Review: 8100 Exo Force Cyclone Defender

[Lasse D]

I'm a big fan of anime and have watched some mechas like Full Metal Panic, Neon Evangelion: Genesis (it is a mecha!) and Chobits (Well... She is a robot...), so I was curious to see what this new Exo Force line was all about.

The colorful sets and manga-like characters didn't persuade me right away, but the urgent need for a couple of white 3x3 wing plates made me purchase this little thing.

It cost me 70 DKR as you can see on the box. This is 9.30 euro, or about the same an American has to pay for the new Republic Cruiser. Pretty expensive for so few pieces (90 + a spare technic pin)

The box

An action-packed box with one of the sides being oddly empty except from the LEGO-logo.

What's inside

There is a small building instruction, two polybags (no bag building here) and a sticker sheet with alarmingly many stickers.

The build

It takes so little time to build this set that I didn't get to take any pictures of the process. Every step was accompanied by an element description although I doubt most of you will need that with so few pieces to keep track on.

Most of the dark green bricks have a sticker - even the slopes where the rough surface makes stickers fall off easily! There should also have been a sticker on the windshield, but I wanted to keep that piece clean for better usage later. (I'm one of those who keeps stickers on the bricks)

The model

You want to see this model from the front, as the back is pretty much neglected

There isn't much for the pilot to grab a hold on either. He is pretty much a sitting duck up there with the screen giving him only partial cover. There is a huge wrench next to him which kind of symbolizes the crudeness of the mech.

The set isn't called "Cyclone Defender" for nothing. The right arm might hold an ordinary light assault riffle, but the other has a spinning disc with samurai swords which you can turn with the yellow knob on the backside. Those of you who have seen Robot Wars might remember the incredible power of this melee weapon from a robot named Hypnodisc. It would have been nice had there been a pull-back motor to power the disc (I'm sure LEGO has a lot of these in stock), but the simple mechanism still works reasonably well.

The riffle comes off and a pin makes it easy to hold with the hand, but the disc is fixed to the arm. It is also a problem that the swords get misaligned quickly during play.

The minifig

I really like this minifig because of the neat idea with an expression on each side that LEGO has made a standard for Exo Force.

Posability

Most mech-moc'ers show off their creations using Gundam-like poses. With two joints per leg (one being the ankles) and one for an arm I thought of some less serious poses:

Crawling (Silent like a ninja!):

Belly gliding:

Kick off!;

Upside down:

Final Rating

I have to disappoint you here. This is my first set in this line and I have absolutely no idea of how good it is. The last robot I bought was the awesome 6889 Spyrius Recon Robot for the same price, but it is in a completely different genre.

The set had what I expected (two white wings) and is as such a no-nonsense set. I guess it would be of more use if you have some more Exo Force, which I don't.

6/10

Ups:

Has great minifig, weapons and is easy to build.

Downs:

Crude design and a bit too expensive for what you get.

(Brickshelf gallery)

[Asuka]

A funny review with cool pics, thanks Lasse D. A somehow mediocre mecha design, but

a beautiful dark green color! Upside down mecha yoga exercises on! :-D

[DJ Force]

Nice review :)

But...

You paid HOW much?

This set is priced around 7 Euros here in Germany, which is a very fair price for what you get in my oppinion.

It

[Lasse D]

9.30 euro is MSRP here in Denmark. 7 euro would have resulted in a nicer reception from my part, but the strong marked position of LEGO in its homeland together with the general high prices (because some of us are supposedly rich...) makes the prices less bearable.

It is funny you should mention Germany. I thought the prices for LEGO were even higher there! I'm sure I paid more than MSRP last time I bought LEGO from from your country. On the other hand. The last thing I bought was the 5521 Model Team sea jet from 1993!

[Batbrick]

I was going to buy one of these but decided not to. I am glad now seeing the rather annoying construction.

The minifig is good though, Thanks for the review! :-)

Batbrick Away! >:-)

Edited September 17, 2007 by Batbrick

[iamded]

I have 2 of these guys. :-D It's awesome, only cost me 13 bucks NZ, for a comparison, the Castle Crossbow Attack set costs $10 NZ. For the win!

Did I read this wrong? You paid about the same price as the Republic Cruiser??! The Republic Cruiser costs $200 NZ, and the Cyclone Defencer costs $13. I must have read that wrong... *wacko*

[DJ Force]

I guess that

[hollisbrick]

nice review but i dont think i'll get this set i dont relly like the look it looks ugly, hmmm anyway...

[Siegfried]

Thanks for the great review. I love the poses. :-D I got this for my kids and they didn't mind it but I think they prefer my sets because they aren't theirs. :-|

[iamded]

I guess that