Set Review: 2231 Waspix
Saturday, July 30th, 2011 at 4:29pm [Source: DeeVee]
Welcome back to the BZPower Review Corner. Okay, I don't think we've ever called it that, but we do have a review for you today! DeeVee takes a look at Waspix this time around - will it be the best or the worst set ever? You'll have to read on to find out!
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
Waspix comes in a box! It is the same size box as the other villains sold at his price point. They are tall and not very wide, and stores can fit a lot of them on one shelf. This is a good thing, because TLG can push more product, quicker. I'm totes for this. Let's get more kids hooked!
On the front of the box, you'll see Waspix coming right at you, in all his yellow glory. The box has the green borders all the sets from this wave share, allowing you to quickly determine which boxes belong to which waves.
On the back, once you lay the box on it's side, is a picture of Waspix attacking Bill, and a quick comic explaining that apparently Witch Doctor is blowing Spherus Magna up. This explains everything.
The legal disclaimers are hiding somewhere. I don't know where! I think they are playing hard to get.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
Like the rest of the HF line post-new-building-style, Waspix starts with a basic skeleton, and then you add the armour cladding and other decorations. It is a simple build, though Waspix utilizes it well, what with his four arms and extra-jointed legs.
Very quickly, Waspix is assembled and ready to attack our plucky heroes.
What a meanie.
Set Design
Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
What with his being yellow and all, Waspix has a lot of re-coloured parts. This is a good thing! He also has a few new molds! This is also a good thing!
In the re-coloured realm, we have:
- Yellow torso armour
- Grey limb parts
In the new/interesting molds, we have:
- Waspix head in yellow
- Quaza spikes
- Black Ben 10 hands
- Black teeth/spikes/things
- Stinger parts in silver
- Super long trans-yellow cladding
- Black mid-size cladding with cool Waspix patterns
- Black spiky armour, uh, armour
- THIS SUPER AWESOME BLACK PART WITH BALL JOINTS BUILT INTO TWO SIDES OH MAN THIS PIECE IS AWESOME
Anyway. You'll continue to notice that none of these parts have a Technic axle or rod connection. They all connect via ball sockets and minifig rods. This isn't bad, but it's different, and I wouldn't mind if TLG re-introduced Technic connections to the HF line, or just molded their parts to have a few technic connections available.
The super long panels in trans-yellow are gorgeous. You will love them.
Also of random note, the set comes with six black tooth/spike pieces, but the instructions say they only come with two. I'm not complaining, but it is very odd.
(But I'm very pro having extra of these, so again, no complaints!)
Waspix's head is an interesting mold.
It's very insectlike, despite not having compound eyes or antennae. This is probably due to the mandibles, used to great effect on this head. This mold is also available in lime on the lame Scorpio, but that set is lame and this one isn't, so you should get this one instead. Haha.
The head has the now-customary two rods that attach to HF parts via the peg-and-hole system. The head, however, does not work with a Hero head (which is disappointing!), and attaches to the set via a piece of armour.
Waspix is my favourite basic villain set this wave (and from last wave too). The four arms look fantastic, and the extra joint in the leg gives him a great instecty look. He is a lot of fun to play with, and he looks fantastic. The wings with the Quaza spikes are a delight, but what I think really makes the set is the armour piece and weapon bit used in conjunction to make his abdomen and stinger. The whole set just comes together fantastically.
That said, I don't like attaching the heads via armour bits. It leaves the heads looking awkwardly empty (though this is more noticeable on Witch Doctor and Raw-Jaw especially). It also makes the heads a little more awkward to pose. And I'm not really for that.
I am, indeed, anti that.
The black and yellow is simply stunning, and the red of the Quaza spikes really puts the proverbial bow on top.
I really dig this set. Really, I dig most of these sets. But not Raw-Jaw. We'll get to him soon, though.
Very soon.
I'm ambivalent in regards to the Ben 10 hands. They are a nice piece, and I think they're used effectively, but I just don't know how much I like the mold in general, I suppose.
Anyway.
Playability
The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
Like all of the sets we've been talking about recently, Waspix's main draw is that he is extremely posable. He can achieve lots of fun and creepy poses, and his extra limbs afford him even more crazy poses.
And though he is advertised as fighting off the new Bill menace, I think his colours look more fun fighting off that pesky Orange Julius.
There's no launcher, no gimmick, and for this I'm grateful.
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
- Classic Yellow
- NOT KEETORANGE
- Very thematically compelling
- Good parts in good colours
- Trans-yellow!
- Lots of possibilities
- Really, just fun to play with
- THAT PIECE WITH THE DOUBLE BALL JOINTS!!!!!
- Extra teeth/spikes!
Cons
What's not to like?
- Head attachment is lackluster
- Extra arms can be awkward to pose, I suppose
- I'm trying guys. See, I can be positive about sets
- Raw-Jaw is a bad set
I'm really really fond of this guy. I love classic yellow, and I love the wasp motif. Even though I am deathly and irrationally afraid of wasps in real life (like, seriously guys), this set is awesome. I promise I'll have a review you can hate because I hate it too much soon, but for now, I'm sorry, but I have to offer up another enthusiastic "you should buy this set!" recommendation. Seriously, you should buy this set. Otherwise, DeeVee will have to strike back!
(This review was totes paid for by the LEGO Group, because I can't possibly like this many sets in a row, right???) [Editor's note: no it wasn't.]
But seriously, thanks again to TLG for donating these sets to review. They are a gracious company!
I hope you enjoyed another look at one of the Hero Factory 3.0 sets. We still have plenty more reviews in the pipeline (Hero Factory and other LEGO lines), so keep checking back right here on BZPower! « Return to News |