Laura Beinbrech

Should be quite possible, what with the Series 1 Spaceman (especially since I've been seeing a TON of Series 1 Spaceman parts in the local LEGO Store's "Build A Minifig" bins), Series 6 Space Girl, Space Police III troopers, Space Villian and ADU troopers, we'll have, at minimum the following colors for futuristic space troopers: White, Pink, Dark Bley, Black, Medium Azure and now Orange.... Alternatively, someone could put black or silver visors in the white, black, pink, medium azure (blue) and orange ones, then we could have the LEGO Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Welcome to Eurobricks, EdgeMax! I have a 2-year old Niece, whom I've been buying Duplo for for Christmas as well. I'm kinda curious, but based on yo saying that you work for Maersk and your collectible minifig sailor avatar, I'm guessing you're a Merchant Seaman, right? As a former US Navy sailor, I've always been curious as to what it was like on one of those big container ships, as compared to the dinky destroyer I was stationed on for 3 years of my service (it was quite cramped: Even though I am about average height, I still regularly hit my head on pipes and stuff hooked to the overheads of the passageways). ...Of course if that's too personal or prying, I apologize.

I hope you get your power back up soon, Scouty! I live about 200 miles inland from you and we still ended up losing our power for three days this week, and there are still about 3000 people in the county (a very rural one, the largest town has about 20,000 people in it) who don't have power yet. I hope you at least have heat of some kind... We had to heat our house with a portable kerosene heater until the power came back on. Anyways, i've been enjoying this game so far, and I really like the work that you've been putting into the scenery, Tiny Pies. BTW, I was curious about something: Didn't Hinkley get an ugly grave that kept getting hit/shot/knocked over in some other Mafia game here or was that someone else?

Nice vipers, Masked Builder.... You know, until fairly recently, I thought the "Vic Viper" was supposed to be based on Battlestar Galactica, but was wondering why they didn't look anything at all like the Colonial Vipers. ...Then I found out about Nnenn and his love for a somewhat obscure (I'd never heard of it) video game called Gradius.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking when I first saw this list.... If that is true, then the minifigs that I'd be most interested in getting would be: Alien Trooper Maid Marion Cyclops Knight Battle Mech Mermaid Also, depending on what they look like, I'd also likely go for: Roller Derby Girl Plumber (but onl if he has blue coveralls over either a red or green shirt, is wearing a red or green hat and sporting a mustache ;)) Fortune Teller (might be able to use her as some kind of mage or sorceress).

Thanks again for the kind words guys, I really appreciate it. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to be taking apart the Viper ever.... As for the tank thing... I've been planning on making a tank for some time now (either for the good guys or the bad guys), but I only have one section of tank treads (came with the Toy Story Trash Compactor Escape set), but I've been toying around with the idea of making a steampunky tank with multiple wheels (namely the 4x4 round bricks like most Castle siege engines use) or Brick Linking the parts. I currently have too many other projects in progress at this point to actually start building it. When I do, I will likely use something similar to the turret used on this project (I may see about replacing the stacked wedge plates with wedge bricks, if I can find blue ones for a decent price on BL), but that is quite a ways down the road....

Hmmm.... Orange I think that would work for the followers of Tzeentch (need to get more builds done for the bad guys). Anyways, between the awesome aliens and interesting color scheme, I'm very interested in this series.

I'm glad you guys like it! Yeah, I came up with that one day when I was trying to figure out how best to use the Brick Forge Post-Apocalypse pack and/or make the two ADU troopers I'd managed to acquire via the "Free ADU Jet Pack with purchase of $x or more" deal last year fit in with my general post-apocalyptic theme I had going when I came up with using the goggles. Seeing them that way, an idea of a back story clicked, and I decided to get more Alien Conquests sets. I only have the Alien Mothership, two Jet Packs a Battle Pack and the Earth Defense HQ, though... I MAY be able to get hold of a Jet Copter Encounter that is still lurking on the shelves of a local Barnes and Noble, though. Yeah, I was having trouble figuring out how to re-build the missile launchers in a way that they would fit in and not get in the way of the Vic Viper launcher on the Command Control section. Further complicating that issue was the fact that I used both the 4x4 double-sloped wedge pieces that formed the tops of the missile pods for the main gun turret. I did get inspired to give it another go after reading your comment, and discovering that I had the same exact part in black, thanks to owning the PoTC London Escape set..... Here's what I came up with: Upgrade Deployed by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr Upgraded Mobile Command Center by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr As you can see, the missile pods, while similar in form and function to the originals, now use solid bricks instead of those mail boxes, and they are attached to the Command Control module using the same basic Bionicle Ball joint connections used by the side blasters on the APC module.

