Had a friend just randomly give this to me in 2004 or so. He didn't want it, and it was practically brand new. One of a few Insectoids sets I own, and before I totally parted it out, I remember it being pretty awesome as a kid.

One of our few Insectoid sets too. My brother was quite fond of this, and I've always liked how the bigger ships could be split into smaller ones. A feature they've made extensive use of in Galaxy Squad, with great success.

@GSR_MataNui said:
"Insectoids is by far my favorite Space subtheme, although this is one of the weaker sets of the line.
Funnily enough, just yesterday I made Bricklink wanted list for all the sets and combo models to help me keep better track of them, and today I unlocked the level that gets you Locust in Legacy Heroes Unboxed so I've been on an even bigger Zotaxian kick than usual.

I’m with you on the Zotaxian boost from Lego Legacy! I have been a fan of Gypsy Moth since LEGO Racers. But having Locust in something NEW is fantastic!

Great set. My brother bought this set in a shop during our holiday in Luxemburg.

Woo-hoo, Space! But oh... Insectoids...

^ that's a sad story, but I'm glad your mom at least took the time to flatten and store the box. Many a box has just been thrown in the trash completely. Those 80's-90's boxes had tons of great ideas on them, too! Nowadays, the back of the box just shows more details of the main model. But back then, there were often a half-dozen alternate builds!

And to the rest of you, I love seeing how many fans of Insectoids there are and the fond memories you all have of the line. They were not my thing, I was more into the earlier Space themes and the main Classic theme, but it's fun to share the nostalgia all the same.

I loved having this as a kid, it was one of the few big 'capital' ships I had, made a good thing to have dramatic high stakes space battles with!

oh i have this set.
love it.
got it when i was on holday. on sale from the toy shop of the town we was staying in.
if i recall right i got the UFO ( 6975 ) and 6977 Arachnoid Star Base, that same week.
i go in to the toy shop see a set i liked buy it go back to camp, (holday home) and build it, then next time i was in town look again to see what to get next. :)

I remember being a kid and thinking this thing looks fantastic.
Yet oddly, adult me isn't really seeing it. I think this is a first time Adult me and Kid me disagree. I need have a good talk with me.
Anyway, the thing that adult me bounces off on is the stinger at the front and how the entire construction seems to be built haphazardly around it, with lots of pieces sticking out.

Still, there's a lot of play value here. A tiny jump ship. A giant ship, 3 (?) figures, magnets, wings.
I still love the color scheme though and those trans helmets, wings and domes still look fantastic.

I know a lot of people are always clamoring for Space to return and while I agree with the sentiment, I do feel like Insectoids would benefit the most from a revisit. A lot of bigger pieces could probably be replaced these days and we could get moveable legs.

I like how it looks like a giant bug face when you look at it from the front.

The electronic piece flashed like a firefly and sounded like a cricket.

Random set of the day makes me order a random selection of parts from BL...

Hey, I've got that. Two of it even.
:-)

I had the other large mosquito like set in this theme, and that light and sound element is amazing, still works perfect now.

Instectoids had some of the best parts to ever come out of a Space Subtheme, and this set is no exception. You get 4 small wings and 2 big wings all in one set! Not to mention the sound box, the legs, and all the other awesome parts.
I really need to get some sets from this line someday... Good thing they aren't as expensive on Bricklink as the other Vintage Space sets.

@SpoonTree said:
"Three things,
Firstly: haha 6969
Secondly: Is that trans neon green piece chi with a magnet on top? Are the Insectoids the forgotten Chima tribe?
Thirdly: This page wasn't loading for a few minutes, weird."

It's a slightly different part, though the shape is similar. It's got three prongs and they're rounded rather than jagged.

I think in the set it's meant to be a power cell. If memory serves the sticker on top is magnetic, allowing you to pick it up with a magnet crane in other sets.

@ra226 said:
"Those 80's-90's boxes had tons of great ideas on them, too! Nowadays, the back of the box just shows more details of the main model. But back then, there were often a half-dozen alternate builds!"

Sadly Lego stopped doing this because parents complained that there weren't instructions for these models. Because how dare kids "Just Imagine..."

@Dash_Justice As a completionist I'm both happy and sad that they removed those. Sad that I don't have as many official/cannonical options of what to do with the model, but happy I don't have to buy six copies of a set to have all it's variants on display simultaneously

I really wish more sights would document them though. Not a lot of older sets have back of the box pictures on Brickset or Bricklink. I've had a tad more luck with Brickipedia and online reviews but those are still hard to come by.

Nice.

Also, I somehow had overlooked that this one existed, and this is really cool.

Another set I have! I got this one... oh, back in 2010, I think it was? I got a big box of used Lego from a charity shop; and found to my delight that it contained both this set and the Life on Mars Excavation Searcher ( 7316 ) mostly complete. As those were the two Lego Space themes of my childhood, it was an amazing score for me!

A few pieces were missing when I built them up, though. I've mostly completed them by purchasing the needed pieces from Bricklink, but... the magnet-holders from this set, the ones with the studs on the bottom, are regrettably expensive (£5+ for a single piece seems ridiculous to me), so I'm still short two of them. A source of mild frustration, honestly xD

@Darth_TNT said:
"I know a lot of people are always clamoring for Space to return and while I agree with the sentiment, I do feel like Insectoids would benefit the most from a revisit. A lot of bigger pieces could probably be replaced these days and we could get moveable legs."

Mark Stafford has confirmed that the bug aliens from Galaxy Squad are, conceptually at least, a modern update of Insectoids. The back-story is different (evil bug aliens that want to destroy all humans, or something like that, for Galaxy Squad; benign aliens that just want to camouflage their spaceships from the giant bugs that invaded their home planet, for Insectoids), but the concepts of the builds are the same: Big bugs built out of Lego! Big Lego bugs that carry bug people! BUGS in SPAAACEEEEE!!!!

@Dash_Justice said:
"Sadly Lego stopped doing this [alternate builds on boxes] because parents complained that there weren't instructions for these models. Because how dare kids "Just Imagine..."

Wow, really? I hope that's not the case--I remember treating those like a fun puzzle to be solved. Do the parts you could see, then try and figure out how to build what was underneath with the remaining parts. 722 was my first ever Lego set--it was great because not only did ithave instructions for 6 great models, but the box had alternate builds for nine more!

@SpoonTree said:
Firstly: haha 6969
Secondly: Is that trans neon green piece chi with a magnet on top? Are the Insectoids the forgotten Chima tribe?

haha noice ;)
it's a different mold for the crystal, you probably already know