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sinjid

review: 7051 tripod invader

  

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Hey fellow AFOLs, this is my second review and I thought I would do it on this little beauty I picked it up at Toys R Us. I wanted to get one of the new Alien Conquest Legos, and picked this one because it was the perfect balance between big and small, expensive and inexpensive. And, by the way, it's awesome!

Name: Tripod Invader

Set Number: 7o51

Pieces: 166

Price: USD 20.00

Ages: 7-14

Minifigs: 2 or 3 not sure bout the head squid thing

Theme: alien conquest

Year of Release: 2011

Box

Front

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The box is good, and the green corners add a nice look. The background is nice with the UFOs flying around.

Back

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Shows the alien flying away with the captured human, and leaving his legs and his "pet" head squid behind. It also shows two vehicle play features, and the head squid feature.

Content

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Three bags and instructions which are a little crumpled. Plus a sticker sheet akkk :sick:

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Random page of the instructions. The build is split into two parts: the ship and the legs. A good building pace is set, not too much on one page, but also not too little. The images are good, no color confusion. A faded green in the back, and the alien writing

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This is a step in the build I find strange. On the bottom it uses the 1x2 with two clips, but on the top it uses two 1x1 pieces with one clip. Why didn't they use four of the 1x1s or two of the 1x2s? *huh*

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The final page of the actual build shows the points of movement. The cabin and main turret move as one, and it can spin 360 degrees. The main turret can swivel in most directions in front of it.

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The parts page. Not much for you "part monkeys", but still not bad

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Then comes an image of all the sets in this series

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And an advertisement for alien conquest.com

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Then there's a picture of the aliens attacking the city

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An advertisement for the lego club

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And on the back is the WIN advertisement that I've come to know and hate :angry:

Minifigs

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Here are the figs: I like the little squid thing and was surprised at it's solidity. I expected it to be more rubbery, and same goes for the alien head. I like the alien. The body is nice. I like the use of magenta, and his head is cool, though it kinda reminds me of a grumpy frog. The civilian is cool. I like his gold tie and the pen in his shirt pocket. His new head is very civilian looking.

img_2330s.jpg

The back of the figs, disappointing that the alien has no back print but here you have a better view of the brain design. The civilian has a two sided head, and this side looks good. The clenched teeth look good as well, plus the glasses are at an angle which gives it a look that says "running for my life".

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Here's a pic of the civilian with the head squid, and it looks good. Either this kills him or turns him into a mindless slave. One way or the other it looks good :laugh:

Build

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First, here are some pieces that interest me. There is a long plus bar with a flat top. I've seen this before but never this long. Then there are the two capsule pieces, though not new, the green looks like something you'd see in an Atlantis set. The technic piece is unfamiliar to me, but please correct me if it's, in fact, not new. The ray gun is in a new shade of silver, a spike wedge in green, and as far as I'm concerned, it's only is in this color in the new Hero Factory. The brief case I'm pretty sure has shown up before in brown, but is uncommon and is mostly black

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The extra pieces from the build

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The legs are nice and hold the main lazer cannon. They connect with the ship with a plus bar. The legs have pretty limited articulation though.

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The ship is quite nice, with the capsule hinged in the back. It's a good size, not too big for the legs, and not too small. It has two lazer guns and a human capture pod.

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Both pieces put together make a good alien attack weapon to be feared. Its tall, but not really BIG, structure wise

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The capture pod can open on the top, but not really on the bottom, and can hold a fig rather snug.

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The pod can be removed, and I guess you put it on display as a trophy :grin:

Final thoughts

This is a good set, not too big but not too small, with some cool features. It has a good kinda retro alien look. For twenty bucks, this set is worth it.

Build and Design: 9/10 Quick and effective with no complications, though a small design flaw is that the legs don't really move.

Playability: 8/10 Nice with the top coming off to become a little UFO, and the swiveling laser, though there needs to be someone to fight.

Pieces: 7/10 Not many special pieces, though the purple pieces are nice. It comes with 12 of them.

Minifigs: 6/10 The alien civilian and head squid are cool, but there seriously needs an ADU.

Price: 9/10 Great price for 20 bucks! It looks big, even though it only has 166 pieces.

