112 replies to this topic

[fhomess]

All my old legos are still at my dad's house and this just increases my desire to go back and sort through it all.  Part of the problem is that my older brother and I both want some of it, and our stuff is all mixed in there.  It's not all in great shape, but we had a lot of space, castle, and town from the late 70's/early 80's.  The Galaxy Commander was probably my favorite set of that era.  I picked up some of the pirates stuff in the late 80's that my brother probably doesn't have as much claim to, but we'll see how it goes.  Neither of us live close to my dad, so getting together to review it and sort it out will be a bit of a chore.

Edited by fhomess, 20 May 2013 - 04:33 AM.

[SNIPE]

Those supports have two types one with an axle hole and looser bottom clutch and one with an axle hole and stronger clutch theres also a tiny hole in the top of one type for say a 3l bar or hose or antenna

I'm unsure which one this set uses but the mould numbers wont help here either. Can you show a picture of the support from this set so I can find the right one if I restore one of these sets.

Edited by SNIPE, 20 May 2013 - 05:34 AM.

[jfbat]

This takes me back... I've had quite a view of these sets when I was a kid. Loved them to bits - literally sometimes! I also recognize quite a few of the problems you encountered with the parts. As I remember it the logos on the bricks sometimes faded quite quickly and sometimes even weren't that good when they came fresh out of the box. The cracked helmets were a frequent problem, the tailsections and supports breaking/bending were a familiair problem too. I also remember having one of those minifigs with a stickered torso, and also that it dissapointed me a bit, even back then.

Great to see them restored to their original greatness. I think these sets would still make popular sets today.

[Ralph]

  Great work, I remember having one of these sets as a kit... you brought a few found memories with this restore.  Thanks for posting.

[Rufus]

SNIPE, on 20 May 2013 - 05:32 AM, said:

Those supports have two types one with an axle hole and looser bottom clutch and one with an axle hole and stronger clutch theres also a tiny hole in the top of one type for say a 3l bar or hose or antenna

I'm unsure which one this set uses but the mould numbers wont help here either. Can you show a picture of the support from this set so I can find the right one if I restore one of these sets.

Here is the newer mold in DBG from the 2006 A-Wing, with the older stand in light grey from 924.  

The newer one has a hole running the length the part which will accept a pole such as a 6L bar.

Other varieties may exist - Bricklink doesn't distinguish the two parts which can make ordering replacements a little tricky.  

Does this answer your question?

snefroe, on 19 May 2013 - 09:48 AM, said:

what a great project this has become! Are you going to restore other CS sets as well or is this the end for you?
I see you didn't replace the stickered red dude with another stickered one. I guess it's even more problematic to find those in good condition than printed counterparts...

Yes, there's more to come!  

I didn't replace the stickered dude because he doesn't belong with the set, at least as far as I know.  I think the stickered one only came with the little radar car.  I could be wrong.  

[SNIPE]

Yep that solves it, Thanks

[DarthNick]

Such a great project!  One day I'd love to do the same for at least one CS set (though I'm too young to have ever had any of my own).

Can't wait to see 918!

[Rufus]

Interlude:  D00000000000dzzzzzz!!!!

---

Some replacement dudes arrived!  Most have perfect logos; some of the torsos have plastic that is a bit damaged; some have newer-style helmets; some have chewed faces ... but it's the quality logos that are hard to get hold of.  




Just for fun, a bit of photoshopping:

[caperberry]

Hell yeah! (to both the excellent torsos and the rainbow Spacemen. Dark Blue rocks.)

Back on the supports - were the second type ever produced in Light Grey? i.e. if you order a Light Grey support from BL will it always be the first type?

[prateek]

Cool! Where did you acquire such a large number of DOODZ??

[Rufus]

caperberry, on 22 May 2013 - 11:26 PM, said:

Back on the supports - were the second type ever produced in Light Grey? i.e. if you order a Light Grey support from BL will it always be the first type?

Probably not in large quantities.  The part only came in light grey in one set after 1984, and that was a reissue in 2003; there's no way to tell on Bricklink which variety came in that set.  The earliest set I have with the newer part is 2004's 4500 Snowspeeder, so I would imagine the 2003 set has the newer part; even so, I doubt there are many of these newer parts around in light grey.  

prateek, on 22 May 2013 - 11:54 PM, said:

Cool! Where did you acquire such a large number of DOODZ??

Bricklink!  I've been looking for ages, and was a little lucky here.

[Rufus]

Chapter Three:  918 One Man Space Ship / Space Transport

---

3.1   Before



This little set is the smallest of the matching 'LL' family, all released in 1979 (in the UK, at least).  You see it here exactly as I pulled if out of the shoe box it had spent the last 15 years in ...


... with the exception of the spaceman.



The figure that was sat in this ship was in near-perfect condition, so I 'stole' him for 928.   This is a different figure; while relatively clean, his torso logo has faded to white (an all-too-common problem), and his helmet chin is a little chewed, so it doesn't sit properly on his head.  He's not good enough, sadly.  


The ship is horribly dirty , but looks complete, at least from the outside.



'USS DEFIANT'?    I think I must have been really into Star Trek at the time.  I like to think I've got better at decals since then.  


More dirt!  As you can see, the CS logo slope has lost its detail, and even the yellow is a little faded; at least it isn't scratched.



The trans-yellow slope looks to be in reasonable order, but we'll have to see how it cleans up.


This side's LL918 brick looks to be in good order.  



The plain blue bricks behind don't look quite so good, unfortunately.


On the other side, both the printed brick and the hinges look good:



There's another custom decal.    I'll say this for little Rufus, he's consistent.  


The worst of the filth is found on the back end:



The blue 1x2 plates under the manoeuvring jets should be grey.  Some of those blue plates are very discoloured.


The underside is clean, at least.  Some of the grey parts are a little yellowed.  All three stands are in good nick.



Another decal can be seen here.  I've no idea of the significance of '505' - I suspect I was just using up spare Letraset transfers.  


Some alternative views:



Click the thumbnails for a larger image.


I should point out that I had modified this set to include a couple of computers in the cockpit - you can see them here.  Taking the set apart, here are the parts I found:



The five parts at the front don't belong in the set.  The 'down arrow' brick is in good condition; it was being used as a plain 1x2 brick.  Closer inspection of the inventory reveals that neither the 1x6 brick nor the 1x4 grey plate should be there, and the two 2x3 blue plates should be one 2x6 plate.  There also ought to be another plain 1x2 brick and two 1x1 blue bricks.


Some of the parts are discoloured; some a little chewed.  Because the set is so dirty, it's a little difficult to tell how good the parts are, so in a change to my usual practice, I'm going to clean up all the bricks and see how they turn out.  Back soon with the results!

[caperberry]

918 was the only ship I owned from Wave 1. Very special to me. I loved how the tray in the box turned over to reveal a landing pad.
Coincidentally, today I received my second 918 Went for an auction that had no fig, box or instructions as the pieces looked great - and they are

Looking forward to seeing your cleaned up version!