Masked Builder

6/22/11 - Updated first post with a Haves picture.

Holy mackerel! That's a lot of clones.

Good work Cloney'O! (even though I haven't read it yet. ) This is my favortie Harry Potter set with the Burrow being a close second. Now I have to wait to post my review.

Thanks CM! DS sent!

Well I may as well. We do need and adjudicator though!

A nice review. Like you, and many others, the minifigures are only meh. Not the greatest, though as we have been begging for a new Padme for years, it's good to see her return to a set. I do like Daarth Maul's new head piece. And the ship just needs to much work for me to want to get this. So this is a no buy for me.

Good work Cloney'O! I can't wait to get my hands on this set. And as I've yet to get either Hagrid or Voldemort, it'll be good to add them to my collection. Not to forget Narcissa, she's another good addation to the Harry Potter line.

17) Hazmat Guy Entry (Build by Diidy) - 2 Points 36) Lawn Gnome Entry (Build by Ninja Nin) - 1 Point But good entries by all!

DS sent! Sorry for taking so long. I've been busy.

Alien Conquest! Those are some of my favorite words. As soon as I had heard about this theme I was quite eager to get some of the sets, and then when the pictures were posted online I was very happy to find that I really like the Aliens. (Okay, the Alien Defense Unit guys are pretty sick too) I immediately wanted the whole line of sets. This is the first review, hopefully, of the whole line. Name: Set Number: 7049 Pieces: 42 Price: $4.99 Ages: 6-14 Minifigs: 2 Theme: Alien Conquest Year of Release: 2011 Bricklink Peeron Brickset S@H Review Gallery Box: Here we see the front of the box. The art on the boxes of the sets really stands out too me. The Alien Conquest logo and the background art are some of the coolest work Lego has done this year. On the back of the box, we have an alternate picture. In this case it's of the Alien off of his "ship" and running towards the ADU soldier. I think it seems kind of silly that the ADU soldier is firing his gun in the wrong direction and that the alien is running towards the guy with a gun! This time the 1:1 image is of the ADU soldier's helmet. Lego has really started expanding on what they put on the top of the box. We’ve seen the put the helmet on the box, minifigures, and other small bricks. I find it really neat that they've expanded on what the put on the box. Manual: Ah the manual. The front has the usual wide-screen image that's the same as the box art. Did I mention that I really like the Alien Conquest logo? Here we can also see more of the road that Lego has edited into the picture. I don't know about other countries, but I'm pretty sure they don't have Green roads! Once you get to page three of the manual you can see the very cool Green fading effect that Lego has done to the background of the manual. I really like Green, and it adds to the "alien” feel of the set. On the pages where there's room. Lego has made up some Alien writing and wrote something in the upper right-hand corner of the instructions. It really adds to the "alien" feel of the set to me. And near the back of the manual we have a rather squished ad for the whole line of Alien Conquest sets. Notice that "51" on bottom middle of the road? I do believe that Lego is trying to imply that this is supposed to be inside Area 51. What do you think? Parts: Now that we've finally opened the set, we see that there are two things fall out, an instruction manual and a bag holding the 46 parts. (Do note that this includes extras. ) Okay now we've gotten to the new/rare parts of the set! We have the much coveted trans-clear visor, one of the 1x3 slope pieces, and the Alien Defense Unit Soldier's gun. All of them are great additions to my collection. I can't wait to use that gun in a MOC. And here are our spare parts! Most people will be happy to know that there is an extra trans-clear visor, and I'm happy that we get an extra 1x1 round trans-light blue stud. I can never get enough of those! Minifigures: We've gotten to my favorite part, the minifigures! I'm really loving the ADU Soldier's general design. The armor print, the helmet, and the leg print. It all adds up to make an amazing figure that I can't wait to get more of. Now don't get me wrong, the Alien, who is an Alien Trooper by the way, is great too! Again the body print is great, but that molded head. It's so angular but it's a perfect Lego design. Only the ADU Soldier figure has back printing. I would like to see some sort of armor print on the back of the Alien too, but since Lego has not put it on him now, I doubt they're going to change him. Of course only the ADU figure has a double sided head. I quite like this face; it has a sort of surprised/puzzled face that I really think is fitting. The Build: During steps 1-8 most of the "ship" has taken shape. As you can see it starts out quite small then you build outwards from the main body to make it a bit larger around. Then from steps 9-14 you complete the "ship." During these last five steps it really starts to take shape, and get larger. Complete Model: Here we see the completed set in its glory. While I think that the Alien is no match for the super cool ADU Soldier, you may think otherwise. You can also get a general idea of what size the "ship" is. Front 3/4 view. Nothing too special happening here, the Alien can hold onto both control levers, it does take a bit of adjusting to make him hold the right though. He has those little "gun," (1x1 round cones) that could be used to shoot back at the ADU Soldier. And a back 3/4 view. The round shape of the ship makes it really easy and fun I might add, to hold in your hand. I can just visualize a little kid swooshing this around his living room and attacking the Soldier. Final Thoughts: Now that I've built the set I realize that I'm happier with it then I thought I would be. The set gives you two of the amazing new figures from the line and a small ship. I really consider the small sets "sampler sets" because they give you a good way to build an army of identical figures, and give you an idea of what the rest of the sets are like. It's a great small introductory set to the Alien Conquest line. Ratings: Playability: 8/10 The playability isn't bad. I'm more of a builder myself, but Lego has made sure that the Alien on his "ship" could battle the ADU soldier. Design: 6/10 I felt the design was lacking in a few places. Okay just one place, the "ship." Though I can't say I expected more from one of the small sets. I do like the generic roundish shape of it though. Price: 8/10 The price was fairly average for a set of this size. I'm very pleased with my purchase; the minifigures really make up for the smallness of the set. Minifigures: 9/10 Ah the minifigures. Now I'm sure you know that I do like these minifigures. The Alien Trooper is great, and the ADU Soldier is amazing! The only reason I'm not giving this set a 10 out of 10 is because I prefer the Alien Pilot. Parts: 8/10 There were actually a fair number of rare, at least to me, parts in this set. I can never have enough of those 1x3 curved bricks. Total: 39/50 A 39 out of 50. Fairly good for this cool Alien Conquest set. "Agh! Those are his brains!" Want to learn to make professional-looking reviews like this one? Click the link below to join the Reviewers Academy and learn how to make your own reviews!