Total:9/10 A great set that is not too expensive for its size. The figs are great, too. Really needs a ADU guy, but nonetheless, a good classic alien look. Not very good if you're just in it for the parts, but I can see a kid playing with this for hours.

Edited by sinjid

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Thanks for the review! :sweet:

This set is strongly reminiscent of War of the Worlds:

war-of-the-worlds-musical.jpg

I've often thought about MOCing one of those tripod things; this set looks to be the perfect place to start. The green canopies will do nicely for the eyes.

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Superb, it looks ace and it's on my must buy list :classic: I'll have a look this afternoon for one :sweet:

Thanks sinjid after reading your review I picked this up this afternoon, looking forward to building this later on while watching close encounters :sweet:

Edited by Final Exit

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Good review; I agree this is a superb set! Good value and playability, especially if mixed with the two less expensive ones. :sweet:

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Thanks for the review! :wub: It's an instant classic!

The technic piece is unfamiliar to me, but please correct me if it's, in fact, not new.

It's quasi-new.

64451.jpg?0

Kinda looks like The Separatist Spider Droid.

Nah, Star Wars isn't very original. As Rufus said, it is more accurate to say it's based on War of the Worlds.

I've often thought about MOCing one of those tripod things; this set looks to be the perfect place to start. The green canopies will do nicely for the eyes.

I've got one in 90% complete form but I've never considered it finished. Here's a photo of it (top right) four years ago!

dsc01441e.jpg

(I'll stop hijacking your topic now... :blush: )

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Excellent review 'sinjid', and 'Rufus' stole my thunder....I was also going to say H.G. Wells War Of The Worlds. :wink:

Okay, I might one of these.....if only to make my own WOTW walker. :wink:

Brick On ! :grin:

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Kinda looks like The Separatist Spider Droid.

I think it would be more accurate to say the Separatist Spider Droid looks like a WoW walker.

Thanks for an excellent, and very thorough, review! I really like this set, it's been a theme standout since we starting seeing the first pictures. Now that it's here I'm glad to see it doesn't disappoint. I like the look of the complete walker, the height is impressive and the aesthetics are nifty. Any comment on how articulated the legs are? I think I've seen some pictures that seem to display a surprising amount of leg articulation.

No way I'm missing out on this set. :grin:

Edited by Algernon

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Great review! I think this is one of the best sets of the line. The great price and playability will surely make this a good seller. The only thing missing from this set though, is an ADU trooper, but it can easily be solved by getting the smallest set.

Edited by prateek

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The bar with the flat top is very common among large Bionicle guys.

I like what I am seeing, and since the top of the tripod can become a cool UFO, I think the only non-small stuff from the bad guys I will get will be two or three of them.

Even though it seems a little small for a 20.0 set.

Edited by vexorian

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The set is identical here in the UK but the box has some minor differences, names and so on.

5696196931_72a82293f0_b.jpg

Love the little "we've been to earth" sticker on the tripod :laugh:

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Thanks for the review!

Personally, I like the ship with out the legs :sceptic:

But that's just my style...Can't wait for these to hit stores near me!

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Thanks for this review, sinjid!

While I ultimately love this set, I can't help but feel that it wasn't as strongly executed as some of the other sets in the line. The legs look really great, but I am not a fan of the abundance of technic pieces used. I don't know what the solution would be to get around using technic parts (and still keeping a similar overall piece count ), but they still bug me never-the-less. I'm also not completely sold on the trans-clear being used for the cockpit dome and the trans-green being used on the pod at the back. Maybe my mind will change when I see it in person.

With the nitpicks out of the way I can get onto the good - it's a tri-pod! This theme has got all the bases covered for an awesome alien invasion - saucers and walkers! I'm not someone who likes to mass collect individual sets, but I think I'm going to need at least 3 of these guys! Amazing set!

Note: It seems as though some longer technic beams for the legs would be a welcome addition. I want these tri-pods to really tower over everything.

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Thanks for great review. I think it'll be a fun set to get to start an invasion of one's City layout.

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Thanks for the review! :sweet:

This set is strongly reminiscent of War of the Worlds:

war-of-the-worlds-musical.jpg

I've often thought about MOCing one of those tripod things; this set looks to be the perfect place to start. The green canopies will do nicely for the eyes.

