SquadDriver
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SquadDriver's Stats
- 5Average Rating
- 352Helpfulness Votes
- 0Featured Reviews
- 16Review Count
- January 24, 2013First Review
- July 8, 2016Last Review
Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 400
Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 400
Posted:March 19, 2013
SquadDriver
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Advanced LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
UNIMOG!!!!
" This is simply an awesome truck. From the rugged and beautiful (In an ugly, industrial kind of way) looks, to the stunning functions, this kit has it all. Previous reviews covered how awesome this truck is. I would like to dispel a few things that other reviewers have written. I have seen complaints about the straight 4 cylinder engine, and one reviewer actually stated that it was a way for "Lego to save money in the kit". The real truck has a 4 cylinder engine. Second, one reviewer complained that the truck bed was too small. This truck bed is identical to the real thing respectively. In fact, the details are correct right down to the red and white sticker. The details of this truck are outstanding, and I enjoy simply staring at it. The build was complex, but it was complex in a good way. I expected to have this truck done in half the time it actually took me, but that meant that I had twice as much fun building it. Again, this set is quite complex, and the design is incredible. That brings me to a review I read here which was titled, "DO NOT BUY THIS KIT!!!!". The reviewer gave this kit a poor review because he and his 12 year old son were unable to assemble it. Remember, this is not a truck that you shove batteries in and watch it zoom all over the house. This is a model. It's an outstanding model that is realistic in form and function, and is also a learning experience for those who simply love mechanical things. I love this truck. If I was a rich man, I'd have an entire fleet of Lego Unimogs. The only complaints I have, better described as critiques, are directed at Lego, and not at this truck, and they are the following:
While building the chassis, I noticed that the frame on the front was not lined up with the suspension assembly. I noted that when the suspension was fully compressed, they did line up, but when the suspension was at rest, they did not. I spent hours going over my work, disassembling and reassembling the front chassis. I did not realize until I looked through countless Lego forums that this was a design issue. Every time I have come across a problem while assembling a Lego set, I have always been able to find my mistake. In this case, there was no mistake, it was simply the way the chassis was designed. It would have been very helpful to put a footnote in the instruction manual to save people like me hours of time by saying it's supposed to be like that. Second, a picture is not always worth a thousand words. This is a fairly complex kit, and better instructions on how to operate it would have been helpful. Granted, I was able to learn in just a few minutes, but something saying, "Push the yellow lever up for PTO control and down for pneumatic control" would be nice. Finally, calling it 4 wheel drive is kind of false advertising. 4 wheel drive "ready" would have been more appropriate. It has the parts to do it, but if it does not move under it's own power, it's not 4 wheel drive. At first I thought I built something wrong or simply didn't yet figure out how to operate all of the functions. Again, I had to look on several forums before I realized that this kit, as it comes, does not move under it's own power.
Now, these little complaints DO NOT detract from the kit. I have this truck sitting on my printer as I type this, and every time I look up at it sitting on my printer I get a warm fuzzy feeling! I simply love it. Just for the record, I've collected hundreds of Lego sets from my pre-teen years on up, and Lego has been a large part of my life. They have always been amazing and they just keep getting better. BRAVO on this truck Lego. Bravo!
"
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Chicago
State:
Illinois
From:
United Kingdom
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Advanced LEGO builder
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
Level of Difficulty:
Challenging
Very Easy
Very Challenging
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+24points
24of 24found this review helpful.
Fire Truck
Fire Truck
Posted:January 24, 2013
SquadDriver
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Love It!
" This is a good sized truck for the price, and it has many nice features. Strangely, the ladder does not rotate a full 180 degrees, but that's not a concern unless you're a stickler for scale realism. I have nothing negative to say about Legos. This kit produces a nice heavy truck with all of Lego's usual innovations and imagination. It's amusing to me that the designers don't seem to understand the difference between a truck and an engine, and most of their fire related stuff is a kind of hybrid of the two, but as far as the toy goes, two thumbs up! I love the included hydrant and ability to hook in to it. The cab is a really nice size, and the large white side compartments are awesome! This is a great truck and will compliment any station!
"
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Chicago
State:
Illinois
From:
United States
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+9points
14of 19found this review helpful.
Fire Station
Fire Station
Posted:January 24, 2013
SquadDriver
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Nice Firehouse!
" Well, usual, this set is awesome. Attention to detail is second to none, but that's normal for Lego. The roll up doors are very cool. The vehicles and the station itself are very well done. I love the street lamp! As with all Legos, I love this set, and any child's imagination will be peaked. I never complain about Legos, but one problem I encountered was that the truck does not sit well in the bay. It either wants to roll too far forward or too far back, sometimes rolling right out the back door. This was easily fixed by installing two wheel chocks, which the rear wheels rest on, keeping my truck exactly where I want it. In my case, I had two extra pieces in my set anyway, and they're the little triangular pieces which were perfect for the job, (and in fact are used in real fire departments to avoid backing up too far) but any spare Lego parts will do the job equally well. One word of caution - Any building, whether it be a space station, police or fire department, or anything anchored to a flat Lego surface, is not designed to be picked up and run around the house. I see reviews all the time that say, "my 4 year old tried to bring it up to his room and it fell apart!" Well yeah, these aren't glued together. They come apart for a reason, so great care needs to be taken when moving something designed to be stationary. It's a great set and will spike any imagination
"
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Chicago
State:
Illinois
From:
United States
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
4
/
5
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+43points
59of 75found this review helpful.
