Random set of the day: MT-61 Crystal Reaper
Posted by Huwbot,Today's random set is 7645 MT-61 Crystal Reaper, released in 2008. It's one of 11 Space sets produced that year. It contains 600 pieces and 6 minifigs, and its retail price was US$49.99/£39.15.
It's owned by 1055 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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"Crystal Reaper"?
These guys were supposed to be the heroic characters in the narrative, right? Maybe they needed to workshop that a bit more. Eek.
You know, I only ever got two sets from Mars Mission, but man, what a cool theme. Great looking sets, great color schemes, an interesting lore for as little as there was. Should have probably gotten more than feeding my Star Wars addiction.
Sounds a bit like grim reaper. Yikes. And plus there aren’t any crystals to reap!
Mars Mission has always been one of my favorite themes; I collected the entire line, and this is one of my favorites. I borrowed power functions from some other sets I had and motorized it. It could pop wheelies at high speeds.
I was in my "too cool for Lego" phase when the Mars Mission sets were current, but I was still aware of them. I thought they were ugly and hyper-violent, so I was surprised to learn upon returning to Lego that many AFOLs remember them quite fondly, almost as "Classics" in their own right. I still don't like them much, but I do recognize now why people like them so much: the way they applied the new parts and play features developed in the early aughts to spaceships and ground vehicles (at least the ones for humans) was very much a return to form for the Space theme, and the simple but bold color scheme was refreshing after a decade of Space sets with lots of clashing colors and poor color blocking.
I kinda liked these sets, but the colors were always kinda off, and the ships over-stylized.
@Zordboy: Think "Reaper" as in "Harvester".
One of the few Mars Mission sets my family got. Not that great in hindsight, though I think it was the first set we got with those wonderful new treads (which probably were the main reason we got it). You could motorize it with Power Functions too, so that was pretty cool.
Sounds like the predecessor to power miners crystal sweeper!
My favorite Lego Space Series.
Oh man this was my absolute favorite vehicle from Mars Mission. Such a great build.
The stickers weren’t too bad in this one.
If there's one word to describe MM2007, it'd be overkill.
Mars Mission astronaut 1: "Hey! We have a new vehicle! It's called MT-61 Crystal Reaper!"
Mars Mission astronaut 2: "OK... So what bells and whistles does it include?"
Mars Mission astronaut 1: "It has claws! Treads! Rocket missiles! Double-cannon unit! Lights! Scoops! Blades! And a detachable ship!"
Mars Mission astronaut 2: "Cool."
Like Mars Mission, have most of them. This is one of the best. What a lot of people don't realise is that this was modular. The top detaches to make a cool little shuttle. Not keen on the little aliens much. The other thing is that the stickers had a very poor quality backing and cracked and fell apart, which is a shame. I think this theme, over all others, is responsible for my intense sticker hatred!
Mars mission as one of the worst space line in terms of sets design - This one and the huge driller are only good ones.
Even if I consider this set as a good set - the mechanism is quite rubbish especialy when you put in the motor (which was official build), and WHERE ARE THE CRYSTALS?
Loved this set. A fun build and such a multipurpose vehicle. Mining gear up front, science lab in the back and a detachable scout ship up top
I hand one of these in my hands once.... in a pop up bookstore/cafe in an otherwise abandoned shopping mall on Batam, an Indonesian island.
Yeah, for real. I get up to crazy things sometimes, always fun to find LEGO on my travels.
I was a big fan of Mars Mission (at least in terms of the set designs), but this was one of the few sets I didn't collect. Even back then it struck me as a weird mish-mash of a design, even in the context of the theme.
Looking back at the line now, it is a good case study on Lego's transition to more conflict-oriented play, especially comparing it to the original Life on Mars theme. That first line was much more open ended, giving kids the freedom to create conflict if they wanted to, but also leaving open the possibility for cooperation between the humans and the Martians if the child preferred. Mars Mission was literally black and white: humans good, aliens bad. That's especially problematic when the humans are clearly the invaders in this scenario.
This vehicle is really scary and really cool.
This was a fun set. I actually ordered some Power Functions stuff to get it up and running as a remote-controlled tank, and it worked pretty well. The integration was straightforward and it was great having it right there in the instructions.
It was back heavy, though, so tended to rock backwards when moving forward. That kind of messed up the crystal-gobbling gimmick, but it was still fun to move around.
This was great fun with the Power Functions installed to turn it into an RC-tank.
Great set. This was a little before my re-introduction to Lego so I missed it at retail. I later found a used one on ebay with power functions and it's an absolute blast to drive around.
@Your future president: The set actually had 5x https://brickset.com/parts/4114505/, though I agree it's not nearly as realistic as raw, uncut crystals as the more classic crystal piece https://brickset.com/parts/design-30385. It's a bit weird that they didn't use that one, since as of 2007 it was still currently in use in such themes as Aqua Raiders and Belville. But it didn't wind up showing up again in a wider variety of sets and colors until Power Miners in 2009.
@Lyichir: Besides the treads I recall another major selling point of this set for us was the recolored white Bionicle Toa Mahri visors!
@SpaceCadet: Mars Mission is honestly a theme I generally wouldn't describe as "black and white" since in a lot of the sets and media I remember, the humans barely seemed any more sympathetic than the aliens! I'd probably sooner describe it in shades of gray, sort of like LEGO Pirates (even if kids are typically expected to root for the Pirates, they're hardly ever framed as good, upstanding people).
LEGO always saves its interesting designs for its limited-edition sets, and this one is a prime example. The standard sets of a line will never have such interesting features or design points!
I love MM, mostly for the Classic Space shout-outs (remade Mega Core Magnetizer, anyone?), and the color combinations work well for my tastes, but the Earth astronauts were hardly the heroes IMO. The Martians, in my mind, were defending their territory from the interlopers. A little harsh and in-your-face, but it enabled some cool weaponry design...
Good set.
As I recall the aliens in this line were just as much invaders as the humans. They were from a totally different planet and were after the same crystals.
Always found the aliens from this a bit odd. They had nowhere near the posebility or printwork of the previous Life on Mars line or the following Space Police III. Love the overall color pallet though!
Never got this set but wish I did now. Got most of the first wave of Mars Mission and it just seemed like Claw Tank 2.0 at the time. Ah, well.
Yeah, the aliens themselves were pretty naff, I think my love of this theme is mostly nostalgia talking.