REVIEW: 70702 Warp Stinger

[Lord LOLrus]

Hi everyone; this is my third review here on Eurobricks. Today I’ll be reviewing 70702 Warp Stinger.

So I’ve been celebrating Christmas with my family, and I bought my much-younger brother this set, which he is being kind enough to allow me to slow down his building and take photographs of the set every so often (he is very happy with this set, and insists it can kick my Swarm Interceptor's butt. I'm not so sure, but whatever...).

Set Number: 70702

Name: Warp Stinger

Piece Count: 310

Minifigures: 3 (2 Galaxy Squad (Red Human (“Billy Starbeam”), Red “Robot Sidekick”), 1 Alien (“Mosquitoid”)

Price: $29.99 USD

I'll start with the box:

Front:

Here we have the front of the box, showing Billy Starbeam and his Robot Sidekick in the bottom right corner, and a Mosquitoid bursting through the packaging in the upper right corner.

Back:

The back of the box. Fairly standard - shows the cocoon function (i.e., that it exists), the sphere launcher at the tip of the Warp Stinger’s tail, and the fact that the small vehicle’s wings are slightly adjustable. Whoo-hoo, hinges…

Top:

The top of the box. It appears that all three ‘figs are shown at 1:1 scale, which is nice. Oh, and the red Galaxy Squad seems to have a wing as its emblem.

The DSS:

My brother says he doesn’t want stickers on his model, so they’re gonna stay on the sticker sheet.

The instruction booklet looks is nothing special:

Nothing special here.

Here’s the parts list:

(Sorry about the glare)

…and a random step:

Unlike the Swarm Interceptor, I didn’t see any misleading coloring in the instructions, so that’s good. Probably because this set has no blues of any sort.

The Minifigs:

The Figs - Front:

The Mosquitoid is the same as other sets. Although it’s hard to tell, Billy Starbeam and the Robot have unique leg printing as well as unique torso prints. The robot doesn’t look quite so dopey in person.

Back:

All three figs have unique back printing, and Billy Starbeam has some sort of a breathing apparatus on his alternate face print (I forgot to take a picture, sorry).

Decked out with gear:

The Mosquitoids’s gun is made of a scorpion, a frying pan, and a trans-pink dish.

Poor Billy Starbeam is unarmed, and the robot gets a jetpack and two energy weapons that look suspiciously like something you’d find in a Halo™ game...

The Robot Sidekick:

“It’s a traaaap!”

Now for the set itself:

The Set:

Bag #1

Inside the first bag are the pieces for the little jet bike and the cockpit, as well as the minifigs (‘figs not shown).

New and/or interesting pieces

Fairly self explanatory. Only the alien’s head (and maybe wings) are anything but standard ABS plastic. Actually, I’m not sure about the energy weapon…

The gold stud is included because the color seems to be slightly darker than usual. I’m not sure, however.

This is what the completed product of Bag #1 looks like (not including other ‘figs).

Bag #2:

(^ larger pieces)

(^ smaller pieces)

This bag contains the pieces for building the “head” of the Warp Stinger.

New and/or interesting pieces:

Plenty of pieces I don’t often see in Dark Red, as well as the Trans-Red “eye” pieces. Both halves of the cocoon are identical - no studs stick out from it.

The basic framework of the cockpit.

This becomes the ships “jaw.” Sorry about the blurriness.

This is what the completed product of Bag #2 looks like. It’s the “head” of the Warp Stinger...

…and the back - the tail and cocoon connect here.

The Cocoon:

This has a little section of its own. Both halves are the same, and have “studs-in” (what’s the proper term…?) connectors, as well as technic axle holes:

If you can’t tell, that’s a robot in that last shot.

I really like the extruded hexagonal pattern, personally.

Bag #3:

(^ larger pieces)

(^smaller pieces)

Bag #3 has the pieces for building the “body” and/or “tail” of the Warp Stinger.

