Dunjohn

I love the pink suit, but I do see red as a very acceptable alternative. The pink will look fantastic beside Alien Conquest's blue, though.

I realise they don't lift ideas from it, but so far each series has included one of my ideas from the Suggestions thread and I'm glad to see the Statue of Liberty here for that reason :) No series so far has challenged Series 1 as my favourite but this looks like it could do it.

Okay, it's about time I asked somebody what a "macaroni slope" is.

I can see how the note could look like a parachute, but it's definitely a UFO. It's too flat, there are spikes on the side, and it's missing a central rope. Cooincidently, just this morning Brothers Brick blogged an interview with Mark Stafford in which he mentions that this set is indeed almost entirely his design, and that the thematic discord between the aliens and the ADU is deliberate (as these ADU machines are what kids today are used to).

It does, but it's printed in that set. Bricklink uses unique part IDs for printed stuff so it didn't show up on the inventory. That's a pain. And I agree with zero1312, the wing stickers would add a lot to it. I'm buying these sets mainly for display rather than parts so I'm still undecided about applying the stickers. If I ever do, I'll update the review.

My fourth Alien Conquest review finally gets around to covering one of the ADU sets. ____________________________________________ Set Name: Jet-Copter Encounter Set Number: 7067 Theme: Alien Conquest Year Released: 2011 Number of Pieces: 378 Minifigures: 3 Price: €34.99 on release Lego.com Bricklink _____________________________________________ FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Probably the most action-jammed box image in the line depicts a high-speed battle between the jet-copter and the two ambitious alien miniships. The back shows them who's boss. The ADU pilot obviously feels quite safe landing the ship, hopping out and arresting one alien while the other is still flying around. The set comes with a very clear, efficient manual and two smallish sticker sheets. The yellow's a bit offset on my DSS, but since I never apply the stickers, that's not too big an issue. It feels kind-of weird to see "Petrol Injection" on a military craft, I suppose I'm used to the American "gas" or "fuel." "Nabii" is the internet handle of Lego set designer Mark Stafford. He's presumably responsible for this one. THE PARTS We gots five bags, four of them numbered, with three numbers. There's logic there somewhere. Danish logic. I own a few of those big helicopter blades already, but these are my first airplane tail fins. I've never seen those half-slope parts before, but apparently they've been around for a while. The large slope brick and engine tubes are old too, but they've never appeared in blue before. More interesting are the new canopy parts that are also exclusive to this set. Two clear curved ones with bars at the tops, and a 6x6 trans black one that looks like it came off a stealth fighter. It was introduced in last year's General Grievous' Starfighter but appears here unprinted. The light blue pod half and the four light blue 1x4 tiles aren't that common, appearing in two other sets each. Seventeen studs is all the purple the set contains. Finally, I want to spotlight a couple of retro goodies the set contains. The trans neon orange stuff isn't exactly new or unusual, but its combination with the jet copter's blue made me a little nostalgic for Ice Planet 2000. Those lazer guns, on the other hand, are straight out of the past. They went on pretty much everything I built in the 80's and they haven't been seen in years. At this point, I should be showing a photo of a big pile of normal stuff, but I seem to have deleted it. Whoops. Well there's lots of it, mainly blue, light grey, dark grey and yellow with a little black and lime. The set includes three minifigures; two identical aliens and an ADU astronaut. Actually, I don't know if we can call them astronauts, since they never go into space. This particular astronaut probably isn't the sharpest bulb in the forest, since he has a note jammed into his knee strap reminding him what a UFO actually looks like. And yet he's piloting a machine that contains more explosives per kilo than weight. Still, despite these concerns, he has one of the best head printings in the theme, with nothing either too specific (something that always bothered be about Power Miners) or familiar. I like how the helmet neatly covers the lower part of the shouting-face mouth, it makes it look like a completely different expression. I'm recycling this image from my Abduction review because it's the same minifigure. It's still my least favourite of the AC aliens, because of how odd he looks from the side. THE BUILD Building begins with the two alien craft. They're almost identical so it's a quick x2 job. The wings can flip up on each side. The only difference between them is this pair of Technic pins that one of them has. Obviously it'd be no problem to put the same on the other craft and attach a third one. And keep going. You know how some people go for the 300 Spartans challenge? This could be the next big thing - how many Alien minicraft can you join together! My record is two. The four grey stickers are supposed to go on the curved bricks. I think the ships look quite nifty, either joined or separated (though I can't fathom what advantage the joined mode