Reviews

REVIEW: Alan Frew – “Free To Be Strong and Free” (2025)

ALAN FREW – “Free To Be Strong and Free” (2025)

Like my previous review of Jim Cuddy’s “We Used to Be the Best of Friends“, this is more of a share than a review.  Glass Tiger’s Alan Frew is voicing his love of Canada with his new song, “Free To Be Strong and Free”.  Like Cuddy’s already-classic, this song evokes some of what we love about being Canadian.  It is based on simple acoustic instrumentation, and features a nice middle section that you can’t call a guitar solo, but fills that gap.

As for Alan, he still sounds fabulous, even though it will soon be 40 years since hearing Glass Tiger’s debut.   “This is Canada’s song, where my heart belongs,” he sings, and you can feel his passion.  You will rarely find people who love their country so much as Canadians.  Alan Frew was born in Scotland, and he has written songs about that, but make no mistake:  he is Canadian.

5/5 stars

 

 

REVIEW: Jim Cuddy – “We Used to Be the Best of Friends”

JIM CUDDY – “We Used to Be the Best of Friends” (March 7 2025)

This is less a review, and more of a share.

We currently live in the darkest times in our lives.  Decades of history washed away.  The gravity of this situation is hard to express.  Google “Manifest Destiny”.

Jim Cuddy has captured our disappointment and fear in his brilliant new song “We Used to Be the Best of Friends”.

The poignant final lines are simple.  “Give us a call when the fever ends…maybe we can be best friends again.”

“Let’s hope,” adds Jim.

5/5

 

REVIEW: Rose Tattoo – Rose Tattoo

ROSE TATTOO – Rose Tattoo (1978 Albert Productions/1990 Repetoire Records “Limited Edition” CD reissue)

It is amazing how in North America, you can spend half a lifetime listening to music without ever running into an album by Rose Tattoo, Australia’s “Angry” exports.  Legendary back home, but over here most of us just know them from “Nice Boys” by Guns N’ Roses.  Some may also remember “Rock ‘n’ Roll Outlaw” by Keel.  Both covers of Rose Tattoo tracks from their eponymous 1978 debut.

Led by the diminutive Angry Anderson, Rose Tattoo were produced by Harry Vanda and George Young, the same duo that helmed those early AC/DC classics among others.  AC/DC comparisons are easy, but Rose Tattoo had two things going for them that other bands did not:  1) dominant slide guitar on every track, and 2) Angry Anderson himself.  Don’t underestimate what you see.  This guy has gritty power that elevates each song, and blows away the most famous cover version you’ve heard.  Furthermore, the lyrics should be mentioned as different from what many bands were doing at the time: Gritty social observational lyrics, featuring  real life stories of the streets (too wild to be true), with colourful characters such a drug dealers and tough guys.

Opening with the slide guitars of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Outlaw”, we can accuse another band who clearly ripped off Rose Tattoo in their early days, that being the Four Horsemen.  If their “Tired Wings” didn’t take inspiration from this song, then I’ll be damned.  The steady beat of Rose Tattoo is the perfect backing for drive this tough boastful rocker.  Besides that beat and slide guitar, Angry Anderson’s voice is the magical ingredient.  It sounds perpetually pushed to the edge, with a delightful squeak highlighting the emphatic parts.  The powerhouse voice of Anderson automatically blows away Keel’s cover.  Sorry Ron.

Guns N’ Roses came close to capturing the frenetic energy of “Nice Boys”, but not even Axl can bottle the energy of Angry Anderson.  Now playing at a punk-like tempo, but with frantic slide guitar punctuation, “Nice Boys” easily kills the famed GN’R cover version.  Hearing it, one gets the sense of “ah, this is what they were trying to do.”

One of the most menacing songs is “The Butcher and Fast Eddy”, slowing things down to that nocturnal crawl that AC/DC mastered with Bon Scott.  Much as Scott filled his lyrics with true stories and colourful characters, Anderson tells a tale here like a novelist.  “Across the river lived Fast Eddy, he was known to be treacherous, very mean. Even Eddy’s sweet young sister out on the streets, just a girl, barely fifteen.”  Is Anderson the Bob Dylan of the dirty streets?  He keeps the story going for six and a half spellbinding minutes, with the band mostly just playing the backing music, with a few picks scraped for noisy blasts.  Angry Anderson’s voice and delivery carries it.

