Mixeltility!!!

For the past month I've been featuring Mixels here on my blog. While I've loved Series 1 and 2, with the exception of the fantastic Spikels, I wasn't a big fan of Series 3. But regardless of the actual build, the amount of ball joints, the interesting colors used, and the variety of pieces made the Mixels worth the purchase.

I didn't care for the Wiztastics, the Glorp Corp was only so-so, and their Max Mixels didn't do much to change my opinions on the sets, so I decided to scrap the original design, break them down, and build them back up... as my own creations.

When building these, I only set one guideline for myself: use only the pieces that came from each tribe. In other words, purple with purple, green with green. I ran into to some trouble early on because of this, but with a little time and patience, I was able to come up with the two builds you see pictured below.

My new robot friends

Strike a pose!

I like how the wings turned out

The knee joint locks into place, keeping it from falling over

Look at him go!

Wasn't sure what to do with the tendrils

He can actually hold on to something

With all said and done, I'm pretty happy with the way these turned out. The great thing is that although they feel and look great now, I'm pretty sure I can improve upon them with the pieces I have left over (and there were a good amount of extras).

I liked the other Max Mixels, so I'm on the fence about breaking them all down to build more robots, but it could happen. I guess it all depends on how bored I am and what sets I purchase moving forward, since I've already built all my Classic Star Wars sets.

But stay tuned. Sometime later this month I plan on picking up the Creator MINI Cooper and the Volkswagen T1 Camper Van, so the reviews should follow shortly after.

Mixel Madness!!: The Spikels Review

Last week I highlighted the Glorp Corp and today I'll be reviewing the Spikels, which I have to say, are by far my favorite of the two sets.

So let's get to it!

It isn't that hard to infer that the Spikels are based on spikes, since it's pretty much in the name. Also, the color tan. There's a lot of tan bricks here. Literally. The average piece count for this set is 70 bricks, which isn't bad considering they sell for $4.99 a figure, just like every other Mixel. I suppose the down side to this high brick count is there are a lot of spikes, or horns, but as evidenced by these builds, they can be used in a variety of ways.

Footi

At first glance, I didn't think there would be much to get excited about with this Mixel. But as I continued to play with him, and pose him, I realized how great the build actually is. 

My only real gripe was that the arms are a bit short, but due to their placement (above and to the front of his legs), I realized they actually help accentuate the legs on this figure, which are definitely the star of the show. Footi's legs consist of three ball-joints, allowing him to move at the hips, knees, and ankles. And because his arms are small and compact, they can easily be moved out of the way, allowing his legs to move and be bent almost completely around the body. Speaking of the body, Footi isn't that top heavy, which helps him stand upright in a wide variety of poses. The claws on his feet also help balance the figure.

Footi's mouth is held together by a hinge joist, giving it the ability to open at a full 90 degrees, as you can see in the picture above. This, along with the ease of changing his eye placement, allows for a lot of personality to shine through the figure.

Scorpi

If Glurt was the cute one of the last bunch, then Scorpi definitely takes the cake this time around. His big eyes, combined with his head's ability to turn 360 degrees, definitely add to his cute-as-a-button factor. 

Scorpi's body is very compact in design, and pretty sturdy. He has small legs, which lend to his appearance of a scorpion (hence the name), but the real star of the show is his tail. It's not quite as poseable as Footi's legs, but it still has a lot of mobility. It's designed pretty well, and I love the use of Lego teeth as the stinger. And with a bit of trying, I was able to get Scorpi to balance on his tail, which would work even better on a base plate instead of a table.  

Hoogi

Lastly, we have Hoogi, which is by far my favorite of the Spikels due to the variety of poses I can put him in.

Like Scorpi, Hoogi has a compact body design, with short, stubby legs that help balance the figure, which is necessary because of his long arms. And I absolutely love his arms. Technically, each arm has five points or articulation; the shoulder, the wrist, and each of his three fingers. which allows for a wide range of poses, especially once I realized that his long arms will let you place him in a handstand position. The arms really go a long way in adding personality to the figure, since his face/body is pretty basic. 

Hoogi also comes with the Nixel of this set. Nothing new here, and at this point, I doubt Lego will be adding any new Nixel designs to the sets.

