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Name: Finger Spinner
Distributor: 818
Model: 81939
Pcs: 18/21/20/20
As I said last time, other companies have jumped on the bandwagon and produced their own fidget spinners for all to... enjoy? ...But I guess it's nice that they're actually making them and not just giving us instructions that rely on you having very specific parts on hand. ...Of course, the instructions did ask for quality parts that maximized the spinning potential and clearly had some professionalism and weren't just a cash-in produced with any parts lying around that could spin and-
Ok, I'm getting needlessly off-topic. Let's look at our first offering of overseas fidget spinner sets with these "Finger Spinners."
These come to us from the brilliant minds from "818." ...Whomever they are.
As you can guess, with a company as generically named as that, searching for anything else they've made is virtually impossible. ...If they've even done anything else. Most likely, they're just a proxy for another company like LELE or SLToys or some other unlicensed third-party brick producer. ...Why they would want to disguise their identity since this isn't their usual copyright-violating material is a mystery, but since the inventor of the fidget spinner is in dispute, they probably thought it was better to be safe than sorry. ...Not that it's stopped them in the past, I wager...
The packaging's actually quite decent, made from thin, laminated, quality cardboard and with some high-res images decorating the front and sides, including one on the front of a hand spinning the spinners. I honestly think more time and effort is put into making these boxes than the quality control of most of these sets...
There's even differing background colors for each. ...Though by comparing boxes, you can clearly see it's the same hand for each shot Photoshopped over the fidget spinner contained inside.
And the arc of each spinner is so wide, it starts blocking the text on the front...
Though maybe it was a misplaced attempt to hide the fact that each set has the exact same model number... Why even bother?
"Lasting Speed, Classic Fun!" ...Well, fidget spinners have apparently been around since 1993, so I'll give them "Classic Fun." If these have "lasting speed", I'll be very surprised.
Even more so if they have "super speed."
But maybe they can "Develop Children's Intelligence, Fostering Children's Ability." ...You sure you want to do that? It might cut off your supply of customers if you make them too smart to realize they shouldn't be buying these...
One side is basically a condensed version of the front of the box, same logo and picture. But at least they know it's a photo and not an "Illustrationa."
On the other side, we're invited to "Collect Them All." ...Which I did, since these came in lots of 4, so I've accomplished something in my life at least. ...Didn't say it was anything worthwhile...
And on the back, we see that they were too cheap to print out a instruction sheet, so they just printed it on the back of the box. ...Which made putting these together very awkward when I had it facing the camera... Still, I guess you'll never lose the instructions this way. ...But it's 18-21 pieces with a detailed picture on the front and side, I think people can figure it out.
The bottom of the box just has the standard multi-lingual warnings usually found on lesser-known brick brands.
Including their own flavor of warning icons as we've previously seen with the Jie Star Legion Cheetah Team. So remember: Do NOT
- Get hit by Pac-Man spitting out a jalapeno-flavored sugar cube
- Launch a black sphere version of the rocket from A Trip to the Moon
- Paint smiley faces on black marbles. ...That's just creepy...
Even though it says "6+" on the front.
Anyone between those ages is turned into a fidget spinner themselves. One that I made myself. ...Death is a positive here...
Alright, as I said in the last video, I've already put all of these together, so there's no sense in using my hyphens of space and time. Let's just cut to the overall review.
These are what I was talking about when I said in the last post that anyone could just find something that can form a spinning mechanism, add some other pieces to it, and call it a fidget spinner. These LITERALLY look like someone reached into a bucket of assorted Technic parts and tinkered around with them for a few minutes to make something that spins.
Especially these two, which look like someone got tired of their Ultrabuilds, took them apart, then fiddled with them absentmindedly while watching YouTube and found they produced something that spins. ...Then they immediately regretted taking apart their Ultrabuilds...
At least these two look intentional. ...Not creatively so, but I can tell they were aiming for a fidget spinner anyway.
