6856 - Planetary Decoder

Rating:
Pros: Lots of function!
Cons: The design could be improved; big blue thingy whirls all around
Contents: 79 pieces including 1 mini-fig
Price: $7.99 - Discontinued
Reviewed: 20-Jun-1997
Reviewed by: Sam Siew

Trainee Xison skillfully swerved the Planetary Decoder past checkpoint 4. He was only 40 meters from his mission objective...the beaming up of 2 alien eggs safely. The eggs were the key to the Exploriens' survival, for only the eggs could stop a spreading virus which was devastating the crew of the Explorien starship.
It was a task of pinpoint accuracy, and the sluggishness of the Decoder's tractor beam made it even harder. His forehead broke out in a cold sweat as every second brought him closer to the eggs. He aimed the huge blue cannon-like tractor beam and positioned it until the cross-hairs locked. Would his mission be a success or would the Explorien Starship be devastated by the viral enemies?

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I'm a completist of the Exploriens theme and the Planetary Decoder was the final set I needed.
I'm quite pleased, especially with the functionality. The set is basically a scout ship, outfitted with a large blue cannon thingy on the top. I use it as a portal spawner device, for the cone and dishes inside look like some flux z-h-b inducer. Anyway, back to the point. (I'm doing a review on the Planetary Decoder, not a large blue cannon thingy!) It has a blue and red dishes on the front to use for the "alien eggs". These eggs are really just a silly gimmick and there's nothing great about them.
The driver sits right behind the dishes with a control panel with a hologram of stars on it. There's also a place to store the mini-fig's gun. The wings have a nice design, and in the center of the wings is the big blue thingy. It has two radar flaps on the side and it can raise and lower. The best part is it can swing backward and fold down between the tails on the back. Awesome!
The wings are triangular pieces with grates in the center of them. They're found on the opening roof of the cabin in the Explorien Starship. The eggs can be stored on the grates. The ends of the wings have raise and lower thrusters.
As I said, this set has a lot of function for such a small set. Let's see, adjustable thrusters, decoder, wing storage bays, big blue thingy...
There are no new pieces here, but the circular piece in white used to hold the two radar flaps is only found on the Explorien Starship. [Editor's Note: This piece is a common mast piece in Pirate sets.]
Now, here's the thing I really dislike about this set. The big blue thingy can rotate around, but it rotates around too easily. Therefore, when you swoop the model around the house (going VRRRROOOOM! or SHHOOWWOOP!) the big blue thingy swings all over the place. (Unless it's folded back.) This is just so obstructive! The design isn't very good either; it looks like a flying framework.
In conclusion, this is a nice model, despite drawbacks, and will do nicely as air support to your Scorpion Detector.