The Middleman

NOTE ON STICKERS: The sticker sheets for all of these sets are bigger than any piece in the set. Placing them is painstaking and aggravating, and would tilt my review so much that I didn't even bother factoring them in. There are so many in each set that they have to devote 2-3 pages showing where to place them, complete with corresponding numbering on the sticker sheet. It's bad. Still, don't let that completely dissuade you; stickers can always be left off. These two I enjoyed much more, so they'll be more upbeat reviews. Enjoy. THUNDER FURY The Fig Same as the other silver one, just trans-red on the torso. Still love those arms. The Thunder Fury The Foot Fairly standard. The Legs I like them, although they are a bit thin - that's consistent with all the mechs so far. The... Stomach? Sorry for the blurry pic. Another nifty little binocular construction, albeit less neat than the other. I like it. This is pretty cool. The Gun Less cool than I thought it would be, but still pretty awesome. Note that the tube is SOLID, without a hollowed interior, and trans-clear. I love these things! The Sword One big <insert that tiresome argument> hunk of crap. The Back The bar on the back, when pulled, lights up the tube. Additionally, the cone on top next to the tube, if pushed down, knocks the light brick out of the mech. Try and tell me that's not cool. FINAL VERDICT: 7.4/10 Fig: 6/10 Pieces: 8/10 Set: 8/10 Playability: 8/10 I like it! Worth the $20, except maybe only one fig. A little hard to pose, but useful pieces, very playable... not the greatest, but definitely not the worst.

SONIC PHANTOM The Fig Rather cool, but pretty useless. That is a red axel in the back of the droid's head. Two more silver arms to my count, which is always a good thing. The Phantom The Engines Side View The new turbine-ish pieces are odd. I can't think of many uses for them, especially mottled as they are. I'm sure somebody will think of something, but I've only got a couple ideas myself. Back guns These things are neat - the rotors rotate independently from the guns. The Body Pretty bad. Not much substance to it, and what is there isn't that useful. Note the light brick on the right; it's actually not locked in. Turning this thing over will send it tumbling out. It uses a battery similar (if not identical to) the LULS. It remains to see if it is more easily replaceable. Back View Note the 'handle.' Pretty unsightly, although practical. Bottom View Close-up of mechanism Pull the 'trigger,' and it sends the missile flying as the ball joint on top presses down to... ... light it up. Fairly neat. FINAL VERDICT: 6.4/10 Fig: 6/10 Pieces: 6/10 (lots of TECHNIC) Set: 7/10 Playability: 9/10 Slightly less bad than the Gate Assault, although much less SYSTEM in this one. Again, buy at own risk. The fun ones coming up.

NOTE ON STICKERS: The sticker sheets for all of these sets are bigger than any piece in the set. Placing them is painstaking and aggravating, and would tilt my review so much that I didn't even bother factoring them in. There are so many in each set that they have to devote 2-3 pages showing where to place them, complete with corresponding numbering on the sticker sheet. It's bad. Still, don't let that completely dissuade you; stickers can always be left off. Don't read these reviews expecting them to be pretty. I have a standing bias against Exo-Force. I'm not going to go easy on these sets. That said, let's start with the one you've already seen. I applied all stickers to all sets, so even this should be a little new. GATE ASSAULT The Figs Side View Back View The droid is good for parts fodder. The arms, mostly - perfect fingers for mechs, or joints, or whatever. They're fantastic. the rest is awful - the head is inseparable from the body, and the legs have 1x2 bases... very inconvenient. The arms will definitely be put to use, though. Opposite Faces Let me be very clear, I loathe these things. From their spiky little heads to their oversized eyes. I love good anime, but this is just sickening. The hair is made from something rubbery, and doesn't stay on very well. The hair doesn't cover up the face on the back, either. The torsos aren't so bad, I can see them being put to use elsewhere. The Ram Back View This is the worst of the vehicles. The head trick is nifty, but it doesn't make up for the crap/i] that makes up the rest of the thing. The BIONICLE torso armor on the sides isn't lodged in, just rests there. The 'gun' on top is useful for parts fodder, with the four black barrels. Other than that, this is bad. The White Mech Back View This isn't so bad. All the pieces are pretty useful, and the structure isn't that bad for the size. The back is awful, though - this is consistent with the other small mech. The hand is great, too - FOUR silver arms! The Red Mech Back View[/img] Pretty much the same as the other, except the shoulder pieces on this one are a bit more ridiculous. Still, every piece of dark red is precious, eh? Two more of those nice barrel pieces, and some of those missile ends that are showing up in Exo-Force. The Gate The build of this thing is retarded. I hate those huge wedge pieces. It's also flimsy. Right Gun I love this gun. The binocular-holding build is reeeeeeally cool. More of those nice missile bases on the gun. The missle mech is nifty, but doesn't work well; the idea is that the ram busts open the door and the door pushes into the ball joint hooked up to the gun, which then fires (hopefully into the ram). Doesn't usually work out. These are nifty as well. This view really shows how horrible this gate is. FINAL VERDICT: 6.3/10 Figs: 6/10 Pieces: 6/10 Set: 6/10 Playability: 9/10 This set is not worth $30. I can use some of the stuff, so I don't particularly regret buying it, but the more selective LEGO buyer will likely be disappointed, as I was. Buy at your own risk. More to come.

