REVIEW: 5984 - Lunar Limo

[Cakeman]

Yesterday I dropped by a toystore in town to look for the PoP sets as I was craving some new bricks (due to the fact that I should be doing other things). They didn't have them, but instead there were the new Kingdom sets and two SP3 sets I had not seen before. Or reviewed here either, so I got the idea to spend my valuable time not studying but building LEGO. When I got home I noticed Jisthekid had already done his review, but here is mine too:

Set Number: 5984

Set Name: Lunar Limo

Theme: Space Police III

Year Released: Summer 2010

Parts: Jisthekid says 391, no info on brickset yet.

Minifigs: 3; Brick Daddy, Jawson, Police Officer

Price: 499 sKr (BR store, Linköping, Sweden)

First, I must say I've really enjoyed the SP3 line. Not that I have all sets but the minifigs have been great and the ships somehow appealing to me with their retro car look. Of the two new sets the store had in stock, the Lunar Limo stood out. Appealing boxart. Didn't I need a crimelord to lead the gang? Absolutely! So with great satisfaction I picked the box from the shelf.

The box is quite large. Here admired by a lone farmer who happened to stroll by. Doesn't it look very... pimped? Gold black and purple in a nice combination that matched Brick Daddy's classy clothes. The box had the two punchout helpers for opening, but if you want to spare the box you need to use a knife. Not that hard to accomplish though but there's better ways to open a box if you want to save it.

And the back, showing features. It's ok, even though I grew up with the backs that showed alternate models. I guess showing the features of the set sells it to kids, but sometimes the alternates was what thrilled my mind as a kid - "That one would fit perfectly with <insert MOC>".

Picture of the side showing the minifigs in the set. A large reason for me buying this instead of Undercover Cruiser.

Ahh, emptying the contents on the table... an ancient ritual. Total satisfaction.

Here all the contents on the table, including the single manual and DSS. I don't put my stickers on anymore but they look discreet and classy, like the other stickers in the SP3 set so maybe I'll change my mind. They're black, purple and gold and there's no bulletholes or more ganglike markings as Brick Daddy rides in style baby! Oh yeah. Ehum... the bags are numbered from 1-4 and the instructions uses one bag at a time - very handy, I remember when you usually had opened all bags by step 5 in the instruction as it picked parts from different bags all the time. This way I didn't flood my too small buildingsite with parts. Neat.

Contents of bag 1: bricks and more bags! And the minifigs ofcourse. No child could stand the wait longer than through the opening of the first bag, so it's a good thing they're here. I have pictures of all the bags content separately and the spare pieces from the bags, but I usually don't enjoy seeing them in reviews myself so if you're interested I can link them.

And as I open the smaller bag, even more bags! This one contains Daddy's head and was actually quite tricky to get into, as I didn't want to use force and risk harming the head.

All the lovely figs assembled together. I like Jawson too, looks very rough. I guess you need a bunch of henchmen to keep bikers and whatnot in line, and they can act as chauffeurs too. But... look at the police officer! I don't like the new helmets at all, I think they sit to high on the head and cover the mouth and look... bulky. And I've tried to get them to fit lower. Is it just me, or is anyone else having the same problems?

Daddy in stylish purple though. His head is not that large so his hat rides low. I like him. A pir of gold epaulettes and a red cape and he's even more pimplike ;) A cane perhaps?

Backs:

The instructions are easy to follow, it's just one manual wich is good and you can actually easily tell black apart from dark and light gray.

Daddy is inspecting the what his money has bought enginewise. It's large, it's got exhausts in gold and an... air intake? Oh well, no alien is wearing any breathingapparatus anyway so we can drop the whole vacuum idea. The whole front of the limo is very sleek and has plates and slopes to make it more smooth.

Apart from the figs, no new parts I could tell. I haven't come across this yellow little axelpiece before, it's very similar to a previous part with little teeth on one end - now it's smooth on both sides. It always used to be an aestethic choice on my part wich way to put the teeth (it never showed in the final build but anyway) but now I don't have to. Also, doesn't it look swooshable?

Look after bag 2. Jawson likes the idea of getting to drive this monster.

Daddy rides in style, wich includes not only his flashy Lunar Limo exterior but a nice seat for him too. The main hull of the limo is six studs wide, the same as many new town cars and trucks. This makes it easy to position the minifigs inside, even though they still doesn't ride side by side. And Daddy wouldn't want to have it that way either, he rides in the back - driven by his lackeys.

