Review: 7711 Sentry

[The Cobra]

"mass-manufactured and designed to withstand extreme amounts of punishment..." It's an Iron drone, and it's marching on its Sentry!

Set data

7711: Sentry

Year: 2006

Theme: Exo-Force

Subtheme: Robots

Pieces: 74 (+4 extra) <- both counting Hinge control stick and its base as two separate pieces

Price: Euro 7 circa, MISB, including S/H, on eBay; RRP was Euro 5 circa / 5 USD. Probably 5 UKP.

Building time: 20/25 minutes (10 minutes building, the rest of the time placing stickers!)

More info: Brickset - Peeron

Being 2006 my last dark year, I wasn't a big ExoForce fan but they were ok. I tought 2007 models were better, and still think 2008 models are the best. That basically means 1) It's a shame that there will be no more of this line and 2) this is my first 2006 model, yet I bought in in July 2008. Ok, let's do this one.

Box front: box was battered due to Italian Post; they'll do their best to give Lego boxes a "war" outlook.

Close-up: the Japanese katakana read "tokushu butai" -> special (military) force(s)

Box back: amazing alternate model; some like it more than the original design.

Box content: a small but capable sticker sheet, two bags and instructions.

Sticker sheet: and they're numbered!

Random instructions page: connecting legs to the body

Instructions page - sticker detail: that's why they're numbered.

Instructions page - parts inventory: does anybody check if they're all there before building? Surely not me.

Loose pieces: nothing rare, I think; small Techinc parts come in different colours, as usual (you often don't see them when the model is complete, but sometimes you do)

The Iron drone: "strong and durable" (and much better looking than those crappy MM jelly aliens)

Building starts.

The open cockpit - front and rear view

Left leg - front and rear view; right leg is built of the same pieces.

Left arm - with laser cannon

The cannon - great use of the hollow studs with the "Plant Tree Palm Top"

Right arm - with twin missiles

Complete model - front view

Complete model - side view and rear view

Rating and review.

Parts and building: nothing new, but both models are O.K. Instead of waiting the last page of the manual, you'd better put the stickers in place while building. Looking at the box you'd tell stickers background is (trans) purple. It actually is trans clear (excpet for the yellow and black stripes - warning: hazard!). Try not to put your fingerprints on the sticky side! Consider using tweezers.

Posability: both legs and both arms feature three joints; and that's good, so that the weight doesn't have the Sentry falling down.

Final model: smaller compared to 2007 Claw Crusher and 2008 Batlle Arachnoid, but cheaper and surely worth the money. The "minifig" is just another Iron drone, not much to say.

Final rating: 3,5/5

Edited September 1, 2008 by Sinner

[xenologer]

Thanks for the review.

I really do like the first year of EF.

Nowadays they mecha are perhaps more cleverly designed, and use ball joints for playability.

But I really love the blocky bulky look of the first Drone's machines.

And somehow the older ones seem a better value of parts. I'm more inclined to buy duplicates of them than the newer models.

[Siegfried]

Thanks for the review. This is one of the few first wave sets that I didn't get. I'm not really sure why as it wasn't too expensive.