Today, we delve into a new brand. Our friends at BuildingToyStore.com sent me three sets from Double Eagle (also branded CaDA) to review. The first one I built is a 2-in-1 model, which builds either Santa and a sleigh pulled by two reindeer (called a “snowmobile” on the box), or Santa Claus on skis, carrying a sack on his back. CaDA brand sets are comprised typically, from what I can tell, of Technic-style bricks and parts and are often motorized and remote-controlled. This Santa set promises a sound-sensing and infrared-sensing brick with a “Smart Power Motor” amongst its 439 pieces. I realise we’re a bit late for Christmas on this one, but consider this an early review if you’re thinking of adding this set to next year’s Christmas repertoire.

This is my very first experience with CaDA/Double Eagle brand blocks. Dumping everything out of the box, I was impressed immediately with the sturdiness of the bricks and axles. The motor and battery box look very much similar to Lego-branded Power Functions pieces, but the placement of drive holes looks unfamiliar to me and the light- and sound-sensing control does not seem to be based on any existing Lego part (as best as I can tell, the only Lego sound-sensing bricks are in the Mindstorms robotics series and look nothing like this). If one is very familiar with “Lego red” as the standard for red bricks, one will note that the reds of this set are brighter than that. I have found that to be the case with nearly every clone brand I’ve built with, save for Lepin, whose red bricks are the exact same colour as Lego’s (thus further adding fuel to the fire for the conspiracy theory of some link between Lepin and Lego). There is a small sticker sheet included, with consists of stickers for Santa’s eyes, the reindeers’ noses, and motifs for decorating the sled (showing reindeer pulling the sleigh on each side, and a “Merry Christmas” decal for the front). One minor issue is that the red colour of the sticker background does not come close to matching the red bricks’ colour. The match of the yellow border around “Merry Christmas” is much nearer to the colour of the year bricks on the sleigh. Which, while I’m thinking of it, seems a strange colour choice for the sleigh’s trim. Why yellow and not green or white, a bit more typical for a Christmas colour palette?

The instruction books are printed in nice colours and quality paper. There is at least one quirk compared to the instructions included with other brands and at least one bonus: one quirk is that smooth tiles are shown upside down in the part-count insets at each step. That threw me off for a moment. On the other hand, Technic beams in those same parts callouts show their length measurements just as axles do. That’s a nice touch if you’re not able to quickly tell at a glance the length of a part. It also contains some helpful graphics showing how to assemble technic parts so that they can turn freely, such as by not pushing bushings flat against other parts, thus reducing friction. It’s been my experiencing helping others troubleshoot their technic models that oftentimes parts are pressed together too closely, inhibiting their correct movements.

Beginning assembly, I was immediately impressed by the good fit of the various axles and pins. Having built lots of Lepin over the past year, where technic parts can be hit or miss, these Double Eagle parts felt smooth, just like the Danish brand. It seems most parts are modeled after Lego parts, even though the design of this set is 100% original. Honestly, if this is what to expect from Double Eagle/CaDA, all of whose sets are technic-style, then you can;’t go wrong. The tolerances and fits were all perfect. No straining to get an axle through a hole, no pins too tight or too loose: Goldilocks would’ve found everything in this set to be “just right”.

The set comes with a string you can tie through the reindeers’ bodies and loop through Santa’s hands, as reins. The string is a tight fit if you try to make a perfect not in each end of it. I found I had to make one knot tight, the other “knot so much”. Tying the knots too tight inhibits the movement of the model, too loose and it falls off of the reindeers’ necks. One with better knot-tying skills could probably get it perfect, more easily than I can. I just loosened one end up a bit and now the reindeer prance according to Father Christmas’s every whim.

Everything went together very smoothly. The age range on this set is listed as 6+. I allowed my daughter, who will be 5 this year, to assist, and with my guidance she did rather well. After operating the model for a few days, putting these Double Eagle-brick-built reindeer through their paces, I did find the neck joints of the reindeer to be a bit loose. Often after a long journey across the kitchen floor, their heads would begin to nod forward.

The “infrared” sensor is actually a light sensor, more like a solar cell, activated by the presence of direct light. I found the sound sensor much more useful as a control mechanism. A sharp clap of the hands was enough to get these reindeer on their way, and to halt them again. So easy even my little girl could clap to control them.

In all, I am pleased with this set. It was relatively quick to build, and creates a fun holiday-themed model that we’ll no doubt want to make part of our Christmas brick play each year from here on out. Next time, we’ll build the Santa on skis model to see how it holds up. It, too, looks cool. So, colour me impressed with Double Eagle. I’m on to the next build now. Stay tuned for results!

These sets are not up on BuildingToyStore.com yet, but I suspect after the Chinese New Year they will be added to the store. Therefore, I don’t know the exact price for this model yet. Just keep an eye on their page, and expect to see lots from this brand in future. Do remember that when you are ready to order, our friends at Building Toy Store are offering a coupon for 10 USD off your order, exclusively for readers of Alt-Blocks, in addition to other discounts on their site. Just go to BuildingToyStore.com using this link, create an account (which gets you a 10% discount), and use coupon code K7CXYREL. You may also find a coupon code on their site for an additional 5% discount.

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