frogstudio Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 Hi to all!!!! So, after waiting for more than a month (problems in Argentinian customs, not on the seller) I finally received this set and wanted to share with you this review. So.. let's get to it... WARNING: If you're a Lego taliban,who just can only hate competitor products and with the inhability or desire to recognise that things have changed a lot, please don't read this review, as you will surely not like it!!! :) Origin: Republic of Korea Manufacturer: Oxford Bricks Set Name: Navy Cruiser w/Chopper Set Number: NCM80000 Piece Count: many... REALLY many!!! Price: U$S 46.76.- Retailer" GMarket (kindly provided by Crossmr) The Box: The packagging is exelent, similar to what LEGO used to give us long ago and far better to current LEGO standards. The box is HUGE (55 x 43 x 9 cm), but let's take a look at it... Front: The front shows us the battleship in all of its glory, with the small chopper flying over it. Back: here we get some more nice images of the set + specifications and some play features. Opened Flap: When you lift the flap, you'll find a really nice aerial shot of the set and see the inner tray with the remarkable pieces and on the other side, the remaining pieces. Inner Box: Inside the outside packagging, we find a sturdy black box that keeps all the pieces secured. Contents: The set comes with seven hull pieces (will talk about them later) and a good selection of light gray anddark gray bricks and plates. There are also a few specialized pieces (like the ones used for the chimneys of the ship. We also find a single instruction booklet and a sticker sheet. Instruction Booklet: The printing is high quality and has quite clear instructions on how to assemble the model. No messing with colurs or nothig of the sort. One random page of the instructions Stickers sheet: Unlike other clone brands such as Enlighten, Oxford doesn't print their pieces and still use stickers, as LEGO does. Though the printing on the stickers is of really high quality, I won't be applying them, since they are paper based (not vynil based as LEGO's ones). In fact, I plan to design my own stickers, print them on vynil and the apply them. Minifigs: The set comes with eight minifigs (1 chopper pilot, 1 admiral, 1 captain and 5 sailors/marines) For those who are not familiar to Oxford minifigs, they are a bit different to LEGO ones. Though the hands and head are tha same (enabling the cross-use of both headgear and accesories), the torso and legs are different. Here's a break up of a minifig, to make it clear... Captain and Admiral Sailors and Chopper Pilot More sailors Back view of the whole crew Accesories: The set comes with two sprues with accesories. They are nicely done, but the assault rifles are of the old type, which are HUGE and completely unusable. :( The life best mold is really nice, and in fact, the new mold done by LEGO is quite similar to this one... The Hull system: The hull of the ship is made of piece in a way similar to how LEGO boats of the early '80s were made, but in a much bigger size. I find this a great way of making hulls, as it allows you to make it longer or shorter, depending on what kind of ship you want to build. The bow mould: Its pretty big, 16 x 16 studs, and has a really nice streamlined design. The middle section mould: Smaller than the first one, 16 x 10 studs, great design here too. The stern section mould: Regarding size, it's in between the first two, 16 x 13 studs, also a great design. The complete hull: it's HUGE, similar in size to the 7994's Cargo Ship. The Build: It's a really enjoyable build. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to finish the set. Here, a juts finifshing the stern section... Finished model: The chopper: It's small, similar to LEGO's choppers of the '80s, but still a nice little model. The destroyer, in all of it's glory!!! And with the minifigs... Some play features (acces to the engine rooms, though, a bit bare) Leftovers: Conclusion: This is for sure a must buy set for anyone interested in militar ships. Oxford's quality is THE SAME or even a bit better than recent LEGO bricks (reminds me of the days before they changed the way of colouring the ABS). Color consistency is of 100%, not a single change in hue. The ABS feels sturdier that current LEGO bricks, yet, it's not brittle as the plastic used by Enlighten. The price to piece ratio is geat, lots of minifigs, great packagging... what eslse can you ask for??? All these got me thinking... why does LEGO charge us so much for their products? Here, you can't come out with the old fashioned argument that "you're paying for quality". You can't either argue that you're paying for better design or packagging... As I posted in a previous topic, I really think that, if Oxford gets into the European and Unitated States markets, I can be a serious contender for LEGO. I really hope they do, since it will only mean that we will be able to get these great sets cheaper and that LEGO will be forced to continue innovating and offering us more for the same money... :) And to finish... a short story.... LEGO sailor: Excuse me admiral.. would you be willing to lend us your ship for a couple of weeks... Our father produced us, but forgot to give us something to sail in... ADMIRAL: Go megabluck yourself!!!! Tell some Danish shpyard to build you one. The proud people of Korea have built this one for us!!! But, in another area of the deck... the fellow sailor are fraternizing,shouwing us all theta IT IS POSSIBLE for LEGO and Oxford to coexist... :) And thus, the happy ending... Hope you enjoyed it!!!! Quote
Nightshroud99 Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 Really good review, I still need to get myself some of these Not a fan of the helicopter or guns though. Quote
