[REVIEW] 20200 MBA Kit #1

[Delta 38]

Hmm, interesting. There are some nice pieces, but obviously the main reason I want this is the minifigure, though it's not that special.

Still, the line looks interesting. Too bad it's not available here, or at least, not available in stores as sets.

[vynsane]

IMO the Space fighter is the best looking creation- the ship is heli-plane is weird with those huge wings, and rocket looks very basic( but very Classic Space I would say!)

Having built all three models last night, I have to disagree - the Rocket is the most solid of the three models, in both design and stability. It uses the most parts out of all of the three builds, leading me to believe it was the 'main' design, with the other two being the 'alt' models. I was excited for the Space Fighter, but ultimately disappointed - it's bit flimsy and the wings are just odd. The Helicraft actually outranks it in my estimation, making the fighter place 3rd out of three!

[LegoCityMann]

Part #3 - Build #3 The Space Fighter

Step #9

Showing the "Tip" stamp

and the "Step 9" tip

Step #18

Step #20.6

Step #26

The Completed Space Fighter

Conclusion

This is a great set with multiple hours of fun thru multiple models. While aimed at Children and Teens the parts can be quite useful for AFOL's. The Interactive website adds a nice touch for today's tech-savy kids. From the Manual, "The LEGO Space Designer kit is just the start of the LEGO MBA journey! A Lego Master Builder Academy SUBSCRIPTION includes 5 more exclusive LEGO MBA kits and Design Handbooks, with each new kit and Handbook ARRIVING EVERY 2 MONTHS. Each kit will spotlight a different fan-favorite LEGO building theme."

Design: 10/10 How can you not give it a 10/10? The design is great. The models are well structured and the techniques used to design them are well explained as to how and why they used them through out the instructions.

Parts: 9/10 The colors (purple, silver, and Lime Green) are drool worthy but other than the one printed element, most AFOL's should have 95% of these peices in their collections already (though they may not be in those colors)

Minifig: 10/10 It's the ONLY set you can get this Minifig in and the Brickbuilt Jetpack is a HUGE plus that adds playability to it.

Playability: 7/10 The Helicraft in my opinion is more of a "Display Piece". The Rocket would have been an excellent play piece in the 50's thru early 70's when kids dreamed of being Buck Rodgers, though I can still see kids running across the room yelling ZOOM ZOOM!! before throwing crashing it into a wall. The Space Fighter with it's moving wings I see kids getting the most actual playtime out of.

Price: 5/10 178 parts for $29.99. That's just under 17 cents per part. However, if you get the full subscription it comes to $99.99 and a total piece count of 1125. That comes to a much more justifiable price of just over $0.08 cents per piece.

Overall: 41/50 It's a fun kit and the eventual inclusion of future kits makes the overall price much more bearable. The Online portion give an extra added element of fun (and promises more techniques and alternate models). The only issue I found is that some elements of the MBA website are still not functional as of the writing of this review.

Kits #1-3 are Level 1 kits and Kit #2 will feature Microbuilding Techniques, while Kit #3 will focus on Robot Design.

With Kit #4 you will graduate to Level 2 of the Academy and will recieve with Kit #4 a new Yellow MBA Level 2 Minifig. Kit #4 will focus on Flight Design. Kit #5 will go on to teach you how to create creatures. The "Final" kit for now is #6 and will focus on Automobile Design.

I hope you have enjoyed my review and feel free to comment and critique. If you would like any specific images (other than that of my MBA website code) simply ask and I will do my best to get them up.

~LCM

[Blondie-Wan]

I just received this set myself a couple days ago, and I've enjoyed it so far, despite having built only one of the three models (the rocket, which was the one that appealed to me most - I concur with the instruction book's observations about the classic appeal of such elegant retro designs).

First of all, despite having built just one of the models I do think all three look great, and I'm looking forward to building the others. Design-wise, both the ships (particularly the rocket) and the minifigure seem almost designed to complement the LEGO Universe promotional sets. There aren't as many parts as I would like (like others, I'd say the set's biggest shortcoming is the price for the number of elements), but what's here is good, particularly the multitude of hinges and the swooping, half-arch curved bricks.

The physical quality of the presentation is absolutely wonderful, and in particular the tray in the box evokes the more lavish packaging of sets from decades ago. The manual is even better than any of those, though, or anything I've ever seen in any theme outside of perhaps Mindstorms and Architecture.

The building tips and strategies contained therein are probably not going to be really novel or revelatory to most of the people in this forum, but I could see them being really good for a kid just starting out with LEGO. It's hard for me to judge whether they'd be really useful for a kid with a little more experience; presumably we'll get an idea of this as the program goes on and the parents among us offer their observations of their own kids playing with this set. Like Aanchir, I'm also curious about the manuals for the future sets.

