- Wednesday, July 13, 2016 8:56 AM
- DisneyDan
Hello everyone,
In this review I am going to continue to look in detail at the vast and ongoing Nickelodeon TMNT series range from Mega Bloks. You can
find a list of all the previous parts of this review, here (including the Classic Party Wagon, Advent Calendar and much more).
The first set we shall look at is Mikey Chinatown Chase, which is set number DPW79. The set contains 66 pieces, including one minifigure, and
can be purchased here on Amazon.com.
The front and back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The back and front of the Michelangelo minifigure:
I would give this set four out of five. It's a fun idea, and some of the pieces included are neat, such as the rockets and the Chinatown gate with the Chinese writing on the bricks, and even Mikey himself with the Chinese markings on him. You can press the red button on the side, and the box sitting on the platform there jumps up and spills its contents. Over all, not a bad addition to your collection.
Next up we have four mini sets that I believe were only widely available at Dollar General in the US. Since they are so small, I will share photos of all of them first, then give my collected thoughts afterwards, instead of after each one.
First up, Mikey Streetlamp Slam (set number DPW77), containing 21 pieces, including one minifigure.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The front and back of the minifigure:
Second is Raph Seesaw Stunt (set number DPW76), containing 18 pieces, including one minifigure.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The front and back of the minifigure:
Third we have Leo Katana Swat (set number DPW78), containing 22 pieces, including one minifigure.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The front and back of the minifigure:
Finally, we have Donnie Bo Staff Strike (set number DRK01), containing 20 pieces, including one minifigure.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The front and back of the minifigure:
For what they are, these aren't bad little sets, and would give them three and a half to four out of five. They are fun and affordable for little kids to be able to get with pocket money while still being able to collect their favourite characters. They all come with their weapons and the tiny little scene that they can interact with, which could easily be adapted into any other part of the range or a display if you collect them and display them. Do you need them in your collection? Probably not. But if you want some extra minifigures and accessories, these are a good buy.
Next up we have the Ninja Name Builder, which is set number DRV34, and contains 233 pieces. You
can buy it on Amazon.com, here.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The front and the back of the minifigure:
The complete set - using our Two Lost Boys name as the example!
I deliberately flipped my usual completed set/minifigure order so that that it was more of a surprise as to what the outcome was! I actually really like the idea of this set, and give it four and a half out of five. It's interesting because, potentially, you could have done this yourself with any other bricks and sets, but Mega Bloks have been really smart and provided you with the tools to do it in one box. The set has enough pieces for up to eight letters, though inside it does warn that you may need to buy additional sets for names with recurring letters and longer names. Fortunately the name I wanted to create was none too complicated, which made me happy! Most letters were easy to construct following the instructions, however, I did have trouble with the 'B'. Mega Bloks instruction books can be a little vague at times, and the 'B' was one of those occasions! The inclusion of a Leo minifigure and the sign with a turtle on it was smart, though I do have one improvement that could have been made. I think given that it is a name builder set, and any fan in the world could use this to create their own name in ninja style, the minifigure should have been more generic -
like in the Advent Calendar set I reviewed last week - and then provided the four different colour face masks so that each person can customise the figure to sit atop their name. Personally, I am going to just use extra figures from other sets, but it would have been a nice detail to include nonetheless.
The next set is Leo Shredder Showdown, which is set number DPW80, and contains 126 pieces, including two minifigures. The set
can be bought on Amazon.com, here.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The back and the front of the minifigures:
I would give this set four out of five. I like that Leo has different coloured gloves, and that the set includes Shredder, since the only other set he has featured in so far in the range was the Party Wagon (DMX54) - which is not a small set itself at 274 pieces (for purposes of set inclusions, I don't count Shredder being in the Advent Calendar since that is something else entirely). Shredder also has different coloured clothes here, which is a nice variation. Leo's vehicle is very similar to the Mikey Pizza Racer (DMX38), which
I reviewed back in part two, which is cheating a little I suppose. I like the bike though, and the fact that both vehicles have weapons that fire.
The next set is the Transforming Turtle Mech. It is set number DPF66, and contains 504 pieces, including three minifigures. You
can buy it on Amazon.com, here.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The front and the back of the minifigures:
I would give this set five out of five. I think it is one of the best Nick series sets in the whole range. The Turtle Mech looks really awesome, and I love that they included two Kraang Droids - including for the first time in the range a blue flying one. Mikey is one of the arm-chopping movement ones that we've seen in the range before. I am not a real fan of these, but I suppose some people like them. The Mech has no trouble standing up, and the arms and legs move with relative ease. The front has space for all four turtles to sit inside, and there is a rocket that fires on its left arm. The head moves, too, as well as the mouth being able to open and close.
For demonstration purposes I put the rest of the turtles inside, so you can see how they all fit:
In addition to all of that awesomeness, the set can also convert into a car-like vehicle with almost minimal effort! Slide off the arms and legs, move the rocket launcher to the flip side, and click the wheels on, and voila!
The only slight complaint I have, and it's really very small, is that being that this was a Donnie creation in the series, they really should have had Donnie as the turtle minifgure in this set. Not to mention that Donnie seems to get under represented compared to the other turtles anyway, I feel another Mikey focussed set was a little unfair.
Finally I am going to take a look at the series two blind bag minifigures.
The front and the back of the bag:
The complete set of minifigures:
I would give these figures five out of five. I love that Mega Bloks continued the blind bag idea. It gives fans and collectors the opportunity to get some more unusual variations of characters, and some new characters in the process. In this series two line, for the first time we get Fong and Slash, as well as some new variations for the turtles themselves. My favourite by far is Slash. He is a decent size, and has some good details and colouring on him. What is funny is that the Raph figure comes with Spike, his pet turtle. I doubt I would be spoiling the series for anyone if I pointed out that Spike later becomes Slash. So that's a cute link to have both Spike and Slash in this series two line.
That's it for this review! I know it was long, but I really wanted to cover as many of the new sets as I could, because before long there will be even more coming out and I didn't want to fall behind.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan.