Here we go, my final Exo-Force review (at least until I complete my River Dragon and Dark Panther). This time we’ll look over all three of the 2008 sets I own, coincidentally one from every size class: the robot support mech Arachnoid Stalker, the human mid-range ground unit Assault Tiger and the larger robot vehicle Storm Lasher.
We’ll start with the Arachnoid Stalker, the largest support mech in terms of piece count throughout all three years of the theme.
The sole minifigure included in this set is a plain, unaltered Devastator in standard silver, showing us that this unit has no specialist programming.
The vehicle itself has a very unique design, obviously arachnid-inspired, only with six legs rather than eight. The robots have retained their usual colour palette of black+something else, here accented by a splattering of orange. Each leg of the Stalker shares a similar construction, featuring a few hinges and ending in a helicopter blade adorned with a few extra pieces. While the back and middle legs are limited to stickered panels and a barb, the front appendages feature inset chainsaws and a pair of heavy machine guns, making this support mech uncharacteristically well-armed.
Adding to those armaments is this years standout gimmick, the mini-robots. These smaller, automated machines can be deployed from every 2008 set, becoming bigger and more extravagant the larger the set is. While the human mini-robots are exclusively humanoid, the robot’s ones are all very insectoid and bestial. The mini-robot here transforms from a gaping pair of mandibles to an, um… “tick robot”…which doesn’t look like a tick in any way. Nevertheless, this curious contraption certainly looks intimidating, housing what appears to be a human skull inside its glass dome.
A clip nestled in between the four legs allows this drone to latch onto the cockpit hinge of practically every human Battle Machine for attacking. The way I like to imagine the Arachnoid Stalker hunts down human mechs is by having the “tick robot” latch onto the mech and upload a virus to shut it down, before slicing the windscreen off with the chainsaws and shooting the pilot inside. Sorta like a giant, six-legged, murderous can-opener.
The body is still usable once the mini-robot has been deployed, with a second head revealed underneath accompanied by orange-tipped pincers.
The Devastator pilots the vehicle from a cockpit clearly meant to evoke the spider’s abdomen, accompanied by a pair of levers. The exo-codes have made a return this year, however they are no longer randomised or printed, reduced to simply stickers which are the same for every copy of the set. Two black flaps provide protection from the sides, while fire, uh… spews out the back of the vehicle? Is this spider jet-propelled? Is that a rear-mounted flamethrower? Just fire for the sake of fire?
This seemingly confusing burst of flames is explained once you realise that the entire cockpit can detach, forming an escape pod by folding down the armoured flaps to create wings. The connecting technic pin left in the pod now acts as a backup gun, while the main body can still function as what’s essentially a second mini-robot.
This set packs a boatload of functionality in for such a small set, so let’s see whether larger mechs offer an even greater experience.
The Assault Tiger is this year’s human ground mech, as usual piloted by Takeshi.
He hasn’t changed much since 2007, only sporting a new torso print featuring camouflage patterns.
The Assault Tiger’s silhouette is very unique, featuring insanely large shins and feet coupled with tiny thighs, a very squat torso and fairly boxy shoulders. This doesn’t sound too appealing, but the set pulls it off surprisingly well, looking suitably rugged in its camouflaged stickers. This set does suffer the same sticker degradation as the Blade Titan and Golden Guardian, though here it is limited exclusively to the white and dark red sections, with the yellow parts of the stickers completely unaffected. Mine doesn’t suffer too horribly, having only some disintegration on the left knee.
The previously mentioned legs look extremely powerful, using very large TIE Fighter wing connectors as the base of the shins. The feet are similarly huge, decorated with some nice claws for better traversal of the jungle environment. While the build of these legs is similar to the previous mechs, the ratcheted ankles have been replaced with far more flexible ball joints, allowing for a wider range of poses. As usual, Takeshi’s symbol decorates the right shin, while some Japanese text meaning ‘Massive Tearing’ adorns the left.
The torso design has been completely overhauled since 2007, now base around a TIE Fighter wing connector. This allows the pilot to have even greater space within the cockpit, now accommodating even an actual seat! A radar dish protrudes from the shoulder beside the striking orange windscreen, while an Exo-Code decorates the chest. Takeshi looks suitably protected, especially since the new torso build is completely free of the gaps found on previous designs.
