Review - 6954 Blacktron Renegade

[Cardinal Brick]

You're a tough tail-gunner in a pitch black Chevy, Cruising in the moonlight Ooh your aim is steady*

*Strangely this set always make me think of this song

In my Invader Review I said ‘One day I hope to have the Renegade as well to add to my collection, when I do about two years later I'll review it for you’. – Well I’ve only had it about three weeks so I’m doing a little better than promised.

Set Name: Renegade

Set Number: 6954

Number of Pieces: 302

Figures: 2

Released: 1987

List Price: £? (GBP) $30.00 (USD) No Euro in ’87 did we even have the ECU? (EURO)

6954Peeron.com

6954Bricklink Catalogue

Along time ago the Blacktrons had the coolest ships in the Lego universe and the coolest looking of them all was the Renegade, however I don’t think it was ever released in the UK (I couldn’t be wrong) or possibly most of Europe so thus getting hold a copy of the set isn’t easy. I finally just paid for it possibly more than I should have, so let’s see if the set lives up to my expectation.

Note: Before we go on, the pictures probably aren’t the best my camera had a diving accident and though it’s back from being repaired there are still a few kinks in it.

Sadly I couldn’t get a boxed copy but this is what arrived in a box for me

Instructions and a zip lock bag.

Contents

Every part laid out, not a lot of colour there just a lot of back and a bit of yellow (with a bit of trans red) .

Instructions

Surprised how mint the instructions are after so many years but shows the ship and the alternative models. The back shows combinations with different sets.

Minifigs

You get two standard Blacktron pilots, what did you expect? Though I think an additional brickbuilt robot would have been a nice touch here.

Front view.

Buggy

The first thing we’ve got is the space buggy before we start on the ship itself, not to much to say it’s nice enough but I don’t think it’s amazing. I prefer the ones in 6981 Aerial Intruder personally.

Space Buggy.

The Ship

One of the best things about this set in my opinion is that its highly modular and so you have the main body of the Renegade and there are a number of bits which then attach to it from there.

The main body comes together quite quickly and by step 7 it’s already looking like it’s almost done

We’re only at step 7?

A few more bricks and we’re done with the main body and we’re done and it’s only step X

Main body finished

Cockpit

Once we’ve finished up with the main body we move onto the cockpit, which has holes on the back and attached with pins. It’s a quick little build.

First few steps.

Everything but the canopy.

Completed.

Now we’ve got the cockpit completed we can attach it to the main body.

Cockpit on the main body.

Sensor Array and Flying Scooters

The next two parts to construct are what I assume is a sensor array, which I assume it to keep away from the soon to be released Space Police. Or to find things to steal? You also have to flying scooters which are mounted on the wings of the main body.

The set comes in three parts the cockpit the cargo pod and the engine. Lets take a look of the cockpit to start with

Sensor Array.

One completed and one part done flying scooter.

Once that’s done all of those can be mounted on the main body which gives you below.

With the sensor array and flying scooter.

Cargo Pod

Next we have the cargo pod which fits into the main body with pins like the cockpit does. Another quick build below are the stages.

First few steps.

The lid of the cargo pod.

Everything completed.

Buggy in the cargo pod, it’s a snug fit.

Now the pod can be inserted into the main body

Inserting the pod.

Engines

The final part to construct are the two engines which give this large ship it’s power, these had pins and then clip into the back of the main body.

One finished engine and one part built.

Once they’re built they just clip into the back of the ship.

Engine fitted.

That finishes the build and gives us, what I think you’ll believe a mighty fine looking ship.

One nice ship.

Now with the minifigs added.

You can also reorganise the parts to make a smaller ship closer to the Invader.

The Invader and the Renegade

The Invader and the Renegade were the two Blacktron I ships and there are both great ships, I had hopped that the parts would be interchangeable. However I was rather disappointed to find that they didn’t fit together and I couldn’t combine them very easily.

The Invaders Cargo Pod

Sadly the Pod is to small and the pins are to low to fit into the Renegade’s cargo holder.

Sadly no fit.

The Renegades Cargo Pod

This pods at a different level so even though you can reverse it to make it fit it doesn’t look good with the Invaders other bits.

Looks a bit silly?

Two Cockpits

I had hoped you could bolt the two cockpits from both the ships onto the Renegade so that both men from the Renegade could sit in comfort. Sadly the one from the Invader has pins and that’s the mounting on the Renegade.

Fail.

The Rating System

Figures: 8/10 (Who doesn't love Blacktron Mark 1 figs?)

Parts 7.5/10 (A nice few bits and a good few printed slopes but that’s about it.)

Fun Fun Fun 10/10 (Lots to do you can take it apart re-arrange, build a smaller ship and it swooshish about like no one business!)

Design 10/10 (It looks cool and it’s well designs)

Price 10/10 ($30, if I could buy it today I’d but a small fleet.)

Grand Total 45.5/50 (Does it deserve any less?)

Conclusions

I normally start my conclusions to my space reviews but saying I’m not a Spacer maybe I’m becoming one, but I do now tend to take note of the Classic 90’s sets which I think are well built and interesting.

Unlike my Invaders where I now have 5 or 6 of them I’ve only got one Renegade and I think unless I see a barging that’s going to be the way it stays. That’s no reflection on the ship however it’s much more about how rare this ship is and that when it comes up on Ebay it normally commands quite a price. That fact it’s rare only makes it more desirable.

