REVIEW: 8450 The Mission

[LordGalewind]

We'll spring break has left me with no school work and the economic recession without a job, thus I have nothing to do. To occupy my time and to share a very little known set with the lego community, I decided to labor myself and write a review about a jet model that literally flew under the radar of many LEGO lovers...

8450 The Mission

General Information

Number: 8450

Year: 1999

Pieces: 643

Price: 59.99 USD

Piece/Price Ratio: 9.33 USD

Set Dimensions: Length 42cm, Width (wingspan) 34cm, Height (with landing gear) 9cm

Build Time: Approximately 2 hours + or - 15 minutes.

Preliminary Aspects

Marketing

Well, lego isn't that big on commercials, rather it relies on the web and those little leaflets it used to put into sets. This set, sad to say, didn't have much attention except for brief appearances in the leaflets and some time spent on the lego website. It was supposed to serve as a cybermaster expansion set, but sadly cybermaster just didn't fly, thus the support for the Mission Jet was left dry. I think it didn't even appear on store shelves - giving it low exposure to potential buyers. The price per piece ratio isn't that high, considering 1 cent per piece isn't that too costly.

Score: 2/5

Presentation

Box:

The box says everything: its the attention grabber that captures your interests and reels you in. The box is medium sized, and has an opening flap to view some of the details. Overall the box puts in a nice blend of a yellow color and the chrome framing around the set. Inside the flaps and on the back it shows varying views and functions of the main model, its accessories, alternate models, and various screenshots from the CD-ROM. The pictures have a futuristic city like background, which is a nice touch to make it not so plain.

Score: 5/5

Packaging:

The box contains, well, another box to put all your pieces in which is a nice convenience. No plastic trays, something they eliminated after last year. The bags are all numbered to help in the ordering of construction to make things go a little faster, and these bags are not perforated making them less likely to rip open. Of course my way is always is to just dump all the parts into a pile on the floor, but lego makes it easier for anyone who wants to build this set.

Score: 5/5

Set Aspects

Construction

Instructions:

Of the many sets lego has, this is one of the few to not have paper instructions. Lets consider this aspect on how well technology has advanced. It is a pain to have to sit down at the computer and watch its animations repeatedly to assemble this thing. You have to search through all the extras and features of the CD to find the instructions, then you set yourself on its pace. Worst of all, since technology has evolved way beyond WINDOWS 98 many computers are not compatible with this CD-ROM. With the noted problems with marketing as mentioned, lego has relatively little on this set and was not able to help me. Only after hours of searching I found a video showing the instructions then I was able to put this set together. It does include paper instructions, but only a bunch of legal jibberish in about ten thousand languages.

Score: 2/5

Assembly:

Aside from the instruction format being a pain, the actual construction is relatively painless.

The set starts out with the assembly of all the modular parts and then the accessories.

The cockpit: an easy build with a few stickers and H pins to hold the ends to the other part.

The body: nothing special here either, just straight forward beams, pins, and all the other parts. This includes all the gears and hydraulics that operate all the functions of the jet.

The engines: a repetitive step, but utilizes a unique way of smashing bushings, pins, and axles together to make a large component.

The accessories: straighforward, nothing special except uses rubber bands and strings in them.

So now that thats all set and done, now its time to unite all the modules to make a whole. Using the enslaved locals of my room, this task was accomplished quite easily.

The final product of around a few hours of build.

The construction is relatively straightforward, but really offers no unique steps. The modular build is a new concept at the the time and was just being explored, so it was something different. The build was quick and painless, nothing intense or tricky.

Score: 10/15

Aesthetics

Style:

This set offered something different in the way it looked. A black, electric green, and yellow combo made for a stylish and very different look to this set. Somehow it all seems right. The stickers (yes evil stickers) add the technological screens, computers, and designs on to the set to make it pretty slick. The panels and flex tubes allowed for curves and shapes not possible before, and like other sets from this year were just an exercise in style basically. The sharp angles of the wings, the overall filling, and the slender body make this one hell of a visually pleasing set. Besides, black isn't a real common color in TECHNIC anymore...and once you go black you never go back.

