Random set of the day: Double Hover
Posted by Huwbot,Today's random set is 7308 Double Hover, released during 2001. It's one of 24 Space sets produced that year. It contains 21 pieces and 1 minifig.
It's owned by 502 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $20.00, or eBay.
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33 comments on this article
B1 Battle-droid cyborg?
The rare set to be RSotD thrice: https://brickset.com/article/45822 https://brickset.com/article/107171
@TheOtherMike said:
"The rare set to be RSotD thrice: https://brickset.com/article/45822 https://brickset.com/article/107171 "
They are the same set, but have different numbers:
1414, 7308 and 7300. But even so, the fact all three have been chosen is quite interesting.
@Maxbricks14 said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"The rare set to be RSotD thrice: https://brickset.com/article/45822 https://brickset.com/article/107171 "
They are the same set, but have different numbers:
1414 , 7308 and 7300 ."
and with set 78777 it could happen a fourth time
Confirmation that mini-dolls are in fact Martians. The feet prove it.
"I want a podracer"
"We have podracers at home"
*Podracer at home*
Life on Mars came out long after I was a kid, but I recently discovered it and became a little obsessed with it. The figures have limited connection points, true, but otherwise I think this is a great theme - peak Bananas Bankrupt Lego stuff, with incredible colors and all kinds of crazy custom molds and parts in the larger sets. The livery and designs of all the martial vehicles are really like Bizarro World Classic Space. I think it's great, and this little set is a great example.
I liked LoM, (mostly) modular sets that would link together to form a larger space station (a bit like '84-'87 Castle), the figures (although suffering from poor parts recycling attempts) had a certain charm to them, cool new colors, nice play-features and even a bit of story including a Racers 2 cameo.
Those 4 impulse sets were a weird regarding their release types and confusing renumbering, but to be honest that was rather common for the early 2000s. I guess they tried to create new characters (or unnamed generic ones) for these sets by mix and matching the parts, but yeah... it looked a bit awkward. The cool thing though, these 4 sets all were matching to some larger set:
Blue Martian Hover - Red Planet Protector
Martian Walker Robot - Excavation Searcher
Human Explorers' Buggy - Solar Explorer
This set - Aero Tube Hangar/Red Planet Cruiser
I recently discovered some odd element IDs alongside a Bricklink entry that hint at produced earlier versions of Altair and Cassiopeia in slightly different colors (Medium Lime and Magenta instead of regular Lime and Purple). These even line up way better with the promo images. I suspect the medium lime Altair is from the figure polybag promos released in late 2000? Also, there were 2 mould versions of the martians' head: one smooth, one with 'ears'. I even had both versions in the same set.
Does anyone know a bit more about the color change or the mould difference?
@Maxbricks14 said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"The rare set to be RSotD thrice: https://brickset.com/article/45822 https://brickset.com/article/107171 "
They are the same set, but have different numbers:
1414, 7308 and 7300. But even so, the fact all three have been chosen is quite interesting."
If I had to guess, it's probably because they had different set numbers in different countries. Something LEGO did a lot in their early history.
With all that red dust coating the ground everywhere, they really need him to start driving the Double Hoover.
Double hover? How does it hover twice? Or does it hover over two things at once?
@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"The rare set to be RSotD thrice: https://brickset.com/article/45822 https://brickset.com/article/107171 "
They are the same set, but have different numbers:
1414, 7308 and 7300. But even so, the fact all three have been chosen is quite interesting."
If I had to guess, it's probably because they had different set numbers in different countries. Something LEGO did a lot in their early history."
1414 was a Kabaya release, and those always got different numbers. Sets that were released in both polybag and boxed versions also got a unique number for each packaging style.
@TheOtherMike:
The few Kabaya sets I obtained (2x 6964, 1x 6965) came packed in a polybag. The polybag set, along with a separate clear cellophane bag containing two gumballs, was then placed inside a box bearing the same set number. So, if you want a true, off-the-shelf, MISB copy, it’s going to contain two rancid gumballs that are now 20 years old. Or someone could have popped the seals on the box, chewed the gum for the thirty seconds it took to run out of flavor, and the polybag still works as MISB.
Ah, right in the nostalgia. I didn't have any of the sets but I played Lego Racers 2 a lot and Life on Mars was one of the themes the races were organized around. Good times.
Do you think calling it a Double Hover is the Martian equivalent of us calling something 4-wheel drive?
@Brickalili said:
"Do you think calling it a Double Hover is the Martian equivalent of us calling something 4-wheel drive?"
probably. which would mean that the vehicle is called double hover due to using two hovering devices, which makes sense.
I think that is the most ho-hum expression I have ever seen.
That printed dish piece is a thing of beauty.
One little collection complete, now we just need to get the other smalls of the Life on Mars theme:
1413: https://brickset.com/article/54805
1414: https://brickset.com/article/107171
1415: https://brickset.com/article/35544
1416: Not yet collected (Will complete Kabaya Polybag collection)
7300: https://brickset.com/article/45822
7301: Not yet collected (Will complete Rover collection)
7302: https://brickset.com/article/35686
7303: Not yet collected (Will complete Jet Scooter collection)
7308: https://brickset.com/article/110284 (All Double Hovers collected!)
