Subject:
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LoM 7316 Excavation Searcher Review - Long
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space
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Date:
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Mon, 4 Dec 2000 20:52:45 GMT
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Viewed:
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1069 times
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Life on Mars 7316 Excavation Searcher Review
Piece Count: 471
Price: 49.99
Minifigs: 3 Aliens
The Box:
This set is heavy for a thin box design. Inside is a cardboard sleeve and
multiple bags. New parts (not including the aliens) include trans-orange
Rock Raider boulders, a set of large purplish D shaped arches, the new
horizontal click hinges and 2 fake Martian Dirt mounds. These are orange
and about the size of a 2x2 brick, but with a single peg in the top middle
for a 1x1 cylinder. When the cylinder is inserted into the "dirt" it's
jagged edges make it look like the cylinder is partially buried into it.
These go into the Rock Raider boulders to look like they were mined. There
are also 2 new canopy parts, one smoke clear like on the two LoM Mechs and
one tan, and two new pincers.
Assembly:
Assembly is modular. All parts have double technic pins and holes on them
so you can snap it together any way you like.
Cockpit:
You start with the cockpit part. This has some technic louvered parts used
as shoulder protectors. One arm is radar dish based, the other is the new
Pincer. The pincer is composed of three parts: 2 arms (identical) and a
fastener. A click hinge is on the other side of the fastener. This cockpit
design is drastically different from the other two Mechs in this series. I
like it. The arms can pivot out and up and down.
Leg set 1:
Next you assemble the first set of legs. These have a few preprinted wedges
that look camouflage in design. It uses click hinges at the ankles and the
hips. The hips pivot out on regular flat hinges. There is a center post
coming from the top, which I will explain later.
Center Rack:
Next you assemble the center rack portion. This is large enough to hold the
two boulders. There are two sets of bars (used in brown on the SW Desert
Skiff) now in Gray that align the boulders. Then a set of click hinged
clamps swing up and onto the top of the boulders to hold them in place.
Leg Set 2:
Next is assembled the last set of legs. Instead of a center post on top,
you place a 4x4 turntable and construct a triple click hinged crane arm with
a pincer at the end. The legs themselves are assembled identically to the
other set.
Final Assembly? (Not quite!):
Now you can snap the whole thing together, cockpit, legs, rack and crane.
What you will immediately notice is that there is a lot more to do.
Recon Vehicle:
There is a little recon flying vehicle that has the new click hinges
attached to it. These are so it can hang underneath the rack in storage.
An alien rides off the back like it's on a hang glider. It's got a lot of
parts to it for such a small vehicle.
Docking Bay:
This uses the two large D shaped parts mentioned before. It also has a set
of technic ribbed silver tubes and a cart that attaches to the back that is
also modular.
Final Assembly:
This thing is huge. The angle it is depicted in on the front of the box is
totally deceiving. The Mech alone is over a foot long and docked in the
bay, it is over 2 feet in length. Huge. The modularity allows you to snap
it all together in all sorts of formats. In the instructions they show that
you remove the cockpit, attach it to the top peg on the front set of legs,
and snap it away from the deck to make two separate units. This forms one
cool looking Mech and a back section which is balanced with the help of the
boulders and deck. Assembled, it looks like a big ant or a long scorpion.
To dock with the Bay, you need to straighten up the legs all the way and
back it in. Then the crane is to drop the boulders onto the technic ribbed
tubes. Problem is, the dumb tan canopy stops the crane from reaching. The
crane pivot point is directly under the canopy. Duh. If you do manage to
drop a boulder in, it uses the ribbed tubes to roll the boulder straight
into a waiting trap. Here another alien has a monitoring station. This
station can undock with the bay and depart with the boulder. Now the fun
begins. I looked at this long ant like shape and thought something looked a
little funny. So I placed the cockpit onto the top peg of the front legs,
and then unplugged the deck and back legs. Next I plugged the back legs
directly into the front legs and "WHALLAH!" Instant Brown Recluse Spider
Mech. With the crane arching up and over the deck, it looks just wicked.
This is the shape it was truly meant to be in, and it looks fantastic. The
alien on the crane pivot needs to be relocated, but who cares. Now the
crane can actually reach over the dumb tan canopy and reach the drop off
point. The hanging recon craft adds to the bulk in the rear. Very nice.
The instructions show how you can combine this set with the other Mechs
(7313, 7314) but the colors crash.
Overall:
When assembled per the instructions, the set it pretty cool. The little
breakaway Mech is great and there is good play value with the added docking
bay. The overall Mech has a lot of empty areas on it and looks hollow. It
is very slender and quite long. However, when assembled per my instructions
above, this thing looks awesome. Instead of being a mining search Mech,
it's now the squad leader of the Recon Mech and Red Planet Protector. It's
tan and camouflaged colors make it look ready for just about anything. I
will rate this set 8/10. I remove 1 point for the design of the dumb tan
canopy. Another for the price/piece count. I take off a third point for
the goofy shape of the Mech and deceiving box art (which make is look stubby
and bulky). But I add that point back because of the Modularity and how
damn cool this thing looks when reconfigured. I feel this set will be the
Gungan Sub of the SW line, under-appreciated. If you cannot afford it at
this point, it should definitely be on your list for the first time you see
it on discount.
Jason F.
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