Set Review: 2519 Skeleton Bowling

Hmm, another review? And late? How... unsurprising. The set itself might be surprising, though... read on.


Skeleton Bowling

The Package

It's what catches your eye as the set lies on the shelf, and is the selling point.



Okay, so it's called Skeleton Bowling. Though the box isn't quite as funny as the name, it still is vaguely amusing and ridiculous. Yes, apparently instead of normal bowling with a ball and pins, Skeleton Bowling involves getting into the bowling alley/arena itself and whacking at tan dummy skeletons with a katana.



The back of the box isn't quite as dynamic, and has no true functions to demonstrate, but still tells you something about the set. In the upper right, you are informed that you are getting the DX version of the minifigure Jay. In the second-to-upper right and lower left, it graphically repeats that this is a Ninjago set by showing you the golden spinner top and its corresponding luridly colored ninja. In the upper left is shown the counter for skeletons toppled, which is actually a reused BIONICLE Life Counter piece (but can truthfully be called a Death Counter here). And in the center the unsuspecting and non-sentient skeleton dummies are arranged in an ordinary triangle whilst the blue Jay flails his shiny black katana in an uppercut over their heads.


The Instructions

Are they easy or hard to build from?



All in all, the instructions can be followed with fair ease. Nothing is strikingly difficult to do. However, despite the best offset-brick-stacking efforts of the set designers (I would imagine), this flimsy Ninjago arena does indeed fall apart if you try to pick it up and move it.

But we'll talk about that in a little bit (probably). On to the parts.


The Parts

The most important part of the set, and what I bought it for.

Well, first, the minifigures.



Some people may have bought this set partly for the semi-Special Edition "Dragon"-themed Jay minifigure. The gold detailing is actually pretty neat. However, when deciding whether or not to get this set, I hardly considered the blue ninja. Despite lacking a normal type of minifigure head, the tan skeletons are the major things I wanted. And there are six of them. JAY IS OUTNUMBERED. (No matter that the skeletons are supposedly wooden dummies.)



Unsurprisingly for a Ninjago set, an array of weapons is also included, none of which (except the two double-ended scythes) seem terribly interesting. Each of these armaments except for five are prominently attached to what passes for a wall in the set. The first exception to the wall-mounting is a single black katana that is Jay's default weapon as according to the instructions. The other four are actually brown poles that the white flags are mounted on in the finished set.



However, besides the minifigures and weapons, there's actually a surprising amount of unusual parts. Several of these I had never even seen in person before, such as the black small arch in the upper right and the red narrow plate with side studs in the center. The other parts in the picture seem more common, but also may be of special interest.



Lastly, I found it odd that the spinner was almost entirely red underneath (if you don't count the dark gray slider plate that you eventually attach). Okay, so the set includes a bright blue ninja (which is a weird fact itself), and they give him a spinner that is essentially solidly two-toned in gold and red - with a bit of blue edging on the top.

Hmm.


The Finished Set

This is what it's for, people. The finished product of your labors.



So the arena is set up, the skeletons are arranged, and Jay is locked into the insanely large and heavy golden spinner. Can he knock down the dummies?

No, or at least obviously not well. This is on the carpet. A flat and smooth surface is needed.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures nor any videos of the actual bowling event, but the act of transporting the arena to that smoother surface does bring me to the point that it is quite flimsy.

The "arms" of the arena are designed to swing outward and inward, and this would hardly be a problem. However, the attachment of the hinges as well as in the center of the arena isn't as strong as the joints themselves, and generally if you accidentally twist one of the "arms" even slightly, the studs tend to pop off.

When you've actually put the arena down and set things up, however, it works perfectly well in its intended function. It's plenty stable enough to spin Jay into it and have him bounce off the gray tube-built rails.


Final Thoughts

All in all, was the set worth the purchase? Or should you have kept the money?

Unsurprisingly, this is kind of an unusual set. If you're wondering whether to get it, everything depends on what you're looking for.


Pros:
Tan skeletons
Array of weapons
Unusual arches, side-studded plates, etc.
Works, after all, as an arena

Cons:
More like a $15 set than a $20 one
Flimsy for moving around


When you look for sets, do you want play value, parts, or just a few cool things for less money? This set is perfect for playing with, if a bit one-track. Some uncommon parts appear in its construction. But it is $20 USD for a flimsy half of a stadium.

If only for parts, I personally recommend it. It's not as if it was high on my wishlist or something, but it did exceed my expectations in terms of parts. And that probably deserves commendation anyway.



Once again, I hope you enjoyed this review. Please leave a comment if you want to say anything!

I'll try to have another review, maybe two, posted over the holidays. Until then.

