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xboxtravis7992

Review 8317-1 Allegra and 8313 Nick Bluetooth Deluxe

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If you saw that topic title and wanted to throw up a little, I can't blame you. If you want to check your window to make sure the bombs aren't falling, you can do that too; but I assure you this review is not a sign of the apocalypse. This is an intent to remedy a small issue we have here in the action figure forum: We don't have reviews of any Galidor sets.

Yes. I just said that. This is a review of a Galidor set. Actually, it is a review of two Galidor sets.

Galidor has become the butt end of a lot of jokes from the AFOL community. We all know it was an attempt by Lego to introduce a radically new system, in conjunction with a T.V. show to advertise the new line. While we know that the product-T.V. show-movie approach would work for later themes such as Bionicle, Ninjago, and Chima: Galidor was a major flop.

But here is the interesting thing, which makes this review very timely. Galidor lives on in the toy shelf right now! That is right, as we speak the spawn of Galidor is at your local supermarket. But don't expect to find it in the Lego aisle; look instead for the actions figures... Yes I'm talking about Hasbo's line called Heromashers which in short sums up everything Galidor was. Looking at the Hasbro spawn though, it becomes clear why Galidor flopped in Lego's hands while a nearly identical idea can be successful in Hasbro's... Galidor, was an action figure line not a construction toy.

Yes, while Bionicle, Slizer, and Hero Factory were all "construct-able action figures" they all shared compatibility with Lego's main products. They were built from the ground up, following instruction booklets. Despite their different style, these "constraction" figures all followed Lego's typical design features. However when Galidor was first built, it had nearly ZERO cross-compatibility with Lego products, (although by the end of 2002 the Exo-Toa set would introduce a Technic piece that was compatible with Galidor [EDIT: In the comments Frozen Assasin and Kalta the Noble Mind pointed out that Galidor-Rachet system compatibility pieces where also included in Alpha Team in 2003, and Knights Kingdom in 2004]). Despite this, Galidor was still very very far removed from the core Lego products.

Yet back in 2002 I was just an 8 year old kid... I was not aware of Lego's marketing schemes or how far removed Galidor was from the core Lego product. When the ads for Galidor showed up in the Lego Magazine and Catalog; I wanted it. By the end of 2002, I had five of the main Galidor sets; plus several small McDonalds Happy Meal toys. And while the Lego fan community has oft treated Galidor in the same categories as Ebola and Smallpox; I have kept all of mine.

So yes, now 13 years later; I present this review of Lego's Galidor sets Allegra and Nick Bluetooth Deluxe.

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Set info here: http://brickset.com/.../8317-1/Allegra

If I remember right in the Galidor story; Allegra was a friend of Nick Bluetooth and the two got sucked into "The Outer Dimension" together where they had to fight evil in SPACE! Yeah. From the Lego fan's perspective Allegra is a 11-piece $10 USD set (Brickset states Allegra has only 10 pieces, but having it in hand I can testify there is 11). That is right, the price for piece ratio for Galidor is nearly 1 piece = 1 dollar... Allegra's play-ability is increased by including this... um... this... orange dog thing. I have no idea what the heck that thing is supposed to be. Allegra is built with 9 pieces and the dog thing with 2. All the pieces are exclusive to this set.

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Allegra's head has a hole in the back to insert a rubber head piece. Or it can be used to shove a Galidor limb into it. Or shove another head onto it... It is a very strange place to have a connection joint.

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The orange dog thing is actually aligned to sit perfectly over Lego studs. The feet don't have any tubes though, so the clutch power is non-existing. However, the color of the dog thing is "Old Dark Gray" if anybody wants to see more old gray pieces. Be warned though, that orange rubber tail piece is permanently attached to the dog thing. The Imperial Guard is included for scale.

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Here is Allegra, and our next subject of review Nick Bluetooth together. Hahli Inika is included for scale, and shows that the Galidor figures are as tall as the Bionicle Inika-type builds. Note that Nick here has his normal arms...

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Set Info here: http://brickset.com/...luetooth-Deluxe

And here is Nick with his action arms! Yes those are airplane wings... Included with the wings were rubber darts similar to those used in the Exo-Toa; but with a Galidor-unique mold which Bricklink calls "Technic Competition Arrow, Solid Shaft with Black Rubber End." My Shi-Tzu destroyed those parts nearly a decade ago, so I don't have them to photograph. Nick also comes with a transparent blue iPad, which was used in the Galidor story for its Google Galaxy Maps features.

