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Dunjohn

REVIEW: 7051 Tripod Invader

  

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  1. 1. How do you rate this set, with your feeble human brain?

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For the first time in its long history of stellar exploration and extraterrestrial subjugation, Lego Earth itself has been invaded. Get ready for the end of Lego life as we know it - 1950s style!

I haven't done a review in a while, and while I usually preface them with an apology for the image quality, this time I really mean it - I've long since dismantled and recycled my photography setup so we're back to the stone age here. It's been a while since I've bought a Lego set but I just adore the '50's pulp sci-fi motif of this theme. As a big fan of War of the Worlds, I just had to get the Tripod.

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7051-0000-xx-12-1.jpg

Set Name: Tripod Invader

Set Number: 7051

Theme: Alien Conquest

Year Released: 2011

Number of Pieces: 165

Minifigures: 2 ½

Price: €21.99 on release

_____________________________________________

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

boxfront.jpg

European box layouts are usually free of the clutter of American boxes but Alien Conquest takes it to extremes - there's practically no text anywhere on the front or back so the sets look fantastic. Green is pretty much the only colour and it swings from deep emeralds to bright limes and yellows. These are the nicest boxes on the shelves right now.

boxsign.jpg

I've noticed that Lego likes to put funny little details into its box art in recent years and the AC theme is no exception. I can understand this roadsign being used on the Abduction set - and it is - but here? In the middle of the city? Just how often does this sort of thing happen on Lego Earth?

boxback.jpg

The back features a rather excellent scene from above, as the command module detaches from the legs and the alien makes off with a brand new friend. Boxouts showcase the set's play features but I can't look away from that epic main image. And like I said, virtually no text.

boxcorner.jpg

Another thing I've noticed is that Lego are producing narrower and narrower boxes. Maximise shelf facing, minimise bulk. Hmmpf. Well, at least it means less Danish air. They've also started using accessories to demonstrate scale, instead of minifigures. It's odd, but the boxes are too narrow to fit a minifigure now.

contents.jpg

Within said narrow box can be found three bags, a manual and a sticker sheet. I didn't notice I'd chopped the bottom off the image here, sorry.

manual.jpg

The manual is excellent. The greeny-yellowy colour is very nice and lets the images stand out very well. The back features the Win-Shouty Kid and four pages of advertisements that I couldn't seem to take decent pictures of. Lego Club, the full AC lineup, and two different ones for the same website.

dss.jpg

Here, we have the happiest DSS I've ever seen. The stickers are numbered, which is something I've only ever seen done in the old Ferrari sets. The stickers are remarkably useful for MOCs, too, especially the nondescript dark gray panels. One of the round ones has a bumper sticker that says "WE'VE BEEN TO EARTH." I didn't apply the stickers, but I may yet.

THE PARTS

parts.jpg

I've decided that my usual giant parts square is a waste of time so I reckon I'll do things this way from now on. This is what you get, minus minifigures, with the interesting bits laid out to one side. Everything in the jumble is basic enough. The set includes one of those ridged round 2x2 bricks in dark gray that I'd meant to pull out. Introduced in the newer Atlantis sets, I think it's still worth mentioning. It'll come up again.

cool1.jpg

The only major disappointment I encountered in the set is that the pod halves are trans green, rather than trans neon yellow like these other elements. Quite aside from the fact that trans neon yellow is my favourite colour in Lego, it just seems odd to have two so similar colours in here together.

cool2.jpg

The set's colour scheme is mainly black and gray with accents in lime and purple. We've had plenty of lime green in recent years. Purple is still rare, though between this line and Harry Potter, Lego seems to be keen on bringing it back. The spikes and hinge part in lime are new to my collection.

cool3.jpg

These are the three elements that make up most of the tripod's primary cannon. I have a couple of the cups in brown, but the ball halves are new to me. Quite excellent they are, too. They're not physically joined together in the final build, the cup holds them together quite adequately. They move easily but aren't loose and can hold any position.

alien.jpg

And finally, the minifigures. This here's the alien warrior who pilots the tripod. His printing is fantastic, but it's front-only. His gun is missing the trans neon yellow stud on the end - I didn't realise at the time. His extended chin makes turning his head difficult, but it'll still go about twenty degrees either side before you need to raise it. I'm not that fond of the pink brain-things on the top of his head. I think he'd have been perfectly fine without them.