Set Review: 7984 Deep Sea Raider

Well, obviously it's been more than two months.

Again I have been tardy in composing a final version of a post, but here we are now.


Deep Sea Raider

The Package

It's what catches your eye as the set lies on the shelf, and is the selling point.



The material of the box itself is as normal - the LEGO Group's favorite thin cardboard, set up in a rectangular prism sort of shape. The ink may be a tad less glossy than usual, but the focus is on the printing.

You can pretty much see why it's a raider. The miniature sub is almost lost in the bigger picture of the main submarine hovering belligerently over the Atlantean treasure with an ancient column squeezed in its metal grasping hand, giant drill blocking the way of the hammerheaded guardian minifigure. The choice of the scientist minifigure to pilot a raiding vehicle for grabbing treasure is vaguely amusing.

Sorry, no pictures of the back of the box (which attempts to demonstrate some of the functions of the subs).


The Instructions

Are they easy or hard to build from?

Sorry, no pictures.

I'm not sure whether to be surprised or not, but the instructions were actually average - they were neither exceptionally difficult nor especially easy to build from. Other than the fact that I found the drill just slightly harder to attach than I might have expected from the instructions, the only thing I can really note about the instructions was that the manual was kind of thick, as newer LEGO set instruction manuals tend to be.


The Pieces

The most important part of the set, and what I bought it for.



I'm assuming you guessed by now that I didn't buy the Deep Sea Raider for its wonderful instructions. Well, what did I buy it for?

Some notable items that appear as part of the set are the dark red crab, two black sausage pieces (which form part of the cockpit assembly in the set), the silver large drill, two red smooth domes, a flat-silver unicorn horn (used as the drill of the mini sub), and the transparent yellow slopes and clip-hinged windshield. Other interesting parts that have appeared before are the various Technic-ish engine turbine cylinders, the spiral propeller, and the golden trident and silver speargun.

Another notable fact was that most or all copies of this set include no less than three pairs of scuba flippers on sprues, when only one is necessary for the set. (Less unusually, the set includes a second unicorn horn as well.)



The minifigures are also notable. First, the hammerhead warrior has a specially molded rubber headpiece much like other Atlantis guardian minifigures, but the regular minifigure head underneath is transparent red, with a grotesque toothy mouth pattern (and oddly, small rudimentary eyes on the sides, which are concealed when the rubber headpiece is put on). Second, though the underwater scientist minifigure wears the same gear and printed body parts as other minifigures in the newer Atlantis sets, the head is exclusively included with this set. The monocle-like eyepiece shown on the head displays a "reflection" of the golden triangular Atlantis symbol.


The Finished Set

This is what it's for, people. The finished product of your labors.



One of the first things the manual instructs you to build (after the minifigures, of course, who always come first in a LEGO manual) is the small area that holds the treasure chest and its accompanying jewels. Whether the single column draped in seaweed is a remnant of a temple or storehouse where the chest was held is unknown, and the hammerhead isn't telling. Anyway, the little area is just a prop.



The set is only truly impressive when the gaudy submarine and the fearsome THREE PAIRS OF FLIPPERS ON SPRUES are added to the scene. When confronted with this menace, the trident-wielding hammerhead must look away to avoid damage to its color vision.

The back of the large submarine does indeed open, and when it does, it reveals a smaller submarine as well as a crate that would hold the flippers if there weren't THREE of them on SPRUES. On both subs, the arms are adjustable; the larger one certainly has the larger range of motion, but only fairly stiffly. The black U-shaped cages that support the flick-fire missiles above the engines also boast limited adjustability, and can be fun when used to put the large sub into "attack mode".



However, the miniature sub is not really meant to be thrown like a paper airplane. Do not try this at home, or even underwater.


Final Thoughts

All in all, is the set worth the purchase? Or should you have kept the money?


As $30 USD LEGO sets go, this one is not bad at all. Or, if you want a slightly less ambiguous statement, I definitely recommend it for both pieces and playability.


Pros:
Sturdy, adjustable sub
Neat recolors
Several propeller and engine parts
Transparent yellow parts
Exclusive minifigure

Cons:
Lacks Atlantean scenery
Stiff joints on mismatched arms
Relies on loud colors for sub


The cons affect my verdict relatively little. While I would have preferred a different color scheme, the sub makes for a fun vehicle most of the time. And when the time comes to dismantle it, you'll get a lot of interesting parts.



As I remind you every time, I hope you enjoyed reading this review. Please leave me a comment with feedback if you can!

Due to my recurring lateness, I can't promise that I will have another review within two months. However, I do at least know I have something to review, so until then!