Score: 15/15

Parts:

This set included many of the new panels, flex tubes, and many colorful pieces. The pegs were black and grey, not red and blue like they are now. It had a good mix of stud and non stud pieces, but other than that nothing really special. Stickers were numerous and a nuisance, but they still made the set look nice.

Score: 4/5

Functions

Mechanisms:

This set has only four gears and one hydraulic pump...nothing real spectacular. These all operated simultaneously into one function that moved the landing gear and engines. Coming short this set really did not have a whole lot to drive its operations and therefore did not have a complex build or much functionality.

Score: 5/10

Operations:

With the few gears and hydraulic all working together, there is really only a few results. A trigger on the bottom of the jet causes the hydraulic to drive an axle which pulls two lift arms in the under carriage to deploy the wheels, and the axle also causes the engines to be facing vertically. This creates a vertical takeoff effect which looks very nice and runs quite smoothly. The cockpit also opens manually, which again is nothing special in this set. The accesories can be attached either side by a plus rod and pin. The tools include a winch, a bomb dropper, a giant hand, and something that I have no idea as to its purpose. Nice in a play sense, but has little value to a collector.

Score: 6/10

Influence and Impact

Sales:

Considering cybermaster was short lived and the poor marketing campaign, this sets sales were probably horrible. Out of a sample of brickset users, only 35 out of 13855 have this set, or 0.002 percent. An extremely low amount. This set was no blockbuster, and few were willing to shovel out the bucks for this so called expansion set.

Score: 1/5

Imapact:

Sad to say, but with cybermasters fall and being overshadowed by the immense and spectacular 8448 Super Street Sensation, this set gave little to the future. It did though, follow the trend of the year, explored a new style and modular building, and possibly taught lego that expansion packs were not always a good thing and cd roms are not a good way to build with.

Score: 2/5

Conclusion

Overall Score: 57/85 or 67 percent

Below average but only for its economic performane. Overall for a medium set its not that bad. It has great style, lego tried something different, and its relatively rare and unknown. I consider it a great collection to my family of 220 TECHNIC/Bionicle sets...and hopefully people will lift a blind eye to things like this more often.

LG over and out....

Edited April 2, 2009 by LordGalewind

[Asuka]

Thanks for that fine review of a really pretty interesting and curious set, LordGalewind.

I saw that set once in a shop, but unfortunately I was still deeply entangled into my dark ages and refused to buy it,

although I remember well that I was pretty fascinated by the set itself and by the sheer coolness of the 'new ways' of LEGO...

However, your pics´re much too big (up to 800x600´s allowed) and you really should downsize them, you can find more information here...

[Darth Legolas]

Please man! Fix those pictures! It's a good review but my computers going so slowly!

[LordGalewind]

Geez! I could see the dust mites on my floor with that resolution ! Well I fixed the pictures so things can be viewed better. This is my first attempt at a review...and also my first attempt at using my brand new digital camera. Ill keep these resizing tips handy for my next old school review!

This set really seems distant in many collectors...even over at Blakbird's Technicopedia it isn't in there (although he could of chosen not to include it in his collection for some reason). Overall I really like the look of this set...a jet is something TECHNIC has never really approached.

As for my upcoming reviews...a few more lesser known sets and one legend ( this one literally soars into space if you get my hint).

Thanks for viewing everyone !

[CP5670]

Nice review, it's always good to see obscure sets like this covered. This set might have been Europe only and I am not sure if it was ever sold in North America. I never saw it in the US S@H catalogs or in any stores, and only learned about it a few years later. The Mindstorms RIS 1.0 came out later that year, so they probably also discontinued this set sooner than usual.

The main model looks nice, but mechanically it's underwhelming compared to other Technic planes like 8425. It's more in line with Throwbots/Roboriders than conventional Technic and the functions seem to have been an afterthought, which doesn't fit a Mindstorms-like theme either. This basic concept would have made a good Space model, but it looks out of place in Technic.

