Built To Rule - Headquarters Attack
I only had one thing to say when I cracked open the box that by Built To Rule Headquarters Attack was in... "Holy CRAP." I may have mentioned before that I was never really a Lego's kid or anything, so I have very little experience with the whole building block phenomenon...and man, there were just hundreds of tiny little pieces everywhere...I wasn't sure I could even build the thing! But I settled down, cracked open the instructions... and had a blast!
It took me probably a good 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to get the HQ built the first time through, but from hunting for the pieces, too clicking everything together, to just watching this thing slowly become...something. It was just a whole lot of fun, and a lot more fun than I had doing a lot of the others. Alas, the end product isn't quite as cool as the process in building it, and in fact, I was left at least a little bit cold by the Headquarters itself. Still, the process was great fun, and considering the HQ's price tag ($12.99 at Ollie's!!!!) I still think it was worth the purchase.
As you may or may not be able to tell by the picture above, the actual Headquarters is comprised of three different units...the center unit, and each side unit. They are completely separate pieces (although quite similar in construction) and are merely stacked next to each other, or they can also kind of be hooked into the folding front doors of that central unit. At first glance, it looks like a moderately impressive modular headquarters...but once you break it down, I think it's mostly style over substance...still, though, it's a remarkably fun set and I did have a good time running it through the review process.
What I'll do is tackle this one section at a time, starting with the center:
The center portion of the Headquarters looks to be a "Command Center" of sorts, although there really isn't much of a command center involved. It's a pretty solid chunk of plastic for being constructed out of building blocks, and the armored front wall with missile launcher is a very imposing site for all who might approach. I really like the use of the Armadillo HAV armored door as well as the front panel. It looks like it could stop some serious firepower, but it easily flips down on included hinges and you can see the command room behind it.
I really like the orange pipe trim around the support posts and that gray pseudo-piping used on the front of the HQ looks great as well. It looks pretty realistic. I also think the swinging doors are pretty neat, too, built up from 6 separate pieces. The spinning radar dish on top is a pretty neat item, too.
But ultimately, the HQ is pretty much a surface item. As neat as it might look, there's pretty much nothing going on underneath.
There are a couple of pretty generic "consoles" and some angled trimming here and there, but besides that and the missile launcher, this "Command Center" is surprisingly barren, with not much else going on in this central section.
The right section of the Headquarters is a little bit better:
I would bet that the right hand side of the Headquarters is probably meant to be a surveillance or security center. The huge spotlight mounted on the top (that really works!) seems to indicate that this section of the Headquarters is designed to keep a watch out for the enemy, or for escaped prisoners. The look of the right hand section of the Headquarters is a lot more closed off and armored.
The bottom section is a solid green armor plating that looks really neat, and has only a small window for viewing or firing from. This really closes off this section and gives it a protective vibe. What helps this image is the top section, which is also pretty heavily fortified. The gray armor up top is comprised of four separate pieces all attached together, and it is pretty successful in giving off a thick armored appearence. With that large spotlight on top, I kind of like this section on the surface, but again, there's really nothing going on inside.
Those side windows are a neat design element, but what it shows is that besides some superficial terminals attached on the upper inside wall, the rest of this HQ is pretty much just empty space (especially on the bottom). While that might be for motor pool purposes, it just ends up looking kinda bare. I do like how the support posts look, and the gun mount is nice...the colors are interesting and the design scheme, for being a building block toy, is pretty effective, but it's all style and not much substance. The left section does help that a little bit, however.
Now this is a pretty effective looking section of Headquarters. Green front armor plating is present here, too, but it also gets a very cool working sliding door, that actually opens up to a makeshift prison. This prison is kind of strange, being made out of a thin piece of plastic which just wraps around and is hooked in by some neatly designed BTR blocks. It has a jail cell pattern printed on it, but ends up looking kind of silly. I'm not really sure how else they could have accomplished what they were trying to accomplish, but when it comes right down to it, I'm not sure a thin plastic sheet makes for an effective prison for terrorists.
Beyond the jail cell issue, though, the top section of this segment of the Headquarters is actually pretty darn cool. Hasbro managed to construct a pretty potent attack system. There's a seat for someone to sit at with a cool looking control panel, attached to a huge gatling gun/missile system, similar to the one that came on the Brawler way back in 2002. The seat rotates and the missiles really fire in gatling-style and you end up with a pretty nasty and powerful looking defensive system. So in spite of the jail cell itself, the armored plating, sliding door, powerful guns, and overall design make this section of the HQ by far my favorite of the three. It seems the most solid, the most defensible, and the one that makes the most sense overall.
