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Golden Guardian (Limited Gold Edition)

Comments

9 comments posted
fool's gold

When I first saw this release and saw it was called "Golden Guardian", I thought it would include some pseudo gold pieces which would have been nice, even "Mega Bloks" includes gold bricks in some of their sets. I know that in the past Lego included silver or gold crowns or the gold colored coins in the castle series . The decals for this release seem to make the overall look feel cheap.

maceo's picture
Posted by maceo on 9 January, 2008 - 13:34
Heh- sucker! ;)

Heh- sucker! ;)

But, I couldn't agree with you more- that really was a cheap move by marketing. Though I never got anything from the three-year run LEGO Knights' Kingdom, I seem to remember that in late 2006, the armor for the four 6" hero figures/knights (whose poseable skeletons served as the flexible frameworks for $20+ Exo-Force Battle Machine sets, BTW) was actual die-cast metal as opposed to plastic! Now, though it would probably jack-up the price a little, I wouldn't mind seeing some die-cast parts in the Exo-Force line.


Oh, BTW, thanks for commenting; it lets me know that there are people who do read this stuff. What have you thought of my reviews so far? I've got at least four on the way for the new 2008 line in the works now!
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EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 9 January, 2008 - 19:17
Yeah, I've notice those

Yeah, I've notice those switch-ups over time from the use of medal too (yeah cost cutting, and since were on the subject the "Mobile Defense Tank" treads pissed me off as well, wished they were more like those used for the technic "Arctic Rescue Unit" set back in the day but it was still a relatively good buy, if just for looks.


Was trolling for a bit. But being fairly new here I still solidified a purchase based on your review of the "Aero Booster" set. I'll check back here to get opinions on various releases. The posts are informative and detailed.

maceo's picture
Posted by maceo on 10 January, 2008 - 01:43
Well, thank you! I'm glad

Well, thank you! I'm glad that my review(s) influenced you! That's one of the reasons I like writing reviews so much.

If I had to pick just one set from each of the two completed years of Exo-Force, I'd immediately pick the Striking Venom from 2006, and the aforementioned Aero Booster from 2007. However, that certainly doesn't mean that the others are [all] poor and lacking...!

Yeah, the MDT is a good set for the most part, it just has a few sticky issues, like the weak support structure for the tank treads units. And the funny thing is, if you look at all the box art and promotional images of it, there are clearly prototypes being used because the tread units had better supports! Another example: if you look at the first alternate model online for the 2006 set Grand Titan, you can see that those instructions were clearly using different decal designs that the version that was released.

Now, I am certainly NOT going to start bashing Lego for a few mistakes because their designs are always fantastic (except for personal tastes), and I still think the Exo-Force line is a great one to become part of the Lego System. When I get a new Lego set, I get it because there is something new and interesting in each and every one of them.
If you'll allow a quick mini-rant from me... Some people think that the violence/weapons associated with the Exo-Force line are contrary to Lego's good-natured policies, but when you bring up old-school sci-fi lines like the Space Police, Blacktron, UFO, and even long-running fantasy lines like Pirates and Castle, you find that evil characters/vehicles sell and do well. Heck, look at the Star Wars and Bionicle lines- they're huge! And now they've introduced Batman last year and they're kick-starting an Indiana Jones line in time for the theatrical release of the fourth film later this year!
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 10 January, 2008 - 13:15
The Striking Venom set could

The Striking Venom set could be a classic for this
series in time, as the "Blacktron Invader" was for the Blacktron series (love that one to death back then) . Nice catch for the Grand Titan model as well, wouldn't have caught that.


Yes,The Exo-Force series is a welcome change not just because I dabbles in the giant robot theme but also creates a series not based on a preexisting license
like "Star Wars" or "Harry Potter" not that these are bad but sometimes it seems to distract from what the foundation of Lego was built on. I agreed initially about the violent aspect of the Exo-Force series as well, I think more because of the good guy bad guy angle it represented But, yes previous series' in the Lego line have done what the
Exo-Force series is doing now (like the human vs robot slant). It may also have
something to do with the whole anime/violence as well as how anime may sit with some people's ideas of what Lego shouldn't be. Though the series is still quite enjoyable for what it's worth.

maceo's picture
Posted by maceo on 10 January, 2008 - 22:16
I grew up right in the

