Power Miners: New Sets for 2009

[Algernon]

Yes, it is clearly aimed at younger folks, but I see no reason why we couldn't get some enjoyment out of this. The parts, even though they look bad TOGETHER, are absolutely fabulous MOC-ing material for independent projects. I could put those colors to good use.

I'll be picking up a few of these, unless the reviews give it a really bad rap. But at least two of those designs appeal to me.

[randomparrot]

These are growing on me but Are currently only on the stage of like the monsters and some cool pieces mainly the blue Head thingie(having a bad brain cramp i can't think of what they're called), might buy the one we have have a close up of

[JopieK]

even more ugly than the rock raiders :'( I don't like Tsjernobile like colored sets.

[highlandcattle]

I'm not digging the vehicles (I hate vehicle themes). But I think the monsters are super cute!. I'll buy some just to have them

[Shoc]

I'm not digging the vehicles (I hate vehicle themes).

Why you got lots of trains in your sig then?

:skull:

[The Rancor]

Power Miners is better than Rock Raiders! PERIOD

(oh well, at least I might be able to review some, if most people literally despise them)

[Shoc]

Power Miners is better than Rock Raiders! PERIOD

I'd say I like them both the same actually. Rock Raiders is one of my favourite themes, and although this is not the same and we don't have the physical sets yet, I think the design is cool.

(oh well, at least I might be able to review some, if most people literally despise them)

Not before I do! Hehe...

:skull:

[The Rancor]

Not before I review them! Hehe...

Perhaps we can have 'Shoc and Rancor's Power Mining Reviews'

It has a certain ring to it actually

Dibs on reviewing the Thunder Drill

[Shoc]

Perhaps we can have 'Shoc and Rancor's Power Mining Reviews'

It has a certain ring to it actually

It does!

Dibs on reviewing the Thunder Drill

And I'll review the weird little mecha first!

:skull:

[brickzone]

I think a lot of people are very harsh in their criticism (as was I of the Agents line) but they seem to forget that LEGO is in the business of selling sets to 7-12 year olds (mostly). AFOLs aren't the target audience for this line and I think have very little to complain about when it comes to what LEGO is doing in general. Before you start complaining that you're not an AFOL, read the terms of use.

When the first pictures showed up I didn't know what to make of this line, although since I look at sets as little more than parts packs, I liked them. I can do with more lime green. Having seen these photographs of much better quality I have to say that I'm not at all disappointed. I don't know whether any of you are at all familiar with underground mining equipment, but bright colours are the norm and I can imagine these flashy colours selling. I don't care for the monsters or the playability, but the designs do look interesting. Not bad at all.

Cheers,

Ralph

Yeah, but Agents is an absolutely fantastic theme! Any AFOL naysayers need to go out and buy Volcano Base right now to see how mistaken they are in not appreciating the theme as one of the best one-off themes in years :)

I would not call these sets <insert that tiresome argument> (a *way* overused term here on EB) because they look like quite complicated construction actually with plenty of detail (as with most new Lego sets despite these frequent cries of "<insert that tiresome argument>"). *However* they do look to have far too many technic and custom parts, or at least enough that the sets would seem like bad value to buy for using in custom models. I guess if you want Lime green, or to make your own vehicles of a similar design vein these are good, although I think one would still be hard pushed to make the most of all the parts.

I'm not complaining though, as I'll have enough to buy next year with the awesome Pirates line, whatever Lego have planned for Castle 09, and who knows what else in terms of exclusives etc.

[snefroe]

i think the story is kinda thin though... chrystal eating creatures turning into monsters risking the planet's integrity? hmmmm... i really wonder if this isn't even too farfetched for small children... children always need a clear picture of it all... they like Police or firefighters because they get a very basic but universal story, like a police officer catching a criminal or a fireman putting out the fire... Castle and space normally have very simple and easy to recognise stories too, but this one? hmmmm... nope, don't see it all too well... are these guys supposed to catch the monsters, to kill them, to look for a peacefull solution or are they explorers? i don't see the lines of a simple story here, i see a theme that is balancing between the adventurers story or a conflict story without making up its mind about what it's going to be...

