Toy Review - Kre-O Wave 1

[kaiden]

wow that really is a big box of air! talk about inflation! *badum tish*

[valkyrie_76]

I just want the Kreons.......you can keep the blocks

[Tetsuwan Convoy]

Wow! So our prices are generally double the US prices. Wow.

They look pretty bad... I was interested in the little Optimus, but since he doesn't come with the Kreon character that interest has faded greatly.


I see a second hand market opening up for the Kreons alone going for ridiculous prices on ebay

How do these compare price wise to regular old lego?

[Cyberwing]

Apparently their quality is close to lego's. The only difference is that they have more specialized pieces [megatron's barrels] compared to lego and some bricks have a hole in one stud to mark their 'uniqueness'.

[griffin]

Did Starscream last night, in jet mode. Took over 2 hours... (not sure if that's a long time for this sort of set, or if I'm just such a noob at "Lego").

While doing Ratchet, I was wondering why there was an over-complication (a single piece could have been used in place of two smaller pieces, or using up odd parts when a simple block would do), but during the construction of Starscream I realised that this was just to make sure that parts could be used in both modes, so that you wouldn't be left with a heap of unused pieces with either mode. This would have taken a fair bit of time to work out by the designers, to minimise excess pieces by adding them in somewhere on both modes.
In the case of Starscream, I had 11 pieces unused - 3 of which were the head and fists. As such, there seemed to be a number of pieces that didn't need to be used to make the jet mode.... but don't ruin it by being there.

The retractable landing gear was a nice touch, while an undocumented gimmick on the box is that the cockpit is also hinged to open, with a space inside for the pilot.
I'm thinking that the larger sets (Bumblebee and higher) can all hold a Kreon in their vehicle mode, but Bumblebee was the only one that noted it on the box.

Two problems with Starscream set:
- The Pilot Kreon's helmet has a similar design flaw to Ratchet's, but in this case it doesn't go down far enough (Ratchet's goes down too far, covering the eyes). This one sits up too high, almost covering the eyes by the bottom of the helmet.
- The instructions from about page 38 (showing the underside of the jet mode) is drawn wrong. It was drawn as if there were some parts added that were never part of the instructions. Now, this would have confused the heck out of me if Demonac hadn't pointed out earlier that evening, that the Official picture of Ratchet's robot mode is quite different to the packaging image and the actual figure. So assuming that Hasbro had some Prototype options produced, which ended up getting mixed up with the designated final version, the Starscream instructions on the last four pages show a version that wasn't the version they had pieces for. But don't worry - it doesn't affect the construction, nor does it tell you to use pieces that aren't there... it just has steps that add parts to a figure that doesn't match up visually to what you have in your hands.

And like Ratchet, there is an accessory that is not shown anywhere in the instructions, box or component listing. This set comes with a ladder for the jet mode, which is nice, but like Ratchet's stretcher, this last minute addition makes this look even more rushed (or half-assed).

The size of Starscream with assorted other figures:

[5FDP]

I like these but would only buy the Kreon's if sold separately.

The size of Starscream with assorted other figures:

Your idea of a few 'assorted figures' would be considered a collection by most

[Decepticon]

Thank god I dislike these Kreo things! I am saving money for 'REAL' Transformers! Though I must say, if the Kreons/minifigs were sold separately, Id buy those.