Box/Instructions

The instructions come in two booklets, which is rather strange for a $19.99 USD set. Otherwise, everything is relatively normal with several bags and a small sticker sheet.

Parts

This set comes with a wonderful selection of parts including 612703, 6122170, and lots of nice trans orange pieces.

Minifigures

Lance is amazing, coming with an epic helmet and armor. His little robot is also nice, coming with a cool printed tile for the chest (there is an extra too). The monster comes with a relatively rare hair piece, and has what appears to be some sort of a 10 pack?

The build

The build was fun, but a bit repetitive, due to the horses relatively symmetrical shape.

The completed model

The completed model is ok to look at, but it completely makes up for its looks with its amazing and quick transformation feature, which turns it into a motorcycle. I recommend that you watch a video review to see this. It rolls very well in car form, but does lack some movement when in horse form. Only the front legs have independent articulation, the back ones have to move together as one. However, this does not prevent the horse from entering both a walking and upright pose.

Overall opinion

This is a great set, and definitely worth your money, especially if you want the Lance figure.

Set #70312 Lance’s Mecha Horse: LEGO Nexo Knights is a theme that won’t appeal to everybody. While many may find it fun and exciting there is a massive divide due to the very nature of the Space Knights theme that has combined two of LEGO’s classic system IPs into a single Big Bang Theme.

Initially I was hesitant to buy anything out of this Theme, traditional elements are a huge influence for AFOLs. I was pleasantly surprised though when I managed to pick up a few small sets and then I began collecting in earnest.

This set is from the initial release and it is something that I had on my short list of sets to get as soon as possible. It does not disappoint and this review will detail the positives and yes also the negatives of the set.

Box/Instructions

Box: First we’ll cover the boxes. And for once I’m going to be extremely honest, after careful deliberation I find myself admitting that the box designs for this Theme are a tad on the weaker side. The image work to showcase the sets is handled in the same typical LEGO box design fashion, which is as always quite stellar.

However I find the colour choices to be rather lacking. LEGO did not go bold enough in my opinion with the box design. It’s a bland and boring generic colour with dark blue and yellow/orange for colours. In my opinion I feel the box design could have used a bit more flare, something to reflect the digital aspect of the Nexo Powers, perhaps some kind of tech detailing in the background of the design around the logo to make it pop. As is the box designs for this theme, while perfectly capable of standing out on a shelf, fail to truly capture the fun aspects of the Theme as well as Ninjago or Chima have done in the past.

Instructions: This is another one of those sets where, for whatever reason, LEGO decided to make two numbered manuals, but did not break the model up into numbered bags for construction. I often scratch my head at this design choice, it’s hardly useful because you have a greater chance of losing one of the manuals and needing to go online to find the build instructions when you want to rebuild the set after disassembling it for storage or something.

The manual at least is simple enough to follow with limited cross-promotional elements. A checklist in the back shows off all of the Minifigures from the first wave.

Parts

A lot of blue pieces in these NEXO Knights sets. Stand outs for me are the two large blue bits that look like the sides of a mecha and the unprinted silver nexo shield piece. There aren’t as many rare or unique parts in this set compared to larger ones from the Theme. But you’ll still find some transparent orange bricks and cockpits.

Minifigures

Flame Thrower: Despite the name this Lava Monster doesn’t include any flame elements to hurl at the enemy. Instead he’s got a quiver and crossbow as seen in Classic Castle sets. He’s got a decent enough print, the double-sided torso is similar to the Crust Smasher as is the head, while the legs are more in-keeping with the Ash Attacker being armoured and more detailed. He’s also using the Mohawk CMF hair piece in black, overall a mismatch of parts to make another generic enemy for Lance to fight.

Lance: Lance is your typical knight in shining armour cliché. He’s silver and white as primary colours with a very detailed armour print, a dual-sided torso and decent leg printing share the design aesthetics of the other Knights. His helmet is the most standard Knight style helmet you’re likely to see, and his fancy armour has two studs on the back to attach things to.

His weapons include the NEXO Shield and a large Lance that can be attached to the completed model for realistic jousting action. His head features two expressions, regular happy and winking, overall a decent enough character.

Lance Bot: More a buildable element then a Minifigure, this character looks neat, using some interesting parts such as a new short torso element similar to droids or LEGO skeletons and the Skullkin legs first seen in Ninjago the Lance Bot is a little robotic companion that can help Lance in his battles. He even includes a very short spear to do battle with and a dual-sided face for alternative build options.

Nexo Power Tractor Beam: Lance’s NEXO Power in this set is the Tractor Beam, an orange shield piece with printing featuring a sword and sillouetted Lava Monster being lifted into the sky. Great looking print.

The build

Manual 1: The first portion of the build starts things off with the Minifigures. Then you begin building the rear portion of Lance’s horse. Due to the nature of the model you’ll find a lot of Technic axles and pins being used during construction, the large bits found in Maula’s Ice Mammoth Stomper for the legs are used to give the Mecha Horse its legs.

