Random set of the day: Android Base
Posted by Huwbot,Today's random set is 6958 Android Base, released in 1996. It's one of 10 Space sets produced that year. It contains 267 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$40.
It's owned by 1443 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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27 comments on this article
Who's even DRIVING that little off roader machine! Apart from that, an okay set although I see no need for a giant laser cannon on the base.
Man. I would have (if I built this space base) enclosed it to keep oxygen in and aliens out. But these un-smart minifigures can do what they wish.
Yes I’m being sarcastic for those of you who don’t understand it.
This set has always looked so cool to me... and it's a great shortcut in LEGO Racers!
@Unusual User Name Pretty sure that's a satellite dish. x)
Wish Lego still made these massive dome pieces. I'd love to see how they could be utilized with today's build techniques.
It feels like a base done cheap, doesn't it? They had enough money for one ground vehicle and half a single structure.
Hmm, judging this set is a bit difficult when you consider that it's base impression is just a lining up of the large wall panel shells. On that matter I actually prefer the fully enclosed look a lot more to some of the constellations that made way less sense like 6983's fully open arrangement (no matter how much I like 6983 but how would that make any type of sense?).
Also the open/close mechanism when you pull the radar dish thingy on top (I guess it's really more some sort of sensor array instead of a laser, at least in this set, not so sure about 6982's similar assembly) was clever for this time in my opinion. The way the research truck/mobile laser turret (whatever you prefer) fits inside the dome was quite neat to store it away.
However fitting those tubes to the minifigs' helmets or equipment was a bit of a weird idea if you ask me. They really limited the way you could position the figures inside vehicles and very easily popped off.
Another thing nobody noted before is stickers. This set (like all Exploriens sets) is a good example of why and when stickers should be used in Lego sets. Almost all the stickers in this set (there are 10 scattered across 6 different sheats) are used to great effect and what is more important: in a way that a print simply can NOT achieve.
Triangular Wings and 2x2 Tile: Holofoil glitter effect
2x2 'fossil' tiles: Metal foil to make parts magnetic
4x4 Tile with studs: Holofoil with fake 3D effect of Minifigure Head
The large white panel however probably would have been better if printed. Yes - that big Exploriens logo is a sticker.
Also note the bizarre (but funny) 'X-ray-feature' of the magnet tiles: the red and blue scribble lines would form special shapes when put under trans-red or trans-blue parts, like the panels in the table assembly next to the main base. The assembly of this set worked a little better than most of this series if you ask me.
Minifigures:
The Explorien Commander (US: Nova Hunter/UK: Captain King) was only available in 2 other sets: 6815 Hovertron and 6982 Explorien Starship. His torso (with the big Exploriens logo) was exclusive to this figure while his head wasn't. The head was reused for Scavenger Sam, leader of the Aquaraiders in 1997.
Explorien Robot (US: Ann Droid) also was only in 2 other sets: 1858 Cloud Cruiser and 6982 Explorien Starship. Torso, legs and head were all exclusive to this figure although
technically they are just a recolor of the slightly more common Spyrius Droid. Also note that alongside Major Ursa from Ice Planet and Insectoid Queen Gypsy Moth she is one of the few female characters in 90's Lego Space.
Ah LEGO Space, glad the LEGO Movie 2 is bring us a bunch of sci fi and spaceships next year because I've been needing a kick of intergalactic brick building. I hope a proper new Space subtheme pops up soon!
Ahh, the memories. Looking at this set now, I realize it isn't as great as I once thought it was. By today's standards, this set is sorely lacking, but boy was it a ton of fun back in '96. I got this one for my birthday that year, along with the big ship from this theme. I loved the Exploriens. I miss original Lego space themes. I can only hope we get a new one in the future!
Some sets from that era, such as this one, felt empty after building it. I mean, looks big and all, but inside there wasn't much to do. Maybe a second floor could have been added. It certainly has the necessary height.
Just think of the base as a big observatory with the telescope mounted on a truck.
What really lets sets like this down is how empty the buildings are. Though I guess it’d be trivial to just add some control panels or computers to the interior...
Magnets!
