Dave's Lego® Robots Reviews

Last Updated: 4/5/08
8118 Hybrid Rescue Tank review, 8108 Mobile Devastator and 7721 Combat Crawler x2 info added.


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Exo-Force

    Humans and robots use vehicles and giant humanoid mecha to fight over who will be king of Sentai Mountain! Very anime-themed set.

  • Line Overview: Sentai Fortress Storyline: Some comments on the first year of the line as a whole and common elements, so I don't need to cover them in every review. Also has comments on sets I either haven't gotten yet, or won't be getting. Updated 11/21/06.
  • 7700: Stealth Hunter - review added 12/30/05.
  • 7701: Grand Titan - review added 12/30/05.
  • 7702: Thunder Fury - review added 12/31/05.
  • 7703: Fire Vulture - review added 1/3/06.
  • 7704: Sonic Phantom - Not being bought or reviewed.
  • 7705: Gate Assault - Not being bought or reviewed.
  • 7706: Mobile Defense Tank - Review added. 11/12/06.
  • 7707: Striking Venom - Not being bought or reviewed.
  • 7708: Uplink - review updated 2/12/06.
  • 7709: Sentai Fortress - Not being bought or reviewed.
  • 7710: Number not used so far. Seems to have been used on a really old train set.
  • 7711: Sentry - review updated 1/24/06.
  • 7712: Supernova - review added 3/31/06. He has an iPod, apparently.
  • 7713: Bridge Walker and White Lightning - Target-exclusive "versus" set. Bought when it went on 50% off clearance, review added 2/17/07.

  • Line Overview: Golden City: The second year of Exo-Force brings a shift in storyline and new mechs for everyone. File updated 11/24/07.
  • 8100: Cyclone Defender - Review updated 12/28/06.
  • 8101: Claw Crusher - Review updated 12/28/06.
  • 8102: Blade Titan - Review updated 12/28/06.
  • 8103: Sky Guardian - Review updated 12/28/06.
  • 8104: Shadow Crawler - Review updated 12/28/06.
  • 8105: Iron Condor - Review updated 12/28/06.
  • 7714: Golden Guardian - Yes, it's got a 7700 series number, but it's part of the Golden City storyline. TRU exclusive (also available on Amazon or lego.com). Review updated 11/7/07.
  • 8106: Aero Booster - $30-size mech for Ha-Ya-To. It has an $8 size body and HUGE boosters on the back with a missile launcher built with a pistol grip for the person playing with it. Review added 3/19/08.
  • 8107: Sentai Golden Tower - Central tower of the Golden City under attack by a medium flying vehicle (the Sonic Raven), another pistol-grip missile launcher. Comes with new female pilot Hitomi. $50 set. Review added 11/12/07.
  • 8108: Mobile Devastator - Evil monster truck assault vehicle thing versus Ryo in a $15-size mech (the Blazing Falcon), $90 set. Not getting reviewed, sorry. But I did get the code brick from a friend and put the online info in the link here.

  • Line Overview: Deep Jungle - The 2008 line, continuing the 8100-numbering, but moving the struggle into the jungles with an assortment of more bestial Robot machines and both sides using little partner mechs that can turn into weapons. Note, Toys R Us is playing "gouge the customer" lately and wants $10 and $20 for the small and medium sets.
  • 8111: River Dragon - Ha-ya-to's $8-size mech with hoverfans on the shoulders. Right arm turns into a partner mech. Red and black. Review updated 12/27/07.
  • 8112: Battle Arachnoid8113: Assault Tiger - Yellow, red and black $15-scale mech piloted by Takeshi and equipped with a HUGE DEFORESTATION BUZZSAW. Seriously, the sticker says "HEAVY DUTY DEFORESTER". Partner carries chainsaws. Review updated 12/27/07.
  • 8114: Chameleon Hunter - Green and black flier with a mantis motif and a sword-wielding partner. Hikaru's new ride, it has a big ol' claw on the right arm. $15 scale. Combines with either the Assault Tiger or the River Dragon to make bigger mechs (biped for Assault Tiger, quad for River Dragon). Review tweaked 12/28/07.
  • 8115: Dark Panther - Purple and black quadruped mech piloted by a Devastator and including two Iron Drone jump troopers. $15 scale. Combines with the Storm Lasher to make a big bipedal mech, or with the Arachnid Stalker for a scorpion unit. Review added 12/27/07.
  • 8116: Cancelled. This unit was developed, but tested poorly and was yanked from the schedule. Of course, with Lego there isn't quite as much "investment" in a new "mold". :)
  • 8117: Storm Lasher - VTOL with big fans and an insect motif, $20 price point, piloted by an Iron Drone. Review updated 12/27/07.
  • 8118: Hybrid Rescue Tank - Treads in front, huge single wheel in back, it has Ryo as a pilot, apparently rescuing Keiken from robot clutches. The turret can come off and turn into a jet. At $30, it's the cheapest set to include the Sensei. Review added 4/4/08.
  • 7721: Combat Crawler X2 - More of a Golden City toy, but sold as a Target exclusive during the transition to Deep Jungle. Six-legged carrier with a regular bipedal battle machine piloted by a Devastator that can detach and fight independently. Notes added 4/5/08.
  • Base/scenery sets sold too poorly in the previous year, so the line has been cancelled.