A stomping beat slams through one of the catchiest songs, “One of the Boys”.  It’s an unsubtle ode to being a tough guy with a bunch of tough guys to back you up.  Yet Angry’s words offer more than just boasting.  OK sure, there’s boasting.  “What you need is mates, staunch and true, hold out your back they’re gonna see you through.  I don’t look for trouble but I won’t hide, I’ll jump on you if you don’t step aside.”  There are also hints of deeper themes, such a loyalty.

Now at top speed, “Remedy” brings the punk rock tempos with a single heavy riff and killer hooks.  The message here is simple:  gimme rock and roll.  It’s good for you.  It’s healthy.  Turn it up and blast it, and at this tempo you’ll probably be headbanging too.  Top notch party rock on the edge of punk.

“Bad Boy for Love” uses the slide to bring a sleezy vibe to a slower groove.  In this song, the main character got drunk, ripped up the town, and is now just being released from prison.  Then, he went to go see his girl, whom he finds with another man.  He kills them both and ends up back in the slammer.  This is followed by a jailbreak and “a thousand guns” pursuing him.  Not original, but delivered with bona fide sounding cred.

Keepings things to a breakneck pace, “T.V.” might get you pulled over for a speeding ticket.  Angry’s voice is pushed to the limit again, and the slide guitar is as relentless as the tempo.

The one surprising song is the acoustic “Stuck On You”, featuring the line “like a rose tattoo”.  The slide is now applied to various acoustic stringed instruments, and though it’s clearly the same band, the approach is very different.  A more traditional blues direction does not temper Angry’s voice, still pushing it on the choruses and verses alike.  Sometimes the lyrics verge on the absurd.  “I had a fish named Sam, he lived in bowl.  I heated up the water, so he wouldn’t get cold.”  The lead character seems like a possible stage five loser, but it’s all open to interpretation.  Either way, a great song with memorable words and a delivery impossible to duplicate.

Back to the punk-like rock, “Tramp” tells a more familiar story.  It’s over and done real fast, and then we’re onto the epic closer “Astra Wally”.  Rose Tattoo do best when they tell these kinds of stories.  Astra Wally was a real cool cat, but he sounds like trouble to me.  A drug dealer who samples his own wares, perhaps.  “He don’t get shot, he go by O.D.”  The slide guitar is once again in the spotlight, always fast and always tasty.  That’s founding member Peter Wells on slide.  Then we have Mick Cocks on lead and rhythm, Geordie Leach on bass and Dallas Royale on drums.  When they get down and just lay down grooves like this, you can listen to them all day.  “Astra Wally” is indeed a “super fun thing” as the lyrics state.

That’s a 5/5 star album right there.  But we’re not through yet, because in 1990 this album was reissued with eight bonus tracks.

Up first are a batch of studio tracks.  A B-side called “Never Too Loud” backed the “No Secrets” single in 1984.  Regardless of the time difference, it does sound like it roughly fits in.  It’s less frantic and tighter, with a slightly cleaner sound.  Slightly.  It’s still not anywhere near the polished rock starting to come out of North America at the time, and it maintains the slide and steady beat.

“I Had You First” is from 1981’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll King”.  The punk vibe is first and foremost here, but the chorus is still a blast.

From 1982, “Fightin’ Sons” comes from the “It’s Gonna Work Itself Out” single, and it’s another vibe altogether.  It has a bit of an early 70s vibe with a blues base.  This is about going to war to fight for your country, but it’s more than that.  It offers its own perspective; its own angle on the experience, gleaned from friends.  The lyrics are more interesting than the music, perhaps.

The final studio track is “Snow Queen”.  This one lies somewhere in the middle, a reliable rocker with an undeniable AC/DC beat.  It’s the voice and slide that differentiate it.  It’s low on hooks, but it bangs pretty hard.

The final four tracks are all live ones from an unspecified source.  “Rock ‘n’ Roll Outlaw” and “Bad Boy for Love” feature Angry pushing it even further than on album.  What a singer and what a pair of lungs.  “Bad Boy for Love” is considerably longer than the album version, with loads more solos.  “Rock ‘n’ Roll is King” and “Suicide City” are later tracks.  An obvious single, “Rock ‘n’ Roll is King” is catchy through and through, with Angry still singing at top volume.  Yet it’s all hooks.  Finally, “Suicide City” is probably the most over the top song of them all, total punk rock frenzy.

