Mixels Series 3: Spikels
Posted by CapnRex101,
In the second of our reviews of the three new Mixels tribes, we take a look at the Spikels, a group of playful characters who live in the Spiky Desert, as one might expect I suppose. They reportedly like having fun despite their outwardly harsh appearance, and their favourite hobbies include dancing, chatting and hugging. They sound like a nice bunch don't they?
As ever the Mixels are priced at £2.99 or $4.99, which seems like a reasonable price for some useful parts, as well as plenty of potential for play.
41521 Footi
Footi is probably my least favourite of the three Spikels as I think he least embraces their fun nature in his appearance. However, he contains the greatest number of parts of all the Mixels of the first three series with an impressive 72-pieces, and many of these might be quite useful. Footi contains eight of the small ball joint pieces, two 1x1 round tiles with eye printing, plenty of dark tan and eight flat silver barbs, which rarely appear in this quantity.
Since he contains so many ball joint pieces, it is no surprise that the articulation is quite extensive on Footi as his legs can move at the hip, knee and ankle, while his jaw can open and the arms move on hinges. It is the arms which are my biggest issue with this Mixel as they look far too small when compared with his legs to me. That is obviously a matter of personal preference, but I would also suggest that of the three, Footi has the least characterful face of the Spikels tribe.
41522 Scorpi
Conversely, Scorpi is my favourite of the Spikels. He is the leader of the Spikels which is unusual given his small size. This character is obviously based on a scorpion which is a fun idea and his face looks rather adorable for a spike covered scorpion-like creature.
Like Footi there is a nice selection of pieces including lots of dark tan 1x1 'cheese' slopes and more flat silver pieces, including three 1x2 baby bows. I think it is Scorpi's two big eyes and relatively small teeth which lend the greatest appeal to this Mixel, although he has plenty of articulation as well. All eight legs, his tail (in three places) and his head can move, so it is certainly possible to get him in some interesting poses.
41523 Hoogi
I think the stand out Spikel for many people will be Hoogi. Like Scorpi he has a huge amount of character wih enormous arms, tiny legs and a somewhat alarming under bite. Hoogi's fingers have a lot of motion, as do his arms and legs. He looks rather reminiscent of an orangutan to me which is a nice idea I think.
Like the other two members of the Spikels tribe Hoogi makes use of plenty of tan and dark tan as well as more spikes and plenty of ball joint components. For me, the most important factor in a Mixel is how clearly their character is conveyed, and I have no complaints about that with regard to Hoogi.
A Nixel is included, which is identical to the one of the Nixels released in each of the first two series using a pair of 1x2 slopes as feet. As I said in my review of the Glorp Corp, I would have liked some new Nixels, but this is not a major issue.
Overall
The concept of the Spikels is a lot of fun, and although I am not entirely sold on Footi, there is still a great selection when all three are taken into consideration. Each of them have plenty of character and they all include a superb selection of parts.
Tomorrow these Mixels reviews will be completed with a look at the Wiztastics, my favourite of all the nine tribes released so far!
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9 comments on this article
I love Hoogi! He also has the most ball and socket pieces of any Mixel, with ten total.
I gotta say, that although we're told how friendly and cuddly they are ... the Spikels look terrifying. O_O
I see that you got the information from my Mixels Wiki! Great review. I am expecting to get all of Series 3 in a couple weeks.
Footi looks like he wants to be in my piece dispenser.
I really like Scorpi as well... He has what I like to call "the Unikitty eyes"
You have made up my mind-- these are now my favorite tribe, after the Flexers. Scorpi is SO cute with those eyes, but I'm not at all sure on Footi or Hoogi. Even though Footi looks like a piranha with super feet...
I have bought these, but have yet to build them (this weekend!). While I rank them in the same order, I actually quite like Footi--he reminds me of Art from Monsters U (voiced by Benny the Spaceman!), or the other thing with long legs that appears briefly (doing cartwheels?) in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Still, Scorpi is unbeatably cute.
Once you get past the absurd names, these are actually very well-designed sets.
Scorpi looks fantastic, and it's an added plus that he is built with several parts I need (especially those tan monopods or whatever they're called that make up his legs)....all for $5 too....
This is my least favorite tribe of this series. The green and purple ones are just amazing, some of my favorites.