Review: 6958 - Android Base

[Walter Kovacs]

Almost all of the LEGO space themes have some sort of base. The Exploriens theme had two: 6899 - Nebula Outpost (see my review of that set here) and 6958 - Android Base. It shouldn't be hard to figure out which I like better.

Stats:

Name: Android Base

Number: 6958

Theme: Exploriens

Year: 1996

Parts: 267

Minifigs: 3

Original MSRP: $40 USD

Links: Bricklink, Peeron, Brickset

Catalogs

I found some old catalogs from 1996 or early 1997 that show the Exploriens line. I thought you'd enjoy seeing them.

This is the earlier catalog. It's interesting to note that two of the sets pictured aren't even in the Exploriens theme. The set in the upper right hand corner is the Unitron monorail ( ), and the minifig pack is listed on Bricklink as a generic space set.

This catalog is a little newer, showing both the Exploriens and the "new" UFO theme. UFO came out in summer of 1997, so this catalog was probably from winter 1997. From what I can see, there were no changes between the catalog and final versions of this set.

Instructions

Front

The front shows the same image as the front of the box.

Back

There are some alternate models that can be made. I've attempted the spaceship looking one on the bottom, but it has structural issues (i.e. it likes to fall to pieces, literally).

Random Page

This page shows the assembly of one of the massive doors to the base.

Bits and Pieces

The Big Pile

Lots and lots of black and white for your building pleasure. The 16 x 32 baseplate is a welcome addition to almost anyone's collection. The huge panels aren't too useful, though, unless you like making lots of bases.

Stickered Parts

The stickers in this set include all of the reflective parts, the magnetic Exploriens fossil tiles and the big Exploriens symbol on one of the massive panels. I excluded the large panel for clarity's sake.

Printed Parts

Everyone longs for the days when LEGO used printed parts. The arrows show the builder how to operate the features of the base. Did LEGO think we were idiots or something? The control panel tiles are nice.

Interesting Parts

With the size of those panels, how could anyone not find them interesting. The double inverted 3 x 1 slope is unique, at least in my collection.

Minifigs

Minifigs

The humans are standard Exploriens spacemen. I like the torso with all the details; the one with the logo, not so much. But that android is the cream of the crop. Printed legs and hips, a clear head with that great gold printing.

Minifig Face

The human faces are very nice. I still like that android head.

Minifig Back

The back of the minifigs. There is no back printing, even on the android. One can't get everything one wants.

The Shuttle

The shuttle is a small, one man ship, probably intended only for atmospheric flight. It is very swooshable, and is pretty well designed for its size.

The Build

The shuttle build is pretty straight-forward. Here is a picture of it about 2/3s of the way through, showing some of the SNOT technique used to attach the wings.

The Finished Shuttle

Three-Quarter View

Although not flashy, the shuttle is very swooshable. Having that hose can get a little irritating, though, as it tends to want to turn the instrument on back to the right.

Bottom

The bottom of the shuttle shows the best view of the four rocket thrusters.

Top

This is the best view of the shuttle you're going to get. Unless you have one in your hand, that is.

The Buggy

The buggy, while not the best ground vehicle ever, is very functional. It has a nice 2 x 2 dish for a headlight, and has room for two spacemen. Too bad there aren't enough humans to man both spots and the shuttle at the same time.

The Build

The buggy is even more straight-forward. This picture shows the buggy driver's seat. The slopes really help add some detail to the seat. It's a shame I've never seen another set with the same technique.

The Finished Buggy

Three-Quarter View

The buggy has many more features than the shuttle. The rear section rotates, and the sensor module moves up and down. It's nice that there is a place to store the hand instrument. Two things that bother me about this set, and both relate to the buggy. First, I really wish there was one more human minifig to put in the seat controlling the sensor. It just doesn't feel right to have the android take that seat and leave the base undefended. Second, why are they still using a standard steering wheel in the future? Of all the Exploriens vehicles, this is the only one using the steering wheel. These complaints are minor in the grand scheme of things.

Side

This picture of the side of the buggy shows the sensor array in a raised position. You can clearly see some of the greebling added, in the form of the 2 x 2 dish and minifig torch on the side of the array.

Top

A gratuitous shot of the buggy from above. This picture gives you a good sense of how large it is.

The Base

Finally to the key part of this set, the Android Base itself.

The Build

This picture shows the base just before the deck is put on. That are on the left side is a storage bin for the fossil tiles.

The base after the first door has been attached. Did you recognize it from the random instruction page?

Here is the radar dish assembly. I think it looks pretty good.

