dj2005

That is indeed a cute set. And I really like those almost-square LEGO boxes that some sets come in.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. IIRC, the bow can also be found in a couple Collectable Minifigure sets (Elf and Forest Maiden). But, yes, the bow is definitely a good accessory to have and, IMO, it adds some much needed variety to the selection of bows we have to choose from. Thinking about it, I'll probably add a sentence in the review to describe the bow in more detail. It annoys me too. This is why I "only" gave the set a 8.1 in the pricing category, as the exclusivity and seemingly low stock make this set expensive, especially outside of the USA.

Thanks for the information.

10236 is my most desired "Castle" set for that exact reason. My extra Forestmen will finally have a home! And, while I'm posting, are the other two torsos in your picture from POTC too?

+1 Evil Porkchop

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the review. Gollum is probably hoarding them all.

I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of the alternate model. The best picture that I've found showing the back of the box is so low resolution that it doesn't help. You're welcome, DPrime. Yep, it is a wonderful set and is one of my favorite impulse sets.

Title of Set: 30212 Mirkwood Elf Guard Theme: The Hobbit Year Released: 2012 Piece Count: 27 Minifigures: 1 Original Price: $4.99 (USD) Current Prices: BrickLink Price Guide Further Information: Brickset, Photobucket Album Deep in the Mirkwood forests, where the light of the sun fails to penetrate the dense canopy, the Silvan Elves reside. Here they are one with the land and keep an ever watchful eye out for the always lurking evil that plagues Middle-earth. Author's Notes: 30212 Mirkwood Elf Guard is one of two polybag sets released for The Hobbit theme. The other set being Gandalf at Dol Guldur. Set 30212 is a Toys R Us exclusive making it somewhat difficult to get a hold of for some LEGO fans. Bag: Front: Back: The bag nicely displays the full set, as well as maintaining the color scheme and overall design seen on the packaging of other The Hobbit sets. Instructions: As is usual with small sets such as this one, an instructional pamphlet is used rather than an actual booklet. It contains 7 steps that are all easy to follow and has a lovely background that consists of a map-styled drawing with a few phrases sprawled about. There is also an advertisement for the LEGO Club and set 79010. Minifigure: The main allure of this set is obviously the Mirkwood elf. His torso features a beautifully printed olive-green tunic that would look great in many types of MOCs and sets. The belt buckle and brooch are in a metallic silver, which adds some flair to the print. His head is double-sided with one side showing a neutral expression and the other showing a warlike/angry expression. The high cheekbones really promote an elvish look. While the completed minifigure is exclusive to this set, none of the individual pieces that make up the minifigure are unique and they can be found in other sets. Pieces: Many of the included pieces in this set are quite useful, partly due to the large amount of brown and green pieces. A couple of my favorites are the red printed mushroom cap and the 6 x 5 dark green plant leaves. Not shown are the accessories as those are in the next category. Accessories: An expected amount of accessories are included and are as follows: a dark green hood, translucent green goblet, translucent green gem, reddish brown quiver and reddish brown bow. The hood is only found in one other set - 76005 Daily Bugle Showdown - making it fairly valuable. The bow, which can be considered a long bow or elven bow, is rare as well due to the fact that it is currently only found in 9 other sets, many of which are a part of the Lord of the Rings theme. It is, in my opinion, the best bow that TLG has designed over the years and it provides some much needed variety from the usual bow / crossbow that we tend to see in medieval-styled sets. Completed Set: Front: Right Side: Back: Left Side: With only 27 pieces, a quaint scene is created that is enjoyable on its own but it can also be added to many other sets without looking out of place. For those of you that are curious, the two translucent green 1 x 1 round plates are placed within the barrel as per the instructions. I imagine they are suppose to be some sort of treasure/gems. Completed with Minifigure: Being an Elf is Hard Work: Reviewer's Score: Playability: 8.3/10 – Taking into account that this is a 27 piece set, I think there is a good deal of playability present. The elf can drink from his goblet, store the gem in the barrel, harvest the mushroom, perch in the tree to act as a parameter guardsmen, etc. Design: 8.8/10 – The tree is cute and sturdy, and is accompanied by a mushroom to further add atmosphere to the set. The choice of colors works very well and fits in with the mood it wants to adhere to. I would’ve liked to have some kind of target practice area, somewhat like in set 30062 Target Practice. I think a reddish brown or regular brown plate would have made more sense instead of a bluish gray plate, but that would have also detracted from the contrast that the tree currently exudes. Price: 8.1/10 – For those of us who have a Toys R Us nearby, the $4.99 price tag isn’t all that bad for a licensed polybag that is comprised of useful parts with a great minifigure. Still, I would've much preferred the set to not be exclusive to Toys R Us. Total: 25.2/30 – I recommend grabbing at least one copy of this set for any Lord of the Rings fan or even any Castle/Medieval fan. The minifigure fits in with many sets and scenes, as do the pieces. Plus, the hood and minifigure's torso are currently only found in one other set.