[KDog]

These really don't appeal to me, but I'll have to look at them closer in the shops. If anything, I'll probably pick up the robo-suit that reminds me of the one Ripley used in Aliens. And I would like to have one of the monsters. The big drill is a cool design but the colors... don't know about those. I've already shown Rock Raiders in my comic strip, and these toys look like a follow-up to that, so that's another reason to buy at least one. I'm starting to think this means we're actually not getting Space Police III, though...

We'll see I guess. At first I thought Agents looked like crap but now I love it.

Wow, I had the same experience! Agents didn't impress me at all at first, but now I've had a complete turn-around on it! the Speedboat Rescue set won me over.

Edited September 17, 2008 by KDog

[Ralph_S]

Yeah, but Agents is an absolutely fantastic theme! Any AFOL naysayers need to go out and buy Volcano Base right now to see how mistaken they are in not appreciating the theme as one of the best one-off themes in years :)

I would not call these sets <insert that tiresome argument> (a *way* overused term here on EB) because they look like quite complicated construction actually with plenty of detail (as with most new Lego sets despite these frequent cries of "<insert that tiresome argument>"). *However* they do look to have far too many technic and custom parts, or at least enough that the sets would seem like bad value to buy for using in custom models. I guess if you want Lime green, or to make your own vehicles of a similar design vein these are good, although I think one would still be hard pushed to make the most of all the parts.

I'm not complaining though, as I'll have enough to buy next year with the awesome Pirates line, whatever Lego have planned for Castle 09, and who knows what else in terms of exclusives etc.

I have a hard time judging whether you're agreeing with me or not. I didn't actually call Power Miners <insert that tiresome argument>. However, they are aimed at children as are Agents. The sets don't need to appeal to me. Just because I may have some reservations -looking at them from my AFOl point of view- that doesn't mean there's anything particularly wrong with them. I'm not the target audience.

I still don't like agents, although I've come to appreciate the sets a bit more because they do have quite a few clever gadgets and some really nice parts. I'm sure there'll be quite a few parts in these Power Miners sets that I'll be hard-pressed to use, it looks as though it'll get a lot easier to get hold of useful parts in lime green than before. Looking at them from that perspective, they're actually pretty good. Some sets have useful parts, some sets don't. The themes that I do like, because they tie into what I normally build, are city sets and creator and LEGO's been doing excellent work on those IMO. The rest, castle, Pirates, Bat man, Star wars, are pretty much all the same to me.

Cheers,

Ralph

[ProducePrincess]

these sets seem like a dream and like a dream i cant belive that lego is gonna sell these .the only half decent one seems to be the mech because its kinda exoforce like but otherwise they dont appeal to me

[legotrainfan]

Those sets are far from my taste. A lot of bulky bricks, I gather. And I don't like the colour scheme so much.

[boogiewoogiekid]

More pics

pics from www.brickshop.nl

YUCK. I don't like the neon color schemes here - granted the creatures appear to be pretty cool although its hard to tell still - the minifig faces are lame and it seems that they are all with old torso designs too - how about some elfs lego?! or the rancor vs. Luke skywalker

[Joebot]

I think a lot of people are very harsh in their criticism (as was I of the Agents line) but they seem to forget that LEGO is in the business of selling sets to 7-12 year olds (mostly). AFOLs aren't the target audience for this line and I think have very little to complain about when it comes to what LEGO is doing in general. Before you start complaining that you're not an AFOL, read the terms of use.

I'm not a 7-12 year old, and thus I don't care what a 7-12 would think of this line. I'm an AFOL, and my AFOL views and opinions are that I don't like this theme. It doesn't appeal to me. I think the tacked-on storyline is drivel. I'm bored with TLC's endless variations on humans vs. monsters conflict. I think the colors are garish. There's nothing in any of these sets that I can borrow or utilize in my own Lego town.

Now, of course you're absolutely right that I'm not the target audience, but does that invalidate my opinions? By that logic, no one these boards should ever say anything negative about any Lego set ever, because we are all presumably AFOLs, and thus should have nothing to say about any Lego products. That would make for a very boring message board!! Where's the fun in THAT??