In short:  If you like rock and roll, get the album, and in particular this reissue.

5/5 stars

 

REVIEW: Captain America: Brave New World (2025) [Spoiler free]

CAPTAIN AMERICA:  BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025 Disney)

Directed by Julius Onah

The Multiverse Saga has been moving at a glacier’s pace.  We’re umpteen movies and series worth of content into the 2nd saga, the Marvel Cinematic Multiverse Saga, and the Avengers still haven’t assembled!  The pieces are finally moving into place for this to happen, hallelujah, in Captain America (4):  Brave New World.  We’re also finally seeing some resolution to events set in place during the Eternals (2021), Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)  and even The Incredible Hulk (2008).  It also sets up the sure-to-follow Mutant Saga.  None of this is spoiler territory as we’ve seen these reveals in trailers and casting.

Fans are sick of the setup, and movies have to stand on their own.  Captain America 4 doesn’t really do that; it really helps if you’ve seen the above films.  It is, however, a better than average Marvel movie.  Some issues that have plagued recent ones have been improved upon.  It still feels like one piece of a larger puzzle, which wasn’t so much an issue with Phase One’s Captain America films.

Captain America is now Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), and the movie recaps that Steve Rogers entrusted the shield to him.  Carl Lumbly returns as Isiah Bradley, the forgotten super soldier that was ill treated by his country.  Just as there is a new Captain America, there is also a new Falcon:  Joaquin Torres played Danny Ramirez.  Those who haven’t seen or don’t remember much of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be lost as to who these characters are.  New to the team is Harrison Ford as now-President Thunderbolt Ross.  Controversially to some, this role was recast after the death of William Hurt.  Harrison’s take on the character is far more Ford, but I had forgotten how much I like the guy as a baddie.  Ford’s role was large, and he was great in every mood of the mercurial president.  Also new to the multiverse, Shira Haas was terrific as the former Black Widow, Ruth Bat-Seraph.  Giancarlo Esposito was a fine secondary villain as Sidewinder, but we have all seen Esposito chew the scenery with far more vigor in other famous roles.  He brought the chill, but not so much the fury.

Since Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam is more accepted as Captain America, but still suffers from self doubt and questions whether he should have taken the super soldier serum or not.  He is given perspective from the supporting characters, but ultimately feels like he has something to prove.  It’s not as emotional or satisfying a character arc as he had in the TV series.  Mackie, of course, plays the role with the passion we expect from the actor.  He is certainly his own Captain.  Steve Rogers was more quiet and reserved.  He spoke softly, but knew he could back up his words.  Mackie’s Captain is a little more fun loving, a little more brash and loud, and a blast to watch, especially in intense one-on-one scenes with Ford.

The cloak-and-dagger plot isn’t too complex.  It all comes down to a personal vendetta to take down President Ross and expose him as the monster he really is.  There’s worldwide tension over Celestial Island, a massive statue in the middle of the Indian Ocean that was created during the events of the Eternals and barely referenced since.  Why?  Probably because the celestial named Tiamut is not just made of rock, but also contains Adamantium.  The same stuff Wolverine’s bones are made of.  With Adamantium introduced into the storyline, we have even more setup for the eventual X-Men.  Turns out this stuff is even more valuable than Vibranium, and stronger too.  America and Japan are at the edge of war after an incident involving a stolen shipment of Japanese-owned Adamantium.  In an eerie case of prophecy, America and its allies are falling apart.  This, and some scenes with Ross losing his temper to his upper staff, felt…ominous.

Ultimately, at the end of the film, you know what Marvel wanted to show you:  Captain America vs. the Red Hulk.  There are plenty of action scenes before that, but this is where Marvel may be learning something of a lesson.  If you look at something like Black Panther 2, or the Marvels, the action scenes had way too much going on with so much visual noise.  They were hard to follow, and in many ways, nonsensical.  These action scenes are scaled down.  In fact, the battle of Celestial Island featured primarily just four combatants:  two jets, Captain America, and the Falcon.  There were missiles and big fleets of ships, but the action was kept to mostly those four elements.  The Red Hulk segments also felt scaled back slightly, and easy to follow and enjoy.  We saw the film in IMAX, and the Red Hulk looked great.  The action wasn’t as CG-ish and washed out as we were used to.  The giant Celestial made a cool backdrop for a battle, but I would have liked to have seen more.