The Completed Base

Three-Quarter View

Thanks to all those large panels, the base is very tall. It takes up almost all of the 16 x 32 baseplate it sits upon. The radar dish on top rotates 360 degrees, and moves up and down almost 180 degrees.

Side

On the side you can see the huge Exploriens logo plastered on the panel. Unfortunately, that isn't a printed piece, but a sticker. It's held up well for being 14 years old.

Back

The back of the base shows that it is completely open. While it would have been nice to have it enclosed, it makes more sense from a playability standpoint to leave it open. That, and it would take a lot of bricks and slopes to enclose it. Besides, that's what MOCers are around for.

The Doors

[singing]C'mon, baby. Light my fire...[/singing] Ahem, yes. Well. The way the doors open is kind of neat. At least I think so. The assembly that the radar dish sits on slides forward and back along two 1 x 8 plates with door rails. The assembly is connected to two technic linkages, which in turn are attached to the top of the doors. When the assembly is pushed toward the back of the base, the doors close in unison. When the assembly is pulled forward, the doors open.

The Door Assembly

This picture shows a closer look of the upper assembly, including the printed arrow tile showing you how to close the doors. Like I needed the help.

Fossil Storage

I mentioned before that there was a fossil storage area. Here is a close-up of the bin, with some fossils in it.

When I first assembled the base, I thought it was very nice. It had a lot of open space for the android and his human masters to work in (unlike the Nebula Outpost. Grrr.) But I was a bit irritated that there was a huge open space right in the center. Then I found out what it was for.

All Together Now...

Buggy Parking Only

The buggy fits perfectly into the open space in the middle of the base. The odd thing is, this feature is never shown in the instructions or on the box (at least from what I can remember. It sure would be nice to check the box pics right about now.)

Doors Closed

You can see that the buggy fits perfectly in the space, even with the doors closed. There is no place for the shuttle to park.

The Complete Set

Here is the Android Base with all of its components. I find it funny that, while the humans get nice, printed microphones on their heads, the android is forced to carry an old fashioned walkie-talkie. Surely an advanced android has some sort of transmitter embedded in his body somewhere. Then again, they are still using a steering wheel, so...

Scores

Build: 8/10 There isn't a lot of repetition, the build is straight-forward and relatively easy. There's even a little SNOT thrown in.

Playability: 7/10 For a space base, there's a lot to do. The two vehicles help a lot.

Minifigures: 8.5/10 The android fig is fantastic, and one of the humans is very good. I still don't like the Exploriens logo torso. The set could really have used one more human.

Pieces: 8/10 There are quite a few very large pieces that aren't all that useful. Outside of those, the parts selection is good for any MOCer's collection.

Price: 6/10 Price to parts ratio is poor, even back in 1996. This is mostly due to the very large panels.

Design: 9/10 I really like the base, even with those huge pieces. Everything goes together very well.

Total- 46.5/60 The best Exploriens set out there, at least in my opinion. The little shuttle is well designed and very swooshable, the buggy is fun to play with and the base itself has plenty of room inside (Nebula Outpost - I'm looking at you).

Full gallery for more pictures, when moderated.

Reason for Edit: Added Poll

Edited April 7, 2010 by Walter Kovacs

[ZO6]

Thanks for doing another great Exploriens review!

This base has always seemed quite underwhelming to me. I do appreciate the play features, but for the most part everything seems only half done. Even if this were placed on a raised baseplate (I know many are against these, but personally I've never minded them in the Space theme) it would seem like a more substantial structure. For me, the Explorien Starship was the highlight of the theme and so I could forgive smaller bases as they seemed to compliment it fairly well as support facilities. In any case, the parts from the Android Base were welcome additions to the old collection.

Edited April 8, 2010 by ZO6

[not-in-use-anymore]

I actually like the open area inside, it lets you add things like a control center and/or an army of androids(question 1: what's the difference between droids and androids, or are they the same?). The gates do remind me of the Ostrich race one.

sensor module

That's what Lego wanted us to think...

(question 2: why is this set called android base? It seems odd to have just one)

[CP5670]

This is one of my favorite space bases, only just edged out by the Message Intercept Base. The dome opening functionality is great and the interior area is very large. The vehicles are also well designed, especially that mobile laser cannon.

I moved the decoder inside the base and put the Nebula Outpost in its place, which goes well with this set. I also built a beefed up version of that vehicle.

At least a few years ago, this set was surprisingly cheap on ebay given its age and quality. I got three of them MISB for $30-40 each.

The buggy fits perfectly into the open space in the middle of the base. The odd thing is, this feature is never shown in the instructions or on the box (at least from what I can remember. It sure would be nice to check the box pics right about now.)

