Lord LOLrus

The LEGO Store in Santa Clara, California has lots; yesterday, I picked up a bunch, and found a cyclops, a mermaid, a battle mech, and 3 or 4 space orcs. The space orcs are incredibly easy to identify, IMO.

Nope. It's subtle, but the robot's knee pads are rectangles, while the human's are more angular: Thanks for the feedback. It's good to hear that people find these useful.

My second review here (my first was 70701) is of 70700 Space Swarmer, the smallest (I think) set of this wave. Set Number: 70700 Name: Space Swarmer Piece Count: 86 Minifigures: 2 (1 Galaxy Squad (Blue “Robot Sidekick”), 1 Alien (“Buggoid”) Price: $11.99 USD Starting with the box... Front: In the lower right corner the Blue Robot is shown, and in the upper right the Alien is tearing a hole in the box. Back: The canopy (I’m sure there’s a better word, but I’m too lazy to find it) opens, the wings are fully posable, and the alien spaceship eats robots. Top: Once again, we have a 1:1 pic of a ray gun. Contents: We have two bags, one for large pieces and one for small, and an instruction booklet. The large bag. …and the small bag. The small bag seems to have a lot more pieces than the large one. New and/or interesting parts: I’m pretty sure that the trans-red windshield bubble is new; the trans-neon green wing piece is new (or at least unusual) in that color. We get four more inverted 1x2 - 2x2 brackets, and a neck brace in dark grey. There’re also two 1x2 piece with a stud on one side and a place for a technic peg on the other, four of those Ninjago blades, seven dark red Exo-Force robot arms, and some yummy red cheese slopes. Here we have the instruction booklet. It’s the same size as the one in 70701. A random step. …and the parts list. The Minifigures: The Alien and the Blue Robot (the color is Dark Azure). The Alien (what is it supposed to be? Doesn’t really look like an alien. - Upon checking the LEGO website, I have learned that it is a "Buggoid") has a different torso print than his Mosquito friend, but his legs are identical. The Alien’s head is made entirely out of standard ABS plastic - no rubber here! However, the head reminds me less of a bug and more of Zoidberg from Futurama. The Blue Robot has a unique torso print, and its leg printing is unique as well. The head is also made out of standard ABS. Both figs have unique printing on their backs. Neither has a double-sided head. The Alien’s head has a long spine-like protrusion hanging down its back, and looks sort of like plating. Unfortunately, the Alien’s head is also entirely fixed due to the spine, and can’t turn at all. I believe the color of the "Buggoid" is called Olive Green (like Jabba the Hutt, or the Moria Orcs). The Build: We start out with a simple jetpack, apparently powered by machine guns. The Robot is very close to tipping over at this point, which is why it’s also equipped with… …a huge laser cannon (or something). Now it’s pretty well balanced. Here’s the base of the “Swarmer,” everything attaches to this, using those cool inverted 1x2 - 2x2 brackets. The control panel (which you can barely see - sorry about that) is printed; no stickers here. This is one of the wing assemblies. It’s fairly simple, and the wing can rotate 360° and can be angled any which way. Here’s the Swarmer with wings attached. Next the craft is flipped over to put on some legs - just robot arms with blades, but they look OK. (If you wish to mod your Swarmer to be more like an insect, there are places to attach extra legs.) Note: upon further posing of the Swarmer, I've found that the legs are very floppy, and don't hold their position well. This is the maw assembly. Simple enough. The round tile is printed. Here’s the finished model. From the rear. There appears to be a single, sad little rocket engine. The ray gun can be stored here while your alien spaceship... …munches on some yummy robot! Nom nom nom. Scoring: I really dislike awarding points to things; I always feel like I’m missing something, or getting too subjective. Design: 8.5/10 Pretty good for a small $12 set. Plenty of SNOT, good poseablility, being able to eat minifigs is always a plus. In addition, the ship doesn’t look like anything I’m used, and I am liking the look. However, the legs are very hard to pose and they don’t hold in place well at all. Features: 7.5/10 Not very many, which is to be expected in a small set such as this. Even the back of the box only lists one feature, the “Grabbing function.” The reasons it’s not rated any lower are because I really like the eating function, and I’m glad it had neither a catapult nor a Flick-fire. Parts: 7/10 It has some nice pieces, like the inverted brackets, the windshield, and the pieces the legs attach to. Minifigures: 9/10 2 figs for $12 seems to be standard, and I really like the robot. I’m kinda bummed that it doesn’t have the armor like the robots in the largest two sets have, but it’s still a great figure. Price: 4/10 $12 for 88 pieces?! That’s 13.6¢ per piece! What is LEGO thinking? …Well, I suppose I did buy it, so I guess they’d say things are working fine. Total: 36/50 72%. That’s pretty bad. However, I still like this set quite a bit, mostly because of the figs and unique ship design. I’m not really very happy with this score; the set seems better than this. Nevertheless, I’m not going to further mess with the numbers. Now if you’ll excuse me, my aliens have some minifigs to snack on...

