Subject:
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Short Review: 6455 Space Simulation Station
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.reviews
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Date:
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Thu, 30 Dec 1999 20:20:19 GMT
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Viewed:
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2087 times
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REVIEW: 6455 SPACE SIMULATION STATION - Tom McDonald
RETAIL: $29.99, S@H $33.00
THEME: SPACE PORT
AGES: 7-12
PCS: 240
MINIFIGURES: 3; 1 Astronaut with gold visor; 1 Station director in white coat;
1 Technician in red jumpsuit
OVERVIEW:
Don't get me wrong, this set has moments, though it seems that lately most of
them just have moments rather than whole minutes or hours. Up front, I would
consider buying this set again on sale, even at a mild discount of 10% because
I'm a Space fan.
LIKES:
Though I've seen the centrifuge idea before (mostly as an MOC in the Technic
system) I'm glad that it was reproduced for Town. I say 'Town' because IMO,
the Space Port theme looks like it belongs next to a Lego town and not another
planet, as the box could suggest (see meteors plummeting), unless it is
suggesting a desert space base here on Earth, which is what I think it is
given the prevalence of open-air breathing minifigures. This theme has a good
potential to round out even the largest Lego town.
The baseplate configuration seems to be a departure from the standard square
layout of most sets.
COOL SPACE PIECES:
Even quantities of certain parts always please me instead of getting just one
of something, which is why I found it a bit of a bummer that there was only 1
4x4 cone.
4 trans-dark-blue 2x2 cylinders;
4 1x4 black striped yellow tiles;
4 1x2 trans-anti-freeze plates;
3 2x2 tiles with SP shuttle logo;
2 4x3x5 trans-dark-blue inverted slopes;
2 control panels (one radar, one orbital target);
2 long black whip antennae;
2 grey thrusters;
1 yellow "flammable" triangle sign;
1 4x6x1 1/3 sloped canopy
1 4x4 white cone with studs
1 1x2 with SP shuttle logo
MIXED FEELINGS:
1 4x10x3 dual-sloped roof piece with 4 trans-dark-blue windows :/
While I like the look these pieces give to a set, I wish that they were split
up into a few pieces, say 3 or 4 (2 sloping, and 1 or 2 flat pieces with
windows). I could see splitting them up would make for ultra-cool space stuff
without being limited to a 10-wide structure.
DISLIKES:
I found the baseplates used in this set a poor choice as even the box's front
picture suggests that they sit on a tarmack. Do not consult the Pause picture
for this set to see this, as someone (I believe Suzanne Rich) has done a
wonderful job screening out the background. It would have been better not
having the suggestion of asphault on the box.
The ship simulator has no closed canopy.
The centrifuge hits the simluator when spinning its fastest.
No ladder/stairs to the control tower second floor.
MEGA-SIZED PIECES ("Hi.. the name is Pieces.. Junior Pieces.")
2 1x6x5 slopes;
1 4x6 blue brick;
1 4x10 blue brick;
The 4x6 and 4x10 bricks to hold up the second story of the control tower are
unnecessary. In addition to more smaller slopes, 2 2x6 and 2 2x10 bricks would
have done just as well, and would have allowed greater flexibility in
alternate model building.
In a model meant for 7-12, these simplified things are not necessary! Isn't
Technic meant for 7-12 year olds?
SMALL BUT *MAJOR* GRIPE - INSULTING INSTRUCTIONS
In the fourth instruction booklet (the control tower), a stack of 6 2x4 bricks
is split up in half amongst 2 consecutive steps, which I suppose I can
forgive. But in each step, the stack of 3 bricks introduced, has an exploded
view to let you know that all three of them are indeed 3 separate 2x4 bricks.
Ridiculous! Any 5-year-old who has ever stacked more than two Lego bricks in
their life knows what this looks like, and certainly any 7-year-old could
figure it out (not to mention a 12-year-old who's age clearly falls within the
age range of this set).
Just a final word about the instructions: yuck. They exist in 4 booklets
(something which I might expect from the Technic Space Shuttle, but not from
this much smaller set - even 4559 Cargo Railway with its 835 pieces had only
one booklet, and it was for ages 8-12). The instructions should all be one
booklet. Labelling them each "1/4, 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4" doesn't make holding onto
all of them and keeping track of them any easier; it just lets me know which
order to put them in.
SET RATING FROM 1 TO 10: 6
DESIRABILITY FACTOR FROM 1 TO 10: 7 (FOR THE COOLER PIECES ONLY)
ALTERNATE SETS RATING FROM 1 TO 10: 4
In one sentence, "After you buy it, It won't stay together as a set for very
long."
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