 | |
Set Review: Klinkers Mixels: 41536 Gox, 41537 Jinky, 41538 Kamzo
 Saturday, July 18th, 2015 at 12:33am by Jason, BZPower ReporterA new wave of Mixels has hit store shelves, and it's time to take a closer look at them. BZPower Reporter Xccj has grabbed the three Klinkers Mixels: 41536 Gox, 41537 Jinky, and 41538 Kamzo. Are these guys worth getting steamed up about, or should they be tossed back to the junkyard? Read on or watch the video review to find out.
Presentation
The Klinkers again show up in the now classic Mixel bags. (Which are still a pain to open without a knife of some kind.) The middle shows off the character, with a small clear section that previews the pieces, as well as the cartoon version of the character in the upper right corner. The Klinkers also feature a new industrial background. The back of the bag, as expected, shows off the three Klinkers and the Max character they can be rebuilt into. There's also a full list of all the Series 5 Mixels, so you can tell if you want to collect the rest or not. Building
The builds aren't extraordinary, at least if you've built Mixel characters before. But if not, then you'll be pleased at how they use standard system pieces to build expressive bodies and heads and then attach the limbs via the mini ball joint system. The Klinkers also have a few technic connections included, mostly for the gears they feature. Set DesignNow that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
First is 41536: Gox. Gox looks part mechanical thanks to his spidery legs. He comes with 62 pieces, including the parts to make the Nixel. He only has a smattering of gold and brown parts, which are mainly used as highlights on him. The most interesting piece here is the Hero Factory claw used as the legs. It is a bit odd that they didn't used the new Skull Spider legs from Bionicle, but that particular piece has yet to be used outside of the theme, so for now we have the older variety. Also of interest is the flat silver cheese slope, which turns out to be a new color for this element. It's very similar to dark grey, but still a bit shinier. He also comes with the two-tooth plate and the ever-popular ball joint eye. Gox is quite an interesting character to pose. He has two joints on his arms, as well as three clipped fingers, so he can make plenty of neat expressions with those. His four spider legs can provide adequate support, but it takes a little more effort, as he tends to fall out of poses easily. This isn't helped by the fact that his legs are attached to a turntable, so his upper body can spin freely. In a solid stance, I guess this is kind of a fun feature, but for the most part it makes posing difficult. Of course, his biggest highlight is probably his gold mustache, which is a nice addition to add character to him. Although the Klinkers are a steampunk bunch with lots of gears, the other two don't have any functions built into them. But not Gox. The big black gear is attached to the back of his head and lets his ball joint eye spin around. While this a neat and simple feature, it does again spin a little bit too much when trying to pose him. Gox has a lot of potential, but he is a bit bothersome in that regard, which takes some points away.
Gox also comes with the Nixel. It's the same design that's been used in other Series 4 Mixels, so there's not a lot more I want to say about it. Another addition to your Nixel army, I guess.
Next we have 41537: Jinky. Jinky is my personal favorite of the Klinkers, with his stocky shoulders and long arms. He comes with 59 pieces, and the more interesting among them are the exhaust vent pieces, the flat silver cheese slopes, and the brown 1x2 curved slopes. He comes with the most brown pieces, but still is primarily made from grays. Jinky's body is built around his mouth, to give it some depth and give him an opened grin. He has two joints on his legs, which allow him to stand up quite tall. A neat bit is that he does have the ball joints on the hips, which allows his legs to rotate forward and backwards, which is a feature most Mixels go without. The gears on his feet, unfortunately, are just for decoration. But the most striking feature of Jinky are his broad shoulders and long arms, which give him quite a bit of reach, perhaps the longest of any of the Mixels. He has a joint on the shoulders and then a pin connection at the eblow, allowing for a fuller range of motion than most Mixels get. To top off his look of a happy industrial worker, he also wears a wheel on the top of his head.
Finally, we have 41538: Kamzo. Finally, we move onto Kamzo, who appears to be a giant head with lopsided arms. He has 58 pieces, including the uncommon flat silver 2x2 curved slopes and 1x4 curved arch. He is also reuses the printed eye with eyelid tile, which first appeared with Nurp-Naut in Series 4, but Kamzo gets two of them. Kamzo seems a little boring compared to his counterparts. He suffers from socket hips syndromes, as I'd like to call it, which means that he can't really rotate his legs forwards and backwards. (Many Mixels have this issue.) His head / body is quite big, and the curved arches give it a nice round feel, although the back is left shamefully empty. The gears on the sides of his head do rotate, but that's it for their functionality. His left arm is merely an Exo-Force robot arm, but his right arm has two joints and a claw on the end, which can rotate on a turntable. Maybe it's for digging or something. At first, it seems Kamzo's limited mobility would take away from his expressiveness. However, his two eyes are on jumper plates, which allows them to rotate and give him new expressions. And I'm impressed how well those tiles work at conveying his emotions. He could be bored / sad, and then turn angry, and then look really happy, before looking concerned. That's the part where Kamzo really shines. Playability
In the end, the Klinkers are an interesting bunch. They definitely have a steampunk and industrial feel to them, and the muted gray colors with the brown and gold highlights certainly help bring that home. Initially, I was disappointed that they had all these gears but no real functions that utilize any of them. After Bionicle's cool designs this year, I was hoping for a bit more from them. Still, they each have character. But there's still the combiner model, the Klinkers Max, to address!
Well, I quickly ate my words about the lack of a gear function, because the Klinkers Max delivers. Oh, and does he deliver. The setup is basic enough, more similar to the gear design from the original Toa Mata, but the gears are well hidden in the body, making it functional with none of the gears standing out. Color me impressed. Overall, the Klinkers Max is quite an imposing character, with nice detailing on his legs and long, posable arms with four fingers each. He only has one of the eyelid tiles, but it can still provide him with varying expressions. And, again, the arm swinging gear function just blends in perfectly. It's almost worth getting all these characters just for that alone. (Hey, I like gear functions, okay!) The Nixel is no match for this guy at all! Instructions for the Orbitons Max character can be found on LEGO's Mixel webpage, along with other combiners. But don't let that hold you back; design your own characters from the pieces that the Klinkers come with, and populate your own custom Mixel world! Final Thoughts
I was fairly happy with the Klinkers and the Max character they created. They have lots of creative bits that are true to the quirky nature of the Mixels line, and they give it a definite steampunk feel. The colors and pieces aren't super exciting for me, but they can be useful. I would recommend the Klinkers, and make sure to get all three if you're into gear functions so you can build the Max character! Thanks again for reading another BZPower set review. Make sure to like and subscribe to our Youtube channel, and stay turned to BZPower for more LEGO and Mixel set reviews!
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