Ralph_S Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 Interesting review frogstudio. Some elements of the model strike me as very basic and there are a few issues with scale and what are those orange lights all over the place? It has some nice features, such as the opening ammunition hatches and the overall shape is decent. The hull pieces are nice too and the fit seems to be pretty good, which is impressive given the size of the elements. The helicopter is little short of atrocious, however. I agree that it looks somewhat like LEGO's helicopters from the early 'eighties, but they at least had something that looked like engines. From that helicopter it seems obvious to me that these guys are also having to limit the parts count to keep the cost down. Cheers, Ralph Quote
Snark Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 I really think that, if Oxford gets into the European and Unitated States markets, I can be a serious contender for LEGO. I really hope they do, since it will only mean that we will be able to get these great sets cheaper and that LEGO will be forced to continue innovating and offering us more for the same money... :) Well, in a way, they have with Kre-O, which is made with Oxford bricks. That said, I'd love it if Oxford stuff was more readily available in the West, I really want their Three Kingdoms stuff. Quote
SilentMode Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 That was a really good review, and I agree that competition would only be a good thing for Lego. I particularly like those life vests, and the boat parts don't look bad either. Very suspect that those S4 Sailors were carrying or given guns right at the end..! Quote
lightningtiger Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 Thanks 'frogstudio' for this review, apart from the oversized rifles and that chopper....it's a very impressive set and builds into a nice warship. I wonder what is next to be reviewed, perhaps the clones are learning to make this better ! Those sailor helmets look very WWII US Navy right ? Brick On while singing In The Navy ! Quote
frogstudio Posted October 29, 2011 Author Posted October 29, 2011 Very good review. Does it float? In theory, the hull piece could float, but I don't think the model would. It weights about 4 KG, so I guess it would go down right to the bottom!!! Quote
posades Posted October 29, 2011 Posted October 29, 2011 In theory, the hull piece could float, but I don't think the model would. It weights about 4 KG, so I guess it would go down right to the bottom!!! You know there are canoes made out of concrete, so weight is not always an issue. Nice review though, it's nice to see quality products from competitors. In a perfect world LEGO would see this and lower their prices to be more competitive, but alas I don't think they see Oxford as real competitors here in the US and elsewhere. Quote
Peppermint_M Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 You know there are canoes made out of concrete, so weight is not always an issue. Nice review though, it's nice to see quality products from competitors. In a perfect world LEGO would see this and lower their prices to be more competitive, but alas I don't think they see Oxford as real competitors here in the US and elsewhere. Concrete is bouyant, of course it floats. The hull there is split into sections which will let water in, so on its own it may float as the water will enter slowly. However loaded down with bricks the water will be pushed into the hull faster and sink it. Is a nice boat. The helicopter leaves a little to be desired though. Quote
gonzilla Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 great review of a terrific model! this bit of dialog had me rolling on the floor... LEGO sailor: Excuse me admiral.. would you be willing to lend us your ship for a couple of weeks... Our father produced us, but forgot to give us something to sail in... here's a link to info on the earlier (but no less cool) destroyer model by oxford: http://bloks.hyperboards.com/action/view_topic/topic_id/3401 ..jg Quote
bjarashow Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 Thank you Frogstudio for the review! I've beeen looking at this set and considering it because the hull looked awsome from the standard pictures. I think it really lives up to what I would have hoped for. I ma glad to see that the method crossmr presented for ordering through the Korean website works. I assume the $46 price you state did not include shipping? How much more was that? Some elements of the model strike me as very basic and there are a few issues with scale and what are those orange lights all over the place? It has some nice features, such as the opening ammunition hatches and the overall shape is decent. The hull pieces are nice too and the fit seems to be pretty good, which is impressive given the size of the elements. The helicopter is little short of atrocious, however. I agree that it looks somewhat like LEGO's helicopters from the early 'eighties, but they at least had something that looked like engines. From that helicopter it seems obvious to me that these guys are also having to limit the parts count to keep the cost down. I have two other Oxford sets and as far as I can tell (from these and looking at pictures/reviews of the others), their model design philosophy is far less refined than LEGO have become over the past 20 years or so. Certainly for the military sets, I would describe most of their models as 'chunky' - thye build with simpler techniques and a smaller part inventory than LEGO, but generally they get the point across. Considering how big that model is - I count 80 studs length, right? - I suspect you're right about limiting part count somewhere as well. I don't know if that's as true of their other lines..... Quote
