Review: 6879 Blizzard Baron

[Stiel]

6879 - Blizzard Baron

Ice Planet 2002 is one of my favorite lines from Space, and the Blizzard Baron is one of my favorite sets from the line. This is what you get when good ideas meet good execution. The set displays most of the unique features of Ice Planet while retaining the classic design elements of similar spaceships. But let's get on to the details!

Name: Blizzard Baron

Theme: Space / Ice Planet 2002

Year: 1993

Pieces: 76

Minifigs: 1

Price: around $10 on BrickLink (good to excellent condition)

BrickLink Peeron Brickset Brickshelf

The set was released in 1993 as part of the Ice Planet 2002 subtheme. As usual, Lego released a mixture of ground and air vehicles of different sizes. This is the smallest spaceship (barring a tiny polybag aircraft). The theme has a unique blue-white-orange color scheme. Trans-neon orange was a new color in 1993, and with it, a number of new accessories in that color were released as well. The overall look is fresh and goes along well with the icy setting.

Instructions

The instructions is a single sheet of paper. I miss the times when even 200-piece sets' instruction manuals fit on a single piece of paper.

Nice bluish background that makes it special without distracting from the pictures. Colors are easily distinguishable. (Come on, it's blue and orange, what did you expect?)

Minifigure

The minifig is, again, a nice blend of white, blue, black and orange. Torso has icy pattern, helm and airtanks are white, and a special orange visor with antenna and slit, mhm! It opens up just like regular visors. The guy himself seems young, but has white hair. I guess it has to do with the ice again?

I can see right through the slit!

... and I have white airtanks. Not a rare piece by any means, but white airtanks have been missing from Space for some years before this theme. Nice to welcome back.

The figure has several more accessories in orange: a chainsaw and a pair of skis. Essentials in a harsh arctic environment.

Printed parts. Some ice-themed control panels and a nIce Planet printed slope.

Spaceship

The ship is by and large a standard design, its shape defined by the wings, the engines (orange dishes, nice!) and the screen (you can guess the color by now). However, the details are adapted to the needs of the Ice Planet. It sits nicely on three ski-pads:

The back is actually a detachable radar station:

The ship can operate without the radar as well. That said, where is the radar?

Oh, here it is. Let's check the weather.

The complete ship from the front. Great shape.

Let's get in! The screen opens up like it should. There is also place for all those accessories. The skis go to the top and the chainsaw near the front.

Ready to take off. It should be no problem, the number of control elements is certainly impressive for a ship of this size.

Summary

Overall, I am impressed indeed. The set has a good number of features and accessories. The colors are great, they give the ship a unique identity, with no single color ruling a large portion of it. The set simply has no defects I can think of! I am very happy to own it.

Playability: 8/10 - The set is as playable as it gets with one minifigure.

Design: 10/10 - Great design, keeps the best elements of older designs and improves them with nice theme-specific details to a great effect.

Minifigure: 9/10 - Good color selection, on par torso pattern and nice visor as an extra.

Parts: 9/10 - Great for building spaceships, and a handful of generally useful pieces too.

Price: 9/10 - You get a lot for the price, and even these days, BL prices haven't soared too high.

Overall: 9/10 - Fresh and classy. One of the nicest among similar-sized spaceships and also one of the better sets within the Ice Planet theme.

'Hello there, reader! ...hmm, what was that sound?'

'Bring back my ski! Stop!'

'Oh, no! He's getting away...!'

'You'll never get your ski back! Mwahahaha!'

Thank you for your attention!

[legomr]

Nice to see reviews for older sets - especially for older Space sets! Hope it will renew the love for non-Star-Wars science fiction among AFOLs.

[DraikNova]

I think this is a great set; rare pieces, cool minifigure, nice overal result, in the end it's just plain awesome.

[just2good]

Nice review, 'Stiel'!

This is a great Ice Planet set (all of them were great sets by the way)! Love the color scheme and the figure, too.

[RogueIce]

Excellent review!

I remember many great memories with this set and the rest of the Ice Planet crew, so your review certainly brings up the nostalgia in me. Wish I could track down where the majority of my LEGO parts ended up; I've found some but the majority seem to be missing. I'd love to build this baby again.

I also applaud the little scene with Blacktron at the end there. Hilariously fitting.

[friedchikenfairy]

Very nice review! I clicked on this thread because I thought the title said Blizzard Bacon I really wish that I had some 1990-era sets

[Algernon]

Ahh, the one Ice Planet set that always eluded me Shame too, this set is great! Ice Planet 2002 was probably my favorite 90's Space theme. I really hope that rumored reboot proves true!

Thanks for the excellent review!

[jasbury]

Thanks for the review

Always liked the iceplanet, but sadly I don't own any...

I'd be awesome to see someone make a neo-iceplanet MOC!

[The Blue Brick]

Great review. I always liked ice planet, but never got any sets.

[Wedge09]

Excellent review

I didn't know so much the series Ice Planet 2002 but now I know a little more.

[Henchmen4Hire]

Oh those wacky Blacktron guys and their one-ski-stealing ways

[Xand0r]

Nice review. This is one of my favorite sets as well. In fact, I just built it earlier this month. And about a week ago I built a Neo Blacktron version of this kit. I should post some pics. :)

Thanks for posting!

[snefroe]

great review! ice planet... hm... i loved the theme, but not the sets... for some reason i never quite liked the color combination, especially the trans-red just didn't do it for me. For a small set, this wasn't bad at all though.