Introduction

Hi, it's me again - your friendly neighbourhood cynic reviewer who really doesn't buy LEGO anymore due to the exploitative pricing of sets in Europe. After a slew of well appreciated reviews a few months ago, I've laid my hands on a set I was incredibly excited about and I am rather pleased to be sharing my thoughts about it with you today. Despite the year being but two weeks old, I feel 70841 Benny's Space Squad is already a big contender for SOTY (Set of The Year) overall, and pretty much a lock for that title within its pricing range. Putting such musings aside, let us just dive right in as we have plenty to discuss!

Packaging

The set comes in a fairly small box, which took a while to catch my eye despite looking for it on my local store's shelves.

The top of the front has a thick slice of LEGO Movie 2 branding, with its star-dotted background, Emmet, and Lucy being shared across most sets in the theme. Perhaps it's an obscure reference, but it puts me in mind of this football shirt from Hong Kong. The set features two builds, four Minifigures, and one robot that you could classify as either (Brickset has it listed as a Minifig, I see it as a build more than anything).

Benny stars on the top of the box as the 1:1 scale reference, and is equally well-represented on the back as pilot/astronaut of the largest build. A wonderful line-up of the figures, introducing them and their names, is the more interesting part of this side, however. On bigger boxes you'd see this 'mugshot gallery' on the front, but given space (hah!) constraints it's no surprise to see it on the reverse of the box in this case.

There are no play features to speak of in this set, so instead we are treated to classic scenes of the Minifigures 'using' the builds. Despite my growing up in the 90's rather than the late 70's or 80's, this style of box art is all too familiar to me, and I can't help but smile. Props to the LEGO Company for managing to recognize the relevance of AFOLs, no matter how small this group might be compared to kids, and catering to them like this whilst still keeping the likes and wants of kids in mind.

Build & Parts

Let's be honest here; there's not much building involved with a set that only has 68 listed pieces, with 20 of those dedicated to the Minifigures alone! However, LEGO in recent years has often been about quality rather than quantity, and it is a fact that you don't need a lot of pieces to have a satisfying building experience.

Case in point, laying out all the pieces for Benny and his friends. You don't need to suffer from OCD or an oddly strong need to neatly arrange LEGO parts to absolutely love this scene; four Minifigures, Classic-inspired Minifigures even, in familiar and new colours, ready to be assembled. I don't know about other owners of this set, but snapping together these Classic Spacemen (and Woman) was a lot more fun and definitely more satisfying than building yet another grey box-esque vehicle from the Star Wars line (especially common since Di$ney took over the franchise).

Benny should be familiar to most all at this point; there have been plenty of opportunities to get him in the past, although I believe 70841 to be the cheapest and most reliable way to get him to date, being a boxed retail set and all (his Universe fun pack was 15 bucks before discounts). His torso remains scratched up and his helmet 'broken'.

His friends, however, are new for TLM2; we have Kenny, Jenny, and Lenny, from left to right. All three of these figures have a pristine Classic Space logo, a modern mould of the Classic Space helmet, and come with the classic oxygen tank (as does Benny). All three of them have also been given names, although I am 99 percent sure this will stop exactly no one from army building these fellas (interestingly, I grabbed the final copy my store had of this set, the others having been sold already. The other TLM2 sets all had plenty of copies left). I expect the pink astronaut to be the most popular out of the four, given that it is a brand new colour for this style of figure, and only the second new colour in modern days (green being the first in the Exo-Suit Ideas set).

One thing I do wonder about is why TLC decided to give the white astronaut a female name, with the pink astronaut getting a male name. Given the amount of people involved with designing and green lighting a LEGO set (or any retail product really), this must have been a concious decision, for which the reason eludes me. Pink remains a firmly feminine colour despite the best efforts of subversive cultural movements, and it just seems so unnecessary to swap names around like this. Thankfully, children will either not care or fully ignore this, as they should, but it does make me furrow my brow as to why TLC decided to name the characters in this way.

