Toybox of Fail: Transformatrix

First time here? Please take a moment and read the Toybox of FAIL Disclaimer. Thanks!
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"And now for something completely different."





Years ago I picked up today's FAIL at a Dollar Store. Since I wasn't reviewing Bootlegs at the time, it ended up sitting on a shelf in my LEGO workshop, all but forgotten. Over time it must have migrated to a pile on the floor...and from there it slid under one of my rolling sorting bins.

That's where I found it while working on a bit LEGO build recently. Dusty, forgotten, and hiding under a cart.

Hardly a heroic move...but what do you expect from a bootleg? Even if it a knock off of the uber-heroic Optimus Prime...



Say hello to Transformatrix the Light Up Action Figure! He comes carded on cheap cardboard with a flimsy plastic blister! Fun from the get go!



Yes, a this is a Transformers knock-off. I don't know a lot about anything past the earliest Transformer releases, so I can't be sure this isn't a direct copy of an existing TF mold. I hope not, though, as there are some really crappy things about the design of this toy. (I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on this topic will chime in - be sure to check the comments section.)

I must admit that he looks pretty bad-ass here, though. He comes with a gun and axe as accessories - both look like actual Transformer accessories to me. Well, cheap and brittle recasts of Transformer accessories, anyway...



This guy does come with an "action feature"...


A push-button Red LED in his chest! If you read the Undiscovered Playthings blog you already know that "LEDs in the Chest" became something of a standard bootleg feature in recent years. This guy is one of the early adopters of that trend.



The back shows the two versions of this toy that were available. I passed on the second version, not knowing that in a year or two the Transformers Movie would be changing Optimus' look.

There's also a mailing address for the distributor. Smart move, that.


Looks pretty good in truck form if you don't mind those gaping holes.

Wait...gaping holes????



Yes. Gaping holes.

As mentioned earlier, the transformation leaves a bit to be desired. Giant holes in the cab of the truck allow for the arms and head to be snapped on. And when he transforms back into a truck, the arms and head apparently are just left lying on the ground for scavengers to pick up and recycle.



Another FAIL was in the quality control - they didn't screw this guys right leg together! As a result, the pins that hold the legs together in the truck form pull the leg assembly apart when you switch back. There's some quality fun right there...

...but, really, how much quality can you expect for a buck these days?

Even in a bootleg...

Episode 696

Read the comic here.

While the strip sometimes (okay, often) heads off into unscripted territory, the underlying structure has always been the feud between Scotch and his brother. It's just taken me nearly 700 strips to get to the point where I could reveal that little tidbit.

Toybox of FAIL: Farm

First time here? Please take a moment and read the Toybox of FAIL Disclaimer. Thanks!
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Little White Dragon has a very strange sense of place and history. The Pirate series started out with a Pirate...but ended up in the Wild West. City started out at a gas station...and ended up on Mars.

I'm a bit worried as to where today's journey will lead. We start out on a Farm.







*Whew*. It is a farm!



It says so on the box! And look at that Happy Farmer! Everything is going to be okay this time!



Oh, sure there are some very distinctive Non-LEGO parts in the kit. But we've seen so much of that in the past that we're almost immune. Maybe these are Playmobil molds. (If someone recognizes, them, be sure to post in the comments!)



And here's our happy farmer. SO happy is he, in fact, that he doesn't have any pants on. That's kind of awkward.

And he's wearing a black hat. That's never a good sign.

Maybe things are a little more sinister than I thought.



Here's the full playset. You have a leafy orange plant...that seems benign.

And a shovel. That fits the theme.

And a field of wheat or corn. Creepy, but still logical.

But...why does our Pantless Farmer have a hammer?

Looks like he wants to talk to us...



"The world is full of sinners. I will cleanse them all.
I will pound them clean. With my hammer. With my LOVE."

Um. I think it's best if we back away slowly from this bootleg.

And don't make eye contact with that farmer....

I mean...oh no. he's spotted us.

RUN!

RUN!!!!!!!!!



Oh. And, just for the record, I figured out what line LWD has been knocking off. It's not LEGO. It's not Playmobil. It's the knock-off...sorry...."Fully Compatible with Major Brands"... "Best Lock". Check out their Farm set.

Yep. That's the same parts as today's FAIL.

So LWD is cloning the clones.

A sad, pale Xerox of a Xerox.



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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 695

Read the comic here.

Yes, I planned this from day one.

Toybox of Fail: City (Yet Again)

First time here? Please take a moment and read the Toybox of FAIL Disclaimer. Thanks!
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Yesterday, we reviewed a Little White Dragon bootleg called City. Today, we review another Little White Dragon bootleg called City.

Monday's City bootleg was a set that seemed to be appropriately titled - a gas station is indeed something you'd find in a common city. Tuesday we had to give up on logic as we were presented with a City set featuring a robot who lives on the moon.

What will today hold? Town or Space? Maybe a Space Town? Or something even more unexpected?



Why, a moon buggy! And, judging from the red sand he's driving around on...he's on MARS!

Maybe he's on his way to a City.



The mini-figure has the same general features of the other LWD people we've seen - a non-LEGO body with a LEGO-cloned hat. The visor on the helmet is non-LEGO, though - it barely attaches to the helmet at all. Why they didn't just copy the visor design is a mystery that will never be solved.

...or maybe not. The figure style and many of the mysterious parts from previous LWD FAILs have been identified as being cloned from the clone brand Best Lock. Yes, for some strange reason LWD decided that making knock-off LEGO models was best done using molds swiped from a LEGO competitor.

Sure. Why not?



We also have an answer to the mystery of where the figure shown in yesterday's "City Set" label came from. Apparently this fellow is the mascot for the LWD City-Space subset.



The set itself is similar to the classic LEGO Space set Crater Crawler. Except that it sucks. Still - "realistic" space vehicles tend to be on the minimalistic side, so maybe this design isn't all that bad.

But I still don't know why this set is labeled "City". You think LWD could have sold more of them by calling them "SPACE".

I suppose the day that bootleg toys start to make sense is a long way off.

Light years away.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 694

Read the comic here.

As is her purpose, Mary Sue stands in for the reader to point out that despite the promise of simplification, things have gotten confusing again.

Bilbo speaks for me, showing how straight forward and linear everything is.

Fox points out that, as usual, I'm full of it.

Tomorrow: An actual plot point. I promise.

