- Thursday, March 10, 2016 8:55 AM
- DisneyDan
Hello everyone,
In
part one of my TMNT Mega Bloks review, I looked at the Classic series range. Now, in this second part, I am going to take a close up look at the entire Nickelodeon series range, which comprises of eleven sets, plus eight minifigure mystery bags (I know minifigures is what LEGO call their figures, but I like the term, and can't think really what else I could call them - they are mini, and they are figures!).
As I pointed out
in part one, from 2013 until 2015, LEGO had their own range of TMNT construction toys, my reviews of which can be found in the links below:
Part one can be read here.Part two can be found here.Let's go straight into the review, starting with Baxter Mutation Lab, set number DMX50. This set contains 73 pieces, including three figures.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
Now let's look at the figures up close, back and front.
Baxter:
The Foot Soldier:
Leonardo:
I would give this set four out of five. As you'll notice, Baxter has two forms in this set - human and fly! It's really neat that you can switch out his parts and mutate him. The actual mutation chamber itself isn't anything too exciting, but it serves the purpose well enough. Leonardo has a button on his back that makes his arm perform a chopping action, which is also cool. I don't recall ever seeing a spring-action LEGO mnifigure before, so points go to Mega Bloks for this one.
The next set is the Donnie Turtle Racer, set number DMX52. The set contains 129 pieces, including two figures.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished product:
Now the figures, back and front.
Donatello:
Casey Jones:
I would give this set five out of five. I actually really like it. I mean, that isn't too surprising since it contains Donatello and Casey Jones, both of whom I like a lot, but other than that, I just think it is a fun set. Donnie is yet another slashing action one, which is ok, but I prefer them not to be. The biggest problem with the spring loaded ones, is that the arms don't fall naturally. They always end up in weird positions, which bugs me, since I like to display them in action poses. That aside, I love the car, I like that the rockets can be fired from the launcher, and I'm overall just happy that Donnie and Casey get some love in this set!
I want to mention as a final point before moving onto the next set, that the car can actually be towed along by the Party Wagon, which we'll come to a little later in this review. It requires switching out one piece for another (included with the set), which is a pain to get off, but it's pretty fun to be able to have them connected. It gives a sense of continuity between the sets, by actually having them be able to interact together like that.
The next set is the Donnie Pizza Buggy, set number DMX37. The set includes 65 pieces, including on figure.
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished Pizza Buggy:
The back and front of Donatello:
I would give this set four and a half out of five. I like this vehicle, and I love that it once again includes Donnie, but I'm not sure what purpose it serves. It doesn't really fit with anything else from the TV show or the rest of the toy range. It just, well, exists. I know that things don't necessarily have to have a purpose, but the TMNT universe is so vast, that they could have picked literally anything more worthwhile, and so I feel this could have been a lot more. Having said that, I have given it four and half out of five, so there is credit where it's due. Sadly, this is the only other set in the range that includes Donnie in it (I am not counting the mystery bags for now), and therefore your only chance of getting a regular Donnie figure, as the one in the Casey Jones set is a chopping action one. Finally, I want to point out that the bo staff gets moved up and down by the rotation of the wheel when it is clipped to the side of the car, giving some extra movement and energy to the set.
Next up we have the Turtle Sewer Lair, set number DMX55. The set contains 342 pieces, including three figures. This is the largest set in the range by piece count.
The back and front of the box:
The contents of the box:
There were two instruction books - this is where I was at after book one:
The finished Turtle Sewer Lair:
Now let's look at the back and front of the figures.
The Foot Soldier:
Leonardo:
Tiger Claw (for some reason, I only took one of the front of him!):
I would give this set four and a half out of five. I think that it's a fun set with some good features. The sewer grate on the street level pops open so that the figures can slide down the pipe, there is a "detonator" that makes one of the floor panels "explode", the lounge area with the TV has a nod to Leo's favourite show, "Space Heroes", and the training equipment spins and moves. I love that Tiger Claw is included, too. He was never featured in the LEGO range, and so it's nice to have him as a figure here. The only thing I don't really like is the fact that Leo is another non-standard one (you should recall that in the Baxter set he has the slashing arm movement). Leo features three times in the range, which means that he only gets one standard representation. In this set he is a zip line version, which is hard to depict in the photos, as the cord retracts on its own pretty quickly!
The next set is Leo Pizza Fury, which is set number DMX34. The set contains 51 pieces, including one figure.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The back and front of Leonardo:
I would give this set three and a half out of five. Like the Donnie set before, I feel that this set is a little unnecessary. I suppose they needed a way to include a regular Leo figure in the range, but they could have definitely picked something that related to the TV show more. The pizza catapult is a bit strange, and but it has a pretty good spring in it. It isn't a bad set overall, but it's pretty simple and unexciting.
The next set is the Mikey Pizza Racer, which is set number DMX38. The set contains pieces, including one figure.
The front and back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The finished Pizza Racer:
The back and front of Michelangelo:
I would give this set three and half out of five. Like the Leo and Donnie sets, above, this is another "filler" to the range. The car has a very cheap feel to it, and the off-yellow colour isn't easy on the eyes in real life. The contraption on the top of the car is supposed to fire the pizza. You have to pinch it together and the pizza is supposed to fire out of the jaw of it, but honestly, it doesn't work so well. This is one of three sets to contain a Mikey, of which two are regular versions, albeit with slightly different paint work.
