Futuron: 6953 Cosmic Laser Launcher Alternate 1: Space Saucer

Due to connector wear and tear I've run into a hitch getting more than 5 photographs off my phone every other day... it's been a bother, especially since I keep forgetting and I have to make sure I don't upload the same photo twice.  So that's my unhelpful excuse for the long and languishing Battrax Review.

How about something fun? a long awaited post for another Futuron Alternate.

This time I'm tackling Cosmic Laser Launcher's Alternates,  If you follow that link you'll notice that my photography skills and camera have improved considerably since those halcyon days of my first wave of reviews.  I should update this one when I have time.

The first model out the gate is a fancy low slung fighter with a massive footprint.

I chose this example to start off with for two reasons.
First: It's my favorite idea on the back of the box, I'm drawn to the use of the giant window, the reaching mandibles, and the burly engines.  Lots to like at a glance.
And the second reason is that it's a spaceship, and I felt like building such a wonder tonight.

The structure and image presented a few quandaries.  Firstly, I cannot see the bottom, nor can I see the astronauts seating.  So I assembled what I could see and did improvise after getting a glimpse at the remaining part palette,  I opted for the rounds as landing gear even though I couldn't see them.  I felt they were needed for substructure support alongside the inverse slopes and the hopefully correct 1x3 bricks. A second glance at the box made me think the 1x3's should be 2x2 inverted slopes... whoops.

The first surprise with this model was related to its size, I knew it would be long, but the image is presented to look slender, and lest we all forget how wide those angle plates are... it is not a slender ship.  With a few adjustments this could be a competent saucer.

The plate laden construction doesn't inspire confidence in the craft's rigidity, and the lightness of the frame suggests the ship is frail, though it does hold together well.  It is a bit thin looking to my tastes, more undercarriage would be a good addition, but the parts for such an embellishment are not contained within the main model.  From this angle it looks rather good, the illusion of depth does wonders for the presentation.

I'm reminded that this is not a new toy by the yellowing of certain white elements, and the occasional dent or marred surface... that aside and more to the point, I really like the inclusion of the red spacemen here, I'm at a loss why TLG didn't include them in more sets... The cockpit here doesn't help to allay concerns about the craft's spindly construction, but it does offer an excellent grip point for swooshing; this is a very important play feature in a toy spaceship... especially one as wide as this model is.

I'm rather less pleased with this alternate in my hands than I am with its vision of loveliness upon the box, it's tempting, but wholly underwhelming almost entirely on account of the flat nature of the main body, there's a certain, this could never have been an official model, feel to it that bothers me.

I just noticed the 1x2 slope missing on the left mandible.  I'm not going to fix it... I'm not, but... pfft, I thought I caught that yesterday?  Anyways... I've made a handful of mistakes in assembling this, but I'm letting them go... fixing them with my current camera setup will be a 2 day bother, and I'm not willing to make the adjustments.  But I'm telling you so you don't accidentally take my iteration as the end all be all on the matter.

Here's a competent saucer composed by rotating the two big plates, and pulling the mandibles back, Since the mandibles aren't an exact match I removed one 1x4 plate from the back wing of the model to keep things balanced.  The grille prints look to be decent heat dispersal points ahead of those engine lasers.  I think the main design has great potential for a more built up rehash, but I'm really pleased at how simple it is to make flying saucers from this set.

You may have noticed the new background color... I saved some matte black... well it's not construction paper... thicker... I saved sheets of unknown material from going to the garbage at work. I figured the Futuron sets might look better on a nonwhite background and it was free 99.  On that note it's time to end this installment; until next time ~The Cure-all Pill

Blacktron: A grandiloquent history

The Dark is Rising, the era of exploration ended... they come from the shadows, recesses and crevasses of the distant unknown edge of space.  Those strangers to peace imparted the end to the happy joyful times when scooping up a sample for analysis led to no greater conflict than who got to do the analysis; red or white.  Now there is no red and white.

Now there is only fear.

1987 was marked by a swift departure from the white, blue, and grey of Legoland Space.  A few Classics struggled across the threshold in January, but Blacktron was at the door and knocking.  Harbingers of the end.














They came in waves, first the advance guard: Invading Renegades struck swift like Bats making traks outta hell.

