Review: 20015 Crocodile

[Inconspicuous]

Welcome to my review of the cute, little 20015 Crocodile. This set is Brickmaster promotional for May/June and I received it promptly on May 5th. I did a little research on the set, and there is some discrepancy as to what the set's name is. Brickset calls it "Alligator" while Bricklink calls it "Crocodile". If I had to choose one, crocodile sounds cooler, even though it's more realistically an alligator. Hence, I will compromise and use fallentomato's fun terminology, the "crocogator" throughout the review. Enjoy!

BASIC INFORMATION:

Set Name: Crocodile/Alligator

Set Number: 20015

Number of Pieces: 89

Minifigs: 0

Price: N/A (promo, est. value: $6.00 USD)

Theme: Creator

Year Released: 2010

RESOURCES:

Brickset

Bricklink

Flickr

All pics are clickable for a larger version

THE REVIEW:

BAG:

Front:

The set comes in a very large Brickmaster polybag. The crocogator is displayed with a nice blue background, yellow stripe, and a Brickmaster logo. The set's high piece count (for a Brickmaster promo) is featured with other basic set info.

Back:

There's not much special on the back, except a small 1:1 scale picture of a yellow plate. You can see the pieces inside through that clear stripe.

Bag:: Thoughts: Simple enough yet pleasing. Since this set wouldn't be on a store shelf, they don't need to make it flashy.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Front:

The instruction booklet is the same size as other Brickmaster promos, and has a fold in the middle, even though it could have fit into the bag without being folded. An even simpler picture is showcased here.

Random Page:

This random page shows us the lovely blue background with the yellow border, a trademark of Creator sets. You can also see that since the submodels in the set are quite large, they get there own two-or-three page spread.

Back:

The parts inventory is on the back, with no screaming kids to be found.

Alternate:

As an additional bonus, alternate instructions are featured in the Brickmaster magazine itself. I don't really like the alternate frog very much, especially when compared to the crocogator. Click here for the second page.

Instructions:: Thoughts: Simple and concise, just like the bag.

PIECES:

Large Pieces:

Here are the loose pieces inside the polybag: a great selection of green, with touches of tan and brown. Seeing all these familiar pieces in green reminds me of looking at the Toy Story Army Men set for the first time. I do like the selection quite a bit, even if the color palette is limited.

Small Pieces:

The main polybag has one smaller bag, the contents of which are shown here. It contains a motherload of cheese slopes, especially in lime green. Also featured are the newer clips, which appear to be thicker and designed to last longer. I'm not sure how new they are, but I certainly haven't noticed them before.

Pieces of interest:

The more interesting pieces include a plethora of colored clips, tiles, and angled plates. There's nothing incredibly exciting, but considering it's small set, that's fine.

Piece:

This plate really caught my attention. When I first saw it, it looked like a new color to me. Now I'm not so sure it is, but it's certainly pretty.

Pieces:: Thoughts: Not too many colors, but a good selection of types.

THE BUILD:

Build:

The build is fairly quick. First, the main body is built and decorated, and next the tail, lower jaw, and head are added respectively. The number of large submodels is due to the flexible design, with lots of joints and moving limbs.

Extras:

The leftovers are standard cheese slopes, tile, and a stud.

Build:: Thoughts: The submodel construction is nice, although no interesting techniques are used.

COMPLETED PRODUCT:

The Whole Set:

And we have our completed crocogator! Isn't it purty?

Back:

The crocogator has nice, cheese ridges down its back and onto its tail. Although it does have a tan belly, the tan in the last tail segment jumps out at me in a negative way.

Top:

Here's a close-up of the lower back area. You can see that although the tail is connected, there is a large gap. If they could have pulled it off well, I would have preferred the tail to move side-to-side, like the regular Lego one.

Arm:

The arms and legs are attached with a surprising mechanism- a plate sandwiched between two other on one stud! This is actually an ingenious and sturdy mechanism that allows for more poseability. The gray clip is the only breaking hazard, but the new pieces stick together fine for me.

Arms Moved:

As you can see here, the crocogator can move his limbs very freely. Right now, he's pretending to go down an invisible Slip 'N Slide.

Tail:

The tail is also very flexible, and can be bent at a ridiculous angle. I'm not really sure what to think of this. It's cool but not very realistic or practical.

Head:

Now let's take a look at his detailed head. You can see that his eyes aren't fully sealed in, but his black pupils make the cute-o-meter go off the charts. And look at that toothy smile! He's adorable!

Jaw:

The upper and lower parts of his mouth are on different hinges, so poseability is limitless.

Mouth:

I wouldn't want to be this guy's dentist! Braces wouldn't do much, and look at how flattened his upper teeth are! And his gums are red and swollen too! But really, I think his mouth looks better only partially open.

Closed:

Like this! Now that's one beautiful smile. Say cheese!

Wide Open:

Of course, the crocogator is a natural at biting off more than he can chew! Another fun, but unrealistic function.

Belly:

Looking at his belly, we can see how there's consistent tan all over, including some touches of brown under his belly.

Pose 1:

Let's try out some wacky imitation! Here, our crocogator is posing as a venus fly trap.

Pose 2:

Now, he's a hinged battering ram. Or maybe he just saw a pretty lady-gator.

Nom Nom:

Every day... dozens of pirates are devoured by GREEN crocogators!

Battle:

And finally, Battle of the Creator promos! Who will win?

_______________________________________________

Totals:

Design: 9/10 It's very cute, but there are a few flaws, like the unclosed eye sockets and the odd tail joint. However, it's pretty darn good otherwise!

Parts: 9/10 A nice selection, with rarer pieces in green and some other specialty pieces too. It's not astounding, but nothing average either.

Build: 9/10 The submodel construction is nice, and the build is straightforward. However, it really lacked that "wow" factor that many sets have.

Playability: 9/10 It's a single animal. On its own, there's not very much fun playability, but it can be fun when combined with other sets. It is very poseable too, even if it's unrealistic.

Price: 10/10 $6 for 89 is a great deal, but of course this came as a promo anyways.

Total: 46/50 Overall, a very solid and cute set. I always dreaded the Creator promos, and the Star Wars ones were the ones I really cared about. However, I was really impressed by this set, and I hope Lego continues to make sets of this caliber in the future.

Bonus:

Smaller Gator: "Dude, lay off the steroids."

Thanks for reading!

-Inky

Edited May 9, 2010 by WhiteFang
Indexed

[legitimatealex]

Good review. When I first saw this I thought you had shrunk down the 30 dollar creator set.

[Big Cam]

I really like the use of cheese slopes on this, it actually looks really good.

Great review!

[Commodore Hornbricker]

Nice review. I like the the set. Great picture of the pirate getting munched on. Thanks

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the review 'Inconspicuous' - very handy set of parts - different shapes different colours !

Stacks of cheese slopes - lime green - nice !

As a croc, not bad - wouldn't say it's as good as the parrot that 'Svelte' reviewed the other day, but still it's cute.

I'm a conformist! everyone !

[Front]

Nice detailed review. I like the animals in the Creator theme, they are some of the Lego sets with the best value. Haven't seen this smaller one though, but your review does make it look great.

[LuxorV]

Would seem this is the time of the year when bagged animals start to pop around!

Thanks for this nice review, Inconspicuous

A little set with diffrent shades of green is always welcome.

LuxorV

[prateek]

Wow, so many pieces for a BM set, and the model isn't that bad either

[Milan]

Nice little set, body of the crock could be a little bigger.

I like the head, it looks cute.