tkf Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 Interesting review, when i saw images of this set i thought it is smaller, but it appears that it is big. Ship and crew look nice, the only issue imho is copter. It is a bit squared ^_^. Quote
Ralph_S Posted October 31, 2011 Posted October 31, 2011 I have two other Oxford sets and as far as I can tell (from these and looking at pictures/reviews of the others), their model design philosophy is far less refined than LEGO have become over the past 20 years or so. Certainly for the military sets, I would describe most of their models as 'chunky' - thye build with simpler techniques and a smaller part inventory than LEGO, but generally they get the point across. Considering how big that model is - I count 80 studs length, right? - I suspect you're right about limiting part count somewhere as well. I don't know if that's as true of their other lines..... Frogstudio may be right that the quality of the parts has improved a lot, but the design of this ship is definitely clunky. I think that limiting the part count and the variety of parts shows in the helicopter. The ship isn't too bad, but that helicopter is awful. I take back what I said about engines though. This is what LEGO presented back in 1979! That puts Oxford behind about 30 years I reckon that if LEGO would make a military ship- which they won't- it would look a lot better, but unfortunately would also be at least twice as expensive! For military stuff, I'll stick to MOCs. Cheers, Ralph Quote
Laura Beinbrech Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 Thanks for this review, Frogstudio! I've been looking at other Oxford reviews, but wasn't really interested in their Military line, due to the fact that most of the sets used Dark Olive Green parts that wouldn't mix well with LEGO colors, however, I'm definitely getting this bad puppy in December (I blew my monthly LEGO budget for November on the Black Pearl)... Even if the light grey pieces don't match the LEGO light-bley color very well, I'd be willing to get this set JUST for the awesome 16 x 80 stud hull alone! Even leaving that aside, and possible coloring differences with LEGO greys, I could use the pieces for Castle/building MOCs. The Hull would be perfect for making a Light Cruiser or heavy destroyer (for size comparison, I'm using the 51 x 12 hull from the LEGO City Police Boat as the base of a MOC Guided-missile Frigate)... That said, this looks like a nice set, even though I'm rather disappointed with the Helicopter design and the fact that the ship has no interior, however it DOES look fairly close to the Real Life Ship, the King Sejong the Great-class DDGs that are the ROK's rough equivalent to the US Navy's Arleigh-Burke Class and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's Atago-class Aegis DDG's. I'm wondering how hard it would be to mod the Oxford figures to use LEGO minifig legs... I like the overall design of the Oxford figs, but the leg design just bugs me... Probably because it looks a bit too "Duplo-ish" to me or something. Quote
crossmr Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 Glad to see you go it! I'll make a couple comments: The guns included here are the old guns. Newer military sets have better sized guns as you'll see in my recent reviews minifigure bodies are also the old oxford style. With their latest military line they've changed the body style again. I don't think you could really mix them with Lego figures, except for heads, hands and accessories. As for the "chunkyness" of it, you'll have to remember that most military vehicles are a little chunky. If you want to see other designs, check out some of their other sets. This is also from their last line. This set is several years old and Oxford is in the process of redoing their military line (they just released 2 large sets in the last day or so) so there may be a new boat coming I think their fire and city sets look nice. I wish they'd make more buildings. Quote
Lasse D Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 Is there an easy way to disassemble the hull pieces so that you can put Styrofoam into them and try to make it float? It might still be too top heavy, but that is worth a try. Quote
gonzilla Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 . . . Oxford is in the process of redoing their military line (they just released 2 large sets in the last day or so) so there may be a new boat coming. --suddenly slavering-- HUH??? what are the 'large' sets you are referring to? more info (with links if possible), por favor! ..jg Quote
Laura Beinbrech Posted November 3, 2011 Posted November 3, 2011 Is there an easy way to disassemble the hull pieces so that you can put Styrofoam into them and try to make it float? It might still be too top heavy, but that is worth a try. Well, looking closely at the pics in the first post, it appears that the top part of the hull sections are held to the bottom parts by screws (much like the LEGO Pirate ship bow and stern pieces), so it should be a simple matter of removing the screws, inserting Styrofoam that has been cut to fit and reassembling them... Another possible way, that wouldn't add hardly any weight would be to use silicone sealant to seal the sections, creating watertight compartments in each hull section. This is actually how modern Naval vessels are able to stay afloat in all kinds of weather and/or after taking severe battle damage (most recent event that showcases how effective this compartmentalization is would be the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in 2000), meaning that your ship could be completely filled with water, but as long as the hull sections remained sealed, it would float (might be riding low in the water, though) Quote
TheWarden Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 The review was fine, however it seems a little rude to call us "taliban" no? How about watching your words next time... Quote
