The world of SKYLANDERS is massive… especially for those that are actively immersed in the popular games from Activision and their associated collectible figurines that have crossed over into the toy aisle. From a financial standpoint, I’m lucky that SKYLANDERS hasn’t caught on here at Rock Father HQ, despite my reviewing SPYRO’S ADVENTURE, the first game in the series back in 2011. Aside from that game and a couple of Happy Meal Toys that infiltrated our home at some point, we’d been largely SKYLANDERS-free until the folks at MEGA Bloks sent over their new ARKEYAN ROBOT KING Building Set for review in The Rock Father’s State-of-the-Art Toy Testing Facility (our house and yard). A little preview of things to come since SKYLANDERS: SWAP FORCE is being released this Fall?
Recommended for ages 5+, this 294-piece building set was actually a challenge for my little builder, due in-part, I believe, to her unfamiliarity with the characters at hand. The piece count is deceiving to an extent, because the Arkeyan Robot King is a beefy figure in his completed form… a lot of pieces going into a relatively small space to create something of considerable weight. Getting things started, we cracked open the box and got all the pieces sorted by color (pictured left) – an essential step for any building set with more than a few pieces involved.
As we approached the half-hour mark on the build, Addie had grown a little impatient and moved onto drawing while Daddy took the lead…
What pulled her back into the fold was the popular Skylanders character, Pop Fizz… who Addie realized looks an awful like lot Beastly from CARE BEARS: WELCOME TO CARE-A-LOT (which is interesting in itself as I’ve previously-noted that Beastly looks like Blogg from SESAME STREET). Once everything was assembled, Addie’s interest was piqued, and the Arkeyan Robot King and his little pals became ready for battle in our backyard. And oh, what a glorious battle it was…
And the battle raged on… with Pop Fizz in “Beast Mode,” hording his treasure from the Chompies until little Addie lured the Arkeyan Robot King back inside… and said “Off with his head!”
The SKYLANDERS GIANTS Arkeyan Robot King building set is available from my affiliates, Target and Entertainment Earth.
The Rock Father Rating: 4/5 Stars
Sidebar: In building the Arkeyan Robot King, I can’t help thinking that is head looks familiar… as if he stepped right out of the DIRE STRAITS music video, “Money For Nothing.” It’s a good tune, so crank it up!
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