Set Review ➟ LEGO® 71492 Dreamzzz Mateo’s Fire Chameleon
I was ready to dismiss this set based on the box art. At first I could not figure out what the second build was, or if there even was a second build. Then I came to realize that the little flyer craft that is attached to the Chameleon’s back in the first build is modified and detached for the second build. Ho hum. Then I built the set and…
The set in first build iteration consists of a large chameleon with an attached flyer, four minifigures, a small bug-like robot, and a little green Z-blob. The red, yellow, and turquoise color scheme of the chameleon gives off definite Monkie Kid vibes. In a definite legs upgrade from the Cyber Brain Mech or Izzie’s Animals where ball-and-socket joints and fixed axles are used, the chameleon gets ratchet joints at the shoulders and hips along with a pin connection between the red and yellow cylinders. This assembly allows for a great range of movement and positioning.
The feet are attached by small ball-and-sockets, and in this instance those connectors work well because the feet assemblies themselves are small, only seven pieces, essentially three 1x2 plates and four 1x1 pieces. Because the feet assemblies do not weigh much they do not put much strain on the joint.
Light chameleon foot (left) compared to heavy Cyber Brain Mech foot (right).
Chameleon’s head is attached with a large ball-and-socket joint allowing for a wide range of movement. The chameleon’s lower jaw is hinged; the fire/tongue element is attached by a pin-axle at the top of the mouth and can be rotated about 180 degrees.
Coming as a complete and delightful surprise is the fact that the chameleon’s eyes, 3x3 dishes attached with a small ball and socket joint, can be positioned independently in true chameleon-like fashion.
The tail has three sections all attached with pins and each section can be separately rotated around each pin. There is no side-to-side movement where the tail joins the body.
The many points of articulation on the chameleon allow for a wide range of expressive poses; some two-leg-only poses are even possible.
Optional build one is a flyer which can be attached to the back of the chameleon with a pin, and this gives the flyer-as-saddle 360 degrees of rotation when attached.
The flyer can be easily separated from the chameleon for independent use. Four stud shooters allow for many opportunities to shoot someone’s eye out without reloading. There are two small points of articulation on the flyer: small fin assemblies towards the back are attached with ball-and-sockets.
Optional build two…wait for it…is another flyer…and a small mech for Z-blob.
The smaller flyer echos some design beats from the larger version and has no repositionable parts but it is able to be set on the chameleon’s back and can spin around as does the other.
The mech has small ball-and-socket joints at the hips and ankles allowing for limited positioning.
There are four minifigures in the set, two standard ones, Mateo and Zero, and two with the small unibodies, Logan and Cyberling.
Left to right: Logan, Mateo, Zero, Cyberling
Mateo gets a cape and another too-big-for-a-minifig weapon. His torso is printed front and back, his hips are printed, and his legs are dual molded and printed front and sides. Zero has transparent red shoulder pads, his torso is printed front and back, his hips are printed, and his dual-molded legs are printed front only, ahd he has an elaborate dual-molded helmet. Logan’s torso is not printed while cyberling has a white zero surrounded by silver cybernetic lines on his front. Cyberling’s helmet is similar in design to Zero’s with the colors inverted and the transparent red substituted with titanium metallic. Both unibody characters with their disproportionately large heads and headgear are a pain to keep from falling over. All four heads are printed front and back.
Aside from the figure elements the chameleon eyes and Z-blob are the only printed parts…and there are some stickers.
The Randolph T. Fielding Absolutely Administrivia Section
The part 35635 transparent red shoulder pads do not match the other transparent red parts. The red of the shoulder pads appears maybe translucent, definitely frosted, not transparent, and the plastic feels different…sort of crispy. If LEGO was not molded into the underside of the element it likely could be taken for non-LEGO.
Ersatz transparent red shoulder pads compared to typical transparent red spearhead.
I checked the part against some pearl gold versions I have and they, too, seem to be crispy but the color…difference…there is less noticeable because there is ongoing wide latitude with what is labeled pearl gold. This ersatz transparent red, though, I have not seen any other part where the color and feel remotely resembles this.
The axe blade appears to be another variation in a multitude of variations of this part. Note the 53454 trans red version fluoresces while the newer 79805 included in the review set does not.
53454 left, 79805 right
53454 left, 79805 right
The cyber flame part seen in Cyber Brain Mech set is trans-orange in this set. Interesting that it does not fluoresce as does the other trans-orange cheese wedge part in the set.
Brickset lists three separate element numbers for the transparent red spear tip (part 27257). I cannot find any mold difference (minus a slight repositioning of the part number) between it and other parts with the same number. Perhaps there is a version where the red fluoresces, but if so, I do not have one.
Current spearhead, left. Older spearhead right.
The yellow portion of Logan’s dual-molded hat fluoresces as one would expect.
Rounding out fluorescing pieces are all the transparent bright green elements.
Summary
Even though the alternate build is not particularly significant in terms of altering the set substantially, it is almost like getting a bonus build, which may be significant in terms of play value, and as such my anticipated dissatisfaction with the set never materialized. Unlike several of the recent creature builds, the chameleon is sturdy, stable, and parts do not seem to want to fall off. It was definitely fun to pose the chameleon in various positions, and a happy relief that I did not have to deal with reattaching parts while doing so. The build while not particularly challenging was diverse in nature. Overall I found the set to be more fun in more aspects than any others recently reviewed. Recommended.
Disclaimer
Thanks to LEGO for kindly providing the set for review.
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