Soccer Hooligan Alert!
Written: Jun 06 '02
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Pros: Nice supplement set, four figures, good for building a huge stadium.
Cons: Pointless unless you have other sets in the series. No instructions.
The Bottom Line: This is strictly for people who already have some sets in the Soccer series. The only perk outside of that are the four sports related mini figures.
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Soccer Field Expansion Set |
It seems the clock has struck midnight for the Soccer series. The up coming months will be the deciding factor as to whether the series continues on or died a most gruesome death. For me it doesn’t really matter either way. I’ve seen many series come and go in my years as a collector and junkie, and while I do miss a few of the series, I never passed up a set that was on clearance. Wal-Mart has been putting pieces of this series on sale and then on clearance over the past few months and that is the tell tale sign of the demise of a portion of a series.
One of the big issues with the Soccer series is that you needed to purchase rather large expensive sets to create an arena; your only alternative seemed to be buying the large base plates or a ton of the smaller sets. Even with those options, you were still looking at a large chunk of change to build anything that looked even remotely passable as a soccer field or stadium. Most parents didn’t want to invest upwards of $39.99 for a set from the middle of the line for fear that it would be a flop, likewise for the smaller sets – there just isn’t enough replay value in them so chances are kids will get bored with them quickly.
The Basics
The basic premise of this set is to increase the size of a field or to create an offshoot to the main field. These interlocking pieces offer great stability when joining two smaller sections as well as giving the human players a little more freedom when trying to score. The more shooting pods you have, the more places you can position your players. Some people purchased the larger sets only to find that connecting them to the smaller set, grandstand or practice area was nearly impossible with conventional pieces since the shooting pod and field pieces are a half an inch thick. This might have been clever marketing or just a gross oversight, but it really rubbed Lego consumers the wrong way.
Shooting Pods
For lack of a more technical term, these are the four 2.5 x 2/5 squares that comprise the base of the shooting assembly. There are connection pieces on all four sides, located directly in the middle of the angle so hitching the pieces together will result in an even and uniformed field. Into the center of the pod there is a hole that anchors the player into place when they are getting ready to shoot. The attachment piece has an underbody spring that allows you to pull back and shoot the soccer ball and two foot pegs that keep the figure securely in place. These pods are extremely sturdy and at a half an inch thick, they will stand up to some very rough play. The only thing that may break after a period of time are the foot pegs on the spring assembly.
There are also flat green connector pieces that fit snuggly between the shooting pods, these are completely flat after pressed into place so getting them loose may be a problem if you want to remove one section of the field. If the pods were loose a little bit of a twist would help to loosen up the piece, but if you are working in a tight section, a butter knife and patience are my only suggestions. I received nine of these in my set while only four were depicted on the back of the box.
The pods are not packaged in poly bags, so make sure you have all four of them accounted for before you toss out the box. Also make sure you check the catalog closely to retrieve the sticker sheet.
Extras
The set comes with a handful of pieces that can be used to build a small goal or a barrier wall. On the front of the box there is a photo of two of the white barrier pieces with the stickers attached to them. Since no instructions were provided with the set, you are pretty much on your own as far as construction. You also receive a soccer ball in this set, the same as all the other sets but a nice piece to have in stock or to use for a trade. The sticker sheet contains two “peel and press” images – one of the infamous red and black Lego brick design and the other with the Soccer series crest with a yellow background. You also receive a catalog of the latest additions to the Lego family of products as well as an invitation to join the kids club.
The Players
Even if you aren’t someone that is going to build a huge soccer scene, this is a great set to pick up for the sports related figures. This set includes four figures that have a nice amount of detail to each of them. There are two figures that have the green and gray stripe [one numbered ‘4’ and one ‘11’] on the torso with matching legs and two with the red, white and blue stenciled torso stripe [one numbered ‘4’ and one ‘11’] with matching leg pieces. There are also two different sets of facial features to choose from when building your soccer hooligans – two heads with the standard ‘Lego look’ and two with a moustache / boy band peach fuzz. Same deal with the hair, you get two brown hairpieces and two black. This really gives you a lot of flexibility to mix and match your players – especially if you already own other sets in this series.
The Instructions
When I opened the box, there were no instructions enclosed. I found this rather odd, even for a clearance set since the box was completely sealed when I purchased it. Another oddity is that the sticker sheet was tucked inside the Lego product catalog along with a Shop At Home advertisement. After calling the wonderful people at Lego, I was told that the set does not come with instructions for construction.
The Bottom Line
If you already have some of the sets in the Soccer series, this might be something to look out for at Wal-Mart. I picked these up for $2.50 a piece for no other reason than they were dirt cheap, when have you ever see a set with 49 pieces at such a low price. Since the boys already had the other sets opened I gave them a few to play around with and the thrill faded into the background after about 30 minutes. They aren’t big fans of soccer so that was part of the reason for their less than warn reception to the set. Unless you are a soccer junkie, this whole series is pretty much uninteresting for anything other than stock pieces.
There is no way, even if I were a soccer fan, that I would pay the suggested retail price of $13.99 - $15.99 for this set. I highly suggest that you check out the clearance section of Wal-Mart for this set as well as others from the Soccer series. Eventually someone somewhere will be looking to purchases these sets and I’ll be standing there with a stack of them feverishly trying to peel off the day glo orange ‘clearance’ stickers. Other sets within the series that were also on clearance included the Women’s Soccer Team [3416], Shoot ‘N Save [3422] and Target Practice [3424].
The Stats
Set Name: Field Expansion Set
Family Set: Soccer
Lego Set: 3410
Number of Pieces: 49
Age Recommendation: 6 - 12
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Time Of Assembly: 5 minutes
Cost: $ 2.50 [clearance]
http://www.lego.com/soccer
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $2.50
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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