Legos, anyone?

[Chronocidal]

I'll probably pick one up regardless (provided the orders aren't another stupid limited release disaster), but I've got more than enough parts to rebuild it into something that feels more substantial and functional, like an actual vehicle loading bay instead of an open-air trailer.

Edited Friday at 02:38 AM by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

On 12/19/2024 at 9:50 AM, danth said:

In the video, the designer shows the drop ship fall very quickly and swooshes the ship away. I don't think he got the memo on 18+ Icons sets. Adult Icons sets should have interesting, well thought out mechanisms that don't sacrifice the overall integrity of the design for an "action" feature. Just dropping an exposed buggy out of an otherwise empty mid section of the ship -- that belongs in a kid's action theme, not in Icons.

The buggy doesn't even look like it fits snugly into the ship's midsection. It just hangs back an entire stud behind the front cross beam. If the front of the buggy sat on and hid the crossbeam, it would feel like, hey, someone carefully designed this. As it is, it just looks haphazard.

TBF, Jae holds the ship almost vertical to retract the gears and the buggy stays in place. It would've been cool had he done a roll with it just to prove that it's secure, but after watching the vid, I'm feeling confident that the buggy won't arbitrarily fall out. Of course, that does little to ameliorate my disappointment that the box element is altogether missing. I can't smite that deceased Equus enough. On a side note, while I appreciate the 'B' build, it just doesn't say Alienator to me, either. I've seen MOCs over the years that did it better, IMHO. I really wish Mike Psiaki had been the designer. His update to the Galaxy Explorer introduced an interesting way to realize the superstructure and the wingplan all while still retaining the essential look and features of the original ship, as well as adding some new ones. It's a masterclass in approach to creating an update of a vintage model. However, no model is created in a vacuum; even the most experienced designers still get feedback from other designers as well as other folks throughout the process of bringing a model to production, and with Jae being a new designer and this being his first Icons model, I'm sure there were many eyes on it and lots of feedback sought and given along the way. That it made its way through all those checks without having some fundamental changes made to hew it closer to the OG ship is telling for future vintage Space updates. Check your expectations.

edit: After posting, I checked out Duckbricks' review in which he turns the ship completely upside down and the buggy remains secure. Oddly, he continually reiterates that the GWP Blacktron Cruiser set from earlier this year is cross-compatible when Jae the designer of the new Renegade said it is not due to differences in the clip systems utilized for modularity.

Edited Friday at 06:35 PM by M'Kyuun

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I'll probably pick one up regardless (provided the orders aren't another stupid limited release disaster), but I've got more than enough parts to rebuild it into something that feels more substantial and functional, like an actual vehicle loading bay instead of an open-air trailer.

I'll likely try to get two copies. I don't hate it, but I sure do wish Jae hadn't sacrificed the central cargo box to the gods of creative liberties. I haven't looked much elsewhere online, but I'm curious if there are similar sentiments coming from the fandom. If so, I kinda feel bad for Jae, as he seems rather passionate about Classic Space and wanted to put a new spin on the old set. Unfortunately, no one told him along the way that perhaps the box and the double cargo doors in the back should remain as essential play features.

[danth]

22 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

TBF, Jae holds the ship almost vertical to retract the gears and the buggy stays in place.

edit: After posting, I checked out Duckbricks' review in which he turns the ship completely upside down and the buggy remains secure.

I don't think I made my point very well. I wasn't worried about the buggy staying in place.

I was just saying that the feature seemed to be focused on the "action" element. You fly low and drop off your buggy in one quick swoosh. Unlike the Galaxy Explorer where you have to first land, open the rear doors, and then pull out the ramp. The former seems more fitting for a kids action theme than an 18+ Icons set. Whereas fiddling with functional bay doors and ramps might appeal more to us older "kids".

22 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

 Oddly, he continually reiterates that the GWP Blacktron Cruiser set from earlier this year is cross-compatible when Jae the designer of the new Renegade said it is not due to differences in the clip systems utilized for modularity.

I noticed that too! Weird.

[M'Kyuun]

14 minutes ago, danth said:

I don't think I made my point very well. I wasn't worried about the buggy staying in place.

