Return Home News Reference Discussion Forums
Welcome,
BZPower Guest
.

Login | Register | Retrieve Password



Site Links
    - Forums Reference
    - Become a Member
    - Premier Membership
    - Timeline
    - Set Database
    - Parent's Guide
    - Collectibles
    - Good Guys
    - Bad Guys
    - Mythology
    - Story Sources
    - Official Greg Discussion
    - Product Reviews
    - Tool Kit
    - Wild Kraata Colors
    - BZPowercast
    - Mata Nui Translater
    - History of Bionicle
    - Accessories
    - Games
  • About BZPower
  •     - Staff
        - Site History
        - Contact Us

    Discuss This Story
    Set Review: Weldos Mixels: 41545 Kramm, 41546 Forx, 41547 Wuzzo
    ReviewSunday, December 6th, 2015 at 3:57am by Jason, BZPower Reporter

    Today, BZPower turns back to the sixth wave of Mixel characters, as BZPower Reporter Xccj looks at the Weldos Mixels. They have a construction theme and consist of 41545 Kramm, 41546 Forx, and 41547 Wuzzo. Are these characters up to code or should they be tossed in the scrap bin? Read on or watch 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.

    Image of Bags Front Image of Bag Back

    The Weldos reused the yellow colored bags, featuring their Mixel with a cool construction background. As is usual for Mixels, they have a clear section in the lower left corner, through which you can see some of the bricks, as well as a cartoon version of the character in the upper right corner. The back of the bag showcases the Weldos Max combination model, as well as the full set of Series 6 Mixels.

    Building
    Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

    Image of Kramm Build 1 Image of Kramm Build 2 Image of Kramm Build 3 Image of Kramm Build 4
    Image of Forx Build 1 Image of Forx Build 2 Image of Forx Build 3 Image of Forx Build 4
    Image of Wuzzo Build 1 Image of Wuzzo Build 2 Image of Wuzzo Build 3 Image of Wuzzo Build 4

    The builds are fairly standard, as far as Mixels go. There's nothing too complex, but there's still some fun techniques used to capture their specific shapes.

    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.

    Image of Kramm All Pieces Image of Kramm Cool Pieces Image of Kramm Front Image of Kramm Back Image of Kramm Action 1 Image of Kramm Action 2

    First we have 41545: Kramm.

    Kramm appears to be some sort of living trash compactor. He has 68 pieces, including some yellow arches, four masonry, brick-bricks, and two top halves of the rock pieces. For his eye, he uses the minifigure head with the eyeball printing, topped with a yellow construction hat. The hat makes him look like the most safety conscious of the Weldos.

    Kramm's body is very boxy, with a wide opening in his mouth where he can "compact" stuff. Despite lacking any ball joints, his feet are actually some of the most versatile out of the Weldos; they rotate on a turntable in the center, and then there's a clip hinge for each foot, allowing for a bit of movement. The use of the top piece of the rock is an interesting choice, but despite its bulk it still works and the texture fits in with the construction vibe. Both of his arms are jointed, although the socket on the body limits forward and backwards movement. His left hand has three fingers clipped on, while his right hand forms a large drill that spins. My main issue is that he has a limited range of motion on his arms, so it's fairly hard for him to point his drill at something.

    Image of Forx All Pieces Image of Forx Cool Pieces Image of Forx Front Image of Forx Back Image of Forx Action 1 Image of Forx Action 2 Image of Forx Action 3

    Next up is 41546: Forx.

    Forx is a bit of a squat and goofier looking Weldos character, in my opinion. He maxes out at 65 pieces, which includes a fair amount of yellow curved slopes, a yellow 4x4 round plate, and a bottom half of the rock piece. He also uses two of the minifigure head eyeball pieces, and comes with a small wheel element and a short chain. But the most remarkable piece here is the new dark gray banana. That piece mostly appears in yellow, and this is the first time it shows up in dark gray. I'm excited for it, anyway.

    I'm not exactly show what Forx is supposed to represent; maybe a scoop of some sort? Both his lower rock jaw and upper head can move, allowing him a varying amount of mouth-opening poses. I'm actually impressed at how well the mouth seals together when the two halves are closed down, and I'm sure you can fit a few spare parts in the rock if you feel like feeding him something. The head also has some nice detailing, with the banana eyebrows and spikes and wheel on the back. It gives him plenty of character. The rest of the body is kind of bland; the legs suffer from socket-at-the-hip, where they can only sprawl out and not really move forward or backwards. (I'll stop complaining about it when LEGO stops using it in nearly every Mixel set.) The arms are very basic with only clips, although one gets to hold onto a chain.

