As I mentioned a few times previously (see links at the end of this post), besides LEGO, I also occasionally collect Mega Construx (formerly Mega Bloks) figures. I don’t really care for their sets, as LEGO is providing plenty of building materials to work with, but I do like Mega’s small, fully detailed and articulated micro action figures. I’m not hugely invested in Mega, and my collection is small (a bit over sixty characters), but I do keep tab of all the new releases and see if there is anything I would like to get. 🙂
Mega runs on a very similar schedule as LEGO. They participate in the same toy fairs and shows to feature new products, and their two major releases in January and early summer correspond with LEGO’s new set launches. It’s pretty easy to keep updated on these events, as I’m already looking at LEGO at that time anyway.
The summer 2017 wave of Mega Construx sets is quite large, with new products in every franchised theme they carry. Speaking of franchises, a major difference between Mega Construx and LEGO, is that all of Mega’s products are franchised properties. They are heavily invested in Call of Duty and Halo (their most popular lines), and they also have other franchises for shorter periods.
If you are into realistic military or fantasy military themes, Call of Duty, Halo, and Destiny are three very solid collections. My focus is on the action figures, but the sets are well designed too. If you are interested in checking them out, I recommend watching JANGBRiCKS’ reviews on YouTube, as he covers pretty much all of the Call of Duty, Halo, and Destiny sets. And, if prefer the action figures like me, each of these lines comes with collectible figures with only a few accessories.
A new franchised theme that was added this summer is Pokémon, with seven sets. They include some adorable brick-built Pokémon characters, mini Poké balls, and a little display setting. If you are into the game, you may want to take a look, as the sets are very cute and pretty well-built with some interesting pieces and accessories.
If you like cute stuff, Mega also released some new sets under Despicable Me, and instead of just minions, this time they also included the whole Despicable Me family with Gru, Lucy, Margo, Edith and Agnes.
For girls, Mega continues the Barbie, American Girl and Monster High collections, each of them with several new sets. I have written a review about these a little while ago, which you can read here: LEGO and Mega Bloks Mini-Dolls Comparison
For adult collectors, another interesting line is Kubros, Mega’s take on blocky brick-built characters that became popular before LEGO released their BrickHeadz collection.
One thing I’m a bit bummed out about is that it seems the Mega Construx Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Collectors Series is getting discontinued. Mega did release some regular TMNT sets this summer, but nothing was added to the Collectors Series. This is one of my favorite lines, so I always pay attention to new releases. I did pick up the Samurai Leonardo Battle Pack that came out earlier this year, and includes a super fancy version of Leonardo in full Samurai gear (see below). It is one of my most treasured mini action figures of all time. Looks so gorgeous!
One more thing I wanted to mention is that there was a fantastic Mega Construx futuristic city display at the New York Toy Fair, which got a lot of attention and created immense excitement. The display was called World Beyond, and included near-future space and underwater exploration, as well as cities with environmentally friendly power generation and transportation methods. It was one of the highlights of the toy fair. At that point, it was not clear if this was just a special display for the event, or there were going to be sets related to the theme. Since then, it has been tentatively confirmed that this is indeed going to be a new theme that Mega is planning to release in the near future. I’m definitely paying attention to any updates on this, as the displays looked fantastic. I have included a video below with some of the displays from the toy fair.
I know we mostly talk about LEGO here, but occasionally I like to check out some of the compatible brands just for a bit of variety, and because I find them interesting. If you want to take a look yourself, MegaConstrux.com has all the new sets listed. They don’t sell anything through their website, so you will have to find the sets at either local toy stores or on eBay or Amazon, but at least you would get an idea about what they have.
What do you think? Are you at all interested in Mega Construx? Do you own any of their sets or micro action figures? Do you have a favorite? And what do you think of the new releases? Feel free to share your thoughts and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
While I don’t pay much attention to megabloks, I like these updates. It gives me a chance to see what other brands are doing besides lego. Seems that mega is doing well with good ideas and good sets. That Beyond series is especially interesting! Oh, and I like your samurai! 😀
Yeah, I like my samurai too! And yes, Mega Bloks does have some very good sets and dedicated fans. They are doing fine. 🙂
Cool! I like the space sets! When are they going to be released?
