Review: 43109 Metal Dragon BeatBox
Posted by Huw,
43109 Metal Dragon BeatBox is one of two Vidiyo Beatboxes being released next week.
As with them all, the main attraction for most of you reading this will be the minifigure, which in this case is an anthropomorphised dragon. Or is it the Devil...
Most BeatBoxes incorporate brightly coloured pieces, so this black, white and red one may well be more useful to many for use in MOCs.
The back plate decoration depicts a castle, home of the eponymous dragon, presumably.
I built the set before looking at its name and at first thought the minifig was the Devil on account of the horns, although I concede that they usually protrude from the top of Satan's head rather than the back.
It's certainly clear from his clothes that he's a heavy metal musician and not, say, K-Pop!
Various different wing attachments have been produced for minifigs over the years, but I think this dragon one is new. One of the series 2 BandMates comes with transparent blue version. It's one of three new minifg wing elements produced for the theme: butterfly, unicorn and dragon.
Like the others, the BeatBox comes with 16 BeatBits, of which two are unique to it:
Heavy metal is probably the musical genre that I like the least so the minifigure does not really appeal to me, but if it is your cup of tea, or you want to use the head and wings to come up with an alternative dragon, you may well want to pick this pod up once it's been discounted to a reasonable price.
Alternatively, give the figure the fiddle from 43110 Folk Fairy BeatBox and send him down to Georgia...
Thanks for LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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58 comments on this article
Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)
I like how the claws are bursting out of the toe pieces.
@Jack_Sassy said:
"Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)"
You need to be over a certain age for it to make any sense!
The wing piece is definitely new. I had the dragon suit CMF from a while back, and that used a recolored gargoyle wing piece. The new element looks much better! I plan to use the torso and legs from that CMF along with the wings and head from this Minifig to make a fully anthro dragon.
And I could also see the dragon fitting in with the other fantasy-themed Bandmates if the clothing was swapped out. Maybe he’d be in a Blackmore’s Night or Anastasia type of band that combines rock with some renaissance fair-sounding tunes!
There's more than a little Beëlzeboss about this fellow!
I didn't know that I needed this until this review.
If your going to include a link to that song, please use this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq4KcI9AGl0 . I much prefer the Muppets version :) As for the Minifigure, it's devilishly delightful. If it were a CMF I'd pay a fiver for it.
As an organist and a fan of Lovecraftian horror, I really need that tentacle monster beatbit!
Thanks for cheering up Monday, I clicked the YouTube link in the article and enjoyed.. then the autoplay went onto Tenacious D Tribute which i've not heard in years.
@Huw said:
" @Jack_Sassy said:
"Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)"
You need to be over a certain age for it to make any sense!"
To be fair, it should be a golden fiddle in this case.
@Huw said:
" @Jack_Sassy said:
"Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)"
You need to be over a certain age for it to make any sense!"
Hey, I’m just a whippersnapper, and I got it. That song is so legit.
To quote Steve Rogers: “I understood that reference!” Despite my smallish years. My dad plays songs from his eras fairly often. Lol. I won’t be getting any of these although I like the newer sets and the idea of making a band for a specific genre. I just don’t have the money or space at the moment.
I want those wings
In Wonder what the Logo on his shirt spells out...
I don't know if he'd be interested in the Charlie Daniels Band version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Maybe more the surprisingly decent version done recently by Nickelback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X57qD_LTRgY
Video's a bit stupid and you know, a bit of a warning on the lyrics, but this dragon would rock harder with this than the Charlie Daniels Band. Respect to them though, it is the better version and they made the song popular, but you know metalheads are going to want something a bit rougher.
@Jack_Sassy said:
"Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)"
Check out the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (USA) by the Charlie Daniels band, if you don't already know it. :-)
So Johnny is 71029-2 ?
If the back plate decoration had depicted the castle from 70403 and the whole set was heavily discounted, I might have been interested. The minifigure is great and the BeatBox is OK but the list price is atrocious.
@MCLegoboy said:
"I don't know if he'd be interested in the Charlie Daniels Band version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Maybe more the surprisingly decent version done recently by Nickelback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X57qD_LTRgY
Video's a bit stupid and you know, a bit of a warning on the lyrics, but this dragon would rock harder with this than the Charlie Daniels Band. Respect to them though, it is the better version and they made the song popular, but you know metalheads are going to want something a bit rougher."