The Verdict

Of the two sets I've reviewed, the Spikels are my favorites, and honestly, they might be my favorites compared to all three series. There's just a lot of playability here. Scorpi may be the weakest of the three in terms of movement, but his rotating head and tail make up for a lack of proper arms and legs. Footi is a great figure, and may even be the best of this set from an impartial stand point, but my standout is Hoogi on account of his arms.

From a monetary standpoint, the Spikels are absoluely worth the $15 dollars you'll be spending on this set.

See you next week with my review of the Wiztastics!

Mixel Madness!!: The Glorp Corp Review

Hopefully you enjoyed my brief write up on Mixels Series 1 and 2 last week, and that's why you're here for more Mixel Madness!!

This week I'll be focusing on the Glorp Corp of Series 3. These guys are obviously based on the color green, and in the show, are derived from goo and snot. Really deep stuff here, ladies and gentlemen. 

Each individual Mixel is priced at $4.99, and comes with 174 total pieces for the set of three. There are also some extra pieces tossed in, per usual, and I'm honestly not sure if these are included in the official piece count per set.

So with the technical stuff out of the way, let's get to the Mixels!

Torts

First up we have Torts. With the lowest piece count of the bunch, 48 pieces, I was actually surprised at how poseable the figure is. He utilizes bionicle robot arms for his arms, allowing him to move back and forth at the shoulders. He also has ball joints at his hips, giving his legs a wide range of motion. Since the figure is short and stocky, it isn't that difficult to get the little guy into a pose that works. 

I wasn't too keen on the arms at first, but they grew on me. His nose (or is it a beak?) gives Torts a very bird-like appearance, and the arms lend to this look as they basically only move in a flapping motion. I like the use of starfish for his hands but would've preferred something that at least looks like it could grip something.

Glomp

Next we have Glomp, the heavyweight at 64 pieces. The figure's pretty tall too, fitting right in with the Max Mixels. Although he only has one large eye, Glomp is definitely the most expressive of the bunch. His legs are composed of three ball joints, at the hips, knees, and ankles, making Glort highly poseable. He has moveable fingers, suprising considering how short his arms are, but they lend themselves well to more playful and expressive poses. 

The snakeblade pieces (the tendrils/drool coming from his mouth) are also moveable due to their construction, but be careful as too much movement can easily pop his snout off. You also don't have to worry about Glort tipping over since his large feet and long legs help keep him upright.

Glurt

Lastly, we have Glurt. Definitely the cutest of the Glorp Corp, as he pretty much looks like a dog, but from a playability standpoint, he's the weakest. He's the least articulated of the three, only moving at the mouth and tail in a hinge fashion. Technically his legs/feet can move, but I wouldn't count this as articulation since they're basically sloped 1x2 bricks attached by a peg. 

Glurt's mouth does have a wide range of motion, allowing him to really chomp down on something. The snakeblades along the side of his mouth also lend to the slobbering look of a dog. And you certainly don't have to worry about this guy being knocked over since he's so low to the ground.

Glurt also comes with the Glorp Corps' Nixel, but it's disappointingly not based on a new design.

The Verdict

Overall, I like this set. I love Glomp's poseability and Torts' arms really grew on me. The only downside is Glurt's articulation, or lack thereof, but the figure still works as a toy. I do think you're getting your money's worth out of these guys, especially if you're only buying the sets for parts since there are a lot of ball joints included.

I can't wait to see what the Max for the Glorp Corp looks like, and stay tuned if you can't either.

Thanks for reading, and look for my review of the Spikels next week!

Mixel Madness!!: Kickin' It Oldschool

If you follow me on Instagram, you might be able to tell that I love Mixels.

And if you don't follow me on Instagram, guess what? I love Mixels.

I got into Mixels maybe five months ago. I had seen them in my many visits to the Lego Store, and any other store that sold Lego, but for the most part I just largely ignored them. I mean, they weren't vehicles, didn't have minifigures, were based on tv shorts I'd never seen (and still haven't seen); they just didn't appeal to my interests. Then I went over to my buddy Felipe's place and saw one sitting on his coffee table. And BAM, I fell in love. I went out and started hunting for them. It took a few trips to various Target and Toys R Us stores, but I found all of Series 1. Then Series 2 popped up and I snagged them. Now I've made my way to Series 3.

And this is where things start to get awesome.