offers). However, there is one major drawback to them: To say they're cramped would be the understatement of the evening. You can seat the alien with arms up, as in the top picture, but then he literally can't budge; his hands are wedged between his head and the blue tile. There's also no place to put his ray gun (a familiar complaint with this line). The bottom image shows him with his arms down, in which case he can hold on to his gun, but it'll stick out the bottom and prevent the ship from sitting flat on the ground. Some people might be additionally annoyed that the craft are far from airtight, but they're probably not meant for space flight anyway. Still, we move on, and start on the cockpit of the ADU jet copter. Do jet copters really exist? I can't see anything on Google or Wikipedia, and I find it difficult to imagine how the technologies mesh, but then I've never considered myself to be a true aerodynamics engineer. Here's what the twin flick-firing mechanism looks like. Note that I've made a small error here, the Technic bricks holding the missiles are supposed to be black rather than dark grey. I fix it later. These flick-fire missiles are kinda difficult to operate. You can manually press the black knob in as hard as you can, and they'll shoot about the length of the orange antennae. Or you can actually try to flick the black knob, and smash your finger off the blue exhausts. It's nice when TLG includes little choices like this. Whatever. Once the swelling in your finger's gone down, cover the launchers up and fill the helicopter's body out a bit. The tail is a simple but sturdy design. Here's how the nose guns are made. Extremely effective, I think. The cockpit canopy isn't hinged or anything, it's attached by a single yellow stud at the back starboard there. The jets that give the machine one third of its name double as landing rails. The jet copter is equipped with a single transport pod that attaches beneath the tail. It's not 100% airtight but it'll get him to the "conversation" room well enough. Attach them, add some rotors and wings, finish out some bits like the tail fins and that's the jet-copter completed. There's a fantastic haul of spare parts, though it's a bit odd that there's no blue. THE MODEL Here's what she looks like from the side. It's chunkier than I was expecting. Which is good. Heck, with both rotors and jets it could probably be a giant cube and still fly. The front shows just how heavily-armed it is, with barely a surface free of doom. Guns, missiles... those orange things are probably lazers. And that's all three craft. The alien ships aren't as small as the box makes them out to be. Here it is beside two other AC sets. It's a good size, though I still think the Abduction set is small for the price. IN CONCLUSION: The main problem I have with all of the ADU sets, and the reason I've been much slower to get them, is that I don't feel they match the alien style at all. The aliens have that fantastic, campy 50's charm; the ADU have modern, efficient military machinery. Where are the magnetic ray dishes? The sonic detonators? The microwave disruptors? None of that makes sense but the humans need them. These modern missiles and machine guns are no way to deus ex an invading force of hideous monsters. As a Lego model, the Jet-Copter is fine; as something to display alongside the Mothership, it's like a different theme. However, that's an issue with the theme as a whole, and I'll try to keep it out of my opinion of this set. The good Mr. Stafford can rest assured that that opinion's pretty high. The Jet-Copter looks great from all angles, is extremely swooshable (you can even hold it by the pod, it's very secure) and was an entertaining build. The minicraft, despite their issues regarding leg room and boot size, look cool and the join-up mechanic is pleasantly daft. Overall, good stuff. Design: 8/10: The Jet-Copter has no crippling problems that I can see. It's sturdy and looks great. The flick-fire missiles are awkward but the medical bills can probably be reduced with practice. The minicraft are cramped but that's understandable; more annoying is the lack of a slot for the ray guns. On the other alien ships you can at least throw them in loose somewhere but that's impossible here. It's a small part of the set, though, and they're cool besides that. Parts: 9/10: I've come to the conclusion that the Purple Revolution isn't really going to happen with this theme, but overall the parts mix is solid. That new canopy is great, and there's a good mix of bits and bobs that I either didn't own, or didn't own enough of, before. Everything's very recyclable, too. Build: 9/10: I kept confusing dark grey with black for some reason, but I think that was just me. They seem different enough on the page. There weren't any slumps during the building process, everything puttered along nicely. Playability: 9/10: The flick-firing could have been better but everything else works perfectly. And it's very swooshable, especially for kids with three arms. Price: 9/10: €35 seems good for what you get and the final size. Total: 88%: I have trouble with the ADU sets in general but as standalones the sets look good, and this one is no exception. Thanks for reading! "Germs? What germs?" - Dunjohn

Megabloks sure have. Right now they have three lines of Collectible Minifigures on shelves to compete with Lego's, and they're all licenced: Halo, Marvel and Hello Kitty.

