ClubNinja

Please count me in as well. Thank you!

We picked this one up over the weekend. I've only built the pieces and frame around the main board so far, but I've been very impressed with the design so far. We are actually planning to use this as our regular chess set, which is ultimately what justified the purchase. My only complaint so far is that, while very attractive to look at, the packaging is completely ridiculous. The box is far too large for the contents, though I suppose it will be useful for storing the board when complete. The packaging also seems to be designed for you to remove all the minifigs from their bases before putting them away, which I don't find very practical. Finally, we nearly destroyed the packaging several times trying to open the main box, get the minifig tray out, and open the lower box that contains all the bricks. The box makes for a great looking package, but it's going to be very excessive for people to open, work with, and store.

Great review, and great set! I just wanted to comment on the beauty of the car included in this set. It gets no better than a four-wide car and hinged roof (with sunroof!)

I wanted to love this set (and it is still good for the figures and most of the design), but the rubberband thing just drives me crazy. It not only doesn't function very well, but also just looks bad. Why would the earthy brown and gray machine randomly have a bright blue band and red piece on the side of it? The intended function could have been achieved with a pair of small gears - and I think it would've looked better, too. This set is nice otherwise, but it's perfect if you're willing to make some slight modification.

I've done some back-thread searching here and came out with similar conclusions in all cases (most involve displaying Lego in closed cases or dusting with soft art brushes). I'd like to resurface this to see if anyone has any more current ideas. I don't mind dusting - in fact, it's a nice way to poke at some of the older sets on display that don't get much attention. My problem with dusting is that it feels more like disturbing and pushing the dust around than actually removing it. Does anyone know of or use any good dusting tools that make use of static or suction or something that does a little more than just push the dust around? It's time to take a serious sweep over my many displayed pieces and I'd like to do a job worthwhile of the effort put into dusting everything.

Also a personal favorite of mine! This set definitely falls into the "they don't make 'em like they used to" category. (Though some might say "thank goodness for that!") I think it goes very well with the Cargo Center of a few years later nearby.

This practice annoys me as well - especially since I built this set last night and considered making it my first review until I saw this thread. I don't want to step on any toes, so I'll let the original poster go ahead with the full review. In short, to tide everyone over, this set is fantastic. I really like the alien ship, and the main drilling unit/break away ship is an awesome unit with tons of play value. Highly recommended!

Thumbs way up. This set is an old favorite of mine - and I too have a warm and fuzzy place for making over space sets under other themes.

Here's my question. How do you like building your layout on the floor? I have a large floorspace as well that I was planning to use for a layout; however, I am going to build an elevated platform/table first. I'd be concerned with damage and dirt if mine were on the floor. Just wondering your thoughts (and anyone else's) on floor versus table/platform.

When I first saw pictures of the Agents line, I honestly saw it as nothing more than a goofy kids' line that I'd want nothing to do with. I bought Mission 3 (8630) on a whim today and, while I've only built the minifigs and jet so far, really like it. The jet is a great vehicle, the figures are a ton of fun, and I'm completely won over. Good stuff.

After being a Space and Town guy only, I received this brand new about a year after it was released. Still a favorite.

I was just building the new Tower Raid (7037) a few nights ago and was shocked that this set needed two books to complete. Also, while I've had trouble identifying colors before (as noted above), this is probably the worst set of manuals I've ever dealt with in trying to determine what's black or gray or what.

Has anyone tried the Power Functions modification of the Crystal Reaper yet, as described in the building instructions? I built the model Saturday night - really like it - and was thinking of going all out with it by making this upgrade.

While I appreciate that the Mars Mission theme contains both humans and aliens, I really think the Space theme should be expanded without moving on from Mars Mission. Consider that there was a time when Futuron, Blacktron, M:Tron, and Space Police themes were all available at once. I'd like to see Lego continue the Mars Mission theme, introduce a little variety to the alien sets, then expand to some additional Space faction(s).