Box/Instructions

First off, the set came in a good sized box. All the pieces bags fit inside the box well, though there is extra room that they slide around in. The instructions however ripped a bit easily, and were folded up inside the box, and were hard to unroll. They were quit easy to follow though, and there was a pretty good amount of piece distributed throughout the steps. On the downside, this is one of the sets where it is easy to mix up dark grey and black bricks from looking at the instructions.

Parts

The parts were very interesting, and many of them i didn't previously own. They came in some rare colors: orange and lime green, as all of the Power Miners sets do. The bucket that the crystals were swept into was a cool piece, especially in orange. It does come in a few other Power Miners sets. The drill topper piece is an interesting piece, with its spiraled grooves on the edges circling it. It did seem a bit out of place, coming from the thin boom of the crane arm holding it. The dirt bike was a nice addition, though I don't know where you would use a dirt bike in the mines. The treads on the sides were also some great pieces, as were the orange claw pieces that make up the front sweep. Finally, the window piece in the top control center is a very cool piece, though the "glass" part doesn't come out of the white brick. Also I'm usually not big on stickers, but the stickers included on the front have a cool texture, as if the front were actually caked with mud.

Minifigures

The minifigures all come with the great new blue mining helmet piece, and each has their goggles on the helmet. They all come in their mining outfits, though the faces differ: One of them is old, one younger. The rock monsters,however, are absolutely amazing. The heads lift up for them to "swallow" crystals, and they come in cool transparent colors of red and blue.

The build

Building this set was not exactly a great challenge, but was a fun building experience. It seemed a bit repetitive building the front sweeper, but most additions to the set were new and interesting. The crane/dril on the back was a fun part to build. The top control room was also fun to build, with the levers inside and the "steering" wheel inside. The wheels and treads were a fun part on the sides, and the sweeper, though it seemed the same build over and over, was cool to see coming together.

The completed model

The finished model has a lot of features for playability, like the drill on the side, the ramp (ladder) for the dirt bike to access, and the sweep on the front that really works, pushing the crytsals up the ramp, and into the back bucket. The roof lifts off of the control room for easy interior access, and the treads roll along as the sweeper moves forward. The set also inlcudes the catapult to launch the rock monsters at the sweeper. The model is quite stable, and is a great set for display.

Overall opinion

I received this set for Christmas in 2009, and have loved it since. My verdict: Its absolutely amazing. Great playability, great pieces, cool minifigures. Sadly, it goes for well over US $200 these days, but if you can find it for a reasonable price, pick one up. You'll be glad you did. It's a great addition to any collection.

Pros:

-Very stable

-Great playability features

-Sweeper actually works

-Great assortment of different pieces in rare colors

Cons:

-Pricey as of 2014

Okay, I don't know why I haven't written a review on this yet, but now I am. The Crystal Sweeper. What can I say?

The building experience was fun. It was very entertaining making the scooper sweepy thing, and the gear function to go with it. As usual, I'll go to the minifigs.
Meltrox and Glaciator- Yes, Glaciator. Personally, I'd like Boulderax 'cause he only appeared in one set as far as I know. What about Glaciator? He was in like five (ok, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but I don't really know). They are your average ordinary monsters, so not much. It is a weird team, though. Melty is lava or fire based while Glacy is more ice/water.

Miners- Your basic miners, not going into much detail with them. You get the metal headplate guy and Brains (frankly, he's the only one whose name I can remember). As usual, they have double printed bodies with their own emblem on their back depicting what they do (Brains has a test tube for example). And they both have helmets with goggles and a double printed face.

As is common with power miners sets, there are accessories galor. The monsters have a catapult, which is pretty fun to fling them with. It also has a nice rocky look to it. On the sweeper itself it has an orange motorcyle, a shovel, a harpoon gun (or mini-drill), a laptop, and a very random and somewhat out-of-place banana. And of course there's two dynamite pieces.

The sweeper is a very spectacular build, I don't even know where to start. How 'bout the back? Looking at it from the back on the left side, you'll see a drill arm thingy. The arm can spin around and move up and down. There's also a small driver's seat to operate it. On the arm there is a chain, which, like the banana, is a little out of place. While I'm still on the drill, I must say there's no gimmick to spinning it.

