Poor Relation?

OK, so I don't need anyone to remind me that I haven't exactly been prolific over the past few years when it comes to posting on Gimme LEGO.... That having been said, what I have posted provides a big clue to the identity of possibly my greatest passion when it comes to LEGO, namely space sets. A quick skim of the index of previous posts reveals that even if you exclude Star Wars I've served up significantly more reviews of space sets than of any other theme; vintage space sets such as 924 Space Cruiser, 6896 Celestial Forager and 6897 Rebel Hunter have been particularly well represented. A recent trawl through some of those old reviews whetted my appetite for more, so I thought I'd dig out an old space set from a subtheme that I'd not previously covered on Gimme LEGO and share it with you.

6900 Cyber Saucer was released in 1997 as part of the UFO subtheme of LEGO Space. The front of the box (above) looks frankly psychedelic, showcasing the completed craft flying above a green quasi-organic planet surface which is almost as retina-searing as the trans-neon green accents of the ship itself. Blurred clouds of magenta space dust and stars provide a suitably vivid backdrop. The back of my bashed box (below) is dominated by images of a couple of dubious-looking alternate builds. There are also a couple of panels which illustrate play features of the set, namely a rotation function and what appears to be a temperature-sensitive print on one of the elements.

The front of the instruction booklet (below) features the same image as the front of the box, but with one interesting difference, specifically the inclusion of an alternative set number (6999) alongside the actual set number. I initially assumed that 6999 was the number of the set in the US or elsewhere, but it turns out that 6999 was in fact the set number of a limited edition bundle consisting of a copy of 6900 plus a hard plastic promotional mask. The instruction booklet comprises 15 pages, all of which are occupied by building instructions; there's no advertising, which is always a bit of a shame in older sets, while the back cover is pretty much identical to the back of the box and therefore not shown here.

The set contains a solitary minifigure, designated as UFO Zotaxian Alien - Blue Officer (Commander X) by Bricklink. This minifigure only appears in a single set, 6975 Alien Avenger, in addition to 6900 and 6999. The torso and legs, with their intricate prints, are exclusive to this minifigure. The black breastplate and shoulder protector is shared with a number of other minifigures across the UFO and Insectoids space subthemes, while the light grey printed helmet is shared with a UFO Zotaxian Red Pilot minifigure which appears in a number of other UFO sets.

Beneath the Predator-esque helmet is a printed trans-neon green minifigure head. As was the case for the printed torso and legs, the head print is exclusive to this particular minifigure. There's no back print on the head.

The breastplate and shoulder protector also provides substantial protection for the upper back. In marked contrast to the extensive and complex printing on the front of the minifigure there's no printing at all on the back of the helmet, torso or legs.

Moving on to the saucer, the shape is largely defined by four 10 x 10 x 2 1/3 quarter saucer top panels. Two of these panels are trans-neon green in colour and have appeared in just 4 sets including this one and 6999, while the other two are printed old grey left and right variants which have each appeared in a total of 5 sets. The orange, black and silver prints on the latter two elements are great, featuring a stylised representation of the alien minifigure helmet from above together with some additional detailing. The quarter panels surround a simple brick-built cockpit containing a solitary red seat. A couple of decorative black 8.5L flexible hoses attach to the sides of the cockpit beneath the panels, while a pair of 3 x 5 deltoid panels attach to the outside edge of the saucer on opposite sides. Given the shiny silver stickers which are attached to them I suspect that they're supposed to be solar arrays. In addition to the deltoid panels, the exterior of the saucer is embellished with numerous other attachments including trans-neon green 8H whip antennae, black 4 x 4 inverted dishes, a minifigure loudhailer tipped with a trans-neon green 1 x 1 cone, and a minifigure space scanner tool. All of the attachments can be either rotated or tilted on small hinges, thus boosting the play value.

