Review - 6879 Blizzard Baron

[Tereglith]

:O My first review... scary

6879 Blizzard Baron

Found in my sister's closet among the baby clothes, manual typewriter, ancient Egyptian pottery, and ecosystem untouched by evolution for 300 million years, was this:

In it, I found the instructions to this set. And, after much strenuous sorting and dismantling of half-megablocksed MOCs, I also found all the pieces (and a wizard with a shrub on his head). I saw that there wasn't a review for this set, so I decided to go for it.

Blizzard Baron

Year: 1993

Set #:6879

MSRP: $8.00 in 1993. Equivalent to $11.85 USD in 2009.

Pieces: 82 bricklink, unknown box, 81 peeron

Box

So far as I can tell, the box that went with this particular set went to a landfill sixteen years ago. However, there is a picture on Peeron that shows the box. It's kind of weird shaped, very short and thick.

Instructions

They're about the size of normal small set instructions nowadays (almost precisely half the size of my small laptop keyboard!) However, these have a twist to them....

That's right! They UNFOLD!

And the back...

They have a very nice little picture of the set all spread out on what appears to be a clay background.

Instructions: Thoughts - I was very surprised to find folding instructions in a set this relatively large. The last time I had a set with folding instructions was during the Metru plotline of Bionicle, when I bought a matoran. However, it was really kind of nice not having to flip through pages and try to flatten out a folded instruction book. The color differentiation was very clear, and all the steps were easy to follow.

The Pieces

Somewhere in the low eighties, apparently. Here's what it would look like if you could dump them out of a box instead of painstakingly sorting for them through 650 basic bricks. (Conrad is quoting Shakespeare.)

A goodly amount for $8.00. However, I'm not sure how I'd feel about paying $12.00 for this, which is what the contemporary cost would be .

Organized, they look like this:

Black seems dominant, but it's mainly on the bottom in the finished set. White is second, with goodly amounts of blue and trans-orange, and that's about it except for the extraordinarily occasional splash of light grey (or maybe it's bley, I can't tell the difference with the light ones without a comparison)

There are some interesting and printed parts in the set. A 2x3x1 slope printed with the Ice Planet logo, 2 2x1 plates printed with the Ice Planet control panel, a trans-neon-orange chainsaw blade, a pair of things called 3x3x2 w/ facet top, and no less than 8 trans-neon-orange skis, as well as some of the old smooth connectors in blue.

Parts: Thoughts - A good balance of colors. There's a surprising number of plates for a set with such dimension. The printed parts are good, and 81 pieces (or maybe 82) is good enough for the equivalent of $12.00, given how many are very large.

The Build

It don't take long, that's for certain. Ten minutes, tops. There's a grand total of 18 steps, but most of them are simple.

STEP 4

We can already see the basic shape of the vessel. Note how dominant over the black the white is.

STEP 8

Upside-down for a while now. The skis get added (in case of emergency landing) at this step.

STEP 12

A flurry of activity makes the vehicle three-dimensional all of a sudden. In-cockpit controls !

STEP 16

The largely trans-neon-orange details are added, as well as the articulated cockpit. The main body of the ship is complete.

STEP 17

The penultimate step is this submodel:

Which can be attached to the back of the ship or left as a remote research station.

Thoughts: The Build - It's quick and simple, no really innovative techniques. On the other hand, nothing confusing, either.

The Finished Model

The finished model, includes, of course, the figure. Apparently the unique head that he had could be put to better use elsewhere by the former owners of this set, so the fig that I have now has a generic smilie. The torso printing and visor are really good though. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of them ...

Front view

Side view

Top view

Model: Thoughts -Well, it looks pretty darn cool. The shape is great and the colors work really well together. There are lots of little holes that would have been filled in if this were an MOC, but hey, they were working on a budget. The feature is really cool too - the research station connects to the back of the ship with a technic pin sort of connection, and it's held in place by two protrusions that go out on either side and touch the 1x1 tiles on it. It looks great with or without the station on the back.

Sigfig Killing Tomfoolery

Conrad wanted to try out the ship, but the molten-chainsaw-wielding Ice Planet explorer had other ideas....

"GET OUT OF MY SHIP!!"

Later that day...

"HALT! You're under arrest!"

"What for?"

"Aggravated assault with a molten chainsaw and premeditated sigfigicide!"

"But.. but what makes you think it was me?"

Sigfig Killing Tomfoolery: Thoughts - luckily, Conrad is a sorceror, so that was probably just a copy from another universe.

TOTALS!

Design - If the holes in the back weren't there, this would be a nine design. But the holes are there. 8/10.

Price - The value back then was equivalent to $11.85. This isn't exactly a stunning price per piece ratio, but compared to some of todays sets it's still okay. Plus, many of the pieces are large. Another 8/10.

Figure - Unique face, good torso, good visor.. however, there's only one of him. 8/10.

Swooshability - Very high. 10/10.

Playability - with the detachable ice station, skis, and, of course, molten chainsaw, very high. 10/10.

Total - 44/50 or 8.8 out of 10. Not quite outstanding, but this set is pretty good. Plus, it's available on Peeron for the same value it was 16 years ago - someone's selling it for $12.50! If you need those strange slopes, anything trans-neon-orange, or just something fun and swooshable, go and buy it! (or try cleaning out an ancient closet )

[Milan]

Nice review!

I have this set. I had many nice adventures while playing with it!