Dragon Ball Z minifigures by Lele (set 78045)

Our eight heroes : Yamcha, Vegeta, Son Gokū, Son Gohan, Kame Sennin, Piccolo, Krilin, Tenshinhan

I finally get it ! It took 22 days to come home, but now it's in my display case. So, what's up with this third Lego bootleg Dragon Ball set ? First, new characters : Tenshinhan, Piccolo and adult Son Gohan. Secondly, new clothes : Vegeta dropped his armor and Yamcha wears the suit he had the first time Son Gokū met him. Finally : here come the Dragon Balls ! Oh yes ! The exact center of the manga, the things that made the whole story begin finally come to bricks : the seven balls. Yes, there are eight of it here, but there are eight minifigures. One couldn't have no ball. Maybe Lele could have chosen another accessory, like a small Saiyajin spaceship for Vegeta. Anyway, the most important thing is that we have the seven Dragon Balls, and this set has a very good quality !

A better view of the Dragon Balls

The first thing we notice is the Dragon Balls, with their strange machines. It's a funny way to hold them. There are four different machines. Then, the minifigures bases. I don't like it, I prefer the simple Decool ones that copy the original Lego Minifigures bases.

As always, we have three classic characters : Vegeta, Super Saiyajin Son Gokū and Kame Sennin. Why Kame Sennin/Muten Roshi ? Just, why ? He comes in every set but he's not a major character in the series. I don't know why chinese knockoff brands love him that much. It's not a criticism, I like him and it doesn't disturb me, but I don't understand.

Yamcha, Kame Sennin, Krilin, Tenshinhan

It's made of good quality plastic. The pieces interlock well. The printing is good. Sometimes, the skin color on the torsos is different from the head color, but I know it's difficult to get the same color. The hair are about the same as in the Decool set, but with less details. I think Lele took a mold of Decool hair pieces to create their own hair pieces, that can explain the difference in details. Something can be shocking : Piccolo's arms are beige. But look at a drawing of this character : there are a lot of pink things. So Lele chose to take this color for his arms. Not a bad choice.

The backs are not printed : no details on torsos backs and no alternative face expression. Still not an issue for me. Maybe some minifigures collecters will be disappointed, I'm not. They're cool as they are, it's enough for me.

Vegeta, Son Gokū, Son Gohan, Piccolo

What about the accessories ? It's about the same as in the two other sets. Son Gokū has his Nyoi Bo on his back. It's a Gokū accessory, but he doesn't need it anymore since he knows how to become a Super Saiyajin. Kame Sennin has is typical stick. This time, his stick is better done than in the other sets. There is a special piece at the end of it to make it really look like the stick he holds in the manga. He wears a turtle shell too. Yamcha has in his hand the swork he uses in the beginning of the manga, when he was clothed this way.

Well, now, the bad accessories. Krilin has two knives. Like in the Decool set. But why ? I never saw him holding knives ! Tenshinhan has a transparent neon light green stick. Maybe to symbolize his energy wave, but I think there are better ways to symbolize this. Next, Vegeta. He holds a Star Wars Lightsaber. I just don't want to try to find why he has this accessory. Son Gohan has a gold chainsaw. I'm laughin' IRL, next ! Piccolo has small transparent dark green things in his hands. To symbolize his energy waves. OK it's over this time for accessories or I will get nervous.

The worst-made faces in the set

It's really a cool set, but there are still some issues. First, I was shocked when I opened my bags with the minifigures in it and notices that Kame Sennin's legs were orange, whereas in all the pictures of this set I saw, he has purple legs ! Well, maybe an error when they put the pieces in the bag.

All hair pieces are good except one. Actually, Yamcha wears the suit he had at the beginning of Dragon Ball. But he doesn't have the long hair he had at this time. He has the hair he had during the Androids and Cell saga. It's good to choose rare clothes, but it would be better if Lele were consistent and gave him the right hair.

Then, four minifigures have a strange face printing : Vegeta, Son Gohan, Piccolo and Yamcha. Not really ugly, or bad, or not unsimilar to their real faces. But it's not a big issue. Just a little disturbing, especially for Piccolo.

The last issue is about Gohan's and Tenshinhan's torsos. Lele invented new muscles ! Sooooo disturbing ! They never saw a human being body or what ?

Were there muscles sales in Lele's office ?