The front and back parts of the hull connects like so, and then you strengthen this with windows and minor SNOT on the sides. It's not possible to easily separate later on, though will come in handy when storing in a box for transport. The limo is long!

Swoosh? Hmm, not really. Here, it starts to get a bit flimsy for it's length (just a feeling, theu build is sturdy). More on this later.

The poor officer realises that with an engine like this, he'll never be able to catch up on foot. He'll need a ride himself, but he aint gettin any! It's good he's included anyway, for playability if nothing else.

Underside. The howerstuds dosn't get it airborne enough though it makes for a smooth ride on my table.

The completed set! The build was quite easy, no hard techniques. Looks good but lacks that little extra. I think that with a ship this long, it has to have some more weight to it. I think it definately needs a MOCed underside with a bunch of black slopes, tubes etc. The greebling on the ship itself is decent and in stylish gold wich fits the overall feel well. I can really see this ship flanked by the black gangster ship in 5973 Hyperspeed Pursuit :)

So, verdict? The price seems a little steep for the parts but it's been that way lately. Minifigs... well Brick Daddy steals the show here. He looks like a 70's pimp in purple, it fits him well. He's not as cool as the red alien from the SP Headquarters though close, and I can't see how additional minifigs could have added to this set. The build was nothing special and will not be hard for kids. Black parts is always usable and I like the slopes. The final build is true to the boxart but feels a bit lacking as I've said earlier though it's sturdy. Playwise it's lacking in guns for a ship this size but that's easily moddable I guess :) Oh, and the ejecting shooter in front, completely forgot that (since I'm no fan of it though know that kids like them). Still, maybe I feel it's a little pricey for what you get. If you want Daddy it's a must (since he only appears here as of yet) and if you want a lead car/ship, but otherwise? Nah. 3/5 from me.

Still has a menacing front. The SP in the back notices a broken taillight and turns around...

The roof rides as low as Daddy's hat. "Sir, could you step out of the vehicle? Yes, out. No, there's ground to stand on no problem. What? No! Outside, sir!"

"What's this farmer and the prize pig doing in your trunk? You'll have to come with me to the station" This is where Daddy will use his little speeder to escape, but otherwise I don't see why he needs it. If he can't escape in his large ship he'll be overtaken in his small. Though it's probably good for cramped spaces, it's not big but packs a ferocious gatlinggun.

Well there's the review. So what do you think of the latest wave in the SP3 line?

[Lordofdragonss]

Hahaha I love the picture with bagged Brickfather face!

Thanks for review, the LIMO looks amazing! I have to get it!

Could you put other caps on Brickfaters head?

[KurttKrueger]

Great review, really hope this will be available at the Lego store in Manchester later today.

[squidman85]

What a great set!What you mean about yelloew axel piece?

[I Scream Clone]

Great review on a set I look forward too. Amazing figures really help this line, much like Atlantis at the moment

Really nice content and a good fun trip through this set.

Cheers

ISC.

[feanor]

Thank you for the nice review. It was fun to read, and I was looking forward to get some information on this set.

However I guess I am too much absorbed into the 80's and 90's Lego Space designs and somehow this retro-futuristic style of Space Police (particularly the villain vehicles) still has to grow on me.

This Lunar Limo seems to score high on the 'coolness' factor but design-wise doesn't excite me much. Also I have to notice the lack of any particular functions, no splitting, no transforming, etc...

I am much more excited to see in real the Undercover Cruiser, it looks more original and I think design-wise it puts many Star Wars spaceships into shame. And the transformation feature seems really cool!

[Jjsthekid]

Nice Review! I admit, your review is better than mine. I love the picture at the end.

[Artanis I]

Thanks for the review! At last, a SP3 ship (other than Galactic Enforcer) that seats more than 1 minfig. Instead of insisting on getting a good guy & bad guy (with their own transport - however pathetic) in every set, TLG could build better ships with 2 minifigs of the same team. So much easier to build fleets with too. Of course, having more than one Lunar Limo has its discouragements: I could never justify more than 1 Brick Daddy unless I changed one slightly and pit them against each other in a mob war. Actually on second thoughts that sounds like fun!

I really look forward to buying this set! The other two look pretty good too, now that I've seen plenty of decent photos. A bit pricey, but hopefully worth it.

[Piratedave84]

HAHAHA Thanks for the awesome review, I debated buying this set last week, and now after reading this I most definitely get it!

