A look at four 2015 polybags
Posted by Huw,
Polybag collectors have their work cut out this year given that there are now 33 new ones for 2015 in the database. Some have turned up in large US stores, others on mainland Europe, and some are currently very hard to find.
Thanks to trades with various Brickset members in Europe I've managed to get hold of most of them, so while we're waiting for CapnRex to kick-off his Age Of Ultron reviews later this week, I thought I would take a brief look at a four of them.
30284 Tractor
This Creator set is a miniature masterpiece. The designer has created a very decent looking tractor and a furrower of some sort from just 51-pieces.
This polybag is currently only known to be available in Hungary but it's constructed using common parts so you may well be able to build it yourself from your current collection. The parts list is available, as are the instructions.
It might be fun to make some more miniature attachments for it to pull.
30285 Tiger
This 73-piece Creator set is currently available in Holland and Belgium, I believe. It's mostly made from common pieces although the 1x2 jumper plate on its nose is new in orange this year.
Its legs can be moved back and forth enabling a walking pose to be struck.
Has the designer successfully recreated the look of a tiger at such a small scale? I'll leave that for you to decide.
30305 Spider-Man Super Jumper
Okay, so this Marvel Super Heroes set is more likely to get your pulses racing, I suspect, although it's fairly unremarkable.
I'm no expert but the Spider-Man minifigure appears to be the same as that used in all recent sets (sh038) so is nothing to get too excited about.
It's the first 'super jumper' piece I have. As others have remarked before, it's hard to detach the legs which may imply the studs are a slightly larger diameter than usual which could mean that the feet are stressed and will crack if left on it for extended periods.
I've no idea what the insect-thing is supposed to be. It does however, have a lot of silver parts, more in fact than are shown on the bag. The 'bad robot arms' are shown as black in the set image.
It has what is presumably an abdomen at the back but it looks a bit daft and should have been much larger if the look of a typical insect was the objective. However given LEGO has a track record of giving insects and arachnids too few legs, it's probably supposed to be a spider...
So far as we know it's currently only available in Hungary. There are none listed on BrickLink and those on eBay have a high asking price.
30256 Ice Bear Mech
I suspect many of you in the USA have this one; it showed up in Target just before Christmas but hasn't yet found its way into European shops yet. It's likely to be the last Chima polybag we see given the theme is ending after the summer sets have been launched.
It's quite a neat design and has a nice 'organic' feel to it thanks to the spider leg/tusk pieces, and Iceklaw can sit neatly in it.
So, there you have it. Four polybags that are all fairly unremarkable or can be reproduced easily enough from your own parts but which are highly desirable to polybag collectors. What a strange lot we are...
Oh, and did you notice, on the green 'Browse' mega-menu above I've added a 'Polybags' link for those with the same affliction as I? :-)
Was this interesting? Should I photograph other polys as I build them? Let me know in the comments below.
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46 comments on this article
''30285 Lion'' - is clearly a tiger... This is confusing because of the teeth though. It looks like a cross between a tiger and a sabre-toothed tiger?
The Chima mech is one of my favorite poly bags LEGO has done in recent years. A lot of fun and cute little design.
I'm always up for more poly bag pictures.
I've seen all of these polybags in the Croatian LEGO store in Zagreb. A month ago, most likely.
@Huw, in answer to your last two questions, yes and yes :)
Many of this year's polybags are being sold by Dreamland and Carrefour for €4 each here in Belgium. They are available in some other stores but at a higher price, so I suspect these are available to all retailers here who buy from Lego. Most of those that were on sale here last year ended up being given away by the Daily Mail in the UK, and maybe the same is being planned again?
@Huw - 30285 Tiger is in the UK too but not very easy for many to get as only sighted at Netto.
^ Ah yes, of course. I forgot about Netto. we should really indicate the availability on the set details pages.
Thanks for the Polybag tag, very helpful. And yes, seeing little mini reviews for them would be nice.
For some reason the Targets in my area are extremely inconsistent with what polys they have and when. Either that or someone swoops in to scalp them all and I'm lucky if I find one I'm looking for. I've never been able to confirm this so I'm guessing my local Targets just sell the polys whenever they happen to get them in, which is sometimes months and years off of schedule. I often have to resort to getting lucky to find overstock at Five Below.
Can't find new ones but they've got an endless supply of 30226 , 30246 and even 30250 , which is over 2 years old now!
Wish I could find that Iceklaw mech, it'll probably pop up at a Target near me in about 8 months.
30285 is also available here in Sweden, in Nille stores. They also have 30272, 30274, 30314, 30311, 30292, 30291, 30283, 30202, and 30204 if you're interested.
Yes, please! The more polybag reviews, the better!
So do building them from parts vs owning one sealed still count as owning one? How strict are polybag collectors?
I'm just a casual collector. I'm not sure why. I don't open them usually, so they just take up space.
The insectoid thing could be inspired in the mechanical spider that spider-man confronted in the 90s animated series. It may have been based in a comic chapter also, but I dont know that much about the comic.
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130504075931/marveldatabase/images/e/ec/The_Spider_Slayer_I_animated.jpg
The tractor is fantastic. I wish these were available in the US; my son would love it. Maybe it will show up somewhere in the next month and make it into his Easter basket. Until then, I'll have to see if I can make a coherent color scheme with the parts I have.
The tiger is currently available at Meijer stores in the midwest US.
