Accessories

Mars Mission - A wrong step for Mankind
We got my son the Lego Mars Mission Base for his 8th birthday. First the positives. He thinks it's cool to look at and it became the centerpiece of a major Mars battle involving all kinds of other Lego constructions. Overall, it is typical of any Lego set you ever got or will get, though Lego does seem to be moving toward exaggerated packaging. There are two real negatives with this set: 1) The pumping action is very weak. The missiles are hard to launch and the whole pneumatic tube system is ineffective and frustrating to use. 2)What's with the story here? Lego explorers go to a populated planet, start harvesting minerals and go to war when the locals resist. Not only that, the explorers use the locals for experimentation and haul them around as cargo. Pardon me, but this is not what Lego's or toys for 8 year olds should be about. The upside is that my son and I have had some good conversations about this. However, be warned, the teaching impact of a cool toy is a lot stronger than Socratic dialog with a freaked out Dad. I don't think I'm being overly sensitive here, but I say the Mars Missions are a bad trip.

Finally a return to form!
Coming from someone who was a Lego fan during the old Space Lego days (Blacktron, Ice Planet, Space Police anyone?), I was pleased to see these sets on store shelves. For the longest time I was keeping a safe distance from Legos in general. One, well yes, I have sorta grown out of the phase in my childhood. Two, well the prices have gone too high for my liking and all Lego seemed interested in doing is the lame Star Wars sets and making sets for every action hero movie that came around.

Well thankfully, someone at Lego decided to try the old themes again, such as city, space, castle...and I am overjoyed to see this return to form. As I pulled this set out of the box at Christmas and began assembling, it got the old juices flowing. I was again reminded how much craftsmanship and technical expertise went into devising a set like this.

Now if you're 7 years old, this set might be a little confusing. I was scratching my head at points. But once together, its a pretty ingenious set-up, using air as the propellent for the gun. Very impressive system they devised. Hats off to you Lego.

Its not THE most awe inspiring simply to look at...but it has functionality and looks pretty nice displayed. Lets not forget theres an awesome spaceship that comes with it thats pretty durable as well as a small alien craft. The color scheme is quite pleasing as well, bringing back vibes from the old Ice Planet days.

My biggest gripe? The prices on Legos these days! I see this set grossing in stores for maybe more than what Amazon has it listed. All of Legos prices are too inflated IMO, I remember a time 15 years ago, sixty or seventy would probably have been a more reasonable asking price for this set. Knock about five or ten dollars off any of the other Mars Mission sets and I'd be pleased...c'mon Lego. Stop with all this Spongebob, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones crap sets, and get more QUALITY sets like this one out to us at better prices.

Disappointed
We had fun putting together Mars mission but after it was together you really cant play with it because it falls apart. Make sure you have a place to display this after being built because you cant move it from room to room without it falling apart. My son was disappointed after we spent hours assembling to find you cant really play with it. If you just want something to build, which was fun, this is great but if you want action keep looking.