Of the many sets lego has, this is one of the few to not have paper instructions. Lets consider this aspect on how well technology has advanced. It is a pain to have to sit down at the computer and watch its animations repeatedly to assemble this thing. You have to search through all the extras and features of the CD to find the instructions, then you set yourself on its pace. Worst of all, since technology has evolved way beyond WINDOWS 98 many computers are not compatible with this CD-ROM.

Yeah, I can see why TLG moved away from the CD programs/instructions after that year. A few other sets from that time period also used them and they are inconvenient if you don't have your computer in the same place as your Lego collection. As you said, they can also be hard to get working on modern computers.

The box contains, well, another box to put all your pieces in which is a nice convenience. No plastic trays, something they eliminated after last year.

The other 1999 sets actually still had plastic trays. The trays were gone for good by the next year though.

once you go black you never go back.

Can't argue with that at all.

[Blakbird]

This set really seems distant in many collectors...even over at Blakbird's Technicopedia it isn't in there (although he could of chosen not to include it in his collection for some reason). Overall I really like the look of this set...a jet is something TECHNIC has never really approached.

Wait a minute, are you accusing me of not having a Technic set? Actually, I do have 8450 (and all the Star Wars Technic sets) and I did choose not to include it, though I may later change my mind. I had to draw the line somewhere, and I decided not to include Cybermaster or Mindstorms because they get more into the electronic side of things and my site is more about the mechanical side of things. Also, the scope of the project was large enough without including everything!

At any rate, thanks for this great review. I've never managed to get my CD-ROM to work, so I actually do not even know what the instructions look like. Even with my large collection, I don't have too many teal beams.

[johnnylego]

To anyone who can help me find a set of directions for building the Lego 8450 Mission. Can not find a windows 98 version to support the cd rom. Where is this video on how to build this thing. This set is new and never used. Just want to build it. Waited too long...feeling obsolete. Thank You!!!!!

johnnylego

John9232@hotmail.com

*snip*

Edited January 25, 2011 by Dragonator
Please don't quote an entire post

[prateek]

Why did you quote the whole topic and not post anything?

If you want to comment, you can simply go to the top or bottom of the page and click "Add Reply"

Edited January 24, 2011 by prateek

[johnnylego]

To anyone who can help me find a set of directions for building the Lego 8450 Mission. Can not find a windows 98 version to support the cd rom. Where is this video on how to build this thing. This set is new and never used. Just want to build it. Waited too long...feeling obsolete. Thank You!!!!!

johnnylego

John9232@hotmail.com

[prateek]

To anyone who can help me find a set of directions for building the Lego 8450 Mission. Can not find a windows 98 version to support the cd rom. Where is this video on how to build this thing. This set is new and never used. Just want to build it. Waited too long...feeling obsolete. Thank You!!!!!

johnnylego

John9232@hotmail.com

There's a PDF here. I'm not sure if it's the actual instructions, or just the physical booklet. Anyways, you should really upgrade from Windows 98. It's too old.

EDIT: It looks like there are no instructions. You'll have to install new OS to see it.

Edited January 25, 2011 by prateek

[Seluryar]

johnylego, this is a long shot:

take the cd to a library and open it there and print out the instructions on it

[Blakbird]

johnylego, this is a long shot:

take the cd to a library and open it there and print out the instructions on it

You can't print out the instructions. The reason no one has ever posted them is that the only way to see them is to run the software that comes on the CD. The instructions are animated, and each step is an individual Quicktime movie file. You can't print a movie, and you can't even tell from the file names which order they go in. The only way to properly "export" the instructions would be to go through the animated instructions on CD and then take a screen capture of the static portion of each step, then name these files with sequential numbers. You could then convert these image files to PDF. It would be a huge project, but there is no other way to preserve these instructions. Eventually, no one will be able to run that software.

[rgbrown]

To anyone who can help me find a set of directions for building the Lego 8450 Mission. Can not find a windows 98 version to support the cd rom. Where is this video on how to build this thing. This set is new and never used. Just want to build it. Waited too long...feeling obsolete. Thank You!!!!!

It might run under win98 compatibility mode if you have windows vista/7 -- maybe XP has this feature too, I can't remember (I don't use windows much). It might run under wine in Linux.