Interesting. Exo-Force was what pulled me out of my Dark Age a few years back, though I never owned any of these polybags. However, these miniature mech types also crop up in some of the larger sets, so I have one or two. Personally, I think they're a bit daft. The wings aren't attached to the legs, Hikaru himself holds them. That doesn't make a lot of sense. One missed switch or unfortunate laser blast to an engine and WHRUNCH, Hikaru's missing an arm. Never mind how he has the strength to hold them up in the first place. And how does he work the controls? Good review, even if I wouldn't have been as generous!

Here's a quick photo of the three sets I've done:

Filmore's a dude, dude.... This is probably the most interesting Cars set for me, given that I have no interest in the theme. It just looks very nice as a display and has a fair raft of characters, and as you say they all look fantastic. Alien Conquest is draining my account right now but I may pick this up if I win the lottery. Your review definitely helped shape that impression, nice work!

Woot-woot-woot-waddawadda. Woot-woot-woot-waddawadda. Woot-woot-woot-waddawadda. Woot-woot-woot-waddawadda. The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe has been answered with weird, perplexing bleeping noises. The Alien Mothership may not have a mass roughly one-fourth the size of our moon like the one in Independence Day but it's sure big enough to make a mess of my already ad-hoc photography setup. Try to ignore some of the more distracting backgrounds. I've badly photoshopped the worst of them. ____________________________________________ Set Name: Alien Mothership Set Number: 7065 Theme: Alien Conquest Year Released: 2011 Number of Pieces: 416 Minifigures: 2½ Price: €64.99 on release Lego.com Bricklink _____________________________________________ FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The big, square box keeps to the green theme of the rest of the line. The entire city seems to be glowing with radioactivity. The back throws spotlights on some of the set's play features and gives us a hint about how the invasion will eventually be defeated - GOD HIMSELF. The Alien Commander clearly hates the new accessories-to-scale policy as much as I do. The set contains two manuals of different sizes, which may be a pain in the neck for some people (I store mine according to size) and a rather modest sticker sheet. Both manuals look substantially the same inside. The bigger one features one step per page. The smaller one contains four pages of multilingual safety stuff dealing with the sound brick. The DSS has no major surprises on it. Unlike the Tripod and the Abduction sets, there aren't any comedy bumper stickers here. I didn't apply these to the finished model, I rarely ever do. THE PARTS The box also contains three numbered bags, one non-numbered bag and eight loose train track parts. The train tracks are 6-wide (or 4-wide at the wheel, I don't own any train sets so I'm not sure of the terminology) and made of solid plastic. They've only ever appeared in one set before - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - but they were dark grey in that. Here are a few of the more interesting bits. Eight purple mudguards - I have sooo many of those now - and a few purple studs is all the purple in the set. It's actually a very scarce colour in the theme, and appears in less than a dozen different brick types throughout the line. There's the sound brick, push the orange thing in and it makes the campy bleepy noises that suit the theme so well. Those 2-wide curved bricks are brand new, and exclusive to this set (one of the Cars 2 sets has them in light blue). 1-wide versions have existed for years so I don't see them as a particularly useful addition to the catalogue. I suppose the company can put 2-wide stickers on them, but it doesn't happen in this set. Some more interesting stuff in the transparent categories. The 8-wide dome appears only in this set and in the Abduction one. The 1x4 trans light blue tiles made their debut in last year's Portal of Atlantis set. There's a couple in this theme's Jet-Copter set, but the twenty-four we have here makes this set the best one to get if you need them. The trans neon yellow stuff has all been seen before but it's all good. Couple of saucer sections and curved bricks. The set has a small Technic element with these parts being the most specialised. The large black and grey parts fit together to form a "H"-shaped spinning unit. The small black ball fits onto the end of a Technic rod and acts as a knob. It's mainly seen in Bionicle but has been breaking into System sets in the last six months or so. And here's the rest of the stuff, all basic parts that most people should be used to. Here we have the foolhardy reporter. I love the unorthodox hairstyle, the stereotypical image of this character type would have flowing blonde or brown hair but I've enough of those hairpieces. The reporter's clipboard is dripping with detail and looks great, even if it breaks the unwritten rule about partially-obscuring words that end with "-ck." It doesn't have many applications outside of Alien Conquest. The red handwriting, and the fact that the reporter brought a microphone up to the roof of a tall building, suggests that being abducted is what she's after all along. Here we have His Disgusting Horribleness himself, the Alien Commander. The torso printing is excellent, but it's front-only. I also like