Beautiful and very creative.

Excellent work on maintaining the look and feel of the CC sets. It fits in so well with Guarded Inn.

I came out of my dark age when the Fantasy Era sets came out and I enjoyed the theme. Then I went into another dark age in early 2009, IIRC, only to come out of it in May 2013; however, I have no desire to purchase any of the current Castle sets. Instead, I purchased some Kingdoms and LOTR sets. I think the Kingdoms line was very good and I'm sad to have missed it.

+1 fred67

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Comparing older space sets with the new stuff - the horror! Thank you Whitefang, and, yes, it has been a while since I've last posted (2009?). Lack of time and especially of money brought on a mini-dark age, though I still lurked around now and again.

Thanks GE. As you mentioned, the Stellar Recon Voyager is a lot of fluff without much meat. I think TLG had a good design going but the low piece count really hurt the set, even when taking into account the decent amount of large parts that form the wings and cargo bay. There's the cockpit which, as can be seen, is bare as can be. At least the Particle Ionizer has a cockpit with some thought put into it. The cargo bay is cool but it's only a basic crane (Particle Ionizer's crane has a lot more articulation) and a skeleton frame. Even so, I do appreciate that it differs from the other M-Tron ships, and from Blacktron 2's and Space Police 2's ships as well. It's a decent set, IMO, despite its flaws. Perhaps I state this because I love the M-Tron subtheme. And I agree that a base, and more sets, would've been a nice addition. As it stands, I consider the Mega Core Magnetizer as their (mobile) base since there isn't anything else that is even remotely close.

