Hey brick fans!
It's review time again, this time I've got a new Mecha building block set to look at.
If you didn't already know, JMBricklayer has a monthly product giveaway contest on their Facebook page. All you have to do is join their Facebook page to enter the contest. Products are awarded based on participation, so the more you participate, the more chances you have of winning a prize.
Here's are examples of some of the JMBricklayer contests. This one is just ended for the month of
February: https://www.jmbricklayer.com/five-tiger-generals-giveaway-2024-feb/
And this is the latest contest:
https://www.jmbricklayer.com/f1-racing-car-giveaway-2024-mar/
Anyways, I was informed that I won a prize and that I could choose a Mecha from the JMBricklayer Five Tiger Generals series, so I just randomly chose the Guan Yu 70125. I'm reviewing it today, so you can determine if this is a set you might be interested in.
Set Name and Number: Jmbricklayer Five Tiger General - Guan Yu 70125
Theme: Fantastic Ideas / Mecha
Piece Count: 744 pieces
Printed Pieces: Yes
Stickers: No
Numbered Bags: Yes
Age Rating: 14+
Retail Price: $39.99 USD
Where to get it: The JMBricklayer Amazon store and from the JMBricklayer website, where you can use my code itsnotlego15% to get a further discount on any non-sale items!
Also checkout the latest JMBricklayer deals happening right now!
https://altbrickdeals.blogspot.com/2024/03/jmbricklayer-easter-sale-on-lego.html
Unboxing the Guan Yu Mecha
As with all JMBricklayer sets, it comes shipped in their signature style black boxes. The Five Tiger General mechas appear to all share the same box for packaging. Each of the mecha product set numbers are listed on the front of the box.
There is a checkbox on the side of the box to indicate which Mecha building block set is inside.
There are several parts bags of which some are numbered.
Included is a thin instruction booklet.
Some of the notable pieces are in the un-numbered bags.
Also, I got 2 bags of parts when assembled looks like a display stand. Instructions are provided on a separate sheet of paper.
I did a quick preview of the steps in the instruction manual and it looks like there are three major stages involved in putting the mecha together.
Stage 1: Torso and head
Stage 2: Legs
Stage 3: Arms, coverings and sword
Building the mecha
These are all the parts from Bag #1 which correspond to the section 1 in the manual.
The instructions also tell me I need some gold coloured pieces, so I dumped out the bag for those parts, as well.
Here's a couple of pics as I was building the torso.
The last step in Stage 1, is the addition of the head. The robot face looks like he's wearing a mask.
This is the parts dump from bag #2.
Construction of the legs.
The completed legs and feet are added to the torso. The mecha stands ok, but I wish he had more flexibility in the ankle joints.
Here are all the parts to complete the mecha robot for Stage #3.
There are two side skirts that comprise the armour.
Afterwhich we add the hands, arms and epaulets.
The staff or sword comes with some printed parts.
Here's the completed staff. I also got 2 unprinted black pieces that could be used in place of the printed pieces, but don't know why you'd want to use them.
Here is the completed Guan Yu General mecha. From this angle he looks alright, although when viewed from the front his armour could be beefed up.
The fingers on the hands are flexible so you can make the mecha hold on to his staff.
Here's how the Guan Yu General mecha looks from behind. Arm joints and leg joints work as expected.
The head swivels, as does the chest and he can be flexed forwards and backwards, giving the mecha a wide range of motion.
As mentioned earlier, there is a unassembled display stand that comes inside the box with separate instructions. There isn't an indication of how the stand attaches to the mecha though, so I didn't affix the robot to the stand.
Here's a fun pic where I put some scaffolding next to the mecha so you can get a sense of the size of the Guan Yu robot. He's got some height for sure!
I got a handful of leftover bits and pieces when done building the mecha.
In conclusion, the Five Tiger Generals Guan Yu mecha set was a fun and quick build. I think this set would be suitable for any robot mecha fans, young or old. The mecha can be posed in a variety of ways and would make a great display piece. Brick clutch is great so he's easy to pose.
The only two nits I have with this model is that he could better joints on his ankles and that his suit of armour could be bulked up a bit more, otherwise I'm fairly happy having this mecha in my collection. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comment box below.
Don't forget to use my code "itsnotlego15%" to save on your purchases at JMBricklayer (non sale items).
Bye and thanks for looking!
