M-Tron 6862 Secret Space Voyager

Marketing to kids...this must be every parents most un-favorite-est thing ever.  back in 1991 the Lego company had come up with a new tactic.  Buy three and get a super deluxe epic instruction sheet that you could use them with.  Fortunately they didn't make it all about the big sets.

Parents were not amused, and today the instructions for this particular marketing gimmick are quite rare, I found one instruction sheet just now for $300.  Though when it is more plentiful you can find decent examples going for the still wallet numbing price of $150; for paper, ink , and staples.  

Needless to say I don't have a copy of this instruction sheet, but we're going to build the toy anyway.

I choose you PICSL-CHU!

PICSL instruction scan for 6862 Secret Space Voyager.

If you are looking to buy this set for a collection it will be cheaper to buy the component sets; rather than pick this up from a reseller.  I completed the model for about $60, $12 for 6877 Vector Detector, $20 for 6896 Celestial Forager, and $29 for 6923 Particle Ionizer.  Due to price fluctuation your results will vary; but it sure beats paying $120 for the same thing disguised as an uber-rare set. And those are for sale without the instruction sheet.  

Along the way I ran into a handful of setbacks...centered around 6923 Particle Ionizer.  You see, there are two versions.  Version 2 has instructions for its construction on the web, but there is version 1, which does not have an instruction scan available right now.  My Particle Ionizer is based on version two of the instructions, but Secret Space Voyager assumes that version 1 is in your possession.  Things get dicey halfway into the model.  To complete the model with the available inventory I made the following adjustments.

Calls for one extra bumper plate.  Substitute tile

Calls for one black brick with pin.  Haha! How bout no.  I built this contraption.

The black and red hinge is reversed in color.  Oh there was a spare hinge... phew!

The finished model leaves gobs of leftovers.  Just think how much you'd lose if you just bought the finished model!  And overpaid the killer pricetag...meanwhile the seller takes these scraps and Bricklink's them for additional profit.  And he didn't give you the instruction sheet either...which is the only true element that might be worth the pricetag; I'm being mighty generous with that might.

If you haven't caught what I'm saying: Don't buy this toy, the seller is making a suckers bet!

All that out of the way.  Here is the product of Vector Detector. Celestial Forager, and Particle Ionizer.  As a way to give children with tighter incomes a sense of having a bigger set it totally works.  It is bigger.  It may have the largest in ship car of the golden era.

The design is not short on armaments, sensors, search lights...whatever floats your fancy.

Destroy them with Lasers.

The cockpit is deep enough to stand the M-Tron astronauts up and still lower the canopy.  

The vehicle locking system is incredibly tight,and it's a great further demonstration of the magnet's construction value.

Extraction is interesting.  A series of hinges and magnets disconnect and fold up or down to allow vehicle release.  

But this is where things become a bit...disappointing. The ship becomes ragged looking in the back without its transport load.  

The ground vehicles deign is bulky, but nothing groundbreaking.

I'm not really sure what the downward facing side-
lamps are intended to do.  The vehicle is big and faux ostentatious, but it offers no supply transport capabilities, unless we dig into the extra leftovers

I've got a box of dirt.

It's kind of adorkable when I look at it for too long.

So that's 6862 Secret Space Voyager.  It's a cool marketing concept from back in the day, and I advise building it if you've got the sets and want to check it out, but don't buy it.   The design doesn't have the expected engineering/design polish of the M-Tron theme.  It's been made out to be a rare collectible worth many dollars, and that is a flat out lie designed to swindle Lego enthusiasts who haven't done their research.  Not every seller is doing this intentionally (They also aren't all heavily researched in the topic), so please don't harass them.  For all we know 6862's value may have been determined by uninformed buyers who went ooh! Shiny!  Don't be uninformed.

There are no special or unique pieces in this toy, but there are two versions of 6923 Particle Ionizer, so if you have one, compare yours to the Peeron inventory.  If you've got the alternate version I'm sure they'd like to have a scan of the instruction sheet.  I'd like to inspect the differences myself.

Here's what I did with the leftover parts.

Supply Depot.