I also suggest checking out the Guitar Hero version. It’s a bit rougher but doesn’t have the same level of harsh language.
@Kathleen said:
" @Jack_Sassy said:
"Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)"
Check out the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (USA) by the Charlie Daniels band, if you don't already know it. :-)"
I understood the reference, hence my comment. Though my first introduction to the song was Primus version.
It's cool to finally see a dragon in the "classic monsters" club by virtue of his music genre putting him among vampires, zombies, werewolves, ghosts, and blobs.
Wait, no tail??
Love the reference at the end!
I love this figure a lot, I need to get it later but, do ypu think that LEGO will make a Castle stage with other minifigures around this theme (knight, dragon, Fairy)?
How Euro power metal musicians see themselves.
I dig it.
Dammit, I got beat to the power metal joke!
I liked the first wave of these, so will be getting all these ones too. While others are referencing the song check the Levellers version, which for me is the best one I've heard.
I may have to get this if I find it on sale just because of the reference at the end.
I really want the figure, but I can’t shell out $20 for it... hopefully it will go on sale as fast as the others.
At a better price point, I'd be all over this. Not for $20, though. Looks like a fun one, though!
Two of the beatbox sets are currently available on Amazon for 9.06 and 9.36 Euro respectively. At some point I guess all of them will be available well below 10 Euro/Dollar considering how badly they sell.
The Christians are going to be very pissed.
I don’t understand why Christians would be upset.
It's the typical "metal vs Christianity" debate. Especially with some of the themes approached, although if the Dragons are power metal, I think the Banshee and Werewolf are probably more about the death metal scene which triggers people more often...
That being said, the print and quality of that minifig are fantastic. I really like how they expanded the range of musical themes with this wave, Dragon Metal and Fairy Folk were such creative ideas. Hopefully we'll see more, and stages dedicated to them as well!
@Huw said: " @Jack_Sassy said: You need to be over a certain age for it to make any sense!"
Huw, I want to thank you, from the very bottom of my heart, for making that reference :).
@kyrodes said:
"The Christians are going to be very pissed."
Why would Christians have a problem with this? It’s not encouraging Satan worship or anything. Heck, LEGO released a Minifig of a kid in a cheesy devil costume and I didn’t see hordes of religious folks getting too upset.
It’s a cartoon. Nothing more than that. Heck, I’m Christian and I have a full-on dragon avatar for social media. We don’t all have sticks up our butts.
@PixelTheDragon said:
"
It’s a cartoon. Nothing more than that. Heck, I’m Christian and I have a full-on dragon avatar for social media. We don’t all have sticks up our butts."
It's because some parents, usually religious, will complain that the toy line is promoting metal and death metal, which is "obviously" about worshiping Satan and the such. It might not happen on a large scale, but you know how some communities react and make storms in glasses of water.
I think most religious groups have people against this type of music in general, but since it's a toy aimed at the western market, and that the dominating religion in the western world is Christianity, it's just logical that you'd hear about it more from Christians. But it certainly doesn't mean all of them. And this whole issue is not as bad as it was a few decades ago, when rock, and then metal, made their mainstream appearances.
43109... the number of the beast.
Best Blackadder voice w/paraphrase: "Hurry boys, the castle's on fire..."
Kinda' make me want to get a RPG group together, and work up a minifg-scale 'Heroica' w/this guy being one of the races/species...they'd be fun:)...Either that, or 'plan B': Convert 'GURPS', use miifigs as minis, and so on...
@brick_r said:
"Best Blackadder voice w/paraphrase: "Hurry boys, the castle's on fire..."
Kinda' make me want to get a RPG group together, and work up a minifg-scale 'Heroica' w/this guy being one of the races/species...they'd be fun:)...Either that, or 'plan B': Convert 'GURPS', use miifigs as minis, and so on... "
A LEGO RPG in general would be fantastic... Some way to build weapons/accessories with different stats per piece used, could be fantastic to play! But so difficult to prepare. So maybe adapting an existing system to the figures could be easier!
You can now make a whole cool dragon mixing this fig with Dragon boy from CMFS!
@sirventricle said:
"As an organist and a fan of Lovecraftian horror, I really need that tentacle monster beatbit!"
As an organist and marine biologist, I feel the same way!
"Heavy metal is probably the musical genre that I like the least"
Ouch Huw, you lost several points here...
