2011 Alien Conquest

[The Crazy One]

I have just made some large holes in Cafe Corner and I am starting to on the blue one ( name? ) so I can have a very nice city fight with ADU firing out the derelict buildings. I am buying the hell out of this theme!

[Algernon]

This theme is cool.I am probably going to get most of these sets.

If i can get all sets i want i am gonna get:

Alien encounter,

tripod invader,

ufo abduction,

alien mothership and

earth defence hq.

The "story line" is bad.Aliens that have more knwledge than humans stealing humans knowledge.

There are some awesome new molds too.

No love for the jet-copter. Am I really the only one who thinks it's outstanding?

I'm probably gonna pick up everything but the Mothership... although I really want that alien emperor! I wish it wasn't so pricey.

[Tereglith]

No love for the jet-copter. Am I really the only one who thinks it's outstanding?

You most certainly aren't. The Jet-copter is right at the top of my list. i think it looks like one of the best $40 sets in a while.

[seba]

No love for the jet-copter. Am I really the only one who thinks it's outstanding?

I am not sure about it.I just dont like the aliens that come with it or those mini ufo´s for them.The copter is cool home ever.It depends on the price.

[Ceroknight]

I am not sure about it.I just dont like the aliens that come with it or those mini ufo´s for them.The copter is cool home ever.It depends on the price.

really? I really like the fact that they can merge to become a bigger ship

If I had enough money after Starwars sets, I would buy all of the sets from Alien Conquest

[seba]

I like that those ufo´s can merge into a bigger ship,they are pretty cool but i like other alien things better.

[user]

I honestly don't really like the alien emperor at all, I don't get why everyone likes him so much. I personally think the pirate is waaayyy cooler.

[Sirens-of-Titan]

I honestly don't really like the alien emperor at all, I don't get why everyone likes him so much. I personally think the pirate is waaayyy cooler.

Well he's got a green octopus body, a funny uniform that looks like it has come from some spoof of Fidel Castro cartoon, and a head that is generically alien (without all the mechanical bits the cyborg comes with) I would say he is also the creepiest of the bunch too, so win on all fronts!

[Henchmen4Hire]

Yeah... I don't like the emperor either, it looks like random pieces thrown together. Needs a change of torso.

[ReZourceman]

These sets look absolutely amazing.

Havn't seen sets that look as awesome as these since original Exo-Force and original Agents IMHO. I'll get basically most of them, will have to grin and bare the price points/bear.

[ZO6]

All the sets in the line look fantastic. I really wish the saucer parts were printed, but otherwise I really like the designs and parts used across the board. I was disappointed with some of the Space Police 3 sets, but any of those issues seem to have been addressed here. Being someone who loves playability, all of these definitely look to deliver. I'm already really looking forward to a second wave, particularly a base.

[vexorian]

This year we have had a good share of printed elements. I am keeping my hopes that when the sets are released they are printed and it turns out the stickers were because of preliminarily.

[Aanchir]

This year we have had a good share of printed elements. I am keeping my hopes that when the sets are released they are printed and it turns out the stickers were because of preliminarily.

I have doubts about that. First of all, details such as the "We've been to Earth" bumper sticker would probably never appear on a printed part, because it ruins the part's versatility. And anyway, decorations covering large, flat areas are more convenient for both LEGO and the builder as stickers rather than printing, at least as far as I'm concerned. There are certain places where prints are ideal, but prints and stickers IMO are not totally interchangeable-- some pieces and decorations are better as printed parts, and others are better as stickered parts. Many of the details in this theme-- especially on the alien ships-- are better as stickers.

[LEGOMAN132]

I have just made some large holes in Cafe Corner and I am starting to on the blue one ( name? ) so I can have a very nice city fight with ADU firing out the derelict buildings. I am buying the hell out of this theme!

That sounds very cool. and I think its Market Street.

I cant wait for these sets.

[vexorian]

Many of the Pharaoh's quest printed elements this year are very specific to that theme.

I think that removing print is easier than applying stickers. If a print/sticker is too specific then maybe it shouldn't have been added in the first place.

[Aanchir]

Many of the Pharaoh's quest printed elements this year are very specific to that theme.

I think that removing print is easier than applying stickers. If a print/sticker is too specific then maybe it shouldn't have been added in the first place.

Removing prints, though, can't be undone. Whereas stickers, if you're careful with them, can be removed and reapplied without much loss of "stickiness". Alternatively, you can just not apply the stickers in the first place. It's something many people opt out of, and in my opinion is a much better way of getting a piece without decoration than to remove a print that could easily be very valuable at some point down the line.

It's true, many of the Pharaoh's Quest printed parts are pretty theme-specific. To be honest, I hadn't thought of those. Still, I much prefer stickers to prints in most situations.

There are places where I think stickers are a no-no, however, such as with STAMPS (Stickers Across Multiple Pieces), or parts like 2x2 round bricks that stickers simply will not remain stuck to. Thankfully, we haven't seen any instances of either in the Alien Conquest theme-- most of the stickers we've seen are on flat or mostly-flat areas where they can be easily applied.

[GeorgeR]

The "story line" is bad.Aliens that have more knwledge than humans stealing humans knowledge.

Yes it would make far more sense (given the market) that they've got Bieber-fever and are out to capture him or whatever muppet the 12 year olds will be listening to at the time.

I like the human designs, and this is definitely one of the less serious space themes they've come out with. I'm not really a fan of the retro UFO's though - it's been done to death. Lego being Lego meant this was never going to be their version of Halo, and more of a bubbly, Mars Attacks without violence style.

[Aanchir]

Yes it would make far more sense (given the market) that they've got Bieber-fever and are out to capture him or whatever muppet the 12 year olds will be listening to at the time.

