A look inside a VIDIYO BeatBox
Posted by Huw,
We first looked at a couple of the new VIDIYO beatboxes a few weeks ago, but now they are on general release and already discounted at Amazon.co.uk, I thought it would be worthwhile taking another look at what's in the box and examining the new parts they contain in more detail.
New parts
The beatboxes are 8x8 by 7 and 2/3rds high and comprise a number of new 8x8 parts with rounded corners.
This 65129 BOX 8X8X2 is used at the rear of the pod to store the BeatBit printed tiles. It can hold 16, which is the number contained in the set. They do not fit tightly in the slots, though, and tipping it up will result in them all falling out. Perhaps that's by design.
The central 6x4 area on the bottom allows the yellow piece below to be affixed to it. They can also be stacked on top of each other, held securely at the corners.
The recessed part on two of the sides is where tabs on the clear cover affix to it. It can be seen more clearly in the first picture above.
65132 PLATE 4X5X5 1/3, W/ HOR. FORK is used to mount the minifigure in the pod. The vibrant coral piece below connects to the click-hinges either side.
This face connects to the bottom of the lime green piece above. The think back face is hollow and I imagine that it is a very complicated design to mould.
The two 65133 PLATE 4X6, W/ VERT. STUB are used to hold up to 12 BeatBit tiles so that they, and the minifigure, can be recognised by the app when the phone's camera is pointed at it.
The front of the box consists of a 65128 BOX FRONT 8X8X5 2/3. Two white 65146 TURNTABLE, FEMALE, W/ SNAP are affixed to the holes in the side, then the yellow 65130 STRAP NO. 1 is placed over them before securing in place with the red 65138 SPHERE 4X4, W/ KNOBS.
This piece, a 4x4 'sphere' apparently, looks to be the most useful of the selection of new elements and has already cropped up in three of this year's Disney and Friends sets
D.J. Llama
If you've going to buy one BeatBox to see what the fuss is about it's likely to be that which contains none other than D.J. Llama, the minifig who's just signed to Universal Music and released his first single.
Here's a pretty cool dude by the looks of it, attired in a vibrant coral vest, with a tattoo on his upper right arm and a whistle round his neck.
His head is a dual-moulded element: the sunglasses do not detach.
The printed detail on his vest continues onto the back of the torso.
The pod
It's actually quite cool and this one in particular is very vibrantly coloured: the others look dull in comparison.
To enable the figure and the beat bits in the app you are required to position them as shown below before pointing your phone's camera at them.
The plate at the back of the box is elaborately decorated using a variety of tiles. Is it supposed to be some sort of face, a palm tree, or just an abstract pattern? I'm not sure. Whatever, there are some rare and new tiles within it.
When the back plate is in position it holds the BeatBits in place but as noted above they are liable to fall out when the box it tipped.
Verdict
If you don't intend to use the app -- and unless you're aged about 8, you probably aren't -- then the only reason for buying the BeatBoxes is for the parts and minifig.
The minifigs in all the BeatBoxes look to be excellent, but this one is likely to be the most popular. The parts that comprise the boxes are interesting and, in this one at least, very colourful. However, most are not particularly useful. Having said that, I'm sure it won't be long before someone incorporates the clear front into some sort of spaceship.
Even with the 33% discount at Amazon they don't have a lot going for them for most AFOLs and I suspect the only reason many people, including myself, will buy one, is out of curiosity.
However, if you do have kids of the target age then it will be a different matter entirely. None of the Brickset staff do, so we are not in a position to properly evaluate the app. We would, however, love to publish a follow-up article written by someone who does, so get in touch if you'd like to write one for us!
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54 comments on this article
@Huw:
" I'm sure it won't be long before someone incorporates the clear front into some sort of spaceship."
I've already seen one of those out in webland.
I thought the box parts might be more use able than this. It's always disappointing when Lego release largely single-use elements like this.
Are the 65133 plate tabs compatible with other clips/hinge parts or just 65132?
They are standard click hinges.
I bought 43103 purely out of curiosity. Two app-crashes later, Punk Pirate is enjoying a premature retirement, but thanks to those BeatBits, Mother Doomsday’s comic store has some interesting new titles to offer.