The cockpit is enclosed by a trans-neon green 6 x 6 octagonal canopy which is hinged at the rear to provide easy cockpit access. A black 2 x 2 round tile sits on top of the canopy. This tile is decorated with a heat-sensitive sticker, which is something that I've never encountered in a LEGO set before. When the sticker is cold the central area is blank, but when the sticker is pressed and warmed with a fingertip a dark green pattern appears in the central area. This 'play feature' is demonstrated in the instruction booklet (below). The sticker in my copy of the set shows a faint olive green pattern even when untouched, however, similar to what you can see here; I'm not sure whether that's because the ambient temperature is currently quite high in my LEGO room, or just because the sticker is now at least 23 years old and therefore not operating quite as efficiently as it was when it was new.

The saucer sits on top of a simple landing stage. This is supported at its periphery by four light grey bi-level wings and centrally by a pillar which incorporates four black 2 x 2 x 2 stands. The bi-level wings are quite rare in light grey, having appeared in just four sets in this colour including 6900 and 6999. There's a black 2 x 2 x 2 container mounted on one of the peripheral supports. The open face of the container is enclosed by a trans-neon green door which opens to reveal a printed tile that's presumably supposed to represent tech of some sort. The landing stage is topped by a red 4 x 4 turntable with square base.

The neon-green and light grey elements incorporated into the landing stage provide some welcome consistency with the saucer's colour scheme. The saucer fits neatly on top of the landing stage, and since the only point of attachment is the 4 x 4 turntable it can consequently rotate freely through 360 degrees.

I have to admit that I was initially quite sceptical about this set, and was ready to pretty much write off the UFO subtheme as a poor relation of the much-loved Classic Space sets of the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s. The colour scheme is less appealing to me than the palette of the older space sets, and the preponderance of large, prefabricated elements such as the 10 x 10 quarter panels and the landing stage supports made the build all too brief and had me wishing that I had chosen to assemble a set which didn't rely so heavily on such short-cuts. Now that I've built it, however, I'm feeling a little more charitable - I like the minifigure, the saucer is more swooshable than I expected, and the build is crammed with play features - literally everything attached to the upper surface of the saucer can be tilted or rotated and the saucer spins freely on its landing stage. Furthermore, the design does a decent enough job of aping the cliched flying saucer stereotype, and I'm mindful that there are probably legions of twenty-somethings out there who look back misty-eyed at the UFO sets of their youth the same way as older AFOLs revere the Classic Space sets.

Set 6900 Cyber Saucer contains 114 parts and was released back in 1997. There's clearly love for the set out there as at time of writing the cheapest complete boxed example of the set is listed at almost £50 plus shipping on Bricklink. Complete unboxed examples start at about half that, however, and you might also be able to find one cheaper on eBay.

Gerry Anderson Returns....?

I was a huge fan of LEGO as a child, but it was a passion that existed in symbiosis with other obsessions rather than in isolation. While I'd joyfully build the LEGO sets that I was bought, they were quickly broken up and reformed into other models, and those models were more often than not inspired by my favourite TV shows and films. I'd go so far as to say that without a few key sources of inspiration, my love of LEGO would not have grown as it did, and my life might have turned out very differently. And when it comes to sources of childhood inspiration, the TV shows and films of Gerry Anderson stand head and shoulders above everything else.

Gerry Anderson.

Gerry was a producer, writer and director of TV and film, and he had a passion for science fiction. While some people may not be familiar with his name, there surely can't be many who aren't familiar with at least one of his creations. Principal in my affections was (and indeed still is) Thunderbirds, although other gems such as Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Joe 90 are also near and dear to my heart. Hot on the heels of these Supermarionation masterpieces came Space 1999, another massive favourite of mine which triggered a whole new wave of obsession and LEGO inspiration in my youth, and UFO. More recently, my son and I have been throughly enjoying the CGI remake of Captain Scarlet, gratefully watched on DVD rather than in frustrating bite-size chunks thanks to its crass butchery at the hands of UK broadcaster ITV on its initial release. We'll quickly gloss over the 2004 Thunderbirds live action film at this point - Gerry apparently hated it, and from my perspective Sophia Myles' Lady Penelope character was just about the only good thing about it, although at least my youngster enjoyed it... ("Much to learn you have, my young Padawan")

Further evidence of my Anderson-inspired youth, and still (just about) intact....