It's too small for my tastes, but that could just be the angle. I'll probably just Bricklink Davy Jones, though some of his crew look pretty good too!

DS sent! You did forget to change our names at the top of your post though.

Ah I see. Yeah I see what you mean by one of the better The Clone Wars sets.

Thanks for all of the praise guys! True treu. But since it's a Clone Turbo Tank, I had to get it. Yes it can. While I don't have the dropship I know I've seen pictures in other reviews... Thanks BD! Really? I must admit that I'm surprised that you like this one.... Yeah that is one thing I don't like either. Nope. Maybe you put it together wrong... Thanks! I suppose.. What are you looking for?

That's cool. DS sent!

Yep I'm ready when you are! We do need someone to adjudicate though.... Any takers?

"Fresh Academy Teacher who has stepped on something white" Because I graduated from the reviewers academy, and probably had somthing to do with my picture trouble I had on my last review. Probably from Fangy.

Those are pretty good there JimButcher! i like the way you've crossed themes.

Thanks Pedro! I am very happy that you like what I came up with. I'm just awaiting another dueler now.

This set immediately went on my list as soon as it was confirmed. If you've been following my reviews, you would know that I'm a HUGE fan of the Clone Turbo Tank. I also thought it would be fitting since I started my Academy experience with a clone turbo tank review that I should end with one too. This seemed like a no-brainer to get. As it is this was given to me for my birthday, it was a great gift! And since this is my 9th review in the Reviewers Academy, I'm now a teacher! So let's get rolling! (pun intended. ) Name: Clone Turbo Tank Set Number: 8098 Pieces: 1141 Price: $119.99 Ages: 9-14 Minifigures: 6 Theme: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Year Of Release: 2010 Bricklink Peeron Brickset S@H Review Gallery Box: So we start with the front of the box! The first thing that notice when I look at the box is the new logo of Rex against the stormy sky. This is some of the best logo work Lego has done for any of the Star Wars boxes. We also have the normal photo editing showing an action shot of the tank, and a small box devoted to the minifigures of the set. The back of the box has the usual are showing off the guts of the tank. We also have the usual battle poses, and ads for some of the other sets from the current wave. From the pictures on the back of the box, my general idea of the play functions is that most of them are for younger children. But we'll see how they are once we've gotten it built. And on the top of the box we have the usual 1:1 art for the set. Since this set is so large though, it shows all of the minifigures. Do note that the clone is a x2 meaning that there are two of them in the set. The names of the characters are also listed below their respective figures. (I do hope you know who they are!) I find it somewhat odd that Ahsoka's lightsaber hilt has been put on backwards! Probably just an accident but still different. Manual: There are two manuals, each sporting the box art. Together there are about 150 pages, so they're quite large but they get the job done! In this set I didn't have a problem with them being bent up but I guess I just got lucky. Yes Darth Vader has made a return! I'm sure some of you remember when Revenge of the Sith came out and the sets had this art. Some other sets have over the past six years have had this too. I was rather fond of it but it is a bit tiresome. I don't like how the artist drew the picture, the proportions are off, but, it's supposed to be that way. This is also starting to become a bit more normal. Lego has started putting the functions pictures at the back of the manuals and I for one, am fine with it. It'll help all of those little kids who get this when they want to play with it. We also have a very nice, rendered, poster for the first wave of the 2010 sets, showing off the ARC-170 and the droid Tri-fighter. I can see why some people may not like it, because it is a rendering, but I like the feel of it. I really like the flying aspect of the picture and the visual effects. On the opposite side from the ARC-170 poster, we have this wonderful poster for the summer 2010 wave. Now of course the first in-accurate thing I notice here is that Anakin is fighting General Grievous. As we all know, at least I hope you do, Anakin cannot see our friend the general till Episode III. Other than that this is just as good looking as the other poster. Minifigures: Here's a front shot of the