xenologer

The wheels on Max Security Transport are very clever, But I say this vehicle is No Substitute for Spy Trak 1 without a cool steering mechanism. From the looks of it, I doubt is has any; which is sad, lately steerable ground vehicles have been getting scarce. I actually like the looks of Squidman's Pit Stop. I love small space scooter vehicles, and this set has a bunch of them. And you get 3 aliens in one place. My only real complaint is theres either too much yellow, or too much red; these two colors side by side make me feel a little queasy. I'd prefer if they replaced more of the red with black, get closer to the original Blacktron1 colors. P.S. where is this prelim pic of Max Security I heard mentioned? kinda curious...

If I had to guess, I'd think that the new 1*2 cheese slope is less expensive than a pair of 1*1 cheese. So it makes sense to have as a part in models where so often cheese is lined up... It's also going to be prettier in many cases by eliminating seams between usual cheese pairs...

Sometimes named minifigs bug me, like the Powerminers depending on where I look their names seem to change. I definetly like that the SP3 aliens have names though, makes them more colorful somehow. Maybe the real issue isnt names, but whether or not there's a story to go with a theme? They can call the minifigs whatever they want but its really not too interesting to me unless there's a context.

I think the Coffee Maker is the best part of this set. I really dislike that there's seemingly a hole in the middle of the vehicle (side view); if they had instead left the rear of the cockpit open so there is a passageway to this hole, then it would make for a really interesting interior; just put a bunk back there along witht he coffee machine. The rest I don't really like, the 4 giant saws are kinda over the top, and I don't like way they are attached.

Yeah, I've also noticed that the aerials are definetly very loose now. It's a real problem when I sit a minifig into a vehicle, and the simple act of pushing the control lever into his hand is enough to pop the aerial base loose. The old ones were too tight, and I agree they are probably overcompensating with the new mould. I think a better solution would have been to add a simple groove to the base (much like how classic tiles are sharp edged but modern ones have a groove to help with prying them loose). And even having the old ones too tight didn't bother me much, one solution is to simply put a 1*1 round plate under them so they can be rotated more easily.

How does the arm/crane part on the back work? It looks like they have that little clip piece bracing it or something...

Wow that is awesome Suddenly I am regretful that I did not pick up more than one leia-s metal bikini torso from the build-your-own-minifig. At the time I figured that I would never find a good use and at 3$each... *sigh*

Not really I'm just an engineer and have a tendancy to obsess over logic puzzles. If I was feeling a little more manic I'd probably actually draw up a table of bit patterns and what they can be changed to... then also cross reference with the checksum digit at the end of the UPC and figure out exactly what percentage of UPCs are vulnerable to switching via white-to-black color changes.... This is the kind of logic/math problem I'd used to get back in college for homework (computer science major), sure does bring back memories. Hmmh, this is the kind of analysis the UPC designers probably calculated when choosing the code format; so I bet there's a white paper on the topic... but calculating it yourself is more fun. Bonus Brain Teaser: can the bit patterns be reorganized for the code digits and checksum digit such that it becomes Impossible for a marker to ever alter a code and remain valid?

Well, my understanding is that each of these digits is represented by 7 bars which can be black or white colored to encode a different binary value. A sharpie in theory, can turn a white bar black, thus changing the value of a digit when placed properly. You'd have to be extremely accurate about placement though, and know what you were doing... Also, since you can only change from white to black, only certain number values will be possible, so it would probably be pretty hit or miss as to if the new UPC created is of any use... EDIT, hit or miss is an understatement futher research indicates the checksum at the end of the UPC wuold also need to be altered, furthur limiting the number of possible changes that can be made with a simple sharpie. However a thief might potentially still get lucky and find a UPC that is amendable to change; seeing as how there are price checker scanners around the shop there's plenty of opportunity for him to guess and check.

After seeing the photos of 5971 Gold Heist, and feeling a little dissapointed with the official model, I made this. It's meant to be a civilian cargo lifting vehicle, ubiquitous spaceport utility vehicle often used in loading larger cargo ships. And of course most pirate fleets have a few of these on hand for flying off with loot... The swiveling VTOL engines are the most obvious reference to the original. The awkward front engines and wings have been reduced to simple thrusters for a more streamlined appearance. The canopy has been made airtight. And instead of the gold safe dropping mechanism it has a grabber arm for picking up more general items... I'm really happy with the landing skids. see LDD link here.

