with them, but from what I've seen, they seem to have come very close to the mark in that aim. Robot modes looks fairly good [not stunning but not terrible, trending towards good] and vehicle modes look decent to nice [with Prime, Megatron, and Sentinel looking very nice]. And having perused the instructions, it's neat to see that there are quite a few non-knockoff parts designs in there too, which are in the very least interesting. [Word on the street is these are actually made by Oxford, although never having toyed with this brand, I can't say if that's good or bad.]

I find it particularly funny that much [if not all] of the hesitation coming from Transfans is that they don't transform, and then all of them tack on "But I love the Kreons." Who, you know, don't transform.

As for BTR, it's an unfair comparison, because those designs were atrocious. Seriously, just ugly, ugly models.

[Deinonychus]

That's just it. They're not Transformers, they're building-block models of Transformers characters.

Right. And at this point in Transformers' existence, the characters themselves carry a weight all their own, and Transforming isn't 100% required each and every time. Personally, I'm a huge fan of Action Masters, a series nearly universally loathed amongst Transfans for not transforming, but the line provided action figures of already beloved characters, and Kre-O does the same thing with it's buildable models.

However, I've had several different block sets going back to the mid-80's that featured actual transforming robots, and even the ones I'd build as a kid would transform without disassembly. Or just search Brickshelf, transforming models abound. I just figured if anyone could find a way to execute transformation with a block set, and execute it well, it would be Hasbro.

But I'm forgiving. I've got five of them now and I love each and every one

[IAmWillGibson]

I've done a bit of a review on three Kre-O sets, trying to look at them from the perspective of a LEGO fan and a Transformers fan in equal measure.

Have a look if you're interested, and feel free to voice an opinion here as well.

Kre-O: The Perfect Storm?

[Rumble Strike]

That's a nicely entertaining round-up!

I've yet to see these on shelves in the UK, and apart from morbid curiousity would probably pass on these. My Transformers days are well behind me now.

[Tohst]

Very nice review.

I'm also in that sweet spot for these things of being a big fan of Transformers although my Lego addiction is stronger.

I jumped in when TRU had a pretty decent sale over the weekend and got Sentinel and Megatron. Please bear with me as I vomit random thoughts on the page.

First off, character look and selection:

These came out this year for synergy with the new movie. Thus, the characters are movie characters, right? Megatron is in his tank mode. Sentinel, while not completely new, hasn't had much exposure except this new movie. So, why does Sentinel's head not look like the one from the movie? His alt-mode is movie inspired, for sure. And then the kreons. They are all Generation 1 based. It is this anything goes mentallity that will crop up again in my thoughts. In character selection, this could be great. In that, maybe we'll get a wide range of sets on off-movie years. Dinobots? Tranformers Prime robots with G1 Kreons? Who knows?

With these two, I've ignored the human Kridiots, but I seem to have a good ruling group for the Decepticons with G1 Megs, G1 Shockwave, and G1 Soundwave to boss around G1 Thundercraker who isn't quite sure he agrees with the Kreon mission. That's a great selection and I hope for future releases they delve deeper into Transformer lore instead of eventually having as many G1 Megatrons as there are Luke Skywalkers. And for those pendants, I know the new style guidelines say that when presenting a list of equal options you are no longer supposed to put the comma before the final and unless there are options in the list that require and for identificaton. Well. Too bad! I also got Sentinel Prime, who as a Kreon apparently likes to fish so I think the Decepticons will be running wild for a bit.

Parts Selection

Really. Anything goes. Anything. Not having bought a lot of knock-offs and no Oxford bricks at all I can't tell you if some of the pieces I find wacky are normal for them. But you have things like 1 x 2 inverse slopes that look exactly like Lego next to 1 x 2 inverse slopes....with decoration on the sloped bit and a notch on the back so the non-sloped area is actually 2 plates high. And Lego's reason for having texture on slope pieces was they all started off as roofs back when people thought of cars as we think of flying cars. Here, you know its because they just want to be as close to Lego as possible. And a 1 x 1 two plate high piece? really?

Some pieces they've taken a Lego design and tweeked it just slightly resulting in something that looks like it wants to be Lego but just didn't quite make it. I'm thinking the control stick specifically here but there are others.

Some pieces they've taken a Lego design and genuinely improved it. For example, the snot piece that is a 1 x 2 plate with a 2 x 2 plate. Only this time, whereas the Lego version, the back of the 1 x 4 section is smooth the Kre-o version has grooves so you could mount it on studs. Bonus. Of course they also have the 1 x 2 plate with a 1 x 2 perpendicular plate. And the Lego-like 1 x 2 plate with 1 x4 plate only the 1 x 2 area has an attacked 1 x 4 plate underneath. Whatever SNOT piece you need, they seem to have cranked out a mold. ANYTHING GOES!.

A special mention goes out to the robot parts. The ball joints and rubber robot heads. I think they did a great job with these and the pieces work much better than the Bionicle/Exo-force pieces of being able to be built into the vehicle modes without making them look like robots sitting down.

