snefroe

think you're refering to "1793", right? hm... not a great fan of that one either the large trans blue window is a great plus for this model, it just lacks style and sophistication.

well i guess that Lego will just keep on producing them as long as there's a market for them. This is not a "lando Calrisian"-case, Lego has the freedom to produce so many that price will drop to something reasonable. I never understood why they don't approach the market for popular bricks and figs more aggressively, really. Surely they're not happy with a fig like this going to 7-8 euro a fig... or ... i guess that should be a sign to create a Spartan theme oh well... we'll see anyway, i too wonder what you might do with 300 figs, but then there SW-geeks with at least as many troopers... that's just the way it is...

thanks for the great review! this castle reminds me of the classic 6080, even though this model misses something. not quite sure what, however... still, probably the best castle since the late 80s, i think... and the minifigs are getting better and better too

Western was the best theme of the last 20 years or so... and i still treasure every set i have... you have my support, even though i doubt we'll see it again very soon...

true... a shame we didn't get those in Europe though...

well they did introduce it, it was in the catalog of 1994 or something, but as you say, Unitron was not exactly a fully established faction, and i think it was released pretty much at the end of a time frame, when the golden years of space were gone...

first of all, i find it interesing to see some sets/ideas/themes that just did not make it. sure, there are many parts that i would love to have had, especially in different colors. Some prototypes, like the Blacktron base, is a great parts pack, even though the model itself is crap. I guess this set lost out to the actual Blacktron base, that, imo, is one of the best sets ever. "Sea people" looks highly intruiging. i would have loved green parts, the models, however seem to be very early designs... and don't look very interesting. it looks to me like a step between the older aquanauts theme en the first Alpha sets... I like the exploriens ship too, not sure if these parts are purple or just dark grey... a shame these designs didn't make it... even though they lack detail... The grey space base with its trans red windows is intresting as well. Some reaaaaally great parts in there... the space police sets dont look like prototypes to me though... they're quite detailed and stickered...

i voted this set 'below average'. i remember when it came out and i couldn't really figure out what it was supposed to be or do. nor did it belong to a real subtheme... true, we're all comparing it to one of the most brilliant sets of all time, the classic Monorail, but still... it's just not the best design, not the best color combination, and a space faction that was never really accepted as a "classic". i think most fans would have prefered a remake of the old Monorail, really...

i actually prefer the blue truck. i know, the yellow one is part of a classic line of yellow lego trucks, but i'm kinda tired of yellow trucks... it's nice to have a different color for once... the model itself is not all that great though... the wheels are too small, imo....

"Death of a space dude" , shocking... but... cool... in some freaky way...

truly a great set! I love those minifigs, but never was fond of the raised baseplate, though...

well i always liked this ship. Yep, it's BIG, probably the biggest ever, and nope, it does not have the sleek lines of the classics, but i loved the minifigs, the printed tiles and computers... true, many of the big parts, i did not use for anything else but this ship, but all these trans blue canopies made up for them... as far as i remember, there were no stability problems with my ship, but then, i did not swoosh it in the nude...

great work so far! i used to build the old viper too, when i was a kid, not to mention Buck Roger's starfighter. Maybe i'll do that again some day... i guess the only version still missing in your collection would be a ucs

well i'd have to say that they're not always around in belgian shops either... at least not as "visible" as other themes, like power miners. it's just not one of the big lines here

great mocs yeah... the shark is on my list as well... and the blue tank in the moonstory too, but it'll be yellow cos that was the original colour after all... ah yes... the rocket... hmmm... think i did that once...

love the photon pistol! most of the others aren't all that sci fi, imo poor Rickard... i knew there was something wrong with him last time i saw him!

pretty big indeed... wonder how you swoosh that in the nude... did it survive your childhood in any way or did you take it apart the day after?

great work! wanna see some more!

if you look at the old catalogues from Lego, let's say 70's, you'd be surprised how many different techniques they used back then. quite a few never reached the later sets. the Lego community is pretty much like the world of music. nobody can claim the very first love song, but that doesn't mean there aren't a gazillion fantastic love songs around, created by people we now call legends... nnenn was such a legend, but it doens't mean he was the starting point of it all...

