Customer Reviews

LEGO Power Miners Mine Mech (8957)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Since the catalogue came with the little ROCK MONSTER dudes peeking around pages these have been a buzzword around the house, unfortunately I was looking up rock monsters not POWER MINERS but thats another story. This set hasn't hit the stores yet but amazon has them for the proper retail pricing and free shipping which made our birthday searching easier.
This set is good for the money and connects with the stone chopper to make yet another cool vehicle the CAVE CUTTER.
The green Boulderax the included rockmonster is all my 8 year expected and the included minifigure that runs the Aliens loader like Mine Mech is a little Monocled fella. I love LEGO especially the more inexpensive and easier to put together sets that are less heartbreaking to see "go to pieces" eventually.

I've been a Lego nut since they were invented practically (I'm the proverbial little old lady in tennis shoes who still plays with trains, erector sets and my huge antique Lego collection). An issue I have with current Lego toys is the vastly specialized array of pieces; I think more creative thinking gets done with the older style sets. But I guess constant specialized products drives the high-hype toy marketing business model.

However, these days I get my Lego "fix" when friends usually put one or two of the small Lego sets in my Christmas stocking, and I now have a 7-year old in the family again to buy Legos for; he likes the construction and city services sets.

This year I got 8956 & 8957 in my stocking.

Since I don't follow Lego advertising or magazines, I don't know what the "Power Miners" theme "story" is about except some kind of underground/mining theme, so I don't know what the little robot-like crystal guys are. Are they "the enemy"?

I presume that as usual these sets are targeted at boys, and designers seem to think boys' toys have to be about some kind of war with good guys & bad guys. (Do the good guys have to be so ugly and menacing looking?) This is too bad, as these could have been about neat mechanical devices for mining, and from these two and pictures of others, they do have sort of fantasy mining and tunneling devices, like the 8960 is similar to the devices actually used for tunneling. I'd prefer to think of the little crystal guys as robot helpers like R2D2, that you send into tight spots too dangerous for human workers.

The 8956 is a neat little tricycle trencher-digger that is fun to play with. However, the instructions show the trenching cutters pointing the wrong way; they wouldn't work the way they're shown in the instructions. The package cover does get it right. I was also disappointed that while both 8956 & 8957 have pieces shaped like gears that go on the axles, they don't function as gears, they're just for looks. These aspects of the models are disappointing because Legos can be good for exploring mechanics if done right.

I agree with another reviewer of 8957 that it is poorly designed.

Some points: it is structurally unsound (comes apart too easily).

The ball and socket joints are good (but very tight, even painful to assemble), but aren't used that well or realistically.

The device won't stand up properly and tips over too easily, depending on what you do with the tool arms. And I shudder to think what would happen to the operator if one of the two tools was actually used on rock - the reaction forces would probably send the whole vehicle flying apart.

Another problem: the cab has two joy-stick type controls (??), but they are positioned behind the operator, and the man figure can't actually hold them. This bugged me so much that I ditched the pick ax and the funny little red gizmo (fire extinguisher? emergency flare? water bottle? Hand held laser rock cutter?) that were held by the little black pieces on each side of the cab, and swapped the black pieces positions with the green ones that the joy/shift sticks are fastened to, which moved the sticks forward where they can actually be put in the operators hands. (Besides the pick and the red gizmo would probably get caught in the tool arm mechanisms and brain the operator: bad worker safety design.) I gave the pick and the red gizmo to the two crystal robot guys to use.

The 8956 detail stickers (I don't like the stickers in general; too specific) put engine exhaust ports right beside the operator. Bad idea and/or careless design.

Still, I had fun putting the two sets together and will soon take them apart and see what else I can come up with. The two little sets are a nice combination for the price.

This toy is a disappointment. Mom and Dad (the writers) got two Mine Mechs for our twin boys, who love Legos and have an ever-growing collection. Unlike all the other kits we have, the Mine Mech is poorly made, so some key pieces do not fit together tightly. Others are so difficult to fit together (ball-and-socket hinges for the mech's arms and legs) that most young children can't connect them without an adult's help. The loose-fitting pieces form key junctions between larger sections of the vehicle, so even the mildest handling by a careful adult or child will cause it to fall apart. We considered using glue to hold these key pieces together, but since this defeats the whole purpose of Legos - build and rebuild! - we gave up and sent it back. Skip this model! Go for Lego Racers instead!