Wow! We finally have some kind of pics. I also like the overall design of the new aliens and I plan on using them in my setting somehow...

"WE WILL EX-TER-MIN-ATE, EX-TER-MIN-ATE, EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!" Nice work, and I'd say you definitely captured the classic Dr. Who Dalek look... My brother and I used to watch Dr. Who on PBS all the time during the '80s and the Daleks were always my favorite villians for some reason.... I guess they reminded me of R2-D2 with an attitude problem. ;)

Nice, compact fighter craft you have there... I'm wondering, just how sturdy is the SNOT work? It looks like it would be rather delicate, but you never know.... Last I checked, Red and Black with trans neon green windscreens were used by the M-Tron faction as well as Atlantis submarines, so I'd say it fits, but replace the other transparent elements with trans neon green and you'd have a nice Neo-M-Tron fighter.....

In post-Final War North America, there is a vast Wasteland, bordered on the West by the undead hordes of the Tomb Kings, on the East by the Federal Republic of America, the Republic of Lakotah and the New Confederate States of America, on the North by the Chaos Wastes and the Lone Star Republic to the South, this land is so savage and lawless that only the most brain-dead zombies or crazed devotees of Khorne, Chaos Lord of War and Bloodshed, would casually venture into them. There are, however, any number of small settlements and city states scattered throughout the Wastes, and oftentimes, the only difference between their survival and destruction are the few forces of good who regularly risk their lives to patrol the lawless wilderness and bring some kind of law and order to it. The main three are the Federal Republic of America Dragoons, the Lone Star Republic Texas Rangers and the Airborne Demolitions Unit. The one we are dealing with today is the Airborne Demolitions Unit or ADU, which has an interesting history. Not only is it an elite unit, on par with the Federal Republic of America Special Operations Command (SOComm) and the Texas Rangers, but it is one that, for all intents and purposes, belongs to no nation. The ADU was originally an elite unit in the North American Union Army just prior to and during the Final War, and after serving with distinction against the nefarious Dr. Regis Blackgaard's elite Blacktron unit, they were rotated off the front lines to counter-insurgency duty in the area of the North Dakota/Saskatchewan border. The antimatter missile exchange that ended the Final War occurred while they were assigned here, allowing them to escape unscathed. Somehow, during the years following the Final War, they managed to maintain their unit cohesion and core values, becoming one of the only forces of order in the Wastes. They have since become a highly respected mercenary/heroes for hire outfit, with a famous sliding pay scale: Once, they helped an impoverished settlement defeat a particularly notorious raider gang for nothing more than a share of the loot captured from the raider camp and 3 days worth of food and water. While they have recently established bases in the Republic of Lakotah (where ADU members serve as the elected Chief's personal body guard, similar to the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine Empire) Lone Star Republic (in the Navajo Nation) and the Free State Redmond (Federal Republic of America Exclave on the West Coast), the ADU's mainstay for patrolling the wastes is still the M-115 Mobile Command Center. CMD Center Side by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The Mobile Command Center is pretty much what it says on the box: It combines an Armored Personnel Carrier, Command Control Bunker and Fighter Support in one vehicle. Module Separation by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr When the Mobile Command center arrives at its operations area, the APC separates from the Command Control module and deploys to combat the enemy, along with the fighter, if need be. Modules Front by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The APC sports dual 120mm cannons as well as side-mounted blasters, while the Command Control module is equipped with a dual 20mm dual-purpose Vulcan cannon as well as multipurpose missiles and (once the fighter launches) twin anti-aircraft blaster cannons for defensive purposes. Modules Back by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr Both modules are also equipped with loading ramps for easy crew access and the command control unit has ladders for the pilot to access the fighter. This particular fighter is one of the last surviving pre-Final War Vic Viper orbital space fighters, and on the day of the antimatter missile exchange, it took part in the general fighter scramble to intercept as many inbound missiles as possible. The Viper and two Sky-Spear Class ships (currently with the Federal Republic of America Air Force) are the only North American Union space fighters to survive the Final War, however its pilot succumbed to severe radiation poisoning from a near miss shortly after landing. APC Driver Compartment by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr APC Interior by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The interior of the APC unit is rather cramped, but with heavy Unobtainium armor, armor-plast windows and no flat tires, it provides the equivalent protection and firepower of a medium tank for the crew and squad of power armor troopers it carries into battle. Command Control Interior by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The interior of the Command Control module is somewhat roomier, with a lounge/berthing area as well as consoles for the weapons control and communications personnel and plenty of weapons racks (including a full reload for the multipurpose missile launchers). (4th wall: Yes, that alien crew member in the lounge drinking coffee is, in fact, reading a copy of the "Daily Prophet"... It's that kind of setting. X) ) ....And here's a couple pics of our brave ADU crew defending truth, justice and freedom in the Wastes: ADU Squad APC by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The APC Crew, L-R: Commanding Officer, Gunner, Driver, Senior NCO/Heavy Combat Squad Leader, Heavy Combat Squad Troopers (x3) ADU Squad Command Control by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr Command Control Crew, L-R: Jetpack Trooper, Squad Leader, Sniper, Demolitions Expert and Vic Viper Pilot. About the Build: First of all, yes, those ARE Kre-O Battleship series Aliens... I just thought they looked cool and decided to add them to my ad-hoc ADU trooper squad. I ended up using up all my ADU troops and Series 7 Galaxy Squad minifigs for this build, but it was totally worth it. The Nnenn tribute Vic Viper is completely unchanged, and is the first LEGO set I've actually added stickers to in 10 years... The reasons are that IMO, it is perfect the way it is, and this is also my way of honoring Nnenn's memory. My favorite parts of this mod would have to be the main gun turret, which is probably the most SNOT I've ever used in one place (but it works quite well, I think), and figuring out how to mod the deployable antenna dishes so that the interior was fully enclosed was a challenge, but after a couple of hours I finally found something that worked.... Which I then had to modify further to fit the radar/communications consoles in. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this mod as much as I had building it... I held off getting the Earth Defense HQ set until just about two weeks ago, when I found a couple at Toys R Us, and I now wish I had gotten it sooner (I'm still kicking myself for not getting the Jet Copter Encounter set... If the Camp Hill Barnes and Noble still has it this weekend, I'm buying that sucker, no questions asked!)...

