Review: 70814 Emmet's Construct-o-Mech
Posted by DrDaveWatford,
I must admit to being pleasantly surprised by the first wave of LEGO Movie sets – they were definitely better than I’d expected. I was therefore quite looking forward to checking out the second wave of sets and seeing if they could live up to their predecessors.
The LEGO tribute to Classic Space in the form of Set 70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! has been getting most of the attention in the pre-launch period, but as a big fan of LEGO mechs, I’ve also being keeping an interested eye on Set 70814 Emmet's Construct-o-Mech. This is the latest in a long and sometimes illustrious line of LEGO mechs, and when the LEGO Community, Events and Engagement (CEE) team were kind enough to send Brickset a review copy of the set, I predictably jumped at the chance of getting an early look at it and sharing my thoughts with Brickset readers.
Box & Contents
The visuals on the front of the box (below) are pretty standard LEGO Movie fare, consisting primarily of an action shot of the set contents. This is embellished with a triangular box-out in the bottom right corner highlighting the minifigs and brick-built characters contained within the set, the LEGO movie branding, and set details including a suggested 8-14 age range. Bizarrely, the mech looks to me like it’s rollerskating in the main picture….
The back of the box (below) features another shot of the Construct-o-Mech model, this time in a static pose; Emmet looks on from the cockpit with a huge grin on his face as Angry Kitty mauls one of the Skeletrons. A film strip-styled visual on the right side of the box contains a number of panels outlining the play-features of the set.
Inside the box you will find five bags numbered from 1 to 5 containing parts, and a single instruction booklet sealed in a bag alongside a sheet of cardboard to keep it flat. The bag also contains a sticker sheet (below) which bears 17 stickers.
Instructions
The instruction booklet (front cover below) has a footprint of around 20 cm x 26 cm and runs to 84-pages cover-to-cover. A total of 73 pages are taken up by the building instructions; except for a 2-page inventory of parts, the rest of the space is occupied by a variety of advertisements. The building instructions are clearly printed on a medium blue background and were easy to follow, with no colour discrimination issues evident.
There are seven pages of advertisements. In addition to the stylish montage below, highlighting a selection of LEGO Movie sets, there’s also advertising for the LEGO Movie videogame, some of the LEGO Superheroes sets, LEGOLAND parks and Discovery Centers, the LEGO Club, and a request for product feedback; the latter comes complete with all-new imagery featuring a minifigure rather than the ghastly shot of a shouty kid that buyers of LEGO sets will all be too familiar with - hurrah !
Elements
You can see a selection of uncommon and/or interesting elements included in the set in the picture below (click to enlarge). In the absence of a Bricklink inventory, it can be a challenge figuring out which if any of the elements are new, but a few parts did stand out on this occasion. I don’t recall having seen the 2 x 4 x 4 half cylinder in blue before, for instance, and I suspect that this is new; similarly, I don’t recall having seen the yellow 65 degree 2 x 1 x 2 slope before. In addition, Angry Kitty contains a number of new elements including the red 1 x 3 brick with printed Angry Kitty pattern, the printed red 1 x 3 arch and the printed red tail; also appearing for the first time in this set are the bright light orange 1 x 1 and 1 x 3 plates and the red unicorn horn. All other elements in the picture have by my reckoning previously appeared in less than ten sets. It was the first time I’d encountered the new modified 1 x 1 plate with vertical tooth, and I can see it being put to good use in MOCs; it’s previously appeared in a couple of the Chima Legend Beast sets. Finally, in case anyone’s wondering, the code printed on the yellow 1 x 4 tile unlocks a “surprise item” in the LEGO Movie videogame.
Minifigures
The set contains three minifigures plus the Angry Kitty brick-built character. Angry Kitty can be seen below; she’s unique to the set and, as described previously, is packed with never-before-seen elements. I now make that five Unikitty variants including the spacesuit-clad version in Benny’s Spaceship; I can’t wait to get them all together in one place !
Emmet (below) shares his torso, legs and hair with most other versions of Emmet released to date, but this version differs from the others by virtue of his head-print. I’m not quite sure how you’d describe his primary expression – sneering, perhaps – while his alternate expression is a huge toothy grin. On this occasion Emmet doesn’t have his Piece of Resistance.