guy.jpg

One of the nicest civilian minifigures I've ever seen plays the role of victim. The torso printing with shiny golden tie makes him perfect for an office or banking role - I checked, he's not in the recent City bank set - and both sides of the head are great. I'm not too fond of that hairpiece on "respectable" minifigures, as it seems a bit wild and casual, but it's fine.

pet2.jpg

What we have here is what we call a non-repeating phantasm, or a class 5 free-roaming vapor. Real nasty one, too. The alien "pet" is made of slightly softer plastic than usual. It's about the same as the soft Atlantis minifigure parts. As you probably know, he's designed to fit over a minifigure head. When he's not, he sits up on four tentacles that give him this nice skittery look.

spares.jpg

I'm going to cheat a bit here and jump forward to the future to see what spare bits we'll be left with. Just think. I could have used that trick to win the Lottery but instead, I decided to make life easier for you guys.

THE BUILD

build1.jpg

This is only a couple of steps in, but I just wanted to show that that ridged round brick I mentioned earlier will be completely encased in other bricks. The fact that it won't be visible makes it remarkable that they gave us it over the normal, non-ridged kind. Obviously I've gathered loads of those over the years so I'm delighted they threw a ridged one in. Can't get enough of them.

build2.jpg

A few more steps in and it looks like this. Believe it or not, this is as detailed as the cockpit interior's going to get.

build3.jpg

Next, the command module's rear gets built up, including the transport pod. The pod clicks onto that Technic pin there. Once attached, only the top part will open. The round bit with the hole blocks the bottom pod half.

build4.jpg

It looks like more, but only eight new pieces have been added to the last image - four big gray bits and the lasers. The gray rimming obscures the purple a lot, so it's not very visible on the finished model.

build5.jpg

Build up the cockpit canopy a little and that's the command module finished. Obviously there should be stickers but I don't usually apply those.

build6.jpg

Then we move onto the legs, which are built in triplicate (and they helpfully give us the "x3" at the beginning this time). Here, we have the feet.

build7.jpg

It doesn't take long to build the legs. If you flick back up to the Manual image you'll see how they come together.

build9.jpg

Then you assemble this yoke (and sorry for the particularly shabby photo here). The dark gray panel stickers go on the sloped bricks.

build10.jpg

Stick it on there. It can rotate freely around 360 degrees.

complete.jpg

Then you attach the command module - connected through the ridged round brick - and that's it finished!

cockpit.jpg

As you can see, the cockpit is irritatingly sparse. The laser gun is thrown in loose, and there's no real room for the squishy pet. You can jam him in there, and the cockpit will close, but it's not going to be a comfortable trip for anyone. Even the box art leaves him on the ground.

complete2.jpg

The legs don't have a massive range of movement. Here, the front leg is extended as far as possible, with the black "thigh" almost horizontal, while the side leg is retracted. The jointing keeps the feet at exactly the same level whatever way the legs are, which means the model is incredibly stable, but also has the same helplessness in the face of a high kerb as a Dalek. We can beat these aliens simply by staying on the footpath.

IN CONCLUSION:

I really like this set. I may get a couple of them. It has some minor irritations but they're far from fundamental and the thing just oozes awesomeness. Plus some other substances of questionable safety.

Design: 8/10: It would have been nine if they'd remembered to come back to the cockpit. The feet don't lift, and the rockets on the back of the command module will melt the transport pod when they fire, but it's the 1950's, damn it, so basic engineering must take a back seat to cinematic wow. Mechanically, it all works great. The laser is cool, spinning one direction while pivoting to fire in the other, and the legs work well enough.

Parts: 8/10: A reasonably Technic-heavy set without actually having any strong Technic presence in the design. Aside from that, the parts aren't particularly generic and are mainly both useful and unusual. Still disappointed with the trans green. The minifigures are all great.

Build: 10/10: A good design helped by a great manual made for a pleasant process.

Playability: 10/10: This set works great with any theme. Literally. Kids will use this to stomp through City and Atlantis and Pirates of the C.... well, maybe not that one, but Castle, probably. It has plenty of moving bits on it, too.

Price: 9/10: I thought it would be bigger. I always think it's going to be bigger. €22 seems about right, though, and there's well more here than in a similarly-priced PotC set, that's for sure. And agian, for me, the theme adds on about €10 worth of value.

Total: 93%: The tiny flaws it has just add to that classic sci-fi realism-be-damned charm.

Thanks for reading!

citizens.jpg

- Dunjohn

Edited by Dunjohn

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Now that's a great review, It's not like those quickly done "I made a pictures" reviews! And the last part- I love it! We need more reviews like this!