Toybox of FAIL: City (Again)

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

Today, another something new and different! A set called....City!

Yeah, yeah. I know, I already did that joke with the multiple Pirate sets last week. But, sadly, we're in for another round of repetition as Little White Dragon rolls out yet another in their Playmobil/LEGO hybrid line. It's time once again for City!

As you can see, it's another Town-esque rip-off that....hold on.

That's a robot.

On the MOON.



Zooming in, we confirm it's a City Set. Says so right there on the label.

Maybe they mean a city on the moon. Let me look at the box again.

Hrm. No. No city there. Just the vacuum of space. And a giant robot looking for a hug.



I've had a few requests for instruction sheets to be included with the more interesting FAILs, so here you go. One City Robot instruction sheet. Not that it'll do you any good. Most of the key elements here are non-LEGO clone bricks.



Here's a detail shot of some of the more unusual bits. The grey technic pin is a direct-from-LEGO steal, but the "tube with clip" in new. The gear-shift/antennae almost look to be a superior mold...until you try and assemble them. Both of mine ended up with cracked bases and thus extremely floppy levers. Not exactly a hopeful sign.



Still, the toy went together okay, and even looks something like the box art.


There's a real problem with this set, though. And for once it has more to do with the design of the set than the crappy quality of the parts. Take a close look at the side angle above. Notice anything odd?

Like...say...the fact that the head is just resting on the shoulders without being attached in any way?

Now go back and look at those "super valuable" instructions.

Yep, this is the way this toy was designed. With a removable head.



I'm sure having your head fall off at the slightest movement is a feature, not a bug. Personally, I think Little White Dragon has been reading too many Microsoft press releases.

But either way, this City is still FAIL.

UPDATE: Author cannot follow simple instructions!


"Suck it, Doyle. Suck it hard."

Yes, it's sad but true. I served myself a big portion of FAIL with this review. Turns out if you pay attention to which direction the hollow studs are pointing on those two 90° angle plates the robot's head and torso actually assemble into a nearly solid mass.

That said, step 2 in the instructions can't actually be performed as shown - you have to clip the yellow plate onto the completed sub-assembly, not just slide it in as the diagram shows.

No, it's not much of a defense. But I just hate being bested by a bootleg.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 693

Read the comic here.

The nice thing about the Red Herrings is that they work on so many levels.

Still...red herring or not, the Red Herrings are still vital to our lack-of-plot plot, as the next few strips will clarify.

Toybox of FAIL: City

First time here? Please take a moment and read the Toybox of FAIL Disclaimer. Thanks!
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Today, another something new and differrent! A set called....Pirate!

Okay, just kidding. We're moving on to a new sub-series in the Little White Dragon bootleg line. We've left the worlds of the Western Mutant Pirate behind us and traveled to...the CITY!

There isn't an exact match in the LEGO catalog for this bootleg, but the basic construction of the pumps has been around since 1986's Service Station.

Here's the collection of odd parts. The hose assembly is actually a duplicate of LEGO construction, but normally LEGO would have attached the ends before sending the product out to consumers. LWD, unsurprisingly, had no such concern. The handle for the hose is non-LEGO, as is the briefcase. Both are very close to their LEGO origins, but scale and details have been modifed enough to suggest these are new molds - or at least molds copied from yet another innocent victim.

The mini-figure has a standard LEGO expression on his face, but considering the odd geometry of the piece used for the head I can't claim it's a direct copy of LEGO's design. The hair, at least, is definitely not a LEGO part - a switch from the cloned hats in the LWD Pirate sets.

Here's the whole set. Note the giant pliars/scissors and drill; strage tools for a gas station attendant. "Wash your windshield? No? How about I trim some hedges for you?"

This set feels more like a Playmobil set than a LEGO knock-off to me. Maybe that's just the packaging getting to me, though. Or the fumes from the plastic.

Yeah, gotta be the fumes.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day here in the US. I hope everyone has an enjoyable day off - but that we all also take at least a few moments to reflect on just why the office is closed today.

The Toybox of Fail will auto-publish as normal, but the comic will be up much later, maybe tomorrow.

Micropolis returns at Brickworld!

And now, a message from TwinLUG:

The contest may be over, but the FUN doesn't have to stop!

The first-ever massive Micropolis collaborative layout will be held at Brickworld this year.

Your task: To construct one or more Micropolis modules to add to the huge city layout.

The micropolis standard can be found here: http://twinlug.com/micropolis-micro-city-standard/ and a number of sample MOCs built according to the standard can be found filling the entry grids from our last contest.

We are hoping to have a HUGE layout, and already have a large number of modules confirmed.

Get building, and have fun!

Bad Day: Bad Day Winner!

It's time to wrap up the Bad Day contest. All this week we've been revealing the winners in each category, leading up to the big one...the Bad Day itself.

This was the most-entered category - probably because the top prize was that uber-sweet set, 7637 - Farm. Yes, builders will go a long way to take home a couple of Holsteins.

Like the Basic Module results, I've modified the entry grid to show the ranking of the top ten models with the rest of the crowd under the well-deserved heading of "Honorable Mentions."

But you can find out the top prize winner by just reading on...

Roguebantha's A sad day

Yes, the same model that claimed the Special Judge's Prize was also the model that unanimously earned top honors from the contest judges. Can you blame us? Just look at that model. Just LOOK AT IT!

Clever, well designed, and an AFOL in-joke all in one. It tugs at the heartstrings with the message that some disasters are personal in scope. Well played, Roguebantha. Well played.

Actually, all of our contestants did very well. The strict building rules may have kept the number of entries down, but it also helped keep the quality of those entries uniformly high. I consider this one of the most successful contests so far.

And, remember, just because this contest has ended there's no reason to give up on Micropolis. TwinLUG is going to have a display at BrickWorld where everyone is welcome to contribute a module. Take advantage of this chance to build with a larger crowd! I know I'm looking forward to the chance.

A special thank you to TwinLUG, our Judges, and all those who took part in the competition!

Toybox of FAIL: Pirate (Again Again)

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

Today, something new and differrent! A set called....Pirate!

(No, this still isn't a repeat from yesterday.)

Okay, this one has me baffled. It's labeled "Pirate". It has a Western looking mini-figure and some sort of mini-playset. I'm not seeing a whole lot of "Pirate-y Goodness" about it...

...And yet the set ID reaffirms the designation. I just don't get it.

The Mini-figure is also puzzling. Where are his pants?

