6877 Vector Detector

In 1991 the Lego company unleashed a special offer for an instruction manual which you could mail in for and use with three of the M-Tron sets.  All you had to do was buy the three sets and you could build it.  I call this shrewd marketing.

Here is the first entry in the 6862 Secret Space Voyager construction series

6877 Vector Detector was released in 1990 and is the smallest M-Tron set to contain the famous magnets; and the M-Tron crate.  It's a somewhat small transport craft with three sets of wings and a similar cockpit profile to Beacon Tracer.  Within the M-Tron series this is the fourth smallest set, and the first transporter size craft, which is significant since transporting cargo is what M-Tron does best.

The M-Tron theme is something of a merchant/mechanic/mining fleet as I've gathered and this particular set was priced in that awkward spot where it doesn't offer much in the way of mercantile transportation, and has no repair support for downed spacecraft whatsoever.  As a mining craft it is only a Mineral transporter.  

In point of fact, I don't think M-Tron is a mining fleet...they've got nothing on Rock Raiders where that's concerned.  Additionally this is known as Search Craft in Great Britain, and that is literally the best function it can offer.  Though, Vector Detector's two front radar dishes/plasma blasters? could probably help it hide/hold its own against a smallish Black-tron vessel while looking for a downed Futuron Stardefender 200.  

The British names for the M-Tron sets suggest a search and rescue operation for the M-Tron theme.  I think the set designs bear that out.

This is the red shirt of the M-Tron fleet...destined to get out of its depth in combat situations. Heavens help it if it crosses vectors with a 6981 Aerial Intruder.  Remember the survivor's motto...detect and run away!!!!!

The Vector Detector's Cockpit has an interesting locking function that uses red clips rotated on the then new antennas to hold the window down.  It is a very exact fit.

Closed

Opened

The main fuselage is two studs wide and looks somewhat awkward due to its length.  The designers tried to resolve the odd appearance by including a red wing cutout that gives the front end a triangle shape from the top, but that only draws more attention to the thinness of the craft.  This set doesn't offer the best of M-Tron design, though it certainly got some of the desirable bits into the hands of penny pinching kids.  

Of all the M-Tron sets Vector Detector was the most prevalent among the kids I knew growing up. Its desirability as an investment is suspect; but for cash strapped collectors it is fairly easy to get.  I've seen sealed examples sell for very reasonable prices in the last year...relative to other sets in the theme of course.

That out of the way let's take a look at Vector Detector's special attributes.

The unique parts

1, also in Secret Space Voyager, but that is this set plus two others.  If you need a reason to get Vector Detector, this is it.

  

The parts you won't get in other M-Tron sets

2, very common part, but not in M-Tron.

1, another slope which is also very common.

1, this unprinted neon green window was unique in 1990 to Vector Detector, but 1991's Black-Tron: Future Generation flooded the market with it.

1, this is a pretty common piece.

1 in Black, this is the most common color for this bracket.

Overall 7 parts that add value to the M-Tron collection out of 59 total pieces.

And so we arrive at my favorite part of the blogpost: Alternatives!

The models are various kinds of spacecraft.  Overall, it looks like the designers ran into the same problem I did...you have to use a significant number of parts from this set to get anywhere with a design.  

Oh hello...one part was sticky...yuck!

Scrub a dub...into the bath we go...welcome to collecting old toys.

A small fighter. 

A Transport craft: 100% Vector Detector parts usage.

So that's Vector Detector; and here's a Futuron variant made by:

Rafał Zerych

Futuron Vector Detector

Final Score: C+

Pros: Easy to find, Good part selection, magnets

Cons: Thin design, bland looking compared to M-Tron lineup

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.

Lego 6833 Beacon Tracer

Starting today, I'm adding M-Tron to the list of Space themes you can read about here at Futuron of My Youth.



This is a special theme to me.  M-Tron's 6833 Beacon Tracer was my first Lego Space set, and unlike everything I've reviewed up to now, this set has been with me since I received it from my Dad after he came back from a deployment in '91.  It has always held a treasured place in my collection; and this despite its diminutive size.