@Huw said:
"They are standard click hinges."
Thanks - for some reason my brain read them as slightly different in the photo!
I’d buy a goat DJ at full price...
It makes sense that the tile slots are a loose fit, but are they firm enough to hold everything in place when removing the lid? How roughly can the box be handled without the beatbits spilling?
You can remove the lid without spilling them but as soon as the box is tipped to beyond 45 degrees or so they fall out.
I can't wait to get my hands on one of these sets and see if I can incorporate the parts into my own mocs.
@Huw said:
"They are standard click hinges."
They are indeed click hinges but they are the less common three position hinge (like the container from a few years ago) not the many-position click hinges (like 1x2 plates)
I bought the Alien DJ and three blind packs. They are very nicely printed, with interesting pieces and colours that I hope to use in MOCs. The app is very clever but not interesting to me (my nine year old played happily for an hour though). It is good that these sets - considering how expensive they are - don't need a base set like Dimensions or Super Mario
Good idea, but way overpriced. If this set was priced slightly higher than Friends cubes it would sell WAY better
@AddictedToStyrene said:
" @Huw said:
"They are standard click hinges."
They are indeed click hinges but they are the less common three position hinge (like the container from a few years ago) not the many-position click hinges (like 1x2 plates)"
Right -- I hadn't noticed that. Thanks.
Those rounded 8x8 pieces look like taken from Mario sets, are they in anyway comaptible with those?
I think those hinges parts could be very useful in mocs. But the price for this is still outragous, so i wont test those pieces.
The Mario ones are the same shape but 2 plates thick and with reduced studs. They are of course compatible, though.
"...I'm sure it won't be long before someone incorporates the clear front into some sort of spaceship."
Youtube user 'hachiroku24' shared a (pretty awesome) design on Feb 21.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFiTEDW0R8Y&ab_channel=hachiroku24
Brought the 43107 Hiphop Robot BeatBox set from Smyths for £12 and I think that these pods are nice but at the £18 retail price they are not worth it. The 16 beatbits, the minifigures and the pods parts are all nice to have but personally I cannot see £18 worth of stuff.
At £12 its not too bad though, the minifigure and beatbits are really the driving point for me in this theme. Though gave the app a little try and its not too bad and I can see young ones having a good few days of entertainment from it.
@drussell said:
""...I'm sure it won't be long before someone incorporates the clear front into some sort of spaceship."
Youtube user 'hachiroku24' shared a (pretty awesome) design on Feb 21.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFiTEDW0R8Y&ab_channel=hachiroku24"
Pretty awesome indeed!
I'm curious about how users are supposed to share videos and so on. Is it up and running yet? When I click the "try now" link on the Vidiyo page on the Lego website (https://www.lego.com/en-us/themes/vidiyo/about), I get a 404 page.
Ive just made the DJ Alien and HipHop Robot only purchased for the Minifigures, these were the only 2 out the whole range I really wanted, I can see the money is being spent on the new elements though. Not fussed with the strap, the noise it makes when rubbing against the clear piece is like a balloon squeaking, goes right through me
@Huw said in his review:
"The plate at the back of the box is elaborately decorated using a variety of tiles. Is it supposed to be some sort of face, a palm tree, or just an abstract pattern?"
It's a Facepalm!
Get it? ;-)
Seriously, I'd go with: funky palm tree icon.
Nice review, a good way for those not interested in the app to see what value a beatbox has for them.
I wouldn't mind an extra spotlight on the BeatBits: design and effects.
But that's for a different review. :-)
If I was going to buy one of these it would probably be the pirate with the anchor-shaped guitar :)
But at the price these are selling for in Australia, I wont be buying any anytime soon.
I'm tempted to buy just the big parts (the plate, tiles holder and big clear cockpit) to make a small collection of my mocs
The back looks to me like an abstract version of the Vidiyo performer on stage making music. The light red triangles at the center are the performer, the green triangles are the music radiating away, the yellow and blue regions are clearly sand/stage and sky, and the red strip in the middle is the side panels that hold special effects tiles.
20 years from now, people will wonder why in the world this decade was so taken with llamas.
