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MicroM

Review: 5979 Maximum Security transport

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When I heard about the SPIII wave I was very excited. I’m a Star Wars LEGO collector now, but was well and truely into Classic Space collector back in my childhood (80’s). I recall the Space Police line, although it was released when I was well into my teens and not really buying / playing with LEGO anymore. I did however buy 1 original Space Police kit - 6895 Space Police Prowler. The 5979 kit really reminded me of that kit so was on my shopping list for 2009. I didn’t actually buy it until Kmart put the Galactic Enforcer on clearance and I decided to pick it up and then a few of the other SPIII kits, including 5979.

Before I start on my review I a going to put a few pictures of the old 6895 Space Prowler kit up, as I used this as reference point for my review. I don’t have the box anymore, but here’s an old catalogue picture:

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I’d really love a few of these older kits, but I only ever did get the 6895, oh well there’s always the secondary market. :tongue:

Before I put together the new one (5979) I did search through pounds and pounds of old LEGO to rebuild this kit. Was fun to build an old kit, and thankfully nearly all the parts were there (only 1 missing piece, but I was able to replace with a different coloured part).

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It really is a great little kit. The mechanism that turns the vehicle, although basic by today’s standards was (at least for me) an innovation in LEGO when I built it all those years ago. The use of a technic axle to connect the front and back portions and then a piece (where the “Police” logo is in the middle portion) sits over the top to move the wheels from left to right. Here’s the 2 minifigures you get, 1 Officer (although no specific uniform) and one bad buy, in the form of a Blacktron minifig. The jail cell is pretty cool, especially with the Police logo on the side and trans red pieces, which I always imagined as lasers keeping the prisoner in his / her cell. The kit had 148 pieces

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Lastly here’s a shot from the instruction manual, it was pretty thin, and a lot would happen from step to step. And no little legend telling you which pieces you should be using. To be honest I rarely look at those little boxes now, I’m sure that’s a hangover from my youth where you just had to look at the picture and work out what was added.

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Anyway, I digress. Here’s the actual review of the 2009 Space Police kit - 5979 Maximum Security Transport

Kit # - 5979 Space Police - Security Transport

Price - $45 AUD (got this in a pre Christmas sale at K-Mart, down from $60 - it was an exclusive at Kmart, which is thankful as Kmart always go on sale and don’t add some arbitrary markup to LEGO’s RRP)

Pieces - 330 pieces

Minifigs - 3 - 1 Officer + 2 Aliens

Box

Very big box, as usual half the box is dedicated to wasted space, I really wish LEGO would reduce their box sizes, surely parents don’t just buy based on the size of the box. Anyway it’s nice art work, the little “Wanted” pictures at the bottom right hand corner is a nice touch.

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The rear of the box shows the transport in its “Flight” mode, along with a few smaller pictures showing how the vehicle converts into a smaller ship. It was nice to see a Space themed kit on the LEGO shelves, outside of the SW line.

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Box was opened by pushing in the 2 push tabs on the back of the box, mine was really wel glued and caused a fait bit of ripping to get into it.

Contents:

- 3 bags with pieces (which are numbered 1 - 3 and the kit is built in 3 stages);

- The eight wheel pieces, loose;

- Sticker sheet (I don’t put stickers on anything, so this is useless to me); and

- Instruction manual (its 75 pages long, includes a parts list and a few shots of the completed vehicles. The old 6895 instruction manual was 12 pages long, and didn’t include the now obligatory warning about empting the parts on the grass - how did kids ever know that was a hazard??? :classic: ).

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Random instruction manual page

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Minifigs

Bag # 1 contains the minifigs. Initially I didn’t like the Aliens, but now after opening them up, and also remembering back to my childhood (where you had to invent bad guys, before Blacktron) I think it’s good they’ve come up with an Alien or “bad guy” for the Police to catch. I hope this line has some longevity, but given this year has only 2 new releases I’m thinking its time is short, but I would have liked to have seen them build on the theme and added some more depth to the Aliens (perhaps a hideout, that's more substantial than the pitstop).