I am of course far from the only person whose obsession with Gerry Anderson's TV shows has endured into adulthood, nor am I alone in having frequently taken inspiration from his amazing creations when building LEGO models. There are some seriously talented Anderson-inspired LEGO builders out there, a number of whom are fellow members of UK LEGO User Group the Brickish Association; I've featured some of their work on these pages before, and I make no apology for doing so again in the context of this post. Commander-in-Chief of those builders has to be Gary Davis, better known online as Bricks for Brains. His creations have graced many a LEGO show, with my favourite probably being his model of Thunderbird 2 (below - click to enlarge), complete with its complement of Elevator Cars. I've even made some tentative steps to try and reverse engineer the model and build one myself, such is my affection for it; despite the sheer majesty of the thing, it's my understanding that Gary feels that it can be significantly improved upon and he may yet do so one day. Now that I'd like to see....

Gary's huge model of Thunderbird 3 (above) also caused quite a stir when it first appeared last year, and his Angel Interceptor (below - click to enlarge) from the original Captain Scarlet TV series is another of my personal favourites. You can see a few more LEGO models inspired by the likes of UFO and Stingray in my review of last year's Great Western LEGO Show here, and if you want further proof of Gerry Anderson's power to inspire the LEGO community then do a Flickr search for, for example, "LEGO Thunderbirds", sit back and enjoy....

Gerry Anderson sadly lost his fight with Alzheimers Disease last year, and we lost a genuine visionary. My sadness at his passing was I suspect intensified by my affection for so much of his work and the realisation that we might never see its like again. A couple of weeks back, however, I was made aware of an initiative to try and bring a new Gerry Anderson project to life, first as a series of books, and then potentially as a TV series. During the final few years of his life, Gerry was working on a new project called Gemini Force 1, which follows the story of "a secret organisation involved in rescues and averting disasters and terrorist events" - a veritable Thunderbirds for the 21st Century, by the sounds of it....

Gerry died before he could finish the story, but his son Jamie is spearheading a Kickstarter campaign to try and finish the work that his father started. Jamie has engaged renowned Sci-Fi writer M. G. Harris to complete the first Gemini Force 1 book if the campaign reaches its financial target, and depending on how much additional money is raised, it's hoped that it'll also be possible to commission designers Andrew Probert (designer of iconic craft for the likes of Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica) and Dominic Lavery (New Captain Scarlet, James Bond, Event Horizon) to design the GF1 vehicles. Beyond that, Jamie's hoping to kickstart (ho ho) development of a GF1 TV series and/or film.

I've backed the Kickstarter campaign, and if you'd also like to help make Gemini Force 1 a reality then you can read more about the project and pledge your support here. With the 50th anniversary of Thunderbirds next year, it would be a perfectly-timed and most fitting tribute to the man who made it all possible. And if Gemini Force 1 does see the light of day, maybe today's youngsters, including my own little boy, will have a whole new Anderson-inspired world of adventure of their own to reminisce about when they get to my age.... Let's hope so !

*UPDATE* I'm delighted to report that the Gemini Force 1 Kickstarter campaign has reached its initial financial goal with time to spare ! Pledges are still being taken with a view to reaching some of the stretch goals described above, however, so if you haven't pledged yet then you still have a couple of days to get on board. 

Blown Away

I spent last weekend at the 2012 Great Western LEGO Show (GWLS) at STEAM. It was my third consecutive year attending the event and it's really not getting old for me at all. There's no doubt that the standard of models on display was incredibly high - a quick skim through the 350+ photographs I took there immediately reminded me of that. At least as importantly, however, I probably enjoyed the social aspects more than ever as I've now got to know more of my fellow exhibitors, and some of them have become good friends.

Centerpiece of this year's LEGO display at GWLS was a collossal model of the British Olympic Stadium, complete with over a thousand minifigures, which was built by Ed Diment, Annie Diment, Stuart Crawshaw and Naomi Farr. Many of you will have seen pictures of this masterpiece during the extensive pre-Olympics publicity it got. As the show was wrapping up on Sunday, Ed and co. got to have their photograph taken with an Olympic Torch used in the Olympic torch relay (picture below - click to enlarge) which was a nice touch.

