Brickmaster: Battle for the Stolen Crystals

by Elizabeth Dowsett

"Star Wars"(R) and LEGO(R) fans alike can join forces with Commander Gree to defeat the deadly commando droid. Including 180 bricks and two minifigures, "LEGO(R) Star Wars(R) Brickmaster: Battle for the Stolen Crystals" allows young fans to play out the thrilling four-part adventure story by building the models and taking them apart to build the next one.

Now with 80 pages, this all-new LEGO "Star Wars" brickmaster includes clear step-by-step building instructions along with an exciting new story where kids can experience the adventure through their creations.

Genres: Childrens

80 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2013

Reviews

[Andrew Ives · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Lego Brickmaster Star Wars book contains a surprising amount of Lego, albeit mostly tiny pieces that are sure to meet a hoovery fate one day. The DK book itself is slight, comprising of a few pages of comic book story between a vast amount of instructions to make the many pairs of models. The models are rather nicely designed, but surely far too difficult for any kid of 7+ to build as stipulated on the cover. I'd be surprised if many 12-year-olds (or even adults!) could build half of these without mistakes, especially as some models are needlessly complex, while the comic book story would hardly entertain a 5-year-old. All said, this is basically a Lego kit with a few pages of book attached, and a good kit at that. I just wish a few more of the pieces were larger than plastic crumbs and the models were a little less samey. 4.25/5

[Theresa F.]

Though I am, admittedly, older than the target audience for this book, I did make a few observations while reading it that I thought others might find useful.
The individual steps for each Lego build did not include a list of the parts used. There weren't even parts lists for each build as a whole. Instead, the building instructions made use of what I refer to as the 'spot the difference' method, where each pictured step has to be carefully compared to the previous one to determine what parts have been added. In my personal experience, this method can lead to some frustration. When multiple parts are added to a build in a single step, it's easy to miss a part by accident if there's no list of what parts have been added. However, I'm sure there are many Lego builders who have a better eye for detail than I do and wouldn't struggle as much or at all with these directions.
Another thing I noted was that not all of the builds were scaled to be used with the included minifigures. Personally, I found this a little disappointing.
As for the storyline, it was fairly obvious to me as an adult that this Lego 'adventure' was designed to include as many different terrains, and subsequently as many different types of vehicles, as possible. But I doubt that all this jumping around from one location to the next would bother the average child in the intended age range.
Overall, I think my critiques come down more to personal preference than anything else.
Did I like it? It was okay for what it was.
Would I reread it? No.
Would I recommend it? Not sure.