The set contains two Skeletrons (pictures below). The Skeletron minifigure, which Bricklink calls a Robo Skeleton, has previously only appeared in Set 70807 MetalBeard's Duel. The skeletal torso, legs and arms have made numerous previous appearances in various colours, but the nifty single-sided head-print is unique to this minifigure.
The Build
In addition to containing the parts needed for the minifigures and Angry Kitty, the bag numbered with a ‘1’ also contains some elements needed to make a start on the Construct-o-Mech itself, specifically the cockpit which will eventually accommodate Emmet. Most notable is the inclusion of the yellow 1 x 4 tile printed with an alphanumeric code which, as previously mentioned, unlocks a reward in the LEGO Movie video game. As you can see in the picture below, the tile attaches to the base of the cockpit. There are a couple of stickers to apply at this stage of the build, but nothing too heroic yet.
The next stage of the build, which utilises the elements contained in the bag numbered with a ‘2’, involves construction of the cockpit canopy plus a pair of structures which flank the cockpit. The canopy lifts up to allow access to the cockpit, as shown in a later photograph. There are three more stickers to apply at this stage.
The Construct-o-Mech’s legs (below) are next to be built, and are assembled from the contents of the bag numbered with a ‘3’. The legs are predominantly comprised of Technic lift arms bolted together with multiple Technic pins. Instead of feet, the mech has wheels complete with treads; with all four treads in place it has to be said that the mech doesn't roll particularly smoothly or easily, particularly on a low-friction surface. On the flip-side, the rubber treads do stop the legs from sliding around and thus aid stability.
With the legs attached (below) the mech starts to take shape. Contrary to appearances, there’s only a single articulation point on each leg which is at the hip; the use of large Technic rotation joints here does in theory permit some limited flexion and extension of the legs, but in practice any such movements in the absence of being able to make lateral adjustments results in the mech toppling over, so there’s actually little if any scope for posing the legs that I can see.
With the legs in place it’s time to build the Construct-o-Mech’s arms (below). Each arm has a different attachment - the left arm features a rotating roller while the right arm has a grab. The grab is spring-loaded thanks to the blue elastic band that you can see in the picture. I like the ‘hydraulic effect” pistons at the elbows; these are just for show, but it’s nevertheless cool how they adjust when the arms bend.
The arms slot into the body of the mech as you can see in the picture below. Although the arms have a greater range of movement than the legs, ‘poseability’ could have been further improved with judicious use of ball and socket joints rather than Technic rotation joints.
The final stage of the build, utilizing the elements in the bag marked with a ‘5’, involves construction of a number of structures at the top and rear of the mech. These principally consist of a couple of adjustable ornamental stickered structures perhaps best described as ‘shoulder pads’ or 'epaulettes', two blue tanks which attach to the back, and what look like a pair of lethal wrecking balls which are suspended from triangular girders sprouting from the top of the mech.
You can see the back of the completed Construct-o-Mech below. The blue tanks look like smaller versions of the rotating drum on the back of Set 7990 Cement Mixer, and neatly applying the stickers was a painful experience; there are few things more frustrating from a LEGO perspective than trying to neatly and accurately apply stickers to a curved surface. It’s pleasing to see LEGO making some effort at the back of the mech, incidentally – many LEGO mechs have a distinctly unfinished appearance when viewed from behind, and although the Construct-o-Mech isn’t perfect in this regard, the twin tanks and use of inverted dark bley tiles to tidy things up a bit are a definite improvement on some mechs that have gone before.
Lifting up the hinged canopy provides access to the cockpit, and you can see Emmet comfortably ensconced in the cockpit with the canopy raised in the picture below. I have to say that seeing Emmet in the cockpit with the canopy lowered brings to mind Ellen Ripley in the Power Loader, although maybe that’s just me….
The Construct-o-Mech, minifigures and Angry Kitty are gathered together in the picture below, and perhaps for the first time you can get a true sense of scale, and specifically the imposing size of the mech.