So they built this entire wierd police hover vehicle soley for the gold safe gimmick... meh Here's a Crazy Idea! What if, instead of having the hover thing say police on the side, they made it yellow like a civillian cargo lifter vehicle used around a spaceport. This would make much more sense for what it is, and it would seem less gimmicky. Then make the gold safe into a larger cargo box, perhaps containing more interesting items, like minifig suitcases or laptops. Then, keep the Alien minifig with his funny ejector chair, and the cop, but give the cop maybe the K-9 robot as seen in the impulse set. Now instead of a simple, 'alien steals safe from police vehicle', you have a much more complex and interesting model: 'alien steals luggage from cargo carrier, police patrolman attempting to apprehend on foot'... This would also imply a much more diverse universe for the theme... I mean, what good are space cops without some space civilians? -reminds me of the situation with City a while back, all cops and firemen and no women or children... Getting this set is a low priority for me... tho I might eventually for the alien minifig, and so I can mod it as described above, if it didn't claim to be a police vehicle the lifter would be OK sitting around a spaceport layout...

Lemme guess a few possibilites: He probably doesnt actually cut the UPC off and swap em, cause that would look really obvious, right? So maybe... A sticker UPC that he puts over the real one. or A black marker, where he blacks out a few of the bar code stripes so it reads as a different item when scanned. -this would take quite a bit of study to get right, but I suspect this may very well be what it was...

The Red Dragon makes me think, didn't they already make a green version of this? right down to the alternate models and the light brick feature? Except red is much less rare a color than green, I'll pass. That car carrier now, looks great. Mainly interested in that nice white car on the rack. And the alternate model with the mobile crane looks better than the ones from the City theme. The Blue bucket I'm also thinking I may have to get, I see what looks like a pull back motor, and lots of nice wheels, and some unusual parts.

Yep, I noticed. The Technic 1*2, 1*4 bricks are priced less, (but probably more costly to manufacture) so until they fix this, I simply use those instead. Agree, they aren't being all that careful with the software/PaB.

Thanks for the info at 30$ I guess it makes sense that the container would be an open bottomed facade deal... It would have been much nicer if it was totally sealed and perhaps even removable from the spacetruck. This is probably going to be my first choice of mod when the set becomes available in my area. Just think, it could be a standalone container sitting in the space police supply yard, and the Blacktron truck swooshes in and makes off with the container... much play action missed out it seems Just to clarify, the container opens up "by hand"? there's no action button or lever you press to make it pop open? No knob to twist that makes the laser cannon rotate? too bad... more room to mod

How do you think Bionicle stays in business?

I really like the first one, it reminds me a lot of the floaty robots from the videogame Descent.

Too long and tall for the A wing. Ought to be short and wide, with an obvious triangular shape when seen from above.

I guess the hardest part is going to be the 'accordion' folds. What if, you made thin frames out of plates, and stacked them, but each one is not actually connected to its neighbor, instead they are strung like pearls onto a technic flex tube? Then each end of the flex tube is attached to the front and rear bus sections. when the bus pivots, the flex tube bends, and each of these plate frames will kinda go along for the ride... Here! I just made a LDD model for the concept: What do you think? Of course, under the floorboards you still need to make a technic chassis that joins the front and rear bodies and makes them hinge nicely.

I for one like the nontraditional construction used in the motorcycle. It's nice to see the designers using that body shell in a new way. Plus now I can get one, and use it to make a spacey hoverscooter or whatnot, without having a leftover motorcycle underbody lying around after. And who doesnt want a gold dinosaur?

I like Snake's head print. But the torso is wierd, the eye in the middle of his chest looks too much like a belly button at first glance, silly.

Very neat. I love the hoverbikes. And theres defintly some unconventional construction techniques being used in here (for an official model). I only wish Kranxx's head didn't have a hole through the mouth, having the minifig torso neck stud visible through there might be odd in some situations.

Nice! the big ?mobster? spaceship is only 30$$? I would have paid 40$ Seeing as how all the criminal vehicles have the same general color scheme and design, I assume there's some kind of official faction name for them. Anyone know what it is? ?Blacktron3?

sigh why why why is it that TRU always gets them like 2 weeks before the Lego Shop... ohwell Congrats Still cant wait.

I'll suggest that in this case its worth Less than that part would be normally. If it was a cool looking marbling, that was like uniform across the whole part, then maybe more, but in this case its just kinda an ugly scar on one side.