    Image of Wuzzo All Pieces Image of Wuzzo Cool Pieces Image of Wuzzo Front Image of Wuzzo Back Image of Wuzzo Action 1 Image of Wuzzo Action 2

    Finally, we come to 41547: Wuzzo (with whatever pronunciation you prefer.)

    Wuzzo comes with the most detailed chainsaw head, which is a really clever design that makes him stand out from the other Weldos. He comes with 74 parts, although a few are used to create the King Nixel, limiting the build of Wuzzo slightly. A few of the interesting pieces include the yellow plate with a bar, the back plate with two bars, the yellow curved 2x2 slopes, the gold jumper, and the gold crystal. Wuzzo also uses the droopy eye print on the gray 2x2 round tile. Meanwhile, the King Nixel has a new, unique face printing on his tile.

    Wuzzo's body is quite lackluster, in my opinion. It's a verily generic design that's been used in too many Mixels, with the inverted boat slope forming the body, sockets at the hips, and clips for the arms. The legs are tall, but don't really stand out either, and have the same movement restrictions as Forx. Luckily, Wuzzo's head steals the scene. The chainsaw-like design makes good use of SNOT (studs not on top) and gives the effect that he really does have a chained blade running around his nose. The eye tile is also on a jumper plate (one of the newer styles, too) which allows them to rotate and change Wuzzo's expression. Is his angry, upset, or giddy? Rotating the eye 120 degrees can make all the difference.

    Image of King Nixel

    The King Nixel has arrived! The actual Nixel part is just the head and clips on a 2x3 slope, so even more boring than usual. But this Nixel comes with a crown and sits atop a throne. While it looks a bit tacky on its own, the extra bars allow for the attachment of other Nixels to create arms and legs for a giant King Nixel super mech. If you've been collecting all the Nixels this year, this is a neat idea, although I don't have the spare Nixels to show it off. You can find the instructions on the LEGO's Mixel webpage.

    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?

    Image of Weldos 1 Image of Weldos 2 Image of Weldos 3 Image of Weldos 4 Image of Weldos 4

    The Weldos are a neat bunch. I really do like the overall construction theme, and each of these characters easily fits into it in their own way. Although yellow has been used quite a bit with the Mixels, it works here to compliment the blacks and grays. But, since the Mixels are all about combining and rebuilding, this means that there's also a Weldos Max character.

    Image of Weldos Max Front Image of Weldos Max Back Image of Weldos Max Action 1 Image of Weldos Max Action 2 Image of Weldos Max vs Nixel Image of Weldos Max Beats Nixel

    To be honest, I'm not super impressed with this design. The face bit is interesting with the eye and teeth, and makes good use of the bananas as horns. His left arm is now a larger drill, but there's still limited movement on his shoulder. His right arm has two points of articulation at the shoulder and wrist, but which he still has a thumb, his two fingers have been fused together. And, per usual, the legs have limited motion with the socket-at-the-hips. The craziest thing is his "wrecking ball" which features a crane with a chain attached to a rock piece, which can be made with the top and bottom half of the rock pieces found in Kramm and Forx. While the idea is novel, it's not carries out well, as the crane and chain are too short to give him any range, so mostly he just smacks himself in the face. It's not really that useful to even dispatch the King Nixel. The Weldos Max is a decent design, and shows off some of the creativity of the Weldos, but he's not one of my favorite Max characters.

    Final Thoughts
    Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

    Pros
    What's to like?

    • Neat designs, work with the construction theme
    • Yellow, black, and gray color schemes work
    • Really like the dark gray bananas in Forx
    • Wuzzo's head design is great

    Cons
    What's not to like?

    • Sockets at the hips for Forx, Wuzzo, and Weldo's Max
    • Not to mention limited arm movement for Kramm.
    • Max character is also a bit blank
    • On his own, King Nixel isn't intimidating

    The Weldos have a lot of character and three neat builds with the construction motif. At $4.99 USD, these Mixels would be great stocking stuffers for the holidays, or just your standard impulse purchases. Their combiner Max character is a bit bland, but you can always use your creativity to make something better on your own.

    Thanks again for reading another BZPower set review. Make sure to like and subscribe to our Youtube channel, and stay turned to BZPower for more LEGO set reviews!

    Discuss This Story

    « Return to News

    LEGO® and BIONICLE are trademarks of the LEGO Group. BZPower is not authorized or endorsed by TLG. All non-LEGO images & contents are copyright BZPower.com and are not authorized or approved by the LEGO Group. BZPower.com logo & graphic design are copyrights of the owners of this site. ©2001-2024