6909 - Sonic Stinger

Rating:
Pros: Lots of cool pieces; a light and sound system
Cons: Overpriced for number of pieces; lights can't be on without sound
Contents: 95 pieces
Price: $21.99
Reviewed: 02-Dec-1998
Reviewed by: Mark Bauer

Ahhhhh... a peaceful day in Lego town. The weather is nice, the moon is out, and the bug zapper in the front yard of Tommy's house seems to be stopping the bugs from spoiling the annual bonfire...or so they thought.
Suddenly there is a huge flash of light and smoke fills the air. Everyone at the fire coughs and breaths up the smoke as they try to see what happened. Then there is a flash of light and a ring of sound and out of the smoke comes a giant bug! "Oh no!" cried Tommy. "The bug zapper must have enlarged a hornet! Run for your lives!"
Everyone started to scream and ran for shelter. The Lego Police force finally arrived but by the time they got there it was too late. Thousands and thousands of giant bugs were roaming the town. The Insectoid invasion begins!

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Although I am not a big space collector I just couldn't help myself but to pick up an Insectoid set. I think they all look really cool and at the time of purchase I wanted a light and sound system but didn't want to have to dish up $50+ for one so I got the Sonic Stinger.
The Sonic Stinger is a bug (duh!) and a mean looking one at that. After building it and looking at it for a bit I figured that the Sonic Stinger is either a Hornet or a Bee. The front of this bug is the eyes, which are transparent yellow spheres that look really cool. Between the eyes are to antennas. Behind the eyes is where the Insectiod figure can sit. Then behind there is a blaster and two very big wings which have pre-printed stuff on it and are transparent blue in color. Behind all that is the light and sound system, which is pretty nifty. The light and sound system has three sounds and each one also turns on the lights. One sound is an annoying beep. Another is bleeping noise although this one sounds cool. The last sound is a buzzing noise that gets higher in pitch as you hold it down which is pretty cool. Attached to the back of the light and sound system is a magnet which can hold a strange looking orb with a magnet sticker that can be placed on top.
Some new pieces included with this set are the bugs eyes, the giant blue wings, two 1x2x1 sloped computer pieces, 4 insect legs which can flex back and forth a little bit, and of course the light and sound system.
Now even though this set has all of these newer and cooler looking pieces I found myself looking inside the box to see if I missed 20 or 40 pieces. This set cost me $22 and came with only 95 pieces. Plus I had to buy some AA batteries. It's pretty insane when you look at other sets that cost $22 and their prices. The biggest comparison has to do with one of the Ninja sets. It costs $22 and had about 190 pieces! I couldn't believe the difference in pieces. Plus to top it all of, there is no way that you can have only the lights on in the light and sound system. You always have to have some sort of sound going with the lights, which I personally hate.
Overall the set could have gotten an extra star if they could have made a small ground vehicle come with. Anything that would give this set more pieces would have been great. The pieces are cool looking but $22 was just not worth it. If you are a big space collector then wait until there is a sale on this set and then pick it up and you'll probably be a bit happier than I am with it.