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I wasn't expecting to review anything, and this is the only review you'll most likely see me do, however given the set it is then I'd be only happy to review it. Some facts: Released: 1988 Pieces: 569 Minifigures: 5 Build time: Around 2-3hrs Price paid: Just over £50 The set is the all time classic Space base from my favourite Space subtheme, Blacktron. It is the one and only 6987 Message Intercept Base. The best space base made in my opinion and pretty much the peak of Lego space. Many say that the bad guys got the biggest base, but in a sense when it was released in 1988 for its first year it was kinda a good guy base too, it was only in 1989 when Space Police came out that Lego changed the space story/canon somewhat and made Blacktron become outcast in a way and splitting away. Either way that doesn't stop it from being amazing, the Star Trek: First Contact of Lego space bases. And sometimes its good to be a little bit bad. The story goes that a while ago I managed to get a new example of this set, however the box wasn't great and was missing the front flap/lid, I managed to get another empty box which also wasn't great in other areas, but had the lid. I carefully took the lid off and carefully glued it to the new examples box successfully. I still had somewhat of an original box left though, so I decided to buy a complete set unboxed with instructions to pair with it so I can sell it back in better more complete condition than before. However that gave me a great excuse to make it and while I'm at it post a review. So let's get on with the details. It looks like this new. The Building Process With all that out of the way, time to empty the parts, get out the instructions and start building the detailed model. First, the set comes with some pretty nice parts, some of the more special ones that stand out are shown below. The trans yellow windscreen parts as always look great, there is even a 4x6 trans yellow plate, which rings back to the old classic space days. A nice use of castle wall pieces too, as well as the large black panel piece with the iconic Blacktron logo. The Minifigures/Crew The base comes with 5 classic Blacktron astronauts, sporting the mostly black body with grey detailing, and the intimidating pure black visor, becuase not being able to see your face is just cooler and so much more badass. It has a good amount of crew, however an extra figure or two would have been nice for a base this large and detailed, but oh well, at least its better than a lot that came after where the numbers seemed to go down to about 3. Instructions Being released 25 years ago now, the instructions that came with the set were harder to follow than now, less pages but more work on each step, I like that though. The front cover shows the base opening and closing as well as two of the four alternate models that can be built. A massive walker (basically a much larger Alienator) and a spaceship, which looks a bit like a much more fearsome Spyrius Saucer Centurion (6939) released some years later. The Baseplate This is pretty much the last big space base set that still used a flat surface studded plate before the raised baseplate came along afterwards. It actually consists of two plates, one large flat one, next to another one the same size with some cool crater detailing, another nod to what was used in classic space. These two together as you are about to see makes for one hell of a large home. Vehicles The base comes with two vehicles, a small but nimble buggy and an agile spacecraft. While not as large as separate models like the Battrax (6941) or Renegade (6954), they are still cool and give the base a sense of being complete. The buggy doesn't contain a lot of parts, however despite that it is the little details that make it rather nice. Those large tyres make it compensate for the not too many parts it has, and it just looks so space like. Even the transparent red rocket piece at the back with the transparent red cone at the front while only being as few pieces just make it look sleek and a lot of fun. It could totally ace the car chase scene in Star Trek: Nemesis. The spacecraft is one of the gems of the set, it is a small Vic Viper like craft. The wings can be adjusted to fold up and down, in some ways it resembles one of those mini Klingon fighters from Star Trek Into Darkness. Very clever design, even the thrusters are neat and it has enough firepower at the front and on the wings. It resides in the hanger of the base and actually stems around one of the main functional features of the base which will be revealed. It must be great being him. Ready to boldly go...where no one from Futuron has gone before. Space... The Base Itself Now onto making the big part, the base itself, what a joy it is to make. Here's a shot of part way through making, to show how this set is full of detail, this actually feels like a base, a place where if you are a Blacktron astronaut you really can chill out here after a hard days work. Control stations, tool/weapon holders and the spacecraft launchpad, plenty of stuff to do. The base is now complete in all of its glory. As you can see, there is a control tower to the right, which quite cleverly using a sort of gear piece below it can move backwards and forwards connecting to the base or separating on its own and making things look bigger and more spaced out. When separated it allows you to open up the walkway/corridor in between. Another part that uses the same method is the hanger itself, which again through the use of a rotating gear piece opens the hanger right out, to allow, yes you guessed it, the spacecraft to jet off. It also makes the unique and rare yellow 3x3 dish pieces at either side open out. One small flaw with this mechanism is that it is a bit fragile if you aren't careful. The Blacktron astronaut not in the craft can only just about hide his jealousy that he's not in it. And now back to work, can't be long until its is my turn to fly it, or mine. Another load of excellent interior detail this set offers. Dammit, I want the car! Well at least I have this weapon. The detail just doesn't end, revealed in the middle towards the rear of the hanger is a small and cute control booth that can be accessed via ladder, just below is another control area. Going back towards the right end of the base are more control areas, including another raised area with a yellow seat, although how the guy gets down is anyone guess. I may find it hard getting down, but I'm still higher up than you are. Relax, I know what I'm doing. And now my final and favourite part of the base, the corridor/walkway in between. This may not seem like a big bit, bit it is so nicely detailed and feels really realistic. You can lift the two windowed areas up via the hinges to put someone in the staring or walking down the corridor. In order to lift the one up at the front of the base you have to move the control tower forward a bit, otherwise you won't be able to get your hand in, it's a bit annoying but doesn't take much to do at least. I gotta get to that craft now! Well that's it, to sum up this is a fantastic base and my favourite, so many nice touches that overall make for a sweet build. It does have some minor flaws, like as mentioned no stairs to the top part in the control tower and no way of getting up to the base itself from the outside, but this is Lego so I'll just use my imagination. A bit flimsy in places and an extra minifig or two would be nice, however that could be solved easily now. As a whole it makes for an amazing space base that could even be modded to make even more detailed, while its obvious the colour scheme is also classic too, can't beat mostly black with some yellow highlighting. It gets my seal of approval, and it was fantastic having the chance to make it again. Pros +Amazing design and detail +Superb colour scheme +Nice vehicles +Many nice compartments +Great playability Cons -Flimsy in some places -One or two more minifigures would have been nice Overall: 95% Anyway I hope you enjoyed my review, thanks for reading.
