Hello everyone! I got another box in the mail! And it's from K'NEX, which I have good feeling will contain their Tinker Toy MLP Rainbow Dash Set!
Point in fact, if you can read the label on the package in the header, you can actually see that is precisely the case. And in a full disclosure this box, much like the previous box from K'NEX, was provided for review purposes.
So let's go unbox this package and start
Dashie is on the label of this box. This box also appears to be designed to ship Rainbow Dash's playset in unit quantities of two. Is this going to be the case in this box?
I doubt it. For one thing the box felt incredibly lopsided in weight. Which can only mean on thing…
THERE'S KRAFT PAPER IN THE BOX!!! MY ALL TIME FAVORITE REUSABLE SHIPPING SUPPLY.
You know, aside from the box itself. And maybe packing peanuts. And no, Bubble wrap is not reusable. It's a one
Anyways, it's nice to see Dashie is in good form, for she landed head first into the shipping box.
Let's go take her out and see what her box looks like.
…SO AWESOME!!!
Also, full disclosure, you will be seeing the word "AWESOME" a lot in this review.
So we have 34 pieces. A joke I could easily reference to Mister Potato Head's appearance in Toy Story—I still want to hear Tabitha St. Germaine say "Ages three and up! It's on my box! Ages three and up!"—and what has to be one of the best representations of Cloudsdale to ever hit the market.
The fact it is also the only representation of Cloudsdale to hit the market is something which probably shouldn't go unnoticed.
And I don't know why this is the case. I mean, why should Canterlot get more toys made of it than a literal city of clouds. One of these is more awesome than the other.
Maybe we'll get Rainbow Dash/Cloudsdale as the focal point of the next Friendship is Magic Collection. And hopefully we'll get her house as well.
The top of the box contains the same imagery from the front. Only with Dashie not standing in front the finished Cloudsdale.
The back of the box showcases how Rainbow Dash interacts with he finished Cloudsdale—by the looks of it, she'll be placed on a rotating platform to simulate flight above the clouds.
This really does look like a fun design and… and… and… and…
That's a seesaw.
That's a seesaw on the back of the box for Rainbow Dash in Cloudsdale. That means there are multiple build possibilities for this set aside from what is in the instructions.
THIS IS AWESOME!!! No, seriously. This is awesome for fostering creativity in young children.
THEY HAVE MULTIPLE PLAY OPTIONS!!!
And Rainbow Dash can play with her four pony friends, and one evil rabbit. Which this side of the box is more than happy to remind everyone to go buy them if you haven't already.
And the bottom of the box contains all the legal information required by Federal US law and in multiple languages. Including English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch.
Considering the K'NEX MLP Line of Tinker Toys is only available in the United States (and Canada), the fact K'NEX went beyond using just English, French, and Spanish and included four additional languages speaks volumes about the character of the company.
What speaks even more about the company is how 83% of the contents in box were made in the USA, with only a handful of specific parts (if you read the back of the box, you can see which ones specifically) made in China.
So let's go take a look at those part now, shall we?
Look at all the plastic! And different types of plastic! Both American and Chinese Plastics!
This is truly an international product!
This is truly a nightmareish product! Look at all those stickers. And they have to be put in into Dashie's mane/tail (and on a couple of other Tinker Toy Pieces). The mane/tail have dimensions which are slightly off of the sticker sizes, which require the use of a pen to get them fully into the spots and…
No I do not like these stickers.
However I will not deny that they give Rainbow Dash her colorful mane/tail. So I'll just have to live with it.
Now, it's time to assemble the most awesome of ponies!
And there she is in all her glory! Just look at her majestic mane! Those outstretched wings. That cyan coat! Her magenta eyes…
I have mentioned before how Rainbow Dash is my favorite pony on the show. So if it seems like I am being completely biased in my opinions right now, it's becamuse I am.
Moving on!
I love how as a side effect of using stickers to fill out Rainbow Dash's mane/tail we actually end up with an accurate depiction of how her mane and tail appear in the show. Complete with the blue outline. This is awesome. This is amazing.
I've also gotten used to seeing Rainbow's Mane outline in rainbow colors thanks to the movie a certain clip to a certain song I have watched for at least 5 hours. Over the course of a couple of weeks, not consecutively.
Only the first two hours were consecutive.
Here she stands, awesome and majestic in from the front!
And the rear. Is it just me, or does Rainbow Dash look great with a Mohawk? I wonder if this something which can be explored in the show at some point.
Slightly elevated rear view show to showcase her wing! I love the details on her wings! They really look just like they did on the show!
And of course she has the same belly-button plug which was present on the other three ponies in the line. We already know how these is going to be used in this set. So there's no real need to speculate about the possibilities.
Besides…
…someone has waiting long enough to have an awesome playset to fly around in!
The front of the contains the same information which was present on the previous three instructions. A parts list, how to assemble the pony (which was done without needing to look at them) an advertisement to go out and purchase the other three sets, and various legal information in multiple languages.
However, in a first for the set, there are multiple build ideas for this set included on the front of the instructions. This is something which just wasn't possible with the other sets because of how few pieces were in them.
So of course I will be building them all. Right after I follow the actual instructions for building this.
…
I think these instructions are missing a few dozen steps.
Don't get me wrong, these are very simple to follow. However I'm kind of used to the level of detail LEGO puts into their building instructions for their building toys. You know, how they start with a single brick and then start adding bricks one brick at a time to build the model.
Either that or K'NEX is trusting the kids who will build these to be able to figure out what each step requires without being spoon fed every single step.
Let's go with the latter.
Yes Dashie, I am building your playground. Just give me a second.
So here's step one completed.
And step 2—DASHIE! I am not the fastest Pegasus in Equestia! It takes me a little bit of time build something.
Yes, longer than 10 seconds. No, I cannot perform a sonic rainboom to speed things up!
Fine, if you're just going to stand there, I'll build around you. Here's step three completed.
And here's Cloudsdale complete. Yes Rainbow Dash couldn't wait to jump on and start flying. She really is an impatient Pegasus. But she is way too cute when she is flying around.
So there is only one way to fix this.
Time to build a seesaw! Which also happens to work as a scale. So yes, we now have definitive proof Rainbow Dash is heavier than a cloud. Even if the cloud is made of plastic, she is heavier than it!
And here is the Cloudsdale variant… with Rainbow Dash trying to walk up the rainbow slide. She is persistent, I'll give her that.
And now the Tinker Toy recreation of Dashie's cutie mark.
…
Okay, it's a lightning bolt. Still fun to build though.
And this is what you can build when you make use of every single tinker toy in the set. Truly it is a modern marvel of architecture.
So what did I think of this most awesome of building sets featuring the most awesome of ponies?
Well, it is a wonderful compliment to the other three sets in the line. In many ways, it's a lot more complex than the other three (for one thing this set has three times as many pieces as the others), but the added complexity will stimulate creativity in building.
To put a definition on it, the single character packs with 10 pieces each are the very basic beginner level builds. This one here is at an intermediate level. Still very straight forward, but there is just a little bit more challenge to keep the tyke engaged. Add in the expanded possibilities for builds with the addition pieces and you have a set which will keep the kid entertained for hours on end.
Until next time folks, where I shall endeavor to review something festive for the holiday season, this has been The Illustrious Q. Catch you later.
Twitter: The Illustrious Q