And why is his face so far up on his skull? This is not a pirate. This is a mutant.

Speaking of Mutants, here are some of the odd almost-but-not-quite LEGO pieces unique to this set. That's one massive hinge. The plant on the left, though, would make a decent addition to LEGO's legitimate greenery. Alas, it's a part I haven't seen before.

Here's the playset in "action." Our Mutant approaches... He's cautious. Perhaps he senses danger.

'

Gasp! The hinge moves! Revealing.....nothing!!! Absolutely NOTHING!

"And now what?" our Mutant seems to ask.

Good question, buddy. I have no idea. It's not like the hinge was hiding anything - it didn't even cover the front of the little hollow area. A tiny little hollow area with a window and nothing else. Heck, it didn't even have the Mutant's missing pants.

So mysterious.

I leave you to ponder the meaning of this set over the weekend. Be sure to post the results of your meditations in the comments.

EDITED TO ADD:

Amazingly enough, reader Martijn recognized this as a clone of an early LEGO Pirate Set. Check out Treasure Surprise! Of course, the LEGO set actually has something in the little cave...and that's why LEGO is good and Bootlegs are BAD. Got that?

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 692

Read the comic here.

Yes, there's a small continuity error in panel two - Bilbo's popcorn switches hands.

No, I'm not going to fix that. It's a long bit of dialog and there's plenty of time for him to swap hands at some point.

Which means, of course, that it's not an error at all.

You only thought so because I mentioned it.

Or....did you?

Brick House earns a mention at Associated Content

This is quite nifty! There's a nice article over at Associated Content that talks about LEGO web comics - and Brick House and Reasonably Clever both get some cool coverage.

Go check it out: When LEGO and Web Comics Collide

Bad Day: DoublePlusGood Module Winners

The Bad Day contest parade of winners continues today with the DoublePlusGood Module category.

The top model in this category scored LEGO Set 7945 - Fire Station, with the second place finisher taking home set 4916 - Mini Animals.

As I mentioned yesterday, this was another tough category for the judges. All six of the submitted models were of superior quality and the voting was extremely close. Once again, though, there was a clear winner once the points were average out.

Who was it, you ask? Well read on....

Brian Kasprzyk's

Empire State Building / Independence Day

Truly an impressive build, no? The before-and-after versions were a plus, but it was the overall construction that sold this model for me. Just because it's Micropolis doesn't mean it can't be a freakin' HUGE build.

Take a look at other entries to see more quality work - and see the results of the very close race for 2nd place.


Coming up is the big reveal of the most active category - the BAD DAY. Who won THE FARM? Who came close? Tune in tomorrow and see!

Toybox of FAIL: Pirate (Again)

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

Okay. Let's cover the background first. Go look at LEGO set 6791: Bandit's Wheelgun.
It's a classic set from 1997. It's from the Western line - a strange attempt to make a Wild West Siege Weapon.

Now that you're familiar with that set, let's move on to today's FAIL. It's called....Pirate.

(No, this isn't a repeat from yesterday.)

Yes, even though the mini-figure is clearly wearing western gear he's a Pirate. Says so right there on the box.

You doubt me? Take a look at the close up of the set description:

It's almost enough to make me miss Zephyr Knight and their goofy set names. LWD's decision to duplicate Playmobil Packaging means that the only way to tell these sets apart (other than the pictures, obviously) is the stock number. And let's face it - 19131-22 just isn't that descriptive.

The mini-figure is the standard LWD design- again with a hat duplicated directly from LEGO molds. (Although cast in an attractive olive green shade. It'd be nice to have a legal LEGO fedora in that color.) Again, rather than yellow or pinkish, LWD has given us a figure with some diverse skin tones. As much as I want to hate them for ripping off LEGO, I have to respect them for that choice.

I don't, however, have to respect their choices on facial design. Is that a beard or a double chin? Whatever it is, it's rather goofy looking. Also I have to question their decision to cast the torso and arms in the same color plastic as the hands and head - it really makes our Pirate look like a shirtless He-Man reject.

Here's Western He-Pirate with the completed toy. As you can see, it doesn't balance very well. Or maybe it's designed not to attack the oncoming Calvary charge, but rather for a very early version of X-Treme skeet shooting.

LWD continues to offer up their troubling mix of almost-quality design and crap plastic parts. Luckily there's enough SUCK in this set to keep most people away.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 691

Read the comic here.

Popcorn? On my Slave Ship? It's more likely than you'd think.

Bad Day: Double Module Winners

The Bad Day parade of winners continues today with the Double Module category.

The top model in this category scored LEGO Set 7632 - Crawler Crane, with the second place finisher taking home set 4916 - Mini Animals.

Before the reveal, let me say that both the Double and DoublePlus categories were extremely tough for the judges. We only had a handfull of entries, and all of them were top quality work. Still, someone had to win...

Rook's
FutureTown: Repair Shop and Landing Port

The judges were mixed on who should earn top honors, but the average point total put Rook's effort at the head of the pack by a full point. Personally, I think that's due to the stylish twist on his Landing Port sub-module.

Again, this was a tough call - take a moment and bask in the creative glow from the other entries. It'll be well worth your time.


Tune in tomorrow for the DoublePlusGood Module winners!

Toybox of FAIL: Pirate

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

Okay. Let's cover the background first. Go look at LEGO set 1713: Shipwrecked Pirate. It's a classic set from 1994 featuring a Pirate floating along on a makeshift raft.

Next, go look at the fist FAIL reviewed here: BRICK's Pirate Raider.

Same set, right? Oh sure, one is a crappy bootleg and the other is glorious LEGO brick, but there's no denying they're basically the same thing. The bootleg is just one step into the darkness.

Today we return to the Pirate theme with a new bootleg. Except that it's not "new". Not really.

Yep. This is another copy of 1713...but with some bizarre twists. The big one requires us to step away from the comfortable LEGO-centric universe we've been exploring and take a look at another major brand: Playmobil.

Here's a sample of Playmobil's very distinctive packaging. In particular, note the font used for the logo and the product identifier down in the corner. Take a look at the font used for "Pirate"....yep, that a clear duplication of Playmobil's branding. Now take a look at the "product identifier" from today's FAIL....

Yep - pretty much the same style as Playmobil's. Hmmm. Do you think that's accidental?

