Futuron 6830 Space Patroller

For our first entry I give you Space Patroller.  I recently had the pleasure of building this set and was taken aback in a good way by its austere design.  When the wings fold forward it's just white; barely any details to speak of.  It gets extra plain when the robots come off. 

Despite the simple design there's some real complexity in the construction and movement.  For one thing the swing wing's angle is counter intuitive, as I discovered when I tried to mimic it in another spaceship I made.  

Second, the robots as engines are a genius move that allow children to choose if the engines or the robots are more important to play; and you get two of of these droids.

I can think of only two other Lego space sets that were equally generous with brick built robots: 6925 Interplanetary Rover, which was a significantly bigger toy.

6702 minifig pack, which lacked the clever trickery of 6830, though the design influence is clearly visible in the taller robot.  

The structure of the model is very spare and recalls to mind an egret with its vast swaths of white and its swept back wings.  Note that the wings can swing forward to make the front of the model look fatter at the expense of the back.  The robot engines give the rear a lot of character, but when they're detached, the  engine rack becomes very spare in detail.  

It's quite an accomplishment that despite having 48 pieces the Space Patroller looks like it has fewer, and feels like one more piece, or one less piece, would have ruined its clean economy of parts usage.  

Among the Futuron sets Space Patroller is the most spare looking model, despite not being the smallest.  It is a most elegant spaceship; comparable to 6932 Stardefender 200 the flagship of Futuron. 

The main component draw for 6830 comes from the prefab wall element, used here as a canopy.

I suppose when it came out the canopy would have been a big deal since it was new in 1988 and the set was cheap and mass produced, but given the model's increasing rarity and occasionally hefty price I can't recommend it for parts as it lacks any unique pieces.  To put it in perspective 6875 Hovercraft has two canopy windows and commands a similar price despite being a bigger toy.  

The Yellow Spaceman is the most common figure within the Futuron subtheme and I'm not as fond of it as I am of the other colors.  Therefore I personally feel 6830 is best left to the overzealous collectors if it goes north of 8 dollars.

6830 is the only  Futuron set with this bracket chassis in white, 

I must add an addendum... somehow I overlooked this piece, ubiquitous though it may be... Futuron only has two cylinder bricks in white... both of them here.

Other than that, it can be easily parted together from the existing collection.

If you like the looks of this model, it might make more sense to part it together from your collection depending on the number available and price at any given time.

It is all in all a very nice set.

Here is an example of 6830's creative potential

I envisioned building a robot, but got something more akin to a salvage/repair pod.  Stunning, I honestly didn't expect results this good, and this was my first attempt.

In hindsight as I'm updating and improving this post; I'm still blown away by how good this Space Patroller alternate was.  Even rebuilding it for the reshoot, it's a very basic, but surprisingly detailed build.

Final Decision: A-
Pros: Excellent main model, Great part selection
Cons: High secondary market price, insufficient selection of unique or rare pieces, Yellow Space Man