Very nice representation of three out of the four basic categories of zombies (and quite timely too considering what day it is).... The only ones your missing are the Necromancer/Vampire created zombies (although they could probably technically fall under the same category as the Voodoo zombies).

Well, considering the number of early 2013 release themes and sets that have already been previewed, I'd be willing to bet that this theme won't be out until summer: I mean they have the Hobbit sets, new Friends sets, new Super Heroes sets, new Ninjago sets, new City sets, the Legend of Chima, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets, and even a new TRAIN set coming out in January... That's an awful lot of new stuff coming out all at once, which, coupled with the lack of any info about the new space theme, means the most likely explanation is that this will be a summer release. Of course, if I'm wrong, feel free to say "I told you so."

I definitely agree with what everyone esle has been saying: This space ship looks a lot like something that NASA might actually build, particularly the Apollo-esque landing module.

Yeah, NONE of the Wal-Marts in Central PA (including Harrisburg, Carlisle, Elizabethville and Chambersburg) had ANY Kre-O sets. The only stores that I know of that DO carry them are Target and Toys Я Us. Considering that Toys Я Us tends to jack the prices up by about 10% or so, that leaves Target.

Nice job on the landing platforms, thus far, Ludzik. I can't wait to see what you have planned for the actual buildings that will ultimately support the platforms. Actually that blue star fighter looks like an almost completely unmodified version of the Nnenn memorial Vic Viper from the Earth Defense HQ set, but without any of the stickers.....

I'm definitely going to give this a go... I've kind of had a general idea of a theme for a while, and now I can see about floating it past the LEGO designers. If I do get picked, I hope I get the chance to meet Kim T and Mark Stafford (and maybe get them to sign my Earth Defense HQ box)...

Thanks for the reply.... BTW, the "local brand" wouldn't happen to be Sluban by any chance? They seem to like bootlegging Oxford sets for some reason. Oh, I also forgot to mention, but the window pieces are in a really nifty trans LIGHT green color that appears to be the trans green equivalent of what the LEGO trans light blue is to the trans dark blue. In addition, one of the elements in the set that I really liked were the 1x1 round plates with studs on both sides.... Something I've been wanting LEGO to make for YEARS.

My name dates back to when I registered for the Megatokyo forums in 2002... Seeing as how Megatokyo is an Anime-esque webcomic and most of its fans/forums are dedicated to anime and manga, I decided to use the name of an original Manga Character I came up with about two years prior for a fantasy manga idea I had that has, sadly, fallen by the wayside. Hikaro Takayama, or to use the typical Japanese rendering of the name, Takayama Hikaro, means Tall Mountain's Son of the Wild Fire (or flying sparks), which fits the character's role in the story (basically he serves as the catalyst for a revolution in his home land and ends up leading said home land against several greater evils). I've just used the name since on every forum I've ever joined in order to avoid confusion.

