Available on Amazon, eBay.
Price: Less than $20
Kre-o #: A3136
Pieces: 236
Rating:
(Nothing better for the price.)
This set was purchased from Amazon for only $18.17. It is a great value in terms of the final product for that cost.
I need to start out by saying I did not have high expectations of Kre-o from the starts. As a Star Trek fan and a Lego fan my holy grail would be if Lego got the license for Star Trek. I can only imagine what models we might see if the scale and detail put into Star Wars ships were ever applied under the Lego brand. I would probably sell a car to afford a large scale Enterprise of Klingon Bird of Prey. It was with this mindset that I first began looking for an official Star Trek model and it was deep disappointment when I saw the sets Kre-o was selling. Their Enterprise model looks cartoon-ish to be with over-sized warp nacelles. Worse (to me) I was expecting a Klingon Bird of Prey we were used to from the original movies and TNG/DS9 TV shows-
Instead Keo-o brings us a much smaller ship- a ship barely seen in any movie, apparently from the more modern JJ Abrams reboot universe.
This version of a Klingon Bird of Prey in no way makes up as a replacement for what a real Bird of Prey Lego-like model should look like. That Lego idea however was frozen before it had a chance to reach 10,000 supporters because of the licensing conflict. Unfortunately that leaves fans on their own for making a true Lego Bird of Prey and it is difficult to get the required parts even if the plans were public, which I don't think they are. The only Lego Bird of Prey kit available is much smaller and leaves a lot to be desired.
All those preconceptions about that this should be aside, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this set. The Kre-o brick quality is virtually identical to that of Lego brand bricks. Aside from their injection spot (which doesn't affect the interlocking quality) I'd say there would b no real way to tell a difference other than the missing "LEGO" name on each stud. The set even comes with an electric light activated by a button press on the top of the hull. Doesn't do much but more than you would find in a Lego set for less than $20.
The weakest part of this design is that the mini-figure pilot is nearly laying down to fit in. It is an annoyance you soon forget with the cockpit closed. There are four mini-figures (called Kreons) in total which include Captain Kirk, Uhura, and two Klingons, and a Bat'leth. Besides the light the ship also features adjustable wings and a small hidden cargo area you could toss some tools inside but can't really fit a Kreon in. Also features "missiles" that really shoot on the tip of each wing. Haven't tried to see how far they'll go because I don't want to lose one, but seems like it will pack a little punch.
Despite being "new in the box" when received upon opening the box I saw the sheet of stickers was loose in the box, as was the instruction manual. Unfortunately through shipping some of the sticks got stuck to the pages of the instruction manual. I was not able to peel some off so I had to call Kre-o support. (Their online form was broken.) I was shocked when a human answered very quickly- she had no noticeable accent, to the point I would assume she was US based. I explained the situation and she said she would mail me out a replacement sheet of stickers. They arrive in the mail about a week later. It actually worked out as it gave me a few extra and I was able to do a little better job (IMO) then the default sticker positions.
One thing that did annoy me during the build- and it's an issue I have with Lego too, is that is was virtually impossible to tell dark grey from black pieces (and medium grey to an extent) apart when both colors aren't part of the same instruction. That is you see instructions that call for 4 black pieces, you find them, use them, and then 10 steps later you realize those were actually supposed to be dark grey pieces and now you really need the black pieces you accidentally used. It would be great if they could give a color name in text next to each brick type in the instruction manual.
Other that that, great brick quality, great design, lots of playability, nice size, excellent support. I really can't recommend this set enough to any Star Trek fan. It's so good I will likely buy the Kre-o Enterprise on the fact it may look better to me once built like this did. The prices seem half what Lego would charge for sets of these sizes and design.
(Rear view.)
Price: Less than $20
Kre-o #: A3136
Pieces: 236
Rating:
(Nothing better for the price.)
This set was purchased from Amazon for only $18.17. It is a great value in terms of the final product for that cost.
I need to start out by saying I did not have high expectations of Kre-o from the starts. As a Star Trek fan and a Lego fan my holy grail would be if Lego got the license for Star Trek. I can only imagine what models we might see if the scale and detail put into Star Wars ships were ever applied under the Lego brand. I would probably sell a car to afford a large scale Enterprise of Klingon Bird of Prey. It was with this mindset that I first began looking for an official Star Trek model and it was deep disappointment when I saw the sets Kre-o was selling. Their Enterprise model looks cartoon-ish to be with over-sized warp nacelles. Worse (to me) I was expecting a Klingon Bird of Prey we were used to from the original movies and TNG/DS9 TV shows-
Instead Keo-o brings us a much smaller ship- a ship barely seen in any movie, apparently from the more modern JJ Abrams reboot universe.
This version of a Klingon Bird of Prey in no way makes up as a replacement for what a real Bird of Prey Lego-like model should look like. That Lego idea however was frozen before it had a chance to reach 10,000 supporters because of the licensing conflict. Unfortunately that leaves fans on their own for making a true Lego Bird of Prey and it is difficult to get the required parts even if the plans were public, which I don't think they are. The only Lego Bird of Prey kit available is much smaller and leaves a lot to be desired.
All those preconceptions about that this should be aside, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this set. The Kre-o brick quality is virtually identical to that of Lego brand bricks. Aside from their injection spot (which doesn't affect the interlocking quality) I'd say there would b no real way to tell a difference other than the missing "LEGO" name on each stud. The set even comes with an electric light activated by a button press on the top of the hull. Doesn't do much but more than you would find in a Lego set for less than $20.
The weakest part of this design is that the mini-figure pilot is nearly laying down to fit in. It is an annoyance you soon forget with the cockpit closed. There are four mini-figures (called Kreons) in total which include Captain Kirk, Uhura, and two Klingons, and a Bat'leth. Besides the light the ship also features adjustable wings and a small hidden cargo area you could toss some tools inside but can't really fit a Kreon in. Also features "missiles" that really shoot on the tip of each wing. Haven't tried to see how far they'll go because I don't want to lose one, but seems like it will pack a little punch.
Despite being "new in the box" when received upon opening the box I saw the sheet of stickers was loose in the box, as was the instruction manual. Unfortunately through shipping some of the sticks got stuck to the pages of the instruction manual. I was not able to peel some off so I had to call Kre-o support. (Their online form was broken.) I was shocked when a human answered very quickly- she had no noticeable accent, to the point I would assume she was US based. I explained the situation and she said she would mail me out a replacement sheet of stickers. They arrive in the mail about a week later. It actually worked out as it gave me a few extra and I was able to do a little better job (IMO) then the default sticker positions.
One thing that did annoy me during the build- and it's an issue I have with Lego too, is that is was virtually impossible to tell dark grey from black pieces (and medium grey to an extent) apart when both colors aren't part of the same instruction. That is you see instructions that call for 4 black pieces, you find them, use them, and then 10 steps later you realize those were actually supposed to be dark grey pieces and now you really need the black pieces you accidentally used. It would be great if they could give a color name in text next to each brick type in the instruction manual.
Other that that, great brick quality, great design, lots of playability, nice size, excellent support. I really can't recommend this set enough to any Star Trek fan. It's so good I will likely buy the Kre-o Enterprise on the fact it may look better to me once built like this did. The prices seem half what Lego would charge for sets of these sizes and design.
(Rear view.)