The three builds included in the set feature a slew of classic pieces, the same ones you'd have seen in the revered Classic Space line, along with a few new ones; the most interesting pieces of both groups I've laid out in the picture above. Included are the accessories for the Minifigures, as well as the bulk of the parts for their vehicles and robot helper.

The usage of modern pieces (such as the dome that will be used as exhaust for the 'flyer') feels a little egregious and out of place to me in this set, but purely from a personal perspective; I understand and accept their conclusion as some classic pieces are no longer produced. In fact, it seems like the designer has laboured to use as many classic bricks as possible, using the modern ones only when absolutely necessary. This design choice, which is purely in the interest of the final product being as good as it can be, should be appreciated.

A special shoutout to the 4 by 2 slope piece with the PRINTED Classic Space logo; it is lovely, a callback to the days of yore without stickers, and just another highlight of this set. It is wholly intact and pristine, unlike Benny's torso print, and thus perhaps a little bit more useful.

Minifigures & Vehicles

I do love Benny, I really do, but given how familiar we are with him already and the closer look at his dual-sided head the previous pictures have given you, I shall omit him from further consideration for the sake of brevity.

Up first is Jenny, who wields a reimagined version of the Classic Space 'blaster' in what to me is the first time where I've gotten to see this piece up close; it doesn't hold a candle to the original, but it does seem more sturdy and durable, so fair play to LEGO for this.

Jenny, all in white, is accompanied by an as-of-yet unnamed robot; it has been listed by Brickset as Classic Space Droid - Light Bluish Gray and Blue with Trans-Yellow Eye. Consisting of eight smallish pieces, it is a simple enough build with arms that can be reasonably easily detached (as show by Benny on the back of the box). Plenty of play potential with this fella then, but calling it a Minifigure remains a bit of a stretch to me. Really the only part of this robot/droid that sticks out as being 'unclassic' would be the use of cheese slopes to form the front of its torso. Despite these pieces being very common place nowadays, they have only been introduced halfway through the 00's. Crazy to think we once had to do without them for detailing and greebling, right?

As per Jens Nygaard Knudsen, the creator of the Classic Space theme, the white spacemen (woman in this case) represented explorers. The official art of the set lists Jenny as wielding the wrench, but the instructions have you build her with the 'blaster' - perhaps this is actually meant to be a sensor of sorts then, as it ties into the original designation of her colour.

Up next we have Kenny, who is draped in full yellow. Unlike Jenny in white, which was the first colour of Classic spacemen introduced alongside red, the yellow spacemen were introduced in 1979, a year after the theme was launched. According to the original creator, the yellow-clad Minifigures were meant to be scientists.

It is then perhaps no surprise to find Kenny wielding an apparatus that allows him to scan the soil; this is a new mould based on a classic piece, which had its most prolific use (in my eyes) in the Exploriens theme. Next to Kenny, we find the little surface rover that is the second biggest build in the set; using small tires and smooth plates on the bottom to ease traversing uneven surfaces, this little thing is easy to 'drive' around, and seats two figures with space on the back to clip their accessories on to. A yellow headlight is positioned beneath the steering wheel, whilst two 2x2 plates with two studs are used as seats; this allows figures to be more easily removed thanks to a halving of clutch power compared to a 2x2 with four studs.

Finally, we have Lenny, who comes clad in a fantastic pink! A brand new colour for Classic spacemen, and much easier to get than the ridiculously expensive green figures from the Ideas set. Although Lenny drives the rover in the official art, he is given a wrench to hold in the instructions. We can only guess as to what the pink spacemen are in terms of job designation, although given Lenny's wrench and his propensity for driving, I would suggest they are either mechanics or drivers (red spacemen are designated as pilots, so this would allow pink and red to coexist).