I grew up right in the middle of the revolution of Space sets like Blacktron, Space Police, M-tron, Ice Planet etc., so I know exactly what you mean. (Alas that I had so few, and there were so many I wanted! *sniff*)

Oh, come on- what "Star Wars" fan didn't try to build an X-wing Fighter or the Millennium Falcon or an AT-AT out of Legos??? (I may not have had the parts, but I certainly tried!) So I was thrilled that Lego made that deal! And the best part is, they got good at it too! [I still want to get my hands on an Ultimate Collectors' Imperial Star Destroyer (the largest commercially-sold set ever @ 3104 parts, $270!), and I'm closely eying the newer Republic Cruiser, though I scarcely have the room or money for either one nowadays!]
On the other hand, yes, I think Lego has gotten a little carried away with other trademarks like "Harry Potter" and "Avatar- the Last Airbender". But, I also like that they've introduced Batman, who is ideally suited to gimmicks a la deus ex machina. The brand-new Indiana Jones- were I not a fan of the films (except for "...Temple of Doom")- would appear as no more than a reboot of their earlier World Explorers line which only last two years, so I'm on the fence with that one even though I don't want any of those sets.

As for Exo-Force's humans-vs-robots slant, we've seen this before in Life on Mars, UFO, Robots, and even the newest Mission to Mars- it allows for action and conflict (okay, I'll say it- "violence") by not pitting one human faction against another like they did with Blacktron-II and Space Police. In this ever-increasing pressure of political correctness and toy regulations, it's no wonder they went this route, though whether those were the primary contributing factors, I can't say for certain. But for me and many others, building giant robots is fun, and so this is something of an honest-to-God dream come-true in Exo-Force!
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CollectionDX Staff

EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 11 January, 2008 - 14:07
Because Legos have been

Because Legos have been relatively expensive I use to just gawk at the photos in the sears of Jcpenney catalogs the pirate ship space and town monorails and Blacktron were the one's I really remembered vividly. I had the "Alien Moon Stalker" set which looked suspiciously like an AT-AT Walker that was quite fun, one thing hated too was running out of specific types of bricks and having to edit my plans. The Star Wars property works well with Lego because of the diverse number of sets you can create in the Star Wars universe. The series also really saved them because from what I heard, yet I still haven't gotten myself the buy a set over $100 yet, don't have that much disposable income, heh.


Even though the "wild west" series did contain weapons as well ,In all I think the Lego Group does well in it's decision making process when it comes to violent content, even so sometimes I think they have too many specialized parts that they don't seem to use much of. yet still there no reason for me to ever dislike Legos in the least or what the new series' represent.

maceo's picture
Posted by maceo on 14 January, 2008 - 20:18
You and me both! Biggest

You and me both!
Biggest Lego set I own is the Futuron Monorail Transport System (#6990) I got for X-mas many moons ago.

Don't we all run out of needed parts right at that critical time... I just figured that I'm not good enough to be a real Lego Maniac since I can't compensate for that particular weakness... ^_^;

There may still be a few in your area if you're lucky, but I would suggest you try to grab a discounted Sentai Fortress (#7709) while you still can. I wanted one, and I waited too long for that discount to drop below $100. But by the time I had a change to grab one, they were sold-out for good. You get the Supernova-lookalike Silent Strike plus a new Meca One-piloted fan-dubbed 'Venom Walker' Battle Machine; those would be my biggest reasons for getting it, though the wraparound base isn't too bad-looking from what I can tell.

Yes, I agree, Lego has been very responsible in limiting the violence factor- though they haven't dropped to the Power Rangers level of saying that someone is "destroyed" rather than "killed"... yet. I certainly don't want them to change anything they're doing in that regard! "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[I do wish, though, that the Ep.III Darth Vader Transformation set (#7251) had been a little more complex, or else I would have sooooooo been all over that.]
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EVA_Unit_4A's picture
Posted by EVA_Unit_4A on 15 January, 2008 - 16:14
I think I'll go stimulate

I think I'll go stimulate the economy so I'll look into the below $100 lego sets, seriously because one thing is for sure the longer one waits the less likely you'll find a set for a reasonable price.
speaking of waiting, for a bare bones Ep.III set at least include a Darth Sidious minifig, heh and it's still going for a premium online.

maceo's picture
Posted by maceo on 27 January, 2008 - 10:50