For nnenn

A Mark Stafford classic! Great set. Great theme. RIP nnenn.

This is an all-timer. Spent more time playing with this than my Star Wars walkers and such. Used to make Star Fox sound effects for the jet when I played with it cuz it reminds me of an Arwing. Just an incredible set with all its weapons and compartments and devices

Such a great set. This is one that I always thought that I should modify to make the trailer a bit larger and more "lab-functional," but I could never bring myself to change the look of a modern set that really captured that classic LEGO feel. The whole series was really fun.

I bought two of these for the Vic Viper alone. I still have a sealed one. yay!

I always wanted this set as a kid but missed out on it. Although last January I finally ended up getting one at my local BAM for a decent price and it for sure was worth it. Definitely one of the best sets of 2011. Just another example why the late 2000s and early 2010s themes were peak

my white whale

Such a great set. The nnenn tribute made it very special. I still have mine together after all these years.

My brainslug instructs me to like this post.

Wow, this set is loaded... I like the little UFO, direct to the point.

I imagine it's got to be tough navigating through town in that thing. Even a high underpass might be too low to clear without knocking that ship off the launch cradle.

RIP nnenn.

I did not know he existed until about two years after he died. Back in say 2013/14 I saw this set at a shop and nearly bought it but didn't. I should've. I like to think some kid got it for their birthday instead, completely oblivious to its connection to the MoC community, and enjoyed it more than I would have.

https://www.brothers-brick.com/2010/04/13/farewell-to-a-legend-mourning-the-passing-of-nate-nnenn-nielsen/

This is genuinely one of my favourite sets... ever.

This set is exactly what I'd like to see from a flagship land vehicle. It can be used as a front car and trailer or the two can connect into one super long, massive vehicle. The front car alone works well as a vehicle on its own, the trailer as a mobile base.

I usually leave the scanner pod out and use the side doors as ramps and the part in between as a corridor. Minifigs can actually move through towards the cockpit. That's really cool! And the cockpit is spaceous. You can seat two and stand another behind them in there.

The interior too! There's a scanning lab, a medical lab (which fits the mini car with stretcher), cockpit and plenty of actual space for figs to walk around. The back also has a ramp. There's pop-up dishes on the side, an awesome missile battery that shoots two barrages of four missiles at once, and of course the awesome vic viper, which has a Nnenn tribute...
The saucer...

This set just has it all! The figs are awesome too (that alien cyborg!!!) But my biggest criticism is the lack of figures here. Two ADU figs and one scientist isn't enough to man this behemoth. The cockpit alone seats two! Then there's the missile turret, the vic viper, the med-lab and its mini car, the scanning lab... too many stations to cover.
Fortunately it wasn't hard to just get more figures from the smaller sets, but the set really hurts from it.
Another criticism is that the top of the scanning bay in the front half isn't designed to come off. I usually manage to anyway, but it would have been nice if it could have done so.
Finally, the front car doesn't have a back wall. It's no issue for me but I'd understand if people don't like this.

All and all, this set is great! I love vehicles carrying vehicles, vehicles splitting up and vehicles with an actual walkable interior for minifigs. This set has it all!

@PurpleDave said:
"I imagine it's got to be tough navigating through town in that thing. Even a high underpass might be too low to clear without knocking that ship off the launch cradle."

That thing’s got the firepower to raise the bridge height to whatever it chooses!

This is what you call a real playset!!

This set is very close to my heart. We won it, along with almost the entire rest of the line, from winning second place in a LEGO Universe funny captions contest. We built all the sets and played with them during a particularly grey, rainy and cool summer of 2011 in between long LU sessions while listening to Hybrid Theory on repeat. Fun times.

The colour scheme gives me strong Classic Space vibes.

Absolute classic set, looks exactly like the mocs I made as a kid with my classic space collection back in the early 80's, one of the first sets I bought when I started collecting again, 100% awesomeness.

I inherently love any set that can open up to become a proper base like this, and think it’s great this one works equally well in either mode

Always surprised me that the Alien Conquest theme didn't last longer. The aliens were some of the best Minifigs.

@AustinPowers said:
"The colour scheme gives me strong Classic Space vibes. "

I recall seeing in preliminary photo's that the canopy was trans yellow at one point.

It wouldn't fit though, because this is an earth defense force. And it's armed to the teeth, which isn't the CS way.

Here:
https://live.staticflickr.com/5054/5443798033_27ba39cf78_b.jpg

An excellent set, I got it recently and it has it all. The front end looks really beefy and I can just imagine it crashing dramatically through some rubble.

@Targellian said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"
But my biggest criticism is the lack of figures here. Two ADU figs and one scientist isn't enough to man this behemoth.

Fortunately it wasn't hard to just get more figures from the smaller sets, but the set really hurts from it.
"

Agreed, you really did have to buy 853301 to go with this set, but at least the 2 ADU figs from that pack were unique and not dupes, and you can never have too many alien grunts!"

Two ADU to staff the thing, two aliens to fight, and one guy to threaten budget cuts?