The 'flyer' is called a spaceship in the official description of the set, although I cannot see this as more than a low altitude single seater for short distance traversal. It features the fantastic printed brick on the front, with a transparent plate hidden beneath the engine to simulate a method of propulsion. The upward-pointing rod on the starboard side can be rotated just over ninety degrees to the front, so you could potentially imagine it as being a weapon of sorts. The same goes for the two prongs on the front. Given that Kenny the scientist pilots it in the official art, we can presume it to be a sensor, although if one were to place Benny, being a blue spaceman (blue being soldiers/security forces), in the pilot seat you would have more cause for concern. Although a single seater, you could have some fun by having a second Minifigure hold onto the sensor array.

Concluding Thoughts

With all physical elements of the set having been covered, the concluding part of my reviews is often where things completely fall apart in terms of rating. After all, with the pricing of LEGO these days (or well, these past decades), sets representing a good deal are often few and far inbetween. Maybe it's because I just came off the back of the Unikitty! and Harry Potter blindbags, but the hobby seems more expensive than ever, especially in Europe.

However, every once in a while, life seems to throw you a bone - a lucky break perhaps. In this set's case, LEGO seems to be giving us a present; a classically styled set with FOUR CLASSIC SPACEMEN priced at 10 Euros/10 USD/8 or so GBP.

That is downright fantastic. It's amazing. It's a gift horse you should not look in mouth. It is, across the past years, the single closest LEGO seems to have come to truly representing the wishes of its adult customers whilst still providing an amazing set for its current young audience, all the whilst providing them with amazing value for money. Yes, the price to part ratio is horrendous, but when you get four Minifigures for this price, you sit down and shut up because that alone makes this set close to being worth its pricetag. The three builds (no, you shan't convince me that robot counts as a figure) are simply added value, and represent an amazing play experience with lots of potential for kids. You can get your child this set and have them play with it endlessly. Period.

So really, for once, I'd like to thank LEGO. This set is amazing, the pricepoint is amazing, and everyone involved with it from conception to realization to marketing should be proud of themselves. If you can get one set this year, you should seriously consider 70841 as being that pick. Not only because it is an amazing product, but because this set selling out everywhere will send a strong message to LEGO; we want more of this.

That, then, is ultimately my final thought on the matter; I want more sets like this.

(If you enjoyed this review, please give it a Like and read my other reviews, which are just as in-depth, right here)

Did you miss me? Probably not, but with close to a week having passed since my previous 41775 Unikitty! Blind Bag series review, it's high time for a new dose of cynicism and disappointment to be added to the Brickset's review section. After pulling Puppycorn three times in a row, our fourth packet has finally yielded a figure of the titular character of this series, and as such, I am proud to review 41775-7 Dessert Unikitty!

Of note is that we have previously reviewed Alien Puppycorn (read that review here), Dessert Puppycorn (review here), and Shades Puppycorn (right here), with the former review in particular going in-depth on the series as a whole. As such, I strongly suggest you read at least Alien Puppycorn's review, although I dare say all three are well worth your time. Alas, without further ado, let us dive into 41775-7 Dessert Unikitty!

Packaging

We've been over this before, this series comes in white bags that are absolutely impossible to see through. Four Unikitties and a Puppycorn grace the front cover, although 41775-7 isn't among them; the back is covered in legalese and is thusly of very little interest.

Because these figures consist of a load of tiny, tiny parts, there is a clear plastic bag inside the white packaging that holds the bricks securely in place in case of an outer hull breach (sounds too dramatic for LEGO packaging but there you go). This also makes feeling for pieces a greater pain than it is with your average Collectible Minifigure series; considering that you can only feel out three different 'groups' of figures (covered in the other reviews, click the links above), actually sensing the contents via touch isn't too effective anyway. For the 'Standing Unikitty group' you could, at best, get a 1 out of 6 chance of grabbing the figure you want.

Build & Parts

Eagle-eyed observers may have noticed that I have awarded this Unikitty figure the highest score out of all four that I've reviewed so far; this is for good reason, as I feel that this is one of if not the strongest figures in the lineup. 41775-12 Dessert Puppycorn comes close, but as my copy suffered from a horrendous printing issue, it's score lags behind the others.