What especially convinces me these two weren't meant to be spinners is that they have the same problem as the official one I looked at last time: you're expected to hold onto these little nubs to spin them.
Except these are actually worse, since they're so large and smooth, they can slip out of your grip if you try to spin them...
Not to mention that the quality of the bricks is so poor, they can fall apart while spinning...
Even the ones that have larger areas to grab onto aren't immune to unexpectedly falling apart. Well, I guess these could aid in mental stimulation. Namely, wondering where the pieces flew off to for the 2496th time...
The only one out of this line I can at least say is competent is this solid and very bright yellow spinner. The quality of the bricks is high enough to keep from scattering when spun and the parts you hold onto have ridges to keep your fingers from slipping.
I also like these little yellow lights at each end. It would have been nice if they chose a different color to offset all the yellow, but at least it lets me know there was some conscious thought put into it.
Unfortunately, nothing lends itself to keeping it spinning for very long. It spins decently, yes, but one of the marvels of a fidget spinner is how long it spins, as well as how it resists the friction of each side. This is mediocre at best in both those fields.
And that's the line. A bunch of pretty poorly-built spinners made out of basic parts that don't hold together at all. Spinning these is like just spinning in a circle yourself. You're the only one keeping it going, it doesn't last very long, and you're nauseous afterwards. ...Sort of like most Mondo Media shows come to think of it...
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Quality: At first, you might be fooled into thinking these have some level of quality to them. They look like real Technic pieces, they fit together alright, and they do look like something that would come off of a Ultrabuild. ...However, the illusion is shattered when you actually pick them up and start spinning them. The plastic feels much lighter and almost hollow compared to regular Lego, or even most knock-off sets I've come across, and they're covered in rough spots where sprue was obviously attached. And, as I've shown, they're prone to easily falling apart. So while they may have their use mixed in a bag with other bricks and pieces, being constantly smacked with a finger and spun around at high speeds isn't one of them...
Design: Two of them only have smooth, round nubs to hold onto, so it's hard to use them as fidget spinners if they're constantly slipping out of your fingers. The other two work alright in terms of actually spinning them, though neither of them spin for very long and only one of them can keep from falling apart. They seem designed to be as frustrating as possible, and after picking them up off the ground for the 5223rd time, spending $5 on that fidget spinner at Walmart doesn't seem that bad anymore...
Creativity: I guess it's creative that they could make symmetrical spinners out of normal Technic pieces, each with a unique color to them. Points for using shoulder pads and fists from Ultrabuilds, but, as I mentioned, these just look like someone reached into a bucket of bricks and subconsciously made something that spins. Heck, even doing that would probably have produced something more fun to look at instead of these bare bones, bland contraptions. They're there to do their job. ...And even that's debatable.
Readability: The instructions are stuck on the back of the boxes and split into only 4 steps, but since there are less than 2 dozen bricks each, it's impossible to lose your place or miss a piece. They're all very straightforward. I can't complain.
Packaging: The quality of the boxes is surprisingly high, especially when compared to what they contain. It's smooth cardboard that's been laminated and given a nice print job. However, with the instructions on the back and the sides either just copying the front of the box or telling you what you've most likely already collected, it doesn't leave room for much Engrish insanity or ridiculous posing. I guess the fact that it claims that these spinners spin long and fast is funny, but only in hindsight and it's expected for things like these to have exaggerated claims. Besides that, it's just a standard, relatively boring design that does its job. I will give it a solid point that it claims it can actually educate your children though.
Compatibility: Being made from Technic parts, they're about as compatible with regular Lego and other building bricks as those are. Namely, not very much unless you incorporate some adapter pieces. ...I don't know why you'd want to stick other bricks on these things though...
Overall:
They're interesting in concept, but boring and faulty in execution, with substandard designs and parts that fall off with the slightest flick. Only one of them worked properly and even then barely performed its function. Unless you're super curious about how these work, I think you're better off building your own...
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