6195 - Neptune Discovery Lab

Rating:
Pros: A very fun set with lots of playing possibilities. Implementation of the conveyor belt is a neat idea.
Cons: $90 is little on the expensive side.
Contents: 492 pieces including 4 mini-figs and one octopus.
Price: $89.99 - Discontinued
Reviewed: 27-Jan-1998
Reviewed by: Joseph Gonzalez

Niels Monson is on a sample-collecting mission when he finds a particularly interesting bed of coral. Exiting the sub, he notices an odd glow under a low outcropping of rocks. He approaches the hole and lays down to get better access at the cavity, extending his arm in as far as he can to extract the unknown object. Suddenly an enormous weight drops on top of him, wrapping itself around his body like wet cement. He struggles to gain some leverage and possibly stand when a powerful tentacle grips his leg and the force of a much larger body slams him face down into the sand again. Still fighting but unable to gain a foothold or reach to his utility clip to free a dagger, warning lights flash inside his helmet to notify him that his heart rate has almost doubled and something now is blocking the exhaust vents of his respiration unit. Self-preservation instincts kick in as Niels quickly calculates a way to free himself from the grip of a giant mother octopus!

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With the slight decline in quality Space sets (in my opinion), I have recently turned my sights toward the Aquazone theme. I hadn't paid much attention to Aquazone before but the more I focused on purchasing and assembling some of the models, I found that the constructions are very competitive with Space ships (even surpassing most of the current models).

The Neptune Discovery Lab is a large set of almost 500 pieces that is rapidly headed toward "discontinued" land. This is a marvelous station set that beats any of the Space stations released since the Blacktron Message Intercept Base. The 6195 is somewhat of a complex model comprising an exploration/retrieval submarine, the central station, what appears to be a small fuel depot, and a lookout post. All of this is based on two of the oddly-shaped ridge plates. The fueling bubble and sentry tower are fairly basic structures so I'll concentrate on the sub and central station.

The submarine is a fairly sturdy construction with a forward cockpit (where the pilot stands instead of sits) with segmented arms on each side that feature a pincer clamp or magnet appendage. There is a 6x8 cargo hold located just behind the cockpit, this area is not large enough for passengers unless they were to lay down. There is also a smaller storage space at the rear of the sub that is only large enough to hold crystals or tools.
The station is the center of attention and it is an excellent construction. Almost entirely enclosed, the interior space measures roughly 20x12x10. Access is gained by the large portal (obviously seen in pictures of the set) with twin transparent-blue 10x13 doors at the front of the station, or by small hinged-door entryways on each side of the building. To one side of the station is a sheltered conveyor system. This tricky unit has a loading chute that drops items onto a movable belt that conveys crystals either into the main housing or out the other side to a waiting 2x2x2 box. A rudimentary crane sitting atop the station swings to one side (where the submarine docks) and reaches into the sub's main cargo area to scoop out any goodies. The crane can then swing back directly over the conveyor chute to drop said goodies onto the belt. This is a cool idea that is executed well.

Highlighting the cool/unique pieces, there are the large doors mentioned above, two 10x2x11 half-arch bricks that frame the large portal, the trans-blue scoop (I haven't had one of these scoops since the long-gone 490-Mobile Crane of my childhood, *sniff*), the trans-blue 10x10 octagonal dome with corresponding plate and saucer-bottom/cup, twenty-three technic chain links (with two extras in case your baby brother sticks one in his nose) that are used for the conveyor belt, and two yellow 2x8 sloping bricks (I haven't seen these in this length before). There are also lots of the octagonal bricks that are prevalent in Aquazone sets.
The set comes with four mini-figs with three different faces but all the same body print and one octopus.
I was really impressed with this set (the darn thing took me more than two hours to put together!) and strongly suggest it to Aquazone and Space fans alike. If you see it at a discount price, you shouldn't pass it up!