What then is my reasoning for the high score I've awarded to 41775-7 Dessert Unikitty? For one, she comes with FOUR printed parts, two of which are printed on multiple sides. This is a great improvement over Puppycorn figs, which have just two prints. Where her brother has to make do with a plain technic ball joint piece for a tail, Unikitty has her endemic tail piece, which is printed on both sides, whilst she also enjoys the luxury of having eyebrow print on her forehead (the 1x3 plate), which three out of four Puppycorns lack (41775-6 Dalmatian Puppycorn does get a print). As such, the Unikitty figures represent distinct extra value over the Puppycorns.

That's not where things end for this figure, though; the concept of being covered in 'dessert', or in this case what looks like glazing and sprinkles, is absolutely fantastic and fits the figures and Unikitty's general theme of sweet/cute/happy-go-lucky/random. Although I would have liked to see more white (whipped cream perhaps?) on Unikitty's face and eyebrow prints, the pink glazing is fine, whilst the body arch and tail have plenty of white; the former piece also has the pink glazing dribbling over the white base, although the piece itself is hot pink.

As always, you get 6 extras, including three 1x1x1 tiles, the horn, a neck bracket, and a stud with hole through the top.

Judging from the pieces themselves, the only change I would affect here would be to use a white arch for the body, rather than pink, as I feel it would look much, much better with the white print. As things stand, the pink vertical lines at the edges feel rather abrupt and out of place. Nonetheless, full marks from me in this area as the parts are as close to perfect as I could imagine it to be for this figure. The build remains nothing special, although it is good fun for an in-bag-build challenge.

Minifigure

I think the figure looks absolutely splendid, and it is definitely the best of the figs I've pulled so far;

As you can see, it is indeed very much suited to be built inside its bag, and I can honestly recommend trying it out for yourself. Even in the bag, Unikitties and Puppycorns are built relatively quickly as you can quickly find the pieces you need amongst the plethora of colours on offer, with the build itself being so straightforward that LEGO didn't even include instructions. One look at the art of the figure in the leaflet is enough to know how to build it, although you only really need it to figure out how the colours are stacked for the feet.

Unikitty has superior articulation to Puppycorn thanks to its tail not being in the way of the head, which can turn 360 degrees to either side thanks to the new neck piece, which slots into a new 1x3 inverted tile with central hole to create a strong grip; it is no surprise then that the figs for the Unikitty! TV series are less prone to breaking during play than those found in The LEGO Movie and LEGO Universe sets.

I'm pleased to report that the faceprint on this figure is absolutely fantastic, and does not suffer from the horrendous application that plagued my Dessert Puppycorn figure; the various pastel colours look nice and thick and flow well together, although this should be standard rather than something you hope for when unpacking one of these blind bags.

Concluding Thoughts

I think it shall come as no surprise that I am heartily recommending this figure based on its endemic appeal and comparative strengths when shown next to the other figures that are up for grabs. It is also pleasing to note that, just like 41775-5 Shades Unikitty, 41775-7 Dessert Unikitty has some synergy with a Puppycorn figure, 41775-3 Shades Puppycorn in this case.

Although both put a different spin on their theme (chocolate v. strawberry/cream), you can still very much identify these as belonging together, and I am quite please to have gotten both. Comparing the two you can also note that the eyebrows help make Unikitty more evocative, where Puppycorn is limited by his ears (although these have been mixed up a bit with brown replacing blue on the left ear). The light to dark pink fade on Unikitty's face and neck isn't quite as jarring as Puppycorn's blue to brown, which alone elevates 41775-7 for me.

However, and this really is a shame; the price remains the same, no less than 5 Euros in my country. As such, I cannot recommend you to buy this figure at full price unless you are absolutely dying to get one. The prints and extra packaging do not justify the increase in price over regular CMF series, especially not with Unikitty! being an in-house theme and thus having no licensing fee involved.

I can, however, recommend that you pick 41775-7 up if you find it for cheap on the aftermarket, as it accomplishes everything it sets out to do and then some, and is a lovely display piece despite its size. However, as is more and more often the case with LEGO, the pricetag simply prohibits a better score form being given.