From L-R : Ed, Annie,  Naomi and Stuart

My contribution to the show was modest this year; all I had on display was the red Volkswagen T1 Camper Van that I posted about last week. It was part of a collaborative display coordinated by Robert Clarkson which brought together a total of 14 large-scale camper vans in various colours, including a neat pimped version in yellow and black, plus a number of smaller versions. What was interesting was how everybody seemed to have a different favourite; my picks were Robert's psychedelic multicoloured version and Vaughn Medway's black mobile disco van (pics below - click to enlarge).

Robert Clarkson's Psychedelic Camper Van

Vaughn Medway's Mobile Disco

One of the exhibits closest to my heart was the Gerry Anderson-themed collaborative build coordinated by Gary Davis. This featured creations inspired by such legendary TV series as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO and Stingray. The centre piece was Gary's magnificent model of Thunderbird 3 which was making its UK debut. Other top creations included Gary's huge Thunderbird 2 complete with elevator cars, Peter Salter's Thunderbird 2 hanger and launch strip complete with power functions, a beautiful Angel Interceptor, once again built by Gary, and a massive model of Stingray's Marineville by Andrew Danielli, complete with a wonderful LED-lit seabed scene. I'm not sure who built the UFO Control Room staffed by custom Homemaker figures below but I loved it ! If anyone knows who the builder is please leave a comment and I'll credit them. (EDIT : The UFO Control Room was built by Eleanor Thorn and Andrew Walker - thanks for the info, Gary !)

Thunderbird 3 by Gary Davis

Angel Interceptor by Gary Davis

FAB 1 by Andrew Walker

UFO Control Room by Eleanor Thorn and Andrew Walker

Marineville by Andrew Danielli

Thunderbird 2 by Gary Davis

As in previous years, Pete Brookdale (cavegod) brought a large selection of his superb Star Wars MOCs down to Swindon from his home in the frozen north. These included old favourites such as his huge AT-AT and Sandcrawler, and also some newer models including his 74-Z Speeder Bike and Rancor, plus the recently released Set 10227 B-wing Starfighter. This time out Pete was joined by first-time exhibitor Sam Pearce who displayed a superb crashed AT-AT - anyone who's seen The Empire Strikes Back will immediately recognise the downed AT-AT from the movie. STEAM veteran James Sutton displayed his model of Yoda with glowing lightsaber and some of his superb large-scale Star Wars figures alongside Pete and Sam's stuff.

74-Z Speeder Bike by cavegod

Sam Pearce's downed AT-AT

Yoda by James Sutton

Rancor by cavegod

Set 10227 B-wing Starfighter

Caroline (Savage_Steel) and Nick, a.k.a. Minifigs.me, had brought a bunch of their custom minifigures along. Having started out by making custom minifigures for their friends, including some superb Watford F. C.  minifigs for me (much obliged !) they branched out into making custom minifigures of the Team GB Olympic and Paralympic medallists which really caught the public's imagination and thrust their creators into the media spotlight. Caroline and Nick showed off a selection of their celebrity figures including our medal-winning Team GB Olympians and Paralympians, various incarnations of Dr. Who, the cast of Red Dwarf, and even a parachuting Royal.... Special mention for Lucy (lost_in_translation) who put together an excellent miniature Strictly Come Dancing set complete with band at late notice to show off some of the Strictly glitterati.

On yer bike...

Not amused....

Sorry, Doctor Who ?

Significantly better than the TV show...

The were a number of train layouts and townscapes on display. Some of my favourites were Eleanor Thorn and Andrew Walker's Alien Invasion diorama (I love the decadent minority partying in the jacuzzi as the city burns, and the cow abduction !) and Chris and Yvonne Mathews' Dutch Townscape, as well as the big collaborative effort between Naomi Farr, Huw Millington, William Howard and Jason Railton. These are the kind of exhibits that you can stare at for ages and keep seeing more and more neat details that you hadn't previously noticed.

