I only have Mirage made (Ratchet and Prowl in transit), but after making both modes in about 35 minutes I must say so far so good, if the other sets are similar in quality.
The plastic quality is good, far superior to any lego competitor I've ever messed around with, but still not the same quality as the real deal, you won't get the two confused with each other.
The designs are clever without being intricate, and as Bossbot said, there are steps where you are using smaller blocks to make larger ones just to use up blocks from the other mode, its clever and in a way neccessary to limit loss of pieces. The car mode was nicely down and instantly recognisable as Mirage, while the robot mode was plainer, it makes up for it with the sheer size and the clever use of the car mode features.
If the designers can continue to improve their designs and integration of pieces as they gain more experience with the medium, we should have some fantastically intricate and poseable figures in years to come.
It is obvious that Hasbro have taken all the things that work from lego, the instructions are similar but use a slightly worse angle.
There are some negatives:
- The stickers are far smaller than the instructions indicate, and will fall off easily. Perhaps a new market for reprolabels?
- The minifigure accessories do not fit correctly. Mirage's driver figure helmet does not go down far enough on the head. It is lazy and does not reflect well on the product that an easy to notice (and potentially fix) error like this was not rectified.
- the price. Not so much for the smaller sets, but the larger ones do not represent value for money.
The poseability due to specialised ball jointed pieces gives the kre-os an edge that will be interesting to see if Lego try to compete with, or ignore.
I only have Mirage, so I won't give a comment about the overall wave, but I am very impressed and happy with Mirage's design and construction, and if he is an indicator of the line, then these will be worth ordering from overseas where the prices (including shipping) make them only marginally more than half of the retail price here in Australia.
I do not recommend purchasing them if you are scared of developing a lego addiction, these things are a gateway product!
Looking For: Wreckers Saga TPB Collection (with Requiem)