Alpha Draconis

When can we expect reliable information on when UCS Gunship / AT-AT are releasing? It'd be awesome if AT-AT came out in September but that'd also mean I have to tighten my spending even more until it drops...

To my understanding, this is a screenshot of the 360 view which was accidentaly put in the LAN press release kit for the R2-D2 - according to MandR

The shuttle looks too small for my taste. Why not ditch BARC and make some improvements to the main build? Spoiler alert: I can see that theory of not all figs fitting in the shuttle plausible. I'll wait for better pictures but I'm not sure I'll get this set. If I will it will probably be for the figs. I guess I'll have to wait for the summer wave to drop and then make my decision on which sets to buy.

R2 looks nice. I think it looks really good from profile since it's rounded off better than the predecessor. The third leg looks to be held in the body by a simple mechanism that releases the leg assembly when the model is under the right angle... not sure I'm exited about this part of the set, although it is a display model with minimal/no play in mind Maybe it's just me but does anyone else think that the Luke's lightsaber is kind of small in proportion to the R2? Overall it looks good, but I'm not going to get one - I'm saving up for (hopefully) UCS AT-AT

An interesting take for sure. A comparison with comedy is an interesting one but I can't say I agree with it. While you may deduct on the (un)said what the joke was really about you cannot do the same with a few extra pieces you may got with old Lego instructions. I mean, sure you can put those extra pieces whenever at the end of the build and not really care about it, but on the other hand this may prove difficult if you tend to be a bit OCD with your build (like me ). Not to mention that the bigger the set is the more missed bricks become a problem. And to err is human. As far as keeping your brain working - I agree with you here, sometimes it does feel like your brain feels like on off mode with newer instructions - until you can't find a piece you are looking for in a pile of other pieces and I start to frantically looking if it fell from the table This may not be a bad thing though, you can do other things in the meantime with reduced possibility of missing a piece. I personally like to listen to music while building large sets and this feels like a good combo to me. What I think this boils down to is what you and I are used to. I assume you grew up mostly with old instructions and are used to them, while I grew up with (mostly) new instructions. We both prefer different styles of instructions since you experience building differently to me. And that is okay, we both know what we like and nothing can change that! I would actually like to build more medium-sized sets like this since it's a different experience, but for larger sets I would definitely take newer instructions over old ones everyday.

I have not thought about that tbh. I was thinking about getting the same motor from Bricklink that works and I probably will get it at some point. It's a shame really, since every other component seems to be working just fine.

I'm glad you enjoyed this review! I actually don't have Alien avenger yet, but I'm working on it - I hope to also get a sealed set and doing similar review once I have it. I'll be sure to compare the two sets!

if anyone's interested - I posted a review of sealed 6979 Interstellar starfighter here