I was just saying that the feature seemed to be focused on the "action" element. You fly low and drop off your buggy in one quick swoosh. Unlike the Galaxy Explorer where you have to first land, open the rear doors, and then pull out the ramp. The former seems more fitting for a kids action theme than an 18+ Icons set. Whereas fiddling with functional bay doors and ramps might appeal more to us older "kids".

Ah, I see your point now. Sometimes the ole cranium is like that lab door in Tron. I concede your point and, too, would have preferred a removable box and double doors at the rear, like the original, as well a fold out ramp akin to that on 10497 Galaxy Explorer. The air drop mechanism is cool in its own right, but IMHO, neither fitting for this particular model nor as engaging, practical, or fun as the original's box and door setup.

19 minutes ago, danth said:

II noticed that too! Weird.

I would assume, perhaps erroneously, that Chris, the owner and host of Duckbricks, who himself has been to Billund numerous times for unveilings of new sets and interviews with their designers, keeps abreast of what other reviewers, especially those of Tiago's stature as a former designer himself, are posting. Chris himself is friends with a number of LEGO designers and is generally well-informed on his subjects. Having watched Tiago's interview before Duckbricks', I was a bit surprised that Chris continued his assurances that the GWP Cruiser, an update to the original Blacktron Invader, was compatible with the new Renegade. I'm sure he owns that set (he has over 6000 LEGO sets in his collection and intends to found a LEGO Museum) as he often receives full waves of sets free from LEGO to review as well as specialty items. I guess that only proves he's human like the rest of us. 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I've been building my own Speed Champions lately, finishing up a couple of legends of LeMans - the venerable Porsche 962c and the revolutionary Mazda 787b:

These original designs by SFH Bricks and custom decals make these builds on par with the Speed Champions line, which makes me glad I don't have to wait for LEGO to make their official versions.  The decals are quite well done.  They even have some for the minifig drivers:

I fallen down deep into the rabbit hole with 8-stud wide builds of fine autos.  More to come!

[sketchley]

While poking around to try and figure out why the 2025 Blacktron Renegade looks off, I stumbled across the following pictures showing the Cruiser and Renegade clips, and clipped together:

Source: Jay Ong's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayong28/p/DDw8DqWPivq/?img_index=1

 

As for why the Renegade looks off: the overall silhouette (in red) is octagonal, whereas the original was more diamond-shaped.  In addition, the 'bulky bits' (in green) are arranged in an H shape on the new one, while the original was a rectangle.

As the new Galaxy Explorer is fundamentally the exact same shape as the original—just bigger!—one wonders why the Blacktron Renegade's shape was so drastically changed...  Perhaps the Lego group will have much better sales if they didn't market it as the Renegade, but as an entirely new Blacktron ship? 🙄

 

Edited yesterday at 07:33 AM by sketchley

[Chronocidal]

12 minutes ago, sketchley said:

While poking around to try and figure out why the 2025 Blacktron Renegade looks off, I stumbled across the following pictures showing the Cruiser and Renegade clips, and clipped together:

Source: Jay Ong's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayong28/p/DDw8DqWPivq/?img_index=8

 

This... makes no sense to me.  Why would they specifically design the two linkages using exact opposite setups?  It's not like it's hard to modify them at all...

Otherwise though, I'm really getting tired of these clip systems.  They might hold well enough, but why is it so hard to just pin things together with technic pins like we've been doing for roughly forty years?  Did they discontinue the bricks with permanent pegs attached?

Whatever the situation though, I do hope I can pick up a pair of these.  I just want to extend the design and scale it up more faithfully like the Explorer set.

Edited yesterday at 07:35 AM by Chronocidal

[danth]

I like how this guy fixed the colors:

https://brickset.com/article/117215/improving-the-new-renegade

[snakerbot]

7 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Why would they specifically design the two linkages using exact opposite setups?

It's not that they're opposite, it's that the linkages on the Cruiser are gendered and the ones on the Renegade are androgynous.

[Gabe Q]

I'm really torn on this new Renegade. I'm feeling lots of nostalgia for it but I'm really let down by some of the design choices. At first glance, it just looked "off" somehow. As I read all of the above posts, I realized exactly why it looked that way to me. Thanks for the great explanation, @sketchley. 

Anyway, I feel as if I get this, then I'm going to have to track down and buy the original. Then I'll have to track down and buy the whole original Blacktron line. I only have so much disposable income!