Review: 70815 Super Secret Police Dropship
Posted by kempo81,
It’s been a bit of a quiet week for news here on Brickset, so let’s kick the weekend off with a review!
I’m going to take a look at the Super Secret Police Dropship from the upcoming second wave of sets from The LEGO Movie. It seems like a while ago now we were looking at the first wave, and the movie itself has long been off the listings at the cinema! With eager anticipation of the Blu-ray/DVD release in a couple of months, hopefully this second wave can rekindle everyone’s memories of the film and tide us over until Amazon ship our copy of the movie (other outlets available to purchase the film!). From a personal point of view, I think the three sets from this second wave are some of the best from the entire theme.
Set 70815 Super Secret Police Dropship contains 854-pieces, eight minifigures, and will retail for $79.99 and I would guess somewhere around £69.99 in the UK. Inside the box are six numbered bags, two instruction booklets, one small sticker sheet, and the cockpit canopy (or Shell 6x12x6 W/Bow/Angle!).
What was a little disappointing is the instructions and sticker sheets were loose in the box and sadly were creased – particularly the sticker sheet! I much prefer the sets where the instructions, and sticker sheet come in a sealed bag with a cardboard sheet to keep it all protected and flat.
Box & Contents
The box is the same format as all the others we've seen from TLM sets. As I mentioned inside there are 6 individually numbered bags, 2 instruction books, 1 small sticker sheet, and the windscreen/canopy which you can see below...
Each bag was of a similar size and the contents fairly evenly split between the six. Also, the minifigures were split across the bags rather than all eight to be built right at the start.
Two nice size (nearly A4 but I didn't measure them!) instruction booklets are included, with the very basic step-by-step guide to building we're used to by now. Some aerial views early on to showing the gearing system for the tilting engines are included, which were useful.
Actually quite a small set of stickers - for some reason with a set of this size I was expecting more? And as I said above, it was a real shame that the sticker sheet had been totally squished and creased by the weight of all the bags pushing on it...
Minifigures
There is a great selection of minifigures in this set, and at this price point, I think eight is a decent quantity too! What makes the selection good is not only does it feature main characters, but also a good number of Robo SWAT to occupy the Dropship.
Of course you have Emmet who comes with not only the piece of resistance, but the tracking device also (1x1 stud in trans red). Then there is Batman; he is the same one used in many of the DC Super Heroes sets. The Green Ninja is the ZX version from 2012 although his head is from the 2014 version.
Lastly there is Johnny Thunder from the Adventurers theme. He has a new torso and head although they are pretty much identical to the originals with the main differences being back printing on the torso and the eyes on his head have the white pupils. I was surprised by his inclusion given the short amount of screen time he gets but that’s a common theme with TLM sets!!
Then there are four Robo SWAT, two of which have the SWAT vests, and two that don’t (they both have a neck bracket with stud). The Robo SWAT has two different head designs, and various types of headgear, all seen in previous sets, in one form or another!
The Build
Next up is the Dropship build, and what a nice build it was! I found there was a good balance of Technic used for the functionality of various features on the ship (which I will cover later), as well as system LEGO.
Bag 1 contained the Emmet and Batman minifigures, including a small box containing Batman's cape, and two small bags with the smaller elements like Technic pins, etc. This first bag is mainly the construction of the base for the ship and the beginning of the lower front cockpit.
Below you can see the gearing system I mentioned which is for the rotating Jet Engines on the ship. Nothing to test but make sure you get it the right way round as the tilting engines WON'T WORK!
This is the completed base using the contents of the first bag. At this point the ship seemed like it was a little small but it soon became clear that it's not!
Bag 2 contains one small bag and a small box with the string/cord inside. This next part of the build covers the construction of the upper cockpit, the winch system for the ship, and the rear storage bay.
Worth mentioning at this point is there is a printed tile which sits behind the right hand door (if you're looking front on), on the side of the rear storage bay. It is prefixed in the instruction book with AI- and then a number of X's rather than the number I have on the tile which may suggest each one could be unique to the set? I don't know and I'm just speculating. Perhaps someone has heard about this? Time will tell I guess!
Bag 3 and we really start to see the dropship take shape. Inside is one small bag of elements, and of course the rest of the bricks for this next stage! At this point the central weapon store, lifting side doors, and rear storage bay doors are added. Some of the larger stickers are applied at this point as well. Below you can see the end result of the Bag 3 construction.
Bag 4 and there is a little more cockpit development. The main focus is the construction of the roof, swivel gun turret, lighting, and a number of small ancillaries. Just one small bag full mainly of trans blue and red!!
Bag 5 contains the rest of the minifigures (Johnny Thunder, Green Ninja, and four Robo SWAT). There is also one small bag of elements. This stage covers construction of the removable prison transport cell which fits nicely in the rear storage bay! Also the addition of the main cannons to the front, the flick-fire missiles on the rear, as well as some other small details. See below for the finished steps. You can see the ship is really starting to look like the finished article - and a very cool ship in my opinion!
