Instructions for updated Alienator now available

The real problem with the Message Intercept Base, IMO, is its lack of modularity.

So I hope Battrax is next. (Meteor Monitor is smol, so it can get tacked on anytime.)

(Personally, I'd prefer new Blacktron designs, but that's probably an even longer shot.)

I’m not even a little bit of a fan of the old-man-shuffle mechanic, but I do plan to pick up a third copy to build this regardless. What, nobody else is buying one to keep sealed? What’s going to keep your sealed copy of the Invader II company?

@Diamondback_Six:
Color-corrected 1875, and any single entry into the various Space minifig packs are your two likeliest bets. Certainly you won’t have the wheels from 6941, or the baseplate or quarter domes from 6987, so that really doesn’t leave much.

Will not be buying two, but I do appreciate the alternate builds. When I got 10497, I actually built the two alternates first and only after that did I build the main. I'll likely do that here, too.

If I had the space, I'd buy three copies (one to build stock, one to build with the cockpit module moved to the other side, and one to build the Alienator), but I don't even have the space for one copy.

There are an awful lot of really great sets being released today. I suspect by the time this set gets to the top of my Absolutely Must-Have List (as opposed to my Wish list, which suffers from terminal bloat) it will be out of stock--temporarily, I hope. Soft sigh, but not a desperate one.

Yes, space is the final frontier, the barrier that can't be crossed in the quest for the perfect collection!

@PurpleDave said:
@Diamondback_Six:
Color-corrected 1875, and any single entry into the various Space minifig packs are your two likeliest bets. Certainly you won’t have the wheels from 6941, or the baseplate or quarter domes from 6987, so that really doesn’t leave much.]]

Thanks. I was trying to figure out "salvage value" from the leftovers in a second set, even if it means supplementing from PAB.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"If I had the space, I'd buy three copies (one to build stock, one to build with the cockpit module moved to the other side, and one to build the Alienator), but I don't even have the space for one copy."

I…am confused. Are you saying you’ve already managed to run out of ceiling, too? And no sealed copy?"

Remember, I'm in a wheelchair, so hanging sets from the ceiling means that they either have to be hung far enough over my head that I can't look at the details, or low enough that anyone walking through the room will bump into them. And I never buy sets just to keep them sealed in the box. If I just want to look at the box, I can do that here for free."

Go to the walls? It's got to be possible to rig this thing up like 76161, and it's a fairly flat design that wouldn't stick out very far.

@Maxbricks14 said:
"We've now got three out of the original six Blacktron sets re-made. Lego now only needs to remake 6941: Battrax, 6987: Message Intercept Base, and 1875: Meteor Monitor."

Battrax for the win!

I never even noticed the docking opening in the Alienator for the small repair mech - so cool!

I've only purchased one copy of the set and have made the main Renegade model and plan to keep it assembled.

However, based on what I'm seeing so far, I suspect this set won't sell any better than the 10497 Galaxy Explorer did. So I suspect this set might end up heavily discounted in the summer just like the Galaxy Explorer did. If that happens, then I might pick up a second copy.

@tmtomh said:
"However, based on what I'm seeing so far, I suspect this set won't sell any better than the 10497 Galaxy Explorer did. So I suspect this set might end up heavily discounted in the summer just like the Galaxy Explorer did. If that happens, then I might pick up a second copy."

In the US, LEGO.com never reduced the price below MSRP, and Walmart was the only other store to carry it in brick-and-mortar. I saw it added to a pile of clearanced sets shortly before the official launch date, so I don't know how much Walmart's price reduction had to do with hard sales data vs changing assumptions of how well it would perform. That was also a $100 set, but almost never sold above $75 at Walmart, and sometimes dipped down to $50. If this is strictly sold through LBR, and nobody else carries it, that really limits the possibility of seeing it hit massive price reductions like the GE2 did.

@PurpleDave said:
" @tmtomh said:
"However, based on what I'm seeing so far, I suspect this set won't sell any better than the 10497 Galaxy Explorer did. So I suspect this set might end up heavily discounted in the summer just like the Galaxy Explorer did. If that happens, then I might pick up a second copy."

In the US, LEGO.com never reduced the price below MSRP, and Walmart was the only other store to carry it in brick-and-mortar. I saw it added to a pile of clearanced sets shortly before the official launch date, so I don't know how much Walmart's price reduction had to do with hard sales data vs changing assumptions of how well it would perform. That was also a $100 set, but almost never sold above $75 at Walmart, and sometimes dipped down to $50. If this is strictly sold through LBR, and nobody else carries it, that really limits the possibility of seeing it hit massive price reductions like the GE2 did."
Over here 10497 must have sold way better because the maximum discount that was ever available was 20% off, at Smyths Toys, which was the only retailer other than LEGO themselves that sold the set officially.