That is exactly what I thought when I first heard this set was coming out! I love that soundtrack! Also, nice review.

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Thanks for the review! :sweet:

This set is strongly reminiscent of War of the Worlds:

It is... I picked up this set, I thought it was pretty neat, personally. I wasn't even going to give a second look at this theme until I saw the command center review (or whatever it's called), and it struck me that this theme has elements of a lot of great classic movies - War of the Worlds, Alien(s, ^3), Independence Day, and Mars Attacks, all in one theme.

I don't think I'll be picking up any more because I really can't afford a new theme, but it had enough classic "camp" to make me one to get at least one for fun.

I added an extra character in the pod so that I could have the guy with the alien on his head outside on display.

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That is exactly what I thought when I first heard this set was coming out! I love that soundtrack! Also, nice review.

I love it as well (I hope you'll forgive me for noting it's not actually a soundtrack, but rather its own entity), and I've long wanted to do some War of the Worlds MOCs drawing upon this album's designs for the Martian war machines. I guess I'm not the only one...

In the meantime, this whole theme looks like another excellent take on the classic sci-fi invasion scenario, and I want all the sets, and that includes multiples of this one for me as it does for ZO6.

:cry_happy::thumbup:

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Is it weird that one of my favorite parts of this set is the civilian? He gives off a "Clark Kent" vibe with his glasses and blue pin striped suit.

It would be really ironic to see an alien abduct a human only to find out he is really a superhero from another planet that has devoted himself to protecting Earth.

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Hello!

Great review, thank you. :classic: As already mentioned, this set reminds me, too, back to the old Science Fiction "War of the Worlds". I sense a nice diorama with these sets coming soon. :classic:

Cheers,

~ Christopher

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img_2325s.jpg

Some kind of very aggressive series, out of tune with the LEGO Group spirit .

Right now this tripod is trying to incinerate the peaceful earthman!

Besides some greenish substance tends to bite off his head!

Where is the peace of the old colonizer LEGO-series? :hmpf_bad:

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Great set, great review. It's cool that the saucer is detachable.

And, yes, it reminds me of War of the Worlds, too. :laugh:

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Great review! :thumbup:

I really need to get that minifig once it cames to Brick Architect.

It's perfect for scary moments in my sigfig's life. :laugh:

It reminds me a bit on WotW, but it's to small and ugly for that, so it's pass for me (except for the fig).

One question: Is this green thing that jumps on human heads going to be considered a headgear or an animal?

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Some kind of very aggressive series, out of tune with the LEGO Group spirit .

...you're kidding, aren't you? :look: TLG has never had a problem with violence providing it's not realistic today violence... for example.

375-2.1105127490.thumb2.jpg

If you think that castles are all about princesses and parades then I see your point but otherwise...

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What a lovely Alien Conquest set, thanks for sharing this review sinjid! The tripod invader is indeed very reminiscent of the classic 'War of the Worlds' alien tripod machine. I also like the new 'infecting' alien head which is an ingenious piece IMO. Overall it's a great set to have.

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Great review! I'm glad to know that the lower part of the capture pod stays in place rather than flopping around! Still, the capture pod strikes me as one of the weakest parts of this set. First of all, it's Transparent Bright Green rather than Transparent Fluorescent Green, so it fails to match the color scheme of the other alien vehicles. Second, it's a little hard to figure out functionally. I like one person's interpretation that the Alien Pet "mind-controls" the man to enter the pod of his own volition, because otherwise there's no easy way for the vehicle to force him into the pod. Then again, I suppose this applies to most sets with capture pods. The main difference here is that with the capture pod on huge stilts willing suspension of disbelief is tested a bit more thoroughly.

The civilian is great, as is the Alien Soldier. A little less decisive about the pet... I don't especially like white-eyes-with-black-pupils in LEGO, preferring the minifigure's black-eyes-with-white-sparkles. Overall, the vehicle is stunning. I love the tall, spindly appearance as well as the engines on the back of the detachable flyer. In general the vehicle is thin and oddly-proportioned, but doesn't seem the least bit frail.

Edited by Aanchir

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