Review: 81001 Shark Skin
Posted by CapnRex101,Four skins have been released for LEGO FORMA, the most appealing of which is 81001 Shark Skin from my perspective. This design contains fewer colours than the other skins but it looks great in official images because flexible plastic seems to be an ideal material for a shark.
In addition, the weaving function around which this model is constructed works perfectly for a shark, authentically recreating the swimming motion of numerous real shark species. This should therefore prove to be an enjoyable item.
The Completed Model
Ten separate components wrap around the Technic skeleton to create the shark. This model lacks the white barbels which appear on 81000 Koi but its Technic skeleton is otherwise identical, including four articulated pectoral and pelvic fins. The swimming mechanism works smoothly and I love the realistic colour scheme of sand blue and white.
Attaching the head is slightly challenging but the result looks marvellous, lining up neatly with the black eyes and faithfully replicating the streamlined shape of a real shark. These white pins stand out against the sand blue skin which is unfortunate, although that does not detract from the model too much. I think the printed mouth looks good and the surrounding texture on the skin is thoroughly impressive.
The dorsal fin is connected to both central segments of the Technic skeleton so moves back and forth with the body which is clever. I was pleasantly surprised by how neatly the separate body components line up towards the front but the rearmost sheet could be improved as that section is narrower than the others, leaving a large gap that clearly exposes the Technic pieces inside. A more rotund design would have lessened this issue.
Comparing this model with the shark from 31088 Deep Sea Creatures further accentuates its greatest strength in my opinion. The smooth plastic skin appears incredibly sleek beside a shark which has been constructed using standard bricks and slopes, although both designs are impressive for entirely different reasons.
Overall
81001 Shark Skin is definitely my favourite of the four LEGO FORMA skins which have been created for 81000 Koi. Its colour scheme does not particularly stand out but it looks very realistic and features surprising detail when viewed at close range. I am equally satisfied with the swimming motion and the articulation of the pectoral fins is remarkably useful for creating dynamic displays.
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your thoughts on the set in the comments below.
You can read Huw's review of 81000 Koi here.
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18 comments on this article
Not my sort of thing at all, but I'm pleased that Lego are trying a few interesting things that move away from their core product range.
The resemblance is much, much closer to the shark from 4506-1 thanks to the sand blue, especially considering that one can also articulate at almost the exact same points (with just one less point of articulation).
Edit: On closer inspection I see that the shark from 31088 also has articulation at the same points as the previous, but there's so little clearance due to how far recessed into its body the ball joints are that it's barely able to move. The additional clearance of the old model and this FORMA model for articulation comes at the cost of more exposed innards.
The mouth does not look to good. But I like the rest of it.
Worth the comparison between the two at the end, the plus on the creator shark is that it has depth, opposed to this one.
Oh yeah, those white pins look real good, don't they? Nice 'premium product' you got there, TLC.
These are nice and to some degree I understand what they were trying to achieve with these but as an AFOL, I would have much preferred a brick built version much like JK Brickworks swimming shark.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JpjbG6Sf4KU
Now that shark is smooth as heck.
^^bandit778, I couldn’t agree more
If the shark had been the base skin I might have gotten this. I couldn't bring myself to buy the koi and the shark skin.
Would rather use the splash or ink koi skins
@Golem25:
If it really bothers someone that much, they might be able to salvage the punchouts for the pin holes and adhere them to the pin heads somehow, or color them with markers (you get a full set of pins with each skin, so it's not like you'd be stuck with grey dots on the koi skins). Another alternative would be to make less distracting pins using 4274 half-pin in either light-grey, light-bley, or blue, combined with 20482 1x1 round tile w/ pin in trans-clear.
Would much rather get 31088 Deep Sea Creatures than this. That one looks much better, authentic (all lego parts, no skin!), and way cheaper.
“Four skins” ?
This may be Lord Garmadon's most insidious creation yet: a shark robot so lifelike it could sneak up to Ninjago City undetected by even the most experienced marine biologists.
They definitely could've done better on those pins. Seems like that was an after thought. Functional, yes, but aesthetically it's distracting.
Was this targeted for AFOLs as some have commented? It seems TLG was targeting adults or teens that aren't into LEGO or haven't touched any since childhood and using it as a medium into getting back. I'm glad TLG is trying something new and just pumping out another safe, bland product (looking at you Star Wars).
Shark brick ooh ha ha
I think the thought was pretty smart. I adapted a 31073 to this and put some wheels under it (as per my kids demand). Now it moves and it flies :). Thanks for the idea Lego.
@MTBrickHouse:
In theory, it was targeting untapped markets. In reality, once word got out that they were doing this, it probably really only sold to AFOLs and speculators.
I'd personally take the Creator shark over this, but this is still the best of the FORMA sets.