sidersdd

REVIEW: 7050 Alien Defender This is my first review on Eurobricks, so feedback is welcome. Also note that I'm using Bricklink color names - so if that infuriates some of you, I apologize. Description: Jump on the scout vehicle to catch that alien invader with this LEGO Alien Conquest Space Alien Defender (7050) set! The alien defense unit soldier is patrolling the city in his swift scout vehicle when an alien invader whizzes by on his spaced-out mini hover bike. Nab the invader with the scout vehicle's rotating anti-UFO laser and 2 flick missiles! He won't make it past the fully armed alien defense unit this time. Now for the review. Box and Contents Nothing too special. Bright colors with lime accents - resembling Power Miners or World Racers. Box Front and Back: Box Side: This set doesn't have the nice cardboard insert like many of the new sets are getting (such as Pirates of the Caribbean). The sticker sheet is small, and was actually tucked in the instruction book, which was folded. Not sure if that was on purpose or not, but I almost forgot about it until I found it flipping through the pages. The vehicle base also didn't come protected in any plastic bag. Box Contents: Sticker Sheet: Instructions: Minifigs Both of the minifigs that come in this set are very nice, and basically make the set. The Alien Defense Unit (ADU) soldier comes in a new azure blue uniform and helmet. Unfortunately it appears this new color is used on the minifig parts only. At least with the sets that are out now. I've heard there may be some pieces in the larger sets. There's printing on the legs and back of the torso, to show the bullet-proof (raygun-proof?) ADU vest. The helmet comes with the long awaited trans-clear visor. The head is two sided - one side calm and collected for patrolling the streets and the other for berserk mode when blasting the invaders back to where they came from with the new two-barrelled pistol weapon piece. On both sides he's sporting some orange tinted shades - which is different than the soldiers in other AC sets. ADU Soldier: Comparison of azure blue against (from left to right) dark blue, blue-violet, blue, sand blue, bright light blue, medium blue, Maersk blue, aqua, and dark turquoise: I'm not sure what the alien's name is, but he's referred to as "Alien Pilot" in the tri-copter set. There's printing on the legs, but none on the back of the torso. The arms, and some of the decoration on the torso and legs, incorporate the rarely used magenta color. The alien gets a new weapon piece as well - the same ray gun element as the CMFs have been using, but in a flat silver color. The coolest part about the alien is that the head can be rotated/positioned around the neck stud 360 degrees. This allows for more posing options. Alien Invader: Build The "spaced out mini hover bike" is a pretty quick build as you can probably imagine. Nice use of the lime green barb pieces in the back. Not much else to say. The little thing looks like it can zip though, and my kids gave it an A+ on swooshing through our home. Mini Hover Bike: The scout vehicle is a pretty simple build as well (although I did mess up the orientation on the front of the vehicle when I originally took the pics as several observant flickr users noted). I like the use of the round 2x2 brick with grille in the back, and almost an NPU on the pistols up front. I think they're supposed to be support bars or shocks, like you'd see on an ATV. They're just not long enough to pull it off. It's nice to see the designers incorporating elements like this though. You also get five dark bley double wide cheese slopes and four light bley 1x3 tiles in this build, which is nice. The turret in the back spins 360 degrees, although if there's a driver then he'll need to be leaning forward a little or else risk getting bonked in the head by the modified 1x2 plate with handle. Two of the new gun pieces are used on this turret, which as you'll soon see is a bit of an issue for our soldier. The other weapons on this vehicle are the two flick firing missiles on the sides. They work, but don't fly very far (an observation from my son). The trans light blue curved slope piece on the front is a new color for that piece, and looks nice as a windshield piece. Scout Vehicle: The instructions had an interesting profile inset for the step where you attach the front piece to the hinge part. Two big bonuses in the extra parts category - one extra pistol and one extra trans clear visor. As you can see though, there's not an extra two-barrel pistol. The two included in the set are used on the turret in the back. This leaves our solider unarmed should he need to pursue one of the alien buggers on foot. I suppose he can remove one of the guns from the turret, but it would have been nice to have a third new gun, along with a place to clip it on the vehicle. Extra Parts: New Parts: (I forgot to include the 4x3 wedge with cutout - for which blue is a new color for the element) My Ratings: Minifigs: 9/10 Excellent minifigs. Soldier comes in a new color for LEGO, has printing on front of legs and front/back of torso, has the new trans-clear visor, and a new cool weapon. The alien's head is a wonderfully sculpted piece, has the ray gun in a new color, magenta colored arms, and has printed legs. Printing on the back of the alien torso and a new helmet element for the soldier would have made this a 10/10. Parts: 8/10 Most of the parts are tiny. There's only a single actual brick in this set (a 2x4 dark bley brick). But you do get the pistol pieces (three of them in fact), the new double-barrel pistol, the trans clear visors (including an extra one), and several double wide cheese slopes. It would have been nice to have printed tiles instead of stickers. Build/Design: 8/10 It's a small set - not a whole lot to the design. I liked the attempt at NPU with the pistols. The hover bike is compact, and the scout vehicle is very nice for its size. The use of levers for the controls looks cool/retro, but they tend to fall off with play. Playability: 8/10 As mentioned earlier, the hover bike is maneuverable and swooshes. The scout vehicle drives nice, has flick firing missiles, and a rotating turret in back. Price: 8/10 $10 for about 100 parts. Not the worst ratio out there, but as mentioned earlier, most of the parts are tiny. You do get two great minifigs though, and some cool new parts. Overall: 41/50 This set is very enjoyable, the new parts are cool, and I'm really looking forward to this new Alien Conquest theme.

Yep, you get a total of three of those. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=7050-1 They used the pistols to look like some sort of support bar/shocks, like you'd see on an ATV, as far as I can tell.

Set 7052 - UFO Abduction (the one with the farmer) is available on TRU.com now: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11486128 I've been uploading pics of 7050 in prep for my set review here:

Yep, May 10. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5582344847_7cfdacba40_b.jpg

More pics posted, including figs from the tripod set:

I'll try and get pics posted tonight with and without stickers.

Stickers. I've posted some minifig pics here:

I have the jet-copter, tripod, and defender in-hand. The minifigs are great. Will try and post a review tomorrow. I did take a pic comparing the Azure Blue against other blue colors here: http:/www.flickr.com/photos/sidersdd/5660263456/

Anyone know if there's a new edition of The Brick magazine from TLG? Or did this get dropped? re: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=27446

Yes, specifics would be appreciated. Do you expect this to be at all Aldis?

I'm an exclusive promotional release:

Looks great. Is Hispabrick in digital form only? I'd love to have this in print form.

1. No, I buy them for their amazing design. 2. Whole series 3. Ancient Kyoto, Kremlin, Sydney Opera House, Big Ben, Arc de Triomphe, Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Rushmore 4. More space theme sets - satellites, rockets, lunar/mars lander, planets 5. More train sets

Purpose seems to be for the dude to make some money. Sounds like he has 800 lots he's hoping to sell at $19 each. According to the history the listing started about 3 weeks ago (Mar-29) and he's sold 15 so far. He has another similar listing for a chance at a cloud city Boba at $13 a chance. 18 of those sold in less than a week.

Did you sell it?

Yes, I may be interested in Death Star II, AT-OT, and some of the mini-figs. I'm in the U.S.

With instructions and the original box.

Yes, I have a used one in great condition.

Were you able to get an 8421? Were you looking for MISB or used?