OK, so to conclude, I will say that it's a good set. Maybe less oddball than JLB set, but there are new characters and new clothings. So now, with the three Dragon Ball sets, I have 15 different characters : Super Saiyajin Son Gokū, Super Saiyajin Son Gokū with ripped clothes, Super Saiyajin 3 Son Gokū, Super Saiyajin 4 Son Gokū, young Son Gohan, adult Son Gohan, Vegeta with armor, Vegeta without armor, Yamcha with his debut clothes, Yamcha wearing the Kame suit, Kame Sennin, Krilin, Tenshinhan, Piccolo and Majin Buu. Not bad, isn't it ? 15 different characters on 20 minifigures in total. I begin to have a pretty good Dragon Ball minifigures collection !

I admit that I was not confident when I ordered this set, because I read articles in blogs telling that Lele quality was not good. I can tell I'm surprised by the quality of this set. It's not as good as Decool, sure, but not bad. Much better than JLB ! I will buy other sets by Lele.

Next time, I will write about... Actually I don't know. If I get my other bootleg minifigures sets soon, it will be a knockoff article. If I don't, it will be an article about genuine Lego sets. See you next time, bros !

VERDICT IDEAS : √  REALIZATION : √

Dragon Ball Z minifigures by JLB (sets 5901 to 5906)

Super Saiyajin Son Gokū, Majin Buu, Super Saiyajin 3 Son Gokū / Vegeta, Super Saiyajin 4 Son Gokū / Kame Sennin

As I promised in the last article, I will now talk about the JLB Dragon Ball Z minifigures. I received this set at the same time as I receveid the Decool one. It was very pleaseful to get in one time all these DBZ characters. Some were in both sets (Super Saiyajin Son Gokū, Vegeta and Kame Sennin), but this allowed me to do comparisons. Decool minifigures were a brilliant success. What about JLB's ?

Gokū's theory of evolution

The first time I saw these minfigures, I find it original and botched. Mixed feelings for this set. It was a very good idea to put different Gokū in the same set. It makes me think of the Bandai Super Battle Collection Son Gokū pack with interchangeable heads. You may think more Gokū means less other characters. Nevermind, JLB will put other Dragon Ball characters in their next set ! Kame Sennin is a rare character in the latter part of the manga, it's interesting to notice that chinese brands like him, as he appears in the Decool set too. I was very surprised the first time I saw Majin Buu in a minifigures set, he wouldn't be one of the first characters I would put in a set. But he's the best made character from this set.
What about accessories ? First, what is the black and yellow construction on the left of the plate ? I have no idea. I think all JLB minifigures have this, but... I have no word for this, it's beyond me. And the hand accessories ? Not a bad idea but that doesn't do it. Five minifigures have two 1x1 round plates symbolizing their energy waves. Three of them have a blue energy wave (Super Saiyajin Son Gokū, Majin Buu and Super Saiyajin 3 Son Gokū) and two of them have a red one (Vegeta and Super Saiyajin 4 Son Gokū). I talked of five minifigure. What about the sixth one ? It's Kame Sennin holding a kind of iron stick. Well... Isn't he the creator of Kamehameha ? He would have deserved an energy wave more than the other characters !

Kame Sennin, Super Saiyajin Son Gokū, Super Saiyajin 3 Son Gokū, Vegeta, Super Saiyajin 4 Son Gokū, Majin Buu

I tried to make the minifigures stand up. I didn't manage it, so I used Decool plates to take the picture. OK, so bad news for the players. Then, the pieces fit bad together. Sometimes a hand doesn't want to be hitched, another time the legs bend on their own. It's not a good quality ! The hair are made with a disgusting soft plastic. Vegeta wears kneepads, but he never wore it.
The printing is not that bad. Sometimes the colors don't fit (Son Gokū Super Saiyajin 3 and 4's chests have not a fitting color with their skin. The faces are quite good. The best three faces are Vegeta, Kame Sennin and Majin Buu. Unfortunately, Kame Sennin's face is printed too low, so his beard hides a major part of it. The three Son Gokūs' faces don't really look like Son Gokū. Super Saiyajin 3 Son Gokū has eyebrows whereas he doesn't have it in the manga.
In comparison to Decool minifigures, Kame Sennin is as tall as the other characters, whereas he is smaller in the Decool set. It's not really an issue. This character wears a turtle shell too, the same as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Raphael.