I like the human designs, and this is definitely one of the less serious space themes they've come out with. I'm not really a fan of the retro UFO's though - it's been done to death. Lego being Lego meant this was never going to be their version of Halo, and more of a bubbly, Mars Attacks without violence style.

How have retro UFOs been done to death? The only two themes that had a lot of flying saucers were Spyrius and UFO. And no themes have had tripods before. The two identical alien craft that snap together into a larger craft in the Jetcopter set demonstrate also that this theme isn't restricting itself to retro UFO cliches.

All in all, I think that the use of traditional alien spacecraft designs provides some necessary variety as the follow-up to Space Police III's "futurized" versions of modern cars and trucks, as well as that theme's more unique vehicle designs.

[starwarsfanatic]

How have I only just found out about this! Alien Conquest - I want sets NOW!

[Tereglith]

The two identical alien craft that snap together into a larger craft in the Jetcopter set...

Reading this I realized that the Jet-copter's Alien ship is quite similar in execution to the UFOs in Battle L.A. It would probably be pretty easy to modify their design so that they would snap together into a circle like the ones in the movie.

(Somewhat off-topic: I saw Battle L.A. the other day. When it comes out on DVD I'm certain it will result in many deaths as people try to do Military/Alien Invasion cliche drinking games and get alcohol poisoning. But it is the first of a whole host of Alien movies coming out this summer. I suspect that this theme was made based on the recommendation of the same trend forecasters that Hollywood was talking to three years ago.)

[ssjherby2]

There is something about This theme that makes me think that LEGO is avoiding the Idea of returning to the Blacktron,or they could be building up the idea that with more variations of aliens to build a "Space City" theme. IDK i can hope. Anyway The only thing that is truly interesting about sets are the two human ships and the one mini ship that comes with the 7067 Jet-Copter Encounter.

[Legoist]

Not a huge fan of sci-fi themes in general (the only space theme I really like is Classic Space, and mostly for nostalgia reasons), but for me this theme is so underwhelming... It's clearly a KFOL-targetted theme, probably a replacement for Power Miners.

The theme idea itself is actually really good! Lots of playability and potential. But the only good thing in the "implementation" is the look & design of the alien spacecrafts.

Now for the bad sides: the design of the human vehicles is dull; the colour scheme is very childish but without having anything new (as e.g. Lime bricks in Power Miners); the parts are nothing special with some oversized ones; the minifigs are very toy-like.

This is from an AFOL's POV... if I were a KFOL I'd probably love this theme because all those bad sides would actually become good sides.

[lightningtiger]

I kind of agree with you 'Legoist', a real KFOL theme this is !

Every time I look at the sets I can't help but think about B-grade 50's sci-fi fused with Mars Attacks and a touch of Monsters Vs Aliens !

Kids will buy it but quite a few AFOLs wont (unless my son wants some of the sets ).

Keep on searching for those aliens !

[Aanchir]

There is something about This theme that makes me think that LEGO is avoiding the Idea of returning to the Blacktron,or they could be building up the idea that with more variations of aliens to build a "Space City" theme. IDK i can hope. Anyway The only thing that is truly interesting about sets are the two human ships and the one mini ship that comes with the 7067 Jet-Copter Encounter.

I don't think LEGO will be returning to a Blacktron theme ever, mainly because single-faction themes are (for the most part) dead. Even BIONICLE, which in the very least typically had a different faction each half of the year, has been replaced by Hero Factory, where the heroes and villains get a pretty much simultaneous release every wave. The idea today seems to be to have conflict role-play possible even with just one set, so both the good guys and bad guys have to come in every set-- and conflict-based themes are almost invariably named after the good guys (if not generic like "Castle" or "Kingdoms").

I had hoped for a while that there might be a glimmer of a chance that Space Police III might continue with a new wave something like this, but I guess LEGO felt that the Space Police theme had been played out sufficiently and they wanted to move towards a very different sort of space theme for variety's sake. Perhaps at some point they'll move back towards the sort of deep-space theme that Space Police III focused on, but for now this "alien invasion" theme seems to be designed independent of other Space themes and released chiefly on its own merits rather than as a way of gearing up for more traditional space factions.

[Sirens-of-Titan]

I don't think LEGO will be returning to a Blacktron theme ever, mainly because single-faction themes are (for the most part) dead. Even BIONICLE, which in the very least typically had a different faction each half of the year, has been replaced by Hero Factory, where the heroes and villains get a pretty much simultaneous release every wave. The idea today seems to be to have conflict role-play possible even with just one set, so both the good guys and bad guys have to come in every set-- and conflict-based themes are almost invariably named after the good guys (if not generic like "Castle" or "Kingdoms").

I had hoped for a while that there might be a glimmer of a chance that Space Police III might continue with a new wave something like this, but I guess LEGO felt that the Space Police theme had been played out sufficiently and they wanted to move towards a very different sort of space theme for variety's sake. Perhaps at some point they'll move back towards the sort of deep-space theme that Space Police III focused on, but for now this "alien invasion" theme seems to be designed independent of other Space themes and released chiefly on its own merits rather than as a way of gearing up for more traditional space factions.

You raise some very interesting and valid points, it seems every theme is moving in the direction of good vs. bad guys. Whether it is explorers and undead mummies, space humans and aliens, evil knights or good knights, every theme is riddled with extreme polar conflicts that are supposed to create numerous hours of play-time.

I think this is has a history of starting right around when the vikings theme came out; it was all humans vs. monsters and from there the ball got rolling into castle and so on. I don't mind very much; if anything it lets you collect more factions, and with bricklink readily available one could pick just one or the other and go crazy collecting and army building. Sets to me, even when I was 8, were more-so a source of parts and ideas than a final play product.