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Set Name: Destroyer Droid
Set Number: 8002
Theme: Star Wars/Technic
Year: 2000
Price: No idea
Pieces: over 500?
Minifigures: N/A
Amazon description:
Fans of Star Wars: Episode I will recall with excitement the power and near-invincibility of the Destroyer Droid. With more than 500 pieces and fittings, this advanced LEGO kit has everything necessary to build that fearsome automaton. And with guns mounted almost everywhere, the firepower on these cyberfighters is enough to send even the courageous Jedi out looking for another job. Multiple connections, tubes, and fittings really help bring this model to life. Instructions for two different droids are included, but as with all LEGO kits, builders can use their creativity to adapt and change the figures they build. This kit has many small pieces and requires advanced building skills, so older children and experienced LEGO-builders will have the most success with it. May the parts be with you!
Peeron link
Brickset link
Bricklink link
My Brickshelf
Well, long story short, I was there at the beginning.
Long story: I was 23, working at Toys R Us in '99. When the Star Wars Lego sets came out, I nearly lost it, I stared at them daily, trying to convince myself I didn't want them. then I snapped, and ended up getting all the sets at the $50 or less price range (I was poor). This was one of the coolest. I don't love love love it, because its scale is so out of whack to all the other ships, but in and of itself, it's quite amazing. Lego started making a bunch of Technic Star Wars sets, and a lot don't make a lot of sense (Darth Vader, Jango Fett), but the Technic style really suited the Destroyer Droid. I don't know how you could make it with conventional parts. And the functions! But more on that later. I got loads of sets in the first two years, then shortly moved to Japan. Thinking I would stay a few years, I didn't consider bringing my Lego with me. Five years and a marriage later, I've asked my parents to bring it all with them when they visited. They couldn't find where I packed it and brought only the one set this holiday, so maybe I'll drop a big pile of classic reviews next year
The Pieces
Unlike a poster below, my set came with piles of elastics, and what my parents brought still had an unopened package of elastics in it. There are three special color bands that weren't duplicated.
The Instructions/The Build:
Ridiculous. 130 pages. They are a bit difficult to make out in places, and the first time, and this most recent time, I think I made a few little mistakes. This is probably the most intricate set I've made, even in comparison to the Republic Gunship or AT-TE, the biggest set I own. This is small fine details. On top of that, it includes a second set of instructions for an AAT! Ridiculous! Maybe it was the Technic thing that made them do it, but I think Lego would really boost playability if all sets, or at least mid-sized and bigger, had secondary builds. It encourages us to take it apart and build it again.
I didn't photograph the build, and 2 pieces were missing (hey, my parents brought it halfway around the world! Don't be angry!
)
3/4 view. The missing pieces are the gun turret I replaced in black, and a piece right behind the head I had to flaneggle.
Side view.
Back view.
No full front view? Sorry, camera's put away now
A close up of the complex inner workings of the droid.
THE AWESOMENESS
Grab the back leg, tuck the head in and bush the red button.
Flip the arms up.
Then lock them back.
Tuck the front legs up.
And lock them up too. Now we have a roly-poly destroyer droid.
Aw, here's a front view!
Just dying to roll!
Roll this bad boy, and when he hits that red button, he will pop out his front legs, thereby releasing his arms and back leg. A thing of beauty.
I remember back in the day, I built it and it didn't work at all, then I rebuilt it, and it worked about 70% of the time. Now, I have hardwood floors, and it doesn't work so well, so maybe I need to tighten a few elastics or something... but I have seen it work. This is a fine piece of work.
The Second Build: AAT
After the building, a pile of bricks are left over.
The gun turret swivels 360 degrees.
An elastic trigger lets you lift the side guns.
Overall
Design: 9/10 The people who designed this were working overtime. The chance that I would ever make this on my own can be charted on a parabolic graph approaching zero. The one point loss is just that it's lonely in my collection, and doesn't fit in.
Build: 9/10 Devilishly hard, but very enlightening, and a great use of elastics.
Playability: 8/10 Very difficult, but upon success, very satisfying. Plus that second build truly extends the fun. I may just make it now!
Minifigures: N/A
Price: 9/10 I don't know how much it was 10 years ago in Canadian dollars, maybe $50-60, which in American or Euros, always has been up and down in the last 10 years, but compared to Lego Star Wars prices in yen, well, it is quite a nice price.
Total: 9/10 average
Conclusion
If you don't mind the scale, this is a must have. The first year of Lego Star Wars were a bit chunky and clunky, and this set shows none of that. It's tight and smart, and easily the best of the three released at the time (#2, Pit Droid was pretty cool too, #3, Battle Droid was a bit funny looking). A very sophisticated set.
My first review, I hope I covered everything
(mods, please ad this to the reviews, maybe ad a poll like "was never interested/a little interested/didn't see it/I got it/I wish I'd got it" if the humor is okay, and let me know if photos need to be resized. My first review, so I'll get it in line where I need to
Edited by def, 04 January 2009 - 11:01 AM.