Verdict
I’ve built a fair few LEGO mechs in my time, and at more than a third of a metre tall, Emmet’s Construct-o-Mech is up there with the biggest of them all, pretty much the same size as Set 4508 Titan XP. Despite its height, the Construct-o-Mech is surprisingly stable. That stability comes at a price, however, namely the lack of joints in the legs and the consequent dearth of posing possibilities; you’d certainly struggle to recreate the action shot on the front of the box, for instance. It’s also a shame that the mech can’t rotate at the waist, and although the arms have a reasonable range of movement there’s room for improvement there as well. These complaints aside, the Construct-o-Mech is an interesting-looking model, an enjoyable build, and importantly it’s stable enough to be played with, unlike some previous LEGO mechs I could mention.
Set 70814 Emmet's Construct-o-Mech contains 707-parts and has a retail price of £49.99 / $US 59.99. Although due for release on 1st June 2014, it’s already been spotted in a few places including TRU in the US and some UK LEGO brand stores.
Many thanks to the LEGO Community Engagement & Events Team for supplying the set for me to review.
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19 comments on this article
Great review, though I must point out that the 1 x 1 plate with vertical tooth has appeared before in yellow - as the beak piece in 70124 Eagle Legend Beast :-)
^ Good spot - corrected !
Nice review! Btw, in the game it "walks" around by skating, so your presumptions are correct! ;)
Am looking forward to this set as I, too, am interested in robot toys. Have preordered 2 sets at Amazon :-)
One question, can this set be built into a construction vehicle or two? Looks like all the parts are there.
Ugh... Reading the review, I don't think I'll be saving up for this set. Great review though DrDave; it's really nice to read in-depth about and see pics of sets before one goes and spends all one's paltry allowance on a LEGO set. :-) I think it's the nonarticulated legs that get me; that, along with the stick-arms with the marginal mobility as well. Just the looks of the arms/legs kills as well. Of course, it's good for AngryKitty and the (exclusive?) version of Emmet; but at $80 that's too much to spend on a bunch of yellow (albeit with grey and black accents) bricks. Benny's S3, however.... >:-D
Saw this guy at the lego store. Not telling which though because I don't want you buying it because i will be getting it.
The blue cone piece with the hole in the middle, part number 4742, has appeared in 6494 Magic Mountain Time Lab, I believe as the base for the flying house.
I just needed the yellow 1x2x2 slope a couple days ago! I hope someone starts selling it on bricklink soon.
As a set I think it's a bit underwhelming. It should be a one on one copy of the one in the movie, that version was cool and intimidating. And not to mention bigger.
Hey, great review!
one thing I really miss in this set is the turning boulders which they show in the movie, I think the function could easily have been added, and would have gone a long way for playability. I'll be passing on it anyway's as I'm not that much into mechs. (I will make an exception for the exo suit though ;) )
p.s. the blue cone piece is also part of the nose of the 10177 boeing
^ The blue hollow 4 x 4 x 2 cone has previously appeared in 7 sets and now this one too. I've not previously seen the blue half cylinder, however.
Where was the sword?
Must...get...Angry...Kitty....
Trouble is, the rest of the set (except Emmet's head) doesn't much appeal to me--I'm just not that into mechs. AK's price on Bricklink is sure to be outrageous, but well below $60.
When I bought the Sea Cow, I promised myself I wouldn't buy any summer Lego Movie sets (of course, I didn't know about the upcoming Fairground Mixer, although the Star Wars Cantina was already on my wish list) so I'm secretly glad that this and the Super Secret Dropship don't make me drool very much! Still Benny's S3 to get past, though!
I've been so excited for this set while most of the talk has been around SPACESHIP! Very glad that the review is largely positive. The Ripley/Power Loader connection is one of the reasons I love the concept of the mech so much; when I watched The LEGO Movie I took it as an homage to Alien.
To be completely honest, I would have been completely okay if this set set was the ultra-large set instead of the sea cow, for they could get the correct size of the mech AND they could even include (albiet a smaller version) Lord Business' giant hovering brick fortress. This model just isn't pose-able and imposing enough for me to buy. Great review though, Dr. *ANGRY KITTY!!!!*
"Where was the sword?"
The swords are used as aerials; one projects upwards from each of the mech's "shoulder pads"/"epaulettes"
Can you do one on benny's Spaceship
Yes, next week.
Yeah, I'm a lot more likely to get the ship than the mech - the mech underwhelms because it's so static.