7309: https://brickset.com/article/97893
What a weird theme. And what terrible box art throughout.
I guess had I been a kid back then I'd be an adult fan of Playmobil now.
I can't use my double hoover joke anymore because A) I used it up in one of this RSotD's twin articles and B) someone beat me to the punch.
So ehm...
Fun fact: that dish only appears in the Recon Mech RP and Aero Tube Hanger. And this set's other triplet siblings of course. And probably a service pack.
I like this set. And LoM was great :D
@AustinPowers said:
"What a weird theme. And what terrible box art throughout.
I guess had I been a kid back then I'd be an adult fan of Playmobil now. "
Factually incorrect. This theme is loaded with imagination. The colors are incredible, the minifigures unique, and the sets having modular attachment points that allow you to mix and match the Astronaut and Martian vehicles. And the box art is designed to reflect the imagery being received from cameras on rovers we sent to the red planet. As a kid, I easily understood that, and I haven't abandoned LEGO for any other kind of toy.
@MCLegoboy don't get me wrong, I agree with your opinion 100%... but none of what was sad above can be considered 'fact' if it was all about a subjective take. Opinions can't be incorrect in that regard.
Wow, what is the color scheme here - green and sand green and lime green and teal AND orange AND blue! Remarkable.
So, my two headcanons are that:
a) this Martian is the same character as Vega, just wearing a blue shirt because their typical orange one was in the laundry (or had been stolen by Antares in 7303!)
and
b) Vega is a girl just like Cassiopeia. I'm not sure what got it into my head as a child that Vega was a lady (and that https://brickset.com/minifigs/lom005 Arcturus was too, for that matter); maybe I assumed that the males were the ones with masks or other forehead attachments (including hair!) and since Cassiopeia, who was specifically identified as a girl by the magazines I had, didn't have those features then the other martians who didn't have them were also women? Whatever the case, I kinda like the idea even now; gives the martians a bit closer to an even gender balance ^^
(I think the online radio log story excerpts would have corrected me on the characters' genders? But I didn't look closely at them at the time; and World Club (the UK name for Mania Magazine) and Lego Adventures magazines both only specified names and genders for Antares, Cassiopeia, Rigel and Altair, so they were all I had to go on back then!)
@ThatBionicleGuy:
They still gender-coded LoMartians with eyelashes. Cass is the only female.
@MCLegoboy said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"What a weird theme. And what terrible box art throughout.
I guess had I been a kid back then I'd be an adult fan of Playmobil now. "
Factually incorrect. This theme is loaded with imagination. The colors are incredible, the minifigures unique, and the sets having modular attachment points that allow you to mix and match the Astronaut and Martian vehicles. And the box art is designed to reflect the imagery being received from cameras on rovers we sent to the red planet. As a kid, I easily understood that, and I haven't abandoned LEGO for any other kind of toy."
I was offering a personal opinion, not a fact. And from my point of view this theme is one of the worst space themes LEGO has ever done. I dislike the look of the sets, the colour combinations used, the figures and the box art.
Purely my personal taste. Then again I was deep in my dark ages at that time, and looking back at what LEGO had on offer back then I am more than happy that it was so.
The only redeeming feature to me is that the decorations appear to be prints instead of stickers.
@Binnekamp @AustinPowers
" @MCLegoboy said: Factually incorrect."
It's called hyperbole folks.
This is the third double hover we got from the RSOTD! Only one more left which is 78777 !
@PurpleDave said:
" @ThatBionicleGuy :
They still gender-coded LoMartians with eyelashes. Cass is the only female."
Yeah, I know; it's only a headcanon of mine. I still like to imagine it that way, though, even while knowing that it has no basis in official material ^^
@BaconKing said:
"This is the third double hover we got from the RSOTD! Only one more left which is 78777 !"
I'm pretty sure that multi-packs aren't eligible, although the picture used for https://brickset.com/article/97488/random-set-of-the-day-coast-guard-platform made me think it was a multi-pack at first.
@ThatBionicleGuy said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @ThatBionicleGuy :
They still gender-coded LoMartians with eyelashes. Cass is the only female."
Yeah, I know; it's only a headcanon of mine. I still like to imagine it that way, though, even while knowing that it has no basis in official material ^^"
Wasn't just you, though--my brothers and I definitely had the same idea. Never even occurred to us that Vega might be male. The "ends with a short 'a'" vibe was that she was a she.
And now the double hover appears for dpble the days as today is a saturday and thecnew RSotD will appear on sunday.
Can't use the double hoover joke now. And I already gve trivia on the dish...
Ehm. 'Vega' is sometimes used as a short version of 'vegetarisch' or vegetarian where I live...?
And Vega is the most common martian, appearing in 3 standard sets in standard uniform and 5 if you count the random martian polybag and a watch they came with. And that'd be 8 if you count this variant and the other two Double Hover versions!
Most martians only appear in one set + the random martian polybag...