Bought 4 of the first wave Beat Boxes from amazon today at over 50% off (that's less than 3 month after release). Even that price is too much for what little you get. I expect a higher price drop in the next months, so just be patient. This theme was doomed from the start, just like Hidden Side. Too bad LEGO still get's their share of the profit and the sellers take the losses for this mess-up. Don't get me wrong, the figures are CMF level great and the only reason to still get them.
Primus did a good cover of Devil Went Down To Georgia
@Jack_Sassy said:
"Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)"
Playful!
I like reading Huw's reviews because they are unapologetically opinionated and self aware! And I enjoy teasing apart the objective details from the opinions. I often disagree with the opinions (I have noticed it in multiple reviews) but still appreciate and want to read the full review because it contains details that help me form my own opinion and give me a different perspective.
Anyways, the personal details bring some extra life to the reviews and the humor! Thanks Huw!
Also, I look at this and think of Tenacious D.
@MCLegoboy said:
"I don't know if he'd be interested in the Charlie Daniels Band version of The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Maybe more the surprisingly decent version done recently by Nickelback: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X57qD_LTRgY
Video's a bit stupid and you know, a bit of a warning on the lyrics, but this dragon would rock harder with this than the Charlie Daniels Band. Respect to them though, it is the better version and they made the song popular, but you know metalheads are going to want something a bit rougher."
You said "decent" and Nickelback in the same sentence, lol. Worst. Band. Ever. Jk everybody has their own opinions, even bad ones ; )
@Meltdownmonk said:
"I like reading Huw's reviews because they are unapologetically opinionated and self aware! And I enjoy teasing apart the objective details from the opinions. I often disagree with the opinions (I have noticed it in multiple reviews) but still appreciate and want to read the full review because it contains details that help me form my own opinion and give me a different perspective.
Anyways, the personal details bring some extra life to the reviews and the humor! Thanks Huw! "
Thank you. It's great to receive some praise rather than criticism for a change :-)
Having just bought an Alien DJ box have to say that these little things are actually quite nice and fit perfectly with the Vidiyo system. It's just the price that's a category too high, even if I can see how LEGO came to that conclusion ( big and unique parts, fancy prints and figure, licensed and moderated Vidiyo tool/service...). Quality is there, just not enough quantity.
What I think they should have done is include a secondary figure or at least a secondary outfit, to be stored in the back. The bigger vidiyo sets have a front stage/backstage dynamic they could have echoed here. That would have been enough in my book.
In any case, the Metal Dragon is the most appealing beatbox to me yet, I'm looking forward to getting it on sale.
@biffuz said:
""Heavy metal is probably the musical genre that I like the least"
Ouch Huw, you lost several points here..."
Most definitely!
Of all the genres that are out there ...
Sadly my preferred genres have not been represented in Vidiyo sets yet: 1970s soul and disco and Smooth Jazz :-)
A 70's soul & disco stage could be great! And not at all old-fashioned, given the recent retro vibes we get from current hits by Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak, Boney M. (remix), even Leon Bridges, Michael Kiwanuka and similar artists ... As well as the renewed interest in timeless music like Billy Paul, Bill Withers, Donna Summer, ...
How about an 80's electro-pop stage with lots of flashing lights featuring modern hitmakers like The Weeknd or Dua Lipa in some kind of minifigform? :p
@kyrodes said:
"The Christians are going to be very pissed."
I'm a Christian too and I can't see a single bad thing about this set other than the ridiculous RRP.
Perhaps you were not thinking of Christians per se but of Christian fundamentalists. But those aren't actually Christians but simply wackos whose brains are fried. Plus they exist for almost any religion.
All I can say is
"It's a shoe" "No, it's a sandal" ;-)
And my favorite line
"Now, fu** off!"
"How shall we fu** off oh Lord?"
Priceless stuff. (And that movie even managed to actually pi** off some Christians back in the day.)
@Kathleen said:
" @Jack_Sassy said:
"Ending sentence is a reference that I never expected to see :)"
Check out the song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (USA) by the Charlie Daniels band, if you don't already know it. :-)"
Korn did a tribute one after he passed too. As a huge heavy metal fan I'd like this for many reasons. I love Dragons. I have the a couple of the CMF one too so would be good to have this. Just not sure about the price. Beat panels don't interest me but the box I've been wondering if it could make a cockpit for a mech or something else.
@fulcrumbop said:
"So Johnny is 71029-2 ?"
Somebody make that brickfilm, I'm begging you.
mixing this with the dragon suit guy could make the perfect dragon figure!