paanjang16 Posted May 10, 2011 The Space Police was formed after raids by Blacktron invaders on M-Tron and other space assets increased in frequency. An elite contingent of crime fighters was then trained to police the largely uncharted and uncontrolled depths of space. Since the Blacktron invaders is the galaxy's most wanted criminals, no resources was spared in equipping this force with the latest hardware. Most if not all of the Space Police spacecraft are equipped with an experimental propulsion system. This propulsion system leaves no engine or heat signature unlike normal rocket or plasma propulsion system, making it ideal for ambushing the Blacktron invaders. The SP-Striker is one such spacecraft. It is also among the fastest in the Space Police fleet. Those lucky enough to commandeer such a vessel are either very good or very lucky. Set name: SP-Striker Theme: Space Police 1 Year released: 1989 Number of pieces: 230 (from Peeron) Price: Originally retailed for USD 28.00 (from Brickset). Currently at USD 80 for a used set and up to USD 200 for a MISB set Links Brickset Peeron Bricklink My photobucket Box The front of the box shows the SP-Striker in action over a typical space background of the late 80s. On the left side of the box is a light blue colored column. The blue column highlights the 9 Volt light system the same way as the bright orange column on the right of current sets highlight the power functions features. The back of the box shows the alternate models which can be built using the set. All the alternate models use the light system in one way or another. I believe that the 2 numbered pictures should be showing how to lock the Blackron figure into the prison cell instead of releasing him . The box art also extends to the top and bottom of the box. The top part of the box shows how the SP-Striker is separated into 3 different components. If there is something very different from current sets is that there is no 'China' or 'Czech Republic' on the box. Everything from the box to the contents came from Billund, Denmark. The space craft is shown in different poses on the right and left side of the box. The SP-Striker in the 2nd picture appeared to have been turned slightly so that it could fit between the age limits and the large Lego logo. If you noticed closely, the computer panel is not lit up inside cockpit but the light bars are lit. Possible camera trick or Photoshop in those days? Since this set have a 9 Volt light system, TLG also added in a flap to show further information about the 9 Volt light system. A simple easy to understand diagram is used to explain how the 9 Volt system works. Turn the light brick to light up both lights, turn again to have it in strobe mode. Such flaps with diagrams are still used by TLG to explain all the various functions, but seem to be limited to large Technic flagship sets nowadays. It also has a transparent plastic cover to allow any would be purchaser to see the contents. Included is a plastic tray to display the key pieces of the set. It is a shame TLG does not do this anymore I speculate that among the reasons in cost, the labor required to place the items on the tray and also to prevent theft of the critical and expensive parts. Instructions The front page is almost similar to the front of the box, with the SP-Striker rotated 90 degrees to fit the full height of the cover. The rear of the instruction shows 2 different types of alternate models. A random instruction page showing the step where the 9 volt battery is inserted into the battery compartment and a simple picture to show how the 9 Volt Light system works. Good color differentiation between the individual parts shown in each page since there is only black, light blue and trans-red pieces in this set. Unlike today, there is no piece call outs and there are more parts to be added in per step. Are kids this days too pampered or the sets are becoming too hard to built? To be fair even an AFOL like me could miss a part or two. Minifigure We get 2 minifigures in this set; a space police officer and a Blacktron 1 criminal. No weapons or accessories are included in this set unlike today where a gun is a necessity . Apparently the Blacktron 1 villains are not the same bloodthirsty evil aliens we know of today. Both the minifigures only have front printing and comes with airtanks and helmets. The space police officer is common to all Space Police 1 sets .The Blacktron minifigure is common to all Blacktron 1 sets and some Space Police 1 sets where the figure acts as the captured prisoner. The build The build is separated into 3 parts: the cell, front section and light/battery section. Below shows the sequence of construction for the cell. It begins with the base of the cell right up to the hinged ceiling with the laser beams. This is followed by the front section where the cockpit and wings are constructed. This is a proper 'brick-built' spacecraft since the most of the parts are plates, bricks and wedge pieces found in other themes. There is no large individual piece such as the current airplane's cockpit piece fount in the 2010 airport set. Lastly the light battery section is built. It starts with the 9 Volt battery pack followed by the light bars on either side of the battery box. It is crucial at this point that the light parts are properly inserted onto the electric plates and battery pack. This is to ensure that the light bricks lit up when the battery box is turned on. The completed SP-Striker The completed SP-Striker in all its glory. The SP-striker is heavily armed with a wide array of laser weaponry. At the center of the craft is a printed slope bearing the words "police". Like any fast pursuit space craft, the SP-Striker has a low profile, sharp edges and a distinctive dagger shape to zip through the stars. Even today, the space craft in the Space Police 3 set Hyperspeed Pursuit has similar features of the SP-Striker. Looking from the rear of the spacecraft, you can see the