Now, with this review out of the way, do consider checking out the other Unikitty reviews I've posted on Brickset to sate your hunger for more of these little collectibles! You can find them via the links at the start of this review, or by clicking 'View all reviews by Golem25' under the set's profile information to the left of this review. For now, I'm off for a dip in the pool, although you can expect me back soon enough for a fresh review of a different fig from this series (unless I pull a duplicate.....)!

To preface this review, I must admit that I have little to no interest in Ninjago whatsoever, and am fairly oblivious in regards to its storyline. However, I am quite appreciative of the designers' efforts to produce imaginative sets, and their ability to deliver shines through in this small but nevertheless fantastic set. I bought it for 4 Euros in a Blokker store in the Netherlands.

Box/Instructions

Jay and his mech come in the standard polybag, nothing we haven't seen before. Lots of legalese, but no parts count (as is standard for European packaging, something I personally find to be a heinous oversight)

Parts

The set officially comes with 54 pieces, along with four spares; Jay's mouthcap, a balljoint, Exo-Force Drone Hand, and a pistol piece.

Now, the main reason that I picked up this set is the pieces, plain and simple. Not only does the set represent a very good deal (7.04 cent per piece), it is by far the easiest and cheapest way for European AFOL's and MOCers to get their hands on the ball- and socket pieces introduced last year. Because some markets on the old continent do not have retail access to the Mixels theme, these parts are hard relatively hard to come by (found in, amongst others, the Chima Legend Beasts and regular sets, which are much more expensive yet include fewer of these particular pieces).

Because of this, I can imagine many are aching to get their hands on this little polybag, something I can not fault them for. Outside of balls and sockets, the mech comes with a nice assortment of medium dark blue and dark blue bricks, the large katana pieces, and the incredibly rare gold clips used for the controls (at the time of writing only available in the expensive Detective's Office and UCS Tumbler). If you buy Lego sets for the parts, you are gonna have a field day with this set.

Minifigures

Included in the packaging is Jay, the blue ninja, in what I believe is his umpteenth iteration. Wearing what I believe to be his 'tournament of elements' robes, he comes with front and back printing on the torso, and with printed legs (his face has just a single, serious print). We've come to expect a lot of fine details on our minifigures in recent years, and this one does not disappoint with what I suspect to be Asian symbols on his tunic and a knot on his belt that continues onto the legs. This does somewhat limit MOCing potential, and I am not a big fan of the bare arms look, but this is simply nitpicking.

The build

The build is quick and painless, but that is par for the course given the 54 (smallish) pieces involved. You start with the model's torso, snap on the arms (which consist of three bricks plus a weapon each), and finally construct the legs. Interestingly enough, the feet are built around a 1 x 2 brick with hole (there's four in the set in total, the other to are used to plug the hip joints into). The reason for this eludes me, although we can utilize this to increase the model's balance by attaching it to a pin in a diorama, allowing for dramatic poses.

The completed model

My closing comment in the build-section should not be taken as proof that the mech has trouble balancing. It is true that one can achieve much more ludicrous poses by exploiting the holes in the feet, but the mech comes with enough posing potential straight out of the bag. Walking poses are no problem, with a bit of patience it can pull off keeping one foot in the air, and only when going for lunging poses does the model really show its limitations. The arms only add to the fun, with the wrists articulating 360 degrees, while the shoulders come fairly close to a 180 degree range on the horizontal plane. Vertically speaking, they reveal the weakness of the socket piece, but this can be somewhat made up for by turning the arm.

Having 8 points of articulation on this scale is quite a feat, which does not include the controls for Jay, which make creative use of the available pieces. They do look like they are situated a bit too low for a minifigure, which can only barely grip them when standing up right, but slightly bending the figure forward helps to mask this minor complaint.

Overall opinion

This set marked my first foray into the Mixel style balls and sockets, and it did not disappoint at all. It is a great deal for its price, includes some nice (and even rare!) pieces useful for MOCing purposes, and provides enough playability on its own for children. The complaints I do have are minor, and not enough to substantially detract from the final score. If you have 4 Euros to spare, I heartily recommend tracking this set down.

