Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lego: Shredder's Lair Rescue Set
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Lego provided us with a whole new line up of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set this year. And along with that line up there is also
a new set as a Toys R Us exclusive, Shredder's Lair Rescue. The set recreates Shredder's throne room and includes five mini-figures.
Packaging - 8/10The packaging design here is the same as the past sets. Fortunately the larger box gives plenty of room to show off the playset as it is fairly large. The back shows off the action features as well including a short comic strip.
Sculpting/Design - 5/10The Shredder's Lair set is not very accurrate to the show. The basic concept is the same. Shredder's throne is at the top of a raised platform as well as the stairway leading up to it. Underneath it are an arsenal and a cell. And to help the Turtles with their infiltration, the set also includes a small jet. Though the jet looks more like a boat to me than a jet, particularly since it comes with a grappling hook on a chain. The lair playset looks great. But the spaces under the throne level are very small, too small to really offer much play value. So the primary value here is as a display piece.The set comes with five mini figures: Michelangelo, Raphael, Shredder, a Foot Soldier and a Robo Foot Ninja. Both Michelangelo and Raphael have new facial expressions. And Shredder now has a black body as a base instead of the brown body that the Shredder mini figure from the Dragon Chopper set had. Surprisingly, for such a subtle change it makes a big difference. It makes the bright yellow of the face exposed by the mask stand out very clearly, making it seem more cartoonish. But the most unique figure is still the Robo Foot Ninja. It borrows parts from the Ninjago line in the form of an extra upper torso that adds a second set of arms. Unfortunately the extra part also doubles the length of the torso rather than adding the extra set of arms behind the first set as it should be. It's not surprising that they choose to reuse this body since they already had it, but it still feels like a cop out.
Paint/Color choice - 8/10The colors for the lair are just what you would expect, a lot of greys and purples. The jet is quite a bit more garish in comparison. But it does fit fairly well with the mini vehicles from the Baxter's Robot set from last year.
Features - 6/10The lair has a number of features built into it. The cell has break away walls. The stairway will drop down to reveal a launching gear trap. There is a catapult to fling figures. The upper level has the throne which will swivel around or break off the base. The windows behind the throne can be opened for sneak attacks or for throwing Shredder to his doom. The mini-jet doesn't have any real action features. But it does have a grappling hook attached to a chain on the bottom. It is suppose to be used to grab and pull the bars away to allow any prisoners to escape. But I still think it looks like and anchor and therefore turns the jet into a boat. The minor features work well enough. But the dropping stairs take a lot of work and a large number of pieces for a feature that is fairly underwhelming.
Accessories - 6/10The Shredder's Lair Rescue set comes with weapons for all of the mini-figures including sais for Raphael, nunchakus for Michelangelo, a mace for the Foot Ninja, claws for Shredder and a pair of swords and pair of throwing stars for the Robo Foot Ninja. There are also some spare swords and throwing stars for the arsenal on the lower level and a rat for the jail cell. That is enough to cover the minimal requirements. But the set is lacking any cool little extras to set it apart.
Value - 5/10The Shredder's Lair Rescue set sells for $55. And I have to admit that it makes a very nice display piece. If they had left out all of the stuf under the thrown platform to keep the piece count and price down I would have loved this set. Or they could have left out some of the pieces under the throne in favor of some plates to build out more of the lower portion of the throne room since that is where so much of the action in the cartoon takes place. That would also make the set that much better for displaying all of the bad guy mini-figures we have gotten in the last two years.
Happy Hunting:The Shredder's Lair Rescue set is a shared exclusive between Toys R Us and Lego. So if you want one, you can visit your local Toys R Us store, Lego store or either company's web store.
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