Vermin Vaporizer
Vermin Vaporizer
Posted:January 24, 2013
SquadDriver
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Excellent!
" I wasn't sure about the looks on this one at first, but that's what caught my attention. The front is definitely unique. After the build, as usual, I was pleasantly surprised. The look works, and it's nice and tough looking. This set is one of the stronger ones, meaning it stays together well. I never complain about parts falling off anyway, I mean it's basically a high end model that you don't glue, and it's designed to come apart. However, this one holds together well, and is full of Lego's usual innovation. The android is really well done on its own and functions well. He fits tightly in the back and deploys easily. When it's in the back, it blends in well and makes a formidable looking vehicle that any bad alien would be terrified of. It's a great looking set and is huge fun to build, but then, all Legos are. I love the green guys and vehicle accents! Any kid will love it, and the imagination will be limitless!
"
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Chicago
State:
Illinois
From:
United States
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+16points
19of 22found this review helpful.
Bug Obliterator
Bug Obliterator
Posted:January 24, 2013
SquadDriver
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Great Set!
" Usually when checking out new Legos I think, "well, this one looks pretty okay, guess I'll get it." Then, I get it home, start building, and think, "this is so freak'n cool." I'm always pleasantly surprised at every little innovation and design. I shouldn't be, I've been building the things for years, but they never cease to amaze me! This set was no different. First of all, I love the colors. This set may look fragile, but it holds together well. I don't complain when parts fall off, I mean it's basically a high end model that requires no glue, and it's designed to come apart, but as stated, this is pretty solid. The ship is very cool and quite formidable looking, but then you push the slide in back and the awesome car springs to life. The rubber tires are a nice touch. After the car comes out, the cab on top of the ship cantilevers down and looks like nothing is missing. It is so clever the way they do this stuff. As usual, it was a complete pleasure to build. The end product is larger then expected, and simply looks awesome. The three figures are great, and the third one is a nice extra just in case the bug actually captures one! The bad guy vehicles are usually not as exciting and are always hopelessly outgunned, but this one is fairly large and has a great look to it. The usually fragile wings on the main model are held on by a new system that makes them stout. All and all a great set, sure to be enjoyed by any Lego enthusiast!
"
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Chicago
State:
Illinois
From:
United States
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
5
/
5
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+19points
24of 29found this review helpful.
Millennium Falcon ™
Millennium Falcon ™
Posted:January 24, 2013
SquadDriver
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Overall:
5
/
5
Wow
" I'm not one to bash previous Lego sets, but let's be honest. This set far exceeds the previous attempts at a Millennium Falcon. It's not as great as the expert one costing hundreds of dollars, but it is great. I now have an excellent example of a Millennium Falcon sitting next to me. The build, as always, was a great deal of fun. At my age, it's pretty much mostly about the build, taking semi-professional photographs, and display. I must mention that the "computer bank" inside is spectacular.
Pros:
Absolutely fun to build
Excellent representation
Ingenious design
Computer bank
Absolutely fun to build
Excellent representation
Ingenious design
Computer bank
Cons: (albeit very minor ones)
For the purists out there, it's a little "round" looking, and the transition to the front is a bit choppy. Let's not forget though, it is a Lego set, not a movie prop.
Radar dish moves around too much. This was easily rectified by placing a small round piece next to it, making it point in the correct direction.
I'm not exactly sure what two of the small details inside are for...
Two parts (flat segmented "twos") on the front do not match the photo. The box and instructions show one black and one grey, but the kit provides only grey. Now this complaint is the only one that matters: The instructions show very little difference between black and dark grey parts. This didn't prove to be much of a problem because most of the time, if I wasn't sure which color I was looking for, only one of the two colors existed in the current bag of parts. It also seems that the instructions on newer models have addressed this issue.
Finally, I find it slightly odd that this came with a Darth Vader figure. I am NOT complaining though. I'm very happy to have this figure, and it's very well done, as are the other figures. My only problem is, he doesn't belong to this group. I guess he just has to go out on his own and battle the Alien Conquest folks. (I'm not letting him on my Falcon!)
For the purists out there, it's a little "round" looking, and the transition to the front is a bit choppy. Let's not forget though, it is a Lego set, not a movie prop.
Radar dish moves around too much. This was easily rectified by placing a small round piece next to it, making it point in the correct direction.
I'm not exactly sure what two of the small details inside are for...
Two parts (flat segmented "twos") on the front do not match the photo. The box and instructions show one black and one grey, but the kit provides only grey. Now this complaint is the only one that matters: The instructions show very little difference between black and dark grey parts. This didn't prove to be much of a problem because most of the time, if I wasn't sure which color I was looking for, only one of the two colors existed in the current bag of parts. It also seems that the instructions on newer models have addressed this issue.
Finally, I find it slightly odd that this came with a Darth Vader figure. I am NOT complaining though. I'm very happy to have this figure, and it's very well done, as are the other figures. My only problem is, he doesn't belong to this group. I guess he just has to go out on his own and battle the Alien Conquest folks. (I'm not letting him on my Falcon!)
In summary, if you are a Star Wars fan, you need this. If you are a Lego fan, you need this. If you are both, you already have it.
Please note that the photos were taken with my phone - better photos will be taken with my DSLR.
"
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I would recommend this to a friend!
From: Chicago
State:
Illinois
From:
United States
Age:
45-54
years old
Customer Type:
LEGO Fan
Building Experience:
Expert LEGO builder
Play Experience (Optional):
5
/
5
Value for Money (Optional):
4
/
5
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share:
+18points
27of 36found this review helpful.