Preface This theme means a lot to me, even though I never owned any myself when I was a kid since I wasn't old enough at the release to be interested in these kind of sets. I did, however, have a lot of old 90s Lego catalogues from my older cousins, who passed them down to me. When I was a bit older I acquired a taste for this line, but it was discontinued for years at that time, so I had to wait. Opening this set sealed really meant a lot to me, since I always wanted to do this. In the future I intend to hunt down all other UFO sets, preferably sealed and I might do a review on those as well. I made this review so that you can see how it was like to unbox and assemble this set back in 1997 and because I never found a similar modern review of the set, when I was looking to buy it. There are a lot of reviews on it, but I couldn't find any that would include a sealed box. I tried my best to make this review as comprehensive as I can. This is my first review so any feedback you might have is welcome. I hope you enjoy this review! Information Set name: Interstellar Starfighter Set number: 6979 Number of pieces: 292 Year released: 1997 Minifigures: 3 Price (then): 80.00 USD Theme: U.F.O. Introduction Description of the theme on Brickipedia: »The UFO Aliens come from the planet Humorless. They spend their time fighting the Exploriens and Roboforce, and scare Earth farmers in their free time. They have the ability to read minds. They have droids do their work for them, though they usually steal those droids, like in Andy Droid's case. Alpha Draconis is their leader.« source U.F.O. alien species is called Zotaxian. Their backstory differs from region to region - promotional materials back in the day weren't in sync and thus we get different backstories – in some versions Zotaxians even invaded then equivalent of Lego City, while in other versions the story was confined to space themes only. source A thing to mention is that aliens from Insectoids theme are also Zotaxians and come from the same planet as U.F.O. aliens. For different reasons, depending on the local promotional materials issued at the time they had to flee their native world and find a new home. U.F.O. theme was also featured in Lego Racers video game from 1999. There was a racing map where both U.F.O. and Insectoids themes were interlaced. I got this set sealed via BrickLink. The box was in overall good contention, aside from some print wear. But most importantly, no dents! You can check BrickLink listings for this set here. The box Here's the front view of the box. Wear on the edges shows that it was sealed for almost 24 years but I guess that is a necessary evil and not really that important. This is the front of the box with its flap up, revealing transparent windows showcasing some elements of the set. Yes, I learned that was very common for Lego sets at the time but I grew up with sets that had simpler boxes with no flaps so this feels alien to me... I'll see myself out Upon closer inspection we can see what is showcased – 2 minifigs (Alpha Draconis on the right, Andy Droid on the left). Above them (the very top of the window) are 2 transparent neon-green circular pieces that the U.F.O. theme is most known for. They form cockpit canopy of the starfighter. Between the figures are alien helmets – black one on top (Alpha Draconis') and below it one in grey (Chamon's). Fun fact is that Chamon (the 3rd figure in the set that the grey helmet belongs to and has shoulder pads, just like Alpha Draconis) is not showcased in this transparent window, but his helmet is. Instead, Andy Droid was chosen to be showcased. I wonder what was the reason for this? On the very bottom of the largest window is the battery box that takes 9V battery. Yes, this set has electronic parts that produce visuals (and also some audio but I don't think that was the designer's intention – more on that later). Immediately below is another tiny window, showcasing the cockpit lights. Lastly on the very bottom we have a line of 5 small transparent windows. The contents showcased are (from left to right): electric wire with brick, 2 magnets, red electric micro motor, 2 magnets, electric wire with brick. Below are additional pictures of the box. The top of the box. An observation – I noticed a number imprint on the top of the box (4217). I have no idea what this was used for. Maybe something to do with production and/or distribution system back in the 90s? Left side of the box. Bottom side of the box. A closeup of legal and production information on the bottom of the box. It says the set was made in Billund, Denmark. Right side of the box. The back of the box, showing mostly alternative builds - a practice that is not that common for set packaging nowadays. Below are pictures of box seals, which can be found on the front of the box, under the flap. This is where you are supposed to open the set. You have to take the cardboard with transparent windows off in order to access the box contents. Unboxing Like mentioned before, you have to open the box from the front, with its flap out of the way. I cut the seals with a knife along highlighted areas and the lifted the cardboard with transparent windows up from the box to access its contents. This how contents of the box are distributed in the box. The box is divided in several compartments (light green cardboard), each holding specific bags of parts or larger parts. Items showcased via transparent windows are held in a separate packaging which sits on top of the compartments. Instructions and promotional materials are located on the very bottom , under cardboard compartments. Another imprint on one of the green compartment cardboard (4107390). Here are all box contents stretched on a table. These are all parts that not packed in any plastic bags or additional packaging inside the box. Above 2 pictures show all the printed elements excluding minifigures and their accessories. On the left are the instructions, in the middle are promotional materials and on the very right is a ... poster? Indeed, you get a cool one-sided poster with this set. This was a very pleasant surprise and I guess that a much more common practice in the past. This is a separate packaging, containing all the elements that are showcased via transparent windows on the packaging. These are all plastic bags containing the remaining bricks. Plastic bags are of the old type, of course, with holes all over them to enable air circulation. Nothing remarkable otherwise. Note the bag on the very bottom right-hand side contains the only sticker this set has, 2 light grey 1 x 12 beams, along with 9 optic fibres (they might be difficult to observe in this picture). This is the only sticker in the set. For those unfamiliar with the theme – this sticker is somewhat special because it changes colour based on heat. The idea is that you put your finger on it and it then changes to green colour, revealing U.F.O. symbol as shown in above picture. These are optical fibres you get in the set. 9 in total, 8 to use and one spare. Above are shown all electronic components of the set. On top is the battery box, below it are (left to right) black electric twin lights, red micro motor and light grey fibre optics electric element. Lastly there are two black electric wires with brick. Finally, you also get four black cylindrical magnets. Minifigures UFO Red Droid/ Andy Droid This is the only minifigure in the set without a helmet or a shoulder armour. It is the only robot in the set and supposed brother of more known Ann Droid from Exploriens theme. source The minifigure sports quite interesting printing (front of the minifig only), with U.F.O. logo on the top left-hand side of the torso, remaining printing looking like exposed wiring and electronic components to me. Below are additional pictures of the minifigure from remaining angles. Red UFO alien / Chamon One of 2 Zotaxians in the set, also referred to as the Red UFO