Cavannus

I built the set yesterday and experienced this as very pleasant. Police ship building is very similar to the one on old sets, then black ship building is more original -- so that overall building is never bothering and often surprising! However there are too many stickers that break brick building without much added-value. I noticed the "I love Insectoids" sticker: I love winks to "old" Space fans such as these, furthermore the yongest children cannot understand but the message remains funny.

I received it yesterday and came at work with it this morning! The bag is good and nice, and large enough to carry some paper, pens, a bottle of water, etc. As someone wrote above, a few extra centimetres would be great to carry a 15'' laptop. The minifig looks to be a "fake" one in cheap plastic, instead of a real one (as for pens, etc.). It's a pity but you can open the rear and put any minifig you want. So, this bag is definitively a must-have for all Space fans :)

BTW, since the face is completely hidden by the mask, except for the eyes that are similar, I don't understand how I should interpret this two-sided head: - does this mean that each character has two mouths and five eyes? - does it mean that one twin has two eyes, the other has three eyes, but you can't notice that without removing the helmet and revealing the two sides? -- which is non-sense considering that two-sided faces are to be used with hair or helmets that reveal one face and hide the back.

Some people love, others hate -- there is no opinion between both, which is always better than something about which nobody has a real opinion. I think they used "Space Police III" name because it sounds great, even if there is no relationshion with the prior Space Police line, that's it.

It's not off-topic since Mad Max 2 is a key step in apocalyptic movie history and inspired many others. I guess SPIII's designers are about 30-35 years old, so they saw this movie and maybe have been influenced by it. BTW and off-topic, Mad Max 2 is an excellent movie: action scenes are awesome but all the context, the ambiance, etc. make the movie great. Death Race is only an action movie, but it may have been an inspiration for SPIII as well especially considering that both SPIII and Death Race vehicles are designed for attack. I didn't think about stolen vehicles, but I like this idea!

Awesome review with great text and a lot of detailed photos! I didn't vote because I won't buy this set -- and maybe I'll regret it later ;)

[Off-topic] Should one vote without having bought and built the set? Just a question -- I'm not judging anyone! By the past I voted for sets after having reviews or catalogs, but when I realized that some (many?) sets look great in picture but are poor in reality, or reverse, I stopped voted for the sets I don't own. For example, the City Corner looks detailed and big enough, but it consists of a couple of wall metapieces on a small baseplate -- while this Freeze Ray Frenzy looks poor when looking at the box or some photos, but I'm happy to have it because both scooters are well designed and seem powerful. LOL Maybe twice? Even three times?... More? Sometimes I begin replying then I cancel, but other times I post the reply, so it happens that I don't know if I replied or not and I post the same idea several times. Do Eurobrickers read all the posts? :)

I prefer the recent Santa Fe, BNSF and Emerald Night because they figure real models and are very detailed. I'm 33 and I could prefer the 80's trains but I don't. However the 12V system is the greatest in a functional point of view, and I hope PF will follow (but I'm not sure about what TLC want to do with: a real system or simply a remote control engine using Li-Ion batteries?).

The whole black suit looks "dangerous"; it's a great pattern because it's simple but powerful, it looks very "technological". However IMHO it's just "above average" because there's something missing in my opinion. Maybe a logo, maybe two red dots to figure led controls, maybe something else to make it more "space" are missing. P.S. - I voted "average" by mistake; could a moderator change it to "above average"? thanks :) EDIT: Thanks moderator :)

I bought this set and expected something small but brillant, as TLC has done for a while. But I've been disappointed : - the small shop is really small, you even don't get a door to close it, neither a cash drawer or any furniture; - you get big wall metapieces instead (one brick to build an entire wall, I don't call that "Lego"); - the restaurant is not much better; - the pizza oven doesn't work properly: you can open it with the knob but you must close it using your fingers; - the third floor is very small and empty, even the child can't stand on it; - both buildings are not thick enought. Well, it could better, I'd prefer a detailed restaurant instead of two poor buildings. However the bus is fine -- but why yellow?? In Noth-America, yellow buses are school buses!

Actually this is not a space them by its own, the theme is based on a large asteroid with some air and low gravity. I guess there is not enough air for humans or it has a specific composition so that humans feel better if they have air tanks (like they do when climbing mountains on Earth). In the opposite, Space Police I&II seem to take place in space and sidereal vacuum, far away from planets. Classic Space may take place in the Moon or an inhospitable planet far away.

I don't like any alien-themes (such as Mars Mission, Life on Mars, Insectoid,...) and even not any non-realistic them (such as Space Police I&II)... but I do like Space Police III! Overall, I think that the designers had fun when conceiving this theme, while Mars Mission or others are more conventional. My favourite vehicules are those of the "Hyperspeed Pursuit" because: - the bad one looks to be taken from Mad Max 2 with a touch of 5th Element; - the police ship is aerodynamic with a "rounded" design and classic space colours. I like Freeze Ray Frenzy's vehicles too because, as I wrote elsewhere: the black bike looks really powerful and pleasant to drive, I imagine something like a "flying Harley" making bass & smooth noise and a lot of suit. The police scooter looks powerful as well but with a clean propulsion engine and a "zzzzzz" electric sound and with high handling (like in the "Wonderful Days" movie -- look at this video at 1:20). My favourite character is Kranxx because his overall design and his open mouth that is new for minifigs. Skull Twins' helmets look great as well.

