So I stopped off at my local Toys R Us (Los Angeles, on La Cienega) and found they had stocked all of the new sets including Space Police! They also had the new Agents set including the giant robot (tempting), the new Power Miners and Castle sets too. I think it's kind of a Lego specialty TRU as I have met the local Lego reps there before.

I picked up Squidman's Escape (so the police would have a vehicle) and Space Truck Getaway - overpriced at TRU ($35) but where else is it available now? Squidman is a fun set, I like the little speeder. There is an extra set of red and blue cheese so you can put another set of police lights on the back if you want. One thing I like is that you can have the policeman either standing on the studs of the bike, or laying across the studs. I even was able to fit two minifigs on the bike by having the driver stand on the hinge in the middle. I would have liked weapons for either figure or maybe a jetpack for the policeman, but oh well.

Space Truck Getaway - this is a great set. The build was nice and long, not too hard, but lots of cool new pieces (or new to me, anyway) like the front sword-like spikes, the semisoft winglets, and of course the alien figure and helmet. Snake is a very nice figure, the helmet looks great especially with the visor down. The build starts with the front and chassis of the truck, continuing on through the container (lots of slats and long boards) and the laser, then adding the wings at the end. Snake can sit (somewhat uncomfortably) inside the truck, but there's no hinge or anything to fit him in - the roof of the cabin is easy enough to lift off though. Once everything is all together, you've got what looks like a grungy space U-haul done up with a mean custom job and lots of graffiti.

The stickers, I thought, are very nice, especially the large ones for the sides of the container. You get a layered look of the original truck/container company logo and stripe (looks like the old "planet" logo) along with scratches and graffiti tags. Then there's lots of damage including big explosion marks and bullet holes. The damaged look continues on other stickers including the windshield mesh, hood and roof. I like that they give the design some damage and weathering so that it looks more like a villain vehicle.

The container splits open and the laser raises up on two technic pieces, and can swivel and tilt to nearly any position. A nice touch is that it has police stickers on it that have been scratched over. The main police sticker has tick marks on it indicating that they have shot 13 policemen!

The cons - I didn't realize the cabin was open from the rear, which kind of sucks for Snake unless he doesn't need air. When the container's closed, it's just fine, but when it splits open, the cabin is completely open in the back. I do like the little control panel they put inside the container for the laser though.

The laser is on one of those annoying loose swivels, so it tends to swing around a lot. I may put some nail polish on that to tighten up the swivel. The container stays closed well enough, but some sort of latch or something would have been nice. The container itself is pretty open on the bottom - if you want another figure to ride along inside, they'll have to balance pretty well.

Snake doesn't come with any sort of weapon, and the police figure's handheld rocket launcher (or freeze ray, whatever) is pretty boring. I would have rather had a little bit of a police vehicle to go along with the truck, but considering the bulk of the truck, I can see why they just included the lone police figure.

All in all, I'm really happy with both sets, and I will probably get Gold Heist and Freeze Ray, and I will certainly get Hyperspeed Pursuit when it comes out. Gold Heist looked a little garish in person - lots of clashing colors. Turns out that little thing on Frenzy's scooter isn't a weapon, it's more like a tow hook for the container to hook up to. I guess there's a lever on the police ship that releases the safe.

Of the other sets I saw, I will certainly try to pick up the Agents robot set, though that big helicopter looks way overpriced. The boat set looks like fun if only for the figures, and the four wheeler set looks okay. I think I may be done with Power Miners, the new sets looked bad - that thing with all the sawblades looked bizarre. The new King's Chariot and Drawbridge sets look nice and shiny too.

Tim

"toy geek"

Very nice review- sometimes verbal can be just as good as pics. Well, maybe not.

Anyway, sounds like a good vehicle, though I don't like:

-The open botton on the container

-cockpit sounds difficult to reach.

-No proper weapons for the Police or baddies. A flick-fire is not a weapon.

This is the best non-pictorial review I've ever seen! Good job though I am still anxious to see the General amerandez reviews that he said he'd do about 4 days ago.

Nice review

This is the best non-pictorial review I've ever seen! Good job though I am still anxious to see the General amerandez reviews that he said he'd do about 4 days ago.

Yep im sorry alot for this and since people have done reviews on the other sets Im gonna do this set.

Welcome to Eurobricks, and what a magnificently comprehensive first post. You did a great job!

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

Thanks for the positive reinforcement guys. I will certainly do more reviews once I get more sets (maybe this week...hmmm)

Yes, the container opens by hand, or if you lean it to the side, there is no action to open it beyond simple swivels. It stays closed via friction and gravity, and not much else. Still, it's not bad in person. You can always switch one of the trim tiles on the container top to go across both halves to hold it shut, that way it will stay closed when swooshing. There are little stabilizers on hinges on both of the back engines facing toward the container - I didn't notice those at first. You can move them towards the container to prop up the sides a little better, or move them away from the container sides to allow the halves to open nice and wide.

One thing I did not mention in my original review - the stickers are all on clear plastic backing, and most of the time they are meant to go on a dark surface and provide graffiti or damage, so there is some clear plastic content of each sticker. When peeling the stickers you will want to ensure that 1. your fingers are totally clean and 2. you grab the sticker on a corner that has some printing and not on a clear plastic bit. You WILL get fingerprints embedded into the sticker's backing otherwise, and they WILL look glaringly obviously like fingerprints when applied, especially on a dark colored part.

Having said that I love the stickers. The container bits are best to apply when the container is together so you can line up the stripe and that big gash in the side. Kind of looks like the laser fired accidentally while inside the container!

I am definitely thinking of adding more of a bottom to the truck back, there is certainly room for it. It's interesting that if you leave off the container and the laser, it resembles nothing so much as a space tow truck. Or maybe one of those container hauling trucks without the container. So definitely there is some build variation in the set. I could see a whole fleet of different sort of space trucks made from this design.

I could also definitely see adding some sort of back to the cab, though that will take some redesign as there is currently only a tiny amount of clearance between Snake's helmet inside the cab and the container front when closed. Maybe something that folds up would work...

A quick mod I did to the speeder from Squidman's Escape - I added a small top clip 1x1 piece and a blue half-rivet to the back of the speeder (clipped onto one of the two white bars on the back) so that it forms a swivelling propulsion nozzle. Now it looks like there is some sort of directional propulsion on the thing.

After seeing the little mini-movie, it was a sure thing to give P-Squiddy a spray can (that little nozzle piece plus a clear green cylinder) so now he's ready to tag the town...

Anyone got their Gold Heist yet? Is it worth getting? I will probably get it, but those Agents sets are tempting too...

Tim

"toy geek"