Brick Bucket EXCLUSIVE Review: 70320 Aaron Fox's Aero-Striker V2 [APRIL FOOLS]

5/5 

Appearance - 3/5 
Construction - 4/5 
Playability - 5/5 
Pieces - 5/5 
Minifigs/accessories - 4/5 
Value for money - 4/5

70320 Aaron Fox's Aero-Striker V2  is one of the second wave of Nexo Knights sets which are due to be released later this year. It retails for £13.99 / $19.99 / 18.99€ with 174 pieces, yielding a prices per piece ratio of 11.5 cents. 




Verdict: The minifigs are great, though compared to other Nexo Knights sets they're pretty standard. The set itself is a bit wonky but fun to build and host to  a number of cool functions and great new parts. The price is fair, making this an inexpensive and thoroughly recommended buy.
 

Editor's Note: Fellow blogger Dead Frog inc. has lucked out before and found sets before they were supposed to be available, and he's done it again! This set is part of the second wave of Nexo Knights and is set to release much later this year, but once again "a little toy store somewhere in Germany" mysteriously had a copy. Once again, The Brick Bucket is proud to present (as far as we know) the internet's first-ever review of this brand new Nexo Knights set!   -Tate

Co-Editor's Note: Frog is indisposed, but managed to send photos of the set and a brief description of some important points, which I've used to write the review in his stead. This looks like an excellent set and I'm excited for its official release.  -Aaron

Read on after the jump!

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Brick Bucket Review: 75074 Snowspeeder [Microfighters]

5/5

Appearance - 3/5 
Construction - 4/5 
Playability - 4/5 
Pieces - 5/5 
Minifigs/accessories - 5/5 
Value for money - 5/5

75074 Snowspeeder is part of the second wave of Star Wars Microfighters sets, released in January 2015. It retails for £8.99 / $9.99 / 9.99€ with 97 pieces, yielding a prices per piece of 10.3 cents. 



Verdict: The minifig is excellent, and for some people it may be the only reason to buy this set! I have my issues with the design of the Snowspeeder, but based on other reviews I've read, I don't think those complaints are likely to apply to other people. If you want a fun, swooshable, inexpensive set, this is for you. And if you're a MOCer, it's an excellent parts pack!

This was an impulse buy, and I was surprised to find out the set has been available for over a year already! I wasn't really interested in Microfighters, but this set might have changed my mind entirely. Read on to find out more...

Brick Bucket Review: 75915 Pteranodon Capture

3/5

Appearance - 4/5
Construction - 4/5
Pieces - 2/5
Playability - 3/5
Minifigures/accessories - 5/5
Value for money - 5/5


75915 Pteranodon Capture is the smallest of the May 2015 Jurassic World movie tie-in sets. It costs £19.99 / $19.99 / 24.99€ and contains 174 pieces.

Verdict: Overall this is a pretty nice set. The pteranodon and minifigs are fantastic. A lack of interesting or useful parts makes this pretty useless as a parts pack; it's intended as a collector's model, and specifically a collector's model for Jurassic World fans. If you liked Jurassic World, I recommend this set to you. Everyone else can pass. 

Brick Bucket Review: 75099 Rey's Speeder

3/5

Appearance - 2/5
Construction - 3/5
Pieces - 3/5
Playability - 2/5
Minifigs/accessories - 5/5
Value for money - 4/5

75099 Rey's Speeder is one of the new Star Wars sets for late fall 2015. It's the smallest of the sets based on The Force Awakens (with the exception of battlepacks). There are 193 pieces in this $19.99/25.99€ set, resulting in a CPP of 10.36 cents/piece. 



Verdict: A pretty average Star Wars set. Some nice pieces (especially all that dark red), and great minifigs. Good for anyone excited about The Force Awakens!

