LuxorV Posted November 4, 2011 Again, I present you the review of one of the small/medium sets from the LEGO Cars line. This time, it’s Agent Mater and Holley Shiftwell who will see us through some the most action packed scenes of the Cars 2 film. Theme: LEGO Cars (Cars 2) Set name: Mater’s Spy Zone Set Number: 8424 Price: 14.99 $, 13.49 £, 14.99 Euro Pieces: 114 Year of release: 2011 Team up for a top-secret spy mission!Holley Shiftwell and Mater are setting out on a super-secret spy mission. Help Holley to equip Mater with brand new spy gear before they set out for adventure! Complete the mission together and make it back to the spy lab safe and sound! • Includes Agent Mater and Holley Shiftwell • Agent Mater features jet packs • Holley Shiftwell includes holographic screen • Spy lab features spy computer, satellite dish, guns, 2 flick missiles and translucent elements • Fire the flick missiles! Links: Peeron, Bricklink and Brickset The Box Front The front of the box shows the completed set on what should be a train inside background taken from the Cars 2 film. The left part of the front is devoted to advertising: LEGO logo, age range, set number, Disney – Pixar Cars 2 logo and a smirking Mater fill this part on a nice stripped dark grey/black and metallic dark red background. The Disney logo also appears in the upper right corner. Back The back shows some play features, mainly Mater and Holley with add-on weapons for their missions. LEGO and Disney – Pixar Cars 2 logo, along with a spy-car silhouette fill the upper band. What may look like Agent Mater and Holley Shiftwell’s mug shots also appear there along with their names. Mater seems to have quite a few alter-egos, doesn’t he? Sides The upper side shows again the logos and the same full set shot as on the front. The 1:1 scale piece this time is a flick missile. The left vertical side sports the usual LEGO and Disney – Pixar Cars 2 logos, the set number, a cartoon version of Mater and the much-loved-by-RA-Teachers LEGO Club logo. Contents Inside Upon opening, the box reveals two numbered bags, one instruction booklet and one stickers’ sheet (more on these two later on). Bag number one holds the parts for Holley Shiftwell and the Spy Console Area. It’s full of bright coloured pieces, with some black and dark and light grey accents. Bag number two includes the parts needed to build Agent Mater only. Spare parts include round 1x1 plates, a Technic pin with friction, a robot arm and a set of tyres and hubcaps. Strangely, there is no tyre for the large hubcap used in Mater. New pieces I call these parts theme exclusive pieces, as they were introduced this year with/for this particular theme. One of the most anticipated/loved/hated/discussed parts is the windshield. In this shot you see the race/coupe car version used for Holley Shiftwell. I really like the aerodynamic look of this piece. It is also good that TLG designers included a couple of studs on top to allow for more combinations. Other interesting pieces are the mudguards, both front and rear, which sport nice decorations of Holley’s headlights and mouth on one side, and bumper and license plate on the other. The various parts in Magenta are a nice addition to anyone’s collection. The Light Grey hubcap used for Holley Shiftwell is a new part as well, and it’s also used (in Red) for the non-World Grand Prix versions of Lightning McQueen. Too bad TLG did not produce a new mould more similar to Holley’s original ‘4 wings’ hubcaps! These are the theme exclusive pieces from Mater, including his unmistakable teeth, rear bumper, side logos and his eyes. The mudguard part has a lot of potential in a number of classic cars MOCs, imo. Instructions The cover reproduces the same composition as on the box front (minus the age range). Below it, you can see the stickers’ sheet. Though I would have loved to get the computer screen and console parts as decorated pieces, I’m still quite happy to get blank ones I can use in MOCs. Random page – The build is pretty straight forward, and it does not need pieces call-outs. If I’m not mistaken, the highest number of pieces used in one step is 4... The inner back cover page has an ad for the LEGO Cars site, as well as the traditional LEGO Club one. The traditional parts’ list. I like the clean background that does not catch the eye too much, but still prevents the page from being totally blank. Other interesting pages include the list of LEGO Cars characters. Each one is shown with the corresponding set number and a box you can check, so you know which are already in your collection. Note how Mater, appearing in a number of sets has only two different version. Building Start We start off with Holley. As said, and expected, the build is pretty simple, yet ingenious. What I do not appreciate too much is the use of two plates instead of one. Granted, two plates can be useful, but I hope this choice was not made to raise the pieces count only. Holy Shiftwell More interesting is the use of a 4 x 2 tile in the main body, just below the windscreen/head part. I believe this is used to grant a minor effort is needed to take the latter part off when playing or un-building the set. Holley appears to sport a sort of head-up display on her hood. The film version is more in front, but TLG designers had to make do with what studs they had at hand, I suppose. Spy Console Area Nothing too fancy here, but I quite like the look of it. We have a big console/computer panel assembly on one side, a weapons rack on the other, and what seems to be a Bigger Dish array on top of all. Here Holley is using the console, probably communicating with Finn McMissile somewhere on the field. Don’t ask me why she uses both the console and her