Looks like Amazon has put the price back up. I managed to get two through yesterday, liked them so went to get the others and they all show £17.99 again or won't let me add to basket for the only one that is still £11.99!
^ Yes, looks like you are right. Perhaps this article prompted a rush of sales!
All parts are space parts.
I'm still of two-minds about the whole thing.
I despise how hideously, absurdly-expensive the whole thing is. Like, when Lego goes pure cash-grab, they don't even bother with pretense.
But on the other hand ... the minifigs are so damned adorable. I love the Party Llama. I love him! And the printed tiles are just so beautiful. I am gonna pick up a few of these, eventually, but I'm definitely going to wait for the clearance discount sales to kick in.
My 10 year old son is llama and Lego mad (Llegomad?), so I had to get that one for him (it's his birthday in May, but it might not wait until then). I can imagine it'll get played with quite a bit, but I doubt we'll use the app. He's into 'real' play, not virtual play.
I will not be buying any others.
@mini_mads1980 said:
"Looks like Amazon has put the price back up. I managed to get two through yesterday, liked them so went to get the others and they all show £17.99 again or won't let me add to basket for the only one that is still £11.99!"
Still on offer at Smyths.
That back design is I’ll sayy......
Colorful.
I want to use a ton of those straps in a bionicle moc.
Hollow moulded? That's impressive- I don't think I've seen that done before.
I might just end up getting one of these to try and work out how that's done.
Is it Blasphemy to cut a Lego piece through the middle?
Instant purchase. (At 50% off)
@Pongo said:
"Hollow moulded? That's impressive- I don't think I've seen that done before.
I might just end up getting one of these to try and work out how that's done.
Is it Blasphemy to cut a Lego piece through the middle?"
You can't see it in the pictures but there's a slot at the bottom and small holes at the top.
@Plisskin82 said:
" @mini_mads1980 said:
"Looks like Amazon has put the price back up. I managed to get two through yesterday, liked them so went to get the others and they all show £17.99 again or won't let me add to basket for the only one that is still £11.99!"
Still on offer at Smyths."
Thanks! Two more bought!
Reduced again at Amazon now...
Great use of the front of the box on the Hachiroku24's space police dropship.
Our kids and their friends are in the target age bracket, but they showed zero interest when I asked whether they wanted one of these sets. So, sorry, no chance of me writing a follow up article either.
Since this article seems to be most concerned with the parts of the Beatbox and not the set itself I thought I'd through in my two cents
design:65129 BOX 8X8X2 Is ripe for reuse outside the Vidiyo line for storing all sorts of LEGO parts, similar to those Heart Boxes from Friends a few years back.
design:65140 PLATE 8X8, CIRCLE Is very similar to Mario elements and can be used in similar ways. New baseplates are always welcome.
design:65132 PLATE 4X5X5 1/3, W/ HOR. FORK Seems like the least useful of the elements. As a stage it only really works with the Beatbox app, but I could see it appearing as a chair in other models. My first thought is it could be a great core for a mecha build, but we'll have to wait and see.
design:65133 PLATE 4X6, W/ VERT. STUB Is in my opinion the most useful of all these elements. Such a lovely but simple combination of a hinge plate and a jumper, I adore it!
design:65128 BOX FRONT 8X8X5 2/3 Like mentioned in the article, this would make a great cockpit for a spaceship. Right now it's greatest limitation is that you've basically gotta connect it with 65129 or come up with some crazy Technic beam setup to attach to the sides, but it's doable!
design:65146 TURNTABLE Is only really usable in situations with 65133, but that's not really a bad thing.
design:65130 STRAP NO. 1 Is a peculiar one. As far as cloth/fabric/flexible elements go, you'd get a lot more mileage out of a constraction cape or a Dots bracelet, but I can see people using it as belts and treads on Technic Models.
design:65138 SPHERE 4X4, W/ KNOBS As mentioned this part has already showed up in general System sets. To me it looks like a great mushroom cap.