The steps aren’t difficult to follow or tricky, but be mindful of your placement of pins and axles because you will be connecting everything together in a certain way to accommodate the play feature. Getting the wheels to fit and the parts to slide smoothly proved slightly difficult. I’m not sure if it’s just a tolerance issue or what, but when sliding things onto multiple axles and pins at once I always seem to have a little bit of trouble getting everything to line up properly and slide together smoothly.

Manual 2: This portion of the build carries on, with the first manual finishing up the main bulk of the body and rear legs now you get to construct the front legs and head of the Mecha Horse. Everything is built in manageable and simple to follow stages taking up a few pages each, and as you put them together the model reaches its final look.

Once that’s all finished you’re almost done, just a side-car area for the Lance Bot to go and a large weapon for dealing with the dangerous Monsters. This final section is very much quick and easy.

The last few pages detail the conversion of the horse into its alternative vehicle form, which ties into the play features of this set.

The completed model

Lance’s Mecha Horse: This model has fully poseable legs using hinge joints, a pair of flick-fire missiles to launch at enemies, storage spaces for Lance’s shield and weapon and the ability to transform into a two-wheeled bicycle with horse legs hanging off of it.

The horse looks massive and is at least three Minifigures tall, possibly four, it’s a pretty open design as well with many obvious gaps and little protection for Lance when he’s in the ‘driver’s’ compartment. A small side-car allows the Lance Bot to stand.

With a few quick flicks and clicks of joints the hors turns into a massive over-land dragster style vehicle that can run down Lava Monsters at will and rolls quite nicely on two large wheels, this adds a great amount of play value.

All of the design elements which appear printed are actually stickers, the placement of which should be handled carefully otherwise they will look rather ugly.

Overall opinion

Overall this is a really great set, it’s fun and functional with limited issues aside from stickers for detailing and an emphasis on Technic build practices for the transformation gimmick. Again though I just had to have it, the fun novelty of a giant mechanical horse that turns itself into a speed demon on wheels capable of assaulting enemy fortifications, it’s too quirky not to love.

There is a bit of a limit in far you can move the legs when posing for display or play, but it’s to be expected when dealing with a transformation like this. I’d strongly recommend this, especially if you can get it on clearance as I did, because it’s really a great set.

Lance strides into battle atop his mighty Mecha Horse! His faithful bot ready to attend and augment his battle prowess and save Knighton from the evil forces of Jestro! Can this horse measure up to Lance's exacting demands? Read on.

Box/Instructions

The box depicts Lance dominating the sad Flame Thrower. It is actually a pretty inviting cover. You also get 2 manuals and a sticker sheet with 7 stickers.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/L2otqc][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/L2otqc]IMG_1959[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74EG][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74EG]P9071984[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

Parts

A ton of technic bars and pins are to be found in this set. But we get the darkish blue and medium blue we have come to expect from Knighton technology as well as trans-orange all over the place. We also get one Nexo power.

By the time you finish you will have a fair share of technic bits and an extra Lance Bot tile piece which is always appreciated.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Lx8qvb][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/Lx8qvb]P9071991[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

Minifigures

As is custom for this line the figures are great! Fantastic printing is to be found on all of them even the head of the bot which is dual sided gets love. If this is your first Lance you will like his print and his accessories to be sure.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74K1][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74K1]P9071985[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74Ys][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74Ys]P9071988[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74TY][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74TY]P9071990[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

The build

The build honestly took me longer than I thought it would. About an hour and a half. Mostly I was slowed up by how much technic is involved. Almost the entire build has pins and connectors and rods going into it. For the youngest builders in the age range this may be actually quite annoying to make. As it came together it became fun to see the horse take shape but it took me a while. Also the presence of so much technic means a lot fo exposed holes and awkward looking bits.

The completed model

The final model towers over figures. I am not sure that Flame Thrower knows what he has gotten himself into. He can easily be trodden by the horse or impaled by the lance. The transformative feature looks like the more stable battle platform though. Either pose serious danger to the Lava Monster.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/L2Kn3v][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/L2Kn3v]P9071992[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74ZQ][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74ZQ]P9071993[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

Overall opinion

Overall the set is not as exciting as it looks in the cover art. The posing for the horse is very limited. In fact, the rear legs must move together due to the way the technic pieces had to be connected. The motorcycle variant is by far the better looking of the two and looks more stable for combat and faster to get around in. It also compares favorably with Macy's Thunder Mace.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74YY][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/LP74YY]P9071994[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/139708441@N07/]Macster Tome[/url], on Flickr

Also in my opinion this version of Lance while good is not as good as the one included in Merlok's Library 2.0. That lance has a jet pack and far easier to use lance. The one in this set is LONG and makes balancing Lance quite a task even with his shield as support.

Further diminishing this set is the fact that when transformed into the motorcycle it is hard to take and move around. The assembly for the front legs and wheel and head are all together so picking the bike up from the center (where the head usually will rest) means you end up partly moving the head up and the front wheel in a bit.

I would wait for this to go on sale before committing to a purchase. The figures are great but younger builders may be turned off by the abundance of technic pieces which also give the horse an unfinished look.