About a year ago, Hasbro released their first wave of Transformers Kre-O, their building block line using the Transformers franchise. Since it’s announcement people have begged for blindpacked Kre-Ons (the Transformers minifigs akin to Lego’s) only to be met with “no plans at this time” answers from Hasbro. Well at SDCC they dropped the news that Kre-On blindpacks were coming, and the first preview wave of 6 would be hitting stores soon. Well I just got mine and figured I’d share my thoughts.
Each pack consists of one Kre-On and enough extra brick bits to “change” them into alt mode as well. I use quotes because 90% of the time the change is nothing more than laying the Kre-On on it’s face and sticking stuff onto it. Overall it’s a fun little gimmick though and with what you’re given you really shouldn’t expect much. The fact that they even attempted to make a 1.5 inch standardized figure “transform” at all should be a feat that’s applauded inandof itself. Let’s move on though and briefly discuss each minifigure.
Crankstart
The minifigure that I’d consider to be the no-name (and thus probably considered the dud of the set) is based off of a repaint of a RotF Scout as best as one can tell based on the colors. He, as well as most of the others, utilizes a lot of parts reuse to achieve his look, with wheels and smokestacks as his defining parts. In alt-mode he’s made to represent a dune buggy and, while he kind of pulls it off, is the most like a Kre-On just lying on its face. An easy skip if you’re being picky.
BagCode: 21451 0 (as of preview wave 1)
Sunstorm
If you have any Kre-O you probably already have some form of Seeker Kre-On so there’s not much to say about this one, his extra bits form a double barrel blaster of some sorts and in alt-mode form his back wings and nosecone. This is another case of lay Kre-On on face and swap bits, but with the large wings it tends to hide it a bit better. For the price why wouldn’t you buy another Seeker Kre-On, and Sunstorm at that!
BagCode: 21451 9 (as of preview wave 1)
Galvatron
Galvatron is a weird one. I don’t love, but I don’t outright hate it either. His shade of Purple doesnt seem right and I’m not a fan of the grey vest used. All the conversion bits are just stuck onto his back in a way that doesn’t really make much sense. He’s saved a bit by his hilarious “oh god kill me now” alt mode of a Kre-On with a gun on his head. Thankfully he’s shortpacked so if you don’t want him you wont have a hard time avoiding him.
BagCode: 21451 8 (as of preview wave 1)
Spinister
Spinister is one of the better cases of having an alt mode. The conversion pieces form a double barreled gatling gun in both Robot and Alt mode. When in alt mode it does a very good job of adding to the allusion of a helicopter (along with Mirage’s repainted helmet), while for Robot mode it’s pretty much in the way. I’ve already set it aside and grabbed a blue Energon Weapon from the battlepack Cliffjumper so I can make Spinister a proper Double Targetmaster-esque Kre-On.
BagCode: 21451 7 (as of preview wave 1)
Waspinator
My second favorite of the wave and I’m not really sure if I can quite explain why. He has a perfectly good wasp head on his torso and bug eyes on his Kre-On head both hidden by the all green helmet and vest. If either of these had a few more paint aps I wouldn’t mind them as much. But as it is I hate them. All of his extra bits are great though, an Energon gun reminiscent of his tiny stinger gun, insect legs, clear plastic flippers that make for very convincing wings, and a stinger. I’ve done a bit of modding to the build so that he can keep his stinger on in robot mode, which goes a long way to making him all the more cooler. I just wish his insect legs weren’t so loose on his arms. Also for essentially turning a tiny man into a wasp the conversion is done very well. An easy buy!
BagCode: 21451 2 (as of preview wave 1)
Scorponok
The winner of this wave by far. He accomplishes a lot, with a clever use of parts takin center stage on his arms. You’re given the same buglegs seen on Waspinator, and two cylinder bricks that goe very well over the wrists of the Kre-On where you then plug in the claw pieces. Add a tail and you’ve got yourself a great representation of the G1 headmaster base. My only issues are with the plastic which likes to sress a lot, a common problem with Kre-Ons it seems. Scorpion mode is just as good as Waspinator’s wasp if not better. Another easy buy and I’m willing to go buy a second one to have in both modes!
BagCode: 21451 1 (as of preview wave 1)
Overall
If you’re into Lego, Minifigures, and Transformers than I probably don’t need to even tell you that these are things you should buy. They do have their flaw but it’s something that I hope Hasbro can improve upon in the future, especially before the combiners start hitting the shelves. If you have a spare $2.50 you should at least grab one, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
