Review: 21150 Minecraft Skeleton BigFig with Magma Cube
Posted by iso3200,
For my last look at the Minecraft Bigfig range I'm reviewing 21150 Minecraft Skeleton BigFig with Magma Cube. This at least looks a little different to the other two by it's very nature – but will that that be enough to set it apart? If you haven't already it's probably worth familiarising yourself with the reviews of 21148 and 21149.
The headlines are 142 pieces for £12.99 / €14.99 / $14.99, so the smallest part count of the three – though not by much. Let's see how it stacks up against its counterparts.
Here's the front of the box.
And the rear.
There are two bags inside this one, plus the instructions.
This is what the selection of parts looks like.
Picking out the interesting parts, there's 3 of the new 2x2 T-Plates, a couple or printed tiles, a large bow piece and two recoloured shooters in Reddish Brown. Err, that's it.
Less than 20 minutes later, the build is done. The skeleton is marginally taller than the other two Bigfigs standing at 145mm high, and the accompanying Magma Cube is quite a chunk being 4x4x4 studs in size.
The rear looks awful again but I guess we're not supposed to view from this angle very often.
There is a little more articulation on the arms in this Bigfig than in the others. They are fitted on ball joints which give some degree of x-y-z movement whereas Steve and Alex's just go back and forth. The head again is on a ball joint giving 360 degree rotation and angles slightly up and down. The legs move back and forth on locking hinges, and the torso is connected to the hips by a pair of locking hinges too. It's not really apparent whether the hips are meant to be articulated or not. You can lean the torso forward if you want to by disengaging the rear connection. It's perfectly doable, but doesn't feel quite right.
One thing that is noticeable on this model compared to the others is that the head makes it very top heavy. Couple this with the spindly legs and you'll find that trying to pose it without using the 6x6 baseplate is very difficult indeed – much more limited than the other two.
The functionality is provided here by means of a spring shooter. It's also fairly easy to swap the weapon to the other arm if desired. One point of note – the instructions have you build it with the bow fitted left, but the box art shows it fitted right – just an observation. The bow itself looks fine, covered in medium flesh tiles but the shooter itself, being a 1x4 brick size looks a little cumbersome jutting out the way it does.
The Magma Cube has a hidden feature. When you pick it up, the top half slides up on a technic mechanism, so in play, you can make it look like it jumps up and down. It works quite well.
The skeleton comes with armoured headgear, easily removed which can also be used on Steve or Alex via their head SNOT connections.
And here it is as the centrepiece of the trio.
Overall
Personally I find it rather bland, but the fact remains that it's another excellent effort as far as recreating the source material. It's a devil of a figure to stand up without the base though. I respect that this is a skeleton but it feels a little more fragile and awkward compared to the solid slabs of Steve and Alex. However, if you need a Minecraft enemy at this scale, then currently this is your only choice.
I did a little research to see what similar Minecraft toys are out there and I found several alternate brand action figures. All are around the same 13cm high and all are pitched at a similar price point as these Bigfigs – and I must say most looked rather awful. On that basis, all three of the LEGO offerings look pretty damn good compared to the competition.
With that in mind, it's a set that hits its goal, but the audience is definitely narrow rather than broad. I think the market for these is with the young demographic and not for the majority of AFOLS here. It will be interesting to see how they sell as the first wave, and what Series 2 will consist of.
Thanks to LEGO for providing the set for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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18 comments on this article
Won't buy it but this thing serves as a skeleton of a giant fighting against brave knights assaulting a dark wizard castle or as a good backdrop to a museum.....
These also have the other advantage LEGO has over other toys/action figures - you can use the parts for something else if you get tired of the theme.
The back actually isn't too awful here...
I'm really curious how that Magma Cube scales to the ones we've gotten in LEGO Minecraft before. They nautrally come in three different sizes, so this may complete the set!
The blue brickset minifig is the best part of the set.
Whadya mean it's not included?
@MataNui2009, This magma cube seems to be the same size as the one found in 21130 Nether Railway. While this cube splits into two, the cube found on the railway splits into three sections
This one is my favorite of the three, mainly because of the superior articulation.
The reverse 1x3 white tile is included in the set. Why couldn’t they have just put 3 more on the back? Besides that, this is the best of the big figs. Might get this on clearance.
For the magma cube, they will get my money.
Building a dead person for fun. This is what we’re teaching our kids.
A lame looking one at that.
I'm not impressed with the helmet compared to the game, but the build itself looks pretty good
Yeah, these'll fly off the shelves.
>_>
I want the instructions for the magma cube to try to adapt it to make Canadian brickheads
Pretty good but the spring-shooter is a bit too obvious tbh.
Really not my thing. So ugly. Can’t see the appeal at all
Currently on sale at Amazon for $11.99.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fbestsellers%2Ftoys-and-games%2F236510011%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref_%3Dpd_ts_zgc_t_236510011_mor1%23&tag=brickset-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
I think after that last ludicrous comment, we can pretty safely assume that previous or future comments from @your future president are nothing but trolling. Which should save some of us a lot of wasted time in the future. It's pretty safe to say that in this day and age, no sensible person actually thinks that playing with toy ghosts or skeletons is bad for kids. LEGO already crossed that bridge nearly three decades ago.
I know this is going to know sound really stupid, but to be honest, when I first saw this picture of the set and saw the bow build, the first thing I thought of was a blocky sausage in a bun! I couldn’t help laughing!