that is sad news indeed. my condolences to friends and family. a great loss to the space community as well. Nate's trademark was his creativity. He always tried to expand the Lego universe by trying new things, adding new parts, Lego or not... He was an inspiration to many of us. We'll miss him...

hmmm... nice theory, unfortunately, Bony and I have been buying Lego for quite some years in Belgium, so i guess not... we're most of all the guys that prevented Lego for going down a year or two back i was also wondering about the remark in the article about Lego being Balgium's largest toy supplier. The first reaction was: "g... Lego is bigger than Playmobil now? That's almost impossible..." I don't know what the journalist meant, but considering the quality of today's general newspapers on matters of economics, i sorta don't belief it... my second reaction was, however, probably from another article on the subject, it seems Star Wars is no longer the number 1 hit of Lego. Most succesfull themes mentioned were: Lego city, lego creator and power miners... but no star wars...

ok, clearly i missed this topic when it first started... damn, my lurking skills are still not very well trained... what does it mean, "cliché"? 1) to me, it means "taking the same, well known, path over and over again, only using those essential elements of the theme that define the actual theme and make it recognisable to all, fans and non-fans alike, as "castle" (in this case). call it "timeless" or "cliché",... that's just playing with words... 2) However, "cliché" also seems to suggest something negative, we've seen these elements in this particular combination so often, it no longer stimulates us to take it one step further, and create mocs and stories of our own... It's become a drag, it's become boring and no longer inspire us to go beyond the cliché ourselves... It's the opposite of "innovation", "new ideas", "creativity"... However, that's subjective. Many love a good old Western film, even though you pretty well know how it's going to end. There's no question about the first arguement. Yes, castle follows the lines of the cliché: every person associates "medieval times" with castles and knights, fighting each other, with crusaders and peasants... After all, Lego is not into the business of writing a complete and acurate history of medieval times, they're into selling sets, making money. yes, this last theme, without its reference to fantasy elements, is far closer to what everybody recognizes as the "true" cliché of "Castle". To me it seems the theme has gone back to its roots, after having expanded to all sorts of fantastic subthemes. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing... It's what Lego does best: it picks out the basic lines of a theme and translates it into a Lego world, making a lot of money in the process. Nope, you can't say Lego took many riscs with these sets, they're very close to the old thing... for instance, i'd love to get a wooden castle for a change... Still, i'd rather have this then the old Vikings theme, because, in the old vikings theme, they took all the elements that people associate with vikings, regardless of any historical truth. At least they can't screw up people's knoledge on medieval times with these sets and figs... however, i don't expect them to create a theme that actualy is historically correct... So i guess, the real question here, is not so much, "is castle cliché", but "do you think castle is boring, unattractive and not really what you were hoping for"? Again the answer would be really subjective. Some say yes, because they want huge UCS castles that allow them to dream away, they want large armies, high quality parts and constructions in large numbers. Others will say yes because they're bored with bley, or never really accepted bley in the first place. And then there's a fantasy freak that really wanted some sort of "Lord of the rings"... On the other side, you'll have your young fan who's never seen a classic castle theme before, and he will probably love this...

thanks for that great review and a fantastic trip back in time. it seems to me that most of these underwater themes in the 90s have disappeared from living memory. I guess many fans go from the golden age of the 80s-early 90s to star wars in 2000, and somehow the stuff in between is forgoten... this sub is a pretty nice set for that timeframe, even though it lacks sophistication of today's sets. the set reminds me of the futuron set, really... trans blue parts, computers, replace yellow by white, the rotors by boosters and voilà: almost classic space...

well i guess this model shows how far Lego's come in ten year's time. i'd think they would do a better job than this model in 2010, but no doubt, in relation to the parts, available in 2000 and what was possible back then, this is a true classic. My main concern, though, is the canopy. i just don't like it... i think the colors are a bit off as well, but those parts can easily be replaced...

i still think this is one of Lego's best display sets ever. My only problem is, well actually, i have two problems: one, i don't have it, two, it's not minifig sized... However, i have been thinking of building a minifig sized one not so long ago... but that's a bit too long... where on earth would i be able to put it... but it is time for a new lego UCS version, though... if they can sell a UCS MF, then surely a blockate runner of 5000 bricks would be equally succesfull...