prison cell securely mounted at the very rear. The 2 blue rounded 1x1 plate is the switch to turn on/off the light system. No boosters or thrusters can be seen, a typical feature of all Space Police 1 sets. The set designers obviously went for an exotic futuristic design which uses some sort of inertia-less/propulsion-less drive. I believe is that placing a booster or rocket at the rear will impede the installation of the rear prison cell. They could rework the model to have some thrusters, but I believe it would look very awkward and affect the overall sleekness of the model. The cockpit window can be opened in 2 sections and is connected in between by a 'canopy extender' piece. This is the only set where the canopy extender appears in trans-red and only a handful where such a window arrangement is used in official sets. After some look-up on Peeron, such sets where the canopy extender is used include the original Star Wars Slave 1, Futuron monorail, Aquashark Sea Wolf and the Blacktron Battrax. Since TLG has moved on from hinged window pieces for all their current sets, it is very unlikely that such as window arrangement will ever appear in future sets. In the recent Space Police 3 sets, all windows are fixed onto the body of the spacecraft and the entire window will have to be removed to extract the minifigure from the space craft. The cockpit only have a single seat for the lone space police officer who also doubles up as the pilot of the space craft. At the rear of the cockpit is a lighted up computer panel which our police officer can use. Unfortunately the large cockpit window need to be fully up for the police officer to use it. It is obvious that the lighted up panel is for show and not to be used when the space craft is flown by the pilot. By having the window up when the computer panel is used, the space police officer is exposing his back to any attacks. A sneaky Blacktron villain can hijack the SP-striker when the space police officer is using the computer A blue printed 1x2 tile acts as a control panel for the rear section of the SP-striker should the rear part is detached from the main body. The prison cell can be opened to place the Blacktron minifigure inside. The prisoner can stand upright inside the cell. There are 2 printed "police" panels on both sides of the cell a well as trans-red laser beams and window. Although it is laser beams, the Blackron minifigure can still "hold" the bars. Unlike the cylindrical containment pods in the current Space Police 3 sets, this prison cell is not fully enclosed and the prisoner is exposed to the emptiness of space. Fortunately our Blacktron villain is wearing his spacesuit and can breath without any trouble. Also unlike the new cylindrical containment pods, there is no exposed weaknesses that any Blacktron or evil space aliens can exploit to release their captured companion. At the rear of the prison cell are 2 hooks to attach the cell space craft. To attach, the cell rests on its back and pushed into the rear of the SP-Striker. The cell is held firmly by the 2 hooks and will not easily come off no matter how hard the SP-Striker is flown around. Attaching and reattaching the the prison cell is easier than doing the same for the Space Police 3 containment pods where you need to insert the pod into a technic beam using a technic pin. When the containment pods is removed, part of the technic pin will either stick with part of the containment pod or remain attached to the technic beam of the space craft. The prison cell does not break apart when it is being attach unlike the Space Police 3 containment pods which has a gimmick to come part when a 'weak spot' is hit. The light and battery compartment of the space craft can be removed by first turning the handle bars outwards. Then compartment is pulled out until it is free from the front portion. Some effort is needed to pull out the rear compartment as the gap between the battery compartment and the front portion is a tight fit. It is this tight fit that also keeps the battery compartment from falling out from the rear when the space craft is flown around. The bottom wings can be rotated a small degree up and down. I believe that the wings are originally intended to remain in horizontal position as it will hit the light bars and other parts of the space craft it rotated fully in either direction. The light system The SP-Striker comes with a number of the 9 Volt light system components. For the light bar it comes with a twin light brick where the "bulb" is inserted into the light bar. It also comes with a lighted up computer monitor with is lighted up with a single light brick. Like most other 9 Volt light and sound systems, the light bricks are located on top or close by the large battery compartment. Power to the single blub light brick is transferred by placing the electric plates on top of each other to the required spot. Unlike power functions where the light can be mounted anywhere due to the long length of the wire attached to the light, the position of the lights for the 9 Volt system is limited by the amount and size of electric plates in the set. Due to the high cost, electric plates are usually very few in number even for large flagship sets of that time. The lights is not as bright as the LED lights found in power function sets or light bricks found today, but it is sufficiently bright enough to light up the play features in all the sets that came with it. Video of light system in action One of the highlights of the 9 Volt light system is that the light brick have 2 modes. By rotating the light brick around, strobe or constant settings can be selected. Below is a video showing the installation of the 9 volt battery and light bricks in action. In my opinion it is easier to replaced the battery while using the old 9 Volt battery box compared to the large AA Power function battery box. Also the clutch power of the light brick is less than the clutch power of the power functions