Review: 40104 Frankenstein's Monster (October Monthly Mini Build)

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

It's that time again! The first Tuesday of the month means that the Lego Brick-and-Mortar Stores have put out their Monthly Mini Builds for the kids. The Stores do these once a month (at least) to get you into the store and spending money. However, you do walk out with some free bricks and a possibly functional model.

I haven't done one of these in awhile. I was busy over the summer, and my daughter has classes on Tuesday evenings, so we don't go to the MMBs anymore. (Consequently, I've been tracking them down on eBay.) I got lucky when I stopped in the Lego Store this week and saw a box with a few left at the cash register. I asked the manager if I could buy one, and they said I could have it for free. So, Kudos to the Annapolis Lego Store for making this review possible.

I reviewed all of 2013's MMB's in this article. I've also reviewed a number of the MMBs from 2014 as follows:

January (Snowplow)

February (Micro Manager)

March (Tree)

April (Helicopter)

May (Dragon).

June (Jetski)

I plagiarize my opening paragraphs from my past articles, because my computer is runnng slowly and this is just easier. If you're sad because you don't have a Lego Store near you, that's ok, because Lego publishes the instructions for each month's builds on their website. If it's not up yet, it should be soon.

This month, we're reviewing a Frankenstein's monster build. This build is unique for 2014 since this year has really had three kinds of builds: micro vehicles (the snowplow, beach van, airplane, and next month's rocket); system-sized vehicles or creations (the jetski, helicopter, and Micro Manager); and abstract cute animal-things (the tree and the monkey). This model is a lot more like the little abstractions that we'd get prior to 2014. So, is it worth it? Let's find out.

Set Title: Jetski

Set #: 40104-1

Theme: Monthly Mini Build

Pieces: 36 (and 3 spares)

Minifigures: None

Year of Release: 2014

Price at release: Free.

MMBs often come in small, nondescript polybags. How your store gives it to you may vary. We typically get them in a Pick-a-Brick cup, and I'm guessing that the store wants to avoid spilled parts. You also get a card which has the parts list on the back.

You also get a one-sheet of instructions which don't need much explanation. Like I said, the instructions are often available online.

Compared to the other MMBs this year, this one isn't particularly complicated. There isn't much in the way of unique parts. (Before I got this set, I was able to build a comparable set from pieces in my collection. I normally can't do that because Lego often puts very distinct parts in these builds.) The only thing that might throw the casual builder is the unique colors, like the lime green pieces. You get a spare 1x1 plate, round plate, and tile in the bag.

The build isn't particularly complicated--it's a bunch of bricks stacked into an approximation of a person with its arms out. The only frustrating thing is that they ran the brown plates over the "hands." I get that this holds it together, but it looks like he's wearing weird gloves. What is clever is the neck setup, using two jumper plates so that you can put the 2x2 head on the 3x2 body.

The finished product. Grrrrrr! Well, he's a bit of an abstract character, similar to past MMBs (he looks nice next to last year's Witch). He does capture the distinctive look of the Frankenstein's Monster even if he's not all that detailed. The build is easy enough, so it's something you can probably do with your kids even if you don't have a Store near you.

CONCLUSION

Design: 6/10. I'm marking it down a bit here since I'm not a fan of the abstract builds. Plus, it's not as unique or detailed as many of the other MMBs from this year.

Parts: 5/10. There's no unique or interesting pieces here. The advantage is that you can probably build this from what you own, although you may not have the right colors.

Build: 9/10. Here, I'm giving it some bonus points, because the build is pretty simple. This is for the kids, so if a child can build it without difficulty, it's a winner.

Minifigs: N/A.

Playability: 1/10. He has no movement. I guess you could have it wobble around your table. Raaahhh!

Price: 10/10. It was free!

Overall: 31/50. Not a great score, but I don't tend to get my hopes too high on the MMBs in terms of set quality. Still, I've been impressed by what they've made this year, so I'm surprised in the turn in quality.

Like I said, I don't go to MMBs at present due to scheduling. I have tracked down the Beach Van and Airplane on eBay, so I may review those at some point. However, I don't have plans to go to next month's rocket or whatever's coming in December. If somebody else wants to review that, feel free.