Dave's Lego Exo-Force Rantlet

     8105 Iron Condor

     See http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Lego/Exoforce81 for general line
comments.  

     Updated 12/28/06 with Codebrick info.

CAPSULE

     Nice sense of menace with the wings, pretty comparable to 8102 and 8103
otherwise.  Recommended.  $15 price point.

RANT

     The 8100 series sets lack the techspec panels found in the 7700 series,
so I'm making my own names up for weapons for now, and making up my own armor
types and thicknesses.  This info is available online, I'll note it in
parentheses after my versions.  There are no official alternate models.

Unit: Iron Condor
Pilot: Devastator (Silver)
Pilot Eye Color: Red
Main Mecha Colors: Black, yellow, gray
Weapons: Iron Shot, Condor Claw (Razor-sharp talons; magnetic missile)
Armor: Persitium, 5" thickness (6" tenatium armor)
(Sensors: Enhanced sensor package: night vision, telescopic zoom, infrared
     vision, 360-degree vision, mobile targetnig array.)
(Power Source: Magnetized nuclear plasma)
Unit Designation: 8105
Unit Type: Ground
Nickname: None

     Code Bio: he latest addition to the robots' flying arsenal, the Iron
Condor is piloted by a Devastator robot.  Its massive mechanical wings and
supersonic speed make it competition for the Sky Guardian - worse, Iron
Condors almost always attack in pairs!  Its armament includes razor-sharp
talons and a missile that magnetizes its target, robbing enemy battle
machines of their ability to manoeuvre.

     Build Time: About 35 minutes, 9 of that being part-sorting.

     Dimensions: 8" (20cm) tall at the "head", around 10" (25cm) high
including the wings.  At "standard" position the wingspan is about 13"
(33cm), but they can fold down onto the back.  It's not shown in the
instructions, but it's trivialy to reconnect the wingtips in a straight-out
position rather than the official 90 degree bend, increasing the wingspan to
14" (36cm).

     Colors: The armor is mostly black, with yellow in the feet and boots.
The structure is mainly gray, and the wings are black.  Both red and yellow
act as accent colors, with the talons being red.  The boots have black
mini-fins on the outsides and yellow jet thrusters (the small type) on the
insides.  

     Stickers: Standard Robot technogreebles in black, silver, yellow and
green.  The stickers in the pilot area kinda give a John Deere feel.  The
wing insignia stickers aren't very clearly indicated in the instructions,
it's better to use the package photo as a guide.

     Articulation: The legs are the Knights Kingdom style seen on 8802 and
8803, and the arms are the same awkward ball joint scheme they use.  Stable,
yes, but can't pose as well as I'd like.  The wings have ball joints at their
root, and as mentioned can be rebuilt straight or bent pretty easily,
although they don't actually have bending "wrist" joints (they can swivel,
though).  The left hand has two fingers and a thumb in the same style as the
Claw Crusher.  The waist turns on a nicely stiff joint, making this one of
the only Exo-Force mechs (if not THE only one) with a waist.  The feet are
big and bulky, supporting a variety of poses.  [Later note: I'm told one of
the bots in the Sentai Fortress set has a waist.  I'm also told the White
Lightning mech has a waist, but haven't built mine yet.]

     Weapons: The main weapon, which I call the Iron Shot, is a Technic
missile launcher like the one used on the Sonic Phantom, with a rubber tipped
projectile.  The Condor Claw has short red talons, the same horn pieces used
for the Shadow Crawler's fangs.  Additionally, there's a blaster in the
cockpit section, two small lasers on the right side of the cockpit, and a
small rocket over the left shoulder.

     Other Features: The code brick is yellow.  There's no cockpit cover, or
really much protection except a little from the sides.  Of course, lack of
pilot protection seems to be a recurring theme for Robot mechs.  They're very
expendable, after all.  The wings are made from Technic fender pieces, a
wider one for the "arm" part and a thinner one for the "fingers" section.

     Pilot Figure: A non-transparent Devastator like the one piloting the
Claw Crusher.  As with the Shadow Crawler, there's a spare horn piece that
can be used as a dagger.

     Dave Van Domelen, now done with the initial wave, let the post-build
letdown begin?