"I will let finger pain pass through me, where there is a sore thumb, only I will remain."

The Packaging

This set comes nicely packaged with just ten bags and no stickers. Thankfully the box is NOT branded "Space" like everything else coming out this year, it seems. This is not a kid's set, appropriately marked 18+ as it should be.

The large single instruction book contains some nice graphics from the movie and some limited information. The large blades and trans-black canopies are an early treat as you remove the contents. Speaking of contents, the copy I have was missing a wedge part, could be an early run error.

The Build

The building process is not for beginners, nor for the faint of heart, really. A number of pages have step illustrations placed too close to the spine of the book. Since I like preserving my books, opening the book wider was not a welcome necessity and keeping pages open was sometimes a challenge. The complexity of the build persists from beginning to end. It's sometimes difficult to imagine what it is your efforts are amounting to. A few instructional remarks along the way help provide some sense of what you're working on.

This gets us to the worst aspect to this set. There are a LOT of instances where one must push tiny axles into stacked axle holes in parts. Your fingers will suffer. The build also gets downright repetitive as one has to often replicate the steps over and over again to get the various sections of the blades done. There were moments I thought to continue the next day, but I pushed through.

Good thing, because there are many positive highlights in the build. The whole cockpit area and the landing gears are phenomenal and truly ingenious builds.

The Minifigures

Given that this is an adult-oriented, collector's item, you can imagine that the minifigures are going to be very nice. They are, though I was disappointed that The Baron Harkonnen only had the head printed. Really, the robe is entirely impractical. His inclusion is also perplexing. Lady Jessica is a highlight, everything about the design screams elegance. I did like the others, the stillsuits were well done, and most of them have dual printed heads, usually showcasing the stillsuit mask.

Finished Product

The finished product is worth all the pain. This is a very attractive, very large, and very swooshable model. The functions rival many Technic sets in complexity and precision (indeed the set includes a very large array of Technic parts).

I particularly could not believe how well the cockpit looks with minifigs inside, two fit comfortably, and seriously the landing gear are basically Lego magic. The blades folding function is terrific as well. The actual blade movement is limited, but it is fun and looks great while swooshing around. You bet I spent a good bit of time admiring as it zoomed around our dining room. The kiddos were not allowed to touch it.

The Value

Is this set worth the price? It would be amazing at a discount, even a small one. If you are a fan of the books or movies, you will be blown away by the end result. If you like complex builds or innovative spaceship designs, you will enjoy it.

There are some very nice parts here as well, though the colors are Star Wars bland. Large helicopters will be much easier to equip now. In the end, I suspect it's not terribly worthwhile at the price point to most Lego fans, and minifig hunters may be somewhat disappointed by the limited standout minifigs.

Someone liked it, so they put a ring on it.

Packaging and Build

The box indicates a recommended age of 8 to enjoy, and honestly, that's probably about right. My 7-year-old got tired and frustrated and retreated after the first bag from what was to be a combined effort. It doesn't help that, despite being completely modular, only one instruction book is included. So much for "Build Together!" By bag three you have the main characters and the best part of the obstacle course completed, so it becomes harder to continue. The finished buildable baddies are cute, and their function of capturing the little creatures is rewarding as a play feature, but nothing past the third bag is enticing as a build once all the ramps are used up and all the conventional minifigures are out.

The Parts and Play Features

If you do not already possess tracks and can find this set on sale, these parts are a lot of fun. I was pleasantly surprised by how well the tracks are designed to fit together and provide sturdy functionality. Once everything was set my two kids really enjoyed taking turns trying to get Sonic past the loop (easy) and then also through the big ring (not so easy) and to hit Dr. Robotnik at the end (nearly impossible, but yours truly got it to work). If I'm being honest, together we were probably abusing the track--and, besides some peripherals sometimes coming apart, it held together very well. The bubble for Sonic is also really sturdy and made with good plastic (though it's seemingly neither ABS nor the type of plastic they normally use for transparent parts, by the feel of it). If you ignore the fact he is not running but cartwheeling, launching Sonic works really well.

