Toy Review - Kre-O Wave 1

[griffin]

(Please post photos, comments or even a fully comprehensive review - these are just brief details)

NOTE - size classes are not officially given, I have just grouped them according to US pricing and box size.


Toy Review - Bumblebee (small)
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 1 (75 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$15 (US$8)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Sports Car
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks
Main Colours - yellow, black
Main Accessories - none





Toy Review - Optimus Prime (small)
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 1 (90 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$15 (US$8)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Truck
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks
Main Colours - Red, blue, grey
Main Accessories - none






Toy Review - Mirage
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 2 (119 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$20 (US$12)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Race car
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, 2 Kreons
Main Colours - Blue, white, grey
Main Accessories - Mirage Kreon, race driver Kreon






Toy Review - Autobot Jazz
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 2 (122 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$20 (US$12)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Race car
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, 2 Kreons
Main Colours - grey, black
Main Accessories - Autobot Jazz Kreon, Race driver Kreon






Toy Review - Prowl
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 3 (174 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$40 (US$17)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Police Car
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, 2 Kreons
Main Colours - white, black
Main Accessories - Prowl Kreon, SWAT Kreon






Toy Review - Autobot Ratchet
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 4 (187 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$40 (US$20)
Approximate Size - 20cm (robot mode)
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Ambulance
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, 2 Kreons
Main Colours - red, white
Main Accessories - Autobot Ratchet Kreon, Medic Kreon






Toy Review - Sideswipe
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 4 (220 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$50 (US$20)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Sports car
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, 2 Kreons
Main Colours - red, black
Main Accessories - Sideswipe Kreon, Driver Kreon






Toy Review - Bumblebee (large)
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 5 (335 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$50-60 (US$25)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Sports car
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, firing projectile, Driver fits inside car mode, 3 Kreons
Main Colours - Yellow, black
Main Accessories - Bumblebee Kreon, Red Alert Kreon, Driver Kreon
(note - Bumblebee has more pieces than Megatron & Starscream, but costs less and comes in a smaller box)







Toy Review - Megatron
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 6 (310 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$60-70 (US$30)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Truck (Movie)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, launching projectile, cage for Kreons, grabbing claws, 4 Kreons
Main Colours - mid grey, dark grey
Main Accessories - Megatron (Gen1) Kreon, Shockwave (Gen1) Kreon, Specialist Kreon, Police Kreon






Toy Review - Starscream
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 6 (316 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$60-70 (US$30)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Decepticon
Alt-mode - Fighter Jet
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, retractable landing gear, 2 Kreons
Main Colours - light grey, red, blue
Main Accessories - Starscream Kreon, Pilot Kreon







Toy Review - Sentinel Prime
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 7 (386 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$80 (US$40)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Fire Truck (Movie)
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, launching projectile, 4 Kreons
Main Colours - red, black, grey
Main Accessories - Sentinel Prime Kreon, Soundwave (Gen1) Kreon, Thundercracker (Gen1) Kreon, Fire chief Kreon








Toy Review - Optimus Prime
Series - Kre-O
Sub-line - none
Size/class - 8 (542 pieces)
Wave - 1
New/remould/redeco - New
Released here - August/September (globally June/July)
Approximate Retail Price - AU$100 (US$60)
Approximate Size - ?
Allegiance - Autobot
Alt-mode - Truck with Trailer (Movie) + 2 motorbikes
Main Features/Gimmicks - Plastic construction blocks, launching projectile, 5 Kreons
Main Colours - red, blue, grey
Main Accessories - Optimus Prime (Gen1) Kreon, Skywarp (Gen1) Kreon, Bluestreak (Gen1) Kreon, 2 Stunt Driver Kreons
(NOTE - packaging says "3 in 1" but this set only has two modes - "truck with trailer" & "robot with battlestation")







This Kre-O wave feels rushed, or half-assed, as there are design flaws with the Kreons (helmets cover the eyes), non-block accessories that aren't even mentioned in the instructions or packaging, and features/gimmicks of each figure on the box are just shown as a diagram without any wording to say what it is they are highlighting.
Some of the size classes seem out of order, as Megatron & Starscream have less pieces than Bumblebee, but cost more and come in bigger boxes.
The "flagship" of the line (the big Optimus Prime) is deceptive in claiming to have 3 modes, when it clearly only has 2. There is nothing on the back of the box or in the instructions that suggests there is a 3rd mode.
Each figure has a difficulty scale, but you can only find it in the instructions, after you've bought it and opened it up.
Hopefully applying stickers for one mode, doesn't spoil the other (I haven't got that far yet to find out).
The characters are from several eras, mostly Gen1 and Movie, with the small Optimus looking like it is inspired by Animated.
One good thing is that the robot modes have lots of ball & hinge joints, for maximum articulation. And both modes appear to use up almost all of the pieces. The Ratchet one that I built used up all but one piece for the robot mode (and took me about an hour).


Below is a picture of the sides of the boxes, which shows a nice line-up of the feature characters. (also shows which ones are the same size and US$ price)




This picture shows how much wasted space was in the Ratchet box, to make it look like better value from the outside. Some of the others were better filled though.




For size comparison of Ratchet (which is a mid-sized set) with a Deluxe Classics and a Voyager Movie toys.

[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:

[bowspearer]

The "flagship" of the line (the big Optimus Prime) is deceptive in claiming to have 3 modes, when it clearly only has 2. There is nothing on the back of the box or in the instructions that suggests there is a 3rd mode.

The 3rd mode is very similar to the G1 trailer transformation. You remove one or 2 pieces and the trailer can then flip the sides out and door down ala G1 Prime's.

[Decepticon]

God they are hideous things!! Hasbro! please invest in REAL TFs!!!

[SkyWarp91]

God they are hideous things!! Hasbro! please invest in REAL TFs!!!

Funny before I said I'd want them all, but after looking at the other sets again Sideswipe, OP, Megs, Sentinel and Mirage are the only ones that look worth getting. SS reminds me too much of his BTR version

[Decepticon]

Funny before I said I'd want them all, but after looking at the other sets again Sideswipe, OP, Megs, Sentinel and Mirage are the only ones that look worth getting. SS reminds me too much of his BTR version

I actually think the Starscream looks the best out of all of them. I did have a vague interest in the Op with trailer but now seeing the pics above, it's looks tiny and cartoonish and just isn't worth the $99.