LEGO: Revised Mach-5

I spent a few hours over the weekend revising and enhancing the Mach-5 from set 8158.

I took it from this...

to this...

Click here to read about this "Work still in progress."

Set Review: 8158 Speed Racer and Snake Oiler

As promised, here's my review of one of the new Speed Racer sets: 8158: Speed Racer and Snake Oiler.

In my review, I talk about how this set seems to have been stripped down to reach the $20 price point. Has anyone else picked up this set yet? I'm curious if others ended up with the same impressions that I did.

Would another 50 parts have changed the feel and look of this set enough to justify a higher price? Too bad I have a contest underway already. I'm tempted to do a "no prize" contest to see who can "Fix the Mach 5 in 50 bricks or less". I have a few of those Toa Jallers left, after all...

Speed Racer Review on the way

Stopped at TRU on my way home - they had most (3) of the new Speed Racer sets. I wasn't willing to pay TRU prices on the big sets, but I had to take the basic Mach 5 set home with me.

Review in the works - look for it tomorrow.

LEGO: Speed Racer!

As excited as I am by the upcoming Iron Man movie, I'm just as stoked about Speed Racer. (Mmm. At IMAX. May 9th. I'm so there.)

For those of you who feel similarly, or just love the thought of a race car's ballast consisting of a young boy and his monkey companion, LEGO has made the 2008 Speed Racer sets available on-line.

You've got to love some of the new parts in the sets like the curved windshield on the Mach 5 and the monkey-face torso on Spritle.