10 Martian Thumbs Up For The Lego T3 Trike
Written: May 21 '02
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Pros: Really cool set with neat hydraulic, rubber-band powered wheels!
Cons: NONE!
The Bottom Line: This is the best Lego set I've seen. It's so original, yet classic, that any Lego enthusiast will love playing with it over and over!
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| sloving's Full Review: LEGO Life On Mars T3-Trike 7312 |
If you’ve read many of my Epinions, you know that my son is a Lego addict! But when I found myself playing with a recent acquisition to Adam’s collection, even I had to admit that it was the best set ever! The Lego Life On Mars T3 Trike is an especially special set to Adam, because his grandfather brought it to him from Finland – which is apparently, a Lego Mecca.
Anyway, regardless of its land or origin, this is one cool vehicle! This “trike” is obviously a three wheeled vehicle used to roam around on Mars. What makes it so neat is that the wheels are set on bars, which are attached to the base of the vehicle with small rubber bands. So, besides simple rolling, the vehicle sort of bounces along with a neat hydraulic effect. It can be steered by pushing on one side on it, thereby stretching the bands on one side and moving the wheels in the direction you want to go. It’s basically a trike with big shocks! They could roll over any terrain! In fact, you’ll really be compelled to take this thing outside and roll it over a stack of rocks. And the giant gray nubby wheels really lend themselves to this! Thought they might be improved if they were made our of a softer rubber, rather than the hard plastic that Lego are make of.
Of course, there are a ton of other really neat pieces to this set! The little spaceman, named Doc, is dressed in white with an orange vest covered with space gizmos. He has a scruffy beard, wears glasses, and has a white and blue helmet. There is also a smoky colored hinged domed cover that goes over the cockpit of this vehicle. Two ribbed tubes flank each side on the trike curving down, giving it a definite “spacey” appearance. There are also many little control panels, satellite dishes, lights, a camera, and other gizmos, which give it an authentic appearance.
Most of the pieces in this set are light gray, dark gray, white and really rare light blue. The set consists of about 125 pieces, and I would rank its difficulty level as high. The rubber bands were pretty difficult for my six-year old to put on correctly. Fortunately, the T3 Trike is really put together in several components, when then easily snap together and apart. This also makes the components interchangeable with components from the other Life On Mars sets, to easily build other interesting creations. However, despite it’s difficulty, I would still recommend it to very young Lego enthusiasts, simple because it’s just so neat! Just be close by to give lots of help! The directions are a s good as Lego’s usual (depending on your opinion of their usual), but this is a difficult set with lots of little pieces.
Perhaps the best example of just how neat the T3 Trike is, is that it actually stayed together in its original form for several months before Adam started disassembling it, and morphing it into other creations. Most sets last only a few days in our house! And, after playing with the trike, Adam and his grandfather were inspired to go buy the Lego Life on Mars Solar Explorer (which also gets many thumbs up!). The Lego Life On Mars T3 Trike is a unusual Lego vehicle and one that even non-Lego enthusiasts will find themselves rolling and bouncing across the floor!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): GIFT
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
sloving
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Member: Shelly Loving
Location: Richardson, Texas
Reviews written: 192
Trusted by: 212 members
About Me:
I'm a busy SAHM still trying to teach my 6-year-old how to tie his shoes!
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