Dave's Exo-Force Deep Jungle Rantlet 8117: Storm Lasher See http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Lego/ExoforceDJ for general line comments. 11/27/07 Update: Pictures were requested by someone, so here they are: http://www.dvandom.com/images/stormlash1.JPG http://www.dvandom.com/images/stormlash2.JPG http://www.dvandom.com/images/stormlash3.JPG 12/21/07 Update: Codesticker info is now available, I've added it in. CAPSULE Spindly, but it works well and does some clever tricks with smaller pieces rather than just tossing in big ducted fan pieces again, like the Sonic Phantom and Sonic Raven. Doesn't really take advantage of the "transforming weapon" idea, though. Recommended. $19.99 at TRU. RANT There's no Code Bricks this time out, and only limited online info as of late November 2007. I've included the little blurb on exo-force.com, though. Until such time as I get official information, I'll make up my own names for weapons and partner mechs. Instead of Code Bricks, there's a code on the sticker sheet that might get something (entering it in the Code Brick section gets an error message). Dunno yet if these are the same for everyone, or if there's variation as with the bricks. Update 12/21/07: The sticker codes can now be entered on the code brick page, and your "garage" includes both Golden City and Deep Jungle toys. Update 12/27/07: The mandible pieces were first seen on Mantax, as claws. Unit: Storm Lasher Type: Robot Air Strike Vehicle Pilot: Iron Drone Pilot Eye Color: Red Main Mecha Colors: Black and Yellow Weapons: Eye Cannons, Antenna Missiles, Electro-mandibles, Buzz Blasters (mounted on Megabee) Official Weapons: Diamond-edged turbo-fans, head-blade mandibles, long-range laser and plasma cannon array. Partner: Megabee Armor: 10" Tenatium Sensors: Next-generation sensor package: night vision, telescopic zoom, infrared vision, 360-degree vision, mobile targeting array. Power Source: Magnetized nuclear plasma Unit Designation: 8117 Unit Type: Aerial Nickname: None Sticker code: EXO43RZH Online Blurb: Watch the skies! With its giant spinning turbines, this aerial assault robot vehicle blasts into battle at supersonic speeds. Deploy and transform the weapon into a mini-robot for land battles! Bio Note: Like giant, supersonic dragonflies, squadrons of buzzing Storm Lashers make sure that nothing rises above the jungle treetops. These giant flying vehicles are equipped with massive bladed turbine fans that can slice through battle machine armor as easily as tree branches, and their heat-blade mandibles are precise enough to carve metal or grip a captured prisoner without injury. Their enhanced sensors let them "see" through the forest canopy to pinpoint enemies far below with their long-range weapons - in other words, they can blast you long before you ever see them. They're even equipped with mini-robot recon drones with camera relays for a closer look at what's going on near the ground. Build Time: There's one #1 bag that has the pilot and partner parts, and three #2 bags and two loose rods for the main vehicle. Bag #1 was 2 minutes sorting, 6 minutes building. Bags #2 took 10 minutes of sorting, about 35 minutes of building. Dimensions: This is like taking a flying ant and crossing it with a VTOL that uses big ducted fans. It's about 12" (30cm) long, with some variation based on where the tail vernians are placed. The fans can be posed various ways, but the maximum span of them is 13" (33cm). Colors: Mostly black with some gray structural elements, but a lot of yellow accents. In fact, the fan duct rings each have 14 1x2 smoothtop pieces as accents. The fanblades are silvery gray swords, they look rough and "orcish" in nature...not a sword design I've seen before, so they're probably new with the 2008 Castle sets. There's a few clear red cones, and a smoky clear cockpit. [Update: those more hip to Lego than I inform me that the smoothtop pieces are generally called "tiles". Also, they confirm my suspicion on the swords, they're trollish weapons from the new Dwarven sets.] Stickers: Yellow, black and silver. One has a robot head look, one has the 8117 in stylized circuit numbers, one has the code listed above. There's also some stickers on the tail pieces that have robot heads among other designs. Articulation: The mandibles at the front open and close on ratchets. The cockpit shield swings down on a simple hinge. The tailfins can swivel and bend for maneuver, and the ducted fans are mounted on Knights Kingdom universal ratchet joints. The eye cannons are mounted on ball joint stalks, and the antenna missiles can swivel up and down. Weapons: Where an ant would have compound eyes, the Storm Lasher has four-barrelled blasters on eyestalks, so I call these the Eye Cannons. In place of antennae are a pair of missiles (made from clear red cone, black goblet, gray rocket fin barrel). The mandibles (using what I think are old Ice Bionicle hooks) are shown on exo-force.com to have electrical crackling, so they're more than just jaws. And I call the little clear red cones on Megabee the "Buzz Blasters". I figure energy collects in the vibrating wings and channels through the BBs. Other Features: The Dark Panther 8115 combines pieces with the Storm Lasher to make a bipedal mech. The instructions are not yet online, nor do I know the name yet. I will note it was clever of them to take advantage of the fact that ratchet clicks are 1/16 of a circle, to make a ring around each fan with 16 segments. The fans inside spin freely, although there's no gearing. It has a pistol grip mainly as landing gear, even though there's no missile to launch. Oh, and there's four exhaust pipes just ahead of the fan root joints, I guess "magnetized nuclear plasma" belches smoke and flame. :) Pilot Figure: Standard Iron Drone. There's one leftover yellow claw piece in bag 1, which I gave him as an energy dagger. There's also a single leftover round 1-peg piece I stuck on his belly for armor. :) Partner: Somewhat disappointingly, this little guy doesn't really transform at all, it just clips onto the Storm Lasher to add its guns to the main vehicle. 4.5" (11cm) long, and while the wings are normally folded back, they can swing out to a maximum wingspan of 7" (18cm). Mostly black pieces, with some yellow on the claws, stinger and back. The wings are colorless clear flaps, the guns are clear red cones, the head is dark gray pieces, and the eyes are chartreuse ball joint pieces. A single red 2-long Technic rod fixes the undercarriage together. There's one sticker on the back, a complement to one of the stickers on the Lasher (so that there's symmetry in the combined mode). Clever use of robot arms, fang pieces and those little fringed tentacle tip pieces from the Barraki to get the insect legs clipped onto an octagonal frame (the front side of the octagon connects to a clip on the Lasher). The only new piece I can identify for certain is the stinger, a mix of regular black plastic with a spike of rubbery yellow plastic, all forming a narrow wedge 2.5" (6.5cm) long and 2 pegs wide. [Update: I've been told the stinger piece is indeed new, and also seen in the Dark Panther set.] Each leg is "hinged" at its root, and there's some "ankle" motion as well. The wings are on rotating hinge pieces, but they're set onto the body in such a way that you don't get much range before they look bad. The weapon pieces can swing back and forth a bit. There's nowhere to let the pilot ride Megabee, but he can grab onto one of the pegs that are used to mount Megabee's guns and sort of hang on for dear life. :) Dave Van Domelen, now needs to think about putting some older Exo-Force mechs away to make room for the new ones.