Random set of the day: Aero Booster
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 8106 Aero Booster, released during 2007. It's one of 18 Exo-Force sets produced that year. It contains 312 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$29.99 / £19.99, which equates to about US$47 / £34 in today's money.
It's owned by 1,859 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at Brick Owl, BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $220.30, or eBay.
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25 comments on this article
How much booster you want?
Yes.
I saw this one on clearance at Kmart once. I wish I'd picked it up that day for two reasons. One, that I just wish my Exo-Force collection was more than just 8107. Two, that https://brickset.com/minifigs/exf019/ha-ya-to-gold-armor's hair would have made for a great custom figure of Crono from Chrono Trigger.
This is so awesome. This whole theme is awesome. I wish Lego put this much effort into box designs.
I remember building this set with a friend in which this set was my friend's first introduction to LEGO.
big fan of this one. Small mech + HUGE rocket backpack is a solid concept!
Remember, it’s not the massive acceleration that’s the problem. It’s the sudden stop when you arrive. Oh, and also the fact that the only thing that keeps you from being crushed is a flimsy glass canopy. Should turn out perfectly fine.
Hraesvelg, anyone?
(I sincerely think I'm the only person on this site who's played Xenoblade Chronicles X, the remaster no less, but I'd love to be proven wrong.)
I had to have two of these! It was just that awesome.
It's such an incredibly stupid design, and I kind of love it.
Exo-Force had some truly awesome designs. Every mech felt so unique. I got some but not all, missed this one.
Yesterday was Gold City Junction, now it's Golden City. What is Huwbot trying to tell us?
This thing is so over the top it’s peak Exo-Force, and it’s awesome
Exo-Force walked so Ninjago could run.
@JavaBrix said:
"Exo-Force walked so Ninjago could run."
NINJAGO ran so Legends of Chima could go back to walking.
Legends of Chima walked so NEXO Knights could stagger.
NEXO Knights staggered so DREAMZzz could crawl.
Monkie Kid, meanwhile, was wandering off and getting lost somewhere.
This booster design is so incredibly over the top but fit's the overall theme aesthetic so well! I'm so glad I got this set at a garage sale somewhere.
@Arnoldos said:
"Yesterday was Gold City Junction, now it's Golden City. What is Huwbot trying to tell us?"
That we're on the road to El Dorado... or Eldorado Fortress?
@Arnoldos said:"Yesterday was Gold City Junction, now it's Golden City. What is Huwbot trying to tell us?"
There's gold in that there bot! Or maybe that Huwbot is secretly Goldfinger, and loves only gold?
Remember the time when LEGO was actually creative and unafraid to experiment with crazy, out there ideas? Good times...
@KingShark9500 said:
"Hraesvelg, anyone?
(I sincerely think I'm the only person on this site who's played Xenoblade Chronicles X, the remaster no less, but I'd love to be proven wrong.)"
I hadn't thought of that but the thrusters on the back actually do look quite similar to that one's. Maybe Lego should try making Skells, I'm sure they'd love having a whole line of mechs that turn into vehicles.
The Aero Booster is one of Lego's craziest mechs. Ever.
I happen to own it, and it's great. The front mech is small and can normally mostly just 'steer' using the hoses, which are presumably controls, meaning this is Ha-Ya-To piloting a mech piloting a booster pack. But you can use the round big cannon from one of the booster's arms as a weapon held directly by the mech in case it gets seperated.
Did I tell you yet that the mech can easily detach? It's even compatible with the 7721 Combat Crawler X2's two halves.
The booster is great too. The two arms are over-the-top but work on this because of the overal size of the thing. It's massive. The two side boosters also steer and move, allowing you to pose it as ascending or descending or even a 'hovering' pose (except for the middle one, unfortunately). It looks fast and is probably the most swooshable mech ever! It even has a handle fo you to hold it, which comes with a trigger for the central cannon. Unfortunately it's a bit too easy to trigger.
In my experience, the strange design allows for some extra things you can do. In flight you could tuck the legs under the handle, making it look like it's standing on some sort of foot support.
You can also fold both the steering arms and the legs in and fold the cannon arms backwards for a more compact pose, which reminds me of making it a full flyer instead of a flyer-mech combination. It's not perfect and it probably wasn't designed to do it, but it looks cool.
The booster pack makes it back-heavy for normal posing unfortunately and the handle isn't quite long enough to double as a stand. The boosters themselves are also very hollow and a bit gappy, which is useful (they're light), but also means that in some poses you can see the insides of them.
Finally, the cockpit isn't the best and the small blue mech on the front is very simple, perhaps a bit too simple for such a large set.
That said, this thing is bonkers. I love it.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @JavaBrix said:
"Exo-Force walked so Ninjago could run."
NINJAGO ran so Legends of Chima could go back to walking.
Legends of Chima walked so NEXO Knights could stagger.
NEXO Knights staggered so DREAMZzz could crawl.
Monkie Kid, meanwhile, was wandering off and getting lost somewhere."
Pretty sure MK is in a tree somewhere.
Once again, bordering on false advertising by making those parts look like metallic silver, when in fact they are just white instead.
@CapnRex101 said:
" @JavaBrix said:
"Exo-Force walked so Ninjago could run."
NINJAGO ran so Legends of Chima could go back to walking.
Legends of Chima walked so NEXO Knights could stagger.
NEXO Knights staggered so DREAMZzz could crawl.
Monkie Kid, meanwhile, was wandering off and getting lost somewhere."
The Monkie Kid show I heard is amazing. I wish it wasn’t so inexistent.
@TheOtherMike said:
"Two, that https://brickset.com/minifigs/exf019/ha-ya-to-gold-armor 's hair would have made for a great custom figure of Crono from Chrono Trigger."
Chrono Trigger?
Well, it's about time.
As a kid I thought this thing looked ridiculous, but "mech piloting a mech" is just the kind of ridiculousness Lego seems to be lacking these days