Kame Sennin, Super Saiyajin Son Gokū, Super Saiyajin 3 Son Gokū, Vegeta, Super Saiyajin 4 Son Gokū, Majin Buu

To conclude I will say that it's not a bad set, but the quality isn't present. Some characters are well done, the other are cheap. The best character is Majin Buu because he doesn't have one of those terrible hairpieces. Fortunately I had no piece missing unlike a friend of mine who had a JLB One Piece set with one leg missing. If this brand releases other Dragon Ball Z sets I would be happy, if they don't it's OK.

Next time I will talk of a Lego set. And then a new Dragon Ball minifigures set when I'll get it !

VERDICT IDEAS : √  REALIZATION : X

Dragon Ball Z minifigures by Decool (sets 701 to 706)

Son Gokū, Son Gohan, Yamcha, Kame Sennin, Krilin, Vegeta with accessories

I begin this magnificent blog with the mix of two things that represent my childhood and made me what I am today : Dragon Ball Z and Lego. Actually, it's not really Lego, this is a minifigure set made by a Lego bootleg brand : Decool which is the best Lego bootleg brand I know. They make really good quality minifigures.

Let's fight !!

Now let's talk about the set and the minifigures : it is composed of six of the major characters from the manga Dragon Ball. Super Saiyajin Son Gokū, his son Son Gohan, his rival Vegeta, his sensei Kame Sennin and his mates Yamcha and Krilin. The choice of these characters is very good : we have three Saiyajin warriors, the most important characters in the "Z" part of the manga and three important characters from the beginning of the series who become less and less fundamental as enemies get stronger. Everyone is pleased : fans of the adventure and funniest part of the manga and fans of its action and most violent part.

It's pleasant to notice that minfigures backs are illustrated. Figures are very complete. Kame Sennin has a turtle shell on his back. Decool designers could just print a shell on the torso back but they are meticulous. The shell used here is the same as Raphael wears in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Lego sets.

Son Gokû and Kame Sennin
the only two minifigures with back accessories

The haired characters have reversible faces. The player can choose the expression he wants his minifigure has. It's a very interesting possibility. However, two characters (Yamcha and Son Gohan) have their hair too short on the back so we can see the bottom of the second face.

About Gohan's hair, the plastic used is different from the other character's. It's a mat soft plastic that looks more fragile than shiny hard plastic. Secondly, Gohan's haircut doesn't look like the one he has in the manga.

Gohan's legs are normal legs so the minifigure is as tall as Son Gokū, Yamcha and Vegeta. But in reality, Gohan wears these clothes when he's a kid, so he shouldn't be as tall as adults. Krilin and Kame Sennin are short-legged and so should Gohan be. Maybe I will buy another set to give Gohan the legs he deserves to have.

Son Gokū with Son Gohan as he should be

What about the accessories ? Only one is consistent, Kame Sennin's stick. The other are either understandable or completely absurd. Son Gokū has his nyoi-bō on his back. Well, I'm OK it's Gokū's most typical accessory, but at this time of the manga, he doesn't need it anymore. Can you imagine Super Saiyajin Son Gokū fighting against Freeza or Cell with his stick ? Then we have Gohan and Yamcha with swords. It's the same thing that for Gokū : they once had it, but they don't need it anymore. Yamcha had a sword when he was a desert bandit and Gohan had it when he was trained by Piccolo. But they weren't dressed like this at this time. What about Vegeta's lightsaber ? I think Decool designers wanted to represent his final flash. Not a bad idea in my opinion but it's not very convincing. I finish with Krilin's knives. Seriously, Krilin using knives ? I never saw it in the manga or the TV series. But what is Krilin's typical accessory ? I don't think he has one. Decool people wanted to give each minifigure an accessory. Maybe they could find some trick to represent kienzan. That could be an idea.

Son Gokū, Kame Sennin, Son Gohan, Vegeta, Yamcha, Krilin
backside

As a conclusion I will say that these minifigures are perfect (or almost perfect if you are demanding). I really hope Decool will create other sets. I would like to have enemies (the big ones : Freeza, Cell and Buu), Son Gokū with black hair, Super Saiyan Vegeta and Gohan, Gotenks, mirai Trunks, Piccolo and Tenshinhan. And for fun I would love to have rare characters like Chaozu, east Kaio Shin, Raditz, Great Saiyaman etc.

Rendezvous in the next article for the review of the Dragon Ball Z minifigures by JLB !

VERDICT IDEAS : √  REALIZATION : √