Thursday, December 3, 2009

Toybox of FAIL: Mars Baby




Please take a moment and read the Toybox of FAIL Disclaimer. Thanks!
-=-

As if I don't have enough going on in December, I've found a way to start showcasing more horrors from the Toybox of Fail.

The secret? I've enlisted the aid of Pointykitty Studios to help out with the photography! (Considering how amazing these photos look, I'm sad I didn't think of asking sooner.)

The reviews also have a useful new feature: As the photos are hosted out on Flickr, you can click through to see larger versions of all the shots.

So...what are we waiting for? Brace yourself as we reach into the Toybox and find...

Toybox of Fail: Mars Baby - Front of box
Mars baby


Jing Zhiwei toys is the latest Bootleg toy label to use the "Intelligence Toys" logo. (We've seen it before on sets like Ack Ack from Xin Qi Le). Mars baby is set 801 and contains an estimated 23 pieces.

We can see from the product shot on the front of the box that the Bootleg Designers were on a very potent blotter of acid the day they designed this set. An alien (cloned directly from LEGO's Life on Mars theme, only sunburned an uncomfortable shade of red) stands atop...something. Part wagon, part table saw, this vehicle is a propeller-driven mishmash of themes. That apparently fights whatever foes it can find in the deep desert.

Toybox of Fail: Mars Baby - Back of Box

The back of the packaging has a layout we've seen many times before - right down to the "combinatorial series" logo. Not that there was much doubt that many of these bootlegs flow through numerous shady pipelines - but sometimes you can be a bit too obvious about cloning your competition.

There really isn't much mix-n-matching you can do with the parts in this set, and the bootleggers show that in their product shots. Note the amazing transformation of the vehicle by basically turning the figure around to face the other way.

Toybox of Fail: Mars Baby

Inside the package we find the usual assortment of fragile, broken, and misshapen parts. The photographer was barely able to get these shots as the toy kept falling apart whenever she took a step away from it.

The color of the parts fails to match the box, but that's not uncommon. What is uncommon is the decision to cast the wagon wheels in bright blue plastic. I guess it makes the set look more "spacey".

The alien, by the way, is cast in LEGO-authentic teal. Of course, he's not assembled the way LEGO intended, creating a misshapen, twisted creature that can only be called....Mars baby.

You can click the following photos to see larger views of Mars baby. You know you want to.

Toybox of Fail: Mars BabyToybox of Fail: Mars Baby

The Toybox of Fail. Brought to you by people who really should know better.

Thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

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9 Comments:

Blogger Ryan said...

Yaay! The FAILs are back!!!

December 3, 2009 12:57 PM  
Anonymous Timm said...

I love these blog posts!

Have you come across the "Toyrific Bricks" that are currently terrorising several shops over here in the UK?

They do bigger sets for stupidly cheap (about the price of a small/medium set) Might be worth an entry into the toybox....

December 3, 2009 5:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

why didn't you post a shot of the instructions? I love reading the instructions for bootlegs, because they usually don't follow linear time. I'm ecstatic that you're starting the FAILS again. How many bootleg sets do you have to review at the moment?

December 3, 2009 7:59 PM  
Blogger Tranquility said...

This looks like the Bootlegger's entry for the "Pimp My Wheelchair" contest. It wins a massive "FAIL!" award from me (no prize... just my scorn).

December 4, 2009 6:10 AM  
Blogger Legowink said...

I like the modle, apart from the fact it barly stays together, and mostly because of the "creatures" ears. mars mission didnt have that did they?i cant seem to find one at the moment.

December 4, 2009 7:18 AM  
Blogger CS said...

chris i found a bootleg on google
heres the link
http://www.toywiz.com/cobipolicehelicopter.html

December 6, 2009 5:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What Ryan said!

December 7, 2009 11:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Intelligence Toys? Suuuuuuuuuurrrrree.

December 13, 2009 6:19 PM  
Anonymous Kilkarra said...

Yay! I love reading about you sock it to those FAIL toys!

Oh and BTW, @ CS
Thanks for that link to toywiz I didn't know how awesome it was.

And those bootlegs you found are not funny, they're basically LEGO with different name and cooler weapons! I'm gonna buy em because they dont look really bad and I want to get some military style LEGO.

January 1, 2010 3:00 AM  

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