the head; some of his minions push things a little far but his facial proportions look just right. Seeing villains with eye scars is starting to get a bit old, though. The tentacles are obviously on loan from Atlantis. His Tentacly Revoltingness' head is made up of three elements. The green brain could become quite a fashion statement. It's built onto a trans-green head which slots over... wait a second... trans-green head.... Dear Lord! Those God-awful Mars Mission aliens are trying to get back into Lego! Somebody stop them!! Lastly, we have the alien head clinger. I've recycled this image from the Tripod review because they're identical. THE BUILD To begin construction of his majestic flagship, His Cackling Hideousness gathers his best, smartest and most colour-blind engineers to build the the saucer's cockpit module. A few steps later, some rimming is added and the handle is installed. A second layer of rimming is added. The single control stick is there, but kinda hard to see. Ah, the idiot-proof spaceforce. This quick and simple laser cannon is fixed to the front. Four more will later be added to the outer ring. Finish the handle and canopy and add some antennae and that's the upper central module (and first manual) finished with. The cockpit has enough room for His Slobbery Rottenness and his pet clinger, but as usual there's no place to put his pistol. I suppose you could jam it into one of those empty studs at the back. Four studs belonging to the bright yellow underbricks remain exposed, which is really sloppy. Here's a quick comparision with the saucer from the Abduction set. Slightly smaller, less detailed, inverted colour scheme but otherwise very similar. Flip open Volume 2 and we start on the outer ring. Here it is a few steps in with the Reporter to give a sense of scale. Then the arms are added and a couple of round black plates are attached to act as supports. They're only relevant during construction, as the final model has a central column in the middle that supports the whole thing. Add some detail to the ring.... Add some more detail... the construction experience kinda grinds to a snail's pace during this bit, having to do all this stuff four times around the ring left me praying that each page turn will let me finally start on the central module. And here it is. It houses pretty much all of the set's play features - the sound brick, the claw and the spinning mechanism. The sound brick is built up like so... And slotted in like so. Here's how the claw's arm is constructed. The claw itself is straightforward. That's attached to the side. The whole unit is attached to the underside and locked in place with the large black Technic thing. Now, when I attach the two Technic parts together and spin the ring, the red part on the underside of the cockpit will repeatedly hit the sound brick switch. The two technic parts do not separate easily once connected. Add some fins to the outer ring and the ship is finished! Time for humanity to roll over and play tasty. Not that many spare parts, though the long antenna is unusual. That green plate had me worried, they don't usually include spares of those, but I realized while typing this up that it's supposed to go on the claw's "palm." The claw has good range and is very maneuverable. It's not exactly easy to grab a minifigure while holding the saucer up but kids'll manage. It just about reaches up this high. Being positioned beneath one of the ring's beams is a slight restriction but it's not really meant for this anyhow. IN CONCLUSION: It's the most expensive alien set in Alien Conquest and, even if you know there's a lot of empty air inside the ring, its size certainly matches the price tag. Some people don't like the sound, others love it; I think it's great. Really old-fashioned and kooky, and just as improbable as everything in AC is supposed to be. The spinning mechanic is smooth, the ring is sturdy despite looking frail and the claw works well. The only real dowsides are the spartan cockpit design that feels unfinished (that's common to almost every AC set, but it's particularly bad in this case), and the very low minifigure count for a set this size. Design: 9/10: It looks beautiful and the function matches the form. Everything works. The use of train tracks is good and well done, so while there's nothing amazingly clever and the various features are quite independent of each other, it all adds up to a quality model. It would have been a solid 10 if not for that cockpit. Parts: 7/10: The two minifigures are great, but more would have been better. As with the other AC sets I own, the overall parts mix comes from the outer reaches of normal so there's nothing really remarkable. I've already mentioned that the new slope parts aren't exactly radical, and the purple elements border on useless. It's still a very good mix of parts that are found elsewhere, but not all at once. Build: 8/10: Building the outer ring dragged a bit, but everything else was fine. Playability: 9/10: It can be awkward to handle but the considerable array of features will usually distract from that fact. Price: 8/10: I'm not so good at gauging sets of this size since I rarely stray beyond €50, but minifigures aside, I think it's alright. Total: 86%: It's certainly the most eye-catching set in the theme and it has the playability to match those first impressions. Thanks for reading! Some planets were a lot easier to conquer - Dunjohn

Fixed the windshield oversight!