Back in 91 Space, and Castle were the two themes I most wanted, but by and large I was given a good selection of town sets for birthdays, Christmas, and rare treats, and it wasn't until I was able to go into the Toys'R'Us, the same one where I saw 6990 spinning merrily around its track, and hand select Beacon Tracer, that I was able to alter the course of my collection.  For better or worse 6833 Beacon Tracer and 6059 Knight's Stronghold would only appear as a blip in my collection.  As a result I logged countless hours playing with these sets specifically.  I most certainly had Beacon Tracer investigate a strange fortress when the castle was new.

Beacon Tracer is a small set, but it's not M-Tron's smallest.  Beacon Tracer was priced above 6811 Pulsar Charger, and it's larger than 1478 Mobile Satellite Uplink (from 1476 Five Set Bonus Pack)
The antenna, which was a new part mold, makes the model feel tall.

Transparent Neon Green was the hot ticket in 1990.  It was the first new transparent color to grace the space theme since Transparent dark blue showed up in 1981 (I had to look that up).

In a sense M-Tron was the herald of change.  Much of what the Lego company had previously established in the space theme was uprooted and the new theme was wildly different in its aesthetics, functions (which we will get into later), and prints from everything that had come before.  Neon green would go on to define much of the 90's color palette for better...and for worse.  But it would seldom look cooler than it did here.

Beacon Tracer has scant play features, The Window comes up, which is pretty standard for all canopied vehicles of the time period, and it has a moving console print.

The Console print was a new M-tron design for 1990 and it replaced the long held standard Space tile from 1985.

M-Tron: 1990, 60 white tiles available across 46 sets through 2004.

Classic Space: 1985, 14 blue in 11 sets, 20 white in 15 sets, 29 old grey in 19 sets, and 7 yellow tiles in 3 sets.

Here's a selection of Beacon Tracer's unique piece, and parts specific to it within M-Tron.

This Space window is the only Trans Neon Green canopy with the M-Tron logo.  Remember that this is a 3-4 dollar set from the time period.  This is Beacon Tracers number one piece of appeal.  When I was a kid I tried to use it on everything.

The red chassis was common in town, and somewhat present in castle, but in M-Tron, and Space at large it's a unique color.  

Here's a Black-tron Yellow Grille slope.  This part first appeared in the highly desireable Black-Tron 6954 Renegade, and later in Black-Tron II 6988 Alpha Centauri Outpost.  Only one appears in M-Tron and aside from a decorative elements pack this was the best source to acquire the print.  It was always a space piece, but never a common print.

This handlebar was the second version of a piece which first appeared in '78, but this version appeared in '83; it lowered the handles a third of a plate compared to the first design,  This part color only appears once in M-Tron, but would later appear in two Spyrius sets.  

Now it's tme for my favorite part of the post.  The alternates.  

I had faint recollection of the box, so I chose not to copy the designers.  Interestingly they chose not to utilize the canopy.  I rather like the bottom model and its moving mandible.  I built all of these back in the day, but I eventually lost my box to the passage of time.  

Here's what I have chosen to create.

There aren't many parts in Beacon Tracer.  The window and chassis are very large and present in the model, so I chose to eliminate both parts for this little buggy.

Look closely at the middle and you can guess my tricky connection between the wheels.

I brought the window and chassis back in for this low rider.

During the late 90's/early 2000's the Lego company made a lot of windows that had to be removed, rather than opened on a hinge.  It may have been a good idea for the youngest builders, but as a process of design evolution, it felt like a step backwards.  All hail the hinge!

Final Score: B-

Pros: Unique print, balloon tires, two hinges, compact design.

Cons: two parts form crux of the model and stymie creativity.

There's a Polish blog called Lego's Soul where I found this image of Beacon Tracer redone in the different themes from 1987-1991.  If you have some time, I recommend running Google translate and having a good read.  There are several posts about the old Lego Space sets.

Until next time.

The Cure All Pill