This isn't the first bootleg we've seen from LWDRAGON - take a moment and check out RACING CAR if you haven't already. Somewhere between stock number 19131-02 and today's 19131-20 they switched styles from "Almost LEGO" to "Let's dupe a whole new demographic."

The instructions for PIRATE have a few minor changes from the 1713 base, but not enough to make me question the attribution. Note that there's no mini-figure shown in the LWD instructions - this is a common trait for them.

Another common trait is the inclusion of this "inspected by" slip. At least, I assume that's what it means. Maybe it's a "collect them all" scheme.

The mini-figure that comes with the set is the same strange mix of duplicated LEGO parts and non-standard elements that was saw in Racing Car. The hat is pure LEGO - but the figure itself...is not. For once, the Bootleggers did something I approve of - they added some ethnic diversity to their mini-figure set. Neither LEGO-yellow nor some shade of pink, this pirate is appropriately swarthy. In a perfect world more licensed sets would have "figures of color."

Although I don't know if I would have picked this particular face for mass production...

Here's the toy - decent colors, printed flag in the plus column. In the minus, the bricks are all slightly warped and made of thin, fragile plastic. The studs don't have any markings on them, and they're fairly shallow and uneven - making connections iffy at best.

Overall, this is a better quality knock-off than the BRICK effort, but still a sad second when compared to the real LEGO product.

Mr. Bootleg Pirate salutes you! Now go buy a real LEGO set and forget about this nightmare!

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 690

Read the comic here.

This joke is funnier when Superman says it.

The next few strips start to really explain what's really been going on for the past two and a half years. If you're a new reader, or even a regular one, you might want to spend some time with the archives...

Bad Day: Basic Module Winners!

The Bad Day parade of winners continues today with the Basic Module category.

The top model in this category scored LEGO Set 4210 - Coast Guard Platform, with the second place finisher taking home set 4916 - Mini Animals. (Not wanting to wreck the final reveals on who won what, winners will be contacted early next week to arrange shipment of the major prizes.)

So...who won this category?

Vito's Twin Tower Hotel

The judges were unanimous in declaring Vito's model "Best of Show" in the Basic Module category. For me, the innovative detail of the window-washing platforms was the "little something extra" that made this model stand out from the crowd.

All the models were very well done, though. The top five placements are identified on the revised Entry Grid - with the remaining models all earning an "Honorable Mention" status.

Tune in tomorrow for the Double Module winners!

Toybox of FAIL: Ice Chariot

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

Today we reach the end of the latest batch of Zephyr Knight impulse sets. As usual, you can tell that by the end of the assortment the bootleggers were really tapped out, or drunk, or both. Most likely both.

Today I present to you the most unusual combination of parts since City Ancgl: The set known only as Ice Chariot.

Well, it certainly looks interesting, doesn't it? I mean, when was the last time you saw a skeleton with a bowl-cut driving a combination 1920's car/Mad Max Deathcart/Aqualung towards you with lasers blazing?

It's been at least two weeks for me.

Anyway, set 1019, follows Forest Spadecar in this series, blah blah blah.

Remember when I said Zephyr Knight was running out of steam with this set? For evidence, take a look at these "alternate models". Unlike previous sets where we saw at least some hints that they took the model apart and re-assembled the pieces in a new way, these photos read more like one of those "can you spot the six hidden differences?" puzzles you used to see in the newspaper's comic section.

Even the part and figure colors stay constant between the shots. Clearly, Zephyr Knight had just given up.

Inside the box we find this sinister mini-figure. He's not nearly as goofy looking as the package promised - which is sort of a shame. I would have liked to have seen a LEGO-compatible white bowl cut wig. The weapon is actually a nice little design - that's a technic pin stuck into a "space gun" from the Classic Space days.

The Ice Chariot itself is pretty close to the box art in terms of color. It uses LEGO bionicle parts for the Skis. Other uniquely LEGO cloned parts include technic angle connectors, the front radiator grill, and the twin scuba tanks(!) at the back.

This is one goofy construction. It's not based on any LEGO design that I could spot. (Okay, it has a few elements in common with the 2008 Agent's Set Jet Pack Pursuit, but this is clearly a different vehicle. )

I'm sure glad to have reached the end of this particular series, though. As goofy as the names and concepts have been, these "toys" have been uniformly craptastic. I feel bad for those who have been tricked into spending money on them, and I wonder about the people who ended up making these knock-offs instead of putting their talents towards making real toys.

It's just sad, really. In many senses of the word.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 689x

Read the comic here.

A bonus episode - based on today's xkcd strip: Outreach

No, it's not a real crossover - just a fan tribute.

Normal service will resume shortly.

Bad Day: Time to start announcing the winners!

The Bad Day contest is over...and the judges have all responded with their rankings!

Every day this week at noon I'll be announcing another group of winners from the contest...starting today with Special Guest Judge Mariann Asanuma's favorite creation. This builder will receive a free copy of Mariann's book - "Building Secrets from the Masters - How to Build a Round Ball with Square Bricks."

And the winning entry is....

Roguebantha's A sad day

My disaster isn't he biggest but it may be the saddest. The 200 year old chestnut tree behind Cafe Corner and beloved by generations of children has been struck by lightening! Will it survive?!

More at Flickr

Mariann had this to say about the model:

This was a pretty hard decision! I liked a lot of the entries and I had a several favorites. But when it got down to it, I had to decide on Roguebantha's A sad day. Although there were a lot of really good entries. I was judging on the intricate details and the overall "story" of the model. Even though it wasn't the biggest "disaster" model, I thought it had a lot of heart and some very clever techniques.

Tune in tomorrow to find out who took home prizes in the Basic Module category!

Toybox of FAIL: Forest Spadecar

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

Several readers have suggested that Zephyr Knight might just be using a cheap on-line translator to determine the English names for their toys. I have to admit that idea makes a good deal of sense. It's either an on-line translator or a first-year high school student who forgot to study.

I mean, how else are you going to explain a name like Forest Spade Car?

Anyone remember the classic Speed Racer cartoon? Remember the giant saw-blades that would pop out of the front of the Mach 5 to cut down an old-growth forest whenever those pesky trees would get in Speed's way? Man, I loved that show.

I have no love at all for Forest Spade Car, however. Stock number 1018, it follows Foreign Emissary down the heavily-wooden road of shame. Except that, according to the background art, the road of shame has no trees anywhere nearby. And is also apparently on the moon.

Forest Spade Car's driver also has a Frisbee for a hat. Just thought I'd point that out.