built-in screen at the same time, though... Agent Mater The second bag gives us Agent Mater. He’s just like the Classic Mater set, only with two clips under his hood to hold guns and ... … two huge booster on his back! Granted, these are not much like the ones in the film, but TLG realised it too, and we expect a better version for next year. Hurray for innovation! Finished set Complete set Up-grade completed: Agent Mater is ready for the next mission! Bonus images A match made in havens By flipping Holley’s ‘head’ 180° and changing her rear lights with the extra transparent one, we get her a new version more fitting for Mater’s family, with the license plate looking so much like a big tooth just like Mater’s own. What a perfect couple these two make! Final comments Overall, this is a nice little set for Cars’ fans. It includes the most popular character (so much so he got his cartoon spin-off line from the first film), a cute spy car in a rare colour, and a bit of background to add to playability. As one would expect, the main goal of this kind of set is to prompt you to buy more, and it has been achieved pretty well. On the other hand, even if I do not expect anybody to go army-building with Agent Mater and Holley Shiftwell, it is a nice and cheap way to get more characters. Design & Colour scheme – 10/10 (It is not always easy to get a good look with a set that has to be based off some other media. Being Cars a kid’s toon, the characters are bright coloured [well, Mater is rusty brown].) Characters – 9/10 (I’m very happy to see how these versions of Mater and Holley turned out. Granted, Holley is a bit too large in the hips, so to say, compared to the film version, but we can’t have everything now, can we?) Parts – 9/10 (Great variety of useful parts, a reasonable amount of new pieces, though much of them are printed. Of course, the greatest MOC potential reseeds in the Spy Console Area parts, but the Magenta pieces from Holley Shiftwell are a good addition to anyone’s inventory.) Playability – 10/10 (It’s cute speaking Cars! What more reasons do you need to find ways to play with them? The accessories add to that, too.) Build – 8/10 (Nothing too complex, but some efficient solutions are used.) Price – 9/10 (It’s a Licensed set, with 114 parts for $/€ 14.99. Not too bad, compared to most Star Wars sets with the same price tag.) Overall: 9.2/10 Excellent As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
surrideo Posted November 4, 2011 (edited) I don't know the sales figures but my kids love the cars theme. They have this and the other classic Mater and Mcqueen sets. Its a pity that Mater isnt in one of his "disguises" in this set but I suppose the Ivan Mater set is out in January or so. A good point that there are only two versions of Mater around Manners. Great review of a reasonably priced set. Edited November 4, 2011 by surrideo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prateek Posted November 4, 2011 Great review. I think this set is very reasonably priced, especially with Holly Shiftwell and Mater. The only thing that I think they should've added is a 1x2 pink plate to fill that gap if you remove the trans blue piece on Holly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted November 5, 2011 Great review 'LuxorV', I reviewed this set earlier in the year and I agree it's a 10/10 for playability and of course fun.....it's got Mater ! Brick On Race On ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LuxorV Posted November 5, 2011 I don't know the sales figures but my kids love the cars theme. They have this and the other classic Mater and Mcqueen sets. Its a pity that Mater isnt in one of his "disguises" in this set but I suppose the Ivan Mater set is out in January or so. A good point that there are only two versions of Mater around Manners. Great review of a reasonably priced set. Thanks, surrideo. Indeed, these sets are a lot of fun to play with. And I agree, some of Mater's "disguises" would make awsome sets Great review. I think this set is very reasonably priced, especially with Holly Shiftwell and Mater. The only thing that I think they should've added is a 1x2 pink plate to fill that gap if you remove the trans blue piece on Holly. The lack of the 1x2 pink plate to fill that gap if you remove the trans blue piece on Holly really annoys me as well. It is not a common piece to get, either Great review 'LuxorV', I reviewed this set earlier in the year and I agree it's a 10/10 for playability and of course fun.....it's got Mater ! Brick On Race On ! Thanks, lightningtiger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteFang Posted November 7, 2011 Thank you LuxorV for reviewing this. I am hoping to pick this up too, but I haven't really decided it yet. This set really looks fun to play with and with the great printed parts, it's pretty worthwhile to get them while it's still available. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phanstasm Posted November 7, 2011 (edited) Great review, LuxorV. The title card you made to start the review is really nice! I really like this set. Not only is great out of the box, but you can use a lot of it for many other themes: *Marvel: the computer station as a S.H.I.E.L.D. or Hulk Buster outpost, or maybe part of Tony Stark's workshop *Batman: the color wouldn't be exactly accurate, but I could use lots of the Holley Shiftwell parts for Poison Ivy's car, "Rosebud," from the 90's cartoon *Alpha Team/Agents: guns, spy gadgets, computers... nuf said. *City: engines for planes, computer station for space, printed car eyes and mouths for carnival or amusement park attractions. Edited November 7, 2011 by phanstasm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