I will get it. For me it's one of the best space related ships I ever saw. I just love tripods! End this little adorable Alien pet!

:alien::wub:

Edited by Lordofdragonss

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Fantastic review. I like this set a lot, but along with other awesome sets this year, I don't know which to choose! Great final pic BTW :laugh:

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Oh, such a great review with an AWESOME poster at the end.....very nice and clever ! :laugh:

Anyway, my mind has totally done a backflip on this theme and I think this is the best set of the theme....plus I feel will be the biggest seller to ! :grin:

I might copy the leg mechanism to create a classic WOTW tripod walker ! :grin:

Will I buy one is the question, I must buy my 4 city, 2 kingdom's and 2 Clone Wars sets first, then maybe.....money is always the big hold back ! :laugh:

Remember watch your head stud and don't get probed.....oh, behave ! :devil::laugh:

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Cool review (love the pic at the end!!) I've just finished putting together the set myself and think it's great!! I really like the shape of the spaceship part. Will definitely be getting another 1 or 2 to begin my invasion!!!

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Err, none of the pics are working for me except the first one. Can you give me a link to the gallery or something? :sceptic:

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I can't see the images either right now. I think it's a problem with Brickshelf. I can't enter the site. They'll probably come back. The first image is from Lego.com.

Thanks for all the kind words! I didn't realise somebody had already reviewed this set, I did check but obviously not hard enough. I thought it had been skipped.

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I love theat final poster! :laugh: Thanks for sharing another review of this great Alien Conquest set. :thumbup: Seeing the Tripod Invader at different angles makes me appreciate more the build, no matter how simple it might be, it still looks effective and reminiscent of classic alien tripods we've seen in movies.

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Great review, Dunjohn! I was thinking of getting this set for some of the pieces, and your review has thoroughly convinced me that that would be a good choice. And like others, I love the final pic. :thumbup:

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Great review! I particularly like yr final comic. :laugh: I like this set, but probably won't get it - far too many sets already on my "to buy" list. :blush:

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The final pic is :thumbup: And thanks for this excellent review. This really is the best set of the alien conquest line.

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Nice poster, I thought the same thing when I saw the alien "pet". :tongue:

I agree about the hairpiece being a little unsuitable for civilian minifigures like this guy, but this is an alien invasion, after all. :laugh:

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Quite an entertaining review! This set is awesome, I can't wait to pick it up. Also, nice touch at the end there. :thumbup:

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Lovely review and I have to echo everyone else about the fantastic poster at the end. It's perfect and fits in with the style of the theme brilliantly!

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Another great review Dunjohn, I'll echo your praise and say that this set is absolutely fantastic! I picked this up the other day and wasn't disappointed - great minifigs, great parts and a really enjoyable make this well worth the money... and it's cheap.

A highlight of the set for me has got to be the Brainsucker, so inspired and well conceived... it just makes me smile when I pop it over the bewdildered civilians head. Utter genius. Just thinking about it now I'm definately going to pick up another of these!

Thanks for the review!

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This is definitely one of my fave smaller sets ever. Planning to get a couple more for my Alien Conquest: Invasion Honolulu setting haha :) I echo the grumble about the laser gun just floating around loose in the cockpit though - same thing I grumbled about in my review. Still, despite the limited leg movement it's quite poseable and I love that you can angle the laser pod around so easily too. Got some great modding potential too!

Hooray for Alien Conquest :D Also love that poster you made haha.

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...I echo the grumble about the laser gun just floating around loose in the cockpit though - same thing I grumbled about in my review.

Address your loose gun issue in a jiffy! For a mega quick mod use your spare technic bush as a gun holder, placing it between the studs like so...

gun_holder_1.jpg

...and popping the gun in by it's handle. There'll then be enough space for it to face forward or tot he side without interfereing with the pilot.

gun_holder_2.jpg

Simple yet effective!

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After walking past these sets for weeks now, I find myself thinking about them more and more, specifically this one. That civilian figure is absolutely PERFECT, and looks like the snooty and over-confident lawyer my town needs! As far as the AC elements, I love how it all hearkens back to those great 'flying saucer' 50's B-movies in a new and exciting way.

I can definitely see myself grabbing this set and some of the smaller ones just to add the element of alien invasion to the realm of possibility. Thanks for the review, which certainly helped to sway my opinion to some degree!

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