Chances are that Wave 2 will see the humans "fight back" and get more stuff.

The Daily Mirror Amy has red gloves and wears black leggings (no skirt), a grey cardigan over a pink pullover, and a red scarf. My local Smyths had a few "please take one" baskets of them a week or two ago. They mustn't have been popular, so now I have a small army of yellow Daleks and one or two of the others.

That's a very nice review, but like some people, I still have yet to feel a flicker of interest in the Cars line. It's doubly odd for me because I'm not minifigure-focused so their absence makes no difference, and I am a Disney fan. There's just something about the sets that's missing and I don't know what, because they seem well designed. The whole theme is just going to be a pass for me. Maybe it's because the theme is so intrinsically incompatible with other Lego themes. You can freely mix PotC minifigures with Pharaoh's Quest or City or Castle, but the Cars sets are their own little bubble.

The ADU side of things doesn't interest me as much as the aliens, but I'll probably end up getting the whole theme.

There are so many so-so or just bad Pokemon builds out there that I have to say, I was tremendously surprised when these images loaded. Some inspired parts use, too. Bring on the others!

For anyone who hasn't seen that sci-fi "classic," Plan 9 from Outer Space, the plan was as stupid as possible: Raise the dead of earth and let humanity destroy itself in terror. The aliens of Lego seem to think along similar lines. Kidnap the farmers, and Lego humanity will starve. It's flawless. Since the Tripod review I made yesterday turned out to be a repeat, I may as well review this other set I got, even though I know Final Exit's already looked at it. ____________________________________________ Set Name: UFO Abduction Set Number: 7052 Theme: Alien Conquest Year Released: 2011 Number of Pieces: 211 Minifigures: 3 Price: €29.99 on release Lego.com Bricklink _____________________________________________ FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The box keeps the text to the bare minimum and again colours everything in those eerie green hues. This is the only set that's not located inside the city so it does stand out a bit from the others. The cow-abductions road sign is slightly more logical out here, though it would have been even better in actual pasture farmland rather than these rolling wheatfields. There's a crop circle behind the sign. It took me a few passes to realise it's the Alien symbol. The back image is almost identical. The ship's tractor beam seems to be capable of pulling up people and text. Inside, we find two numbered bags, a loose glass dome, the DSS and the manual, which has the same image as the box front. There are one or two sub-bags inside the big ones. The manual has a nice, clear yellow-green background and includes a whole four pages telling you how not to kill yourself and your family with the light brick. The sticker sheet isn't massive, and I won't be applying them to the model. The two lime ones go alongside the canopy. One of the curved stickers has a black-and-white badge that reads "AREA 51." THE PARTS I wonder what those numbers on the bags meant... ah, whatever. Here's what they contained. Like the other Alien ships it's mainly grays with a smattering of purple and lime green. Aside from the light brick, there's nothing particularly amazing but it's all good. I didn't realise that the glass dome is new until Aanchir pointed it out; it looks the same as some existing domes but is eight studs wide, rather than six. I already have a few of those spike things already, thanks to Exo-Force. The lighter part is rubber, the dark is regular plastic. The joint is seamless and perfectly solid, but I haven't really found a neat use for them. This set beat me to it. The fifteen purple studs and four purple car... things... are also welcome. Here are all the transparent elements, including that light brick that's responsible for so much deforestation in Denmark. The trans green that irritated me in the Tripod set is thankfully absent. The blue pads are used on the saucer's underside. There are actually three of the long antennae in the set, but one had rolled off the table and I didn't find it until later. It's actually spare, which is odd, and it puzzled me when I found it because I didn't know where it had come from. I've since got the Mothership set and it also has a spare one so it must be from this set.... The alien is different from the Tripod guy, too, with a smaller mouth and portruding eyes. I prefer the other guy. This guy looks a bit odd from the side, his face sticks out too far for my liking. His uniform is different, too, and I like it just as much as the other one. I really wish