Featured set of the day: Lunar Limo
Posted by Huw,
Today UrkleButter has chosen a relatively recent set for us:
The set I've chosen is, 5984 Lunar Limo, which isn't a very large set, nor one which many people might consider a classic, but it is still an outstanding set and will always hold a special place in my heart.
You see, when I received this set many Christmases ago, it was quite a surprise to me. I was just getting into LEGO, and I was more of a City and/or Atlantis kind of child, preferring tow trucks and submarines over what I saw as the generic white spaceships of Space Police. In my humble, childish opinion, the only redeeming aspects of the Space Police sets were the cool-looking alien villains.
Thus, it came as a great but welcome surprise when I unwrapped the personal ride of the villain of all villains: The aptly named Brick Daddy, whose moniker would give my sister and I much mirth over the coming years.
But Brick Daddy is by no means the only redeeming aspect of this set. The colour scheme of black, purple, and gold, the latter two of which I didn't have many pieces in at the time, complimented the absurdly long but undeniably cool vehicle perfectly, and the play features were, if I may say so myself, out of this world.
An opening trunk to trap the Space Police officer in? A little getaway scooter for Brick Daddy? A missile that shoots out of the hood with the push of a secret button? I would spend hours just shooting that missile at random things over and over.
But that's not the only entertainment the Lunar Limo provided. Every summer, my cousins from out of state would visit, and we'd always have a grand battle with all of our LEGO. Of course, we had to include the Lunar Limo in our battles, and that's how it became the official transportation of our protagonist, a diminutive little minifigure named Flipper.
Every subsequent year after that, Flipper's limo was the standout of each battle, and we'd add little modifications to it, like replacing the missile trigger with a chicken leg piece or adding a trapdoor in the interior in case Flipper needed a quick escape. Flipper rode high for many years until his limo was finally and unclimactically destroyed along with much of my collection during an unfortunate event I refer only to as "The Purge."
I was deeply saddened when I found the pieces of Flipper's limo among the wreckage, but I vowed to not let that be the end of Brick Daddy's famous ride. I gathered up as many pieces of the limo as I could find, and along with various parts from 9464 The Vampyre Hearse, 70807 MetalBeard's Duel, and other parts I had lying around, I rebuilt the Lunar Limo in a scale bigger and grander than ever before, expanding it from 6 to 8 studs wide and completely reinventing the interior.
Now it sits atop a shelf, trans-yellow windows and golden engine gleaming, chicken leg-activated missile itching to be fired, waiting to rise to glory once more in the next grand Flipper battle.
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29 comments on this article
The purge?
Awesome work, and I'm glad you found a way to redo the limo: It's been on my list for a couple years to rework it to be a bit bigger via LDD. Do you have a Flickr feed for pics of your version?
This is my favorite set. I picked it up on bricklink a couple years ago after falling in love with the design. Thank you for posting about it.
Certainly an interesting set.
Space Police 3 was pretty much in the middle of my 16 year no-new-LEGO era but especially the Alien vehicles are very unique.
Nowadays that minigun on the small pop-out vehicle would be a 6-stud shooter.
LEGO also just made a brick-variant (I believe it's a 2x6 brick) of that shooter piece this year like a larger spring-loaded missile.
@Sandinista said:
"The purge?"
Exactly! It sounds epic and terrifying at the same time?
Always loved this set! The '80s gangster/limo vibes are just hilarious, especially the oversized tv antenna on the rear. While none of the build techniques are particularly memorable it makes a fantastic looking spacecraft.
@Murdoch17 said:
"Awesome work, and I'm glad you found a way to redo the limo: It's been on my list for a couple years to rework it to be a bit bigger via LDD. Do you have a Flickr feed for pics of your version?"
Thank you for your interest! I don't have an account on Flickr at this time, but I do have pictures and an LDD file for the upgraded limo. While I would normally be happy to share the design, I have plans for using it in a larger project that I hopefully will be ready to release soon, so I think I'll be waiting until then to make the design public.
Either way, the upgraded version isn't an exact copy of the original; Due to my limited parts supply and the slightly ramshackle aesthetic of most of my builds, it doesn't look quite as sleek as the original, although I do like to think it looks more intimidating :-).
Wow! This set is so cool! I am your newest fan:)
I remember buying this at Legoland CA! Eventually I turned it into a Batmobile and gave Brick Daddy a Joker head.
It is an undeniably cool piece of swoosh
I own this set! It's still together and sitting in my parents' back room!
For me Space Police III = Mad Max in Space, and i loved it.
As i loved this set on first build and after build too.
For such an absurdly(nice word) long vehicle, i found it had surprisingly good handling in a hover-stylie swooshability type way :o)
What an awesome story, thank you for sharing, for I too own this set and it is undeniably one of the coolest sets ever!!
The great joy I had with this model was to remove the side engines, put wheels in the front wheel arches, and a secret wheel hidden in the boot. Allowing this mobster of the space to cruise around our Lego city :D
One of the sets I never got but I still need <3
Yes, such a great set! I wrote a nice long review of this one, so fun! Purple Fedora and matching suit, slick black Space Cadillac--this one has it all! I wasn't too into SP3, but this was one of few great Space sets to come along after the collapse of Space in the late 90's.
Also, you sounded like a pretty cool kid ;)
I wasn’t aware of Space Police 3 at all. Pretty interesting sets. I’m enjoying these articles as well.
I loved those pinstripes. They look good on everything you build.
This set is a classic IMO. With such an unique and cool design, It's no doubt among the coolest villain vehicles LEGO has ever produced.
Brick Daddy is also a great minifigure to get.
I have a very similar story with 5982 Smash n Grab! Still haven’t parted it out.
I wanted this set. But I had just stopped buying sets that were mainly all black. They tend to disappoint me and every time I cave in... I regret it. This makes me think I should have made an exception :)
I have to admit, I've not seen this before (my Lego obsession is only of the last 6 years or so) but it is INCREDIBLE! I love everything about it. Great style, great form, creative idea. Will need to look for this.
I just got this set off bricklink last month. It is surprisingly large for a $50 set. It's as long as the Benny Spaceship! I've been trolling my son by replacing all his rocket ships with the Limo...
A space-mob boss’ space-Caddy!
Pure awesome.
Is it a headcrab on the hood?
@Fauch said:
"Is it a headcrab on the hood?"
It looks like he has his own head as a hood ornament.
The man’s got style.
So much style, in fact, I would think he wouldn’t be caught dead in a mere V-8 space-Caddy; too pedestrian. Were I to buy that set, it would receive a stretch and upgrade to the much more prestigious V-16 model space-Cadillac.
Brick Daddy has an image to maintain, after all.
My childhood was freaking awesome.
@MutoidMan
Perhaps Zack the Lego Maniac could build him a Blacktron Cadilliac?
I think I skipped this set because 50$ for 39`1 pieces is a bad ppp, especially in a 2010 nonlicensed theme.
@Sandinista said:
"The purge?"
I assume it's the name of the event that will cause us to visit our parents in the senior homes less than they'd like.
"The Purge" could be referring to the time when your parents take apart all the LEGO in the house once their children move off to college and the sets are taking too much space.
But I don't know. I'm only 14, so I obviously haven't had that experience.
LITERALLY my favorite set of all time.