@Ridgeheart said:
"Considering how the remakes tend to scale things, an updated Battrax wouldn't even work with the old wheels. Offhand, I'd say... https://brickset.com/parts/6440829/ as replacements."

That element is very reminiscent of one from the M-Tron/Space Police II/Blacktron Future Generation/Ice Planet 2002 era, anyway, so it would definitely work for an update.

Despite all the complaints about 'too much yellow', I can understand why it's there having skimmed through those instructions. It would be a nightmare trying to put together a build of mostly black bricks.

After building this on Stud.io yesterday, I sadly doubt that the mech can fit in the slot in the top—the slot is only four studs wide while the mech is at least six studs from front to back. The slot features control panels so seems to be designed to seat a figure (either the third astronaut or the small robot/droid).

Still a very neat build, that does a great job using the modularity of the base model and doing something different with it.

@Lyichir said:
"After building this on Stud.io yesterday, I sadly doubt that the mech can fit in the slot in the top—the slot is only four studs wide while the mech is at least six studs from front to back. The slot features control panels so seems to be designed to seat a figure (either the third astronaut or the small robot/droid).

Still a very neat build, that does a great job using the modularity of the base model and doing something different with it."

The feet of the mech are only 4 wide.
The canopy / windscreen sticks out a little further, but that is likely above the edge of the alienator cavity.
Looks like it should fit just fine to me.

@Lyichir:
Looking at the photos really closely, I don't think this does have shuffle articulation. If you look just below where the Logo Flyers are mounted to the legs, you can see some black Technic bricks. The set only comes with 1x2, 1x4, 1x12, and 1x16 lengths. The pieces used are clearly at least 1x8, but anything longer would require assymetrical construction for clearance.

@ra226:
Having now built the main model, I'm noticing a few weird things about the alt build. The cockpit appears to be unmodified from the main model, and the red power cores and Logo Flyers appear to have been mounted, unchanged, to the legs (I was actually wondering why they did the logo sideways there, which is when I noticed that the assembly underneath looked familiar). I'm guessing that means the engine and sensor modules on the back are also straight off of the Renegade, so only the core frame has to be rebuilt on this one. If that's the case, here's some info that you might find helpful. It's separated into eight bags. Bag 2 only builds the main cockpit. Bag 7 only builds the main engines. And bag 8 builds the red power cores, the Logo Flyers, and the sensor module. So, when building the Alienator frame, you'll probably need parts from bag 1 and bags 3-6 only, and the other three bags you can actually build straight from the manuals (and leave intact when you tear down the Alienator frame).

@TheOtherMike:
I stayed up to 2am building the main model last night. Seriously, find a way to make space for this set. Again, hang it on a wall if that's what it takes, or throw some other sets in the trash. I think a lot of people are going to miss out on what an amazing build this is just because they don't have any interest in the theme.

In your case, however, there is one notable issue. They did change the connection system from what they used on the Invader II, and this version is a _LOT_ stronger. So strong that I was having a hard time figuring out how to grip the sensor and engine modules to pull them free without breaking parts off of them. Given that you're limited to the use of one hand, I'm wondering if the Renegade II connection system might be a bit too much for you to manage on your own. It might be safer to get the extra parts to build them like the Invader II, with a triple clip for the cockpit, and a double clip for the sensor and engine modules (and then just remember to _NEVER_ pick it up by anything but the central frame).

@Diamondback_Six:
I'm now wondering if there is much left after converting the R2 frame into the A2 frame. Given how the connecting modules look like they're reused from the R2, the A2 looks a lot bigger than even I was expecting. It may not leave much to work with.

@Lyichir:
@lemish34:
Just going by the one picture, the top portion of the slot is four studs long (front to back) and six studs wide (side to side). The feet on the mech appear to be five studs long (you can see four studs along the side of the yellow claw, but there's also a black claw that extends out of the back) and, combined, eight studs wide (individually three wide, plus a two-stud gap). There's a deeper pocket inside of the slot that should be 4x4 square. Maybe the feet can flip up so they wouldn't need to fit in flat, but you'd also need to be able to squeeze the legs together until they touch. Even then, it would have to rest on the edges of the 1x4 fences.