Thank you for catching this; I'd been worried I was getting the colors wrong, and I agree that my names were misleading. The review has been changed to reflect this. I certainly agree that the flick-fires are a lot more thoughtfully done - they do look more "organic" and not at all like they were slapped on like an afterthought. It's a nice change. From the "turret" height, they'll shoot about 2-3 feet without much effort, which a respectable distance. I believe this is because they can be shot upwards at an angle. And I've got to say, the turret really is kind of lame - no rotation, big old axle in front, and looks rather flimsy (it's not flimsy at all, it stands up on its own very well). In addition, the back of the box clearly shows "Solomon Blaze" standing on the back of it aiming the missiles himself, which kind of defeats the purpose of splitting into two parts.

All right, so this is my first review here on Eurobricks; I've been lurking for awhile and decided it's time for me to actually contribute. Anyways, I was at the LEGO Store in Santa Clara (California) looking for some Hobbit sets, when I saw this lovely set. I snagged it and 70700 Space Swarmer, which I might review if someone else doesn't beat me to it. Here we go... Set Number: 70701 Name: Swarm Interceptor Piece Count: 218 Minifigures: 2 (1 Blue Galaxy Squad ("Solomon Blaze"), 1 Alien ("Mosquitoid") Price: $19.99 USD Photoset on Flickr (which has more photos than are posted here) I'll start with the box: Front: Here we can see the rotating cockpit (my personal favorite feature) and the obligatory Flick-fire Missiles, as well as the Minifig featured in this set: the blue human. Back: This shows off the rest of the features - the cockpit separates from the wings (legs? The box calls it a "Missile turret," but it looks like a pair of legs to me...), the wings fold down, and a hatch near the back opens to reveal the FF missiles - which is fine by me, I'm glad the things are concealed . Top: Here we can see the Figs, and the 1:1 scale image of... a raygun. Huh? Why a raygun? Contents: Inside the box are two bags, and a horribly folded instruction booklet and a Dreaded Sticker Sheet. The DSS: The instruction booklet looks is nothing special: It has a new image showing how to empty the numbered bags, though (you can see it in my flickr photostream, I’m trying to keep images to a minimum). Here’s the parts list: …and a random step: (One problem with the instructions: the colors are often way off - dark blue looks like dark purple, normal blue looks like a bright purple, and the bright blue dark azure (like in Alien Conquest) looks like sand blue. Luckily there aren’t any pieces in the wrong colors, so there’s a minimum of confusion) Now for the set itself: Bag #1: Inside the first bag are the pieces for the little alien scooter and the cockpit, as well as the minifies. New and/or interesting pieces We get a new windshield in clear, one of the Exo-Force robot arms in dark red, a “4x4 Wedge Plate” in Trans Neon Green, and the Alien’s wings. (The Alien’s head is bagged separately). Note: the windshield is different than the one found in SP3 (and other places, I’m sure) - it has a bar to attach clips to, instead of the protrusions in the front for studs. Bag #2: New and/or interesting pieces: In the second bag there are some very useful new pieces, mainly the inverted 1x2 - 2x2 Bracket, but also the 2x4 hinge plates. I’m not sure if the large wing pieces are new, or if I just haven’t seen them before (they look like they probably debuted in a Town Jumbo Jet or something). The Figs - Front: The Galaxy Squad (From here on known as GS) has a nice torso print, and his leg printing looks like it could be useful in many different settings (except, y’know, for it’s color ). His helmet is identical to the ones in Alien Conquest, including color. The Alien (Do they have a faction name?) appears to be some sort of mosquito, and he’s the really interesting one - his antennae are removable (they attach like plumes), and both the antennae and most of his head are the rubbery plastic LEGO uses for many non-standard heads (note: his nose (proboscis, maybe?)) is harder plastic). The wings are textured in a way that makes them feel different than LEGO’s normal ABS plastic, but I’m not sure if they are. EDIT: Apparently the human is named "Solomon Blaze" and the alien is referred to as a "Mosquitoid." Back: Both figs have back printing, and the GS has some sort of a breathing apparatus in addition to the targeting system over his right eye (on our left). The back of the Mosquito’s head is ridged, like plating. The Build: Bag #1 Alien Scooter: The first third of Bag #1 is the Scooter, a simple build with a jackhammer for handlebars. If the Mosquito stands any farther forward his nose gets bent by the handle. The Cockpit: By the end of Bag #1 you have a finished cockpit, which is (supposedly) a small spacecraft in it’s own right - it has “wings” that fold out: Bag #2 The (mostly) finished first part of Bag #2 (I forgot to put on the last few pieces - mostly the FF missiles); this is what the cockpit and wings attach to. The completed wings (minus stickers) - the large “wing” pieces attach to the hinge bricks using a combo of the older 1x2 - 2x2 brackets and the new inverted ones. The result is very sturdy. I waited until the very end to put the stickers on, and found that the wings must be partially disassembled in order to get the wing stickers on. This is what the completed product of Bag #2 looks like. Finished Product: Here’s the whole thing (without stickers). It’s very swooshable. From the top. From the rear. The cockpit is self-stabilizing (it rotates freely) - this is my favorite feature. Here we see the thing on it’s “legs” - I honestly don’t know what else to call them. …and the must-have exiting feature of the FF missiles. Cause those just totally make the entire set worth it. With Stickers: I feel that the stickers do add something to the model. They’re by no means necessary, but they liven up the wings a bit. I do wish the wings were just printed. Extra Parts: A clear visor, two technic friction pegs, various 1x1 studs, a light grey 1x1 round tile, a black viking horn/tooth, and a black lightsaber handle. Not bad at all, IMO. Everything together: Scoring: Design: 8.5/10 A solid model. Not jaw-dropping, but I couldn’t find any problems with the design, and the features don’t take anything away from the aesthetic - and there are plenty of… Features: 10/10 With adjustable wings, detachable cockpit, and well-executed FF-missiles (AKA, they’re hidden), as well as the excellent rotating cockpit, there’s plenty of playability and no real flaws. Parts: 8/10 The four inverted 1x2 - 2x2 brackets are a big plus, and the new windshield design is (in my opinion) a big improvement. The dark azure color kind of limits the re-usability of many of the pieces, however. Minifigures: 8.5/10 Two figs for $20 isn’t bad, and the mosquito is excellent. I wish they’d put in a robot instead of a human GS, but there have to be humans somewhere, I suppose… Price: 9/10 218 pieces for $20 is very good, IMO, but maybe my standards are just a bit low. Still, 9.2 cents per piece is better than average. Total: 44/50 88%, or a solid B+. I personally like the set quite a bit more than that, but I’m not going to re-do the numbers. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this set to anyone interested in Space themes (and even for those who aren’t). EDIT: Credit to Aanchir for correcting me about the color names - what I'd been calling "bright blue" is actually (on Bricklink) referred to as "Dark Azure." I had worried I was getting them wrong, and I agree that it could be confusing to use non-standard names. Thank you for the help, I've now fixed that.