The back of the package has the usual "Transformation" shots. As usual, two of the models look almost identical. I think Zephyr Knight's design team was really hung over while designing the "Aggregation Series".

In the past, we've seen some bricks change color between the various product shots...but this is the first time the mini-figure has mutated as well. Check out the changes in the close-ups above - Driver A is clearly a different person from Driver B - even if they are wearing the same shirt.

There are a couple of interesting parts in this set. I know there are a ton of Bionicle and Bionicle-related bootlegs out there, but this is the first occurrence of them in the Toybox. The two "tank tread" weapons are clearly recasts from the LEGO part. The smaller trans-yellow bits are a non-LEGO item, shockingly. I included them here as they're a part I wish LEGO did make - a 2 stud wide hinged window would be very handy in a lot of creations.

Here's the version of the Mini-figure that comes with the set. As expected, the designs and colors don't match the package art (even with two different versions to try for!) Why the Forest Spade Car driver is in a skiing uniform is a puzzlement - but I still think the goofy hat invites even more serious questions.

I hereby name this mini-bootleg Forrest. His favorite saying? "Life is like a box of bootlegs. Full of crap."

The toy itself is a new design - the closest thing LEGO has released was the Ice Blade set from the Alpha Team line. (And it's not a close match at all.)

I wonder what the designers were thinking when they decided that the Forest Spade car needed a propeller in addition to the giant tank treads. Forrest wonders this as well.

Well. I guess that about covers it. Forest Spade Car. Proving once again that scraping the bottom of the barrel of Fail is only the beginning. If you pick up the barrel and look underneath, you'll find a new and even more horrifying level of scum and villainy.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 688

Read the comic here.

Say what you want about him, but Bilbo Fett has no lack of self confidence.

Toybox of FAIL: Foreign Emissary

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

Slight change to the FAIL branding today - try not to read too much into that. Just tweaking the design some.

When I see a toy with a name like Foreign Emissary I think of international intrigue - spies and secret agents. Real James Bond type stuff.

I should have known better.

Oh, Zephyr Knight. You always manage to disappoint. Number 1017, Foreign Emissary, is not about international issues - it's about interplanetary ones. And things don't look good for the other diplomats, as this alien arrives already firing his weapons.

The set is a stripped down version of a LEGO Life on Mars set from 2001: 1414 - Double Hover. I called it "Stripped down" as it's missing some of the more interesting printed parts - the rear dish and the control panel. It's a little surprising - I would have thought an overrun of parts from the Solar Energy Car would have freed up enough discs to complete this set as well.

The "alternate models" on the package back suffer from random color changes on the bricks. For example, the "control tile" at the top of the steering mount appears in red, blue AND black. A different part for each build. That's the level of quality control we've come to expect from Zephyr Knight, though.

The Rayish Battleplane (also from Zephyr Knight) promised a yellow alien on the box, but delivered a lime green alien inside. This time that scheme is reversed with the green on the box, but this banana-colored dropout waiting in the poly-bag. The designs printed on the heads match the box art, though. So it's more than just a minor mix-up at the bootleg factory.

Other than the missing parts and odd colors, it's a close match to the LEGO original. Of course, you could make a similar comparison between a child's crayon drawing and the Mona Lisa.

The parts fit together okay for a change - although the click-hinges connecting the "fins" to the base of the craft don't really work. They're pretty much stuck in the position shown.

So now we must ask ourselves "Why is the Foreign Emissary so angry?"

The answer, of course, is that he encountered the Anti-Informaniac soon after arriving on earth.

That'd make anyone cranky.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Spring Cleaning

As you may have noticed I'm giving the site a bit of a design tweak. There are over 3,500 pages(!) of content on this site now, so this will take a bit of time to complete. Please pardon the dust while we remodel...

Episode 687

Read the comic here.

Daily Fail: Solar Energy Car

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

Have the bootleggers gone green? It appears so, for today I bring you the strangeness that is the Solar Energy Car - next in the line of Zephyr Knight LEGO knock-offs.

Okay, obvious stuff first. Stock number is 1016, following yesterday's 1015: Push Soil. The mini-figure shown is wearing a non-LEGO print shirt, but it's a design we've seen on other Zephyr Knight clones. The face is from the LEGO Racer's line, and also a repeat from other sets. The toy itself appears to be a reworking of LEGO set 1180 - Space Port Moon Buggy. Maybe.

The background art deserves a second look- despite the eco-friendly propulsion source, apparently the Solar Energy Car drives around in a vast wasteland. With this set's Space-y roots, maybe the background is meant to be the surface of Mars? But then our driver guy would die from decompression in seconds. That'd be bad.

Well, actually, that might be a good thing. But you see my point.

The "alternate models" again show a stunning lack of imagination - check out the two photos on the right. The only difference? The radar dish thingie is titled differently. Wow. That's some creative use of brick, right there.

At least the included mini-figure has something new to offer us - namely a torso design lifted from the LEGO classic Town figure "Infomaniac". This is the Infomaniac's evil albino twin. With a yellow hat and no pants, he just oozes malice. And pus.

The Solar Energy Car itself is another of those Bootleg Designs that leave me scratching my head. If I didn't know the name of this toy I could never guess what it was supposed to represent. Another minimalist build that relies heavily on the buyer's imagination to help hide the suck.

Here's our Anti-Informaniac sitting at the controls. It really looks like he's going to come to your house and tear up all your library books, doesn't it?

It's the backwards-facing ball cap. Nothing says "Evil" like a backwards facing ball cap.

Trust me on that one.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 686

Read the comic here.

Brickworld

Well, I'm all signed up to attend Brickworld in June.

This will be the first LEGO-centric convention I've attended - I'm looking forward to the experience.

Daily Fail: Push Soil

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

So far in this latest batch of bootlegs we've seen a strange naming convention. Each toy is named with a [verb] [noun] combo that almost, but not quite, makes sense. We've seen "Flatten Road" and "Fork Car" already. Today we move on to "Push Soil".

Push Soil has a stock number of 1015, putting it right after Fork Car in the latest run of FAIL. As far as models go, Push Soil isn't something I would have recognized as a bulldozer - I would have called this another strange race car knock-off and gone on never knowing the difference.

The graphics on the box are a little strange, too - Is that a war zone in the background? Is the Push Soil's front bumper shooting a force beam like Cyclops of the X-Men? (I guess that'd be one way to "push soil".)

