There have been a good number of Creator robot in later years. 2011 saw 5764 Rescue Robot, then in 2013 debuted 31007 Power Mech, in awesome lime green, and in the same year another set had a secondary build of a robot, 31008 Thunder Wings, that was just as good as an A-model.
So how will this robot fare? And will i find the time to rebuild all four to take a picture together?
Box Contents
The box contains:
2 x unnumbered bags of parts.
3 x instruction booklets (One for each models).
See the full inventory of 237 parts.
Parts
As is tipically the case with the Creator line, there are no new elements or parts. The rarest element is 47407 Wedge Plate 4 x 6 in white, which appear in four other recent sets. So here's instead a list of parts that i find more interesting:
64225 Wedge 4 x 3 [No Studs] in white.
43720 Wedge 4 x 2 Sloped Right in white.
43721 Wedge 4 x 2 Sloped Left in white.
2639 Plate 4 x 4 Corner in dark bluish gray.
48933 Wedge 4 x 4 Triple with Stud Notches in white.
4740 Dish 2 x 2 Inverted [Radar] in transparent light blue.
Build
The build starts off with the torso, which is shorter than i tought and build on the wedge plate and the slope bricks.
The legs are then built and attached. They're probably the less decorated items of the model, leaving the gray sides in sight.
Then things get interesting with the feet, which are build in an unusual style. Different slopes and wedges are used to build them sideway, leaving room inside for two engines! Nice touch.
As you can see the engines are still visible when the robot is standing, thanks to the use of arches on both sides (even if i don't like the exposed recessed studs). From the bottom you can see the trans. blue dishes that represent the "jet exausts" (or something like that), so you can pretend he's really fling!
Then it's the turn of the arms, which are made up of three segments. This is also an interesting moment: three different hinges are used to build the arm: the big ball/socket, the small ball/socket and the black pin with friction. The arms are simply decorated but kind of effective. The slopes and the orange grilles do a great job of detailing the arms.
And here's the robot up to this point!
Clearly the small size of the torso was misleading, the limbs are long and well shaped, and the robot will be sizeable.
It's not time for the head yet! We first need to build the wings! They're actually attached to the body by mean of a detachable appendage that can be connected (and disconnected) to the back.
As you can see there's plenty of attachment points to it! The finger hinges are of course used to attach the wings, which are built next
I like how the finger hinges are attached to the wings: they're mounted sideway on two brackes, fixed with an orange grille tile, and then held in place by a the long black plate. Nice exploiting of the lego geometry: two plates and a half (the brackets side) sum up to exacly a single stud brick. The wings are then attached to the body and are able to turn a full 90 degrees.
And here's an update of our robot! I think the wings are really a hit, they're perfectly shaped and give a great look when placed at an angle.
Now it's time for another nice addition: two missiles (or engines, or tanks) to attach to the back:
And finally the head! It's nice to see how they made the side, by using two hinges and the "baby bows". The look of the head is amazing, like very modern sci-fi style with the tube of the trans blue slope almost acting as a single "robotic" eye.
The head is connected with a small ball/socket joint so is very posable, can be rotated or tilted to give the robot a wide range of expressions.
Next up are the two small shoulders protections (which are hinged to avoid impending the arms) and the robot is complete!
Completed Model
This is an amazing model! It sports millions of joints that makes it one of the most posable models i've seen, capable of highly emotive expressions:
It can even be elegantly seated, provided you can find a bench big enough!
The back side is saved by the two missiles, becouse otherwise it would be quite flat with all the plate backs.
Very little pieces are left over, despite this being a 3-in-1 set. Basically only the tyres and the second trans. slope, the rest is probably all spares.
Comparison
I've rebuilt the old 31007 Power Mech to provide a comparison:
They're two different style of robots. The green one looks more robust and strong, the white one more agile and flexible. For some reason the Future Flyer reminds me of japanese design, while the green one more american. I must say i like the new one better, it's more stilish, feature full and i love the white/black/orange color scheme. That's just my opinion anyway. What's not an opinion is the fact that the new robot is far more posable. Like very much. The legs of the green one are almost fixed becouse the feet can only hinge in one direction (the side) making it impossible to pose in any other way than by spreading the legs. Same story for the arms. Even the head is stiffer, it can only be rotated left and right.
So of course i built them a couple of swords and had them fight! :P
Curse your agility!
Fun fact: most of the Creator robots use the same connection scheme for legs and arms, making it possible to mix and match parts :)
Alternate builds
The two alternate models we are treated with are some kind of jet plane and a sport cart.
Jet plane
The build starts off with the base, where some random part are used as filler for the body of the plane (typical of 3-in-1 models), and the inverted slopes are used to give the bottom of the plane a nice curved shape
After this, the wings are attached. This is the most interesting point, as the wings are connected by a single stud, and are able to swing forward about 20 degrees, giving the signature "forward wing" look to the model.
The back wings are then attached and they can also rotate a little. A combination of slopes and cones is then used to shape the fuselage, a very successful look in my opinion.
The nose is attached nexts, it uses a nice SNOT technique by having the bottom part attached upside down thanks to the ball joint
A couple of more pieces, and the model is complete! Here's some shot. I'm not very convinced of the winglets on the top, made with the two archs, but except for that this is a great plane. This model is the one that uses fewer parts, the leftovers are abundant.
Sport car
The third model is some kind of sport car. It doesn't resemble any real world car, as far as i can tell, and has a somehow futuristic look. The build is not complex, and doesn't reserve much surprise. Here's some key steps:
You can see a big ball joint sticking out between the two seats for no apparent reason. I guess they used it as an approximation of some interior, maybe an arm rest. Ball joint parts appear again in the front of the vehicle, immobilized to form an asymmetrical texture:
The last details are then added, and the car is ready to run!
Conclusions
This is another great set. The main model is probably the best robot that appeared in the Creator line, super stylish and super posable. The choice of color is awesome too. The alternate models are also very good, expecially the plane, whose only defect is using less parts than desiderable, but not really a problem. About the car, while it's the worst of the three, it's not terrible. I was ready to bash it (i didn't like the pictures), but once built i must say it felt better, it's an honest C model with a slick line and clever use of parts.
So that's it: i recommend this set, either if you're a fan of the Creator theme or you want to begin exploring it. And now let me rebuild the robot, i want to stab that Power Mech some more!
You can now buy this set for $24.99, £17.99 or check other store prices and sales history here.