Title of Set: 6956 Stellar Recon Voyager Theme: Space/M-Tron Year Released: 1990 Piece Count: 233 Minifigures: 2 Original Price: $36 (USD), Unknown (EUR), Unknown (GBP) Current Prices: BrickLink Price Guide Further Information: Brickset, Lugnet, Peeron, Photobucket Album As the seemingly everlasting conflict between the Space Police and Blacktron factions spread like wildfire throughout the galaxy, causing devastation and despair in its wake, M-Tron decided they needed a more formidable ship that offered a significant amount of protection to their cargo in these contested regions of space. This ship was named the Stellar Recon Voyager and is the largest ship in M-Tron’s fleet, featuring a fair amount of armaments and a reinforced armored hull that allowed M-Tron to transport their cargo through such areas of space with much greater ease. Author's Notes: Officially Secret Space Voyager is the largest M-Tron ship but I only count actual sets. Secret Space Voyager is merely an instruction manual that uses pieces from other M-Tron sets, much like "set" 6861 for the Blacktron 2 subtheme. On top of that, I think the final product looks like some sort of abomination, somewhat like Frankenstein but in space. And with magnets... Also, this will likely be my last review on a vintage/classic set as I don't have the funds to continue buying both new and old sets. I hope you all enjoy the review and that you have many magnet-happy days. Instructions: Cover: Page: The instruction manual does not differ in style compared to the other manuals found in this subtheme. It contains 16 steps in total, with the second and third pages displaying how the minifigs, buggy, and large container are built. The rest of the pages are focused on building the Stellar Recon Voyager itself. Minifigures: The standard M-Tron minifig showcasing the usual garb and equipment. Accessories: As with many of the M-Tron sets, the Stellar Recon Voyager does not include much in the way of accessories. These included accessories are the usual megaphone, helmets, air tanks, scanner/laser cutter, socket wrench/flashlight, wrench, and radio (not shown). The Prints: A fair amount of printed pieces are bundled in this set, many of which displaying the proud M-Tron logo in all of its glory. Translucent Pieces: Here we have a wide variety of translucent pieces that can, and will, certainly come in handy. These include: ten 1 x 1 round plates, four cones, four dishes, four antennae, two boosters, two visors, one canopy extender, and, lastly, one sleek canopy. Unique Pieces: The translucent neon green windscreen canopy extender, 3 x 6 M-Tron slope, and red window outward sloping pieces are all unique to this set. An honorable mention goes to the 2 x 2 M-Tron slope that is only found in two other sets: 6923 Particle Ionizer and 5154 Decorated Elements. Unlike the 3 x 6 slope, it has a textured surface. Wheels & Magnets: This set includes four common rubber wheels that were found in many sets of this era. However, for magnets, TLG includes eight (yes, you read that right) magnets! That’s more than the Mega Core Magnetizer, which weighs in at only seven magnets. There’s no denying that this is truly a set designed for the M-Tron faction. Small Storage Container: As per other M-Tron sets, two small storage containers are included. Each container is given a magnet and some treasure in the form of a single 1x1 translucent neon green round plate. Large Storage Container: Front: Fairly uneventful at this viewpoint. It does share a design plan similar to the one used in the Mega Core Magnetizer with, perhaps, the most noticeable difference being that the middle consists of two blacks pieces rather than two red pieces. Side Closed: Shot of the print commonly used with M-Tron’s large containers. Side Open: The right and left sides of the container are identical, consisting of a red fence piece and nothing else. The excess accessories are dumped in rather than attached to anything, which I find disappointing. The large containers found in the Mega Core Magnetizer and Particle Ionizer are both more creative in their design and offer a larger amount of features. A small container can fit inside of this large container but the red fence needs to be removed first, and then reattached after the small container is in place. To remove the scanner accessory, the same needs to be done (and it also isn't very easy to shove it in without removing the red fence first). Top of Large Storage Container: Here we see the top consisting of the all-important magnet, two red grilles, and two 1x4 red SNOT pieces. This is an improvement over the Mega Core Magnetizer containers which only had a magnet and two black grilles. Underside of Large Storage Container: The underside is a simple red 4x6 plate. The Buggy: Ain’t it just the cutest thing? Like in the Mega Core Magnetizer, the buggy has its very own magnet which allows it to attach to the front of the ship. I’ll have some comments concerning this placement in the following category. This is also the only buggy within this subtheme to have a steering wheel, likely because it is also the only buggy where the driver is standing rather than sitting. All others use computer panel tiles instead. Completed without Minifigures: Overview: And here is why I commented on the location of the buggy - simply put, it severely impacts the aesthetics of the set in such a negative way and looks like the designer(s) tacked its placement on at the last minute of the design phase. Now, with that out of the way, let us head onto some of the good bits. Moving down the ship, we see how much of a focal point that 3 x 6 M-Tron slope is, partly due to the two beautiful black corner pieces that make up the cargo bay. The translucent neon green pieces act as excellent accent pieces to the bold black and red color scheme, and help bring some flare into the design. Lastly, as you likely have already noted, each side of the ship can hold one of the small containers. Top-down View: This view shows off the printed M-Tron 2 x 2 tiles on each wing, as well as various details that may be hard to see in other views. Front View with Buggy Attached: For some reason, the Stellar Recon Voyager reminds me of a bumblebee from this viewpoint. It has an interesting profile thanks to the cargo bay design. Front View without Buggy Attached: Ah, it looks much better without the buggy attached. For those that are curious, a small container does fit in this spot but it will kind of hang out as the black plate and white 2 x 1 printed tile are in its way. However, these two pieces can be easily removed. Side View: This image shows a couple of canopy positions, with the position at the left being the farthest the canopy can open. Notice the lovely 1 x 4 red fences pieces that help construct the cockpit and, thus, add plenty of areas where the cockpit is open to space. Definitely makes a lot of sense for a spacecraft... in Bizarro world! Nearby, there is a black door on either side of the ship. I have no idea why those were used rather than black bricks since the doors open up into the empty cockpit area. While building this set, I was hoping that the doors would have a lovely equipment room behind them, but my dreams were crushed when I finished the build. Back Loaded: The large container fits perfectly into the cargo bay. Since the large containers in the Mega Core Magnetizer set are the same size as this one, they fit as well. The container in the Particle Ionizer set also fits, even without removing its antenna. Back Emptied: As can be seen, there is a one-block wide passageway on either side of the crane assembly, which, again, leaves the cockpit area open to space. This could've been filled easily enough so I am not sure why TLG designed it this way. Still, the design of the cargo bay is well-done as I have to admit that the four red angle pieces that form the walls of the cargo bay look great and make the whole area feel grandeur. Back Loading: Since the crane consists of a single hinge, it does not actually extend but rather just tilts forward; however, this causes no issues when loading small and large containers. The base of the crane has no ability to rotate due to obvious reasons regarding the design of the cargo bay. I don't know if it is because my set isn't new, but the crane's hinge cannot keep the crane in position when the large container is connected. Instead, it droops down to the floor unless the crane is in its resting place. Crane Closeup: The left image displays the crane tucked away in its cubbyhole. In the image to the right, the crane is nearly all the way "extended". Cockpit closeup: The cockpit is large enough to comfortably fit the two M-Tron minifigs, and consists of a steering wheel and control panel. That's it. Not even a single seat. For a $36 set that has a low piece count, I definitely think that this area should have some furnishings. Note: my set was missing two 1 x 1 black tiles which go on either side of the 3 x 4 red wedge plate. In their place I used red tiles since I didn't have any black tiles on hand. Completed with Minifigures: Ready for Takeoff: A total of four minifigs fit into the cockpit. Quite impressive and eerily creepy. Out with the Old, In with the New: All Work and No Play...: Reviewer's Score: Playability: 9.1/10 – I’ve always enjoyed sets that include flying and land-based vehicles as it offers variation. There are also a decent amount of containers to transport around. The ship itself is sturdy and not overly large, thus making it easily swooshable. Design: 7.7/10 – I appreciate the overall design as it fits in with the M-Tron sets and subtheme, as well as earning its own unique presence in the fleet. I dislike the buggy placement as I feel that the front of the spacecraft is not a place where it should be placed and it seems like TLG ran out of areas to attach it to. The second area that I believe could’ve been designed better is the cockpit as it is a bit void of detail and the fence pieces do not make a whole lot of sense as one would think that keeping the oxygen inside the canopy would be a wise precaution. Same applies to the two gaps leading to the cargo bay. Price: 6.9/10 – This set only has a few more pieces than Particle Ionizer (233 vs. 203), but it does have eight magnets which are expensive compared to regular blocks. And the three containers add to the value of this set as well. As such, this set isn’t that bad of a deal but I think it could’ve been better. Total: 23.7/30 – An enjoyable set for the M-Trons that not only serves its function of bolstering the M-Tron fleet, but fills a gap that was previously present in this subtheme. While it does have a few design flaws and was a tad expensive in its day, if you enjoy the M-Tron faction then I suggest picking it up as it can be purchased quite cheaply; although, if you don't already own Particle Ionizer then I highly recommend purchasing that set instead since it is superior in many ways.