socket point; I felt that you need quite an effort to remove the wires from the socket point on the power functions battery pack. Conclusion Design: 9/10 The dagger shape design and color scheme makes it easily recognizable as a Space Police I space craft. I do not think the lack of thrusters or any sign of propulsion is a disadvantage as it only makes the Space Police 1 spacecraft more exotic and different compared to the rest. Minifigures: 9/10 The amount of minifigures is fair as there is only space on board for the Space Policeman and a Blacktron criminal. Parts: 9/10 This is a gold mine of 9 Volt light System parts such as the black battery box, 2 light bricks, the computer lit-up panel and a number of 9 volt electric plates. There is also a variety of printed Space police 1 pieces and trans dark red pieces which is very useful for any Space Police 1 MOCs. Build: 9/10 The build is simple and straight forward. There is no conflict of colors in the instructions since there is mostly black, light blue and trans-red pieces in this set. Playability: 10/10 This is where the SP-Striker shines where the light brick adds playability to the set. The lights is turned off when the SP-striker is on patrol but will lit-up when it is on pursuit or carrying a hostile prisoner. It is very swoosh-able since it is solidly built. Price: 7/10 The price is on high side compared to the other Space Police sets of the time due to its high price per piece ratio. The price per piece is higher than all the Space Police sets including the flagship Mission Commander and the Space Lock-up Isolation base. The high price is is due to the inclusion of the 9 Volt light system components. Overall: 9/10 A real classic from 1989. Till today no other Space Police spacecraft comes with the 9V light system that makes this set so special. If TLG would make a similar spacecraft today, it will not have the vintage 9 volt light system but instead will either have the Power Function system or a simple light and/or sound brick. P.S: This is my 8th review on the reviewer's academy 1 more to go before I I reach Gold status Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
-zenn Posted May 10, 2011 (edited) I always digged the light and sound sets, since my first set was 6450. Love the playability of this particular model; the prison with the 'laser' bars is a nice feature. I can imagine someone enlarging this set to a bigger scale and using more light and sound elements only because of one piece that caught my eye; . Love to see this piece intergrated in all kind of consoles throughout a ship battlestar galactica style. Thanks for the great review! Edited May 10, 2011 by -zenn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legostein Posted May 10, 2011 Hello! A fabulous ship, isn't it just? It's my favourite Space Police vessel ever. It's not small, but medium-sized, and it looks very dangerous and agile with its second pair of bent-down wings. Cheers, ~ Christopher Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
XimenaPaulina Posted May 11, 2011 Excellent review paanjang, thanks for sharing! A great classic space set with a very well-designed and cool-looking spaceship, not to mention the 'kid-jaw-dropping' lighting function. I simply love the original Space Police I, I wish I could've gotten this back in the day but I had to settle for the smaller sets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CP5670 Posted May 11, 2011 An excellent review of my favorite space set of all time. This set probably had the best implementation of the old 9V lights and used them to their full potential. It had quite a few unique parts as well, like the canopy extender, printed red arrow tiles and the light-up control panel, and those SP1 space lockup jails are always good to see. At the rear of the cockpit is a lighted up computer panel which our police officer can use. Unfortunately the large cockpit window need to be fully up for the police officer to use it. It is obvious that the lighted up panel is for show and not to be used when the space craft is flown by the pilot. I made some changes to mine so another guy can fit there. The result looks like this: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Artanis I Posted May 11, 2011 This set is awesome, and this review is very comprehensive! I definitely believe the Striker is the best ship in the SP1 fleet. They all look pretty good though (for late 80s sets that is). Thanks for the review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tkf Posted May 11, 2011 Great Review. I was always shocked why in this set prison camera is with bars, but without atmosphere. What will be if the oxygen in the prisoners' tanks will run out. He will die. Severe justice. ^_^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Space Odysseyer Posted May 12, 2011 Thanks for the great review, this is definitely one of the best ships of Lego Space. Moreover, the set would look good even without its light system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Crackseed Posted May 12, 2011 Fantastic review and this just made me want to find this set even more. It's amazing how hard it is to find SP1-Strikers for re-sale. Such an amazing ship. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZO6 Posted May 13, 2011 Fantastic review, paanjang16! I'm mostly still too nostalgic of these space sets from the late 80s and early 90s to be able to accept many modern themes (Space Police 3, Mars Mission, Life on Mars, I'm looking at you guys in particular). The original Space Police had such a beautiful colour scheme, and the ship designs were sleek and out of this world. The lack of propulsion never bothered me as I figured these guys were so high tech that they were beyond conventional thrusters. Besides, the ships were loaded with lasers and whatnot which were much more important to me at the time. This was, and still is an outstanding set. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