The back of the package is fairly standard. Notice, though, that two of the alternate models use different bricks than the third. (The red or blue "shovel" parts are pretty obvious.)Truly an amazing transformation.

The package art would lead us to expect a standard Zephyr Knight mini-figure with the inverted Blacktron torso we've seen so many times before. But no. Not this time.

Instead, we get a construction worker with a sleeveless skiing outfit and a grey army helmet. Sure. That makes sense.

Here's the Push Soil. The parts fit together okay, but as usual the control sticks hang limp like overcooked noodles.

Remember: This is a bulldozer. Really.

Did I say the parts fit together okay? Apparently I was lying. It's hard to Push Soil when the whole front end snaps off when you try and seat the mini-figure.

Oh well. It's not as if the mini figure was going to be able to reach the control sticks anyway.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 685

Read the comic here.

This strip confirms what most of you figured out already - although there are still more reveals ahead that might alter what you think you know.

I'm enjoying working in Photoshop more than I thought I would - being able to really play with the voice bubble layout is a nifty plus. It'll take me a few strips to really get a handle on it, so bear with me as my style evolves a bit. I do think the new strips look a bit more "polished" than the old ones already.

Daily Fail: Fork Car

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

The next in the line of "what where they thinking when they named this toy" reviews.

Zephyr Knight returns with yet another strangely-named LEGO-knockoff impulse set. Fork Car. It's actually a forklift. So why didn't they just call it "Forklift"? Don't ask me. I just work here.

This is stock number 1014, next in line after Flatten Road, another aptly-named bootleg. The revised ZK package design continues forward - the logo, photo, and branding are all identical. The background is unusual in that it's been modified to show giant LEGO bricks - from previous sets I wasn't expecting anything more elaborate than an out-of-focus stolen photo of a warehouse somewhere.

The back of the packaging suggests that this particular human rights violation might have originated in China. Well, I suppose it wouldn't be the fist one. There are also three alternate-model suggestions: the fork lift shown on the box front, a dragster, and a strange low-rider pushcart design.

The side of the package has more out-of-context photos of upcoming sets. Maybe ZK realized the names were too goofy to repeat...even on their own products.

The warning label has a strange caution:

Please Retain for Information

Are they talking about keeping the box? The included instruction sheet? The toy itself? Again, context and comprehension escape me.

The included mini-figure should look familiar to you by now - we've seen his ilk in countless ZN sets before.

In fact, here's a group shot of the last four mini-figures we've looked at. Other than the happy face from "Happy Aeroboat", they're obviously clones. (And maybe Happy just shaved recently.) This, kids, is what happens when you don't care about or expect repeat customers. You just re-use the molds and spray-ops until they break.

The toy itself isn't too bad of a model, if a bit minimalist. The controls suffer from a bad case of limp-stick, but otherwise the pieces actually snapped together this time.

I was disappointed to find out the brown bricks shown on the box were just a "serving suggestion" - in truth all you get is the bare car and the driver. If you want to do any "forking", you have to look elsewhere.

There were also other, more subtle, problems with the toy. Case in point: when Fork Car tried to clean up the mess from yesterday's toy explosion, the lack of a counterweight became all too apparent. Notice how the back wheels are lifted off the ground as soon as you put any sort of load onto the fork.

Yes, I know I'm stretching logic to the breaking point by suggesting these toys were meant to be posed/played with. But sometimes you just need to go that extra mile.

...And then, after that extra mile, you need to keep driving until you get to Toys R Us or some other major store that stocks actual LEGO product.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 684

Read the comic here.

Slight graphic tweak as I'm trying out Photoshop to assemble the strip.

Daily Fail: Flatten Road

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

More LEGO bootlegs with goofy names. Is it Monday already?

This is clearly a bootleg that they couldn't agree on a name for. Is it "Flatten Road" from Building Block's Aggregation Series? Maybe "Flatten Building Block Road"? Where do the line names end and the product begin?

And what's with that goofy font? Is this a Flintstones bootleg?

Looking at the placement on the front of the box (and peeking ahead to future reviews), it becomes clear(er) that both "Aggregation Series" and "Building Block" are both new product line tags. How...descriptive.

Stock Number 1013, Flatten Road follows Happy Aeroboat in the Zephyr Knight impulse line. There are, however, a number of packaging design changes that start with this set and continue forward, suggesting that this is really the first set in a new wave of knock-offs.

The first big change we already mentioned: the addition of "Building Block" and "Aggregation Series" to the logo blocks. The Zephyr knight logo has also been reduced in size and moved over to the left - part of a larger change to the general layout of the package.

Speaking of package layout - check out that background art. That road really does look flat, doesn't it?

The back of the package offers a few more changes. The part count now appears above the traditional alternate build photos. There's also an intriguing new bit of text: "

Transformation
Made in China

Does this mean we now have a point of origin for these bootlegs? It's possible, but bootleggers aren't exactly known to be the most honest people in the world. Why should they be expected to start now? Maybe these were made in China. Maybe they were made in a defunct warehouse in Detroit. We will never know for sure.

The final box change comes with the product shots along the side of the box. Previously, these images were of the front of the boxes for each set, complete with titles and background art. Now they show the toy and a stock number:

Clever readers will realize I just snuck in a preview of the next few FAILs. I did so knowing full well that there's no way you could possibly guess the names given to these sets. (Although you could try if you want. Just leave a comment with your guesses.)

The min-figure for Flatten Road is is this strange colorless fellow. Wearing a yellow hat and gloves, is he:

1. supposed to be covered with white paint from drawing those dotted lines down the center of the road.
2. an albino who only works underground, or with a sunscreen with a block factor of ten million.
3. yet another crappy Zephyr Knight bootleg mini with a Blacktron design on his chest, a poorly duplicated LEGO face and no shame.

(HINT: It's not option one or two.)

The Road Flattener itself looks interesting - but like other in this series suffers from the warped molds that keep the parts from properly clicking together. Check out the gap between the cross-bar and the sides - that's as good as a connection as I could get.

That poor connection meant that as soon as I tried to seat the mini-figure the entire vehicle exploded back into component chunks. Sure, I could have tried again (and again) until I had a shot of the guy sitting at the controls...but, really, why bother? The carnage above is more interesting.