I’m another whose going to step in and defend this set, I feel people writing it off as too simple aren’t giving it enough credit for the way the ground vehicle fits snugly inside until you lever the dome open with the rig on top and release the rover!
A nice set. Some great minifigures and great play features.
The blue and red "X-Ray" was a nice addition and gave meaning to the exploration part of this sub-theme.
I drove through this base so many times in Lego Racers...
And that's really my only experience related to the set. I was just a couple of years late to seriously get into Lego, so I missed out on any story that was initially attached to this theme.
The one time a base makes sense, is mostly enclosed and is functional and people still deride it.
https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAyNFg3NjA=/z/DNAAAOSwylhb7-ni/ $_84.JPG
The large canopy makes sense if you know the rover vehicle can drive into the dome. See that square platform at the back? That becomes the floor. See that telescope (or laser if you insist)? It can move around inside the dome. And the HUGE front window actually makes sense, considering the view it creates for the telescope (or laser, which might work trough the transparant canopy, possibly). With the rover inside, the space is quite full actually.
And that you can drive it outside also makes sense if you consider that the exploriens might need it elsewhere.
Also, the scout flyer, combined with large sensor dish and communication screen speak for themselves. This isn't a military base. It's an Exploriens base.
Exploriens was one of the only Space themes I was into as a kid. I loved that they were basically space paleontologists, and even today the idea of spacemen who basically exist to explore planets for extinct megafauna is a WILDLY exciting idea.
I had this set - I loved the huge windows and the Android minifigure. Though I kinda ruined the one that came in the set. I took a wad of grape bubblegum I was chewing and smothered it over the Android’s head, pretending it had been attacked by an alien blob monster. Even after peeling the gum off, the head was never quite so clear as it was out of the package.
Great Space subtheme. Really wish Lego would bring back non-licensed Space sets. I hope the Benny battle pack proves to them that there is a huge market for this.
Strange set.
I have this and regret not getting two so that I could enclose the dome.
Proud owner here. Still remember getting this from the Easter Bunny. I love the huge blue dome, and the use of magnets and blue/red translucent pieces.
Thank you Huwbot for saving me a bit of research. These came out when I was in my Dark Age, but I have seen a lot of those parts in bulk buys, and now I at least know which theme they came from.
Strange though the build may be, I miss the hell out of this kind of unique fanciful original build by Lego. I’m so done to death on Star Wars and the ilk - I want to see Lego take another shot at space stuff! I miss these classic space sets, or things like the Insectoid Invasion, or the awesome interchangeable Mars Mission sets.
And I want to see something OTHER than Benny. Yes, he’s cute and all (I even share his name!), but I’ll admit, I was not born when his ships came out and I’m far more nostalgic for the days of Johnny Thunder in Egypt and Dinosaur Island and the Insectoids and the Aquanauts and Aquasharks and Hydronauts and all those original and awesomely creative themes than I am for SPACESHIP. And I get that we have Nexo Knights and Ninjago, and both are great (and Elves and Friends are good on the girl’s side), but we used to have five or six unique lines every year or two - now, we’ve had those same two-to-four lines for *almost half a decade*.
I have loved the space Lego themes since they first came out , when the exploriens theme came out it exploded the possibilities of what I could do to improve on this ... for years I have made a fleet of ships centered around the Exploriens symbol .. it’s what Lego was made for .. create , improve , make it your own .. open up the possibilities to your own imagination.. and see what happens :)
@Binnekamp ... define "mostly enclosed", because I think we're working on different definitions, there.
@zordboy I feel like it’s enclosed as much as any System set is. Town...castle...they all had open backs for play.
The difference I'm seeing is that police stations and castles had levels and floors and some (albeit usually small) level of detail, not just a giant open cavern with a semicircle of panels around half of it. This set isn't really a base, it's more of a garage.
Exploriens works pretty well as a theme; when you assemble all the sets at once, it all comes together nicely and fits within the excavator/explorer them. I think this base, while spartan (as most contemporary sets were), works pretty well as a stand-alone outpost and has nice playability (and displays well, too). And if nothing else, it's easy to get those blue quarter-dome pieces on the secondary market nowadays thanks to this set, as thousands of units were churned out over the years!