they'd extended the magenta colour scheme to the ships; it's a rare colour in Lego, and is only found in girly sets like Bellville and the pink bucket, but it would plainly have worked very well here. Probably my second-favourite Series 1 minifigure, after the Zombie, was the Spaceman because of his excellent new helmet. I amassed a little army of them so I'm delighted to see it reused in this theme. I love the shade of blue used, I hope it makes it into regular parts soon. This man's head is double-sided, but it's rather a challenge to spot the differences. The hand gun is quite cool, but rather large, I think. And finally, the farmer. He only has one expression, which is locked into permanent terror - he must have witnessed what happened to his cows. The front of his outfit has several random bits of wheat stuck into it, while the back has a black wheat badge on it. All in all, quite nice, though the wheat does restrict it to rural use. The pitchfork is neat but I don't own any farm sets so I don't have much use for it. THE BUILD Construction begins with the ADU road block, which is obviously very simplistic. The fence parts are supposed to have stickers on them. Anybody else think the missile launcher looks like a blue penguin? Building moves quickly onto the UFO and starts with the biggest sections. Bulk out the hull, add some tasteful, post-modern spikes.... I said add spikes! MORE SPIKES!!! And blinking lights! If we're going to invade this planet we need to bling ourselves up a bit! The tractor beam hole is covered up and the cockpit is assembled. It has a bit more detail than the Tripod's, but it's still rather sparse. Here's the light brick kajigger. Once it's installed in the cockpit, pushing the green knob forward will switch the light on. You need to hold the knob forward. The clip on the lightbrick is just used to hold the pilot's laser gun. Finish off the cockpit canopy and antennae and the ship is complete. Looks pretty good. The light switch is a form of functional greebling that makes the whole thing look nicely technical and sci-fi. Even with the light, the cockpit is spaceous enough. Those lime green jumpers are just there for detail, they're not used for anything. This blurry shot is the result of me not owning a camera tripod, and is approximately the sixteenth take, but it should show how things look when the light is on. It looks rather nifty, both on the ground and inside the cockpit. The spikes have very good grip, and pick up and hold the poor farmer easily. He'll block out most of the light, of course. So that's the complete set! It reminds me a lot of this older set I reviewed some time ago, with the dual-layer saucer and angled yellow antennae. IN CONCLUSION: The ADU stuff is a bit token and pointless, but the saucer itself is nifty, particularly the clever tractor beam stuff. Aside from that, there's not a huge amount of play features included, so it's really just a light brick and something to use it in. Still, you can hardly have a pulp sci-fi theme without a bunch of midsize flying saucers and this ship's compact, chunky look does nicely. Design: 8/10: It's clearly been built around a vertical light brick, and incorporating the brick into the cockpit is an efficient use of space which keeps the saucer's height down. Aside from that there are no real play features on the saucer, but the tractor beam is very substantial and it's swooshable enough. The ADU stuff is obviously an afterthought. Parts: 8/10: Nothing amazing beyond the light brick, and I suppose the saucer sections. Purple's a nice colour to get but the parts it's used in here aren't really that exploitable. The minifigures, on the other hand, are fantastic. That seems to be a definite "thing" about the Alien Conquest theme. Build: 9/10: Nothing too complicated but at the same time nothing too repetitive. Playability: 9/10: The set has huge swooshability and the light brick plus grippers easily make up for the fact that they're all there is here. Price: 7/10: This was a €30 set but, physically, it seems about the same size as the €22 Tripod. Heavier, chunkier, with more bricks and the light-up one, that all adds up but it still seems like it doesn't make up the difference. Total: 89%: It's a nice little set, it has no real flaws, and while the tractor beam is nicely implemented, there's nothing particularly revolutionary or memorable here. Thanks for reading! Roadblocks and UFOs - Dunjohn

I can't see the images either right now. I think it's a problem with Brickshelf. I can't enter the site. They'll probably come back. The first image is from Lego.com. Thanks for all the kind words! I didn't realise somebody had already reviewed this set, I did check but obviously not hard enough. I thought it had been skipped.