The review is really funny ..!

Thanks!

Pirate

[slacker int]

thanks for the in depth review cakeman!

still not sure how I feel about this set... I don't hate it, but much like feanor it still has to grow on me.

As for the SP3 helmet, yes they are a terrible fit. If you remove the airtanks the helmet sits lower and looks alright, but this is indeed a design flaw.

Edited May 31, 2010 by slacker int

[NewRight]

Thanks for that excellent review. It makes me want to go out and buy that set even more so now (with all of the new parts revealed) then I did before. (And I wanted it pretty badly before. )

[PMJ]

These SP gangster sets seem to be becoming Blacktron I! They're lessening the purple, adding trans-yellow and yelow to black! I wonder what will come next...

[vexorian]

Those teeth-less axel pieces have been for a while at least in bionicle, but never in yellow, that's very cool. I wonder if the yellow is part of the set's design or they changed the color of all those pieces to yellow for reasons similar to blue pins (that would be lame).

I dunno, when I see pics of the ship outside of cgi or the box, it looks like the previous villain ship (low rider instead of limo) was cooler. I would still feel compelled to get this set due to the figs and the parts though (large supply of gold and purple).

[Bionerd43]

I'll take 5!!!!

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Great review, Cakeman. Does Brick Daddy's head glow in the dark? Its color seems to suggest that.

-Toa Of Justice

[ThePaleMan]

I have had both of these sets for abotu two weeks now and they are just great! The SP3 line is wonderful. The new aliens are very interesting and both sets are just damn clever. Fun builds and great parts. I would especially recommend the limo. It's just a lot of fun all around.

[Just Imagine]

Thanks for the review!

The only very, very minor complaint I have with Brick Daddy is that his face isn't squishy, making it look a bit too "shiny" and "plastic" for my tastes.

[Bfahome]

Who's this "Brick Daddy" guy you keep referring to? Are you taking about SPACE PIMP?

Those teeth-less axel pieces have been for a while at least in bionicle, but never in yellow, that's very cool.

I don't know about their usage in BIONICLE, but they have come in yellow before.

[1st Lieutenant Jed]

Great review! I don't think anyone else has had problems with the helmet besides you. I've always been able to put mine on my minifig's head. Maybe your minifig's helmet is just mis-molded.

-Jed

[RogueJedi007]

This is the set I am most looking forward for this year, and even more excited now due to this excellent review. Thanks!

[prateek]

Awesome review! I like this set, but I never expected it to be so big!

[Cakeman]

Thanks all, glad I could show you the set now when it appeared here. There were some questions about Brick Daddy, aka SPACE PIMP. "Does his head glow in the dark?" Indeed it does, and a mean shade of green too. It doesn't show in the picture here, it was just a cool picture of BD bareheaded.

Another dweller here asked about if you could fit other hats/caps onto his head. He has some disadvantages compared to normal yellow minifigs in that his head has some squidlike features, shown here.

But alas, he can fit a cap! Atleast one of the new ones. Oh, and a wizards hat too, but I have no pictures of that. No helmets though.

[SpiderSpaceman]

I absolutely love this set man, thanks for the review! The Space Mafia is complete now with a proper crime boss. the back of his head has some short tentacles, right? I saw a lower quality image but I'd like to get that look at it

edit: sorry, just saw your new post

I thought the set's shape might be too rectangular, but it definitely has enough character

Apart from the figs, no new parts I could tell. I haven't come across this yellow little axelpiece before, it's very similar to a previous part with little teeth on one end - now it's smooth on both sides. It always used to be an aestethic choice on my part wich way to put the teeth (it never showed in the final build but anyway) but now I don't have to. Also, doesn't it look swooshable?

Man, the switch from toothed to smooth happened many years ago. I'm surprised you haven't come across it yet. As for the yellow, that's just technic color coding all the little pieces: Blue, red, yellow, grey, black, tan... All the little pieces have fixed colors now so you don't confuse them or something. People get upset about that messing up their color schemes.

Edited May 31, 2010 by SpiderSpaceman

[Cakeman]

Man, the switch from toothed to smooth happened many years ago. I'm surprised you haven't come across it yet.

Must have missed those sets or I've been out of the loop a long time :)

[Zip]

Can you specify exactly how long the ship is? (14 inches doesn't sound very accurate, I've heard someone say it was around 2 feet).