  • Symbiote Spider-Man Mech - A Mega Bloks toy, but it fits better here than anywhere else. :) A good $10 set on its own, and grist for the mill of any Exo-Force custom-builders.
  • PlasmaTECH Wave 1 - Another Mega Bloks toy, these are $5 part-swappable robot action figures (although the bio notes call them cyborgs). Nifty little mecha. Updated 11/24/07 with notes on the Mecha Base set.

Throwbots/RoboRiders Fanfic Background

    This is my own story linking the Throwbots and the RoboRiders. It deliberately ignores much or all of the "canonical" storyline.


REVIEWS


Bionicle

    The BIOlogical chroNICLE, Lego's big thrust into the action figure market. And lots of other markets.

Year One: Toa versus Rahi

Year Two: Toa versus Bohrok
RoboRiders

    Lego in a can! Six Technic motorcycles built on the same sort of themes as the Throwbots.


FUSION

    Three Throwbots merge to form the Super Throwbot Fusion. The core is Blaster, practically a Super Throwbot in his own right. Flare and Spark complete the set. Each is sold separately.


MILLENNIA

    Known as the Millennium Slizer outside the U.S., it was renamed simply Millennia of the Throwbots when released here. Millennia is a standard size Throwbot with a big motorcycle, and you can build a 7" tall Throwbot by combining parts. Click HERE for a review.


TEAM BLUE

    This isn't the official designation, but I felt I needed something to call the four-groups. Team Blue is composed of Ski, Scuba, Torch and Turbo, and they make up the humanoid Super Throwbot.


TEAM BLACK

    Team Black is composed of Amazon, Jet, Electro and Granite, who merge to form the Dragon Super Throwbot. According to the Lego® homepage, Granite's alt mode is...a fake rock. BWAHAHAHA! UPDATE 10/11: Adrian Schneider points out that Electro's transformed mode could be interpreted as a lightning bolt, being that it's a sort of zigzag.


Throwbots and the I Ching

    A short piece comparing the Throwbots to various Trigrams and Hexagrams of the I Ching, or Book of Changes from Taoism.


    I've gotten a German Lego® catalog from Raksha, and it lists the European names for the Slizers (which is what Throwbots are called everywhere but North America). It also gives some backstory: in another Solar System is a planet divided into seven wedge-shaped "continents," each with radically different environments. At the north pole of this world is a capital city and/or judgment arena. Here's the eight Slizers:

ULTRA THROWBOTS

    Mike Wampole has taken two each of the Throwbots and created larger, mutated "Ultra Throwbots" with increased poseability and general fun factor. Now has instructions for building your own, presuming you have two copies of a given Throwbot.

ExoBots

    Just a little something I'm fiddling with, no images available. Descriptions of ways to have one Throwbot use parts from another to augment itself. Will grow with time, probably. Updated 2/9/99.

    UPDATE: This isn't strictly an ExoBot, but it falls in the basic theme. If you get the Technic Hydro Racer (set 8246), it's almost trivial to attach Jet's feet to the front end of it after removing the Hydro Racer's roll bars. This turns Jet into a seaplane sort of mode, and the colors even match.


    Legal Disclaimer Stuff: Lego®, Throwbots(TM) and all names and distinctive likenesses are the property of Lego®, reproduced for purposes of review. This page is not officially affiliated with Lego® in any way.

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