Finally is bag 6. This is basically the construction and fitting of the jet engines for the ship. This was probably the most repetitive part of the build but at least it was at the end and that gave me the enthusiasm to struggle through them and finish it off! Overall there wasn't too much repetition at all during the build other than at this stage.
So here it is... The finished Super Secret Police Dropship!
This set was a lot of fun to build. It took me around 3 hours at a guess, although I stopped to take pictures and was taking notes. I didn't actually notice the time as I was enjoying myself too much making the model! I was a fan of Space Police (well I still am!) and there are elements of this set that remind me of some Space Police sets of old. In particular the prison transport cell in the rear which looks a lot like the ones found in sets like 6886 Galactic Peace Keeper. In fact with some small changes, I reckon this could be made into an excellent Space Police set! On the other hand the swivel front cannons remind me very much of the Republic Dropship or Gunship.
It's a very playable and sturdy model, which represents the Dropship in the film extremely well. On top of that it has a high swooshability factor!! Both my 8-year old nephew and I have tested it out, and it's a thumb's up from us both! In actual fact I'm struggling to find any faults or niggles with the set at all.
Features
There are some nice features on the Dropship, a few of which I'll highlight now. First up is the Rappel Line for the Robo SWAT to exit the side door of the Dropship to the ground. I'm not normally a huge fan of using "string" with LEGO but in this instance it's a nice touch and actually works really well!
This is the winch wheel to pull the line up or lower it down as required...
And on the opposite side of ship to the wheel is this cog and lever which acts as a neat lockout for the rappel line. As well as lowering the line up and down with the wheel, it will also free-fall with a gentle pull!
From this rear view you can see the prison transport cell in the rear storage bay as well as the rear mounted flick fire missiles on either side.
It uses the new Spring Shooter 1x4 flick-fire system which you can see below. This is new for 2014 but has been seen in a number of earlier sets, including Star Wars.
Lastly we have the swivel jet engines on the Dropship. In the horizontal position, the Dropship is in hover mode - however with the use of the cog at the rear shown below, the engines can rotate 90-degrees, and point those big jet engines to the rear for flight mode.
Here is a side on view of the engines in their rotated position.
Final Thoughts
For me, this set is 5/5 on all counts. The build is great, eight minifigures at this price point I think is good, and overall this is a fun set that can actually be properly played with. The look on my nephew's face and the wide open eyes as he exclaimed "WOOOOWWWWWW" on first seeing it on my bookcase said it all for me...
I hope you enjoyed the review and you can look forward to another of the new TLM sets being reviewed by DrDaveWatford shortly!
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34 comments on this article
Awesome review Kempo! Lots of nice features on this set.
Jest dosyc fajny.Podobne boczne otwieranie jak w statku star wars nie pamietam numeru zestawu podoba mi sie bardzo wiezienie i figurki ale co do calosci dosyc fajny zestaw ale nie powala ale to moje zdanie.
Great review and a great set indeed!
Isn't this the first time that Johnny's hat has been issued in reddish brown?
Also, can you please take pictures of the prison cell, the interior and the engine intakes? Did they use the tiles from 70003-1 Eris' eagle interceptor?
I think the brick code is used to redeem content in the game.
Good review. My only criticism would be the liberal use of "IMO". Its use is out of place within a lengthy paragraph and looks either 'lazy' or superfluous depending upon the narrative. Keep its use for quick comments :-)
Good shout @prlee i've just taken a look through the instruction booklet and there are a few pages of adverts at the back of book 2 which I confess I skipped over - it's right there in print!! "Enter code to unlock Surprise Item"!!
Thank you for an informative review. I was particularly interested in your build advice and features explanations. Thanks again.
@mr_skinny it would appear that before I could respond to your comments another news editor has removed the offending "IMO'S"!! I hope it makes for a better read now.... :o)
Looks like a great set. I stopped reading the review when the basic instructions were mentioned. It got me upset because I absolutely hate how dumbed down the instructions have become. I've been putting together my old Expert Builder sets and it has been great to not be treated like an idiot. In fact, there are errors in some spots which further enhances the challenge!
Maybe I will start looking at every other step and see if that makes it any better. Does anyone do that?
I love my cops and robbers, so this is a no brainer. Having sold off my childhood Lego some years ago, getting a new Jonny Thunder will be great. Good reviewing.
Just brought 70816: Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!
This police set was next to it, looks fantastic, but gotta have Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!
Cant wait to pick up this one and benny Spaceship!! spaceship!!!! SPASHIP!!!!!!!! looks great and nice review
I live in the UK and I already have this set (a local independent toy shop had all the new Movie sets!). It's a big ol' vehicle, and I suppose one perk of making a movie out of Lego is that all the subsequent models match the on-screen versions exactly.