The right arm is dominated by a massive circular saw, marked as a ‘Heavy Duty Deforester’ and an ‘Environmental Logging Hazard’. This saw has a red knob underneath which can be spun to set the blade into motion. Regrettably, both arms have no working elbows, with the forearms fixed at a 45 degree angle to the shoulders. This greatly limits pose ability since last year, and so far is really the only thing dragging the set down.
The opposite arm wields a bulky gun with a strangely thin barrel, ending in a conical blaster.
The bulky block can be detached, leaving the gun a lot more proportional.
This block can unfurl itself to become another mini-robot; a cycloptic one wielding a pair of chainsaws, described as a ‘Spy Drone’.
With the mini-robot removed, a proper hand is now more visible holding the gun.
The shoulders are decorated with the usual affair: an ‘L.20’ (yes, the groups have reset again, now starting at 20), however the ground force symbol is oddly missing. In its place is the technical data for the mini-robot.
2008 has given us another great offering in the mid-range, let’s see if a larger set can keep it up.
The Storm Lasher is the final robot vehicle of the entire theme, so let’s see if it can retain the practically unscathed reputation of its predecessors.
A single Iron Drone is the only included figure, a bit of an odd choice for a large vehicle, but still good nonetheless.
The Storm Lasher has an incredibly imposing design, with its huge turbines spread out like the wings of some vast predatory bird, appearing fully monstrous through the addition of mandibles, tail feathers and a fully unique drooping cockpit.
This cockpit is covered in weapons, including eight machine guns and a pair of goblet missiles, alongside fully adjustable mandibles and a hinged windscreen adorned with an Exo-Code. An appealing paint splatter motif is present throughout the entire sticker sheet, making this a very graphically distinct set.
The main body of the vehicle is fairly thin, but still packs detail through the implementation of a powerful engine block and further paint splatter decoration.
The gargantuan propellers attach to ratchet joints in this segment, allowing them to be angled up and down as well as rotated like a VTOL. The jagged rotor blades are formed from a clump of six troll swords positioned around a dish, with the edges of the propellers protected by a large circular ring made from an abundance of nicely tiled 1x2 hinges.
A knob under each propeller allows for the blades to spun freely without any issues.
The back of the vehicle has a large assortment of tail feathers, accompanied by some rather conspicuous green balls. Unsurprisingly, this section can detach to become the set’s mini-robot, requiring only a simple transformation of unfolding its six legs.
Unlike the “tick robot”, this mechanised dragonfly is immediately recognisable due to its four large wings and trailing tail, making it easily the most visually stunning of any of the mini-robots. Clawed, spiky appendages and a pair of small laser cannons mounted on its back make it suitably ferocious, while the head is decorated with a similar paint splatter design to the Storm Lasher itself, linking them together. This mini-robot is notably not so mini, being unexpectedly large and featuring more parts than most polybags.
With the dragonfly removed, the rear of the Storm Lasher is much less cluttered, now looking fairly plain with only two fins at the end. A handle of identical build to the Sonic Phantom’s is employed here, allowing you to pick up and move the vehicle with ease.
Overall, 2008 has offered some outstanding sets, a noticeable improvement over 2007.
With retail prices of £4.99, £9.99 and £14.99 respectively, these all represent amazing value, especially the Arachnoid Stalker which contains over 130 parts for just £5! They, of course, are worth more nowadays, with prices typically coming to £9 for the Arachnoid Stalker and £22 for the Storm Lasher, although this still demonstrates great value due to how reasonably priced they were to begin with. Surprisingly, the Assault Tiger hasn’t increased or decreased in price at all, still worth only £10.
Score-wise, the Arachnoid Stalker gets a 9/10. For such a cheap set, it’s packed with parts and is loaded with functionality, easily the best support mech out of all three years of the theme.
The Assault Tiger takes a 7/10, decent but still not perfect, certainly the lack of elbows is disappointing.
The Storm Lasher receives an 8/10, a great set hindered only by an odd figure choice and slightly vacant midsection.
So that’s it, I’ve finished reviewing every Exo-Force set I own! I can finally return to the Self-Moc Mission now, and hopefully there’ll be more reviews on a different theme after the next batch of self-mocs. For when that time does come, however, I’ve compiled a quick poll to vote on the next obscure subject of my reviews, probably commencing early next year:
- Sports: Hockey (Technic figures) (2003)
- Power Miners (2009-2010)
- Chima (2013-2015)
- Galaxy Squad (2013)
- Speed Racer (2008)
0 voters
