Opinions about the Slizer line

[Xfing]

When I was a kid, Slizers (Throwbots) were quite the big thing, immediately followed by RoboRiders and Bionicle, which would become the next big thing. I had all 6 RRs and all 6 of the original Toa, but from Slizers I only had Judge (Jet), most part of which I've already lost, but what remains used to serve me well for making robot MOCs. The Slizer series is THE precursor to what became the Toa, so I'm a bit interested about getting more sets and examining it in detail.

What are your opinions about this line? Are the sets:

- worth getting

- adequately designed

- have MOC potential

- simply fun?

Thanks in advance! :)

Edited April 9, 2014 by Xfing

[LegoPanda]

the line was good, but this is the wrong forum, you should post this in action figures

[Xfing]

Oh... sorry about that. could a mod please move the thread then?

[VBBN]

- worth getting

That depends entirely on how much you feel they are worth. Certainly the price could vary greatly, some people may sell a lot of them for cheap, or you may get stuck paying a large price increase for a figure that sealed or still with it's packaging and such. If you have an interest in the figures and want to have them, then that makes them worth getting in my opinion.

- adequately designed

They may seem primitive in design compared to modern day figures, however I personally liked them for what they were. But again, that's more for you to decide, their instructions exist online so you can see what sort of features they had with gearboxes and the disks, etc. They weren't the worst figures ever produced, and if you enjoyed the early years of Bionicle then I see no reason why someone would have a distaste for Slizers.

- have MOC potential

Again that entirely depends on what kind of a MOCist you are. If the parts look useful then they have potential, if you don't think you'll ever use them, then no.

- simply fun?

If "fun" to you is posing them, then they won't fulfill that very well as they aren't the most dynamic looking characters, however with some of their functions like the disks I'm sure they have some play value. And personally I like their older designs and some of the unique colors they had, so I think they are fun.

[Aanchir]

I was a big fan of Slizer, or Throwbots as it was called here in the US.

I preferred the torso style with the worm gear aesthetically, but hated it functionally. It was so tedious to have to "transform" a set or change its pose by twisting a tiny gear for five or so minutes. BIONICLE gear functions were much better... considerably more active and engaging, much like the flapping wings on Electro.

The theme's story was much weaker than subsequent constraction themes, Hero Factory included. The sparse story tidbits we got in the US led my brother and I to come up with our own storylines and personalities for the characters, but without a consistent story to follow it didn't command our interest much longer than the theme's lifespan.

It was frustrating that the monsters and dangers portrayed on the disks and packaging were not made of LEGO and in most cases were not designed to look buildable. A similar frustration occurred with BIONICLE foes like Makuta in 2001 or the Morbuzakh in 2004. Another story frustration is that the carefully laid out Throwbots planet did not allow room to create "zones" for original Throwbots characters.

I enjoyed building Throwbots creations but was not very good at large or creative ones. The only one that sticks in my memory is a Medium Blue and Bright Red Throwbot named Rocket. He had a jet pack but was not very unique otherwise. A very basic humanoid, or as close to one as you could get with the wonky Throwbots proportions.

Some of my peers had even greater frustrations. My parents bought Throwbots sets as party favors for my eighth birthday and I was surprised to realize just how difficult even such basic LEGO Technic builds were for other kids.

Would the sets be worth getting today? Depends on your preferences, but I'd say no. The theme had a lot of flaws that weren't smoothed out until BIONICLE — the gearbox-style torsos that were only really useful in pairs, the slow and boring worm gear functions, the awkward body and limb proportions, etc.

Some parts, like the colorful feet, wings, and Y-joints, are immensely useful for BIONICLE or even general Technic building. Others, like the heads, throwing arms, and torsos, are considerably more awkward to use. And the legs are somewhere in between. Overall, the theme was good for its time, but not nearly so great in hindsight.

[DraikNova]

I'd say that some of the parts could be very useful to you, but only for heavily TECHNIC/BIONICLE-reliant MOCs. I've already found one possible use for the head part merely trying to come up with an unique torso design. The disk launcher might also prove useful to you.

On balance, assuming you use a more modern style of MOCcing, I'd say no for the sets and parts, but yes if you are willing to get things for nostalgia or collectors value. In my experience, though, the simplest sets can often be the most fun, though.

[Artifox]

I loved Slizers as a kid and I still love them 15 years later. They remind me of the simple times of LEGO when all I did was playing LEGO games like Rock Raiders and Racers on PC. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who didn't grow up with it, though. The sets look REALLY outdated. Roboriders, however, still holds up to this day.

[ShadowWolfHount]

I haven't gotten any of the set at all sadly so I mainly don't have a big opinion about them only that by the look of those set, they do look really good to have but don't have a lot of good things for MOCing.

[ZORK64]

As VBBN put it, it mostly depends on what you expect from the line. The Slizers do have a few neat pieces great for Technic/Constraction MOCs, but in terms of function the were beaten by most Bionicle lines.