There are also some surprisingly practical parts, including good plate and brick brackets, a transparent display stand, many accessories and prints (no stickers in this set!), and lime-colored plates and other parts (if you're into that color). However, this is not a set for the parts. In this sense, it's not that different from the push-motor motorcycle courses for the City line in that the main attractions are the ramps and loop segments. And while these are fantastic, they do not hold much use beyond their intended purposes (although the colors here are far more attractive than those in the City sets).

The Minifigures

Let's be honest, this is what fans and many AFOLs are going to buy a set like this for. And indeed the three conventional minifigures shine. Sonic is very well-done, though I wish they had used the medium legs for all these main characters. Amy is not a character I'm familiar with, but my three-year-old gravitated towards her. Dr. Robotnik looks fantastic, easily my seven-year-old's favorite. I could not understand the previous awkward brick-built version from the Ideas set; it did not capture the look of this character at all. The minifig here is what one should expect from Lego. He sports the same long legs as the new Avatar figures. Could nitpick or demand more, but all three conventional minifigs look terrific.

In addition, the set comes with two fun buildable baddies (the chameleon in particular struck my fancy), each featuring space to capture forest creatures. That means this set wouldn't be complete without such tiny forest creatures, and so four different ones are included. These are "cuties" according to my three-year-old, and, apparently, very huggable, despite being very tiny.

The Value

If you are a Sonic fan, you probably already have this set. It nicely recreates the feeling of the Green Hill Zone Act 1 from the original game. If you are not a Sonic fan, you would do well to find this set on sale. There are good parts, prints, and good minifigures, but because of the large parts and many plates included, it won't quite feel like a $100 set. So all-in-all, this set presents great value to a fan and decent value to a non-fan.

"Roses are red, baby's breaths white, this set is NOT for play, but for sight."

The Build:

My 7-year-old and I spent about an hour on this beautifully elegant bouquet of roses. How did we love building these flowers? Let me count the ways. First, the instructions are very spartan, there is no "wow" factor with three separate, thin, generic-looking books. However, they are very practical--it easily allowed us to split the build between us. Second, the build was a quick, if repetitive, process. Finally, there are a couple of cool part uses here, namely the different ways petals come together. But there's nothing too complicated here, and it certainly does not earn an 18+ label.

The Parts:

There are some very neat parts that, unfortunately, will likely never get used for anything else. For example, as I built my batch I wondered what on earth this weird petal part was. I had to look it up and was very surprised to find its only prior use was printed... as a buildable fig face! The red whip piece is cool, although I can't see myself ever having a real use for one, much less four of them. And let's be honest, these parts combined look so great as roses, that at the end of the day, it's hard to envision disassembling them. They will just come back to the dining room table every Valentine's Day (any real flowers I buy the wife sit at our kitchen table).

The Finished Product:

Placed in a vase, the set comes to life. I can verify that my wife loved their look (although she immediately asked me if I was getting her anything else, so guys, plan ahead). They look surprisingly realistic. My youngest daughter kept grabbing them as we were building them and ran around showing them to everyone, playfully offering them to others. So while they may not be the most playable set, they have at least some playability and certainly make up in display value. As a bonus, the builds are surprisingly solid. While a few parts do want to fall off, most stay put even when handled in bundles by children. Kudos to the designers for making a sturdy product out of mostly Lego-built sticks.

The Value:

Is this set worth its high cost considering the lack of prints or minifigures? Depends on how you look at it. If you are a floral enthusiast who is buying up all the botanical sets, it's a fantastic addition. For more casual Lego fans, this set may still find value in decorating for Valentine's Day (and possibly other occasions) year after year. Keep it well-stored, so it doesn't accumulate dust, and it should look shiny and new every time. What it will not be, in my opinion, is a good parts pack.