Part Quality

Parts clutch and de-clutch great. They clutch and de-clutch to Lego great. The red is very close to Lego and not milky or translucent at all. The grays...oh, the grays. The gray in Megatron is more like old dark gray. The grey in Sentinel is more like new dark bluish grey. Yes, they are putting out sets with non-matching colors. I'll be interested to see how much consistancy or non-consistancy there is across the board but my initial reaction is to dislike that. ANYTHING GOES! Also, they seem to have issues with blue-trans. 1 x 1 blue tran rounds were very light, almost white. What looked like 1 x 2 blue-tran tiles in the instructions were very purple.

Instructions are on very heavy paper and came out in good shape from the box. I keep thinking the pages are sticking together because it is so much thicker than Lego instructions. They are very Lego like in terms of clarity including some issues with color differentiation. Which, combined with the fact there are extra parts because of the two modes and no parts list page, was a little frustrating to me.

Design Quality

I'm comparing these larger sets to larger Exo-force sets. Mostly because its not fair to compare a $14 set to these, which were $30 and $40 retail. Because they had the extra need to build a vehicle and make the robots look like they turned into set vehicles, I feel these really are more interesting in design that what we got with exo-force. Again there are areas where they seem to throw things at the robot to see what sticks. Almost what IAmWillGibson says he wants them to do, I think they may be doing too much of in the larger sets.

It feels like there may be Oxford designers and Hasbro Transformer designers working together and not quite meshing.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the inevitable GIJoe sets. I think the vehicles will be more solid and interesting without the need to incorporate all the robot parts. Plus, I've never bought GIJoe anything so maybe I'll be less picky about how they turn out.

Conclusion

Much better than Built-To-Rule. I'm interested to see where this line goes. It seems by far the best knock-off I've encountered especially in comparison to Mega-Blox which is the most visable one around here.

-Tohst

[IAmWillGibson]

Here's my thoughts on Prowl, should you care to read them!

[Tohst]

Here's my thoughts on Prowl, should you care to read them!

Another good review. Good job on the rebuild to make it a decent bot.

The build on these are really weird. Half well thought out and half completely not thought out with not much in between.

Also, the fact that the insignias are stickers just bugs the heck out of me.

-Tohst

[IAmWillGibson]

Another good review. Good job on the rebuild to make it a decent bot.

The build on these are really weird. Half well thought out and half completely not thought out with not much in between.

Also, the fact that the insignias are stickers just bugs the heck out of me.

-Tohst

I completely agree. I mean, the core of the robots is actually a pretty complicated structure to figure out, with some neat topsey-sidesey building and fairly "advanced" stuff.

But then so much of it is slapdash and rushed and weird. I'm looking at these not so much as finished models, like I treat LEGO, but rather as challenges to be overcome.

[Legorski]

I was recently watching t.v. only to stumble upon a commercial for a toy called Kre-o.

These brick-built transformers can be built in their humanoid or vehicle form, and are produced by Hasbro.

Many of the pieces are total rips of those made by Lego, and I understand the simple resemblance of the simple bricks, but many of the pieces known to be more modern Lego pieces are also copied.

What are your thoughts on the toys? Good, Bad, Ugly?

I personally am shocked Hasbro would go and produce such a mirror-match toy as the Lego bricks we love.

I can't find any information on a partnership between the two, so I assume that this is a try at Hasbro making money by selling products resembling those made by Lego.

[The Iron Knight]

I think that I'll not be buying any of them, but I will admit that Megatron's and Optimus Prime's head molds look really really cool. That said, the figures themselves look pretty awkward as far as poseability goes, and even in general aesthetics. Also, even though I'm not super shocked, you should check out the little minifig Transformers that are packaged with the big bots; they have a decent resemblance to LEGO's minifigs (albeit with better articulation).

is a decent enough review displaying Megatron. I'm pretty sure Prime's review is in the suggestions. Edited August 28, 2011 by The Iron Knight

[Hewman]

The ones I've seen don't actually transform, you can just build the two models separately from the same pieces which sort of defeats the purpose of it being a transformer. I think someone here created a very clever Transformers MOC that did actually transform but I can't find the topic.

[trainguy111]

One such franchise i would like to see in Kreo is My Little Pony: Friendship is magic. Think of all the possibilities.

[Snark]

One such franchise i would like to see in Kreo is My Little Pony: Friendship is magic. Think of all the possibilities.

There was actually some chatter down at Ponychan about the possibility of MLP Kre-O. I for one, would snap them up in an instant.

[Artanis I]

There was actually some chatter down at Ponychan about the possibility of MLP Kre-O. I for one, would snap them up in an instant.

I would snap up the Kreons...

[trainguy111]

There was actually some chatter down at Ponychan about the possibility of MLP Kre-O. I for one, would snap them up in an instant.

Not if I snap them first. The possibilities with them and lego are endless!

[Snark]

For better or for worse, Hasbro has stated they only have plans to expend the Transformers Kre-O line for 2012. Given that I'm a big TF fan, that's quite fine by me, but it's still a bit of a bummer that it'll be at least another year before we even have a chance of seeing any Pony Kre-Os.

[lightningtiger]

In the great land of Oz our loyalty to Lego must be strong....unless retailers are good...I mean really good at restocking the shelves, they are always full of this Kre-o. Like 'Hewman' stated they don't really transform - you must rip apart to change styles.....a total defeat of purpose eh ?

Even with mass TV coverage, I feel sales have been not so hot.

How has this product sold elsewhere ?