The soundtrack was interesting.  While I liked the score by Laura Karpman, it didn’t feel like it fit the mood of several scenes, including the opening.

There is one character design that deviated far from the original comic material and looked creepy enough, but might have missed the mark of what could have been.

There is one post-credit scene.  Everyone in the theater stayed.  They knew the drill.  It was a cool little sequence that hints at the big things we know are coming in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars.  It feels like we’re finally getting closer to the ending.

Rating the four Captain America films, you just cannot top The Winter Soldier, or Civil War.  That’s not going to happen.  Brave New World is a welcome continuation of the legacy.  It’s light on big emotions, but it does satisfy for action and furthering the adventures of the heroes who will one day soon be known as the Avengers again.  Bring it on.

3.25/5 stars

BOOK REVIEW: 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (1997)

3001:  THE FINAL ODYSSEY (1997 Del Rey Books)

by Arthur C. Clarke 

If Arthur C. Clarke had ended his 2001 series as a trilogy with the fine 2061: Odyssey 3, I would have been OK with that. I say that now. I didn’t say that then. Then, I desperately wanted to know what happened next. Now, I’d rather forget.

I pre-ordered this book many, many years ago thanks to a coupon I found inside my PC game Rama. That’s how much of a diehard fan I was. (The book still arrived weeks after it was released!) I read The Final Odyssey in three days, three days of waiting for something monumental to happen. When it finally did, it was a “that’s it?” moment. I said to my friends, “I think Clarke’s lost it. I think it’s time to retire.” They advised me to write him a fan letter expressing my disappointment with his Final Odyssey. I said no. Why put the man through that?

(I will first let you know that, like previous installments such as 3001, Clarke has ret-conned certain events so they no longer happen when they originally did. Since, when he wrote the book, it was obvious we wouldn’t have a moon mission in 2001, he pushed all dates further into the future.)

In 3001, the origin of the monoliths is finally clarified. They were planted here by a spacefaring species who promote intelligence everywhere, in the hopes of improving the odds of survival. We pretty much knew this from previous books. We did not need this spelled out. However, the monoliths are machines, and as such, they can break down.

Millions of years later, the corpse of Frank Poole (from the first book) is discovered and brought back to life. Yes, in the countless empty cubic parsecs of space, they found a needle in the haystack. If you can swallow that tale, then bringing a 1000 year old cadaver back to life shouldn’t be a stretch. The next few chapters of the book are spent acclimating Mr. Poole to the year 3001 and all the wonderful advances we will make by then. Clarke revisits many ideas that he promoted decades earlier, such as space elevators. Much of this felt very similar to the previous Clarke solo work, The Hammer of God, which I felt was superior to 3001.

However, all is not well. The monolith (now capable of only slower-than-light communication, contradicting David Bowman’s journey in the first book) has reported back to its masters, that humans are not worthy of survival. The monolith, therefore must be destroyed. With the help of Halman (the fused personalities of HAL and Bowman) who resides in the monolith, they plan on infecting it with…computer viruses. That’s right. Halman is infected in the process, and somehow stored for a future time if we ever discover how to disinfect him.

And so our tale ends, with the alien monolith masters knowing what has happened and deciding to grant us a reprieve until “the last days”. The book ends with a resounding thud.

Clearly, everything that was needed to be said was said in the first three books. Final Odyssey unfortunately tarnishes an otherwise fine series with an unnecessary anticlimatic ending.

Sadly, I rate this book “Not Full of Stars“.  Only 2/5 stars. Only worth reading if you’re diehard.

REVIEW: Joe Satriani – Dreaming #11 (1988 EP)

JOE SATRIANI – Dreaming #11 (1988 Relativity EP)

Don’t we all just miss the days when a major artist would just casually toss out a new EP between albums like this?  Following the Surfing With the Alien tour, Joe released a brand new song called “The Crush of Love” with three recent live tracks.  It went gold and hit the top 50 on Billboard.  You didn’t have to worry about pre-ordering it, and there was no “late tax” if you missed buying it right away.  That’s the way an EP by a major artist should be.