Normally I don't think a part's reusability is *that* important. It's fine to have specialized elements, after all what are you gonna use Darth Vader's helmet for other than Darth Vader figs? But when your set is mostly specialized parts and they've bumped up the price so much its worth considering. On the whole I think these parts are more reusable than people give them credit for, but the hard to reuse parts are the largest so take center stage. I've said it before, these things should've been $12-15, $10 on sale.
Completely unrelated to the article, but while writing this my brother came in with a surprise for me. He got us a copy of 8935: Nocturn! Dude was the only Barraki (by technicality) that we didn't get as kids. The glow in the dark vs blue on him is gorgeous in person, way better than the box art!
@TomKazutara said:
"It's like 1998 again,
with all those big special pieces that will be never ever use for anything else in other Lego themes."
Right below the comment that explains how almost all of them can be used in many other ways.........
Amazon hasn't discounted these in the US, their site doesn't like the word "vidiyo" it changes the search to "video". Plan to get the mermaid & unicorn at some point.
I already have some uses for the large flat 6-wide click hinge panels (as the current 4-wide ones are often a bit small when used as compartment doors on trucks), but I'm not paying like $20 for them. I am sure selling the minifig might help me net some of that back, but that doesn't help, as the minifigs are part of my interest for that theme.
But, folks, look for these to end up marked down heavily by this time next year (IF it lasts that long!).
My sons (aged 8 and 11) went nuts for the app when it was released. They made multiple videos of each other dancing with just the base features. They were very excited to use their newspaper delivery money to purchase some sets, but then the app stopped working, and so they haven't purchased any sets. They are very disappointed.
DJ Llama? I guess one of the designers must be old enough to remember WinAmp.
“It really whips the Llama’s ass!”
@Duq said:
"DJ Llama? I guess one of the designers must be old enough to remember WinAmp.
“It really whips the Llama’s ass!”"
I still use it. No other media player comes close to it...
@TomKazutara said:
"It's like 1998 again,
with all those big special pieces that will be never ever use for anything else in other Lego themes."
Remember the article "Scala's Legacy"? Almost every Lego food accessory originated from Scala. And the 1x1 flowers were used for decades before being slightly changed in 2019. Even a part used as a lamp post was reused in 7313.
But there are still recent weird examples like 7313 where a part intended for specialized usage in one theme was exclusively recolored for a one-off set in a traditional theme. Take for example the afwul Ninjago ripcord Spinjitzu sets. A transparent cone (part 18591) was created to enclose the ninja from falling out of the spinners. It was recolored in opaque red for the 42064 Techinic Ocean Explorer. Ironically I wanted to use this as an example of "LEGO today seems less creative with NPU" but my research proved otherwise.
@TomKazutara said:
" @fakespacesquid said:
" @TomKazutara said:
"It's like 1998 again,
with all those big special pieces that will be never ever use for anything else in other Lego themes."
Right below the comment that explains how almost all of them can be used in many other ways........."
Yes, for mocs, but I am sure we will never see those pieces for other Lego Themes"
Taken from the article, "This piece, a 4x4 'sphere' apparently, looks to be the most useful of the selection of new elements and has already cropped up in three of this year's Disney and Friends sets"
Sure, not all of them could instantly integrate to every other theme but it's like you're trying your absolute best to find things to complain about
Local Wally-World has 'em in 'inventory'...but not anywhere in 'the store'...weird, anyone else have this (or similar) happen?
Yeah, I don't have any optimism over this theme's future. It seems way overpriced, and I've heard that the app is very disappointing. The Minifigures are really cool, but that won't be enough to save it. Lego seem very bad at incorporating technology in their sets. Dimensions, Hidden Side, now this.
All the beatboxes are currently £11.99 on Amazon, just purchased a couple at that price!
I can see the 4x6 coral plate with the male click hinges (65133) being useful for models that have large angled panels. The large footprint means it could easily be attached securely under a surface. I wouldn't be surprised to see it hidden inside a future large Star Wars ship or something.
personally im just here for the play pattern of the actual toy, collectibles are my jam, portable self-contained sets are my jam, and the minifigs are (variably) my jam. never intend to touch the app but i enjoy the silliness of these things
I'm such an idiot.
I just noticed that a graffiti picture, in the City Skate Park set ... is the Vidiyo Shark Singer. I only just got that.