Every Monday during the month of September will be Mixel Madness!! here at Bricks, Pix, and Panels. Today I'm talking a bit about how I got into Mixels, and will also be spotlighting some of the characters from Series 1 and 2, but here's the schedule on what I'm highlighting throughout the month (and I will be updating this page with links, so bookmark away!):

• September 8: The Glorp Corp
• September 15: The Spikels
• September 22: The Wiztastics
• September 29: Series 3 Max Mixels

I hope everyone enjoys what I have planned this month. I'm certainly excited to do it for you.

But enough about what's to come, here's what I have now.

On the left we have Max Mixels for Series 1: The red Infernites, the yellow Electroids, and the black Cragsters. On the right we have the Max Mixels for Series 2: The brown Fang Gang, the blue Frosticons, and the Orange Flexers.

The idea behind the Max Mixels are to take the individual Mixels from each series (which are pictured at the top of this blog post) and put them together to make a larger form, hence the Max designation.

Now going from memory, and not breaking these apart so I could rebuild the Mixels, Series 1 was much stronger overall than Series 2, with my favorite Max coming from the Electroids. I just loved that build. The tail, the hair, this was actually the build that led me to start collecting Mixels. 

Although I must say that my favorite individual Mixels come from the Flexers of Series 2. I just absolutely adored Balk, Kraw, and Tentro. The Flexers Max does leave a lot to be desired, though. And my least favorite Max is the Frosticon. The look on it's face is just depressing, and it's tail was shoddily put together. I had to modifiy it to keep it from falling apart.

Along with the Mixels, each series comes with three Nixels scattered throughout the individual packages.

I wish there was some variety with the Nixels. As you can see, out of six figures, there are only two unique faces and three unique builds. I doubt this will change with Series 3, but would be pleasantly surprised if they did. 

This isn't to say I don't like the Nixels. I think they're great and love their look. I think Lego was able to inject a lot of personality with these small builds. These might be my favorite part of this entire line, especially since I wasn't expecting them when I started collecting the Mixels.

One of the great things with Mixels are their customization. Some might consider me rather boring since I tend to stick to the instructions, but those who are more adventurous can combine the Mixels from any set to make a Murp. I've seen some pretty great combinations throughout the internet, and I've thought of mixing them up myself, but I just cant bring myself to do it. Some might chastise me for not being creative, but what can I say, I just like to build them.

But if you're not really interested in the Mixels themselves, you can always buy them just for their parts. There are a good amount of cool parts, such as the flames, and the ice and lightning bolts, and the smaller ball joints are great, especially if you're into building small-scale mechs or mech suits for your minifigures.

So there you have it, just some of my thoughts on Mixels Series 1 and 2. Be sure to come back in the following weeks to see my thoughts on the newly released Series 3.

Vinnie's Weekly Haul: August 29, 2014

This was a pretty big week for me, so let's get down to the nitty gritty.

Here's what I pulled from the comic stands this week, along with what comics I bought digitally. 

• Adventure Time: Fionna  & Cake #1-6 (digital)
• Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens #1-6 (digital)
• All-New X-Men #31
• Avengers #34
• Batman Eternal #21
• Bee and Puppycat #1-2 (digital)
• Black Science #8 (digital)
• Cyclops #4
• Doc Unknown Vol. 1 (digital)
• Guardians of the Galaxy #18
• Inhuman #4
• Lumberjanes #1-3 (digital)
• The Manhattan Projects #23
• Original Sin #5.4
• Saga #22
• Silver Surfer #5
• Superman #34
• Uncanny Avengers #23

As you can see I bought a good amount of comics this week. So far I've only read Avengers #34 and Superman #34, both were great reads.

And Avengers #34 has got me absolutely stoked for Time Runs Out, the crossover event bringing Jonathan Hickman's Avengers and New Avengers runs together to drastically change the Marvel Universe. Can't wait.

I also bought all of Mixels Series 3 from Lego this week. Twice, actually. I always buy doubles of Mixels. 

I'm not sure what their official release date is since they're still not showing up on Lego's online shop but the physical stores have them for sale. Keep a look out in the coming weeks, I plan on reviewing the each of the three tribes (that's colors for the uninitiated).

And lastly, I decided to pick up this Lego City accessory set. It's arctic camping gear to match their new Lego City Arctic line. I'll be posting a review soon, but here's a teaser: I'm greatly disappointed. 

So that's it for this week, catch y'all next time!