Getting back to the box and the parts, it does seem there's a lot more space here than is really needed, but looking at the images on TLG's site of the later sets, it appears they're going to be in polybags. Perhaps the intent is for this initial box to be used to store the full year's complement of all six sets? If the others are in polybags, I don't know that the later manuals will be nearly as nice as this one, but we'll see how it goes.

[Morbus Iff]

Getting back to the box and the parts, it does seem there's a lot more space here than is really needed, but looking at the images on TLG's site of the later sets, it appears they're going to be in polybags. Perhaps the intent is for this initial box to be used to store the full year's complement of all six sets? If the others are in polybags, I don't know that the later manuals will be nearly as nice as this one, but we'll see how it goes.

That's exactly correct, yes - the sorting tray is meant to hold a whole year's worth of sets (and they mention this on the site, in the book, etc.).

[Blondie-Wan]

That's exactly correct, yes - the sorting tray is meant to hold a whole year's worth of sets (and they mention this on the site, in the book, etc.).

Ah, Ok. Somehow I'd overlooked the mention of it in the book, and I haven't looked very extensively at the online stuff yet, though I plan to. It does make more sense, though. I also noticed the box is a fair bit deeper than it needs to be to accommodate the tray and the manual; perhaps this bodes well for the future manuals (in that the space is needed for all six of them on top of each other, with the tray underneath).

Oh, I do have one slight quibble with the tray. I think it would have been better to form it in white or yellow rather than black, as it can make black elements hard to spot in the wells. But that's probably not a huge issue, if one at least has an organizational system that lets one remember which sorts of elements would be in which compartment.

(Should this topic be in Sci-Fi? I know it makes sense for the initial, spaceship-themed release, but once we start getting microscale airports and whatnot in the theme...)

Edited June 9, 2011 by Blondie-Wan

[vynsane]

I'd also hazard a guess that the extra space in the box above the tray is intended for all 6 of the manuals for year 1.

From the looks of the promo images, it appears the manuals are all going to be the same size as the Kit 1 manual. I hope they ship them securely, or there might be a bunch of bent kit 2-6 manuals. That said, I guess anything is subject to change up to the time it arrives at your doorstep, so we'll see what the manuals look like when they arrive.

Edited June 9, 2011 by vynsane

[Blondie-Wan]

Oh, I should also note that while the packaging, manual, etc. depict the minifigure head as bearing the classic smiley that's been around since '78 (but is increasingly rare these days), the one actually included is the "neo-classic smiley" equivalent. It's still a charming, appealing face, and I personally am fine with the substitution (?) since I have quite a few of the old classic smiley faces anyway, but for some others it might be a bit of a disappointment.

[Aanchir]

Oh, I should also note that while the packaging, manual, etc. depict the minifigure head as bearing the classic smiley that's been around since '78 (but is increasingly rare these days), the one actually included is the "neo-classic smiley" equivalent. It's still a charming, appealing face, and I personally am fine with the substitution (?) since I have quite a few of the old classic smiley faces anyway, but for some others it might be a bit of a disappointment.

Huh. I wonder why that is-- maybe the newer-style smiley was a last-minute change and so it didn't make it into the instruction booklets and marketing materials in time, but since the old smiley is still in production (it's the only face used in modular buildings), I wonder why TLG chose to substitute it. Maybe the newer smiley with the eye sparkles is just more popular with today's kids (I'm a child of the 90s and I certainly prefer it), while the older one is only included in modular buildings as a bonus for adult buyers.

I take it the one in the set is the one with a classic smile, white eye sparkles, and brown eyebrows?

Incidentally, the one listed in this set in the Customer Service website's replacement parts database is the classic smiley (listed with the unusually-short element ID "9336", demonstrating what a classic part it is-- modern element IDs tend to be at least seven digits).

Edited June 9, 2011 by Aanchir

[Blondie-Wan]

Huh. I wonder why that is-- maybe the newer-style smiley was a last-minute change and so it didn't make it into the instruction booklets and marketing materials in time, but since the old smiley is still in production (it's the only face used in modular buildings), I wonder why TLG chose to substitute it. Maybe the newer smiley with the eye sparkles is just more popular with today's kids (I'm a child of the 90s and I certainly prefer it), while the older one is only included in modular buildings as a bonus for adult buyers.

I take it the one in the set is the one with a classic smile, white eye sparkles, and brown eyebrows?