This set definitely earns a 5 in my book, same goes for the review. The alternative models also look excellent, which is normally not the case.

Considering the conclusions to some modern day studies, this would not be as far fetched as you make it seem. As for the review, it was very entertaining and had me chuckle a few times. Ice Planet had some nice sets and this is one of those.

The king is nice but that is all. Thanks for the review.

I love the set and the review! I agree, just resize the images to 800x600 and embed them into the actual review so people don't have to click a link for each image. Also, a couple broken links are in the beginning of your review. Besides that, it was well written and held a lot of depth. I suggest joining the reviewers academy if you are interested in creating more reviews.

Great job as always, svelte. I was expecting so much more with this set - piles of brown pieces, planked roofs, intricate detail within the fortress (to a point), etc. However, I do think the kings and queen look amazing, and there are some nice features/pieces included with the set... just not $100 worth.

I never knew this! Wonderful review. I don't think you missed an inch of coverage on this set.

Great review, mania. Looks like a lovely set with some really nice minifigs.

That's going to be one serious army.

Have you checked his Flickr account for more pictures? Great job on the MOC/MOD, Optimus. I'm not a Power Miners fan but I really like what you have done.

Nice job with the review. I think that walker bot alternative model is amazing for the size of the set. At least, based upon what I can tell as I don't own the set.