Comments on: LEGO Hobbit 79001 Escape from Mirkwood Spiders [Review]

By: Blake Baer

Blake Baer — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 02:25:09 +0000

Great review! In my eyes, the set could have 296 less pieces and still be buy-able (for those gorgeous leaves!). ;)

By: Formendacil

Formendacil — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 01:59:26 +0000

I’d like to chime in by saying that I prefer the Andrew-styled review to the Eurobricks-style. In the same way that I prefer to read movie reviews that give me a sense of the movie rather than a detailed recapitulation, I prefer a set review that gives me a sense of the set rather than a detailed examination of every piece and its placement.

Which is not to say that Andrew’s way is the only way, but I feel it should be noted that his way *is* appreciated.

And, for what it’s worth, one of Andrew’s cons with regard to the set isn’t a con in my books. Though black certainly makes for a dark-looking set (often less appealing) and is certainly a devil to photograph, the side of me that dabbles in Space building appreciates the colour and I certainly seem to have trouble keeping enough of it handy.

In a similar manner, I agree that drawing attention to the Elven hairpieces is important in a set that is fig-heavy in its appeal and has two Elves, but as a builder who prefers to avoid fleshtones and a Tolkien fan who comes down on the “not-pointy-ears” side of the debate, I don’t find them a selling point.

All of which is to say that I appreciate Andrew’s reviews and find them useful, despite a different buildagogy.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 19:14:50 +0000

Thanks! Fair enough on the minifigs; I’ll see what I can do today — got the scanner working, but camera’s on the fritz. :-\

By: AK_brickster

AK_brickster — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:46:37 +0000

I actually like this kind of review. The only thing I’d suggest to improve it is a close-up picture of the minifigs. To me, they are really the entire draw of this set (and others, such as the Attack of the Wargs – along with the wargs, of course), so it would be nice to have a better look at them here.

Thanks Andrew! Keep up the good work!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 05:45:00 +0000

Great point about the web thingies. Thanks! I’ve updated my post with a mention of those, though I still stand by my original assessment.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 02:09:13 +0000

What about these spider web net things? I didn’t see that in your review at all. For me $30 for the set is not bad when I consider I’ll want those mini figs and I probably won’t find them all on ebay for that price with the bonus of the mushrooms, plus other pieces. I’m looking at this from a collectors point of view and not a builder.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:41:25 +0000

@rushiosan: That was specific, and thus incredibly helpful, thanks! :-) I personally do NOT like the all-revealing reviews that Eurobricks does, and so I never read them -- and I know I'm not alone. I wrote the kind of review that I like to read, and I expect other contributors and people on other sites would write a different sort of review. As I said to Dano on another post, there isn't just ONE way to do a LEGO set review, and thus there is no one RIGHT way to do a review. Everyone is free to read the reviews that they prefer, and I'm free to write one however I prefer. ;-) As for the set itself, you're right that there are good minifigs and a handful of good parts in it, but it feels like a bulked up battle pack for the value. The extra black elements you get for the extra $15-20 you're paying over the price of a battle pack isn't worth it.

By: wiredforsound

wiredforsound — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:32:55 +0000

I assembled my version of the set and took it outdoors for a little extra play value – http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiredforsound23/8180536068/

By: rushiosan

rushiosan — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:54:33 +0000

And to be honest… a pair of spiders, four minifigures (two of them are elves – no matter who they are since these hairpieces are priceless), TWO daggers of time (okay, they’re not supposed to be), bows, quivers, small spiders, mushrooms, cloth nets, skulls and bones make a piece pack that nobody should miss. This isn’t a disposable set in any way. The only problem here is the price, it’s pretty expensive for a small set like that.

By: rushiosan

rushiosan — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:47:28 +0000

I agree with Dano somehow. Reviews usually shows pictures of the building process, the small details, the new pieces, amount of piece bags, box contents…

I’m sorry to say, but I’m also disappointed with this one. The first thing I consider before buying a set is watching carefully what comes inside, the piece assortment and, of course, lots of pictures that show me the detailed displaying and playability features. I’m waiting until Eurobricks or FBTB do something, but thanks for the “review” anyway.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:23:31 +0000

Dano, as much as I find your trolling of 13-year-olds entertaining on Flickr, it’s just silly here. You’re welcome to continue trolling elsewhere on the web, but not here.

By: CatJuggling

CatJuggling — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:14:04 +0000

@Dano, neither does leaving non-constructive criticism. He included the pics of the inventory pages because others requested it. I would consider taking on suggestions from your audience improvement.

While I understand the concerns over the last reviews lack of specifics on WHY he was loving the set so much, he does none of that here.

By: CatJuggling

CatJuggling — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:11:23 +0000

Without building my sets yet, this did seem to me like the one that stood out as a “minifig” set. Although are the nets/spider webs new?

By: Dano

Dano — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 18:09:36 +0000

Adding inventory pages does not a make a review better.