Man I wish I could go to Sweden.... I'm sorry I missed this before, but you did an excellent job representing my favorite class of Federation starships in LEGO... I don't know why, but I always liked the Miranda Class ships better than anything else the Federation had, with the possible exception of the Defiant.

Welcome to my first ever Clone Brand review and my second review here on EuroBricks (and the second ever Kre-O review on EB, as far as I know). While I'm normally not super enthusiastic about Clone Brand sets, there are two that I will swear by, namely Tyco (sadly discontinued, but provided my brother and I many hours of enjoyment along with our actual LEGO Bricks during the late '80s and early '90s) and Oxford. Kre-O looked like it might also be a "pass" for me as well, but last weekend, while at the local Target picking up a discounted Jay's Storm Fighter set, I saw this: BoxFront by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The Kre-O Battleship line's ultimate set, the Battleship Missouri. Some of you, particularly regulars in the Sci-Fi forum, no doubt know that I'm a huge sucker for modern-ish/retro-futuristic Navy ships, so I decided to take a closer look. I turned the box over to check it out.... BoxBack by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr ....When I saw this: Oxford by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr Not only is the set licensed from the movie and officially endorsed by the USS Missouri Memorial, but it also uses Oxford parts and accessories (the railing and the life jackets are exactly identical to the ones used in the Oxford NCM80000 "King Sejong the Great DDG" set reviewed here late last year), so I decided to pick it up. Here's a quick rundown of the vital stats before continuing with the meat of the review: Price: $69 US Part count: 545 pieces Minifigs: 5 Kreons (Admiral Shane, Marine, Soldier, Alien Commander and Alien Trooper) Anyways, after I got my prize home I opened the box and took a loot at what was inside: BoxContents by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr Everything laid out neat and a big honking boat hull in three pieces. Instruction book & DSS by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The instructions and DSS were nice and flat, something that even LEGO itself seems to have trouble with sometimes.... The set even included a brochure for joining the "Friends of the Might Mo" non-profit preservation group. As for the Hull itself, you can see here: Boat Hull 14x65 by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr ...That it comes in three pieces with the top two (after joining together) slotting into the single-piece bottom section, much like the current LEGO City floating boat hulls. I know that it says that the product doesn't float, but I believe that if you built a MOC on this hull with a lower profile, and possibly added a couple of weights in the bottom, it probably would. The hull, once assembled is 14 studs wide (two studs narrower than the standard LEGO Pirate ship hull) and 65 Studs long (about 15 studs longer than the Black Seas Barracuda), making this a fairly sizeable ship hull. The only real disadvantage I can find with the hull itself is the printed "63" on the side, although the old Brasso print removal technique should take care of that, if you want to build up your own fleet of similar sized ships. Here's a quick comparison in hull sizes: Hull Comparison by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr From Left to Right: Oxford NCM80000 Hull, Kre-O Battleship Misouri Hull, WIP MOC ship that uses the same Hull as the Black Pearl, but with two additional Hull Sections, and the RNJS Tony Soprano, one of my ships using the standard 12x51 LEGO City ship hull. This is perfect for me, since I use the LEGO City boat hull for Corvette/Frigate class ships, and the larger hulls (LEGO Pirates and Oxford) for Cruisers, meaning that this would fill the slot for a Destroyer. Anyways, on to the minifigs or "Kreons" as they're more properly known: Figures by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr One thing that kind of struck me as odd was the fact that Hasbro decided, for whatever reason, to go with their own minifig design, rather than using the perfectly serviceable Oxford minifig design (pictured at the far left from the OCM 80000 set), which is far more compatible with standard LEGO minifigs (pictured at the Far Right with an Oxford head)... My guess would be possible US Trademark infringement issues with the Oxford figures. I deliberately posed the Oxford Admiral next to the Kreon Admiral to show that, while the figures may be different, they use almost 100% Oxford figure accessories for the Kreons: The two admiral's hats are identical except for the printing on the Kre-O Admiral. The one thing from the Kreons, aside from the accessories, that IS 100% compatible with standard LEGO minifigs is the head piece: Headswap by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr As you can see, Kreon and Minifig heads and headgear are 100% interchangeable, although LEGO minifig heads tend to fit rather loosely on Kreon bodies. Also, for those who frequent this forum and have seen many of CrossMR's Oxford Military reviews, this next photo should look familiar: Interesting Accessories by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr Here are the Accessories that came with the set, and the Fuel Can sprue, Radio/Binocular sprue and life vests have all been used in Oxford's own sets previously. As a matter of fact, the life vest on the bottom is from the Korean Navy Destroyer set that I got in December of Last year. While the standard Kreons are far more flexible than LEGO minifigs, I personally