Final Score: C for model, A- for idea

Pros: Cool idea, Introduces a function, Fun to play with, Encourages disassembly
Cons: Not up to expected build quality, Resellers have ruined the intent of the build

Cheers,

Until next time,

Cure All Pill

M-Tron: 6923 Particle Ionizer

Wouldn't it be nice if Helicopters were spacecraft???

aircraft concept art by oscar cafaro

Legoland space is not populated with very many helicopters.  In fact, there is only one.

This is 6923 Particle Ionizer, or in Britain, Cosmicopter; I will use them interchangeably through the review.

This is M-Tron's most popular and sought after set.  Among the M-Tron sets this was one of the more frustrating space sets for me to seek out since prices tend to be inflated.  Somehow I managed to beat the odds and got a cheap barely used copy in immaculate condition from C&M Brickshop.  That shop is currently closed, but I highly recommend them if they ever start selling sets and parts again.

6923 Particle Ionizer is something of a combat ready cargo helicopter.  Its plasma rotors cut through the vacuum of space and allow the craft to dodge around asteroids faster and more precisely than the best top of the line thrusters.  This is M-Tron's chariot of war for defending against their devious Black-Tron adversaries.  When a downed Futuron vessel needs help in a hotspot, send in Cosmicopter to the rescue.

Speaking of defense; Cosmicopter comes with a truckload of options.  The front cannon can atomize heat shields, and the wing mounted lases can chew threw exposed hulls.  Thrusters at the aftmost part of Particle Ionizer enable it to rocket forward and close on the enemy in open space.

Particle Ionizer comes equipped with a supply of tools and fuel to repair damaged vessels.  In a pinch it can drop and go.

Walky Talky

Wrench

The package has a beacon, and carries fuel inside

And an assortment of tools to complete any job.

Quite the assortment for a middleweight set.

The crane on Particle Ionizers back is remarkable for its full function and maneuverability.  In many ways the loss of these classic hinges was a heavy blow to some of the Golden era's coolest tricks.  The current use of clips and click hinges has filled the void but lacks that close fitting connection that made these things so sleek and compact.

Cargo stows snug in the back.

Handlebar grips hold the cargo firmly in place, and the back tail fins can drop to allow full function cargo removal.

The crane can swing the cargo out.

And around.  The design is very exacting, but doesn't feel limited by its function.

The rotor and crane are designed to easily rotate without obstructing each other.  Absolutely flawless engineering.

A servobot stows away amidship and can assist with dangerous repairs such as radiation leakage.  It can also perform simple repairs remotely while Cosmicopter defends the perimeter.  It's boxed in on one side to keep it snug in its compartment.

The right side access hatch allows for removal.

And you have now accessed a Servobot

The servobot contains several bits that aren't in any other M-Tron sets.  We'll check those out in a moment.

As a toy Particle Ionizer is a fine example of what made the Golden era so good.  It contained excellent engineering, slick design, cool functionality, and storage compartments.  Building it was as much fun as fiddling with the final model, and the part well is deep and enticing to new builders and hardened veterans.

Particle Ionizer brings a lot of elements to M-Tron's catalogue of parts.

First up is this unique color variant.

1.  This gigantic brick is rare in the color red.  It's listed as being in two sets by Peeron, but to build the other set, (Secret Space Voyager), you need Particle Ionizer.  This red part is unique to this set.  It's great for SNOT as it has a lot of surface area for structural reinforcement.

The remainder of the parts vary in quantity and there're plenty of special bits hidden within this set

1.  This part is a staple of SNOT technique.  You only get one in this theme so use it well.

3.  What can I say, common, but none of the other M-Tron sets have it.  The tapering edge is great for smoothing out your designs.

1.  Common, albeit, not at all prevalent in Lego Space.

1.   Common part, the red variant is available in Stellar Recon Voyager, but this is the only black version in M-Tron.  This part can be useful for some inverted SNOT techniques.

4. This base clip is equally prevalent in red and black within M-Tron, but this set has the M-Tron lock-down on black base clips.

2.  This old gray control stick composes part of the robot, and is very common.

2.  And here is the base for the control stick.  This black version is an ordinary piece that is easy to come by.  You wouldn't know it to look at just the M-Tron theme.

