6811 Pulsar Charger

This has been a busy, stressful week...but now it's over and I have a simpler set from a simpler time.

this humble space scooter is small, but droolworthy nonetheless.  It was one of those toys that I envied my friends for having because of the parts that were scarce after 1990...One of my friends had seven...my Mom nixed what would have been my first Lego swap when I was 8.  Speaking of which, I've never completed a Lego swap, they were all nixed by my Mother and they were all centered on my efforts trying to obtain someone's M-tron set for something of mine.  When I finally started collecting old Space sets I even started with M-Tron.  Have I mentioned how much I love Ebay yet?

So what makes this diminutive set so special?
I'd say it's this piece right here.  Sure you could also get it in 6896 Celestial Forager, but it was just that much easier to obtain in 6811 Pulsar Charger.  It's got a unique slope, SNOT option's, seating, and the M-tron print which stands for M-agnets and M-arvelous, and M-agnificent.  Oh!  It's also the only red variant.

In short I always wanted that piece, and I bucked against barriers until I finally nabbed two from the arctic line in orange...a rather useless color in my collection unfortunately.

I never did anything grand with these parts...but they were fun to mess around with.

Oh hey, there's new arctic sets out...I may just get that orange part supply I've lacked.

We were talking about M-Tron...weren't we?

Right, Pulsar Charger.

Overall the build is very solid; down to the antenna anchor.  This model was meant to take a beating.

The build contains a lot of desirable pieces, as exemplified by the rocket cone in the back, and the Space chair in red.

A robot control arm is mounted to the side.  My guess: Cruising speed/Ludicrous speed.  But it might also be a parking break.  At any rate it is a nice extra control for our intrepid explorer to drive his ship.

The steering wheel piece was a controversial part choice, and if you go over to Brickset, you'll find a fair share of its detractors proffering up the M-Tron computer tile or control sticks as a replacement. However; there is a long tradition of spacecraft steering wheel use dating back to 1979; Pulsar Charger hearkens back to that old school feel, and I find it fitting that M-Tron's designers would give a little nod to the classics.

Overall Pulsar charger is a pretty little rocket powered space dart with great parts.  Whether it's the right choice for you will be heavily influenced by your opinion of its space nose.

And now it's time for exclusives, M-tron exclusives, and odds'n'ends.

This red space chair first appeared in 1987 with 6693 Refuse Collection Truck.  Aside from that, 6811 Pulsar Charger is the only other source for the part; Making it both a space exclusive, and an M-Tron exclusive. It is uncommon but easy to come by.  You get 1.

Next up, we have these black wings which come as a pair.  The black version first appeared in a Legoland Town Airport before making its way to space in Black-tron circa 1987.  It is rather common in golden era space, but Pulsar Charger is the only M-Tron set to contain the pair.

Finally, the Red steering wheel appears to be an exclusive for Pulsar Charger in both Space and M-Tron.  It is a common piece in town sets, but if you're only collecting space sets you won't come by another.  You just get the 1 piece.

So, that's all the special bits.  And this is where the fun begins.  It's alternates time.

Image source credited to Virginia Kukaj's Ebay store listing.

I'm particularly enamored of the bottom left model, as the other two kind of inspire confusion.

Here we've got a little surface hopper for exploring craters; pretty basic.

And that's the alternates.  The set is small and alternate options will be very hit or miss.  There aren't nearly enough parts to fully utilize the Space nose, but certainly, this model will inspire your builder's brain.

Final Score: C+
Pros: Great Starter set, saturated with cool parts, nose piece
Cons: very small, lacks compelling alternate options

As a parting farewell I present these other Lego sets which share common features with Pulsar Charger.  The Lego designers really liked pairing two particular parts together a lot as you will see here.

Development set...never released

1986

1986

1987

1987

1990

It should come as no surprise, but the original head of Lego space development, was also in charge of the initial wave of Aquazone sets.  We probably have Jens Nygaard Knudsen to thank for all the iterations of the space nose/chair combo from 1985-1995.  It hasn't been seen since.
1995

What are your thoughts on the Space nose/space chair combo.  Has it run its course?  Or; is it a compelling design worth tinkering with?  Sound off in the comments if you'd like.

Until next time, the Cure-All-Pill.