Merkava Tank 344 Pieces Building Blocks Set

I just recently wrote a review for the other set that is shown in one of the pictures and all of the comments/pros and cons are applicable to this tank. Overall: Great details, good instructions, compatible with Lego brand pieces and fun to play with. Not overly fragile (maybe a bit more fragile than some Lego sets) but the fragile pieces are parts that stick out and thus are easy to reattach. I recommend this set for kids (my 6yr old built this one) and a parent might need to be more involved than a similar style lego set, it isn't too different Bad: 1. Seems that the designer has multiple pieces where one larger piece would work better, I can only assume the reason for more pieces is to inflate the part count. This is an annoyance only. 2. A bit harder to build when you are familiar with the lego instruction eco-system, but this is more of an adjustment to how the instructios are laid out for this manufacturer, a an adult the assembly process is just as easy as lego, but kids might have a harder time identifying the unfamiliar layout/approach. Good: 1. Great design, detail and overall end vehicle. The tank is sturdy and doesnt feel fragile, my kids havent had any complaints about it "breaking all the time" or anything like that 2. For the price, this is a spectacular set. The detail and size and everything else is just amazing for the cost.

In Never-Never Land, people buy military Legos for $5 at Walmart. In the real world, we know that Lego doesn't make military sets. That is where companies like Brick Arms and Brick Mania come in where an "inexpensive" Brickmania Renault FT / M1917 Light Tank costs a mere $75 and is barely bigger than the minifigure it comes with. By way of comparison, a M4 Sherman Allied Medium Tank is "slightly" more at $195! And if you are 35 years old and live in your parents' basement where you don't have to pay rent and can spend all your money from your job at McDonalds, because you aren't spending it on dates, and consider yourself a "serious collector," the $275 for a Easy Eight M4A3E8 Sherman Tank is totally worth it--how you put a price on love?! On the other hand, there is $5 Mega Blox from Walmart where pieces won't fit very well... However, in comparison you could fund a whole army compared to the Brick Mania version. Then there is Sluban, for $29, you get a very nice looking tank with some sharp details--it doesn't compare badly against Brick Mania--especially when the price is factored in. While it doesn't have the classic Lego fit--which is very exacting, it is decent. You don't worry about pieces falling apart. My 8 year-old nephew who has a budding tank collection was thrilled with it and put it together by himself within an hour--that probably tells you something about the intelligence of those who claimed it was too hard to build... If you are partial to having a box, then expect to pay a little more. The seller let's you know it comes without a box--which I don't know about you, is no big deal and makes the tank a little better deal. If you are like my son who has purchased some Brick Arms things, you can easily mix and match and come up with a great tank and crew. It is a great deal, my only regret is that Sluban doesn't have more tanks.

Sold as a Merkava, this tank kit as completed won’t be an accurate replica like the Cobi model, but it’s a nice generic, if toy-like MBT. The instructions are schematics with no text but simple enough to follow. Nor are the bags of parts coded but within each bag the materials are sorted to an extent, thus all the road wheels in the same bag, etc. So providing the 300 + parts aren’t randomly mixed together when unpacking, it isn’t too tedious to find everything needed to kit each step. I’ve seen some complaints regarding the fit of Sluban blocks but didn’t encounter any real issues with this build. It can be assembled by a child with adequate dexterity and ability to interpret diagrams. The only weak point of this tank seems to be the wheels and tracks. The wheels mount easily, but on somewhat flimsy pegs. Therefore care must be taken when fitting the tracks, which are made of rather thin and wrinkled plastic. The tracks don’t move well. The stickers look seamlessly good on the box illustration but in reality are printed on black plastic. I found they don’t look too bad when trimmed close, as the kit is molded in a dark olive green color so the contrast isn’t too jarring. Not much needs to be said about the figures, you do get two tanker helmets amongst the gear so crewmen can be mounted. The weapons are madly oversized in the minifig way but there’s a bracket adjacent to the TC’s hatch where you can mount one of the machine guns, it looks in scale there. I plan to use this tank in some skirmish gaming with 54mm plastic army men. For size it’s a good fit although the somewhat noticeable gap between the turret and hull detracts a bit from the looks. Overall, recommended and the price is right.

10 year old grandson loved this. Great design. Moving parts worked well. Good value for the number of parts and action figures.

So, I helped my 8 year old build this. The instructions weren’t horrible. It comes with 6 total bags. I know it’s not Lego brand, but we were expecting a little more organization on the bags and instructions. However, this is really cool and it was a great bonding moment for us boys. Took us 1 hour and 33 min to build it. Not bad for 344 pieces!