“The Crush of Love” is a magnificent track, with a overarching wah-wah hook that makes up the body of the song.  The rhythm section is Stu Hamm and Jonathan Mover on all tracks.  Hamm’s chunky bass is like that moment when you hit a big chunk of fudge in the middle of your ice cream.  Mover is the punctuation, while Joe indulges his melodic side with some wonderful lead.  In a Satriani composition, the lead guitar often takes the place of where the singer would normally deliver the hooks.  That’s “The Crush of Love” in a nutshell.  It’s more like Surfing material, rather than the Flying In A Blue Dream sound that Joe would explore 18 months later.

Onto the live tracks, all recorded by the King Biscuit Flower Hour in San Diego, June 11 1988.

“Ice Nine” from Surfing begins with Joe introducing his band, a symbol of their importance.  Then humbly he adds, “Thank you all for coming.  My name’s Joe.”  Onto the thumping “Ice Nine”, which Stu Hamm turns into a bass showcase for impressive fingerwork without overplaying.  Mover perfectly complements him, nailing the moments the drums need to add some explosions, without being too showy.  Meanwhile, Satriani’s causing explosions of his own, but it always comes back to song’s main melody.  Yes, Joe plays the crap out of this song, but it is indeed a song.

Joe takes us back to his debut album Not Of This Earth (which was reissued in 1988 with similar cover art to Dreaming #11) for the last two tracks.  The lengthy “Memories” opens with a guitar exploration, but quickly turns into a catchy little running guitar melody.  It’s an aggressive number and one of Joe’s more challenging to the uninitiated.  As always, Hamm’s playing his mindblowing and catchy.

Finally, “Hordes of Locusts” has a slower grinding groove that ends the EP on an ominous musical note.  Mover and Hamm largely stick to the groove while Joe shreds and strafes.

At over 23 minutes of exclusive music, this EP was well worth the value.  No wonder it went gold.

4/5 stars

REVIEW: Trailer Park Boys Dill Pickle Chips [VIDEO]

Bubbles, Ricky and Julian say “you’ll be back for more” when you try one of their own branded Dill Pickle Potato Chips. Do we agree?

REVIEW: Wolfsbane – “After Midnight” (1991 CD Single)

WOLFSBANE – “After Midnight” (1991 Def American CD single)

It was 1991, and though Wolfsbane were on Def American records, their second single from their second album Down Fall the Good Guys failed to chart.  Though the critics were consistently positive about the UK quartet featuring one Blaze Bayley on vocals, it was not translating into sales.  “After Midnight” is the name of the track, but its lack of chart performance is not a reflection upon the song.  Brendan O’Brien was the producer, which boggles the mind that Wolfsbane didn’t have more success in 1991.

“After Midnight” has a slight country & western feel, which comes unexpected.  This was a style that was becoming popular for American rock bands to throw into their tunes for some radio play.  “After Midnight” would fit in with any of those better known tracks:  acoustic-based with electric guitars for soloing and accent.  The easiest comparison is another Def American act, the Four Horsemen, but with a baritone.

This CD single is valuable for the inclusion of three non-album tracks.  “Idol” has a tricky little guitar part, but with a punk-like energy and thumping bass.  The chorus has potential.  “Win Or Lose” is a high-speed rock and roll blast, but without any significant hooks.  Good for headbanging or air guitar, but not for singing along.  The best track of the B-sides is an acoustic (self-produced) rendition of “Hey Babe” from their prior EP.  It was always a pretty good ballad, and this version is stripped back to the basics.  Hand-played percussion replaces the big drums, and it has the feeling of a campfire singalong.

Nothing particularly outstanding on this single, but a good collectible nonetheless.

3/5 stars

REVIEW: Judas Priest – Rocka Rolla (50th Anniversary Remixed and Remastered)

For my original Rocka Rolla (1974) review, click here.

JUDAS PRIEST – Rocka Rolla (1974 Gull, 2024 Exciter Records Remixed and Remastered)

How did he do it?!  Somehow, by some digital miracle of the master tape gods, producer Tom Allom has remixed Rocka Rolla, and transformed it from one of my least favourite Priest albums of all time, to one of my favourites.

Generally I can’t get into the remixed versions of albums.  Even if the remix is objectively a better release, such as Rush’s Vapor Trails or Marillion’s Radiat10n, I always find myself coming back to the flawed originals.

Not this time.