Then they planted their towers, building a dark fortress upon Futuron's Cosmic Laser Launch site. Their colonies towered over the lunar surface like sorcerous strongholds, privy to the knowledge of others divined by crystal radio.

The once bustling moonscapes grew desolate and quiet.  Alienating ruins of a bygone time lay forgotten.  New discoveries were just around the next star system but no longer; now only darkness stalks the craters.

In that twilit hour, a new dawn emerged, in an era of rising conflicts, new alliances formed amid the wreckage of the old galaxies.  The peaceful explorers joined hands with a defense force and mechanics squad to withstand their own untimely doom.

To face off against this combined advance of shadow new roles were devised...

Rebuild the civilian facilities better, faster, and stronger.

defend the planets from those who would destroy the new outposts.

Whatever Blacktron breaks must be restored, so their grip of fear will break like chaff on the threshing floor.

The forces who fought for our future came together to survive, but never grasped peace for long.  The names change, but the conflict never dies.

Idea Book 260 You're Under Arrest edition!

Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Three themes down and 1 to go... that will be the sum total of 260, and then... who knows what will happen?

This journey down memory lane is brought to you by the idea book I received from my best friend as a youngster... I think his family picked it for me because it was cheap... costly mistake ;)

Space Police made out like a bandit in this idea book.  ,

Check out that monorail... it has a few miss-chosen colors, but that is fair compensation for disassembling 6990.  There's even a tower with a lift to go ride it

A truck roams the horizon as the search tower guard and his sentry spot something threatening this little outpost.

And here are the instructions.  We see several items from the prior page as well as a few extra vehicles... and a suspicious looking Monorail passenger.  

The rover from page 1 is present, you can see a double cell build, there's a light up truck, and in the foreground a space scooter zips by.  I wish the scooter had a bit more clarity.  You can see the robocop putting one prisoner in while another looks to make a break for it.

Here's the tower from the main page, and the little rover we'll build.

This tower, seen from the front page, has a lift to get up to the base level.  It resides on the old fashioned crater plate... which is still one of the best plate molds ever made by the Danish toy manufacturer.  Space walls, raised girders, antennae... it looks like a fun quick build.  The spaceship in front of it carries a jail cell and uses a tiny wheelwell plate for the radar.  Overall very nice.

This is just all the part goodness... black space wheels, corner quarter domes in transparent red, a radar dish... lovely.

The Police cruiser and Robot require a distribution of parts from all the Internationally released Space Police models.  i.e. No need to break apart Lock Up Isolation Base for this rundown.  

1.

2

4

1

2

4

1

1

3

1

2

1

6

2

1

3

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

2

 2

First up... Robocop, with his toothy grin and flashy taser.  He'll scuttle about and make a great sentry

Play elements are spare.  His eyes can look up, he can swivel his head, and the arms can swing in and out.  As a brick built bot it's decent... He's the right size for the intended play interaction, if a bit chunky by modern standards.

The Police Cruiser is on par with Message Decoder.  It lacks logos or insignia, but does carry around a Prisoner, albeit cabled in, rather than jailed.  

The model has more in common with Classic Space sets such as Surface Transport than it does with the main models from Space Police.

Of course, robocop wants to ride too.  

If you look at the car as a robosentry transporter it makes just a bit more sense.  He's wobbly, but snug.  In fact, I'm sure the Blacktron guy doesn't mind sharing... just this once.

Two whole builds and some swank looking concepts.  I won't deny the appeal of this police lineup given the book ideas.

On the whole the section for Space Police has some cool vintage concepts which look decipherable.  I only regret the lack of any big ships or rovers.  In the effort to make sure kids could actually build these things the designers made everything small, spare, and skeletal.   The goal here seems to encourage disassembly, get kids started, and then cut them loose to build more impressive ideas of their own accord.  That aside... I wouldn't mind seeing the designers cut loose and really outdo themselves, but in this book that doesn't really happen for Space Police; on the plus side the Space Police monorail is the book's best lunar model by far.

Static crackling
Do ya wanna break a moonbase? It doesn't hafta be for fun, we could do it while we're on the clock, near sector spock... there'll be nowhere to run! We can mess things up for Futuron, con those M:Tron, and fight off the Space Police... do ya wanna break a moonbase, it doesn't hafta be a moonbase..... 

Go away Blacktron... 

ok bye...