Nick with his airplane wings showcases Galidor's play gimmick, Lego called it "Glinching." Glinching was Galidor speak for "the magical sci-fi ability to change limbs with other beings and machines." Nick was some chosen one because he could Glinch with things from the other side of the universe or some complex plot hole like that. All Galidor characters (except Allegra) could glinch to a certain extent. To repeat, Hasbro Heromashers anyone?

Nick has a total of 15 pieces and sold for a price of $15 dollars. Yes, Nick is the same price as the the 87 piece Gali: Master of Water from this year. Nick's price per piece ratio is so bad, it makes Lego Star Wars look cheep!

Now for a MOC gallery to show what wonderful MOC's glinching can create...

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Well, looks like Lego has successfully recreated the mutant toys from Sid's house in Toy Story!!

I have a love hate feeling for these sets. They were part of my childhood, and I am glad that I still have them because I now view them as a piece of Lego history. I feel had any other company than Lego had produced these, they would have been a toy store success (again, looking at Hasbro there). But Galidor is so far removed from Lego's core style, the results are jarring and alienating. Still, Galidor is home to some exclusive parts, and Nick and Allegra here were the only human stylized constraction size human heads (without masks or helmets) from 2002 up until Obi-Wan and Luke came out this year. I like this theme in short, because it fails so miserably and I just like seeing it like that. Even better, these sets can still be found on Ebay or Bricklink near their original MSRB! How many other Lego sets that are 13 years old can you find at their original MSRB?

So if you have an interest in strange toys, and weird themes chase down a Galidor figure for kicks and giggles. Just pretend it is not a Lego product and you should be fine. :grin:

Overall rating: Two stars.

Edited by xboxtravis7992

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First up I want to thank you for this review. I've heard the name Galidor around usually as a punchline, but I never actually researched them. Thanks to you I now know how truly un-LEGO and sometimes hideous these guys were. You've piqued my curiosity for this theme.

I totally understand your comparison to the Heromashers. My brother had asked for the SW Darth Vader figure for his birthday. His friend got him the next best thing, a Heromasher Darth Vader. Needless to say he was disappointed.

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Actually, the compatibility part is wrong - they are perfectly compatible with Knights Kingdom and a guy build a villain for BftGM contest utilizing a Galidor head.

Review itself - 10/10.

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Actually, the compatibility part is wrong - they are perfectly compatible with Knights Kingdom and a guy build a villain for BftGM contest utilizing a Galidor head.

Review itself - 10/10.

Yeah I forgot the Knights Kingdom II figs used Galidor Joints. However Knights Kingdom II showed up in 2004, two years after Galidor was sold.

Thanks for the 10/10 score! :)

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I wouldn't be so sure that a company other than LEGO could have made Galidor a success.... after all, a big part of its failure had to do with the failure of the TV show, not necessarily the products being poor by action figure standards. Though arguably, a company like Hasbro or Mattel that had more experience with merchandise-driven TV shows might have managed the media side of things better than LEGO did.

While it was unfortunate that it didn't adhere to the overall LEGO design philosophy, I don't think this is what killed it, because for the most part, it was not being marketed strictly as a LEGO product. Somewhat like Bionicle G1, the theme name took top billing on all the packages, with the LEGO logo shrunk down and pushed to the bottom right corner. Clearly, not only did the theme not appeal to LEGO fans, it did not appeal to action figure fans. But maybe if the show had been successful things might have been different. I'm sure it would never have been a hit on the same level as Bionicle, but it might have at least been able to last two or three years instead of burning out almost immediately.

The book Brick by Brick has some neat insights into the development of Galidor. Apparently the building system was originally created with more free-form building in mind, kind of like Bonz kits. The working title was "LEGO Beings". However, it was adapted into a more character-driven action figure series to capitalize on the surging popularity of action figures in the United States. Despite how some sites like Brickset classify it, Galidor is not a licensed theme. The world and characters were developed in-house by LEGO designers, and the show was co-developed with CineGroupe and the Tom Lynch Company.

One of the Galidor designers, Niels Milan Pedersen (who's been working for LEGO for 35 years, and designed many classic molds like the original LEGO skeleton, crocodile, horse, and octopus), still believes Galidor might have been successful if it weren't so poorly managed, and he might be at least partially right. Brick by Brick attributes Galidor's failure to the fact that it was rushed to market without adequate refinement or testing of its core concepts as soon as LEGO realized that Bionicle had the makings of a hit, instead of LEGO taking the time to analyze what it was about Bionicle that made it resonate so strongly with audiences.