Flatten Road just goes to show another meta-truth about Bootlegs. No matter how "new and improved" the packaging may be, the toy inside is still going to be nothing but a world of pain and disappointment, waiting to break into tiny shards and lodge under your fingernails, possibly transmitting some sort of horrible plague germs into your system and bringing death to you and all that you know and love.

Is it really worth the risk?

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 683

Read the comic here.

I really am trying to keep things moving forward quickly. The trade off is having to "tell" rather than "show" - Mary Sue's dialog covers what could have been a couple of weeks of strips.

Of course with my stated "Friday Only" schedule, I'm only two strips ahead by saving two weeks of strips, eh? So maybe it wasn't that much of a trade-off.

Daily Fail: Happy Aeroboat

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

After yesterday's stomach-churning Race Car Repeat, it's only fair that I give you something...happier...to start the weekend. This next bootleg is happy. So happy, in fact, that "happy" is even part of the toy's name.

Just don't think that it's going to make you any happier. That would make you unhappy indeed.

Happy Aeroboat continues the Zephyr Knight line of impulse-sized LEGO knockoffs. Stock number 1012, it follows Racing down the road of suck. Except that it's a boat. Maybe it's a "River of suck"? Eh. Whatever.

The background art actually meshes well with the toy - a rare sight among Zephyr Knight bootlegs. I don't recognize the Happy Aeroboat as being based off of a LEGO set, but it's certainly a possibility. Maybe a sharp-eyed reader will recognize a perversion of one of their favorite sets. It's happened before.

As part of "Series Transformation" we get four suggested uses for the included parts. Nothing too exciting this time around. All four models are shown on the water. Makes you wonder what the "aero" in "aeroboat" is supposed to refer to.

The mini-figure in this set is standard for Zephyr Knight - an inverted LEGO Blacktron design on the torso, goofy grin, and powder blue pants. He does come with a clone of a LEGO air tank accessory - that's the first time I've seen that particular piece in a Zephyr set.

The colors don't match the package, but there's still enough yellow to make the included toy feel similar to the one pictured on the box. I know this is a complete stretch, but all that red added on to the base yellow and black makes me think of a before-and-after shot of the Comedian's badge. (The bootleg itself being the "After", if you follow my tenacious thread.) Obviously, I don't get out enough.

At any rate, this bootleg suffers from the same warped molds and brittle plastic as the other Zephyr Knight offerings. You can't really make it out in the photo above, but the entire back end of the Happy Aeroboat is only attached on one side due to the base being curved in strange ways.

When putting this last shot together I realized I had installed those red side-panels backwards. (Compare with the photo above this one.) Whoops. Amazingly, the figure can actually sit in the boat and reach the controls. An unusual feat for a knockoff.

We're left with just one question to ask....is Happy Aeroboat happy?

No. Of course not. It's sad.

But I bet you could have guessed that before you even started reading this review.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Episode 682

Read the comic here.

Daily Fail: Racing

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

"Oh, no!" I hear you say. "Not another lame race car bootleg!"

Oh, mais oui. Prepare to suffer.

Today we return to the shadowy world of Zephyr Knight bootlegs. While their packaging proudly proclaims "Every Styles Fully Wonderful", I doubt we're going to get much wonderment out of....Racing. That's it. Just "racing." Not "Racing Car" or "Car Racing" or even "Racing Round The Rosie". No. Just....Racing.

Stock number on this guy is 1011 - that places it next in line after Rayish Battleplane.

The toy itself seems to be an update of LEGO set 6502 Turbo Racer - those hoses on the side are a pretty clear giveaway. The choice of mini-figure is comical - the driver looks a bit shocked to be....Racing. And where are his pants?

The background art is a bit of a mystery - I'm not quite sure where "Racing" is taking place. An industrial center? Downtown? Or maybe just a very minimalist race track?

The flip side of the packaging has the ever-present "You can build different stuff" product shots. Of the four versions shown, three are pretty much identical, but there is one that looks interesting:

Personally, I think this should have been the main model for this kit. I mean, it's not as if there aren't a hundred other go-kart like knock-offs out there. This three wheeler might have caught some interest in the marketplace. Eh. But that would require some thought on the bootlegger's part, and hoping for that is like buying lottery tickets or bootleg toys. No return on your investment.

As expected, the included mini-figure doesn't quite match up with the package art. For starters, he has pants. Second, he has a beard. The designs are lifted from LEGO art, as usual, and as seen on countless other FAILs so far. For a change, the helmet's visor actually clips on correctly - normally the molds are so wonky that there's no hope of attaching things.

Here's another small shock: Although the colors don't match the package art, the included toy almost looks....nice. That is, until you notice the parts aren't completely snug against each other. Yes, the problem of warped molds and low grade plastic returns to keep this toy "just barely assembled." Another problem occurs with that "hose/rollcage" thingie. The plastic Zephyr Knight used to cast them is too rigid to bend - so they tend to pop off and flip across the table. Not exactly a "saftey feature" when it heads towards your eyes.

Anyway, here's to Racing. The fist car bootleg in a while that actually lets the driver sit down and reach some sort of steering surface.

I guess when the bar has been lowered down to the ground, almost anything can count as a success.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

New Space Police teaser

Don't know about you guys, but I'm looking forward to this summer's new take on the Space Police theme.

LEGO just posted a neat little promo. Go take a look!

Daily Fail: Space Time Shuttle Chariot

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

Sometimes bootleg toys have very simple, straight-to-to-the-point names. Names like "Race Car" or even "Little Flying Boat." But sometimes the Bootleggers decide that a simple name just isn't going to bring in the bucks. So they....elaborate.

That's our cue to take a look at Space Time Shuttle Chariot.

As the title block shows, this final set in the BRICK Spider-Clone line is part of the larger "Super Bricks Series". Like the other five sets, this one comes in a box the size of a pack of playing cards with standardized (and poorly edited) BRICK Promotional slogans printed here an there. This time "Handsome Appearance" makes a showing on the package front, along with the Almost-LEGO-but-not BRICK logo.

The flip side of the package has the same artwork as the front, minus the logos and part counts. And that's where today's "fun" begins. In the upper right corner we find something interesting was obscured by the BRICK logo...

Why...that sure looks like an R2 unit in the droid socket of an X-wing, doesn't it? Yesterday we saw that BRICK had lifted artwork from a Greg Bear novel...could they have done the same with one of the bajillion Star Wars novels? While I couldn't find a match in a few minutes of half-hearted Google Image searches, I don't doubt it. And you shouldn't either. Why?