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Here’s a picture of the green alien, his face is covered by the helmet, but I thought I’d show the detail it has

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The Space Police Officer has a good torso and legs design and the helmet is OK (there’s no reverse face print him). I think some sort of armor suit, like from the Agents line would have been a nice addition to this. Though he would have needed somewhere to keep it, as the cockpit is tight. But I think that would have been a nice touch, as would have a gun. Does he just ask the Aliens to stop when he catches them ??

Stage 1

This is the pile of parts for Stage 1, where you build the Alien bike and the frame of the Transport.

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The competed bike is better than I thought. Again this is something that initially turned me off the kit, as it looked a little flimsy. But after building it and seeing all the minifigs and the vehicles together I think it is better they provided something. I really don’t like the flick missiles that are littered over all the SW vehicles, but this larger gun is much more fun, it actually shoots out some distance.

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Stage 2

The Transport is a pretty simple build, plenty of variety in the pieces so everything is easy to find. The colour scheme is spot on, I really felt like I was building a Police vehicle with all the white, red and blue.

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Stage 3

This is where you build the large rear thrusters and the cockpit. I really liked the thrusters, they are a nice upgrade on what used to be a simple one piece that clicked into the rear of the ship (classic space days). The cockpit is nice and tight, though the Officer has to sit with his arms up in the air to be able to sit. I thought they could have done something a little better than this.

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Rear thrusters

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Completed kit

When finished the Transport has a nice look. Its a bit bigger than I thought, and certainly a lot bigger than the original one. When you look front on it has a low down look, with the oversized wheels higher than the cockpit and thrusters. The colour scheme is spot on all around, the little trans red and blue cheese slopes are a nice touch, something the designers didn’t have back in the “day”. I really like these pieces, I think they finish kits off nicely. Here’s a few shots, both in drive and flight mode:

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This last picture shows the prisoner transport in lock down mode. This mode also pushes the side lasers up above the wheels (probably a handy thing to avoid a blown out tyre or two).

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The cockpit and rear thrusters join together to make this neat little ship.

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Functionality

Drive v Flight mode. This is an easy conversion, as the wheels just push down to make it “hover” craft like. I’m not sure when they would use the drive mode if you can fly / hover, but lets just imagine that flight mode drains the power source so to conserve they go back to drive mode. The Alien bike’s missile can be used to aim and shoot at a small disc on the top of the prison cell. If you get it right it will flick open the cell, pretty neat. Though you can “protect” the cell by locking it down, this also pushes the side panels (with the lasers) up into a locked high position.

Final Comparison

Since I couldn’t stop talking about the older version I’ve done a few comparison shots. In summary the 2009 version is significantly bigger and has a few more play functions. I really like the drive of the older one, its very smooth, the 2009 version makes quite a noise as it rattles across our floor.

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Prisoner cell

Not sure who wins out on the comfort of the cells, there’s a little more head room in the 2009 version, and with its cylinder shape and translucent blue pieces it would feel a little less claustrophobic. The cell in the 2009 version does sit on an angle, with the older version flat, so a slight upgrade in comfort (better rights for criminals…. I mean suspected criminals in the 21st century).

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Conclusion

This is the first Space Police III kit I have built. It was a good build, as usual splitting into 3 stages certainly make it quick. There are some nice details on the transport, particularly those rear thrusters. Though as I mentioned earlier the cockpit lets itself down due to the Officer having to hold his arms up high. It certainly is robust, my 18 month son was running around with it this morning and there wasn’t too much damage. The splitting into a smaller ship is a good feature, I used to have a classic space ship that did this, and used that function all the time. I’m not sure if kids really play with their LEGO these days, but if they do that would be a neat function. The missile shooting at the prisoner cell also adds a little interest to the kit.

I like the Aliens and now the Space Police have a uniform (when compared to their SPI forefathers). But they really should hand out some sort of weapons to both the Police and Aliens.

I will have one rant about the stickers. It was great to rummage through my old LEGO and rebuild the older version of this. Obviously the printed pieces have stood the test of time and the kit looks just like it should. I refuse to use stickers now, after seeing how they deteriorate over time. I would have thought they could have come up with some pieces that could have “Police” or “Space Police” or at least the logo on them, and then reused across a few kits. Anyway stickers are here to stay, its a sad regression in some respects.