minifigures. Two of them are new, Aayla and Bane haven't appeared in any other sets yet, and the others, Anakin, Ahsoka, and the clones have appeared in several, if not every, The Clone Wars set. Bane wouldn't be exclusive to this set for long, he would later appear in Cade Bane's Speeder set. No mis-prints here, all of the printing is top notch as usual. I was actually surprised a bit when I figured out that Aayla Secura's body color was medium blue! I thought it was going to be sand blue. And a back picture. As you can see only Aayla and the clones have back printing. From this picture you can also get an idea of how far down Aayla's head tails go down on her back. I'm really happy with how far they go down. I've removed Aayla's and Bane's head gear so you can see their backs better. Aayla's print is a continuation from the front which makes her much better looking than Ahsoka. Now onto the minifigure comparisons. Here we have Lego's Aayla and the animated one. She's very accurate and I'm quite happy with the way Lego has designed her. They've even gone and done two different colored arms to mach the real one. And now onto Bane. The first thing I notice here is that the real one is much skinner. Now with minifigures, this isn't too big of a deal considering that they're all about the same size. Apart from that I'm also very happy with this figure. The hat size is about right as well as the torso print. Parts: The new/interesting parts for this set include, a 1x3 tile, a 2x4 tile, Cad Bane's new head gear, one of the new wheels, and the funny little fountain piece that has appeared in some other sets, but never in this color. I really like the size of the wheel and can see it being used for a variety of things. All in all we got some very cool new parts for this set. There are a lot of extra pieces! Nothing super special, but nothing that's worthless either. I, and I’m sure many others, can never get enough cheese slopes and Technic "T" bars. The Set: So we'll start with a comparison. Both have the unique ten wheels, bit Lego's version is missing the drive shaft that I think is a very vital part of the tank. Since this is The Clone Wars version, it doesn't have the watch tower but that's only a minor difference as the tanks design can change over time. Lego's has all of the weapons and lights like it should, Lego's is also very gappy, which is something I'm not too happy with. Thankfully there aren't too many gaps. And the shape of Lego's is almost perfect compared to the real one. For the front view, we have a wonderful somewhat menacing cockpit look. Here we can see all of the front lights and the skinny supports for the wheels. I do think that this is a bit too angled to the front section though. Here's a side view. You can get some sense of how long this tank actually is. You can also see most of the wonderful greebling Lego has done for us. I would like to see a main drive shaft that would hold the wheels here. That would make it look a TON better. And a back view. Here we can see the smaller back cockpit and the blaster cannon on the top. Really a bit of what we see from the front of the tank though. This is one of the two more noticeable gaps. This is right behind the rear, at least what I call the rear cockpit. Unlike the AT-TE, which has a TON of large gaps, this one is quite a bit small. And here's the other gap right above the front cockpit. This one is here because it opens the cockpit, which we will discuss in just a moment. This is the little command base that the tank can carry. It's very cute if you ask me. It seats two minifigures, and reminds me of the one in the Clone Gunship with those curves. The little "armory" that the tank has. This is not at all what I had expected to see in this. But it does store the guns in a much better way than many of the other Star Wars sets. When I first saw the pictures I was stunned that no one else had noticed the new AT-RT! I immediately liked it and couldn't wait to get the set. It's much smaller than the last AT-RT Lego made and I'm glad they re-visited it. Here we can see how it attaches to the tank. Those little green bit slide into some yellow ones that keep it attached to the tank. While it's not a very good way to do the seat I'm happy with it for now. Functions: Of course all of the sides can open up to reveal the innards of the tank. And deploy minifigures, an armory, a command base, and an AT-RT. Not too shabby at all. Though I think most of us would rather that it came with a little army of clones so we can have a huge battle! So, we'll start at the front with, what I call the