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The book Brick by Brick has some neat insights into the development of Galidor. Apparently the building system was originally created with more free-form building in mind, kind of like Bonz kits. The working title was "LEGO Beings".

this reminds me of the CCBS. were the racheted robot arms form Alpha team Mission Deep Sea the original intention of the Lego Beings system?

i always felt those racheted joints would have been perfect for advanced Constraction, being sturdy enough for larger figures that could hold more detail, like Christan faber's Cybots with all their brick built greebles.

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this reminds me of the CCBS. were the racheted robot arms form Alpha team Mission Deep Sea the original intention of the Lego Beings system?

i always felt those racheted joints would have been perfect for advanced Constraction, being sturdy enough for larger figures that could hold more detail, like Christan faber's Cybots with all their brick built greebles.

Yes those do look like Galidor style parts. I just added your comments about Alpha Team and Assasin's comments about Knights Kingdom II to the review. Since those compatibility pieces where introduced they have appeared in Exo-Force, and most recently in 31034 Future Fly and the first (flawed) neck design of Wall-E this year. However all original Galidor parts have been discontinued, and the new parts with the same ratchet joint are built like system bricks.

Also Aanchir has reminded me that I really need to read Brick by Brick someday...

Edited by xboxtravis7992

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Glinching sounds like splinching from Harry Potter (failed aperation), and it looks like the results are similar. These are great for creating The Thing like monsters.

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Regarding the connection point on the back of Allegra's head: I'm pretty sure she's supposed to have a ponytail that attaches there. It seems like you might be missing that part? I don't see it in any of the pictures.

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Regarding the connection point on the back of Allegra's head: I'm pretty sure she's supposed to have a ponytail that attaches there. It seems like you might be missing that part? I don't see it in any of the pictures.

It is there, I just removed it for the picture to show the connection on the back of the head! (It can be kind of seen on the first picture with the big group shot). It was actually the ponytail which made me realize that Brickset has Allegra's piece count wrong, since the ponytail bumps it up to 11 pieces.

Edited by xboxtravis7992

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Everytime I see people bring up Galidor's compatibility i like to bring up someone who used to be active here back in the day, Bigfatslob, who really did make some wild combinations of parts.

Nice to see retro reviews, we certainly have a gap in the index so the more the merrier. Will add this to the index soon.

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Wow.. always thought Galidor was an action figure unrelated to LEGO parts. Turns out it has old technic rotation joints too. Everything comes together now.. nice weird combinations. Do the ball joints on the knee and rotator cuff work with CCBS?

Nice review, 10/10 as well!

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^The ball joints in Galidor figures are all based on the technic ratchet joints, so to connect to CCBS it has to be either a loose connection through a pin hole. or a more secure connection through an adapter piece such as this: http://alpha.bricklink.com/pages/clone/catalogitem.page?P=41681&idColor=10#T=C&C=10

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I remember getting the robot guy for Christmas in '02 I think? In the likeness of Adam Jensen, I will say- I never asked for that.

Still have it somewhere, in the basement, far away from me. Good review nonetheless. But now that Vorkosigan mentioned it, I would love a John Carpenter's Galidor.

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Turns out that I have every single figure in the line that was in the wide release. I bet you're all jealous! :grin:

I already have some unreleased video reviews prepared for a few of these, Allegra included. She's just... awful... and it doesn't help that both of her arms are static AND a chunk of her head can be taken off.

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Nick has a total of 15 pieces and sold for a price of $15 dollars. Yes, Nick is the same price as the the 87 piece Gali: Master of Water from this year. Nick's price per piece ratio is so bad, it makes Lego Star Wars look cheep!

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Good review. Quick question though, do you have Ooni? Out of all the Galidor set, he seems to be the most decent.

(Also is your score supposed to be 2/5 or 2/10? Not that it really matters in the long run, but...)

Edited by TheGreatSpirit

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No I don't have Ooni. My other three main Galidor sets are Gorm Deluxe, Euripides, and Jens. Out of the five I own I think Jens stands a chance of being possibly the most decent, since he looks kind of cool. Gorm looks like Makuta Teridax cosplaying as Darth Vader (although Gorm does have the most connection points on him, two for his arms, two for his legs, one in his groin area for his loin cloth thing, one on his rear end, and three on his back), and Euripides looks like a 1950's movie monster alien. I also have a few copies of the Happy Meal toy 4040 Nick and 4043 Gorm which are take bad sets and make them look EVEN WORSE.

And yes, I meant 2/5 but then again these sets might deserve the 2/10 :tongue:

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