So, when it comes right down to it, I'm not sure this makes as effective a Headquarters as it does a building block set. I had a ton of fun building the thing, but I'm not sure the end result will give me as much pleasure...it kind of reminds me a lot of the series 1 Built To Rule stuff which often had the same problems.
However...there is a second mode to this headquarters as there is with every BTR vehicle/playset, and I'm happy to report that I kind of like that second mode more. I will cover that on page 2, but first I'll talk about the figures.
Honestly, I'm pretty surprised it took them this long to incorporate a Snake Eyes figure into the Built To Rule sets, since he has multiple figures for pretty much every rendition of G.I. Joe to date, but it makes sense that the set with the most to offer dollar-wise, is the set they would want to include G.I. Joe's franchise character with. The Snake Eyes figure included here is basically his Valor Vs. Venom version with articulated thighs, the ever-present BTR knobs, and actually a pretty neat color scheme, although very plain. He is a very dull dark gray, darker than the VvV version, but not the stark black of the single pack version or the one that came with the Ninja Lightning motorcycle. The result is a Snake Eyes which is much of the same old same old, but does at least look a little bit different.
He also has some dark black goggles which stand out nicely against the gray mask and bring a little splash of detail to what could have been (and for the most part kind of still is) a very bland figure. The gold trim on the grenades and on the gun do spice it up a little bit, but not much, and you still just end up with another dull gray Snake Eyes. Nothing I can really recommend here. Even the added points for the swivel-thighs are more than negated by the BTR knobs and somewhat bow-leggedness.
AVAC, on the other hand, makes this set worth owning! He is a VERY cool figure, somewhat silly head sculpt aside. Hasbro looked like they had every intention of trying to do a modern update to the classic AVAC figure, but the head sculpt does end up giving him a kind of conehead appearence. Even with that strange shape, though, the figure ends up being pretty fun, though I was surprised to see just how close in sculpt he was to the Shadow-Viper. In fact, from the neck down, they are the exact same figure, except for some tooling modifications to the chest and thigh pieces, giving AVAC some more layered armor.
First of all, the proportions on the figure are pretty well done. Legs aren't real long, the torso is nicely shaped and sized, and the sculpted armor everywhere really brings some nice detail. The thick layered armor on his chest pad matches the stuff on his legs and arms perfectly and I really love the look.
Colors are spot on, too, with a nice red base uniform color, with the proper amount of black and silver trim that brighten the figure up nicely and at least make him look quite a bit different from the Shadow-Viper even if he is strongly based on that mold. If you look below, you can see just how close the two figures are:
Because of the armor mods and paint differences at first glance, the figures look pretty similar, but not exactly the same. But once you take a somewhat closer look:
You can see the torso and arms are identical with the exception of some added armor molding to the AVAC. The result is surprisingly effective, making AVAC look as if he might be part of the same division the Shadow-Vipers are, but because of his air combat specialty, he gets some specially modified armor plating. Their legs are also pretty much identical:
The curve-handled knife immediately shows you that the two figures are the same foundation, even with more layered armor on AVAC (and that knife looks pretty darn cool while it's at it!) The design of the armor is very appealing and there is lots of interesting detail throughout, from just the basic material of the uniform, the the mesh patches on the feet...the swivel thighs also add a nice element to the figure, too. All in all, AVAC is a pretty neat figure and pilots a small, but kinda cool aircraft.
Speaking of that aircraft, above is the "Firebat", meant as a COBRA attack craft launching an assault on the G.I. Joe HQ (hence the name "Headquaters Attack"). As I mentioned, it's a very small vehicle, but surpringly neat, with built-in hinges for the wings, a small assortment of weaponry, and a pretty neat overall shape. As is typical with the smaller BTR items, there aren't any controls to speak of, and even less protection for the pilot! Still, though, it's a neat looking, if unrealistic, mini-vehicle, and I dig it. I dig it's second mode much more, however, which you can see on Page 2.
When it boils right down to it, even though the HQ is a little limited, I can't help but recommend it, IF you can find it for it's shelf price of $12.99. For that price, it provided several hours of entertainment in building it and fooling with it, and even when that's all said and done, you get a pretty cool AVAC figure, and if you decide to leave it in it's second mode, a somewhat interesting COBRA mini-base as well.
On eBay these days, I see the HQ selling for $40-50 plus shipping, and honestly I'm not sure it's worth that kind of investment. Actually, I'd say it likely is not. But if you can find it for shelf price (and even a little bit more) I'd say it's definitely worth it. I'd recommend this thing up to probably a $30 price tag, but not much more. Here are some more pics of the first mode, and then head on over to Page 2 for the second.
Center Section:
Right Section:
Left Section:
All together:
Page 2 of the Review for the Second Mode of "Headquarters Attack"!