The right side has most of the accessories. The motorcycle parks here, and beside it, it has the shovel and mini-drill. The other side has two boxes. One is open where you can see the banana, and the other is closed. Inside it holds diamonds in lime green and blue. Back to the motorcycle, there is one problem I have with it. There's a small ramp that folds down, so the bike can drive off. I'd like this ramp to hit the ground, but when it does, it's nearly vertical. This leave you basically with a drop off to drive over. Therefore, you have to angle it up a bit in order to have it a bit realistic.

Speaking of realistic, I'm surprised how much realism Lego did put into this. On each side of the sweeper, there is a highly detailed engine. They have vents, pistons, and even smokestacks. On the front of it there are lights which are just transparent studs. Let's take a look at the cockpit. On the outside there are the spotlights which look very cool, some orange lights on the very top, and vents on the front. On each side there is one dynamite piece. Inside, there's a big steering wheel which uses the same piece that can be found on top of a propane tank from the Granite Grinder set and I'm sure others. The big wheel makes it look more like a pressure valve rather than what it's supposed to be- a steering wheel. There are also some levers seemingly for driving, which also enforces my whole pressure valve idea. Why would you need both? (one's for speed and the other's a stick shift, duh). I also don't like the fact that the driver needs to be standing in order to drive. I'd ike him to sit.

No I haven't forgotten the main attraction. The sweeper part is a very simple design. By rolling one of the treads, three gears will begin to turn, leading up to the wheel. Any crystals like the red, blue and orange ones that come with the set that are across the path will be swept up, hit the top, and land in the bucket at the back. It's a nifty device, but it doesn't always work. Sometimes the wheel will be spinning too fast and will fling the crystal forward. Other times, it'll go too slow and not fling it into the bucket. It was a nice idea, but it could have been manufactured better.

Okay, almost done. I know this has been long. Finally, the price. Size wise, it's not worth 70 bucks. Maybe 60. However, the overall mass is. Yes, I'd pay 70 for it, but I highly recommend finding it for a cheaper price if possible.

Thus, concludes this insanely long review. I'm pretty sure I got all the main parts, though I may have missed a few. So, overall, I highly recommend getting this, just maybe for a cheaper price.

When I got this, I first built the catapult, and I already would've given it a 4/5. It was awesome, it could launch a rock monster almost 4 feet! The I builkt the Sweeper, pretty chalenging, but it turned out well. Then I started playing with it. I couldn't stop! It is easily the most play-able set ever. I love the rock monsters, the catapult, and of coarse the sweeper, it can sweep up minifigures rock monsters, random junk, crystals, and 3 by 4s! The only problem is that the pieces must be pressed together very tightly, or it will fall apart. Easy 6/5!

So after getting the Thunder Driller I had to get another one! I saw this and was so excited to get it. So I did. I read other reviews and alot of them said that i didn't really pick up the crystals. But who cares? It still is a cool set right? Yeah. It is.

I had alot of fun building this one. It was pretty short for one of the larger sets.

One thing about this was the price is maybe $10 overpriced but I'd get this if I were you. The rock monster duel launcher is also nice. Too bad I doesn't work too well.

Pros:
2 rock monsters: Glaciator and Meltrox (blue and red)
3 blue crystals
3 red crystals
2 orange crystals
Some new Peices
Orange motor cycle
2 big engines
2 lights on top
Neat little laser drill
Some small diamonds
Banana
2 dynamite sticks
Laptop
Large bucket that can dump out the crystals

Best Feature: Somewhat the ability to sweep the crystals

Cons:
Stickers (that do look good on it)
Only 2 minifigures
Rock monster duel launcher doesn't really work
Since the treads are rubber, mine are a little bent and miss-shaped
The cockpit is a tiny bit too small

So now you might be wondering how you launch the crystals.
If you make the sweeper go very fast over crystals it will pick them up very well. Only half the time, those crystals will launch! VERY FAR!
THIS SET IS GREAT! IT'S A GREAT ADDITION TO THE POWER MINERS COLLECTION!

The sweeper spins amazingly, but it doesn't collect the rockmonsters that good. But i really like the set. the rock monster catapult works good as long as you do it pretty powerfully, but overall its really really an awesome set!