Overall I’d rate this kit high. I do notice its not on the Australian S@H site, though my Kmart is still displaying quite a few of these. Its worth picking up, and even more if the price continues to drop. I can’t wait now to build my other SPIII kits.

Thanks for reading.....

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Final thoughts (from the minifigures)

Space Police

Old to new - "So you now have uniforms, back in my day they wouldn’t spring for them!"

Bad guys

Aliens to Blacktron - "That black theme was a little too obvious as the baddies, you should have been more discreet, like us"

Edited by MicroM

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Awesome review! I love how you compared SPIII with SPI. I think the jail bars on the old one look cooler than the tube of present.

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Excellent review.

I was on the fence as to whether I should get this set or not, but, now I think I'll go and pick one up. I also liked the comparison to the old Space Police set. Overall, a great review on a seemingly great set.

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Thanks! Great review, and I like the comparison between the SP1 and 3! I think that this set is a must have, so I must have to get it! 2 Aliens (1 I don't have) a bulky Max security transport vehicle (man, TLC had fun with these names) and the best minicraft in the theme! Yes, that space motor cycle turret thing, that puppy rocks!!!

~Insectoid Aristcrat

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great review :classic:

the thing i like the most on this new set, is that it turns from car into spaceship. I tried to create ships like that in the 80s, but it never worked very well... I do think it's the wrong choice of wheels though... i can imagine that driving around whith these is messy, as you indicated. so they should have opted for some cooler looking wheels...

I don't see any use for the "car-mode" as opposed to the "spaceship-mode", honestly. Most planets are rocky, so a car this low isn't going to get very far... still, it looks fine to me...

i'd prefer the new prison cage though... the old one never really convinced me and was only intresting because of the parts. On the other hand, I loved the old colors! :classic: soooooo tired of white and black...

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I have this set. It's excellent! I've seen so many 'meh' reviews I'm glad someone finally appreciated this set for it's features and playability.

It's just great to look at design-wise and so many neat details.

Great review and love the comparison with the older set. Very cool... :classic:

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Hello!

Thanks for the effort of writing down all these thoughts. :classic: It's a good review and also a great memory to the older set! :classic: And to be honest, now seeing that old prowler, I still am addicted to the old Space Police theme. :sweet:

The little fun conversation between the minifigures of both decades really made me smile. :classic:

Cheers,

~ Christopher

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Thanks for the feedback.

Yes that old Space Police line was pretty good. It was fun to build an old kit, and know I'm hunting for a few of those other kits from the original line.

Doing a review is actually a good way to enjoy the kit, get's you thinking of the pros and cons as you go along.

I really like this theme, hopefully they have some further releases later in the year. Though judging on the stock still left at my Kmart, it wasn't a huge hit with the kids.

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Great review, I really like how you compared it ot the older SP set that really does look like it's earlier cousin!

I have that particualr old school set and I must say personally I like it better than the new one.

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Top review - well detailed, good photos, and has got me interested in picking this kit up!!

Edited by Shadows
Don't quote the whole review, just add your comment, everyone knows what you're replying to.

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Very good review, especially with the comparison you make.

I was a teen when the SPI came out and thought about buying it but ended up purchasing another one instead.

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Top review - well detailed, good photos, and has got me interested in picking this kit up!!

Citycollector, please refrain from quoting the complete post - especially when all you have to add is just one sentence. :hmpf_bad: In this case less (scrolling down) is more (reading convenience).

Thank you!

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Citycollector, please refrain from quoting the complete post - especially when all you have to add is just one sentence. :hmpf_bad: In this case less (scrolling down) is more (reading convenience).

Thank you!

Exactly.

(and fixed) :grin:

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Awesome review! I love how you compared SPIII with SPI. I think the jail bars on the old one look cooler than the tube of present.

Yes! Me too. I noticed to that the mars mission eagle command base is alot like a set from the life on mars theme in 2003. Lego, always recycling their set ideas :tongue::laugh::tongue: !

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