The next set is Mikey Nunchuck Training, which contains 29 pieces, including one figure. The set number is DMX27.
The front and back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The competed set:
The back and front of Michelangelo:
I would give this set three and a half out of five. I know this is going to sound repetitive, but this is yet another filer set, and doesn't really serve any purpose. I think of the whole range, this is my least favourite set. It gives people the opportunity to have a Mickey figure for a pretty low cost, but other than that, it is pointless. I only really give it three out of five for the fact it has a variant Mikey figure in it.
The next set is the Mikey Pizzeria Showdown, which is set number DMX51. The set contains 129 pieces, including one figure and two Mousers.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The back and front of Mikey:
I would give this set four out of five. It's fun to see the Mousers in the range, and I like that the pizzeria actually takes its name and style from the one in the TV show. Mikey in this set is another zip line figure, like the Leo in the Lair set. I tried to demonstrate in a photo above how it works, but the problem is that the cord winds back in on its own, and Mickey doesn't stay clipped to a stud hard enough to have him stand there with the line out. Anyway, this is the only non-standard Mikey in the range, so he gets a better deal than the others (especially compared to Donnie). I think that the pizzeria itself could have been a bit more detailed, but it serves a purpose. The water tower is on top of a "detonator", and comes crashing down when the red light above the store is pressed. Perhaps including another character in the set would have improved it slightly, as it's a fairly large set to just feature Mikey.
Up next we have the Raph Skate Training set, which contains 30 pieces, including one figure. The set number is DMX32.
The front and the back of the box:
For some reason I forgot to take a photo of the inner packaging for this set, so we'll jump straight to the completed set:
The front and back of Raph:
I would give this set four out of five. That might seem strangely high given my thoughts on the previous filler sets, above, but I just like this one. I actually like that Raph has a skateboard, and a little ramp to practice on, and I think the sign with the turtle family on it is cute. This is one of three sets to contain Raph, and one of two standard (but varying) versions of him.
The next set is Raph Dojo Combat. The set number is DMX35, and contains 51 pieces, including one figure.
The front and the back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed set:
The front and back of Raph:
I would give this set four and a half out of five. I think this set is a little better than just a filer set, and serves more or a purpose. The TMNTs do train in a dojo setting in their lair, and so I see this as a solid extension of the lair set. The training dummy is on a spinning spring loaded brick piece, which gives the set a little more dimension and energy. I like that Raph has a black outfit on, and the inclusion of a random barrel of mutagen.
The next set is the Party Wagon. The set number is DMX54, and includes 274 pieces, including two figures.
The front and back of the box:
The contents of the box:
The completed Party Wagon:
Now let's look at the front and the back of the figures.
Raphael:
The Shredder:
I would give this set five out of five. While the Party Wagon is a little on the small side, it looks good, and has some nice details. The inclusion of the Venus plate on the side is a nod to Venus de Milo, who of course has been seen in other TMNT incarnations. This is the only set to contain the Shredder, so it's great to have him here. The wagon has some good features, such as the spring loaded spoiler, which fires tires, and the hatch with hidden bomb behind it. Inside, there are clips for the TMNT to hang some tools or weapons, the door opens all the way out, and the roof comes off for ease of access. The only down side to this set is that Raph is a chopping action one, and, in my set at least, he doesn't really work very well. I suppose the spring must have broken or come loose - but overall that doesn't bother me so much as it means I can position the arms how I want them, instead of them jumping around like the other spring action figures' arms do.
I have now covered all the main sets in the range, and so we finally come to the minifigure mystery packs.
There are eight figures in the series one mystery packs, so let's take a look.
The front and back of the packaging (side by side):
The Shredder:
Robotic Foot Soldier:
Regular Foot Soldier:
Kraang Droid:
Leonardo:
Donatello:
Michelangelo:
Raphael (I moved his belt up so the graffiti could be seen clearly):
It's hard to really give these a rating, because they are fairly simple, but effective. I suppose if I had to rate them I'd give them a five out of five, because they are a good, cost effective way of getting the core characters without buying all the sets (the serial numbers along the side of the packaging is different on each one, so it's easy to tell different ones apart!). I do think that perhaps the eyes on Donnie, Mikey and Raph are a bit strange, and I'm not sure I like having those as permanent expressions, but I won't complain too much, as they are definitely fun for the money. I like that each figure (except Shredder) has an accessory, and being able to remove the Kraang alien from the droid is definitely cool. I'm not exactly sure why Shredder is a clear red colour, and think perhaps they should have done Splinter or April O'Neil (although I believe Splinter is coming in wave two of these figures).
Here's a group shot of them all together:
So we have come to the end of my review of the Mega Bloks TMNT Nickelodeon range. I really enjoyed putting them all together, and think they look great when collected together into scenes. My initial skepticism about Mega Bloks making this range has definitely been blown away, and I really look forward to seeing what else Mega Bloks come up with, as I know that they have more sets in the works.
I made some small scenes and took some photos, which I thought I would share with you, below.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Dan.