8896 Snake Canyon
Price: $9.99
Pieces: 57
Price Per Piece: $.17/p
Minifigures: 2
LEGO Description:
Alright I know what you're thinking: 17 cents a piece? This is an outrage! LEGO you have gone off the deep end this time and we're coming to take you out and string you up! Calm down. All shall be made clear. Just read the review.The Backyard Blasters and X-treme Daredevils are in it to win it!
The race for 1st place is in Snake Canyon and the finish line is coming up fast! Each of these top teams will use every trick in the book to take home the trophy...including dynamite and missiles! Will it be the Backyard Blasters or the X-treme Daredevils who cross the finish line first? Includes 2 minifigures: Backyard Blaster Bart Blaster and X-treme Daredevil REX-treme Features 2 race cars: 1 Backyard Blaster and 1 X-treme Daredevil Accessories include snake, winner's platform and trophy Race cars each measure over 2" (5cm) long
First off I crushed the box between my backpack and the floor so it's too disgusting to look at. here's a nice version from LEGO.
The box is nice, I'll vouch for it. What you should take away from this though is that most of the set is comprised of the two motorbikes, which are 2 pieces. That's why the piece count is so small. Calm yourself down here.
Let's move onto the minifigures.
Let me say first that I was not a big fan of the World Racer's theme when I read that it was coming out. I thought it was a bit gimmicky and I would have preferred another year of Agents over World Racers. However, I have been one over. Look at these minifigures. They're pretty unique. The printing is great and it's of a high quality. The designs on the figures are also pretty...Hmm I'm not sure of the word I'm looking for. They're none too specific to any sort of theme so they can be reused for a lot of other purposes. They have a lot of replay value I suppose.
The heads are also very nice. That's a bit of covering on the Backyard Blaster's face and the amount of 'GRRR INTENSE' on the Team X Treme is just priceless. Surely it can't get any better, right?
BAM It got better!Back printing and alternate side faces as well. Be in awe as you have just gotten your money's worth. I particularly like the flaming skull on the back of the black chest. It reminds me of a biker jacket. The faces and facial expressions are spot on as well.
Yeah, that's right, those are not stickers. That's printing, on the helmets. I'm pretty sure it's not just me but I LOVE when LEGO prints and doesn't use stickers, especially on pieces that they usually ignore. Team X Treme and Backyard Blasters. Very nice.
Let's move onto the actual set itself.
Here is the stand, the cup and the snake that makes this 'Snake Canyon.' It's really a bit of a stretch. It seems to continue in the long line of LEGO sets where they throw snakes into it for no freaking reason. I'm not exaggerating here. LEGO throws snakes into sets just for the heck of it. See: Indiana Jones River Chase, PoP Ostrich Race, and Snakes The Snake. I only made one of those up.
The cup is a pretty nice new piece. I could see many uses for it, including but not limited to over sized drinking cups, ornamental statues and crazy hats. I refuse to put a sticker on it though because I think that the stickers are just awful.
The snake is a snake is a snake. It's much like the other 50 I have by now.
Let's go to the meat and potatoes of this review. The motorbikes are usually high sought after and wanted because they're complete and ready to use vehicles. I prefer the black motorbike shown here. It's simple and ready to use. The dynamite shown on the box picture is strapped to the side here. The bike itself really isn't equipped with anything but it's nice nonetheless.
Here's the other bike. This is largely where the most part of the construction in the set takes place. The little side attachment is just some Technic construction, because LEGO can't build a freaking set anymore without adding a whole bunch of Technic pieces.
The missile launcher is just a pull back pot that flips forward. The pot isn't very sturdy. It usually flies off with the missile when you launch it. By pushing that green circle there it pulls back the pot and the missile.
Here's me pushing it back. You can see in this picture the rubbery Technic piece they use to achieve the push back to launch the missile. The missile fires decently far but not as far as a flick fire missile which I'm surprised they didn't opt for here.
Here are the missiles, for those who were curious what they looked like. There's not much here. Just come canisters and small missile bases with a cone on top.
So here's the small rundown for the small set.
Are the pieces good? I would say so. The minifigures are amazing. Minus the pants, pretty much everything is printed, even the accessories. It's great quality. The bikes are standard ready to go motorbikes. You can't go wrong with those.
Is it worth the money though? Yes. The low piece count is only due in part because the bikes are 2 huge pieces snapped together. If they were driving, let's say boats or airplanes, they would use a whole bunch of tiny pieces to make them.
Would you recommend this set? I would! I was turned off by the pieces but I really wanted the motorbikes. I didn't realize that all the minifigures had great printing until afterward. The World Racer sets are starting to really grow on me. I can't wait to get more.