alien. The figure sports grey alien helmet and a black shoulder armour. Printing on the minifigure itself is also only present on its front. The only other printing can be found on the front angle of the helmet, looking to me as a brain with interlaced cybernetic implants. Below are pictures of the figure with all its accessories from the remaining angles. Here is the front view of Chamon without its helmet and shoulder armour. The face is one of the more memorable ones for me – that grin makes the figure look both funny and creepy at the same time. The printing on the torso and legs is also quite detailed but looks more organised to me that, say, the printing on Andy Droid's torso. Mandatory U.F.O. logo is also present on the torso, this time on the top right-hand side. Below are pictures of Chamon figure with no accessories from remaining angles. Alpha Draconis The only (consistently) named minifigure in the U.F.O. theme. Although his role is again not consistent in promotional materials between regions, he is supposed to be the leader of Zotaxians in some capacity (ranging from dictator of planet Humoreless to leader of the Zotaxian fleet). He was also featured both as a playable character and an npc in the legendary Lego Racers video game from 1999 (although he was missing his shoulder armour). He is most famous for his black helmet and grey shoulder armour. Printing on the helmet is the same as on Chamoin's helmet, but the torso and leg printing are a tad different. Below are pictures of the figure with all its accessories from the remaining angles. Here is Alpha Dracoins without his accessories. His face print looks to me almost bug-like. I wonder if this connected somehow with Insectoids theme? His torso printing is different from Chamon's and Andy Droid's. There are no electronics in sight, only a large U.F.O. logo in the middle of the torso. There are hints of electronics shown on his leg printing. Printing is, again, only present on the front of the figure. Below are pictures of the figure from different angles. Building the set I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the set assembly but to be honest there is not much I can say on that except the instructions did not age too well. There are no required parts shown for each step of the building process so you have to have a keen eye for details and every step feels like a game of finding all the differences between pictures. My worst fear was that I would end up with an extra piece at the end that I knew I missed somewhere. Fortunately it did not come to that and I'm rather proud of myself for achieving this These are all the extra pieces of the set – one optic fibre and one trans-red electric light bulb cover. The back of the instructions. Assembled set This is the assembled Interstellar Starfighter. I'll try to capture as many angles as I can. The front view – one of the best angles in my opinion. Angled front view. You can clearly see black electric wires coming from the battery box just behind the main cockpit and going to micro motor and optics fibre element hidden behind a printed trans-neon green element located in the middle of the starfighter. The back of the starfighter. Another side view. Front view of the fighter, more level with the ground. Definitely not one of the good-looking angles. Side view, more close to the ground. Another side view from ground level. Top view. Next to 6900 Cyber Saucer. Another feature of the set is that it has a smaller detachable space craft. The main ship Magnets on the back of the main ship are used to connect main ship with the smaller detachable space craft. Below are some pictures of main ship only. Above is the bottom of the main ship. It is clear that the preferred angle to look this set at is from above. Detachable space craft Below are some pictures of the smaller space craft. It is assembled from two smaller circular pieces with a trans-neon green cockpit. On the top of the latter is where the only sticker is located. Do the electronics work? Not all. The twin lights in the cockpit work flawlessly, while red micro motor is dead, effectively rendering fibre optics in the back bust. The grey fibre optics element works on its own though. Fibre optics in the back should flash one optic at the time. This is caused by rotating a Technic rod in the grey fibre optics element, allowing only one fibre optic to be lit at the time and providing flashing of all fibre optics. Rotation should be achieved by using the red micro motor, while grey optic element only provides red light. But since micro motor is dead only front twin bulb lights in the cockpit work. The micro motor is known to produce some noise so that's what I was referring to when I said there was some unintentional audio produced by electronic parts. Better working front lights and optic element than nothing! I have heard that these red micro motors are a bit iffy anyway, so this is something I was half-expecting. A gif and a picture showing working front cockpit lights, proving I am not full of... err... brick? A side note: when taking the battery box out of the set it's a good idea to utilise one of the holes in the plate below the battery box in combination with a Technic or a normal rod to push the battery box out of the set from below first. Otherwise the bottom battery cover might stick to the plate and you'll end up tearing the upper portion of the battery box out of the set while the bottom will be stuck to the plate. When this happened to me it caused me a mini heart attack (the crack noise mostly) but fortunately I did not break anything. Using this method is a safer alternative. Note that none of the parts used on the rod assembly on the picture above are a part of this set – I borrowed the tip of one of the s-foils cannons on my UCS X-Wing. Conclusion Opening this set was a very interesting experience for me and it was hard for me to be objective when reviewing this set. The price of this set sealed is also something that a lot of people would find hard to justify. But for someone like me, who adores the theme it was worth it. I would not recommend this set sealed to anyone however – you have to be either a big fan with the means to buy it, otherwise just get a used set. Sure you'll miss all the fun unboxing experience and the parts might be in poor condition/broken but it's going to be way cheaper. On the other hand, if you are a big fun with a budget – go for it, just don't expect all electronics to work. Hopefully this review will make you help make the decision whether to buy this set either sealed or used. Design: 8/10. The front of the fighter looks really nice but the main issue I have is with detachable space craft. No full circular shape - what were they thinking? Parts: 8/10. Electronic parts, along with circular parts and minifigures are really nice, it's a shame that the red micro motor is not working though. Build: 5/10. Oh how building instructions have improved. Hats off to any former kids building large sets before required parts for every building step were established as a norm. It's a game of concentration and patience. The build itself is nice but it's the instructions that bring the experience down significantly. Minifigures: 10/10. The helmet design, shoulder armour, printing... these figs have it all in my view. Still one of the best figures TLG ever produced and they aged really well too. Playability: 8/10. Lots of functionalities present on this set. From flashing lights and detachable smaller space craft to alternate builds – you decide how to play! Price (sealed): 6/10. I don't think I paid an unfair price for this set but it was still substantial. I know other older sets with higher demand sell for way more, so I can't complain too much. The price could always be better though. I hope you enjoyed this review and that you got to know more about the theme in general or just learned something new about the set. On display.

