BLOCCAR 002 F1 RACING CAR - RACING ROBO
This is the first in my series of TAKARA CULTURAL BLOCKS SYSTEM BLOCCAR mini sets reviews, so I'd like to cover details about the packages that they all share. The boxes for the BLOCCAR minis a pack a lot of visual information onto a box about three inches tall by four inches wide by one inch deep. The front of the boxes has a picture of the robot and vehicle modes, with the vehicle form taking up the most amount of space. The picture of the robot is pushed off to the corner, slightly deemphasized by its placement and size but still an important part of the presentation. The box is altered a bit so that the illusion of movement is suggested by a blur effect at the rear of the vehicle. This blur and a small illustration of the TKR-02 at the bottom draw attention to the motorized feature of the sets.
To the left is the stock vehicle mode of BLOCCAR 002 F1 Racing Car as built from the instructions. I think F1 Racing Car is one of the best looking minis and an ideal form for a pull-back-and-go motorized car. As you can see, it's just a little longer than Spychanger Mirage. The ROBOTROID version of F1 Racing Car named Space Racer has a slightly different parts arrangement than seen here. There is a ROBOTROID catalog picture that shows the black brick by the rear spoiler switched with a red brick from the front bumper. Other than that, BLOCCAR's F1 Racing Car is identical to ROBOTROID's Space Racer. There are a couple of pieces left over that can be added to make a homicidal road warrior battle racecar as I have done on the left. The DIAKRON Dianaut is from my collection and does not come in the set. TAKARA did not include drivers for the BLOCCAR line.
The stock robot mode is shown at the left, built straight from the instructions. As with all BLOCCAR sets, only the modes shown on the front of the package are detailed in the instructions. The name for F1 Racing Car's default robot mode is Racing Robo. Racing Robo isn't one of my favorite BLOCCAR robots. He lacks height. You can see he's shorter than a Minicon. There are two alternate robot modes shown on the rear of the box, and I built one of them for the picture to the right. That one looks even worse than the first and it leaves a lot of parts left over. The extra pieces can be added on to make a motorized stand for the robot, but I wanted to show this robo as it appears on the back of the box. The other robot mode from the rear of the instructions requires parts from another set to build it, but it looks GREAT. As soon as I get all my other sets opened I'll build it and show it here.
Overall I really like this set and I'd recommend it on the strength of the vehicle mode. That thing looks really cool as it rolls along the floor. Robot modes suck unless you have other BLOCCARs to combine parts with.
