QMan Blast Ranger PDQ Set 3305

Qman's Blast Ranger is a 4-in-1 set built from 644 self-locking ABS blocks, building four transformable models — Flare Raiders, Blast Sharps, Silver-Edged Agents and Light Wave Detectives. Supplied as a PDQ retail display of individual boxes. Printed instruction manual. Age 6+.

PDQ is a shop fitting, and it is in the product name

PDQ stands for pretty darn quick, and it is trade jargon for a pre-packed retail display — a tray or strip of individual products that arrives at a shop ready to go straight onto a counter without anybody unpacking, pricing or arranging anything.

The name is the whole idea. A shop assistant opens a carton, lifts out the display, puts it on the counter, and the products are merchandised. The alternative is unpacking forty small boxes and stacking them, which takes a person twenty minutes and produces a worse result.

That is why so much small-format product in the world is sold this way: sweets by the till, batteries, lip balm, keyrings, and — as here — small building sets. Manufacturers design the packaging around the display rather than the other way round.

It also explains why these sets come in strips of four or six rather than singly. The unit the manufacturer sells is the display, not the box.

What you get

Four separate models, each buildable on its own, each with its own instructions — and each transformable. 644 pieces divided four ways is around 160 each, which is a proper build rather than a token one.

Specifications

Pieces: 644 · Four transformable models · PDQ display of individual boxes · Printed instructions · Series: Qman · Age: 6+