Since the Power Miner sets and story started being featured in all of the lego club member catalogues and magazines, it hit the top of the must-have list for my 10-yr. old lego nut (knocking out, at least temporarily Star Wars, Transformers, and Indiana Jones). Although he used his allowance to purchase this one and the usually cheaper Stone Chopper (for some reason it currently costs more on Amazon), this is your best bet for a good under $10, starter Power Miner set.

- It has all the necessary ingredients for playing and imagination power: figurine, rock monster with crystal, accessory (mining pick) combined with a substantial versatiile mining vehicle.

- It combines with the Stone Chopper (using instructions found on the legos site) to make a larger piece. (Apparently, this is big deal with Lego nuts - and both can be found for less than $20). As a side note, other sets that can be combined to make larger more powerful pieces include: 1) LEGO Granite Grinder/Thunder Driller and 2) LEGO Claw Digger and Crystal Sweeper.

Bottom Line: My 10-year old nephew put his hard-earned allowance against it after weighing many options (endlessly), and is happy with the choice and it's still providing endless playing power.

Another fun and creative toy from Lego! This set is innovative, durable and well-liked by both parent and child. My 8- year old could put it together by himself and it provides lots of entertainment. This is a clever new set and at $7.99, a fantastic value.

Overall, we like the set, and is good for its target audience. But one part keeps popping off (the piece in the picture that has the #2 on it). Also, the set uses stickers instead of printed blocks. My son actually likes putting on the stickers, but they not to everyone's taste. We would buy again, and will continue to purchase from the series.

The first wave of Power Miners sets released by Lego have seen no shortage of variety. We've seen a behemoth drilling vehicle, a forklift with a jackhammer (at least it looks like a forklift), a motorcycle with cutting blades and, finally, this- the Mine Mech.
What most will first notice about this machine is that it has legs. These work well enough, with long, albiet too thin, feet and ball-joint knees which don't come apart if you don't want them to. Even if you do want them to, they still won't come apart without a fight.
The machine's circular saw looks good, is easy to spin, and is mounted on a nimble shoulder. In most poses, it's light enough so that it won't undermine balance. However, the shear claws are a different story. The rock monster won't fit in the claws easily (although it can be done) and it's heavy. The Mine Mech's shoulder has plenty of movement for the circular saw, but not enough for the claws, and as a result, they're clunky and unweildy.
The Mine Mech's main drawback is its cockpit design. The dashboard comes off too easily, as does the rollcage itself. To its credit, it does mount a stick of dynamite and pickaxe for the minifigure to use, which adds play value.
This brings me to my final point- the figures. The human mech pilot is, according to the Power Miners fiction, a professor bent on capturing and studying a rock monster. He looks the part. His face features a wierd, futuristic reading glass and a moustache that screams "british professor". Also worth noting is the fact that his head has TWO faces, one on each side, one perpetually hidden by his helmet. One brandishes an appropriate casual look, while the other looks unconvincingly scared.
Like all rock monsters of the early Power Miners sets, the rock monster is unsuitably diminutive, has a head that comes off too easily, and has jointless legs. Its hands are good, however, as they're able to hold a crystal tightly, and the stomach is big enough to hold one energy crystal. The green is also a good hue to complete the rock monster cast.
Overall, the Mine Mech has a surreal sci-fi style that some will like and some won't. The cockpit is too flimsy and the shear claws don't fit the bill, but the legs are sturdy and the minifigure is well-made and similarly well-equipped. The Mine Mech is also a very quick build.

Lego's are aways great, some a bit high in price and when you lose some pieces you are done, but made to last.

I collect, and put together, Lego sets.

The only reason why I liked this one was because it completes the set.

I didn't like this one because it was way too easy to build. I didn't even have to use the instructions on this one... I looked at the picture on the box in order to build it. Way, way too easy.

Boy, is this ever a fun set! It went together very quickly for an eight-year-old, about 20 minutes or less, and provides TONS of fun! He particularly likes the claw action of this guy, and had been waiting for it for quite awhile. It stays together very well and even combines with other sets to make monster big trucks to mine the crystals. Very well loved in this house, highly recommend!