6889 - Recon Robot

Rating:
Pros: Menacing design; good source of hinges; nice smuggling compartment
Cons: Half-done cockpit; no wrist joints in arms
Contents: 133 pieces including 1 mini-fig
Price: Discontinued
Reviewed: 18-Jul-1997
Reviewed by: Sam Siew

Kyp Duron skillfully piloted the Recon Robot through the treacherous ice caverns of the ice planet, Krysto. There was sudden bump as the small mech ran into an ice staglamite. The Recon Robot wasn't designed for travel through Krysto. Another bump followed, nearly tossing Duron from his seat. He wondered if he should have accepted the mission at all. But the price of 10,000 credits was irresistable. He would steal the satellite. Suddenly, an ear-splitting crash interupted his thoughts as he flew from his command seat and reeled into the wall behind. The robot's front wheels had fallen into a gapping ice crevasse, Duron realized as the mech crashed to the ground with a screech of straining metal. Climbing out of the wreck and getting to his feet, the enraged bounty hunter grabbed the control board and hurled at a nearby cave. To his suprise, there was a dull clank. Could it be...the satellite?

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I recieved the Recon Robot as a birthday gift. Being the only Lego set I received, I built it first. It's a cute little set and is a great source of hinges. (It has over 9 of them!) The robot rolls around on 6 wheels of Celestial Forager size. Directly above the front wheels is "space mailbox" piece which can store a Spyrius data card. Behind the rear wheels is a small smuggling compartment with a hinged door that swings upward. The area can store a helmet, air tank or anything else a Spyrius agent would steal. The command station is located above the smuggling compartment. It has a space for the pilot to sit, a control computer, and a red windshield. This is the part where the set goes down the drain. There is a tiny 2x2 space for the pilot to sit, and his back and air tank are exposed. This is terribly disappointing. Couldn't Lego just spend a few extra bricks to put a roof over the poor pilot? One big bump and the pilot falls off the mech. In combat, even a stray laser beam could roast the pilot in the back. What if there's a meteor shower? The arms of the robot is where an ample supply of hinges are found. The arms are L-shaped with pincers on the front. I wish there was a wrist joint. The head of the robot can turn a full 360 degrees and has a hose on top. It looks cool, but I wonder what it's for. Fire-fighting? The face of the robot doesn't look very intimidating at all with 2 eyes and a happy face mouth made from two 1x2 vent pieces. I changed it by making it have a single eye with the two 1x2 vent pieces on each side. It now looks like a robo-cyclops. The set looks menacing and cool with the L shaped arms and body design (with the head modified.) The color scheme is good. The only drawbacks are the weak, half done cockpit and the lack of wrist joints in the arms. The new Robo Force theme was supposedly made because the Spyrius robots were very sucessfull. However, the Robo Force equivelent of the Recon Robot, the Robo Raider, is one of the worst Lego sets I have come along so far. In conclusion, this robot will make a good shock trooper to your robo-mech forces.