This feature is in fact shown on the box flap.

(question 2: why is this set called android base? It seems odd to have just one)

The android is actually a special character named Ann Droid, according to the club magazines back then.

[Rufus]

Lovely review, Walter! I agree that this set looks way better than the Nebula outpost, though I have to say these Exploriens sets look a bit samey to me. But then I'm sure some people feel the same about Classic Space!

[RoryoCox]

Nice review Walter. I always like this Explorians set more than some other ones.

Thanks for reviewing this for us because it has rekindled my love of this set.

[Walter Kovacs]

Thanks for doing another great Exploriens review!

This base has always seemed quite underwhelming to me. I do appreciate the play features, but for the most part everything seems only half done. Even if this were placed on a raised baseplate (I know many are against these, but personally I've never minded them in the Space theme) it would seem like a more substantial structure. For me, the Explorien Starship was the highlight of the theme and so I could forgive smaller bases as they seemed to compliment it fairly well as support facilities. In any case, the parts from the Android Base were welcome additions to the old collection.

I think we're allowed to have differing opinions.

The Starship is a good set. My biggest problem with it is the front end is VERY fragile, and tends to fall apart when you look at it wrong. That's why I consider this st to be a little better. I'm planning on doing a review of the Explorien Starship soon. Just after my 9th RA review gets passed, in fact

[Big Cam]

Great review, I'm happy you knocked out so many of these Explorien sets, as I never had the chance to get any.

Your reviews just get better and better!

[vexorian]

Nice review, this is one of the two explorien sets I couldn't get back in the time. ALways wondered how the panels worked.

I have other explorien sets and liked them overall, specially the flag ship and the lab, I think generally it was a nice theme but when I remember it all I can think is that this was the theme in which large pieces started to come up, then followed UFO and it got even worse in this regards.

[SlyOwl]

Thanks for the review, this set is a must-get for me at some point.

The holographic radar dish is one of my favourite things about the highly underrated Exploriens, as well as the neat magnetic/colour changing tiles.

The large panels are phenomenal - and I don't hear cries of <insert that tiresome argument> part, do I? Not at all, they've got a purpose, and are incredibly effective. I plan to pick some up to form full space domes at some point, so incredibly cool they are.

As CP said, the way the vehicle fits into the base is also shown in the catalogue. Quite a cool feature, although for shooting purposes, perhaps not so good?

Regarding the opening base, I always thought that just the trans panels moved, not the floor too. I guess my idea is also possible, as the panels only attach at the corners, so could be hinged outwards, without moving the floor.

Lots of potential here

I've always taken the arrow tiles from Classic Space to be, rather than pointing out rather obvious dangers to unsuspecting spacemen, a sort-of status symbol: "hey, my ship does this and this and this bling bling" - the more arrows, the more functions and guns, the better the craft!

[Carefree_Dude]

I ended up buying two of these, and putting the main bases back to back (one of them mirrored). Really added to the set

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Back in 2003, this was one of my most wanted sets, given that Exploriens was my favorite Space subtheme. Later, I stopped liking it as much, in part because of its part to price ratio and its "incomplete" appearance. However, seeing this pics made me want it. If I ever find it at a good price, it'll probably be added to my Explorien collection!

[Aanchir]

I have to say I rather enjoyed this set, although it has some problems I'd like to point out. First of all, the interior is very empty. That's all well and good; to an extent it has to have that open space for the buggy to park (and for role-play purposes). The problem with the emptiness, though, is that when the buggy's not inside and the doors are closed, the view through the windows is downright boring. The buggy is pretty boring itself compared to some of the other wheeled vehicles in Exploriens.

One thing that helps the interior tremendously is the giant viewscreen with the hologram of an astronaut head in it. That's right, a 3-D hologram on a stickered piece! This is still, as I see it, one of the coolest things TLG has ever done with stickers. What made it better was that pretty much every large Exploriens set had one of these viewscreens, so I have a nice collection of them downstairs in my basement. Now if only there were anything for me to do with them outside the Exploriens theme... alas, that's one of the disadvantages of any parts with minifigure graphics. It'd make a good TV set maybe, although the mirrored hologram effect feels a bit too futuristic for that IMO.

Overall, I have fond memories of the Exploriens theme, but today it feels quite boring to me in many respects. Its setting on the frontiers of outer space makes it somewhat incompatible with other space factions in MOCs. And many of its sets were somewhat bare-bones in design, which is realistic and still fun for play but not all that attractive visually. Still, I can't shake the memories of how much fun I had with this set back in the day, so I guess the theme did its job.