Random set of the day: Sentry
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7711 Sentry, released during 2006. It's one of 19 Exo-Force sets produced that year. It contains 78 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$4.99/£3.99.
It's owned by 4,525 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $36.00, or eBay.
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20 comments on this article
It's a good thing the pilot's a robot because there is absolutely no protection for them.
I ended up with a pile of these because it was the easiest way to pick up non-marbled Exo-bots.
I'm getting APU vibes from the Matrix.
These smaller Mechs are easy to build. Perfect for army building. I did a few at the time. Had great time playing with them. Now, I keep mostly the official builds.
Machines piloting machines? How perverse!
@MCLegoboy said:
"It's a good thing the pilot's a robot because there is absolutely no protection for them."
Even in universe both the mech and its pilot are designed to be mass produced expendable cannon fodder. The lack of protection is very much by design.
The human good guy equivalent, 7708, has no such excuse!
I used to have two of these (now one). They are great for what they are (sentries). Not huge, but they make the regular sized battle machines look like they can be bossed around. The pilots are not protected because these are basically the battle droids of Exo-Force: overwhelm with sheer numbers. In the lore the copper-colored Iron Drones in particular are the easiest to produce in quantities, but they have limited AI and are usually simplistic in their forward charge. It takes the silver robots, the Devestators, to lead them in any meaningful strategy. Which is cool worldbuilding if you ask me.
For what it is, the set does feel suitably bulky. The joints were limited at the time because the legs mostly use click hinges, but that didn't stop them from being playable and posable when needed. The arms have all the range of motion you need because they move up and down at two spots (allowing for a 'recoil' movement) and side to side. The small canon is apparently powerful because two make up the laser of the Bridge Walker (7713). The rockets can of course be removed. The figure itself is great. Its quite detailed and molded in copper, an unusual color from the time. If I had any complaints it would be the fragility of the antenna, but for an Exo-Force set it's quite stable.
Always thought they could tie Exo-Force into Ninjago - multiverse stylee
@Slave2lego said:
"Always thought they could tie Exo-Force into Ninjago - multiverse stylee "
Isn’t Chima supposed to a Ninjago-adjacent universe? If they can include Chima in their mech-themed multiverse they can have Exo-Force, surely
@Brickalili said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"It's a good thing the pilot's a robot because there is absolutely no protection for them."
Even in universe both the mech and its pilot are designed to be mass produced expendable cannon fodder. The lack of protection is very much by design.
The human good guy equivalent, 7708, has no such excuse!"
In fairness, the human good guy equivalent does have a different excuse, which is that it wasn't really designed as a battle machine (despite Ryo's frequent daydreams about it being as such), and is more of a maintenance mech to give a mechanic more height and reach when repairing the larger battle machines. They're pressed into battle when the circumstances get desperate enough, but it's not what they were in-universe made for, so there's not the same requirement for protection as on a full battle mech.
That does raise the question of why the Uplink mechs were designed with a massive gun and rocket launcher if they're only meant to be used for maintenance, but...!
-
Personally didn't have this set, but I did have it's two nearest equivalents - the aforementioned good-guy version, Uplink, and the second-year's smallest robot mech 8101 - so I guess I got kinda close to it?
@Brickalili said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"Always thought they could tie Exo-Force into Ninjago - multiverse stylee "
Isn’t Chima supposed to a Ninjago-adjacent universe? If they can include Chima in their mech-themed multiverse they can have Exo-Force, surely"
Of course, nothing's stopping you from headcanoning them into two parts of the same multiverse.
"Sentry goin' up!"
Holy peak!
This is one of my favorite Exo-Force sets - it’s just a cool little grunt mech with some solid articulation and nice little weapon loadout. Man, I wish LEGO would bring back Exo-Force or at least give it a spiritual successor…
@Brickalili said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"Always thought they could tie Exo-Force into Ninjago - multiverse stylee "
Isn’t Chima supposed to a Ninjago-adjacent universe? If they can include Chima in their mech-themed multiverse they can have Exo-Force, surely"
Where is that info from?
First time hearing that...
Somehow I think modern day TLG wants us to "forget" about Exo-Force, because it heavily broke with the minifig "styleguide".
