Mixels series 2: Flexers
Posted by Huw,
Mixels series 2 are starting to appear in the shops now and the Mixels microsite at LEGO.com has been updated to include them.
I've been sent a set to review by the LEGO CEE team (thanks Kim...) so let's kick off with the orange tribe, the Flexers who, apparently, live in the remote Rubberlands. Other than that nugget of information I haven't been able to find out much about their back-story.
41515 Kraw
Kraw is a 6-legged crab-like beast who, like other members of the tribe, consists of a mouth, legs and not much else. There are no new ball joints in the set, but plenty of 1x2 curved slopes and other new parts.
His mouth is hinged and good use is made of the elephant tail/trunk piece that crops up in sets from time to time.
41516 Tentro
Tentro has 4 octopus-like legs complete with suckers. His head is hinged. He doesn't have a opening mouth but does sport some sort of mustache. At least, that's what it looks like to me.
Four of the new ball and socket joints are used for his legs providing a good degree of poseability.
41517 Balk
Three-legged Balk is my favourite of the tribe, partly because he features the only new part in the three of them: white minifig heads printed with eyes. The baseball caps make great eyelids.
The tentacles can be twisted and turned in all directions.
His whole mouth is hinged at the back.
The Nixel comes with Balk and is the same as one of them that appeared in series 1.
The whole tribe...
I enjoyed building these, each one is very different from the other although, as you can see above, their designs share the same DNA and largely succeed in suggesting a degree of elasticity implied by their tribe and home names.
Blue tribe next...
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16 comments on this article
They could have been more generous with the ball joints. I really wish these had more orange, way too much gray.
Nice review, Huw. I think the mustaches are not captured very well, if that's what they are. I think you might have accidentally put a ? before Tentro in the beginning of the paragraph.
I assembled a number of Series 2 models yesterday (a local retailer has them out early). Kraw is definitely my favourite of them all so far (including series 1).
I thought I would mention that Tentro's "hat" (orange part) is all that's on the hinge. His entire head is on a spinner that rotates 360 degrees.
You can read about the Flexers' individual personalities on the site you linked to at the beginning of the article! Not sure if that was the sort of backstory you were hoping to find... it's not a terribly story-intensive theme, and even its animated shorts are less about world-building and more about slapstick comedy.
http://www.mixels.com/ has also updated with the Series 2 Mixels, so you can see the animated versions of the Flexers in their homeland, the appearance of which surprised me. I don't know quite what I was expecting, but certainly not a bunch of birdhouses dangling from the clouds by elastic cable. You can try out different "Mixes" by clicking on any mixel and then clicking on the cubit icon (though some result in "Murps" and don't show you the result of that particular combination). If you click the donut-shaped birdhouse, you can knock out Nixels to find an orange cubit that reveals the animated version of the Flexer Max, and unlocks a Flexer-themed minigame. Also, clicking on any of the Mixels, Mixes, or Maxes causes them to react with a unique animation — the Mixels have multiple animations that they cycle through, while the Maxes and Mixes each have a predetermined animation.
I was honestly quite surprised to discover how FUN this website could be, even if you don't play any of the actual minigames. Just exploring to find the cubit on each world is exciting, as is watching the individual Mixel animations and testing out different "Mixes". Bit of a shame that it isn't better integrated with the LEGO Mixels site.
Anyway, good review! Really loving the range of personalities the Mixels portray!
Tentro is by far my favourite of the oranges. I really like the squid thing he's got going on.
That's not a moustache, that's a pair (or rather two pairs) of claws closed shut. Think crabs.
Kind of disappointed that the joints are not all ball.
Huw, will we be seeing another Mixel Competition, I really enjoyed the last one!
Yes we will, as soon as they are more widely available.
The TRU near me had this series, but none really left. I didn't really like any of series 1, but these are nice, love the mini figure head eyes and orange hats.
Great review! These guys look great, but I much prefer the Frosticons I found at Target just the other day. Still, I'll eventually pick these little orange dudes up. Huw, did you notice the sea creature resemblance of these?
Also, if you need information for further Mixels reviews, the wiki I founded has a ton: mixels.wikia.com. :-)
^ Now you mention it, yes. What would you say Balk resembled?
I found that wiki, too. It does indeed have some interesting info, although some of it inaccurate.
Can't wait for these to come out. Will you be doing a review of the maxes for series 2 as well?
Looks like I'm going to have to buy some for the building competition...
Balk is definitely my personal favorite, he's like a cross between a hammerhead shark and a War of the Worlds tripod.
For the next Mixel competition, will it be only series 2, or will we be able to use series one parts too?
Was really hoping to pick up some of this this w/e but both our local Target and LEGO store San Jose/ Valley Fair were cleaned out!