I tend to prefer Mega’s more cute and cartoony themes to their themes of semi-realistic warfare. But that Near-Future-Space-Colony theme looks pretty good.
I had some loose plans to build something similarly space-themed in the future, but I’d need a lot more space than I currently have, so I might have to move out to the suburbs, first. I’m not sure if I’d buy that much of the Mega sets, though, I’m still too partial to ABS.
I’m really looking forward to that space colony theme as well. Many people do! I don’t know how much I would invest in it, but I really like the space sets. Other people are very excited about the civilians. Mega never released proper generic civilians before! 😀
We should hear more by the end of the year. I’m definitely keeping an eye out on this theme, so will update you guys. 🙂
Their Halo stuff looks really good. How is the quality these days?
The quality of the micro-action figures is really excellent. I have been collecting them for some time, and have been very happy with all the ones I got. The quality of the building pieces also improved in the past few years, but it is different than LEGO in a number of ways. The clutch-power is much stronger, so it’s difficult to take apart some of the basic bricks/plates. The colors are interesting and almost always have some swirls in them, which could be great, or out of place. The translucent pieces are not as brilliant as LEGO’s. To be honest, I never bought a Mega set for the set itself, but I do have some small sets that came with the figures I wanted. I actually like to mix the unique Mega pieces with LEGO, because LEGO is “softer” and I like the colors better. So all my Mega displays are actually built of LEGO, with some unique Mage pieces mixed in. 😀
I could do the same mixing, for particular colors and pieces, although I prefer brands such as Cobi and Kre-O (Oxford).
I never got any Cobi, but I do have some Oxford and Kre-O sets. Oxford is the best as the quality is the same as LEGO’s but they offer some unique colors. With Mega, what I like is the unique accessories, and uniquely printed and/or moulded pieces. 🙂
That Pokemon set look rather good, for pocket money size.
They’ve stricken a pretty good balance between ordinary and special pieces, there.
Yes, they are actually pretty impressive. I watched a number of JANG’s reviews on them. I’m not a Pokémon fan however, so won’t be buying them, but their designers obviously put effort into making the sets nice.
OMG I’m going to go broke with all the Pokémon sets they sell, have 3 mega Pokémon fans well at least they share. That Chasard look cool and the Garadose AWSOME, will the design the trainers..
don’t like the truffles they make, my daughter likes the ones by Lego better.. could I be possible in mega drops Pokémon Lego might pick up franchise. This would be EPIC if they did…
Lauire, LEGO would have likely picked up the Pokémon license before Mega if they were really interested, of course there is always hope. Mega did do an excellent job with these sets, so they are a good alternative. 🙂
I tried mega blocks a number of years ago,. I had one or two sets of a pirate theme . I didn’t like the brick Quality( it wouldn’t stay together very well). So, I am a LEGO addict through and through.
If you are at all interested, you might want to give them a try again. The quality of Mega vastly improved in the past few years, especially the adult and collector oriented sets. They are still different than LEGO, because they use a different plastic composition, and I still prefer LEGO as a building brick, but if you really want a Mega set, it won’t fall apart on you. To be sure, I always check JANG’s reviews first before buying any of their stuff. JANG is a very picky guy (in a good way), so you can trust his reviews. And he is huge Mega collector. 🙂
Oh Jang is always my go to guy in all decision making on buying sets. He is very thorough in his reviews and honest to. I ‘ll give it a try but , if I get addicted to it . It’s all your fault. LOL. Any set recommendation?