I actually spotted 30285 Tiger at Meijer here in the U.S. last week.
yes. keep up the polybags. the reviews are nice fodder for those of us who are not polybag collectors. i really like to see the sets 'out of the bag' and photographed... especially ones that I won't be getting my hands on anytime soon (rare, exclusive, only in Europe, etc.).
The tractor will be a free gift with purchase at U.S. LEGO stores. I forget the month, I think July or August.
Please continue with the poly reviews, Huw. Being a hopeless polyaddict, I'll be doing my best to acquire them anyway, but it's nice to see them built and displayed via your sublime photography!
Please keep on going with these reviews. I love them. Especially the ice bear mech is pretty nice, the Spider-Man seems the worst of the bunch to me.
Btw I checked again my local Netto and they carried Megabloks there, no trace of any Lego.
YES
DanRSL, my Targets have those too. They seem to get extra stock and stick them near the registers. It's not uncommon.
Need... Tractor... Now! It's just perfect. It could be the best b-day gift for my friend who owns a tractor on a small apple farm. :)
That Tiger polybag set reminds me a lot of this highly detailed Tiger I built (that is a current project I have loaded to LEGO Ideas here https://ideas.lego.com/projects/78919) but it looks much smaller then mine and based on the way the small one looks it reminds me of the drawings Calvin made of Hobbes in the old carton strip Calvin and Hobbes! Other then that these polybags all look to be original to me!
Got a few tigers from Netto last week as well as some Ninjago mechs.
My Target still doesn't have the mech...but they have endless fire bikes and Ewar sets.
That could be a Spider-Slayer in the Spider-Man poly, but without it being a new Spider-Man I'll pass. We got tons of new Spider-Man suits over the last few years so they could have gone with something else besides the ones we get tons of.
Nice reviews, but polybags aren't really for me - although there is something very attractive about that tractor...
And the Tiger would look nice with my Mixels collection (almost complete)...
I want BIG version of this tractor!
The tractor is absolutely adorable. Great design, I love it.
@The Green Brick Giant
I'm not surprised. Whenever your Targets get new polys (assuming they do, even) where do you find them? On rare occasions I've found them in the elusive "under $5/seasonal section", but this area of each store often doesn't even exist.
If these were sold for the appropriate price on amazon, I'd never even bother with Target. So frustrating.
In the U.S. , Long Island you can get the Legends of Chima polybag when you spend $30 at TRU.
@Huw
its about time we had a new polybag tab..... well done and like most keep the polybag reviews coming
The Chima Mech 30256 is currently available at US TRU stores with $30 purchase.
Tractor is adorable, Bear Mech is meh, the other two are pretty bad.
Oh, and I just got 42035 for my birthday-- it's the first Technic set I've gotten in almost 4 years, and it's amazing!
I bought the tractor from an eBay seller in Hungary quite recently, and it arrived yesterday. It's an absolutely gorgeous little set, and I agree with the recommendations upthread. it's worth getting.
Not sure about the Spider-Man set, and that Tiger looks ... odd.
However, I really enjoy the Chima polybags, and although I've avoided most of the ice-age-zombie line-up (except for a vulture in the phoenix-jet set), I definitely want to get that little mecha.
As an aside, I don't know of any Australian shops that sell Lego polybags. No Target I've ever visited has had them, and I've never found them in any of my local K-marts, Big Ws, Mr Toys or Myers. To get these guys, I've always had to go to Bricklink first or eBay second.
The super jumper has a small tab that sticks into the holes on the back of the minifigure's legs, not larger studs. That's what makes it hard to remove.
I picked up the Chima Ice Mech at Toys R Us. I find Target to be very hit or miss.
I've found/bought 30285 at Nille in Norway.
I've just noticed the similarity of construction between 30285 Tiger and 40148 Year of the Sheep.
JKLU17legodude as you said, I have been using a City Minifigure on the super jumper and it seems to be fine when you remove it carefully from the stand but when attempting to tear off the super jumper, thats when you get an issue. You end up making a dent in the bottom wholes of the mini figures, with excessive use on where you rip it off, it does create an issue for the figure but with delicate removal, it seems for the most part to be fine.
I've never understood the whole 'making polybags very difficult to find' thing.
With Minifigs, they might be blind bagged, but you can buy them everywhere. What's the thinking behind restricting polybag availability? I mean, you can't even get them in a brand store other than as a giveaway.
/is baffled by many Lego policies
Continiuing with polybag availability, 30293 Kai Drifter is free with this week's (10) Donald Duck magazine in Sweden
Could this mean Lego City theme Farms is coming back in the future?
The "Tiger" has been available i Sweden for little over a month now along with other 2015 polybags in ica Maxi supermarkets.
@BooTheMightyHamster
Yeah, I have the same feeling. I get the business partnerships aspect by having a product that is store exclusive, but polybags are so insubstantial and probably 100% are impulse buys for anyone not Lego collectors. So what's the point making availability limited even?
I believe that the insect-robot thing in the Marvel polybag is a Spider-Slayer, basically a robot meant to kill pests (and Spider-Man) from the comics, although there is no way to be sure. Just wanted to share my geek-knowledge!
I agree with Quirko, looks like a Spider-Slayer, which makes this polybag awesome!
I think that robot spider thing is supposed to be one of Doc Ock's Octobots, although those look a bit different and only have four legs IIRC.