Go ahead! Credit me if you must, but really, I'm just flattered.

And the fantasy Castle line breeds unfair hatred of the undead. And Agents promotes the concept that people with disabilities and those who choose to have unusual hair colours are all criminals. Undead awareness! Equal rights for the deceased! Remember, the undead are were people too! I demand an appropriate representation of skeletons and trolls in the Crownie Armed Forces! Seriously though, it would be nice to see a few aliens in the police force, and maybe also a human crime ring whose attempts at megabloks-trafficking must be stopped by the brave Space Police.

Fair enough. This was really just a quick mod; I'm not sure which version I prefer. And you're right about control issues - not only does it not have any rear stabilizers, but it only has one thruster, which I would think makes any sort of control at all rather difficult. Yeah, I originally tried messing with the rear wings in order to streamline it, but I just couldn't get the result I was looking for. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I saw 5981 at TRU the other day, and soon after building it tried to come up with as many different ways to attach the Technic wing pieces. After a while, I came up with something looking like this: (Pic is link) VX-Falcon is from Hyperspeed Pursuit, for those who don't memorize the names of Space Police ships. Comments? Criticism? What do you think? Oh yeah, and hi. I'm not new exactly; I just don't post much. *I sure hope nobody has already come up with this...

Wow. You make "boxy" look good. Really good. I have to agree with Legostein; the rotating thrusters look great from any angle. I am amazed at how well the purple specialty pieces fit in; they don't at all look like they were just stuck on at the end (which is what happens to me whenever I try using them). I wonder if there are any other colour combinations that could be constructed from this design?

Were this Facebook, I'd be clicking a "Like" button. As it is, I think I'll have to make do with a bookmark. I mean, that is one awesome vehicle. I especially like the black minifig hands framing the cockpit, and the greebles on the belly are also very nice. As for a description, I think it's fine as is; the ship itself speaks volumes. I, at least, am impressed.