- Thursday, March 3, 2016 11:09 AM
- DisneyDan
Hello everyone,
From 2013 until 2015 LEGO had a line of TMNT LEGO sets that covered the current Nickelodeon TV series and the 2014 TMNT movie. Unfortunately LEGO didn't pursue the license and, much to my sadness, the line was dropped. It was later announced that Mega Bloks, LEGO's "rival", would be picking up the license and produce a TMNT construction toy line. I was a little cautious about this, as I have always been very much a hard core LEGO fan. I have never really liked any other companies, as they never can really match the quality of LEGO - and of course LEGO have been around for so long that they practically own the market, making it difficult for other brands to even compete. However, when Mega Bloks released some initial images, there was definite cause for excitement, and finally after months of waiting, in January this year the sets started hitting shelves of US toy retailers.
Before I continue, I would like to point you to my TMNT LEGO reviews (links below), so that you can see for yourself what LEGO offered and make your own mind up with regards to comparing them quality and effort. I will be making a comparison post separately myself, once I have completed the last part of this report for the current range (I aim to cover the entire Mega Bloks range within three reports - there are so many!).
Part one can be read here.Part two can be found here.Mega Bloks currently have released three lines of TMNTs. These are: a line based on the current Nickelodeon series, a line based on the classic 1987 series and a Half Shell Heroes line. Later this year Mega Bloks will be releasing additions to the Nick and Classic lines, plus adding TWO further series - a comic book line and one based off of the upcoming TMNT live action movie! (My reviews of those will be made in addition to my current 3-part report for the current range, once they are released.)
In this report I am going to be take a look at the Classic range. Mega Bloks have so far released seven sets from this series. They comprise of four individual TMNT packs, two villain packs and one larger Krang set.
To begin with, let's look at the Krang's Rampage set. Krang's Rampage contains 305 pieces, and is set number DMW32. You can purchase this set
here, on the Target website.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box before construction:
There are various stages to construction, which consists of a billboard, a pizza stand, Krang himself and two of the TMNT.
The billboard:
The pizza stand:
The back and front of Krang:
The back and front of the TMNT figures:
The final product after construction of all parts:
When I was building this set I had mixed thoughts. I somehow felt as though I was cheating on LEGO - but with the cancellation of their own TMNT range, what could I do? I am a huge LEGO and TMNT fan, and this was the closest I was ever going to be to having a classic TMNT series "LEGO" toy, so I figured that it is what it is, and got on with it!
Part of my problem when building this, which made me pine for the LEGO range a little, was the quality of the design and the production of the individual pieces. Mega Bloks doesn't quite have the same sturdy, solid feel to it that LEGO has, and that bothered me a little. Some of the bricks were hard to connect and didn't have the same fluidity and consistency as LEGO.
With all that said, when I got to the end of building this set, I couldn't help but grin, and be impressed with it. I give this set five out of five, if nothing else, for the nostalgia value! I would have given a limb to have a Krang LEGO set as a kid, and so I couldn't help but just be really impressed and happy with the finished product. Sure, some of the bricks still bother me a little, and it really doesn't have the same look as LEGO, but as a collector, Mega Bloks apparently "get it", and this really sealed the deal for me.
I like that the billboard has a nod to April and Channel 6 News. The inclusion of a pizza stand, complete with a slice of pizza covers that aspect of the TMNTs' personalities in a nutshell, and the manhole covers that the figures stand on is a smart way to display them but also support the fact that they live in the sewers. All in all, there are lots of little nods to the classic series all in this one set.
Krang's articulation is a little clunky, but considering it's a construction toy, it isn't bad. As an additional nod to the classic series, he is of course giant sized compared to the TMNT figures, which depicts a crucial scene in the original 5-part mini series from 1987.
I like that Mega Bloks actually have branded this line as the "Collector Series" (top right hand corner of the box). It is an apparent effort to draw attention away from the fact that it is a construction toy, and really get to the heart of people, like me, who grew up with the classic TV series, who would have died to have these things 20 years ago.
I'm going to move on to the figure packs now, because, while I haven't talked about the figures from the Krang set, the figure packs are a good opportunity for me to talk about how I feel about the figures from the range overall.
There are a total of six figure packs. One for each TMNT, plus one each for Bebop and Rocksteady, who come with three Foot Soldiers each.
Before I discuss the figures, let's take a look at each set in turn.
The Leonardo figure pack contains 38 pieces, and is set number DMW25
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
The Donatello figure pack contains 37 pieces, and is set number DMW23.
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
The Michelangelo figure pack contains 42 pieces, and is set number DMW24.
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
The Raphael figure pack contains 38 pieces, and is set number DMW26.
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
You can position all four completed sets together to make one larger scene. The TMNT themselves can also be clipped onto a stud on the pipes to give the effect of them jumping through the air, making for a neat action scene.
The Bebop and Foot Soldiers figure pack contains 114 pieces, and is set number DMW29. You can purchase this set
here, on the Target website.
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
The Rocksteady and Foot Soldiers figure pack contains 107 pieces, and is set number DMW28. You can purchase this set
here, on the Target website.
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
Like with the TMNT figure packs, the villain packs can be joined together. Additionally, you can join all six sets together to make one large diorama of all of them together.
I would give these sets each four out of five. Overall I think these sets are a really good idea. It's nice to have the figures on a display stand which can be connected with other sets. The reason I only give these sets four out of five is because the downfall, again, is the quality of the design of the actual pieces. It was really hard getting those manhole covers on those base pieces! The studs just did not want to connect into the holes, which was frustrating.
The figures themselves are extremely fragile. While they have excellent articulation and pretty good detailing, they are prone to falling apart easily, and sometimes have a little difficulty standing up the way you want them to. I do like the fact that the belts and arm and leg bands are made separately and can be removed - that adds a little dimension to them that LEGO minifigures don't have (neither is better than the other really, as LEGO is a thing unto itself, it's just an observation).
So that is all of the current Classic Series range of the TMNT Bloks. Later this year they are releasing a Classic Series Technodrome, which is completely awesome. In the next week or so I hope to have the next part of this review up, which will cover the entire current Nick TV range from Mega Bloks.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Dan.