Yeah, I only have two weeks to get a Blog Of The Week on my first run on premier. Not likely it'll happen, but I just think it would be cool. Oh well.
Anyways, I'm gonna give a review (Without pictures ) on Vamprah.
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
Well, the canisters are a bit strange, the "web" piece on the front is kinda pointless, but when you pick the set up from the shelf, its just pretty dang cool. Now, when you open it, your like, "How many pieces do you need to package up this thing?", you have the You have the canister (Which is nice that lego went back to the sturdy can) the "web" and this little weird lid. But, you can just set those aside after you get it open. After you dump those out, usually the first thing you think is "So what new pieces do we have?" well these are them (BZPower Official Review Image):
So, The wing pieces are a nice addition to any MoCers selection of pieces, the body is very nice, the ribs make it look more of a dark, scray figure, now, the mask, is very nice, it makes the "bat look" more interesting.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
Well, its a pretty easy build, not really much to say about it, you have a bunch of different pieces throw them together, and you have a Makuta Phantoka. Now the only thing that is a problem is the Rib piece, when you put it in the body piece, you have to force it, and at the same time be careful, because the piece is flimsy already, so you want to push up on the little circular ends that you put the pins in, then push them into the body.
Set Design
Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
Now that its done, you can look at it, pose it, brake it, eat it, scare your cat with it, whatever, but I went with the posing. Since this guy doesn't have any real legs, he's kinda hard to pose, you have to get the arms and legs just right to stand him up, but other then that, hes pretty easy to pose. But if you pose him in a certain crawling position, his wings get in the way of his "legs".
Playability
The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
So this guy is very fun to mess around with, making him fight Pohatu is an interesting fight, Pohatu stands, Vamprah crawls, and its not easy to make them both "fly" since you only have two hands, you have to shoot the Midak, Drop The Tridax, not to easy. Now, speaking of the Tridax. Very nice projectile, the color makes the set very interesting. The Shadow Leeches are rubber again, like the Squids last year, but, whats better, is lego decided to add a pin hole on the back of the leeches to add a connection to other characters, very nice. And if you squeeze them and try to turn them inside-out the turn into a little ball that has no look to it, if you do this to all, and drop them from a good height, they pop back out into their regular form.
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Well, this set is very cool, nice new pieces, very creative design, just a good 10/10 set. Probably the best of the Makuta Phantoka.
Pros
What's to like? Great Mocing Pieces
Good Looking Set
Fairly Easy Pose-ability
Easy Build
Lots Of New Pieces Cons
What's not to like? Price
Need to buy matoran
Canister
Head waggle