As someone who has had a bit of a soft spot for Killer Moth since first seeing him in the original LEGO Batman game and grabbed the first real minifigure of this heinous villain off the aftermarket (for a hefty mark-up), I was happy to see everyone's favourite flutterer show up in the LEGO Batman Movie proper and now in the second series of collectible minifigures.

Given the hefty pricetag on the big set the OG Killer Moth minifig came in, it's good to know that everyone, regardless of budget, can now get the masked critter via the cheapest option available. Of course, as always, something good comes with a trade-off, which in this case is the figure having been made in LEGO's Chinese factories and thus being of sub-standard quality compared to Danish/Czech/Mexican parts. Will this affect my appraisal of this new Killer Moth, though? Read on to find out!

Packaging

As per always, the collectible minifigures come in blind bags made of a decently thick plastic that allows for both survival on the shelf and reasonable accuracy when using your digits to feel its contents for identification purposes. These standard-sized bad boys (if you've ever seen and felt a blind bag from previous series, you will know what to expect) come in dark blue packaging, in keeping with the overall theme of Batman. A selection of figures find themselves under a starry sky with Gotham's skyline as a backdrop.

Pleasing for sure, but you will still want to rip the bag up to get to its precious contents. Do note that Killer Moth is one of 11 figures not to appear on the front of the packaging, having to let less desirable and less interesting characters such as Black Lightning steal the spotlight. Not a problem though, for the true connaisseur knows it's not the outside Killer Moth that counts, but the inside Killer Moth.

Build & Parts

This section can perhaps be considered superfluous, for Killer Moth comes with just six pieces, which you can mash together for a finished product within ten seconds of opening your blind bag. That being said, Killer Moth is one of just seven figures out of 20 to have a part go around his neck, meaning that he is slightly more complicated than the majority. There are no subassemblies; it's the three usual pieces for the minifigure head to toe, a helmet, wings, and ray gun.

Taking a look at the parts themselves, we have three accessories of which two popped up in previous KM figs; the helmet was used for 76069 Mighty Micros and is endemic to Killer Moth (meaning this character and these two sets are the only ones to have ever included the antennae'd helmet, made of bendy plastic), whereas the wings in this colour were used for both that set and 76054 Scare Crow Harvest of fear (endemic to KM and every set he has been in).

The third accessory, the ray gun, is only the second time this mold has popped up in a set, and is the first and only use of it in pearl gold; it made its debut in 71018 Retro Spaceman in pearl silver. Given this general rarity and the discontinued status of 71018, Killer Moth is your best bet at acquiring the ray gun, and thusly, is a more valuable set to have

Minifigure

KM's head, body, and legs are all new designs, and represent a decidedly more cartoony version of the character compared to the original in the Scarecrow set; there, Killer Moth had a double-sided head with medium nougat flesh colour under his helmet, with both a stern and frightened expression. Due to the short, stocky nature of the helmet used for this collectible fig, an alternative face couldn't be included, but this is no problem with 71020-12's serious expression mirroring the few seconds of screen time he got in the actual movie. The base is fully lime green, with the face painted on.

71020-12's torso is the third iteration of this part, and closely resembles the original whilst creating its own look through an altered belt, making it look more like cloth than leather. KM's impressive muscles are well-defined, and for imaginative play children should have no problems pitting this character in a fist fight without his ray gun. The value and collectability of this torso is increased through the fact that it is PURPLE (I know some AFOLs, myself included, have an unhealthy obsession with purple parts due to their rarity). The back printing is on point with more muscles and the belt continuing, but this is mostly covered up by the wings, which are a vital part of the character and add to his charm and uniqueness in this series.