ok, I got the feel of how pictures from Flickr get pulled to the form. You can expect my review on 6979 sometime later today

I've been looking at the Vader helmet and the more I think about it, the more I believe that the angle of the main helmet picture just doesn't work for this particular helmet. From what I can tell from the front view of the helmet on the side of the box it looks much better when you look at it from the front. To me the Vader helmet in that main picture looks "chubby" - this is due to 2 things for me: grill stickers on the front not coming all the way down as they should and due to the neck part of the helmet, which looks to start way closer to the mouth than it should. However the neck part I think is actually ok, since side picture shows that it starts around when it should in my opinion. I think we'll need to see the helmet in person once it's out

to me the helmet in question looks almost (if not) 1:1. I agree, most likely not a product, but maybe this shows us what's going on in designers minds with 18+ line right now? ...or maybe it's just one of the cool side builds designers have and I'm looking too much into this

Thanks for your interest, I'll try to do a proper review on it. It is going to be my first review ever, so it might be a bit rough around the edges. I too have noticed the gap in old set reviews you mentioned - when buying the set I got almost no pictures of the sealed set I could use for reference. And the reviews on YT were reviews of used sets (don't get me wrong, the reviews are good, but for someone looking for a sealed set, the crucial parts are absent). That's what primarily drives me to make this type of content - to give a modern reference with lots of pictures to anyone buying these sets sealed or looking to invest. I think you should definitely do a review on your set, I'd love to see it!

