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This juniorized set is divided into 7 sub-models. The helicopter, the
tracked vehicle, the snowmobile, and the 4 quarters of the structure.
435 pieces per the box.
General cool things:
There is a single instruction book, which has photographs of real polar
exploration equipment, a small amount of climate data (high and low temps
for both polar regions, maximum ice pack thickness, and pictures of polar
wildlife. No text of course.
There is a new snow shoe part. It has a half pin at the back, so two shoes
back to back will fit in a rod hole. Nice little part. The snow shoes in
this set are yellow.
There is a new backpack part, which is somewhat similar in size to the
pirate back pack, but is more rounded. It is also a little taller, and has
two clips for carrying tools.
I like the Arctic hood. Each hood has the fur fringe printed on.
Much of the decoration is stickers (I will highlight printed parts), two
sticker sheets are included.
The new wall parts are nice, though a little limiting. Trans-dark blue glass
is supplied for the windows. They are 3x6x6 in size, with space for a 1x6
plate at the top on the back (like most LEGO wall components). There is a 1
brick high grooved area at the bottom (looks like it will match the
horizontal grooves on a grooved 1x2 brick). The window is about 2 bricks
high. The slope is 2 bricks high (medium 45 degree slope).
All the windows and canopies are trans dark blue. The wall sections are
grey. Blue 1x5x5 slopes are used as bulkheads. Each building section is
built on a white 16x16 baseplate (there is no provision for a connector to
hold these together).
Individual Sub-Models:
The tracked vehicle is nice. I have never seen this track component before.
It is smaller than the Technic track, and is free-running (can't be powered
w/o modification). This vehicle while packaged in the juniorized method, is
not really juniorized. The frame is built from plates and plates w/Technic
pins on the ends (axles). The cab has doors, steering wheel, and a flip up
roof. Bendy-arm components are used to make the little crane arm. The cargo
bed does use 4x6 double inverse sloped hull bottoms (first used in the
shuttle?). The nose does use 2x2 outside corner slopes (yea!). The driver is
a green Arctic figure w/green baseball cap. In addition to orange sloped
parts, several orange 1x4 plates are used. 1 pair of snowshoes and a
circular saw are included.
The helicopter is decent, but there are a few things I don't like. The tail
is made from an orange 2x12 plate, instead of all the 1xY tails we have seen
in the past. The rotors seem a little short (1x8 plates, 1x10 would have
been better). The body uses a 4x6 double inverse slope. The new skid part is
used (I like this skid, others may not like it). There is a printed 1x2
control panel, which looks new. The pilot is red female with a crash helmet
w/trans dark blue visor. A rock hammer, a grappling hook, and a zip line
roller are included.
The snowmobile is also decent, though it doesn't have a track, so it
wouldn't go anywhere very fast. The main body is an orange one of those 2x6
jobs with built in tapered slope and studs on 3 sides. The nice part is that
it isn't printed. Fortunately that part makes a nice snowmobile body. A
little stretcher trailer is supplied which connects with a towball. The
driver is green with a green Arctic hood. No tools are included.
The base section with the control tower has two wall sections. Two pressure
tanks are included, a red and a yellow one. One of them has a gauge. 2 pair
of snow shoes are stored outside. Inside, a yellow Arctic pack, circular
saw, binoculars, and a rock hammer are stored. The control tower has a
computer (1x2 brick and 1x2 tile, both printed), a printed 2x2 radar screen
tile, a clear coffee mug, and a map display (sticker on a 1x4x3 trans dark
blue thinwall). A black Arctic figure is included. Indoors he wears a white
cap, and has a black Arctic hood for outside. The operator sits in a red
swivel chair surrounded by all the controls. A black 2x3x5 "S" shaped wall
section is between the two Arctic wall sections.
The next section is the medical lab. Inside, a white 2x2 slope w/old style
computer printing sits on a desk, with a 2x2 tile printed with a stethoscope
and clipboard (this is a NICE tile - I hope there is an Arctic parts pack
with this tile). One wall section is flanked by a doorway made from 2 of the
4x4x5 octagonal wall system inside corners, with 2 blue 1x5x5 slopes outside
flanking a lift up door. The door has a white 2x2 tile printed with a blue 6
armed cross with a white caduceus. The doctor wears a red suit, and has a
white cap with the same medical symbol.
The next section is the X-Ray lab. It also has one wall section, and a
doorway built using 2 of the corner sections. Instead of a lift up door, it
has a door which rotates on a pin above the doorframe. The door has a grey
1x2 slope w/3 small white buttons, a red and a green button printed as a
control panel. On the door is a yellow 2x2 tile with X-Ray printed (same
printing as the divers 1x2 X-Ray tile), with 3 red arrows pointing right
(the way the door opens) below. This module includes the polar bear, the
trans light blue asteroid, and a trans antifreeze scorpion. Inside, the
X-Ray machine is a 2x2 plate w/octagonal rod frame, with a white robot arm
supporting a magnifying glass.
The final section is the weather station. This section has two wall
sections, separated by a 2x3x5 "S" wall like the first section. Inside, a
2x2 white slope printed with a radar screen and a 2x2 printed white slope
w/temperature reading, chart recorder, and a couple other controls form the
weather computer. A white 1x2x3 thinwall shows a 3 day weather forecast
(sticker). A pair of binoculars and a grey radio (have we seen grey radios
before?) are included. Outside, a blue Arctic fellow maintains the tower. He
wears a blue Arctic hood. The tower is yellow, and uses 2 2x5x5 sloped
girder supports, a 2x2x9? mast supports the anemometer (a Technic cross w/4
balls with blue spigots and white 2x2 radar dishes). Two red lights clip
into the midpoint hinges. At the bottom of the mast is a 2x2 plate
w/octagonal rod with 3 lamps. Two large red hoses run from the roof to a box
on the ground. I assume this is part of the stations climate control system.
The deficiencies which I see in this base are:
No living quarters.
When all closed up, it's rather narrow with not much interior space (the
roof of each section is 2x16, so the total interior space of each section is
4x14.
Now way to get up to the control tower.
Hmm, the ONLY alternate model I see is the tracked vehicle w/tower and zip
line on the back of the box. Of course the photos of real equipment give
lots of ideas.
All in all, a decent set. Is actually quite reasonable in size for its
$59.99 price. Good use is made of the new wall component to make a modular
base. While it would be nice if the bulkheads were made of individual
bricks, somehow those 1x5x5 slopes actually look nice. Probably part of the
reason is the smooth slope (I like the looks of them on the 1999 coast guard
set also).
Frank
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Review of 6575 Polar Base
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| (...) <big snip> The tracks on the snowcat were seen in 1999 on the Spaceport 6456. They were on the lauchpad transport unit. They are MUCH slower moving than the Technic series tracks, but also much smaller. You could motorize them, but you would (...) (25 years ago, 17-Dec-99, to lugnet.reviews)
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