4994 Creator Fierce Creatures review

[Lasse D]

As promised, and with only a single day of delay is my review of the 2008 set: 4994 Creator Fierce Creatures.

This small set is the same size and price range as last year's 4939 Cool Cars reviewed by prateek and dillthepill.

The box

General info

You get 193 pieces (vs 206 for Cool Cars) which is quite a lot, but most of them are small. There are a lot of hinges and some good slopes and wings.

The building instructions contains three models, but no further ideas for inspiration.

Primary model: Spider

The first model is a big spider which shares some similarities to the secondary model of 4895 Power in the design.

The legs each have 3 joints, where the ones in the middle have "stud joints" to be moved sideways while the rest use hinges for all joints. There are 8 of them and it does get a little tedious with all the repetitive building in this relatively small model.

I like the design of the face with a lot of eyes and a big and ugly mouth, but the real gem is the X-pattern on the opisthosoma made using double/inverted slopes.

It is poseable and I think it looks more "fierce" when inverted.

Secondary model: Snake

The face of the snake is nicely detailed with a splitting tongue and a mouth than can move a little.

There is a problem with the construction. It uses stacked hinges for some of the joints, which are hard to pull apart without stressing the pieces.

Tertiary model: Fly

I'm not completely sure what this insect is. I will say it's a fly, although the tail and head are too pointy.

This is a neat little thing.

Conclusion

Primary model: 8 It is a good design, but lacks some sturdiness in the legs. They fall off a little too easily.

Secondary models: 6 They are pretty good when you look at the bricks that are available, but they don't wow you in any way and they suffer from the same issues as the primary model regarding sturdiness.

Alternate models: 3 It is hard to come up with alternate models with so many small pieces and plates that are only 1 stud wide. The colors might make you want to build a Spyrius space ship.

Playability: 8 The models have many movable joints and you can put quite a scare into your minifigs when their town gets attacked by these creatures... unless some EN forces are there to protect them.

Price: 6 Creator sets are known for their great price to bricks ratio, but this set doesn't quite measure up to sets like Cool Cars.

Pieces: 7 The pieces aren't great by themselves, but who doesn't need a fist full of hinges, slopes and basic plates in standard colors?

I don't think this is a must-have set like the big rig was last year. The pieces are great and it has a nice primary model, but the set lacks a bit when it comes to the usual strong Creator qualities like alternate models and price.

(Brickshelf gallery)

Edited May 23, 2009 by WhiteFang
Indexed

[simonwillems]

Thanks for this review, it's a nice set with some cool pieces and nice techniques, I like the way the roof pieces are used to make the spiders back, for instance

Alternate models: 3 It is hard to come up with alternate models with so many small pieces and plates that are only 1 stud wide. The colors might make you want to build a Spyrius space ship.

Ouch! That's not a good thing, let's refrain from that.... ;-)

[Asuka]

A fine review of a fine set, thanks Lasse D! *y*

[Holodoc]

Thank you for your detailed review, Lasse D! *y*

The only problem about this set is, that most of the people here will regard this as a pure parts pack. X-D

Oooh - I just found out about the red "teeth" - cool. I want that! *wub*