The only real criticism I have of this model is the gearing system used to rotate the engines, it's a bit of a swine to get the two pairs to align so that they rotate at the same time and angle. The 'clutch' assembly in between the two sets of engines does allow for some fine tuning, but I'm afraid that as far as I'm concerned, I am Lord Business, and I want everything to line up perfectly. It bugs me a little, but in the grand scheme of things it is very minor.
I also got the Construct-O-Mech, although this (along with about 15 other sets) is still boxed as I have absolutely NO space left anywhere in the house to display them). However, this won't stop me from getting Benny's SPACESHIP!!! on my next visit ;).
?? Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you're part of a team...??
I'd like to snag the JT figure. But beyond that, I'm not all that interested in this set.
that code is for the video game
Did you know that Batman's variant is exclusive to this set because his cowl has arched eyebrows.
Each set includes one of two cheat codes for The LEGO Movie Video Game. Both codes unlock Johnny Thunder and the Super Secret Pants when entered into the floating set box near the police station in Bricksburg. The two possible codes are ???????? or ????????.
Most of the Minifigures from other themes have new designs.
? Lloyd uses the 2014 face, instead of his 2012 face.
? Johnny Thunder has a more detailed torso, legs, and face.
? Batman has arched eyebrows on his cowl.
Sourced from LEGO Wikia! c:
[Codes removed by a moderator]
@legoadventures the cowl is not new to my knowledge, according to the parts list in the instructions the cowl is this: http://brickset.com/parts/6014618 which has featured in many other DC SH sets already. Which I mentioned. I also mentioned the Green Ninja is the ZX version from 2012 with the 2014 head. Ditto for Johnny Thunder!!! And as you can see from the pic I have a different code...??
Definitely a must have for me. I had that Johnny Thunder fig when I was little as a part of a set that was released in '99, but I lost nearly all the pieces.
I think that code is for the same purpose as the numbers on the front of the fire engine from the same theme.
JHONNY THUNDER!!!! Yes I so love that guy back from when Lego had unique characters that did not needed a license to be great (the other one being that skateboarder).
This set looks great. I forgot it was even released, yet. It will be great for the upcoming Lego movies to pull out other old characters, update them, and put them in new sets.
P.s.; At the beginning of your review you said tie us over and it is tide us over as in tide use to mean time as in Yuletide. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/to-tide-you-over/ I try not to be a grammar bug, but thought the story of why it is tide you over was cool.
Awesome design of the Dropship and great minifigs!
This set seems to be on the expensive side for a non licensed set. But the design is definitely nice!
What a great set! Finally, the SSP have a vehicle that can take on the Master Builders! :)
I love this set. It was the last one I needed to have the all that I can own of the lego movie sets. I have everything except two promotional sets that were only given to the media and people are selling them for ridiculous prices on ebay.
Does anyone know if there will be anymore sets after this?
@yuffie - Yes they are available in all UK stores.
Thanks for the great review Giles, this is a set I am really looking forward to!
@larsnelson with regards to the use of "tie" us over - in my draft which is what I used to publish here, I said "tide" us over but it appears one of the other news editors disagrees with you and me and changed it to tie!
> a great selection of minifigures
Uh.... does this conclusion really come from the fact that"the same one used in many sets"??? I thought this could have been a better opportunity for other older minifigures to return.
@dorayaki
for me it's a good selection, but that's my opinion. I agree there is an opportunity to bring back older Minifigures but let's be realistic it was unlikely they would redo a large number of old ones!!
my basis for them being a good selection was the inclusion of some major characters, a rare and old minifig redone (JT), and a decent number of Robo SWAT to make the Dropship "playable". A ship that size needs a decent number of them - after all it's a dropship!
@kempo81
Yeah, I agree with your saying. In the view of production costs, including current characters does decrease the budget. The real star of this set is still the dorship itself, the figures wouldn't stop me from possibly getting one.
The only concern is that this set is the only one with real LEGO veterans, while the other sets only include original characters or Bricksburg citizens. Perhaps some of the other sets don't really need more than one victim/rescuer in a single set, so they could include one or two more LEGO veterans in the whole wave, but it's just my thought.
Eh, honestly, it's kinda disappointing to me the fact that they gave Johnny Thunder back printing. Never, in any version, did he have back printing, and it just would've been so much better if they stayed true to the original minifig.
Completely irrelevant in every conventional manner - but contrary to what you said, my local cinema is still offering two showings of The Lego Movie a day!
Just spotted this in my local Lego store but had to leave it, due to the sheer volume of children in the shop...
Thanks for a great review!
I keep hoping they'll release a copper chopper helicopter, as featured in slow motion at the beginning of the movie...
Looks like a fun set. The front reminds me of the police hovercraft from Minority Report:
http://www.zetaminor.com/images/dvd_review_images/minority_report/minority_hovership.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_l9_M3jYn25I/TMdaoLZkJGI/AAAAAAAAL4U/JiwuYR23mJE/s1600/minority+report.jpg