Saw it on Wednesday. Certainly no Lord of the Rings, but a great movie nonetheless. 8.6/10.

I want a mouse droid, and a meditation chamber with Palpatine hologram.

I'll bet you anything the Star Destroyer is a playset, but a kind we haven't seen before.

Updated.

I picked up the Dino pod the other day, loving the 1x1 black slopes.

This is all good to post. Wish I could visit! :)

I just picked up Sonic Phantom. I have mixed thoughts on it. I may do a picture review.

I'm with Other. I'm tied between Sin City and RENT.

I picked up this set tonight, and just finished building it. It was better than I thought it would be, but dear god... the stickers. Let me put it this way; the sticker sheet is bigger than any part in the set. And yes, I did apply them.

Just saw it today. Wow. Just, wow. Go and see it. Amazing movie. Great music, too.

Thanks for the review! Tip for next time - please resize your pictures. It really hurts the people with slow connections, and generally makes the pics harder to see. After seeing it up close, I've decided not to pick this up.

That's pretty harsh for never having seen the set in person, sne. It really is one of those sets that's better when you're actually looking at it - I'm sure you know the feeling. I do have the 7044, but it's disassembled now, so I can't take a comparison pic. I wasn't that fond of it, though, and find this to be an immensely more realistic, less <insert that tiresome argument>, and overall better chopper.

My dear Legoman, if Bush took the time to read up on all the insults to him, he's waste all of his vacation time.

I hope not, it seems the European deck is stacked against my more conservative Dub-lovin' self. <<DV>> Not only the Europeans. But Bush-bashing is so easy, I really don't even get into it much any more. ;)

It's chibi (small body, large/normal head). I saw it a while ago, absolutely adorable.

So if the stretcher is inside, the rescuer has to hang on for dear life? |-D I barely noticed how the rotors are. They look more lifelike. How many stickers does the set have? Five, I think.

No, it doesn't fit both. I think the stretcher is supposed to hang while the rescuer rides in the back and the pilot in the front.

Here's a shot of all of them so far. Hopefully that gives a sense of scale.

Well, seeing as how I work in an ER, I should be able to tell you ;) They hook these machines up to people in a critical state (anyone who needs to be rushed in by ambulance obviously has something reasonably wrong with them). They hook up to the patient, and monitor their pulse, breathing, and several other "vitals" They also can print the information out to quickly give to physicians when the patient's rushed into the ER for treatment. Thanks man! Another mystery solved.

RESCUE HELICOPTER Rescue Helicopter - despite its small size for its price - soundly breaks the price-to-piece ratio with 245 pieces at an edgy price point of $20. The Figs I, too, am at a loss as to why a construction worker is out at sea. They even show him in the water on the back of the box. Why? This is, perhaps, one of the greater mysteries of our time. The face! It buuuurns. It buuuurns! In all seriousness, great fig. I love the jumpsuit. Always good to have a glasses face. The Copter I should point out that instead of the two 1x16 white bricks promised in every other part of the instructions/box/etc., I received two in old light gray. I intend to complain, but for now, realize that the main section of the tail should be white rather than gray. The other side looks much better in person (as does the whole set). The rotors are the best I've seen. Cockpit closed. ... and open. I like that joystick technique they've been using on the planes/helis in this line. Right side opened. Left side opened. While we're looking at the hook, I couldn't really get it to work well with the stretcher. Just a note. Of course, I'm sure someone will figure it out. Just plain nifty tailfins. The awesome back hatch. The stretcher slides in smoothly. FINAL VERDICT: 8.6/10 Figs: 8/10 Pieces: 8/10 Set: 9/10 Playability: 9/10 This is an awesome set. The build was HIGHLY enjoyable, the final product is truly very cool in person, the figs are plentiful and well-done, and it has a bunch of good features and immense play value. I highly recommend it. Let all thoughts of juniorization escape you. It's definitely not. Until next time, Bloody Jay

The review should be up in max five minutes. EDIT: I lied. Give me a few more.

Design only, I'm afraid. @ Lost Viking - Amazon, but I also saw them at my local Toys R Us.