Editor's Note: Today Dead Frog presents a review of a set so new, we don't even know all the information about it! Rey's Speeder is one of the Star Wars sets from The Force Awakens, and technically we aren't even supposed to have pictures of these sets yet... but thanks to "a little toy store somewhere in Germany," Frog has picked up a copy to review here. So now, without further ado, The Brick Bucket is proud to present (as far as we know) the internet's first-ever review of this brand new LEGO Star Wars set!   -Tate


Read the review after the jump!

Brick Bucket Review: 70743 Airjitzu Morro Flyer

4/5

Appearance - 4/5
Construction - 3/5
Pieces - 5/5
Playability - 5/5
Minifigs/accessories - 3/5
Value for money - 3/5


70743 Airjirzu Morro Flyer is one of the six Ninjago "Airjitzu" sets released in early summer 2015. It retails for $9.99 and contains 46 pieces, for 21.7 cents per piece.




Verdict: This thing looks pretty cool, but its main purpose is as a flying toy, and it does very well in that regard. There are also some excellent rare and/or useful pieces included. 

Brick Bucket Review: 60077 Space Starter Set

2/5

Appearance - 1/5
Construction - 1/5
Pieces - 4/5
Playability - 2/5 
Minifigs/accessories - 4/5
Value for money - 4/5

One of two $9.99 City "Starter Sets" released in summer 2015, 60077 Space Starter Set contains 107 pieces, for a CPP of 9.34 cents/piece. 









Verdict: A refreshingly good price for a City set, and there are some great pieces and minifigures for your money. I recommend this set to MOC builders and City collectors. For most collectors, or kids looking for a cheap, entertaining set, there are far better options. 

Brick Bucket Review: 70412 Soldiers Fort

3/5

Appearance - 3/5
Construction - 2/5
Pieces - 3/5
Playability - 4/5 
Minifigs/accessories - 3/5
Value for money - 5/5




70412 Soldiers Fort is the second-largest set of the March 2015 Pirates reboot. Interestingly for the second-largest set in a wave, it costs only $29.99, with a relatively low part count of 234 pieces, for a CPP of 12.82 cents/piece.

Verdict: This set is better than its companion the Outpost and is only $10 more. If you only want one of them, get the Fort. They're okay when combined, but some flaws (which I mention in the review) detract considerably from the combined model. I mostly like the look of this structure, but in some places it seems unfinished or oversimplified. Overall, a pretty average set. 

Brick Bucket Review: 70410 Soldiers Outpost

2/5

Appearance - 3/5
Construction - 1/5
Pieces - 4/5
Playability - 3/5 
Minifigs/accessories - 3/5
Value for money - 2/5 

70410 Soldiers Outpost is one of the sets from the March 2015 reboot of the Pirates line. It retails for $19.99 and has 164 pieces, for a cost-per-piece of 12.19 cents.

Verdict: I had high hopes for the Pirates reboot, but unfortunately this set is pretty underwhelming. There are some good parts included, especially for Pirates/historical MOCers, but the main model's small size and highly questionable design aspects make it a shadow of what it could be. I don't own the other 20-dollar set from this release, 70411 Treasure Island, but judging from other reviews I've read, that seems to be the better set. That said, it might be hard to pass up a cheap set from a classic theme that at the very least will add some more parts to your collection and provide a little "soldiers vs. pirates" playability. 

Brick Bucket Review: 70753 Lava Falls

5/5

Appearance - 5/5

Construction - 4/5
Pieces - 4/5

Playability - 5/5

Minifigs/accessories - 4/5

Value for money - 5/5

70753 Lava Falls is part of the "Tournament of Elements" wave of Ninjago sets, released in March 2015. It retails for $7.99 and contains 94 pieces, for a CPP of 8.5 cents/piece.



Verdict: Great pieces, great minifigures, a great play feature, and the whole product just looks good. Plus, there's the fantastic price-to-parts ratio - I seriously can't think of another set where you can get 94 pieces for 8 bucks, especially not a set this good. Save for the two very minor flaws I discuss in the review, I couldn't have asked for anything more.