Everyone: I presume this software isn't available on the internet anywhere?

Edit: just found this - this may be exactly what you want http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7bmmg_notice-lego-technic-8450-cybermaste_tech

Edited January 25, 2011 by rgbrown

[Blakbird]

It might run under win98 compatibility mode if you have windows vista/7 -- maybe XP has this feature too, I can't remember (I don't use windows much). It might run under wine in Linux.

Everyone: I presume this software isn't available on the internet anywhere?

Edit: just found this - this may be exactly what you want http://www.dailymoti...cybermaste_tech

I have a Windows XP machine that will run the software. You can also download a disk image from which you can extract all the MOV files. It's getting them in order and converting them to still images that's the trick.

That video you found would at least allow you to build the model. Resolution is not too good (not as good as capturing the source files), but it does the trick.

[AndyC]

A little experimentation shows that you can get it to run under XP by enabling compatibility mode, it may well be the same for Vista/7. To do this, take the following steps:

1) Install software as usual.

2) Right click the Start menu shortcut for Mission and select Properties

3) On the Compatability tab, check the box for "Run this program in Compatability Mode for" and select Windows 95 in the drop down.

4) Click OK. You can then launch Mission by using the Start menu shortcut as usual.

[Lasse D]

The pictures seem to have disappeared from the Brickshelf folder. The folder still exist, but it is empty.

I really want to see the pics

[johnnylego]

To rgbrown:

A VERY BIG THANK YOU. The DAILYMOTION.COM Video works GREAT. I now can say I am in LEGO Heaven.

Your help is really appreciated.

JohnnyLego from Raleigh North Carolina U.S.A.

It might run under win98 compatibility mode if you have windows vista/7 -- maybe XP has this feature too, I can't remember (I don't use windows much). It might run under wine in Linux.

Everyone: I presume this software isn't available on the internet anywhere?

Edit: just found this - this may be exactly what you want http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7bmmg_notice-lego-technic-8450-cybermaste_tech

[Carrera124]

I was able to install the 8450 instructions CD on a Windows 7-32 Bit machine.

So, I made screenshots of all building steps and provided them to Peeron.

But I do not know how much time thy need to put the pictures online (~ 370 pictures for the main model).

[IJsmuts]

Quick question, what would be a fair price for this set in good condition on Ebay? I understood this is the only set that contains the black 19L soft axle.

ps. Hello, this is my first post on EB, hope there will be many more

[DLuders]

@ IJsmuts: Welcome to Eurobricks! According to Peeron, the 8450 set cost $37.50 in 1999, so expect to pay at least that much for one nowadays. I don't see any for sale on the eBay website now, and Bricklink doesn't have any either.

[Carrera124]

Some weeks ago, a MISB 8450 set appeared on german Ebay. It started at 1€ and ended up to ~ 57 Euro.

At Bricklink, the last MISB set has been sold for ~ 150 €.

[Carsten Svendsen]

I have this set. The only value that it has for me is the mini-games in the game. They're not particulary good in any sense, but when I was 10, it was a really awesome game.

The reviewer has also forgot to mention that there are B-models in this set and blueprints of un-finished models, that can give lots of inspiration for anyone.

IMO, the model it self sucks, but the software is what really counts in this set. Just like Rock Raiders.

[IJsmuts]

Thank you all. I thought this was some kind of special set because it has the 19L black flex axles and these seems to be so rare. I am looking for these axles to build a Vampire and I therefor bought this set this week on some kind of Dutch Ebay for € 45 (almost new, some parts still sealed). I though I had the deal of the century, but now I know I paid a fair price. Now let's find another 2 axles and let's get that black supercar on the road

Edited October 17, 2012 by IJsmuts

[Carrera124]

Instructions are now available at www.brickfactory.info.

They are not (yet) available via Peeron. It sent the jpg files to Peeron some weeks ago, but for whatever reason, it seems as if they are not able to put them online.

[Lost_In_Noise]

Any chance of fixing the pictures on this review. If not, I thought I'd create my own.