Toy Review - Kre-O Wave 1

[tinyJazz]

I'm still torn on whether to get these or not. :/ Are they fun to build? I shouldn't have sold my legos, I want to build little houses for the kreons lol.

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.

Given your recent posts in the knock off transformers threads, I find your comment really amusing. Knock offs aren't real Transformers.
I get what you mean though, transforming transformers are the real deal, but don't say that too loud, you'll hurt Mainframe's feelings!

[Cat]

I love them.

They're not without their flaws, but nonetheless, I'm thrilled with them.

I got them just for the minifigures, but I REALLY love the kits. Wasn't expecting that at all.

I've built 5 of the set so far. Here's what I've noticed flaws-wise for each (And surprisingly, big Optimus set has been the worst so far. So many errors, so many ambiguous instructions. I've had to take it apart and restart TWICE thanks to poor angles)

These are ones I've noticed. Yours may not have this problem, or it may be line-wide.

Common Problem - Humans with helmets. The helmets don't sit low enough compared to where the tampo'ed face details are. I've noticed this with all three of the helmeted humans I've opened so far. You'll see eyebrows and most of the eyes, but that's it. It also really seems like they did mean the helmet to go lower, as it sits a bit high. Alternatively, with Mirage, you'll see most of the sunglasses. It's less noticeable with Mirage's driver. I'm assuming this is a common, if not complete, error.

Common Difference - There's often a difference with the model you see on the front, to the model you make. Parts often go in different places, leading to a figure that can be noticeably different in places. Take note of which you'd prefer, and follow/ignore the instructions accordingly. Also, colours may vary. EG the colour of Ratchet's fists, plus numerous others. We're all used to that little disclaimer.

Large Optimus Prime set - Along with the human problems mentioned above for the 2 drivers included, note that there is a rather noticeable mistake with the stickers. Stickers meant for BLUE pieces have a BLACK background. This means they stand out, and is an obvious mistake. Also, make sure you really want to use the door stickers, as they look pretty bad once on, covering molded detail, and again, wrong colour background. (Note the box version has a painted stripe which avoids the molded panel, not possible with the sticker). They also advise you to place a sticker or two that doesn't exist, like the dual Autobot logo's on the bonnet in truck mode. There's only one.

Ratchet - The Ratchet Kreon's helmet covers his eyes. I've seen three examples with this defect so far, including my own, and the one showed at SDCC. It's an easy fix, just put a little tab of paper inside the helmet. This will give you enough height, and it should still click a little. This may or may not be a common problem.

Mirage - problem with the helmeted driver, however his sunglasses compensate for this a tad. Nothing else i noticed.

Prowl - Nothing that I noticed.

Small Bumblebee - Nothing that I noticed.

Overall, I still love them. But based on big Optimus so far, it seems the fun is LARGER with the smaller kits.

I also modded Prowl, to make him look more 'accurate', by moving his wheels to his shoulders, and moving his arm-lights up higher. I did this by only using left-over pieces from the same kit, and it looks great.

[Decepticon]

I'm still torn on whether to get these or not. :/ Are they fun to build? I shouldn't have sold my legos, I want to build little houses for the kreons lol.



Given your recent posts in the knock off transformers threads, I find your comment really amusing. Knock offs aren't real Transformers.
I get what you mean though, transforming transformers are the real deal, but don't say that too loud, you'll hurt Mainframe's feelings!

Lol, yeah that is what I meant. That poses a ?. What is more of a REAL Transformer?.....a KO or a pile of bricks?

[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.

[i_amtrunks]

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!

[KillinSpoon]

ball jointed pieces gives the kre-os an edge that will be interesting to see if Lego try to compete with, or ignore.

Bionicle and Hero Factory.
They're essentially ball joints on ball joints. (GP, Arcee and I were discussing this yesterday haha)

[Decepticon]

These ball joints are the things that turn me off these Kre-o things. Look soo cheap an nasty.

[Stompy]

I bought Jazz and Optimus + Trailer today. Managed to make Jazz only and saving Optimus at a later date.

First I wanted to inspect the quality of the plastic. Pretty good. Closest I've seen any competing building block toys have ever been but it is still a notch or two below the outstanding quality of Lego.

Second, I wanted to see how they connect. For the most part great, until you get to the longer pieces. These just don't have the strength of Lego when I tried this. The piece just wouldn't fit in and bent out and had to gently force it in. NEVER happens with Lego. Up to 3 studs wide plates are ok but the larger ones just don't quite ease itself in easily.