New and/or interesting pieces:

There are four of the Trans-Neon-Green wing pieces and four of the Dark Red fins, and LOTS of the 1x2 sideways brackets (both types). The three-way connector is actually Dark Brown, and the black sphere is actually a very dark translucent purple.

Some segments of the tail.

More segments.

…and the “stinger” segment”

The tail on its side. A major problem is that the tail is in a fixed position; that is, it doesn’t bend. It seems to me that TLG could easily have put in some hinges.

A leg. The bend at the knee is well done, IMO. Not posable, but it works.

Finished Product:

3/4 view.

Rear view:

Rear with cocoon:

Front with cocoon:

“I’m a-gonna suck ur blood!”

Extra Parts:

Not bad. Nothing too special, but not bad at all.

Everything together:

This gives you a sense of scale...

…and here’s Billy Starbeam, about to pee his pants.

Scoring:

Design: 7/10

The finished model looks cool, but the fixed position of the tail is lame; the legs have a similar issue . In addition, how is that bug supposed to walk with only two legs?

Features: 6.5/10

Very few. The cocoon is pretty cool though, and this design of sphere launcher is solid. No flick-fires; you can be the judge of whether that’s good or bad.

Parts: 9.5/10

310 parts for $30 is great, and there are lots of useful pieces, in Dark Red, Lime Green, and other parts as well. The oodles of 1x2 sideways brackets is great - 12 of the ones that extend down, and 14 of the upwards ones .

Minifigures: 9/10

Respectable. I would always like more, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get more. The Mosquitoid is cool, as always, and the robot is okay - his resemblance to a certain admiral makes him hilarious, though. Billy Starbeam is fine, not much to say about him, and the accessories are very good. Those energy swords are really cool, and the alien’s gun is well done.

Price: 9.5/10

As I said, 9.7¢ per piece is very good. 3 minifies for $30 seems pretty standard.

Total: 41.5/50

83% is pretty good, I’d say. That is, of course, a rough estimate, and is entirely subjective. I really don’t like scoring sets...

[Ceroknight]

Thank you for the review!

I must say, I'm actually happy the tail and legs are fixed instead of using hinges or those pieces used for the arms and legs of Exo-Force mechs because it probably has something to do with it being able to stand up..

You might adjust it to make it unbalanced and that would be pretty frustrating, especially for children, if it kept falling

[Purpearljellyblob]

Thanks for the great review!

Personally, I feel that this series is a "good to have" but not a "must have" set . I might get it when it goes on sale .

[DraikNova]

I thought this was one of the best sets of the line. Turns out, I was right .

Thanks for the review!

Edited December 26, 2012 by DraikNova

[Lyichir]

Nice review! As for the fixed position of the legs, I don't think they're meant for walking. I'd reckon this is a flying vehicle, and the legs only serve as landing gear.

[Lord LOLrus]

Thank you for the review!

Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the review!

You're welcome .

Regarding the tail and legs, my brother actually went and modified the tail and replaced the fixed curve with click-hinges this morning, and it's not unstable or floppy at all. It's a fairly simple modification, and doesn't change the look of the model much at all.

[Jargo]

Lord LOLrus you bring up an excellent point in that Billy isn't even afforded a weapon to protect himself with. The poor sap. And he doesn't stand a chance against that huge Warp Stinger.

[TimH]

Nice review! I to i'm glad that the tail and legs are fixed.

[Vindicare]

Built this yesterday. It is an awesome build. I love the colors and the bug is just fantastic, photos don't do him justice in the slightest. I can see a whole fleet of these guys. This is such a great theme!

[Venkefedo]

Lord LOLrus you bring up an excellent point in that Billy isn't even afforded a weapon to protect himself with. The poor sap. And he doesn't stand a chance against that huge Warp Stinger.

I think he's like the blue guy in the Interceptor set--gotta rip a blaster off your ship to arm yourself with!

[cendiaz]

Nice review, the mosquito minifigure is really great. Good playing features also

Waiting for this set release in my country though