For the first time in its long history of stellar exploration and extraterrestrial subjugation, Lego Earth itself has been invaded. Get ready for the end of Lego life as we know it - 1950s style! I haven't done a review in a while, and while I usually preface them with an apology for the image quality, this time I really mean it - I've long since dismantled and recycled my photography setup so we're back to the stone age here. It's been a while since I've bought a Lego set but I just adore the '50's pulp sci-fi motif of this theme. As a big fan of War of the Worlds, I just had to get the Tripod. ____________________________________________ Set Name: Tripod Invader Set Number: 7051 Theme: Alien Conquest Year Released: 2011 Number of Pieces: 165 Minifigures: 2 ½ Price: €21.99 on release _____________________________________________ FIRST IMPRESSIONS: European box layouts are usually free of the clutter of American boxes but Alien Conquest takes it to extremes - there's practically no text anywhere on the front or back so the sets look fantastic. Green is pretty much the only colour and it swings from deep emeralds to bright limes and yellows. These are the nicest boxes on the shelves right now. I've noticed that Lego likes to put funny little details into its box art in recent years and the AC theme is no exception. I can understand this roadsign being used on the Abduction set - and it is - but here? In the middle of the city? Just how often does this sort of thing happen on Lego Earth? The back features a rather excellent scene from above, as the command module detaches from the legs and the alien makes off with a brand new friend. Boxouts showcase the set's play features but I can't look away from that epic main image. And like I said, virtually no text. Another thing I've noticed is that Lego are producing narrower and narrower boxes. Maximise shelf facing, minimise bulk. Hmmpf. Well, at least it means less Danish air. They've also started using accessories to demonstrate scale, instead of minifigures. It's odd, but the boxes are too narrow to fit a minifigure now. Within said narrow box can be found three bags, a manual and a sticker sheet. I didn't notice I'd chopped the bottom off the image here, sorry. The manual is excellent. The greeny-yellowy colour is very nice and lets the images stand out very well. The back features the Win-Shouty Kid and four pages of advertisements that I couldn't seem to take decent pictures of. Lego Club, the full AC lineup, and two different ones for the same website. Here, we have the happiest DSS I've ever seen. The stickers are numbered, which is something I've only ever seen done in the old Ferrari sets. The stickers are remarkably useful for MOCs, too, especially the nondescript dark gray panels. One of the round ones has a bumper sticker that says "WE'VE BEEN TO EARTH." I didn't apply the stickers, but I may yet. THE PARTS I've decided that my usual giant parts square is a waste of time so I reckon I'll do things this way from now on. This is what you get, minus minifigures, with the interesting bits laid out to one side. Everything in the jumble is basic enough. The set includes one of those ridged round 2x2 bricks in dark gray that I'd meant to pull out. Introduced in the newer Atlantis sets, I think it's still worth mentioning. It'll come up again. The only major disappointment I encountered in the set is that the pod halves are trans green, rather than trans neon yellow like these other elements. Quite aside from the fact that trans neon yellow is my favourite colour in Lego, it just seems odd to have two so similar colours in here together. The set's colour scheme is mainly black and gray with accents in lime and purple. We've had plenty of lime green in recent years. Purple is still rare, though between this line and Harry Potter, Lego seems to be keen on bringing it back. The spikes and hinge part in lime are new to my collection. These are the three elements that make up most of the tripod's primary cannon. I have a couple of the cups in brown, but the ball halves are new to me. Quite excellent they are, too. They're not physically joined together in the final build, the cup holds them together quite adequately. They move easily but aren't loose and can hold any position. And finally, the minifigures. This here's the alien warrior who pilots the tripod. His printing is fantastic, but it's front-only. His gun is missing the trans neon yellow stud on the end - I didn't realise at the time. His extended chin makes turning his head difficult, but it'll still go about twenty degrees either side before you need to raise it. I'm not that fond of the pink brain-things on the top of his head. I think he'd have been perfectly fine without them. One of the nicest civilian minifigures I've ever seen plays the role of victim. The torso printing with shiny golden tie makes him perfect for an office or banking role - I checked, he's not in the recent City bank set - and both sides of the head are great. I'm not too fond of that hairpiece on "respectable" minifigures, as it seems a bit wild and casual, but it's fine. What we have here is what we call a non-repeating phantasm, or a class 5 free-roaming vapor. Real nasty one, too. The alien "pet" is made of slightly softer plastic than usual. It's about the same as the soft Atlantis minifigure parts. As you probably know, he's designed to fit over a minifigure head. When he's not, he sits up on four tentacles that give him this nice skittery look. I'm going to cheat a bit here and jump forward to the future to see what spare bits we'll be left with. Just