frogstudio Posted November 4, 2011 Author Posted November 4, 2011 The review was fine, however it seems a little rude to call us "taliban" no? How about watching your words next time... Sorry and no problem. Next time I'll use the word fundamentalist, so that no one can associate it with any particular culture. Quote
crossmr Posted November 4, 2011 Posted November 4, 2011 --suddenly slavering-- HUH??? what are the 'large' sets you are referring to? more info (with links if possible), por favor! ..jg http://oxfordtoy.co.kr/pro/oxford.asp?p_code=10&g_code=97 OM3305 and OM3306 though honestly I'm a little underwhelmed. I'm going to add them along with some thoughts to the military thread Quote
Laura Beinbrech Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 I'm going to see about ordering this bad puppy at the end of the month... I just set up my GMarket account, and I think I've located the same seller that Frogstudio bought his from. I just realized a couple things: First of all, am I correct that the gray used in this set (and Oxford in general) is the same as the old LEGO gray and dark gray? Also, these large-sized corner pieces (you can see them plainly in the pic): should be most welcome to Castle builders... I've always been a bit peeved that LEGO corner bricks only came in one size, meaning that you had to just stack them on top of each other until you got the height you wanted, which is not the most stable of construction methods... These bricks, on the other hand, when combined with LEGO standard corner bricks, should allow you to create interlocked, sturdy, corners without having to resort to the 6-high corner pieces... Finally, even if I can't mod the minifig torsos to work with LEGO legs, I'll still be happy to use the arms, hands and heads (always on the lookout for more variety in minifig faces). Quote
charlieboy Posted November 6, 2011 Posted November 6, 2011 I have to admit that up until today I think i've avoided every thread on these Oxfore reviews. I had a few minutes to kill so thought i'd take a look and i'm glad I did! The set is of much better quality than I had assumed it would be, the box and packaging are also quite impressive too! I'm still not going to purchase one, not a whole set anyway but those hull pieces would get snapped up if I saw them for sale on Ebay or similar. I'm not one for mixing clone brands with Lego but I can see one awesome warship moc being built with parts from both. What i'm none to keen on is the random hollow studs on the pieces, like the spare 1x6 plate, whats the purpose of that hollow stud? Anyhoo, a great review of a nice looking set and thanks for opening my eyes a little Quote
Laura Beinbrech Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Sorry about the bump, but I just recently got this set (probably from the same seller that Frogstudio got his), and I cannot recommend this set enough! Leaving aside the awesome boat hull, which made the set worthwhile by itself (more on that later), opening up the box was like opening a LEGO time capsule: Not only was the set packaged like the large LEGO sets during the 1980's and 1990's, but it also had several of the old-school 4x4 hinge plates! (Yes, they DO work with the old LEGO hinge plates: I checked). Furthermore, the grays were a PERFECT match for the old Gray and old Dark Gray colors... As a matter of fact, the one WIP pic I'll be posting further along has several old dark gray LEGO bricks and plates in it, but I'm betting you won't be able to tell them apart, and as all the Oxford review here have already said, the quality of the bricks is at least as good as LEGO's. As for the figs, here's what I discovered: Oxford legs will fit LEGO minifig bodies, but they look kind of funny, due to the "hip" section being much narrower than the LEGO one (because it fits inside the Oxford torso), and LEGO minifig legs will fit Oxford torsos, but there will be a gap in the hip area due to the same reason... I have a feeling that if I were to file the Oxford torso down until the hip area was perfectly flat, they would work perfectly with the LEGO legs. Otherwise, Oxford arms and LEGO minifig arms are 100% interchangeable (although the Oxford ones are slightly longer), as are the hands, but Oxford hands fit WAY loose in the LEGO minifig arms. Heads posed no problem at all, and most of the Oxford body wear and headgear worked with the minifigs (although the Oxford helmets were EXTREMELY tight and hard to get back off) Now for the hull: Comparison between my LEGO Battle Cruiser and the OXFORD Destroyer Hull by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr This is showing the complete Oxford ship hull, in all its glory, next to the CSS Baton Rouge, which is made using the same basic Hull scheme as the Black Pearl, but with two additional hull sections added... As you can see, this Oxford ship is a BEAST! It almost makes the Baton Rouge look puny! FNS Gettysburg WIP1 by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr This picture is a WIP MOC that I'm building using this wonderful, wonderful hull... You can see the awesome old-school type hinge plates that I used to make the VLS (vertical missile launcher) in the forward section of the ship, and I've already incorporated some of my old dark gray bricks and plates into it (I triple dog-dare you to pick out where I used the LEGO elements as opposed to the Oxford ones). I ended up paying ALMOST as much for shipping as I did for the set itself, which brought the price up to about $80US, but as you can see it was well worth it (the Pearl, which is nowhere near as big costs $100US, and the Queen Anne's Revenge, which might match the overall size due to its height, is $120US), so I reccomend this set to anyone interested in making enormous warship MOCs. Quote
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