Nutcracker

The Fantastic Idea Nutcracker is a new release from JMBricklayer that mixes a Nutcracker with a gashapon machine. Why? Why not! In this sense it’s more of a Mecha-Nutcracker, as it doesn’t actually crack nuts at all. It’s like a weird, post-Christmas fever dream and I am all here for it.

The kit contains 721pcs and is designed for ages 14 and up. It retails for 49.99 and is available on the JMBricklayer website (15% off always with code JMBJoshB15)or Amazon (15% off until 4/16/24 with code JMBDXCLC15).

The box is colorful, and inside you get all the bagged parts, instruction book, stickers, paper strips and parts separator.

The instructions are colorful and fun, but of course there are a few errors and phrasing with wording that are funny.

Overall though the instructions are clear and assembly is easy. I had no missing parts and build the whole thing in a few hours.

One fun bit during the process was writing all the fortunes on the little strips of paper to hide inside the capsules.

The completed Nutcracker stands 11 inches tall and features moveable arms and legs. The set features many printed parts, but also equal the amount of stickers. The hair and moustache sections get put on with 2-sided tape (included). I don’t think i’ve ever built a kit with fur / hair before!

The gimmick here is that you can fill the hat of the Nutcracker with capsules, and then when you turn the crank the capsules get dispensed through the mouth. The intricate mechanism works well and was fun to build, but I wish it came with more capsules to absolutely fill the top of the hat.

The sword is removable and can be held with the use of a variant hand. The sword does need to be rebuilt slightly to be held in the hand.

Overall, it’s a fun set thats easy to build and has great play value. There are other gashapon-vending figures available from JMBricklayer as well, so get yours at the JMBricklayer website (15% off always with code JMBJoshB15) or Amazon (15% off until 4/16/24 with code JMBDXCLC15).