The legs, finally, are another cartoonish pivot away from the original figure in 76054; that KM had simple orange/lime hooped pants, where this KM uses a red rather than orange waist piece, with triangular shapes on the legs representing tights; this is lovely, as the villain is campy and silly on his own, and thus a perfect fit for rather rudimentary tights to be added for extra hilarity. The tights also help to further visually distinguish the new figure from the old, meaning that collectors will really want to get this one to add to the collection, whilst owners of 76054 needn't feel pressured to skip this set. Rather than copy, 71020-12 Killer Moth creates its own niche as a campier alternative to the already somewhat silly 76054 version

Concluding Thoughts

Now this is a tough one for me, as I like Killer Moth as a figure and character. Seen as just his parts, the sum of them, and the finished product, you have a lovely minifigure here which is visually distinctive, comes with great and rare parts, and will draw attention to any build you chuck him into.

Unfortunately, we would be foolish to look at 71020 Killer Moth as if it were to exist in a vacuum; there is a pricetag to worry about, as well as part quality considering this is a China-made figure. I will outright state that 4 USD/3GBP/4EUR is too much for these minifigures, especially when the earlier series went for 3 Euros per piece whilst I had to pay 4 Euros (minimum) for figures from recent series. Series 15 was the last to my knowledge that was priced at 3.50, whereas the price increase from 3 to 3.50 happened before then.

One can speak of increased production costs, quality, and inflation all they want, but the price is, plainly put, wrong. If these figures were completely made in the good factories (Denmark/Czech Republic/Mexico) I could overlook this to a degree (3.50 sounds decent enough value then), but these Chinese figures are simply not as good as the 'regular'-made figs.

As such, I will have to award a low score for 'value for money' and only a 4 for 'parts', which really should have been a 5. As a consumer I have the right to disagree with LEGO's manufacturing standards and pricing policy, and this is my expression of my continued discomfort with TLG's decisions.

Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly recommend 71020-12 to most any LEGO fan; a fantastic selection of rare parts, a distinctive minifigure with a fresh take on a reasonably rare, expensive character, and an overall visual identity that has gone unparalleled since. When considering the full range of TLBM Series 2, I would also say that Killer Moth is perhaps one of the more desirable figures overall. 71020-16 Jor-El will no doubt fetch much higher prices on the aftermarket, making him ideal for scalping, whilst characters like Batman and the Joker have a wider appeal and others have some great parts (71020-6 comes with an actual factual Dolphin and 71020-10 has a lovely bathing suit), but there is no package in the mix as complete and distinct as 71020-12 Killer Moth.

Go to your local store, see if they still have these figures on offer, and feel your own Killer Moth out before they are removed from circulation!

I was heartbroken when Bionicle ended and was replaced with HF. As a fan of constraction since the Slizers/Throwbots, I felt the early HF sets lacked the charm and relative depth of Bionicle sets, and vowed to leave the theme to the wayside.

Fast forward four years, and the theme has had a bit of a revamp with Kaiju and mechs being introduced alongside a new type of minifig. With me being a fan of all three, I succumbed and bought into the theme.

Box/Instructions

Resealable bags.... they have their pros and cons. They are decidely friendlier to the environment, and more easily stored when empty, but the canisters of old allowed for much easier storage of the set and gave you slightly bent instructions as opposed to the crumpled leaflet I got with this set.

The instructions were very clear, with no conflicting colours, and a cutsey depiction of a jumper in the corner of every page. With 4 pages of comics, plus images of the combo models and ads for the other sets in the line (and the ubiquitious WIN/GAGNE/GEWINNE on the back), you've got something to oggle after building.

Parts

The Jaw Beast itself clocks in at 37 pieces, with a slew of new, recoloured, and useful parts. The two jaw pieces immediately draw your attention, but, while one has lovely printing, their use is limited outside of the Invasion From Below context. Underneath them is the printed four long armor piece exclusive to this set. Teal and orange make for a daring combination, even if the latter is limited to this piece and the upper jaw.

The set includes 7 curved barb pieces (6 used in the build plus one spare) in ever-so-rare purple. and are sure to please. They complement the black armor and teal sockets incredibly well, surprisingly, and make for a standout colour scheme.