I hesitated before buying this set, it didn't look that good, but I finally got it since my girlfriend felt in love with Kranxx! Then.. wow! I felt in love too with the whole set! The black bike looks really powerful and pleasant to drive, I imagine something like a "flying Harley" making bass & smooth noise and a lot of suit. The police scooter looks powerful as well but with a clean propulsion engine and a "zzzzzz" electric sound and with high handling (like in the "Wonderful Days" movie -- look at this video at 1:20). Actually I don't like unrealistic space series such as Mars Mission, Life on Mars, etc. -- but I do love Space Police III which is a creative mix of Mad Max 2 and the 5th Element.

I voted clear because of colour matching and quality. And I like when you can see the bricks behind the sticker (like on the BNSF engine), it looks more "Lego" than with common opaque sheets.

Afol geeks will love this: - hey dude, what's this? - uuh, a Lego minifig? - no, it's a flashlight, look! - Then mocers could make Ironman minifigs!

It seems to be a details for most of people, but on my part, I think the tan hands make the overall minifig ugly. If the hands were gold as well, or if the face was tan meaning that the minifig wore a golden suit, I would like the idea. Actually I made an order on S@H a couple of days ago and I knew that I could get this minifig for free, but I used another promo code to get a free shadow trooper keychain instead (this code expires in a few days). It's really a pity that the hands are not gold, but I don't collect items I find ugly. BTW, this keychain is listed in the S@H section but there is no "Add to Cart" button, so you can't get it without a $75 order. You may buy the golden brick instead.

1. Nostalgia. 2. They represent the typical & kitsch 70's sci-fi spacesuit as seen on movies or comics, with a "bright colour", "smooth", and "bulbous" design. See for example Yoko Tsuno or this image. 3. I think that today, the level of details of a lot of torsos is not coherent with the minifig shape as well as the set design. I mean that torso's printed drawings contain a lot of details (such as a cell phone, a zip, some buttons, etc.) while the minifig body remains a basic trapezium and the sets are built with "squares" and "angles". The classic old torso is simple and coherent with the "basic" minifig and spaceship design. Everybody can imagine what is represented behind this torso (there are probably commands, buttons, zips, pockets, etc. that you can imagine as you can imagine gears and pedals on a Lego car). I've always found this weird because the light grey helmets used for Castle had these dimples, so I would expect that the moulder would be the same for all helmets.

Caps, minifig torsos,... and now, this bag! There've been sooo many winks to Classic Space!! I wonder why TLC haven't released a Neo-Classic set for aldult, e.g. a 2000-piece spaceship. Anyway, the logo is great, the bag is great, the minifig is a funny addition -- so this bag will be mine even if it's only 30 x 30 cm. (Furthermore I hesitated and my girfriend did tell me: "yes, buy it, it's very cute, it should be yours" -- lol).

I think Mark Bellis has perfectly and deeply described the pros and cons of each system. I'll be less objective and more subjective: - PF and RC just look magic to me (you can control the engine without any wire) - PF is more convenient due to the rechargeable battery - but when my Emerald Night rolls, I think of all this energy lost due to a lot of friction (especially on the small wheels) and I just think it could be better in many ways...

I've never bought any Lego fire stastion and this one will be my first one. Why? Because it does look like the ones I see everyday (I live in Canada... so it does look North-American to me, really, and I lived in France for 30 years and it doesn't look French at all in my opinion); in other words, it is a kind of model and not a plastic colourful toy! Actually, before seeing these pictures I didn't believe the first rumours that talked about a fire station; I didn't figure out how a fire station could fit between the CC and the GG, then I didn't imagine how it could match. Now I've been convinced by this amazing but simple design, so I want it to be mine! Building techniques are not new, OK, but I don't think a good Lego set must necessarily offers a lot of great techniques. Of course it is better if there are some, but I wouldn't expect SNOT on the entire building! Maybe in 15 years Lego sets will be as inventive as today's MOCs... I don't really like the 1930's truck because it doesn't match my other city sets that represent today's vehicles, but it remains original so that I accept it. BTW the fridge and the ping-pong table are just... well, unfinished! I didn't catch what they were before paying attention on them!

Indeed this is a great review, I appreciate how you analyse a lot of small details (e.g. not only saying "this is the box", "this is the door",...) and give your point of view! Anyway, I'll buy this set because because there aren't many meta-pieces so it's "real Lego". The overall design looks nice despite the poor interior, the colours are not so common (I like orange but please Lego, stop using it for every vehicle!) and the scale respects the Lego city standards.

Nice review, thanks! Before viewing these photos, I'd considered that this set was poor, i.e. nothing new or special and classic one-piece cabins. But since then, I've liked the very detailed interior (beds, moving tables, black eletric engine, cargo room, etc.) and I've understood why it's been a legend. I've never got any Lego train when I was a child (train sets were a lot too expensive) and I was in my dark arge when the Metroliner was released; then in 2001 I didn't pay much attention on it and I didn't have much money either. I hope the upcoming train carriages will include many details such as these -- anyway the Metroliner remains excellent even compared with today's sets.

Nice review -- you don't only describe your pictures as too many reviewers do, actually your text has a real added value because it is your analysis of this set. So, I still don't know if I'll buy this set: the good reason to get would be the playability, but I'm not a child... Maybe I should wait for a rebate to purchase it...

Nice train, I especially appreciate the fact that Lego explicitly used a real train as model. The funny thing is that there are both the Lego train logo and the BNSF company logo on the same train! This set made me go back to Lego train, and I even bought a second one that is on my desk at my office. P.S. - Good review that is not only a description of your nice pictures.