For context, Tom Allom didn’t originally produce Rocka Rolla, and this is not the first remix of it.  Rodger Bain produced, but his name appears smaller than Allom’s on the new back cover.  The Rocka Rolla (full album) remix that appeared on Hero, Hero (1981) was helmed by Bain, less effectively.  Tom Allom is best known for producing the run of Judas Priest albums from Unleashed in the East (1979) to Ram It Down (1988).  What he has done with Rocka Rolla is somehow give it a makeover to sound more like a real 1970’s Priest album.  Sonically, it now has thickness.  There’s a real beefiness to the mix, but not in the sense that you immediate say “oh yeah, this is different.”  It just sounds like the album always sounded that way, and you just got your stereo system upgraded.

The track listing is unchanged.  “One For the Road” still opens with a groove, but now that groove hits different.  You can better appreciate the guitar fills at the end, and the songs goes well past its old fade-out.  This is a trick that remixed album should do more often.

“Rocka Rolla” remains a metal delight, but there is new shimmer to Rob’s vocals and the song chugs with more edge.  It’s all very objective and subtle, but once again Tom Allom took a Priest classic and made it sound like it was always this weighty.

The “Winter” suite is the most altered of any of the tracks.  Notably, Allom chose to separate the tracks from the suite format, and leave them as individual songs.

John Hinch’s drums sound crushingly Bonham-like on “Winter” itself, and the backing riff far more weighty.  The biggest change is that it no longer fades into KK’s guitar showcase “Deep Freeze”.  You can hear more of KK at the end, with some experimental playing that was inaudible before.  The track fades out past its previous point, and “Winter Retreat” stands on its own as a song.  In the 70s, Priest were experimenting with acoustics and psychedelic sounds from time to time.  “Winter Retreat” can now join those songs as something that sonically fits in better.  Finally, “Cheater” always was its own song really, and now it’s just heavier.  Rob’s harmonica is more prominent, which of course recalls the heaviness of Black Sabbath.

Moving on to side two, “Never Satisfied” finally has the punch it always felt like it had inside:  A little more echo on this this vocal line, a lot more weight behind the drums, more texture on the guitars, and a few things made audible for the first time.   We now have the definitive version of this song.  With the impressive soloing mixed in just right, this becomes a long, jammy Priest thumper as it always should have been.  If Rocka Rolla sounded like this when I was a kid, I would have got it immediately.

“Run of the Mill” takes time to build as it always has.  It has a long instrumental section, with some mindblowing guitar playing, and now it’s all finally hitting right.  The bass isn’t just sitting there.  It’s picking you up and taking you along with the groove.  The keyboards in the background are more ominous.  Everything about this is just so much better than the original.

Perhaps the only song that still bores, for the first half anyway, “Dying to Meet You” is similarly upgraded but benefits less from the treatment.  That is until it picks up midway in the “Hero, Hero” section.  This part of the song still cooks, but has a different, more spare feel.  Finally, the light instrumental “Caviar and Meths” really benefits from the remix treatment.  The drums, once again, really add atmosphere to it.

As an added attention to detail, the front cover of Rocka Rolla is now as three dimension as the music.  The water drops are now tactile.  You can feel the bumps with your fingers.  A perfect topper.

What did Tom Allom do with these master tapes?  Did he conjure some kind of heavy metal spell and make a two dimensional album sound big and beefy?  Only Allom knows, but now I do believe in magic.

4.5/5 stars

REVIEW: Marvel Lego Spiderman Advent Calendar 2024 [24 VIDEOS Day-By-Day]

Merry Christmas!  Here is a special set of 24 videos, one for each day on Lego’s Spiderman Advent Calendar.

 

MARVEL LEGO SPIDERMAN ADVENT CALENDAR 2024

I used to enjoy candy Advent calendars as a kid, since they helped us pass the boring December days a bit.  As an adult, I enjoy them as something to look forward to during a December at the office.  Regardless of motive, I didn’t enjoy the Lego Star Wars calendars as much.  Too many fragile mini-ship builds.

I thought I’d give Spiderman a try in 2024, and I enjoyed this one a lot more.  There were a lot of parts and settings that might work well in future customs.  It could work as a “Christmas village” of sorts.  There were come cool minifigs and accessories.  Lots of webbing to play with, and a lot of spare parts.

As for value?  These packages are not cheap, so don’t expect a lot of parts for your money.  What you will get are some rarer minifig parts like an ugly Christmas sweater and a neat Spider-Gwen, not to mention her drum kit.

 

3.5/5 stars