To round out the Beast's extremities are new foot pieces (which provide more stability than you would suspect given their small size), and three new pincer-like pieces on the arms and tail. These are common throughout this year's HF sets, so the real draw for parts collectors here are the transparent blue bones (the smallest size). This set includes four, and with the only other set that features the piece (a solitary one in 70147 Sir Fangar's Ice Fortress) being much more expensive, Jaw Beast will prove to be very popular with that particular demographic.

The other twelve pieces listed in the instructions are used to build and equip the Stomer fig. While the limbs are nicely detailed, they are limited in their use outside of HF; this is made up for by the other elements, such as the beautifully sculpted helmet, the simply delightful blue minifigure head, an universal armor piece, and a 1x2 tile in transparent blue and hero core, both printed.

Minifigures

The introduction of new minfig-esque characters is always exciting (the drones in Exo-Force had me jumping with joy) and these new Hero-figs do not disappoint. Their detailing allows them to stay true to their previous constraction iterations, while their scale (slightly taller than minifigures) permits the use of accessories from System sets, evidenced by the inclusion of a spear piece and clip+tile in this set. The figure is marred by limited articulation and not being very poseable as a result. The armor allowing the helmet to rotate only so far can be overlooked, but the lack of adjustable hands is simply disappointing (if somewhat understandable). All in all, however, I find these new figs satisfactory, and I sincerely hope that Lego will have Hero Factory continue down this road.

The build

With only 37 pieces going into the beast and the figure using a few more pieces than your average fig, the build clocks in at around 5 minutes, with veteran builders being able to dip well under it. The process is a bit backwards, with the hero chest piece being used to bulk up the back of the torso rather than the front. Other than that, you simply snap together the bone pieces, plug in the barbs, and you're done. A little modification I would suggest is to attach the printed armor piece upside down; this allows for more coverage of the lower abdomen, while affording the head a bit more room for articulation.

The completed model

Jaw Beast certainly is a looker; as said before, his colour scheme is daring and I feel it provides a breath of fresh air. I don't remember teal and purple having been seen in the same box since an early Bionicle wildlife set and those old Technic sets with large sized figures (a quick wade through the archives reveals these to be '99's Competition sets), let alone having both colours on the same model!

The beast has 14 points of articulation, and that is no mean feat for a set this size. You can get it to assume a wide range of increasingly cool, menacing, or ludicrous poses; the tail is extremely useful in this regard by adding balance, or, if need be, extra stability when posed to touch the ground.

The head can be a bit of a pain in this regard, due to it hanging far from the body's center of balance when aiming for a forward-looking pose, but this doesn't mar the model as Jaw Beast's "arms" provide some ambiguity; you can easily picture them as a second set of legs, essentially making him a quadruped and opening up another range of poses.

While playability would be very limited with just a ratcheting jaw on this model, the inclusion of Stormer will provide children with all they need for extensive playtime; a good guy and a big monster! The spear can be set up in the jaws to prop them open, giving the Hero fig a fighting chance, and I'm sure the target audience can find many more ways to incapacitate the beast. With all of these possibilities in mind, I can see not only this set but the entire wave being a huge hit. No immediate need to buy two sets when each one has both sides of the conflict included. But with the Heroes being highly collectable, and the general brilliance of the Kaiju, it's hard to resist getting more than one Hero Factory set this year.

Overall opinion

To summarize, I am incredibly pleased with this set by itself; it offers a decent trove of new and interesting parts, a new form of minifigure, features ample opportunities for all kinds of great poses, looks great on display, and is very playable indeed.

While I will remain miffed for as long as the US gets sets for X Dollars while Europeans have to pay X Euros, I feel that the price of this set doesn't detract from the overall package too much. I was initially waiting for a 20% off promotion to get this set, but in the end I couldn't keep myself from buying it at full retail value, and, in a way, Jaw Beast is worth the price of admission.

If anything, he is a great introduction to the line, and I am even more excited about the prospect of getting the large beasts from this wave (44020 and 44021). Let's see if I can keep my wallet clenched shut until that promotional price cut.....