6954 - Renegade

Rating:
Pros: Very unique design; the flagship for one of the more interesting Space sub-themes; modularity of the craft is a neat idea
Cons: Pilot for the command ship is left open to the cold environment of space, a few well-placed bricks could have solved this
Contents: 302 pieces including 2 mini-figs
Price: Discontinued
Reviewed: 16-May-1998
Reviewed by: Joseph Gonzalez

With a heart as black as the uniform he wears, commander Lucius Moor is perhaps the most feared name in the Praxis Quadrant. And more's the fear he merits in his destruction-dealing ship, the Warrig, with a full complement of invader-class fighters at his command. In less than an hour they will reach the Futuron laser launcher laboratory and Lucius means to make the secrets of the laboratory property of Blacktron forces, or property of none!

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For the longest time I ached over pictures of the Blacktron Renegade and eagerly looked forward to the day I'd be able to have one in my possession or at least be able to check out the instructions. Lots of fans rave about this subtheme (the first bad guys introduced into Space). I finally acquired a Renegade in good condition (without the astronauts, but they aren't crucial to a review) and while it does have some interesting aspects in modularity, it isn't quite what I expected it would be.

Design of the Renegade is odd in that it is asymmetrical so I will describe the ship in (pilot's) left and right halves. The right wing of the ship is a narrow wing with a landing/docking structure that holds a one-man hover-jet (there are two of these craft.) These are nifty little vehicles with directional thrusters on each side of a pilot's seat, two hand held sticks give the idea of directional steering/control.
The right main-body of the ship is the longest extension of the ship and houses the commanding ship/minicraft featuring horizontally hinged wings on each side. Perhaps the most disappointing feature of the entire model was the fact that the underside of this miniship is left almost entirely open except for the 2x10 plate that the pilot sits on (it's almost a common occurrence in Lego models today but one would have expected better back then).
The left main-body is shorter than the right half and houses the "facing" unit featuring vertically hinged radar dish type lasers. This facing unit can detach from the ship for purposes described later.
The left wing is identical to the right wing with a docking structure for the counterpart hover-jet.
The rear of the ship features two detaching large cone thrusters which hinge horizontally out and when enclosed, lock in the detachable cargo pod of the ship. This cargo pod makes up the bulk and center of the body and is about the size of 6x12x3 with a hinging top. A four-wheel surface vehicle is stored inside the pod.

The most unique aspect of the entire model is its ingenious modularity: the command ship, facing unit, individual thrusters and pod are constructed so that on corresponding ends there are either horizontal pins or holes for insertion of one module into the other. For instance, a rear thruster could be inserted into the command ship to give it extra push; or the facing unit and command ship would be switched so that the ship takes on a different appearance; or the cargo pod could attach to the rear of the command ship and a thruster to the end of the cargo pod! This gives your model a nice number of variations depending on how you wanted to attach the modules. The last instruction page goes as far as demonstrating the interchanging of the modules of this model with those of the 6894-Invader and 6941-Battrax for even more variations. I'll be honest and say that none of the models is very neat looking (in my opinion they look dumb) but the concept of interchangeable modules is quite cool (and was used to a lesser extent with the Blacktron II models.)

There are a lot of plates utilized in the construction of this model which will make for some great alternates or a great addition to your existing collection. Unique pieces in the set include the transparent yellow canopy, yellow opaque hoses and large yellow cones used for thrusters.

While the 6954 is an impressive set, I enjoyed the 6894 and 6876-Alienator just as much. I might have even appreciated the Renegade more if I hadn't expected so much from hearing others' praise.