2.  This is the most common color for these hoses.  I always liked these parts.  They offer some fun dynamic construction methods, but they suffer from somewhat frail connections.

2.  These two gray goblets make great thrusters between glasses of sparkling cider.  Sadly their supply is restricted to Particle Ionizer.  Fortunately it's an easy piece to come by in other themes.  If you need gobs of them save up for the collector series Imperial Star Destroyer.

2.  This is a fairly ordinary part in a prevalent color.

2.  This grey piece is a common part.  Grey is the trim color for M-Tron so there isn't a lot of it available within the theme.

2.  This is a fairly common corner plate developed for the Futuron era.  It's always annoying to get just one, so have two.

4.  This is a pretty common piece from the Futuron era.  It's a good one to have for streamlining designs, which was not as easy in the Golden era as it can be today.

1.  It's an ordinary 4x8 red plate...Nothing to see here. Or is there?...possibuildities await.

1.  A 6x8 Black plate, perfect for establishing the foundation of your model.  It's not rare.

1.  Aargh, yah only get one red inverted slope.  The fiends are holding out on us!!!  Good thing M-Tron doesn't have the only one.  It's otherwise common.

4 is so much better.  Use these to streamline your ship.  This part is a common drop item.

1.  This is a rare print, available in only three sets.  It's good for texturing models.

1.  The ever delightful space console.  I cried when I realized it had gone out of production.  It's especially useful in cockpits, and it's such a nice looking bit.  Trivia: The last set to ever use this piece was actually a reissue of the perennially best selling 7140 X-Wing.  The re-issued set is labeled 7142.

2.  This wing/tail piece is somewhat common in red, it appeared in several sets from 1988 through 2005, and given the continuing presence of the part type, it's likely this will continue to be a readily available piece.  It's a good one.

1.  I have never broken these flat clips; that ranks them as my favorite of the clip types.  That being said, this is a good part to have in the collection for dynamic connections, and since it's old gray, be careful with it.  They don't make this color anymore.

1.  My first turntable was this color.  I got mine in 6375 Trans Air Carrier (Also responsible for my first minifigures) and immediately loved the part.  It's a simple effective part for giving your model a sense of motion.  This is the only one tone variant of the part since the center is always grey.

1.  The shaping on this inverted wedge is excellent for giving your models a sleek look.  Sadly, there's only one in M-Tron's main collection.  It's somewhat common otherwise, and still in production.

1.  This old grey tapered plate is a good addition to M-Tron's limited supply of grey trim.  Newer versions of this part have notches in the taper that make it more useful for building inside studs, but destroy the smooth edge.

1.  This wing cutout is the first version with the 4x4 cutout, this is a rarer part type than the 3x4 cutout version.  Like many parts, both appear to be out of production.  It was only available in two sets, but is required in both of the Super Model instructions for M-Tron and Black-Tron.

1.  This red hinge plate is somewhat uncommon, and the supply restriction is even worse here.  It's good for moving segments, and dynamic shaping.

1.  This hinge plate is comparatively more common than the above.  Kind of weird, but even in this set the two are not connected together.  It is used for function in this model, but can also be used for dynamic shaping.

Particle Ionizer is a sizeable model and I expect the alternates you can make out of this could be pretty cool.  Here's what the Lego designers came up with.

Let's see, two spaceships and what looks to be an earth digger/crane of some sort.  These are some of the cooler alternates I've seen on the back of a box.  For all intents this set looks ready for the first time collector.  It also happens to be a favorite among serious Lego collectors too.

Here're some of my alternates.

Colorblind

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

Putting the red in Red Leader

To sum up Particle Ionizer is an excellent set.  It is one of two M-Tron sets that put this theme on the AFOL radar, and a perfect example of why the older Lego fans rightly remember them as the good old days.

Final Score: A
Pros: Strong/varied part selection, excellent play features, Unique Red Brick.
Cons: ??? You're Serious?  I just built a frickin X-Wing.

Next time, we're going to look at the three set marketing gimmick known as
6862 Secret Space Voyager...

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6862 Secret Space Voyager