think that they are butt-ugly, and will most likely ONLY use them for their heads and hand pieces, which will fit into any hole that accepts a standard Minifig-gripable shaft. The aliens, on the other hand, are IMO, quite awesome! They are built along similar lines to the LEGO Life on Mars Aliens or the Star Wars Battle droids, or more precisely, the current Ninjago Skeletons: They have mini ball sockets that will accept standard Kreon arms as well as their own, with a clip-on head exactly like the LEGO Star Wars Battle Droids and individual legs, like the Ninjago Skeletons. The best part is that they have sockets in their arms for standard wrists, which is how I WISH LEGO would have done their skeletons and Star Wars Battle droids, but oh well, and I'll be more than happy to add them as yet another alien race to my LEGO collection, but use the Standard Kreon hands to replace the ridiculous drill attachments and such. But now let's move on to the actual build: Instruction Book Contents by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr One thing I liked about the instructions was the fact that they had a table of contents so you could, if you wanted, just jump to the particular build you wanted to. On the flipside, this build took considerably longer than something of similar size in LEGO would, mainly because Kre-O, like old-school LEGO sets, did not have numbered bags, and it would seem that the old Numbered Bag thing kinda had me spoiled. One of the first things you built was the Alien Commander's nifty little jetpack: Alien Commander Build by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr I don't know about you, but I wish LEGO had something like those cool 3d flame elements, rather than the standard flat ones. Also, the textured cheese slopes are rather interesting, as is the vented 1x1 round bricks (they also had standard 1x1 round bricks as well), and the 1x2 flat tile with grill pattern was slightly different from the standard LEGO ones as well. Next, you built the RHIB boat and the main ship hull: Main Hull Complete by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr The main guns use some kind of spring-loaded missile, somewhat like the ones used in GI-Joe action figures, which are trigered by pushing down on the hinged piece on the back of the turret. They have about the same range as your standard LEGO Flick-Fire missile, but are much larger. Here I also ran accross one of my few peves with this set: Aside from the ship hull itself and a 1x1 white newspaper tile, there were NO PRINTED PARTS! Every Monitor/Radar Console/Control Panel were ALL STICKERS! On the plus side, though, that makes it easier to recycle them into MOCs, since they are just standard 2x2 white slopes. The next part to be built is the lower bridge/tactical control center: Tactical Complete by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr ....And added to the main hull: Tactical on Hull by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr I was surpised at the amount of SNOT used in constructing the superstructure and how well-designed this set was over all. They even had some interesting SNOT bricks that were essentially the 2x2x2 brick combined with this part: , and should come in handy for MOCing. The next part to be built was the upper bridge: Bridge by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr ..and the Radar/antenna Mast: Radar mast by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr ...Which brings up my OTHER major peeve with this set: It was missing one of the 1x1 plates with horizontal holder, so I had to take one from the Alien Commander's Jetpack in order to attach the searchlight to the bridge. Seriously, they could have tried a little harder, especially since there were NO extra parts, and thus no room for error, but I digress.... Finally, here's the whole thing put together: Final Build Side by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr Final Above Front by Hikaro Takayama, on Flickr So, final thoughts: As has been said before, the plastic of the Oxford bricks and the molding is pretty much on par with LEGO quality standards, and it seems that the price of these US sets reflects this, considering that it is close to the same price you'd pay for a similar sized LEGO set. While I don't like the base Kreons, I just LOVE the aliens, and plan on getting one of the aliens' army builder packs or the Kre-O Battleship series impulse sets just to get more. In addition, here's something to note: While the tan, dark red and dark gray colors are pretty much a perfect match for LEGO's Tan, Dark Red and Dark Bley colors, however the LIGHT Gray is the same as the OLD Light Gray used by LEGO. The only reason that I can think of is the fact that most of the light gray parts were also used in the Oxford King Sejong the Great DDG set (NCM80000) in that exact same color, and this is a way for them to cut costs by using the same production line/use up excess inventory. In conclusion, I'd give this set an overall rating of 3.5/5 (it would have been 4 if it were not for the missing piece), and would reccommend ship builders to get this set, particularly if they can find it on sale. Thanks for reading my review, and I hope it proved to be enlightening (no joke intended) and helpful.

That is awesome, but I already knew what kind of company LEGO was as soon as I saw this: ...I mean, how many global corporations do you know who would include an official memorial/tribute to one of their fallen fans?

Ooh! Sky-FI, one of my favorite Diesel punk sub-genres. I really like this plane you made, it captures the look quite well. Good use of SNOT on the Fuselage as well as finding an actual use for those overly-long wedge pieces....