Alien Invasion by Eleanor Thorn and Andrew Walker

Alien Invasion by Eleanor Thorn and Andrew Walker

Dutch Townscape by Chris and Yvonne Mathews

Dutch Townscape by Chris and Yvonne Mathews

Train layout built by Naomi, Huw, Jason and William

One of the things that struck me as I wandered the exhibition halls over the weekend was the sheer variety of LEGO creations on display. Alongside the dioramas above, which are classic GWLS fare, were Technic and NXT exhibits. These included an eye-catching series of models by Simon Burfield, who showed his huge moving T1 Robot complete with a pair of fearsome mini guns and also his LEGO-built wheelchair which can shift a full grown adult. The wheelchair had been featured on a ton of blogs and other sites in the run-up to GWLS so it was excellent to see it in the brick, or at least in the liftarm... When I asked him what he'd be building for next year he said he might try and build a car to move people around the exhibition hall; if anyone else had said that I would just have laughed at them, but I wouldn't put anything past burf.... There was also an appearance from the team responsible for Cubestormer II, which holds the world record for fastest completion of a Rubik's Cube. Their machine looks cool even when it's not doing anything, and it's amazing to watch the thing in action.

Burf's Wheelchair

Cubestormer II

Below you can see pictures of a few more creations that particularly caught my eye. I really want to give a special mention to "Twilight of the Gods" by renowned builder Luke Hutchinson (a.k.a. Derfel Cadarn). It's utterly wonderful, spellbinding even; perhaps my favourite model of the whole show. Click on the picture below to enlarge it and take a closer look at the little details. Even the purple moat at the base of the tower, complete with little pink bubbles, just works. I love it ! Incredibly, it appears from Luke's Flickr Stream that he built the whole thing in just a few days. Astonishing.

"Twilight of the Gods" by Luke Hutchinson

Friend's Kitchen by Yvonne Doyle

Tim Fegan's Iron Man

Ralph Savelsberg's Land Rover

Mouse by Tim Goddard

Maersk Container Ship by Tom Groombridge

In addition to those creations above there were others which I would have included if I'd managed to get better photographs....James Sutton's large-scale Superman figure, Robert Clarkson and Maria Sant's Mephistic Manor display, Barney Main's Galleons, Annie Diment's Looney Tunes characters, James Pegrum's Sacking of Camulodnum, Tim Goddard's Triport Spire and Space Police Hangar, Candlestick Hall by Michael Le Count, and Jeremy William's Neo-Classic Space models, for example. And there were others that I didn't even manage to photograph at all despite my 350+ pictures. I've therefore embedded a video below shot by film production company Infinite8 which captures a few of the GWLS 2012 creations that I've missed - click arrow to view.

In summary, I was blown away by the quality of the models on show - the bar seems to rise every year. And it's not just showing off, either - it actually seems to be inspiring people, and not just the AFOLs. I genuinely lost count of the number of parents I spoke with who said that their kids were wide-eyed with wonder at what they were seeing and would be getting their LEGO out and building as soon as they got home. LEGO can't buy this kind of PR and publicity. Attendance figures were extremely healthy, with around eight and a half thousand people visiting over the weekend; I think that might be the most visitors that GWLS has ever had during the ten years it's been going. Certainly the venue was heaving on both days, and the traders seemed pretty much rushed off their feet. So a fantastic weekend, then, and it'll take a lot to keep me away next year. Many thanks to Martin Long and his team for organising a wonderful weekend, and of course to all the exhibitors, traders and visitors.

Before I go, just a quick word about the frequency and timing of posts on this blog. For over a year now I've tried to stick to weekly postings, with new stuff appearing on Wednesdays, and up until the last couple of weeks I've pretty much managed to stick to that. The problem is, as my postings have tended to get longer and more detailed, I've increasingly struggled to meet my weekly self-imposed deadline, particularly when I'm reviewing a larger model which takes a longer to build. I've generally managed it, but this blogging business is supposed to be fun, and rushing to hit deadlines feels a little too much like work for my liking.... I'm therefore going to relieve the pressure a bit and allow myself more flexibility in respect of posting on here; it was either that or force myself to post shorter entries, and where's the fun in that ?! So just a heads-up to those of you who check in on Wednesdays for the latest post that you might need to wait a bit longer in future. Apologies, but I hope it'll still be worth the wait.