front, cockpit. It seats two pilots, that have two control sticks, and a nice control panel to drive the tank. Very, very spacious, unlike the last one which only sat one in the front. Now to the middle compartment, the left side, well on my tank, deploys the command base. A simple slide system allows it to be easily removed and put back into the tank. As you can see, the AT-RT sticks into the compartment a ton! Since the AT-RT stick in this much it makes you wonder how much room is left inside there. (My guess would be none! ) So now you know why Lego didn't show troops inside the middle compartment. Here we see the middle compartment empty. Sadly, there's little room to put a whole "army" of Clones to deploy into battle. I do understand why Lego went this way though, they had to leave room for the AT-RT and the command base. Though it looks as if you could fit about five or so men in there. Those little "compartments" hold the extra ARC trooper gear. A very convient little storage spot for the extra parts that I wouild love to see Lego do some more. What I find most interesting, is that the where I would put the engine, Lego has put the "armory" in the spot for the engine! This is one of the most confounding aspects of the tank and I find it rather frustrating that Lego has gone for playability over accuracy. We've finally made it to the back of the tank! Here we find that the back cockpit, again, seats two minifigures quite comfortably. As Lego has done with many other large models, they've built a very convenient handle that makes carrying this tank much easier, though the wheels tend to swing around a bit when you move it. You can also turn the tank by leaning it, like the last model. If it didn't turn it would be a drag to push around on the floor. I also have very fond memories of driving the older model around, so it's somewhat sentimental to me. And since we can't have a Lego Star Wars set without flick fire missiles, here's a picture of the latest addition to the missile army. I like this one though. I can't say why but this one actually works in my mind. Comparisons: Now for the most important comparison, comparing it with the last version. They're about the same size, but the newer version is a good bit blockier, but I like that feel. There are some things that are a bit larger too. And here's a comparison with the flagship set of last year, the Venator. As you can see, the Venator is a good bit larger than the Clone Turbo Tank. (Please excuse the missing parts, again. ) Final Thoughts: So now that I've built the tank, while I'm still very happy with it, I am also a little bit disappointed with it. I would like to have seen quite a few more clones, and maybe a little speeder for Bane. I'm very disappointed with the what Lego has done with the undercarriage of the tank. It would have been much better to have made it much meatier, but Lego has to make this able for the little kiddies to build. The minifigures are great, as well as most of the design of the tank. This is still an amazing set that I'm very glad to have gotten. Ratings: Playability: 10/10 As this is a larger set Lego has built a lot of functions into it. I could chase one of the Seppies tanks around with this for quite some time. Design: 8/10 Now as I pointed out before, I feel that this set is a bit lacking in some regards. But it still resembles the real one enough. Price: 8/10 This is one of the flagship sets for the Star Wars line so it comes at no surprise to me that it's $120. I feel that the price is justified with how large it turns out to be. Minifigures: 9/10 Now I would have given a 10 out of 10 here if Lego had included just one more new minifigure in the set. As it is though, they are all great figs. Parts: 10/10 There were quite few new/unique parts in this set, that I'm quite glad to have gotten. Total: 45/50 A 45 out of 50 is a very very good score for this set. "Checkout the larger model!" (Referring back to this.)

Thank goodness it's back up! Now I can finish my review....

Holy crap that is awesome! So many details to love, the large spinning wheel, the moving water, and the scale. You guys really out did yourselfs this time! I can't wait to see you top this one.

Good work! This Falcon is better in many respects but the bottom needs a lot of work. The figures look good though!

Very nice! The color scheme is good, and the shaping is even better. Just one question, is it supposed to be USC?

You've come up with a very useful application for displaying the ships. I'll half to see if I can use something like this myself. I can't wait to see the ships in detail!