14 replies to this topic

[Cave Bear]

I bought myself this for christmas and it arrived on christmas eve! I built it on boxing day and have finally gotten round to reviewing it so here we go. To start what it looked like in real life.

And onto the kit

The box for this one is larger than the panther tanks box but it is all filled with the parts and wastes no space whatsoever. The build took a while and was a fair bit more complicated than the panther tank but was very enjoyable and I saw many techniques I haven't seen before leading to a fun build.

Included in this kit are 4 figures although unlike the panther they do not have decals, the 2 figures sitting in the hull have just plain black bodies so I didn't take a photo of them and the 2 in the turret have what I assume is a star wars imperial officer torso which is a shame after the great decals included in the panther and for a more expensive kit you would expect more detail on the figures not less.

So there it is complete and it looks very good. It towers over figures and the detail is superb.

Again a shot of the back and again the back is very detailed.

This is how the tank looks with all the hatches open which is a nice touch that I think adds to playability or display ability of the tank and again the engine of the tank is very detailed.

Just like the panther tank the 2 crew members can rest in or outside of the tank and the other 2 can only rest in the turret.

And finally what some people might think as a highlight to the kit, the V1 brick arms mg34 prototype I think it fits very well on the tank but I wouldn't really mind if the kit came with or without it as it will be released some day for everyone to purchase.
So, the scores
Price: For a kit of this detail, in primarily tan bricks and all the work that must have gone into it I thought it was reasonably priced but for someone who doesn't have the kit will probably think it's very overpriced so 8/10 ( It cost $385.)
Parts: I felt the parts were very good in this kit as it is in an accurate colour and is very consistent so I think it deserves 9/10
Playability: Very fun to play with, I would know   with all the detail and opening hatches turning turret etc I think its very playable 9/10
Figures: The only disappointment I felt of the kit, as 4 figures with accurate decals would have perfected the kit but still you can buy them yourself from somewhere and apply them yourself so not a complete loss 7/10
And the total is 33/40 again, a very good model only let down buy its price and the figures if you want it buy it!

Edited by Rufus, 29 April 2012 - 11:13 AM.
Indexed

[Edmond Dantes]

So ... what IS the price?

[Cave Bear]

Oops sorry I forgot to say!    Well as it has now been archived it is unable to purchase but I believe that it was around $385.

[into the blue]

 Cave Bear, on 09 January 2012 - 08:33 PM, said:

...but I believe that it was around $385.

Sorry, how much?!

[Brickmamba]

Wow great looking world war vehicle but not at that price  

[Cave Bear]

Yeah it was quite a dent in the wallet    but don't worry, I'll review some of the cheaper ones eventually, I've ordered myself the $100 chaffee and when it arrives I will review it here on eurobricks.

[Joey Lock]

 Cave Bear, on 11 January 2012 - 06:14 PM, said:

Yeah it was quite a dent in the wallet    but don't worry, I'll review some of the cheaper ones eventually, I've ordered myself the $100 chaffee and when it arrives I will review it here on eurobricks.

You my good sir, have been ripped off. I managed to make a near exact detail replica of a similar one I saw on Brickshelf merely by eye and overall it probably cost me £5 in my electricity bill.

[LuxorV]

Thanks for sharing the review, Cave Bear, but could you please reduce the pics size to 800 pixels maximum, as per our Member Guidelines? Thank you.

[surrideo]

Just had a look at the Brickmania website and all the models the designer has for sale.

He clearly has a market for his work and Im guessing sourcing some of the colours in reasonable quantity for the projects isnt that easy but if you want it and are willing to pay him who am I to argue.....

However his SAS jeep at $75 I could put together and I have a relatively small collection of bricks

[Cave Bear]

Sorry about the image sizes I'll get them correctly sized in the future. Thanks for the comment but I don't feel I have been ripped off as I have neither the time, bricks nor ability to make one of my own I wanted a tiger tank so I bought one with my money and am very pleased with the result it is what I wanted and its what I got and yes some kits I do feel are overpriced such as the SAS jeep as you say surrideo it would be an easy enough build from the eye but a kit like this would be a lot harder to make and the inside, wheels etc are very complicated, it wouldn't be possible to make from the eye.

[meyerc13]

Personally I wouldn't drop the change for one of these kits, its too rich for my blood.  But then again I wouldn't shell out the money for one of the retired modulars either, but plenty of people do that.  I think the key is to look at it like a collectible, and not as an MOC.  If you don't want to buy the kit, he also sells instructions for some of his designs.

I probably sound like I know the designer, which I don't.  However, I've been to the Brickmania Toyworks a few times now with my kids, and I've got to say the designer seems to be a really nice guy and gives back a lot to the AFOL community.  He allows a couple of LEGO train clubs to leave a permanent display setup in his warehouse space, and the TwinLUG group is also meeting there now.  Knowing that he gives back so much, when I see comments about him ripping people off - that's so much the opposite of what I've seen that I had to speak up.

[Cave Bear]

Thats a well balanced opinion meyerc thank you, I do look upon the kits I own as a collectors item and not as any normal lego kit and while as I live in the UK I have never met the designer I have spoken to him on the phone a few times and have read a lot about what they do and he seems really nice. It isn't him being greedy, it's his job he has to make a living and if people want the kits he can sell them to them and while no they aren't cheap that isn't the point it fills a market that hasn't been filled well before.

[Stash2Sixx]

Cave Bear, thanks for the great review.  Brickmania makes quality sets and I'm sure Dan would love to see this review!  Thanks for sharing it!

[Stinch57]

Nice job with the Tiger although it should be bigger to better match the figures.  The travel lock for the gun barrel on the right rear was not common to most Tigers and was only used in production for about four months.  The engine hatch on Tigers is hinged at the rear, not the front.  If I didn't have a 1/6th scale RC model, I'd considering one of these.

Edited by Stinch57, 27 January 2012 - 12:22 PM.

[Cave Bear]

Thanks for the comments everyone! And Stinch you have to consider that a lego minifigure isn't a perfectly scaled down human being they are completely different shapes so the tank can't fit the figures exactly and while I don't know everything about the Tiger and I'm not going to pretend I do, the kit seemed fairly accurate compared to the one in the museum at bovington one of the first things I did when I got it was compare the two to the photos and the two seem pretty similar, the kit is as close as you could probably get in lego form. Thanks again for the comments though!