Review:6973 Deep Freeze Defender/BobaFett2
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Set: 6973 Deep Freeze Defender
MSRP: $44.99 USD
Parts: 420
Minifigures: 3
Theme: Ice Planet 2002/Space
Year of Release: 1993
This will be my first review on Brickipedia. The set was purchased complete on Bricklink a few years ago, so there is no box. It was surprisingly cheap (just a little over MSRP) for such a good ship.
In my opinion, this is, by far, one of the two best LEGO spaceships released during the Post-Classic Space era (from Futuron to Insectoids). It's hard to say whether I prefer this or the 6986 Mission Commander - it's very close.
The Instructions[edit | edit source]
There's nothing particularly special about the instructions. Back when this set was released, instructions were quite thin. Color differentiation was not an issue here as there were no greys. The back of the instructions demonstrates the play features. There are no parts call-outs, so it can be a little hard to follow at times.
The pictures of the set are beautiful and the background is great. It's definitely a leap above M-Tron and Space Police II in terms of presentation.
The Build[edit | edit source]
The build of this ship is fun and engaging. 420 parts may seem a bit small by modern standards, but this only cost 45 dollars...and this ship is as big as the largest modern Space sets. There are a few nice techniques here, to be spoken about later.
The Model[edit | edit source]
Now for the good stuff. I've heard some bad things about the model, but if you compare it to just about any LEGO spaceship, even modern ones, it's one of the best. Sure, techniques have evolved a bit since then, and the 5974 Galactic Enforcer is about equal to this one in terms of playability and design, you just can't beat a classic like this. The color scheme, in my opinion, is great, although again, I've heard some bad things about it. The only Space color scheme I like more in space is the Space Police I color scheme.
One of the things that puts this magnificent vehicle so far above any competition is that it is modular. Each section detaches, and there are two smaller models contained within the two larger sections. One of the cockpits can be combined with the rear section, but you cannot, unfortunately, put a cockpit in the middle of the central section.
The cockpits are simple, as is to be expected. They use the standard prefab cockpit construction for this type of vehicle, which, while nice-looking, is a little boring. They carry all the equipment needed for a snow explorer and can glide on skis when not connected to a larger ship.
The central section contains a rocket. A big rocket. The rocket is propped up on an axle/pic TECHNIC piece. There's a little satellite, a-la Sputnik, which can be attached to the end of the rocket. The shape of this section is quite nice and while it can't fly on its own, it does look really good when connected with the other parts.
The last section is the thrusters and "garage". There's a really neat function here - the garage door, when opened, pushes up the ship inside, and if you push down on the ship, the garage door closes. The door is kept in place with a pair of thrusters. This section has a LOT of propulsion and the back makes a nice little command center with all those trans-neon orange windows. There's also two large antennae...which appear to be serving as weapons. I'm not sure if that's what they're intended to do, as the Ice Planet theme generally appears to be very peaceful, but that's what they resemble most. The rear is not airtight, unfortunately, but it's fine the way it is.
The small ship has a magnet with which to carry the rocket. There's not much else to say about it - it's basically filler, but good filler, not the kind that shows a lack of caring about design quality.
Minifigures[edit | edit source]
This set comes with three Ice Planet astronauts - a fitting number, considering that there are only three places in the ship where there is any need for an astronaut. It's quite fitting. I love the Commander for his mustache - I can never get enough of those, myself. His torso is a little plain, but it's clearly different from the other Ice Planet torsos and it's easy to tell that he's a ranking officer.
The Ice Planet Female is one of the few female characters to ever appear in space sets. It was the first when it was introduced, and unless one of the UFO characters is female, the only other one in that post-Classic era is Gypsy Moth. Unlike the other characters, she has red hair instead of white, and it looks pretty good.
The torsos of the Female and Astronaut are excellent. The suits are very versatile and can be used for numerous themes.
Parts[edit | edit source]
Everything is printed! One of the great things about this era is that very few parts were given stickers. If I'm not mistaken, stickers became a thing again (stickers were used in early Town/Castle) in 1996, which is disappointing, as printed parts always look better and stickers come off easily, whereas printing takes a long time to wear down if handled with care.. The cockpits are nice, and the transparent panels used at the rear of the ship are fairly uncommon as-is, and very rare in this color. Part:4474p61 is unique to this set and looks great.
Summary/ProCon Section[edit | edit source]
Pros[edit | edit source]
- Printed parts - no stickers
- Cheap, even today
- Nice colors
- Interesting techniques in a few places
- Fair number of minifigures
- Excellent shape
- Modularity
Cons[edit | edit source]
- Lack of cons means I have nothing to complain about
If you compare this set to any spaceship from its era, you really won't do any better than this. Sure, it might look unfinished next to modern spaceships, but for post-classic LEGO Space, this is as good as it gets.
Building Experience: Interesting build.
5 / 5Parts: Not a positive bin of unique parts, but the parts here are good for the amount of money it costs.
5 / 5Playability: There's no question that this ship is chock-full of features.
5 / 5Price: You can get it for less than 70 dollars on Bricklink, and considering the value of old Space/Castle sets today, I'd say that's definitely a good price. The original price was fantastic - you rarely see a ship this big for that price.
5 / 5Minifigures: For the size, the minifigure count may seem small, but remember, this is a 45 dollar set. No issues here, and for its time, the minifigures were something special - Space Police II and Blacktron II both had boring faces and this was definitely a step up.
5 / 5Overall: There's no doubt in my mind that this set is deserving of a perfect score. It has next to no flaws, unless you want to nitpick, and if you love sets from this era, this is a must-have.
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