6984 - Galactic Mediator

Rating:
Pros: Great amount of plates and green windows
Cons: Principal model is cool but kind of shaky if you play too rough with it
Contents: 394 pieces including 4 mini-figs
Price: Discontinued
Reviewed: 25-Jul-1997
Reviewed by: Joseph Gonzalez

For months now the battle on Geriman VIII has waged between Earth Alliance and the seemingly unstoppable UFO forces. Seen as a "beachhead" planet, Geriman VIII houses technology labs and Marcelineon storehouses for the Earth Alliance and her protectorates. Perhaps that is why this outer-perimeter planet was chosen as a target by invading forces.
Dutiful soldiers have held the large headquarters research station and two storehouse units safe for the past week but strange energy fields have both jammed frequencies and prevented reinforcement ships from landing to assist the weakening surface troops. With rations running low and firepower almost nonexistent, surviving soldiers are near the end of their resolve to hold the station safe when through the smokey haze and neon blasts a great movement can be seen suddenly penetrating the upper atmosphere. It is an enormous convoy of Mediator class transports blasting their way through the din and reviving the spirits of exhausted ground forces. Joyous shouts go up from the troops below as even the alien attackers seem to sense a turn in the tide of the battle.

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In an effort to beef up my space fleet, I recently set out to find a Galactic Mediator (which I previously failed to acquire because of my most recent dark ages) and thanks to some helpful fellow Lego maniacs, I was able to acquire a Galactic Mediator in wonderful condition and it was well worth the search! Comparisons to the SPI Mission Commander are inevitable yet unfair because of that older model's superior design. Considering this, we will not make any comparisons between the two ships or sub-themes.
The Galactic Mediator can best be described as a NASA space-shuttle-styled transport with roomy interior cargo areas in a three-stage design which allows you to detach the three stages and re-attach the first and third stage together for a more compact ship.
The first forward section of the Mediator is a bullet-shaped double canopy control craft with room for almost four mini-figs within itself! The center section is a long boxcar-like storage area with one control panel and places to store handheld utilities. While the spacious interior is very useful (and rarely seen in spaceship models), it is not very sturdy due to the fact that there are no support beams to reinforce the walls and fliptop roof. As it is, this section (whether standing alone or as an integral stage to the main ship) easily collapses if you grab it with too much pressure (a typical hazard when playing with small children). The third stage is similar to the second with its roomy interior but with the inclusion of the Mediator's hinged triangular wings that can swing out and back in to hold the mobile prison cells (a cool feature copied from the SPI Commander ship...oops, I'm comparing). A large radar dish array set on top of this third stage/section is bulky, ugly and unnecessary all at once. Just remove this hideous contraption and we'll both feel better. One final assembly is the 8-wheel exploration unit which can drive up and into the ship's cargo area. Very cool!
The set comes with two Space Police figures (one of which is the captain/chief) and one Blacktron II Figure.
While the main model isn't entirely stable, I don't complain too loudly about that because of the number of pieces included with the set (almost 400 pieces!). There are lots of large plates, four 2x4x2 tube-face bricks, two 2x4x2 stud-face bricks, two canopies and many other useful bricks for lots of alternate model possibilities. In fact, I'm fairly sure you could build two medium-size ships using the bricks from this set alone!
While I'm not overly crazy for the SPII color combination, this is an awesome ship with a great collection of usable bricks (raising the value for a set of this type for the number of bricks alone).