Early last year when I first found out about Alien Conquest, my inner child lit up. Finally another real deal classic sci-fi space set. All that was available of the names, "tripod", "saucer", "mothership". My imagination raced. I just knew they would be awesome. Finally the images were released and I was a bit underwhelmed. Maybe I had psyched myself up too much, I'm not sure. The mothership looked disappointing, perhaps too cumbersome? Anything with a built in handle, a constant reminder that this thing is going to be hellish to manipulate, is just unappealing. The tripod was perhaps my biggest let down, I had all these War of the Worlds-esque visions stalking the placid neighborhood streets in my head. The saucer, however, was a mystery to me. The old UFO set was one of my favorites and I guess I was expecting something similar to that. At first I was let down, but then, the more I studied the image, the more intriguing the design became.

Finally they were released and I went to TRU first thing that morning to pick up a couple of the sets. I grabbed the saucer first. I rushed home and opened it up, eager to see how this thing fit together. And might I say, I was quite surprised. The cohesion was remarkable. Such a beautiful, simple design. The way the LED and the "teeth" in the maw on the bottom work together is, exceptional. At first I wasn't all too pleased with the jutting LED mechanism sitting in the cockpit, feeling that there was a much better method of placement hidden in the design. But, really, the simplicity is too precious to mar with an expanded inner chamber. And really, the mechanism isn't unsightly in the cockpit. It actually gives it the cockpit a "brain-like" aesthetic. Makes it look more like a control room.

Once I took off my nostalgia goggles and came to terms with the fact that my favorite sets from the 90's really lack such cohesion and flush simplicity, I think I can say definitively that this is indeed my favorite set.