With those two above I can only assume that Lego's molds are much much more precisely engineered than these. Although plastic quality is almost as good.

The minifig quality were ok. They still feel a little cheap every now and then but I do like that the shoulders and legs are on ball joints allowing for the arms and legs to fan sideways a little for varied poses. The rotating waist joint is a nice touch ruined, by default, by the blocky waist. Conceptually though, Having G1 styled Minifigs will drive the sales for these sets.

With Jazz I went and built the robot mode. Nothing surprising here, just a lot of random pieces (designed for vehicle mode) piled on together and then covered up by signature panels. The ball joints have a very hard rubber coating which should help the ball joints longevity. They can be quite stiff, which is awesome in my opinion. I just hope that they don't wear out. Time will tell but for now. A big plus over Lego's plastic on plastic ball joint that eventually gets loose. The ball jointed heads are certainly going to be just as popular as the Minifigs in these sets. So completists and those wanting official TF heads for use with their Lego sets. Here they are. The majority of the bricks are carbon copies of Lego bricks with some having some minor adjustments some actually for the better. There are a few original bricks that feel well thought out, rather than just having it for the sake of originality. Then again there is a hologram sticker stating compatibility with leading brands. Obviously wants to attract soem of the LEgo fans.

Jazz's Robot mode is what I expected for the size of the kit. While it would have been nice for a few more articulation points, especially a knee bend, the resulting figure is decent. It doesn't really look like Jazz since the doors are too small and is pretty much hidden at the back and the legs are nowhere near what it's meant to look like based off any of its G1 or Classics design. The head, colours and a few signature flourishes distinguishes this as Jazz, but otherwise it could have been ANY robot if you took the head out and used another colour scheme. By the way they used a silver colour for Jazz. Would have preferred all white, it would have looked better. The robot mode has just the right proportions but the vehicle mode looks a little squashed or "cute" looking. I'll make the vehicle next time and will post what I think.

For the price... $20 (unsure what rrp actually is) I think it's pretty good. Two Minifigs and a decent amount of parts, and a nice variety of it too, with only a handful of "basic" bricks in the set with a lot of specialized bricks and plates, this is pretty good value for this set. Comparatively with Lego, minor plastic quality difference aside, this is better value than the asking price of contemporary Lego sets. MUCH better value. The designs are a heck of a lot better than the Exo Force robots from a few years ago and merges two of my favorite toys together. Who doesn't want G1 style Minifigs? Plus those robot heads are just awesome. I understand that engineering an actual transforming kit is a challenge, but here's hoping future waves will have them.

I'd say give it a shot on sale prices. The minifigs are pretty, so I'd suggest skipping the basic Optimus & Bumblebee and try out Jazz or Mirage and see what you think.

[Cat]

I actually disagree on the smaller Bumblebee.

I thought it'd be a throwaway too, as it has no Kreon.

But it looks TERRIFIC. EVERY visitor that's seen these has gravitated to him immediately, commenting on how good he looks 'for LEGO'.

He does look great in robot mode. I'd even go so far as to say SURPRISINGLY GREAT.

The larger Optimus set, on the other hand, is an exercise in frustration. It's often difficult to tell in the instructions what part you're supposed to use (the light grey, dark grey, or is that the silvery grey?) as they seem to change slightly. Some of the angles we're shown really DON'T tell you where some pieces need to go.

The stickers are the wrong colours, and fairly ugly anyway.

The truck mode looks okay once assembled, but man, that thing is NEVER getting taken apart again. Just absolutely frustrating and annoying.

So fair warning on him. He's NOTHING like the pleasant experience of Mirage, who I think has been the best so far, or Ratchet, Prowl, or small Bumblebee (my total built so far).

Next I'll try and relax with the larger 'Bee, I think.

[jena]

One thing I don't think I've seen mentioned yet is the playability of these toys. I'm sure they're more solid in vehicle mode (I've only built mine in robot mode) but when trying to pose Jazz, some of the parts came loose and I had to press the pieces together again - if that makes sense. I don't see these guys fairing well in epic play battles.

That is my only negative thing to say about them! Basic Optimus and Jazz are the same height which looks odd since Optimus has such a skinny torso. The yellow of Bumblebee's bricks is fantastic and so are the silver bricks used for Jazz. I made a little addition to Jazz, I put the left over window pieces on his back and added his name plate to the front (like basic OP). I kinda wish then wheel arch pieces were included in his robot mode, but you can't have everything.