Not only do the figures have drastically stylized faces, but the characters are also presented in a much more realistic (though manga-styled) version prominently on the box art.
Regarding the lack of protection:
Why would you even bother to have a small robot pilot a larger mech, when you could make the robot the size of the mech in the first place?
Funny how the human counterpart focuses on having big bulky shoulder armor (or whatever that's supposed to be) but leaves the pilot more or less exposed.
@Atuin:
Chima having been rolled into Ninjago lore has come up at least a few times in RXotD comments, so I can’t tell you offhand what the primary source of that info was, but I’m surprised you weren’t aware of it before now. I don’t know offhand if you’re one of the daily regulars in these comment sections, but you’re regular enough that it seems odd.
@Atuin said:
" @Brickalili said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"Always thought they could tie Exo-Force into Ninjago - multiverse stylee "
Isn’t Chima supposed to a Ninjago-adjacent universe? If they can include Chima in their mech-themed multiverse they can have Exo-Force, surely"
Where is that info from?
First time hearing that..."
The Ninjago-universe is composed of 16 realms, and Chima is one of them. I believe it was first officially made canon in the Ninjago Season 5 finale, when Lloyd and Morro fought over the Realm Crystal and accidentally teleported into Chima for a brief moment - basically a Chima cameo. In the newer Dragons Rising storyline, one of the main antagonists (Lord Ras) was originally from Chima, although I stopped watching the show after Dragons Rising started so I don't know if/when that was confirmed within the show itself, or if it was just revealed by the writers. But Ninjago and Chima share the same universe. Exo-Force, however, has never been mentioned - as you say, I imagine LEGO isn't interested in dredging that theme up, for better or worse.
In the key of the late Gord Downie (and for those of you who are 'Hip':))
Out in my Exo-Suit
On a routine patrol
Spotted an enemy
Things got outta control
And that's when
The laser singed me
And the alarms
Blasted in my ears
'bout a 'Shutdown'
And that's when I fought back
Ahead of the Sentry
Gotta get ahead of the Sentry...
@BLProductions said:
" @Atuin said:
" @Brickalili said:
" @Slave2lego said:
"Always thought they could tie Exo-Force into Ninjago - multiverse stylee "
Isn’t Chima supposed to a Ninjago-adjacent universe? If they can include Chima in their mech-themed multiverse they can have Exo-Force, surely"
Where is that info from?
First time hearing that..."
The Ninjago-universe is composed of 16 realms, and Chima is one of them. I believe it was first officially made canon in the Ninjago Season 5 finale, when Lloyd and Morro fought over the Realm Crystal and accidentally teleported into Chima for a brief moment - basically a Chima cameo. In the newer Dragons Rising storyline, one of the main antagonists (Lord Ras) was originally from Chima, although I stopped watching the show after Dragons Rising started so I don't know if/when that was confirmed within the show itself, or if it was just revealed by the writers. But Ninjago and Chima share the same universe. Exo-Force, however, has never been mentioned - as you say, I imagine LEGO isn't interested in dredging that theme up, for better or worse. "
The mountain the Exo Force takes place on was referenced in a picture on a single sticker from the Rebooted-era of Ninjago sets, if I'm not mistaken. the robot known as Scoop, from 71741 is canonically a repurposed Exo-Force robot.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Atuin:
Chima having been rolled into Ninjago lore has come up at least a few times in RXotD comments, so I can’t tell you offhand what the primary source of that info was, but I’m surprised you weren’t aware of it before now. I don’t know offhand if you’re one of the daily regulars in these comment sections, but you’re regular enough that it seems odd."
Guess it's because I mostly comment or read about pre-2004 stuff.
Somewhat increases the chance I missed out on it.
@BLProductions:
Thanks for clearing that up.
So they are building up a multi-theme canon like they did back in 1996 with Time Cruisers or in the 1999-2002 Media era? Interesting...
Hope they keep it a bit clean though. The occasional "lore" bits in CMF and Lego Legacy were problematic enough. People these days don't understand the concept of a "reboot" and I dislike the idea of retconning old stuff (that was left sleeping for decades) just for a silly joke or nostalgia cash-in.
@Atuin said:"Somehow I think modern day TLG wants us to "forget" about Exo-Force..."
Then explain 60421's existence.