Review: Undercover Cruiser 5893

[Artanis I]

I checked the price in LEGO Shop and for most European countries the price is €29.99, exactly same with the Container Heist, but it has more pieces (317 to 282) and a very nice design and function, so honestly speaking it doesn't seem very expensive to me. I mean... hey, with over 300 pcs, in the old Space days, this would be considered a rather large set and nowadays it sells like a below average model

Okay, maybe in Europe it's fine. Considering our increasingly more favourable exchange rate at the moment, Lego should be a lot cheaper here this year, not more expensive. Here, for AU$59 it's more than the $44 or $49 price we had for Container Heist / Space Truck Getaway, plus these days piece count is (in my opinion) irrelevant since it seems most of them are those cheese wedges or other similar sized tiny bits! If you want to compare quantity fairly between new & old sets, compare the grams, not # of pieces?

[Rocketbilly]

I've been pouring over this review again and again since you posted it, but I just noticed something in one of your pictures - the red printing on the Police officer's badge on his torso looks incredibly dull. Is it just the picture or have you got a badly printed torso?

All my Space police officers have a brighter coloured badge.

How odd!

Anyway, thanks again for the great (and addictive!) review.

Will/Rocketbilly

[Toa_Of_Justice]

Hmm... not a bad idea... not bad at all... Funilly enough, although I have only a handful of 2000's Lego sets, I do own this B-Wing fighter. It was the very first I bought as an adult after a 17 year break

But it would take some skill and inspiration to make a landing stand that looks good and doesn't interfere with the design of the main ship. And I don't have so many modern bricks, as most of my Legos are vintage Space from the 80's

Anyway, I may give it a try. I first have to purchase the set. I checked all European countries available in LEGO shop and Germany is one of the 2-3 countries only where the set is not available yet!

I'm not sure that modern bricks are absolutely necessary for building a landing stand. Since you have Space sets, the kinds of bricks typically used in those sets should work just fine. If your sets include them, I would especially recommend using supports, large plates, and a baseplate.

As for Undercover Cruiser's availability, have you checked one of the LEGO Stores in Germany? Sometimes, LEGO Stores carry items that aren't available through Shop at Home. I personally experienced that with Highway Haulers back in 2006.

-Toa Of Justice

[feanor]

Okay, maybe in Europe it's fine. Considering our increasingly more favourable exchange rate at the moment, Lego should be a lot cheaper here this year, not more expensive. Here, for AU$59 it's more than the $44 or $49 price we had for Container Heist / Space Truck Getaway, plus these days piece count is (in my opinion) irrelevant since it seems most of them are those cheese wedges or other similar sized tiny bits! If you want to compare quantity fairly between new & old sets, compare the grams, not # of pieces?

Hehe! I cannot weigh the Lego boxes, they don't sell them in supermarkets together with the minced meat But you are right, there is more detail in new Lego sets which means more smaller pieces. However still, given that the Undercover Cruiser sells with the same price as the Container Heist in Europe, I don't have reasons to complain. Apparently in Australia things are different. Maybe the Container Heist ships in containers to Australia whereas the Undercover Cruiser has to cruise all the way there

[feanor]

I'm not sure that modern bricks are absolutely necessary for building a landing stand. Since you have Space sets, the kinds of bricks typically used in those sets should work just fine. If your sets include them, I would especially recommend using supports, large plates, and a baseplate.

As for Undercover Cruiser's availability, have you checked one of the LEGO Stores in Germany? Sometimes, LEGO Stores carry items that aren't available through Shop at Home. I personally experienced that with Highway Haulers back in 2006.

-Toa Of Justice

I have loads of spare bricks that do not derive from any specific set. They are from the time I was building a Futuron Flagship. The good thing is that Futuron and Space Police III use the same basic colours which means most of my spare parts fit the Undercover Cruiser perfectly.

There is a Lego flagship store in the city where I live and I had already asked a few days ago. They said they are expecting the second SP III wave somewhere in July.

[Legio XIII]

Chuck Norris can make the Kessel run in less than 10 parsecs.

[Artanis I]

Hehe! I cannot weigh the Lego boxes, they don't sell them in supermarkets together with the minced meat But you are right, there is more detail in new Lego sets which means more smaller pieces. However still, given that the Undercover Cruiser sells with the same price as the Container Heist in Europe, I don't have reasons to complain. Apparently in Australia things are different. Maybe the Container Heist ships in containers to Australia whereas the Undercover Cruiser has to cruise all the way there

Haha.

Going to get another one of these sets, Target has 25% off the price of selected sets (including this one) from Thursday. (Brings it down to the price it should be, but hey, that's better than a punch in the face.)

[Toa_Of_Justice]

I have loads of spare bricks that do not derive from any specific set. They are from the time I was building a Futuron Flagship. The good thing is that Futuron and Space Police III use the same basic colours which means most of my spare parts fit the Undercover Cruiser perfectly.

There is a Lego flagship store in the city where I live and I had already asked a few days ago. They said they are expecting the second SP III wave somewhere in July.

I'm glad you have the right colors, but do you think you have appropriate part shapes? If you have at least 4 each of support elements and large plates (and optionally, 1 baseplate), I think that would work.

If for some reason you can't wait until July, you could try one of the eBay or Amazon.com links on this page. It might cost you more money though.

-Toa Of Justice

P.S. I just noticed that the set number in the topic title is wrong--it should be 5983, not 5893. The other number is the one for the 2010 Creator set called Offroad Power.

[feanor]

I'm glad you have the right colors, but do you think you have appropriate part shapes? If you have at least 4 each of support elements and large plates (and optionally, 1 baseplate), I think that would work.

If for some reason you can't wait until July, you could try one of the eBay or Amazon.com links on this page. It might cost you more money though.

Well, hmm... let me get the set first and then I'll see what fits better to it. I'm pretty confident I'll come up with some solution.

Actually I found the set in a German internet shop in a very competitive price (together with shipping costs it would cost me same as list price at Lego Shop), but I'm picky and trying to save money, so I may wait a bit to see how the situation will be once the set is more widely available in Germany. Usually Amazon.de makes good discounts already from the beginning. Then again in such a new and not particularly expensive set, the discount may be no more than €5, so I'm not sure if it makes sense to wait... For serious discounts I'll have to wait maybe 6-12 months, and I don't have sooo much patience

I started thinking of trying also the Lunar Limo, but maybe if I saved on Legos I might be able to get a new iphone 4 which would bring me more in line with my physical age

[feanor]

Right! Finally the second wave of SP3 is available in Germany and I bought -right when I saw it in a Lego store- my (too) long anticipated 5983 -Undercover Cruiser.

I cannot say that it exceeded my expectations, because they were too high, but it is still very good! I was surprised by the smooth 'automatic' rotation of the wings, when one performs the transformation. I was also pleased to see that tilting the rear part down is obviously meant to act as a support for landing. In this case the vessel does not stay 100% parallel to the ground but the angle is almost negligible (and it is a toy, for a toy it's very, very well thought through!).

I will start soon though with the construction of a landing stand as it was my plan (thanks again, Toa Of Justice for the idea) to have the ship properly displayed. I made a quick first effort and it is a very easy task.

I am already contemplating of buying also the Lunar Limo and the SP Central...