Right. Unfortunately, LegoCityMann's still-fine review doesn't mention it or include a really clear view, but if you look carefully at his frontal shot of our lime-suited hero, you can just see enough of the contemporary smiley beyond his goggles to make a positive ID:

The Minifig

Here we see our Level 1 Minifig. The manual says the 4th kit will introduce a Level 2 Minifig.

While I can't say I prefer the new one, as you do, I'm still quite fond of it already, and I'm fine with its inclusion here. But I do think it warrants mentioning, just in case anyone buys this set hoping for a vintage-style face on the astronaut.

[LegoCityMann]

Oh, I should also note that while the packaging, manual, etc. depict the minifigure head as bearing the classic smiley that's been around since '78 (but is increasingly rare these days), the one actually included is the "neo-classic smiley" equivalent. It's still a charming, appealing face, and I personally am fine with the substitution (?) since I have quite a few of the old classic smiley faces anyway, but for some others it might be a bit of a disappointment.

Noted and attributed in the original review. Thanks for noticing my omission.

~LCM

[DanTheLegoMan]

Keep in mind that this product is really geared towards younger builders (ages 8-12)and it was taking the place of Brickmaster. I think they kept it intentionally simple to help them learn new skills to become a better builder.

[Blondie-Wan]

Alright, I definitely love the manuals for these sets. I wonder if they'll all be as in-depth or whether just this one is because it's the "starter kit". I expect they'll all be like this, since they have to be about the same length anyway (since each kit has three models).

Getting back to the box and the parts, it does seem there's a lot more space here than is really needed, but looking at the images on TLG's site of the later sets, it appears they're going to be in polybags. Perhaps the intent is for this initial box to be used to store the full year's complement of all six sets? If the others are in polybags, I don't know that the later manuals will be nearly as nice as this one, but we'll see how it goes.

I'd also hazard a guess that the extra space in the box above the tray is intended for all 6 of the manuals for year 1.

From the looks of the promo images, it appears the manuals are all going to be the same size as the Kit 1 manual. I hope they ship them securely, or there might be a bunch of bent kit 2-6 manuals. That said, I guess anything is subject to change up to the time it arrives at your doorstep, so we'll see what the manuals look like when they arrive.

Something just occurred to me. It seems unlikely to me they would do put sets in huge polybags big enough to contain manuals the size and thickness of the one included in this first set, but the manual's attractive presentation definitely contributes to the appeal of this line. Perhaps the manuals for sets 2 through 5 won't even be contained inside the polybags, as they would with other polybagged sets; perhaps each bimonthly mailing will consist of a package containing a manual and a separate polybag.

[LegoCityMann]

ME: Dissapointed in only one thing with the MBA set. The marketing materials, packaging, and manual all show a classic minifig head, However the kit actually has the neo-classic head with the eye sparkle and eyebrows.

LEGO: We are very sorry that you are disappointed! We apologize for any discrepency with your MBA minifigure and the material depictions. You can contact Consumer Services at 1-800-835-4386 or request a replacement part here: http://us.service.lego.com/en-US/replacementparts/default.aspx I will also be passing along your comments to the appropriate department. Thanks LEGO Mann!

After posting about the disappointment in receiving the "Neo Classic Head" instead of the "Classic Head" as shown in the packaging and marketing materials on LEGO's facebook page I was informed that if I called customer service they would rectify the problem. I made that phone call today and the Customer Service rep is sending me out the "Classic Head" part #9336. Seems like LEGO is very willing to take care of this problem.

~LCM

[Aanchir]

Something just occurred to me. It seems unlikely to me they would do put sets in huge polybags big enough to contain manuals the size and thickness of the one included in this first set, but the manual's attractive presentation definitely contributes to the appeal of this line. Perhaps the manuals for sets 2 through 5 won't even be contained inside the polybags, as they would with other polybagged sets; perhaps each bimonthly mailing will consist of a package containing a manual and a separate polybag.

That's kind of what I expected from the get-go, seeing as this is basically the replacement for Brickmaster (and in its most recent form, Brickmaster had the sets and magazines shipped together in a cardboard box). The polybag takes the place of the set and the manual takes the place of the magazine. And anyway, note that the image we have of the subscription's contents show the manuals and polybags separately. Granted, this image is a stylized graphical representation of the subscription contents rather than a photo (the Space Designer manual would not be one of the ones included, the sets and manuals will be made of physical materials rather than vector drawings, and you won't actually be getting a giant LEGO laptop with too few keys), but it definitely made me think that the polybags would not have the manuals inside.

Incidentally, this also makes me think it will be very unlikely for the instructions for these sets to make their way online except possibly through the MBA website.