think. I could have used that trick to win the Lottery but instead, I decided to make life easier for you guys. THE BUILD This is only a couple of steps in, but I just wanted to show that that ridged round brick I mentioned earlier will be completely encased in other bricks. The fact that it won't be visible makes it remarkable that they gave us it over the normal, non-ridged kind. Obviously I've gathered loads of those over the years so I'm delighted they threw a ridged one in. Can't get enough of them. A few more steps in and it looks like this. Believe it or not, this is as detailed as the cockpit interior's going to get. Next, the command module's rear gets built up, including the transport pod. The pod clicks onto that Technic pin there. Once attached, only the top part will open. The round bit with the hole blocks the bottom pod half. It looks like more, but only eight new pieces have been added to the last image - four big gray bits and the lasers. The gray rimming obscures the purple a lot, so it's not very visible on the finished model. Build up the cockpit canopy a little and that's the command module finished. Obviously there should be stickers but I don't usually apply those. Then we move onto the legs, which are built in triplicate (and they helpfully give us the "x3" at the beginning this time). Here, we have the feet. It doesn't take long to build the legs. If you flick back up to the Manual image you'll see how they come together. Then you assemble this yoke (and sorry for the particularly shabby photo here). The dark gray panel stickers go on the sloped bricks. Stick it on there. It can rotate freely around 360 degrees. Then you attach the command module - connected through the ridged round brick - and that's it finished! As you can see, the cockpit is irritatingly sparse. The laser gun is thrown in loose, and there's no real room for the squishy pet. You can jam him in there, and the cockpit will close, but it's not going to be a comfortable trip for anyone. Even the box art leaves him on the ground. The legs don't have a massive range of movement. Here, the front leg is extended as far as possible, with the black "thigh" almost horizontal, while the side leg is retracted. The jointing keeps the feet at exactly the same level whatever way the legs are, which means the model is incredibly stable, but also has the same helplessness in the face of a high kerb as a Dalek. We can beat these aliens simply by staying on the footpath. IN CONCLUSION: I really like this set. I may get a couple of them. It has some minor irritations but they're far from fundamental and the thing just oozes awesomeness. Plus some other substances of questionable safety. Design: 8/10: It would have been nine if they'd remembered to come back to the cockpit. The feet don't lift, and the rockets on the back of the command module will melt the transport pod when they fire, but it's the 1950's, damn it, so basic engineering must take a back seat to cinematic wow. Mechanically, it all works great. The laser is cool, spinning one direction while pivoting to fire in the other, and the legs work well enough. Parts: 8/10: A reasonably Technic-heavy set without actually having any strong Technic presence in the design. Aside from that, the parts aren't particularly generic and are mainly both useful and unusual. Still disappointed with the trans green. The minifigures are all great. Build: 10/10: A good design helped by a great manual made for a pleasant process. Playability: 10/10: This set works great with any theme. Literally. Kids will use this to stomp through City and Atlantis and Pirates of the C.... well, maybe not that one, but Castle, probably. It has plenty of moving bits on it, too. Price: 9/10: I thought it would be bigger. I always think it's going to be bigger. €22 seems about right, though, and there's well more here than in a similarly-priced PotC set, that's for sure. And agian, for me, the theme adds on about €10 worth of value. Total: 93%: The tiny flaws it has just add to that classic sci-fi realism-be-damned charm. Thanks for reading! - Dunjohn

Officially August. This is actually the first time I've seen a Board Game available in the States before Europe.

Today's Dragon Fight set is the one I'm least interested, so I just got three. I had been getting 4-5 of them. Previously I'd get a lot more than that but a combination of my current Dark Age and the switch to the Sun (there's a poem in there somewhere) has kept the numbers low. For the record, even when I has getting loads of each the shop would still never go through its whole batch so I'm not depriving anyone ;) Anybody know what they do with spares?

It seems my indignant dismissal of the rumours was a bit premature. Today's Sun confirms that the promotion WILL continue an extra two days, with an AT-ST on Saturday and Jake's miniplane on Sunday. Very strange way to do things, to be honest. Still very welcome. Edit: *shakes fist at SilentMode*

I've never heard of anything like that happening. I'd say it's extremely unlikely. It's not like the newspapers put these promotions together at the last minute, or make it up as they go along.

I'm fortunate in that my local Smyths (the toy shop chain it's done through in the Republic) is a good walk and a busy road-crossing away from the nearest newsagent. It's too much hassle for most people to go in for these so there's always plenty left, even days later. As opposed to Tesco (the other place it's being done through) which typically runs out before noon, thanks to the massive daily footfall and the availability of newspapers in-store.