Because of what's hiding in the explosion just above Spider-Bootleg's head.

The scan above has been slightly color-corrected and sharpened - can you make out what's being blown up?

How about after I invert the colors? Yep - a TIE fighter. Clearly we're looking at a background image lifted from a Star Wars property. Apparently Spider-Bootleg wasn't going to be enough of a draw by himself.

Here's the instruction sheet - and, yes, step five has another micro-Spidey. I guess BRICK scores a few points for consistency. More important, though: Notice how stupid the model is. I really hope this isn't a stripped down version of some LEGO model - I'd like to think BRICK just built this out of whatever parts were left over from their other kits.

Our final Spider-Bootleg has some new problems - his hips are partly melted creating a bow-legged hero. And one of his hands is almost sealed shut by plastic overages. Plus, his paint job sucks.

Here Spider-Bootleg contemplates his "Chariot". It's a good thing that the flames and cones sit on the surface of the table - they don't snap into place. Yes, another BRICK model that shatters at the slightest touch. Are you surprised?

Not that it matters much - due to Spidey's melted legs he doesn't fit onto the pegs of the Chariot's floorboard. So he can't really swoosh it about, anyway.

Finally, Spidey gives us his rating for the full BRICK micro-impulse line.

What's that Spidey? A Big Fat ZERO??

We can't help but to agree.

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As always, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Daily Fail: Interstellar Battleplan

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

Missing letters. We've seen in before in sets from BRICK like "City Ancgl" - add a vowel or two and suddenly you have real words. But what about when dropping a letter (or two) gives you a name that still (sort of) works? Is it intentional? Is it a mistake? Does anyone really care?

Case in point: Interstellar Battleplan. Did they mean "plan" or "planE"? Or maybe "Plain"? Or how about just "SUCK"?

Yes, anther Spider-Fail. Yes, it's the same as the other BRICK Spider-Fails. Pack-of-cards sized box. The same bad translations around the sides. Nothing too special there.

The set itself is a copy of another bootleg set: Xin Qi Le's Intelligence Toy Glider, which is itself a bootleg of LEGO's X-Treme Stunts 6561 Hang Glider. (Or maybe Battleplan is a direct bootleg of LEGO's set. It's hard to be sure.)

Notice that background? We've seen it before in another BRICK set: Star Wars. Fans of Greg Bear's writing may have seen it before then:

Don't see the connection? Look closely at the background behind Spidey-Bootleg in the close up below and compare it to the cover above.

Yep. The background is a clone of Anvil of Stars. Perhaps that was BRICK's Interstellar Battleplan.

The instructions have the usual strangeness in step five - this time it's Spidey-Bootleg leaping up to grab hold of the harness. At least he's in scale this time.

The actual toy is nearly identical to the package art - the only changes being the color of the harness-hose and Spidey-Boot's hands.

Try and play with this toy and you're in for the usual round of failure - once again Spidey-Boot has a hand that doesn't want to stay attached to his arm.

There's only one more Spider-BRICK left in my review pile - and I saved the best for last. Tune in tomorrow for the stunning conclusion to the Parade of Failure.

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Once again, many thanks to Joe from The Undiscovered Playthings for sending me this set to review.

Bad Day: Entry Grids are closed!

The Bad Day contest has ended, the entry grids have been updated with the expected rush of last minute creations, and now the anticipation builds as things are turned over to the judges.

I hope to have the grading spreadsheets in the judge's hands in the next couple of days - hopefully we'll be able to begin announcing winners late next week.

The final count was 45 legal creations spread over the four categories. We saw the most action in the Bad Day grid - looks like a lot of you wanted a shot at the Farm. Can't say I blame you.

A warm thank you to TwinLUG for sponsoring this contest and to all the builders who took the time to compete! And don't forget - if you're attending Brickworld in June, there's going to be a huge Micropolis layout you can take part in. So, even now, it's not too late to be thinking about building for Micropolis!

Episode 681

Read the comic here.

It's amazing the things you can do with a giant pipe wrench, no?

The car Tony is working on is Racer X's Shooting Star from the LEGO Speed Racer line. I guess Donut is a fan.

Daily Fail: Machine Battlealarm

First time here? Please take a moment and read the DAILY FAIL DISCLAIMER. Thanks!
-=-

Savvy readers may be able to guess the generic theme to today's Fail. Yes, it's another Spider-Bootleg. But NO, it's not another motorcycle. Today's fail is a bit more surreal.

Before we get to the pictures let me assure you that I have no idea what a "Machine Battlealarm" is, either.

Spider-Bootleg blasts across a post-apocolptic landscape in today's offering from BRICK. Like the other toys in this set, this one comes in a box sized for a deck of cards with the standard insipid BRICK text and slogans.

Like the other sets, the box suggests that it's aimed at ages six and up. You think your average six year old would know better.

The tiny instruction sheet reveals a very strange build. The basic vehicle is reminiscent of another BRICK set: City Ancgl. Once again step 5 offers up some very skewed perspectives. Either that or Spider-Bootleg grows a relative foot between steps five and six.

Here's Spider-Bootleg checking out the completed model. He seems a bit confused. Perhaps the rear mounted propeller has given him pause. Or perhaps it's because he realizes that if he's gripping the handles on the roof-mounted cannon the implication is that he's steering the vehicle with his penor.

He just isn't buying it, is he gang? That's a serious "WTF?" expression on his face.

Looks like this particilar Spider-Bootleg clone is smarter than his vehicle. Excuse me: Smarter than his Machine Battlealarm.

Not that being smarter than the Machine Battlealarm is particuarly tough. I've seen meth addicts who could send the MB packing.

There are two more sets to go in this BRICK assortment - can things possibly get worse?

You bet they can.

See you Monday.

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

Bad Day: Let the rush of final entries begin!

The Bad Day contest ends soon - this Sunday, in fact. You've still got time to build an entry - and while there's some really good entries up already, the strangely low turnout for this contest so far means you can still claim a large share of the spotlight. I've updated the entry grids with the entries I've received so far - as of 10:00am EST on Friday. (Blogger seems to be having FTP update issues again, so who know when this will post.)

Remember, you have until May 3rd to get your entries in! Get to building!

Roguebantha's entry: A Sad Day.

Sickaroonie

Hey gang.

I've caught a bad cold (no, not the flu) so Friday's comic will be up later this weekend. I already had the FAIL in the queue, so that should auto-publish at noon.