Okay, my fault! BTW, it was JANG who got me hooked on Mega, so it’s all his fault that we are even talking about this. 😀
As far as set recommendations, it really depends on what you like. I would suggest that you look through their current selection, and see what strikes your fancy. I recommend going to their shop website (it’s called a shop, even though you can’t buy anything), because you can just see the sets on clear backgrounds, rather than all the fancy extra graphics and stuff (although I do like their artwork). Here is the shop link: https://shop.megabrands.com/en-us/shop/construction-toys?brand=mega-construx
If you like something, see if JANG reviewed the set yet, and go from there. I also recommend taking a trip to Toys’R’Us. They have the largest selection of Mega sets, and nothing beats seeing something in person. I like their packaging because they always have at least one of the figures under clear plastic, so you can see exactly how they look. You are also welcome to discuss it here, if you have any questions. Although, again, I’m not an expert at Mega. Just an occasional dabbler. 😉
I think the main reason most of the Mega Bloks/Construx sets don’t interest me is because they produce sets for themes that I don’t particularly like. The other reason is that when I look at a Mega Construx set, I see so many specially-molded parts making up every model to give the desired accuracy, yet have minimal versatility. Then again, I’m not familiar with the Mega Construx system, which has thankfully diverged greatly from the LEGO system with new molds, so I don’t quite know what is special and what is common. However, I do quite like the Pokémon sets: they are recognizable and quite posable for their size. The prices are a little weird on some of the sets though – $7 for 20 pieces? Magikarp is not worth that much, I know for a fact…. 😉
I also found the World Beyond display interesting, and a product line for it would be cool to see, since it would be different than Mega’s current lines.
Also, I found this the other day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PZ8UdoDC5c It’s a compilation of a series of Ninjago shorts that LEGO has posted over the last few weeks. While the voice actors are (and the animation seems) the same as the TV episodes, the episode doesn’t fit with the TV story, which I guess means it’s just the summer holdover until next year’s season, while The LEGO Ninjago Movie arrives. 😕
LOL! Those Ninjago videos are funny! I might post them here as well, just for a bit of entertainment. Thanks for sharing! 😀
Mega is actually getting away more and more from specialty pieces. All of their collector sets are made of regular pieces that are part of their building system. It’s not as neat and clean as LEGO’s own building system (especially when it comes to color consistency), and it is obviously much newer, but they are making an effort of using few specialty elements, especially in their collectors line which is meant for teens and adult. I think they are doing a good job.
Yeah, the Ninjago videos are funny, especially with all the strange teas. They’re just not chronologically set with the previous seasons, since Wu was lost in Hands of Time. It also seems to me that the characters of the Ninja are a bit different, maybe… sillier? And for some reason Dareth has become a gag character…. 😕
Oh, Mega is avoiding specialty parts? I knew the collector series used more basic elements (my brother has an old carbon series battleship that’s built mostly from 2×4 bricks), but I always feel like its licensed themes contain so many one-use parts. I guess that would probably be because Mega has a different part system than LEGO, but it is great to hear that its system is more standardized than before.
As these are just shorts, my guess is that they were a bit more loose with the characters. I mean, even Wu was more silly than normal. 😀
Mega does have specialty parts for particular themes, but they try to keep them to the minimum, especially in the collectors sets. I don’t have any of the larger sets, but JANG says that they are getting better and better at using standard pieces, and providing interesting builds. I also read somewhere that Mega hires ex LEGO designers, although I can’t confirm if this is true or not. 😉
I agree, it’s all Jang’s fault . I did see some of the TMNT sets. I might try those . Didn’t Mego Blocks did a Couple of Game of Thrones sets?
Game of Thrones are old sets. Before Mega’s quality improved. I would not recommend them. Old Mega really is dreadful, even though they had some great fantasy themes. I have been hoping that they may bring some of them back now that their quality is much better.
I couldn’t find any MB GOT sets when I googled. Are you mixing it up with World of Warcraft or something?
The only construction-based GOT sets I could find were from McFarlane Toys, but the construction is so strangely Anti-Lego that they’re basically kits. They look good, and are in their way compatible with the Lego system, but all studs are covered up by… covers… that generally could only be used for one single purpose. Apparently McFarlane thought that original Lego looked too blocky and cartoony, and missed the whole point of the system…
https://mcfarlane.com/toys/brands/game-of-thrones/
Those McFarlane toys look interesting. Not something I would buy, but I can see the appeal. Yes, got Game of Thrones and World of Warcraft Mixed up. Same difference. 😀
I’d figure the GOT licence would have too many adult themes, even for Mega… 😉
All the McFarlane manuals are available on the site, so you could see the construction and part design…
Hm… I didn’t check that out, but I will. They have a lot of really unique and strange sets. The quality looks good too.
Yeah, LOL, probably! 😀
I like the Call of Duty line. Appreciate the realistic feel you can get thanks to the colour of the pieces.