You’ve got one of the best looking Lego Space ships in my opinion, it sleek, black and looks just a little bit badass. We can all imagine the Blacktrons flying round the universe blacking some rock music and keeping the Futrons and M-Trons up all night, till they don’t see the sudden curve till it’s way too late. So it looks good, you can change it around what’s not to like. So what do you think?

Missed Opportunities

I’ll be honest I’m fairly disappointed that I can’t change around the different bits between the Invader and the Renegade. Before I got the sets I imagined that all the different sections could be changed around and make far more different ships, just moving the cargo pods from ship to ship I thought would be really cool. Sadly it wasn’t to be. I think it’s a missed opportunity and a great shame, had the designed managed this I’d be proclaiming this the greatest series of sets ever especially if they could get the pod on the back on Alienator into the mix as well. Some years ago there was an article by the designer of a lot of these sets (I’m sure someone had a link somewhere) I’d just like to ask them if the interchangability was an oversight or if they never intended it in the first place.

Cartoon

Juno and the Ice Planet woman like it do you?

[Jareth]

I had quite a few blacktron sets as a kid and the way invader didn't work with the others annoyed me as well. At some point I'm going to rebuild these sets and fix some of the problems with them. Long Live Blacktron I!

However the "sensor array" on put on the front of alienator looks great.

Anyway, thanks for the trip down memory lane!

[Artanis I]

Yeah, this set was hard to track down, and expensive. It was only released in the US. I'm not a fan of major assymmetry, especially when it affects balance. This ship is very off-balanced. Still an awesome ship, and with a bunch of Invaders in addition you have a very cool looking fleet of badass bad guys!

I love the Blacktron colour scheme & the minifigs are the best!

[Big Cam]

Oh my god, I actually remember this set, I think my cousin got it for christmas, not sure what I got, but thank you for the review, it's good to see it in full.

[snefroe]

thanks for the great review!

yes, this was a big surprise for me when i first browsed the internet catalogues, this was US only, as Artanis said, however, i've seen this set several times on Ebay. you may have a problem if you want a boxed one, but getting the parts for this model shouldn't be that difficult. I don't know why Lego decided not to sell this in Europe, I assume it had something to do with the production runs of other sets of the theme. The Canadian catalogue only mentions the Renegade, the Battrax and the base as sets of this theme, the European catalogue shows four sets, excluding the Renegade.

oh well...

anyway, Blacktron 1 was incredible! A total change from Futuron, the best designed base ever and some pretty nice additional set... except for the Renegade... If you're asking me, this set was nothing more than a "theme filler", a set that was created out of two-three other sets of the theme, pretty much like the classic "Super model", but with not much quality...

the only strong point, for me, are the parts. yellow engines... that was extremely rare in those days! 2 yellow small wings... also quite rare... and several printed parts, admittedly, not extremely rare, but always great to have, in a timeframe when Bricklink was non existent.

the assymetric design of the ship is the only thing that makes this model interesting to me, really. that was unheard of back then. it also indicates how far Lego was willing to go with this theme: it seems to me they were willing to re-invent the world of space all together, draw a line under classic space as it had been for the last 10 years and start all over... that was very brave move, the Renegade was simply a great idea that wasn't perfectly executed...

[Hrw-Amen]

Have to agree, it was not my favourite Blacktrom set by a long way. The idea of offsetting was good but the way the ship turned out looked abit like it was designed by a young child to me. Don't get me wrong, Blacktron was my all time favourite space series but this ship just looked odd and out of place. I think nowadays they could do a much better job of this and it would be nice to see an updated version someday. Still it is good to see the old ships from my youth having an outing once in a while.

[Knightsword]

I think this and the Battrax were designed together, as their combo's make a lot more sense from my experience, and the Invader was an after thought. Plus those two do have some similar design ques in how the cockpits were made, i.e. the open gaps etc.

[CP5670]

I thought this was the weakest Blacktron 1 set. The asymmetric design is a great idea, but there is little interior space for a ship of this size (no place for the second guy) and the whole thing is rather flimsy and poorly constructed. As you said, the modular sections are not as useful as they could have been. I modified mine into this model.

I don't know why Lego decided not to sell this in Europe, I assume it had something to do with the production runs of other sets of the theme.

There was an interview with a TLG designer posted here, who said that some German mothers in TLG's focus groups thought the model looked too aggressive for kids. I don't think you guys missed out on much though, except for some of the rare pieces like the 2x2 yellow grill tiles.

[CaptainBermuda]

I wish I had this!

[Algernon]

Oddly enough, I actually did wind up getting this set on Ebay, but due to a dishonest description of the model I wound up with a half-assembled version and some broken pieces. A bad LEGO experience to say the least. That said, I don't dislike the model as much as other people seem to (don't hang me for this, but I find it much more attractive than the other Blacktron 1 sets) but it definitely suffers from some design flaws.

Still, I really like the idea of it. I wish LEGO would experiment with asymmetry more often. Thanks for that nostalgic review!

[Gatekeeper]

I'm a huge Blacktron I fan and I think that the Renegade (I have two) and the Battrax were my favorites. The Invader, while cool, just didn't really convey the awe that I thought Blacktron should. I do agree that the interchangeability lacked a bit here but if you modify the ships (which I have done) you can get around that. I am, actually, currently in the process of rebuilding some of the old Space Police I ships so they can blow each other up once more.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

This seems the best Blacktron I set to me. Sadly, I don't own any, but this is a good candidate! At least I know I won't be spending on the current "space" theme. Thanks for the excellent review!