God bless this topic, hopefully someone is still around to talk about this. I just very recently joined the forum, but UFO is also one of my absolute favourite themes. I never had any sets myself as a kid (was way too young at the time of their release), but I had a lot of Lego catalogues from the 90s from my older cousins. I just thought (and still think) that this is one of the most insane themes with badass minifigs. The menacing minifig helmets are the best! I recently got my first UFO set - 6900, used of course. Holding the actual thing in my hand feels magical, although I admit, looking at the underside of the saucer pieces is not that appealing. You have to look at the set from certain angle for best results. I still love it tho. I MAY have gotten carried away a little with the craving for more sets after I got my first set and I MAY have bought sealed 6979 Interstellar starfighter. I am planning on building it in the near future and maybe doing a review on it and posting it on this forum. Would anyone here be interested in that?

Wow, didn't know they did this back in the day. Let's hope they bring back something similar in the next few years

A probe droid picture and a side view of Vader helmet were leaked. Probe droid looks good (even has some snow on top of its UCS plaque), while Vader helmet doesn't really look that special to me from side angle. Will have to see front picture of it to give better judgement

Thanks, I must have missed this info somewhere - that's quite a lot of pieces, it's going to be a behemoth! I wonder if the model is going to have any parts reinforced especially for carrying around (similar to UCS Falcon or star destroyer) since I imagine the wingspan alone will make it clunky to do so

Do we have any info on the piece count for the UCS gunship yet? I expect it wouldn't contain that many pieces anyway since I think it's reasonable to expect a lot of bricks are going to be big (panels mostly, I guess)

Salutations! I've rekindled my interest in LEGO over the past year and a half (been a fan since childhood) and decided that this is going to be my hobby for life. What better way of connecting with same-minded people than joining this forum! My favourite themes are star wars, pirates, Bionicle, WW2 (if that counts as a theme), Ideas and UFO - one of the themes I never had as a child but I had many old 90s catalogues from my older cousins and thought that the theme was the coolest thing ever (and I still do). My profile picture is a testimony to that I enjoy the mocs that people make but creating them myself just isn't my coup of tea. I also quite enjoy any LEGO rumours and speculations on any new star wars, Ideas or 18+ sets the variety and experimental value of which I love but I agree with some people that label "18+" should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm also interested in doing reviews of older sets so I might use this forum to do just so. We'll see how much free time I have in the future. One personal wish I have is for LEGO to introduce legacy line sets on their classic themes and sub-themes up to around the turn of millennium (not the first one to come up with this idea, I know), similar to Ideas line (limited release + some kind of voting system for people's voice to be heard), I am hoping that this is something TLG is considering already, but I am not holding my breath. We'll see how 90th anniversary set pans out Otherwise I come from Slovenia ("a small country on the sunny side of the Alps"), which doesn't really mean much but I am always happy to come across people from my own or neighbouring countries That's it about me, hopefully I didn't ramble too much. Feel free to always DM me on any UFO related topics (not really interested in buying off this forum but I am always open to chat or discussion) -Alpha Draconis

Multi-quotes test with editing of the quotes - please ignore

Hi everyone! I've been monitoring this forum topic and a few others for a couple of months now and was inspired by @Stefanisimo to join the forum as an active user. I am super exited by all the adult/collector oriented set rumours and, of course, by star wars set rumours (UCS AT-AT rumour being one of the most exciting Lego-related things for me in quite a while). Just wanted to say hi, looking forward to learning more about the future star wars sets - summer wave rumour sounds really nice so far