[Cardinal Brick]

While I wish the pictures good be larger and we could see more detail, it doesn't look as bad as I feared from the first images. I'm still not going to make a judgment tillI see them, though I do think it looks like the sets might be fun.

[julencin2000]

Color scheme of vehicles: I like it.

Color scheme of minifigs: they look like "community workers"; don't like it.

Pieces: I like the variety.

Helmets: horrible U.U'

So, we'll see, but perhaps it is going to be another galidor or so. One year and...

[Asuka]

I just feel a little ambivalent about all this...

The color scheme´s a nice and even brave change, and like others already pointed out, pretty realistic for

such kind of vehicles.

The monsters look cute and funny by now, pretty interesting. Maybe a little more like something that crawled

out from one of these chocolate surprise eggs, though.

The MF characters look, from what I can see, pretty boring.

And there´re a lot of big and even '<insert that tiresome argument>' parts. That´s not bad per se, and I can see that drill piece or

those big wheel things used smartly in some space MOCs or whatever.

I hope this line´ll be successful with the kids (it looks, a little, like some replacement for ExoForce), but to me

the total of all these components I mentioned above looks in the end a bit out of balance. Somehow...

[BatonMedved]

Mars Mission=Agents=Rock Raiders = some colourful crap for children earning money for TLG to spend it on developing and investing in better classic themes like City or Castle or whatever.

В газен тупак, негодуе.

[Dadster]

Why you got lots of trains in your sig then?

BURN!!

The clearer pics are nice and those little(?) rock creatures are cool. I know my nephew will love them (and my brother, since he doesn't think guns are appropriate toys...) I may get a set or two after all is said and done...might be a theme to wait for mark-downs though.

I really wish I could snag one of those Bellville Advent Calenders (for my neice) I saw in the link where the PM pics were found.

[ReZourceman]

I LOVE LIME GREEN.

Ahem. Theres a lot of hate on this theme, but I think they look

FREAKING AWESOME.

There I said it. Better than a cow. :p

[Johnny 5]

I like the monsters, you never know when your gonna need a creature like that in a moc or other setup.

The lime is something I like seeing as well, I don't have much lime and need to get more.

The sets themselves don't appeal to me, if I want drilling vehicles I'll just get the old Rock Raiders, to tell you the truth I was excited to hear of the line, and the blurry pics had promise but now I'm not so sure.

The story line is shaky as well, addicted monsters?, c'mon your going to have kids going, "What's addicted mommy?"

To me the reasoning here is that the monsters are essentially good things that have gone astray, that may work well for Tv, but not for conflict toys.

Who knows my opinion might change when I see them in the store, but if I get them it will only be the small ones and it will be for pieces, gotta save the majority of my money for Castle 09.

[Ralph_S]

I'm not a 7-12 year old, and thus I don't care what a 7-12 would think of this line. I'm an AFOL, and my AFOL views and opinions are that I don't like this theme. It doesn't appeal to me. I think the tacked-on storyline is drivel. I'm bored with TLC's endless variations on humans vs. monsters conflict. I think the colors are garish. There's nothing in any of these sets that I can borrow or utilize in my own Lego town.

Now, of course you're absolutely right that I'm not the target audience, but does that invalidate my opinions? By that logic, no one these boards should ever say anything negative about any Lego set ever, because we are all presumably AFOLs, and thus should have nothing to say about any Lego products. That would make for a very boring message board!! Where's the fun in THAT??

I don't think there's a lot of fun to be had in all this bitching either.

I never said that you or anybody else isn't supposed to give their opinions. All I am saying is that your opinion would possibly become more nuanced if you take a look at those sets and see what it is that LEGO is trying to do. I'm convinced that many 7-12 year old will actually like these, which means that LEGO is actually doing a pretty good job. You are taking your supposed logic too far, completely ignoring the fact that LEGO seem to making plenty of sets that are aimed at an older audience and that there's a lot more to discuss when it comes to LEGO than just sets alone.

Cheers,

Ralph

Edited September 17, 2008 by Ralph_S