I was rather baffled when I heard that Gnomes were a playable race in World of Warcraft. I was picturing a bunch of lawn gnomes standing around getting slaughtered by Orcs while teaching the merits of having good values like David the Gnome.

That is not what Gnomes are like in World of Warcraft.

Gnomes, like every other race in World of Warcraft, can fill a variety of niches in society. As you might expect, there are Gnome Mages and Warlocks. But in addition to those, Gnomes can also be Priests or Rogues or even Warriors. And though Gnomes have typically been depicted in fiction as being into more metaphysical aspects of life, Warcraft Gnomes are incredibly technologically advanced and the greatest contributor of weapons and machinery to the Alliance cause.

So it shouldn’t shock anyone that when MEGA Brands was devising their Fall 2012 World of Warcraft Mega Bloks assortment, they included the Gnome-designed Flying Machine…

The Right:

The World of Warcraft Mega Bloks Flying Machine 91018 has far and away the most pieces of any of the first wave of Warcraft Mount Mega Bloks. Totaling 90 pieces, the set has more pieces than any other two Mounts in its series combined! As the piece count is larger than the other Mega Bloks Mounts, the Alliance Flying Machine also takes the “longest” to build. It took me about 15 minutes to fully build the set while stopping to photo-document the steps, so a straight build would be even shorter. If you’re interested in seeing all of the steps involved in assembling the set from start to finish, you can check out the World of Warcraft Mega Bloks Flying Machine In-Progress Build Photo Preview I posted earlier in the week.

The Flying Machine is one of the most sophisticated pieces of technology in the world of Azeroth, and the features of the set allow it to mostly look the part. There’s a large propeller atop the Warcraft Mega Bloks Flying Machine that you can spin freely, and there are brightly-colored turbo turbines on the front of the vehicle. There are also (non-working) storage pouches on the sides of the craft and decorative tail-fins. It’s not the most elaborate vehicle in the world, but I don’t know what more you could expect from a set with less than 100 pieces.

The Gnome Rogue is a pretty cool figure. I really would have expected MEGA Brands to choose a Gnome Warlock or Gnome Mage Mega Bloks figure for their first Gnome entry, but they defied my expectations and I’m glad for it. Gnomes make great Rogues because they’re small and have a natural advantage trying to sneak up on people (though I doubt Flint the Gnome will have much success at sneaking around in this Flying Machine). Flint has some very interesting features, including his dashing head sculpt and the fact that he has non-matching shoulder pads. I really like the asymmetrical appearance the different shoulder pads give him, as none of my other World of Warcraft Mega Bloks figures have unmatched shoulder armor so far. In addition, Flint is one of the few figures to have armor that looks authentically leather-like, and it legitimately makes him look tougher and wilder.

Another thing I particularly love about Flint the Gnome is that he is the only figure in the World of Warcraft Mega Bloks 2012 series to come with multiple weapons. Flint comes with a pair of attack daggers. I love the fact that little Flint the Gnome can dual-wield to combat multiple enemies at once, and his knives are also some of the most-detailed weapons in this first series of World of Warcraft Mega Bloks, as they have three deco colors on them (silver blades with red hilts and yellow designs).

The Wrong:

I enjoy the Alliance Flying Machine 91018 a lot more than I expected I was going to, but the set does have some drawbacks that drag it down somewhat.

First and foremost, I’m not sold on the color palette that was chosen for this set. Yes, the Alliance Flying Machine in the game does include some red and yellow parts, but in the game the zoomer Mount appears much more subdued and technologically-advanced due to its mostly silver and brown color scheme. The Mega Bloks Flying Machine relies far too much on bright, primary colors, and ends up looking more like a Fischer-Price toy than advanced machinery. I’m hoping that if and when we get a repainted version of the Flying Machine, it features a more realistic color scheme.

Also, the stability of the Mega Bloks World of Warcraft Flying Machine 91018 is much less than what I’m used to. If you pick up the set by the wrong piece or angle, or apply more than the teensiest bit of force, the set is prone to breaking apart in your hands. It’s a fairly simplistic vehicle, but it’s a bit of a pain, and not something I’ve encountered in a Mega Bloks set in a while.

In addition, this set could really use a flight stand of any sort. I know this is one of the lowest price-point Mega Bloks sets, so I’m not expecting anything particularly elaborate like the Halo Mega Bloks Covenant Seraph included, but something as simple as adding three or four rectangular bricks that the Flying Machine could just sit on to appear to be hovering slightly above the ground would largely improve the display of the set.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”
I bought my World of Warcraft Flying Machine from BA Toys, and thus managed to get it a couple weeks before it hit mass retail. The Flying Machine is starting to hit retail stores like Target and Toys R Us now, although I’ve only seen it at Target once myself.

Overall: When I first pulled the Warcraft Flying Machine Mega Bloks set out of the shipping carton, I thought the set was going to be pretty dopey. A Gnome flying a helicopter? But once I researched the Mount and built it for myself and photographed it, I was surprised how fond of the set I became. The Mega Bloks Gnome Rogue figure the set includes is great, and his armor and weapons are some of my favorites of the World of Warcraft Mega Bloks 2012 line. The Flying Machine itself looks sufficiently advanced for the World of Warcraft world, and I really like the turbo turbines on the front of the aircraft. On the downside, the Flying Machine has some stability issues, uses too much primary-colored plastic, and could really use a flight stand. I’m not amazed by this set in the way that I have been by some of the other Warcraft sets so far, but I do enjoy this set for what it is, and as such the World of Warcraft Mega Bloks Flying Machine 91018 earns a recommendation.

GRADE: B-