REVIEW: #70162 Infearno Interception

[Kai NRG]

Introduction:

With a slick black exterior highlighted by light blue, Solomon Blaze’s hovercraft is the ultimate bad-guy capturing machine! Not only is the finished build snazzy, but the building process uses several neat techniques to create the eye-catching details. Let’s take a look at how we got from 313 pieces to the vehicle pictured above!

Product Details:

Name: Infearno Interception

Number: #70162

Theme: Ultra Agents

Year: 2014

Pieces: 313

Minifigures: 2

Price: USD $29.99

Source: Brickset

Paper Contents:

The box shows the agent’s vehicle to full advantage, and also points out the round transparent-orange piece Blaze is looking for, probably a lethal fire creating concoction, if Infearno’s name is any indication.

The back of the box shows off the set functions in a bit more detail.

The sides of the box give us some close-ups on the minifigures and the “mission” piece.

Like most LEGO instruction booklets, this one features the same design as the box front, with minimal text changes.

A random page reveals an off-blue background with measuring strips along the side, suggesting that this is part of some top secret communication.

The inventory page gives us a quick glance at what’s coming.

And the back features the classic “Win” advertisement, this time with the green ninja, Lloyd, blurting it out!

Last but not least, we come upon the dreaded sticker sheet. The stickers are printed on a clear background, so one must be careful with fingerprints. I found most of the stickers quite necessary for the finished build… it didn’t look the same without the agent’s symbol or the side wiring!

Build:

After dumping out the first bag, here’s what we have:

Well, it took a little subsequent organization. I haven’t got the knack of pouring things out quite that neatly yet!

Those pieces conspire to get us here:

During this first part of the build, we set the stage for a future ejection seat function.

Bag two arranges this way:

And that finishes the vehicle off for us!

You’ll notice I put the stickers on. I found it rather silly that the screen on the windshield faces outward, so afterwards I tried to take it off and put it on in the inside – unsuccessfully.

Minifigures:

The set includes two minifigures; Solomon Blaze, apparently the agent leader, and Infearno, a notorious and obviously rather fiery villain.

Beneath his fiery mask the villain hides quite a scowl. Underneath his armor he also hides some nice printing.

Both minifigures have back printing.

Infearno also has a surfboard-fire scooter affair that gives him a lift when he wants it. It’s small and simple, nothing to write home about.

Solomon Blaze sports one of the nifty new minifigure size blasters. The blasters shoot the 1x1 rounds remarkably far – I've often been concerned about losing one or two!

Vehicle Functions:

The final vehicle, agent included, looks like this:

The main function is the ability for the interceptor to change into a hovercraft, with a few turns of its wheels. The front two turn down to provide presumably something of a magnetic field effect, and the two back wheels turn down as well.

A back view:

There are a couple of problems with the function; for one thing, both the front and back wheels are designed to give the vehicle lift, but what is going to power it through the air? Plus, the back wheels are at a pretty extreme angle. In my opinion they ought to rotate toward the back of the vehicle, giving it a bit of propulsion power, and leaving the front wheels to provide lift. Of course we’re talking hypothetically here; since nothing like this actually exists, fault can’t exactly be found with the current model on the basis of realistic-ness, but the more possible it looks, the better!

Another fairly important structural flaw is the fact that, while in upright position, the wheels hardly turn. This is likely because the curved piece on the bottom of the axle sticks out ever so slightly, making a slight tilt necessary for smooth rolling. I also thought the front quite empty with nothing but orange cones underneath the cockpit.

While we’re on the subject of design flaws, I’ll mention another one; I found the six exposed studs on the side of the vehicle rather annoying.

Naturally the cockpit opens:

Descending to the smaller functions of the set, the back opens up to reveal a few spring-loaded missiles. These missiles are quite powerful, perfect for those who are tired of all the flick-fires we’ve been getting!

Another important function is the ejector seat – pushing the red button at the back ejects a round flying disc with Blaze on top – hopefully.

The disc is rather plain, once it’s outside of the cockpit.

Conclusion:

As you may have noticed, I found quite a few problems with the vehicle. In fact, I was left rather disappointed after building it – it looked rather plain compared to what I had expected, and had several problems when it came to the hovercraft function. The ejector seat was a bit of a pleasant surprise as I hadn’t realized the set included that function when I bought it. However, even that wasn’t much to write home about! The minifigures were fair, but by no means breathtakingly so. I wasn’t sure there were very many redeemable points about it at all.

Nevertheless, after examining it from all different angles, checking out the functions, and getting a few ideas as to how I could improve it, the vehicle started to grow on me. It really is an excellent concept that just needed a few tweaks to steal the show. I was able to correct almost all the problems mentioned above, and as an added plus I enjoyed the time I spent modifying it at least as much as the rest of the building time! In the final analysis, the set was definitely worth it, and although not at all display-ready in its original form, a change here and there can improve that 100%. It’s not perfect by a long shot, but Infearno’s Interception has the basics down!

Playability: 9/10 – If it breaks down a bit in other areas, the set’s playability stands the test. The flaws with the functions don’t interfere with that so much as with the aesthetics, and I had plenty of fun swooshing it around or firing at a row of minifigures or catapulting poor Solomon as far as he could go… you name it!

Design: 4/10 – Here’s where the rubber really hits the road, and I’ll have to admit it burns up a good deal. Several of the functions are seriously lacking, and there are quite a few exposed studs in places where a bit of greebling or something of the sort could have improved it pretty easily.

Minifigures: 8/10 – As I’ve mentioned before, the minifigures aren’t spectacular, but they do have nice printing, especially on Infearno.

Price: 8.5/10 – Considering the piece count, it’s a fairly good deal, and several of the pieces are quite useful. Plus, there’s a fair quantity of transparent light blue – always a great color for sci-fi type builds!

Overall: 8/10 – As you can see I gave the set a slightly larger overall score than the average of the other scores would seem to warrant. That’s because, in the final analysis, the set has lots of potential, both in play and in modification possibilities. Yes, the design has its flaws, but they aren’t irremediable, and after all that’s what Lego is all about – building and changing things however you like!

Edited August 10, 2015 by Kai NRG

[Zzz]

What a great review, thank you for that! I could kick myself not to have gotten this on the s@h sale in June! I think the design is very original and both small enough to play with but holding a good number of play features. And with this, it is one of the better Agents sets in my opinion. Also the villain is one of the best of the entire range in my book. I was afraid the front wheels are not perfect on smooth surfaces and I don't have carpet, so I too understand it is a bit annoying. The back wheels angle or function I never saw as a problem but you are right, if they could be moved backwards, that would make a great look!

[Blondie-Wan]

I can't believe this review doesn't mention the design's clear homage to the police spinners in Blade Runner.

[Kai NRG]

What a great review, thank you for that! I could kick myself not to have gotten this on the s@h sale in June! I think the design is very original and both small enough to play with but holding a good number of play features. And with this, it is one of the better Agents sets in my opinion. Also the villain is one of the best of the entire range in my book. I was afraid the front wheels are not perfect on smooth surfaces and I don't have carpet, so I too understand it is a bit annoying. The back wheels angle or function I never saw as a problem but you are right, if they could be moved backwards, that would make a great look!

Thank you! It definitely was worth it, and although I think Terrabyte is a better villain this one's not too bad, as villains go!

I can't believe this review doesn't mention the design's clear homage to the police spinners in Blade Runner.

Maybe because I've never heard of Blade Runner?...