Tag Archives: Exo-Force

Exo-Force theme gets a serious upgrade in this mighty mech

One of the LEGO themes that came out during my dark age (the period between childhood and adulthood when some fans stopped buying LEGO sets) was Exo-Force, a theme with a human and a robot faction and their battling mechs and vehicles. The designs were a perfect blend of anime and cyberpunk. This mech by Ryuhei Kawai is a fantastic reboot of the theme with plenty of modern mech construction techniques. The larger angled upper legs with the thin black calves give the mech a sporty look, while the machine gun with ammo belt feeding it from the shoulder and the large chainsaw-looking blade on the right hand show that this mech means business.

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Microscale Sentai Headquarters is a blast from the past

In 2006, LEGO released the Exo-Force theme, and 7709 Sentai Fortress was the largest set in the line. Marius Herrmann created a microscale version complete with the surrounding elements seen on the box art. The iconic round orange gate and the microscale mechas makes the creation instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with the original set.

Micro - Sentai Headquarters (7709)

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Van Force Pictures and Instructions from gabriel

Ask and ye shall receive! In my recent post on the alternate Exo-Force design by anime director and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori, I asked if any Japanese LEGO fans knew of any better pictures of a completed Van Force mecha.

Azumu (of LEGO-BINGO, who it seems is much more consistent about checking Brickshelf than I am) responded:

Regarding instructions for Kawamura-sensei’s “Van Force,” gabriel-san customized the model a bit and uploaded them:
http://brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=161353
There were a few places in the magazine that were hard to figure out, so it’s not a complete recreation, but I think it’s pretty much complete.

Thanks Azumu-san! So without further ado, here’s a bigger picture of Van Force:

Click the image (or the link Azumu-san provided) for the full gallery, complete with step-by-step building instructions! Awesome.

Oh, and those aren’t custom decals. Japanese LEGO specialty store Click-Brick handed out Van Force sticker sheets with the purchase of any Exo-Force set. Since The LEGO Company worked with Mr. Kawamori to design Van Force, I believe the sticker sheet is “official.”

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Exo-Force Alternate Design “Van-Force” by Shoji Kawamori

Renowned anime director and mecha designer Shoji Kawamori (best known for his long involvement with the Macross series) was commissioned to create an alternate model for LEGO Exo-Force sets 7700 Stealth Hunter and 7701 Grand Titan. Instructions were available in Japanese action-figure magazine Figure King (フィギュア王 vol. 95, for those interested in trying to import it) and a special sticker sheet is available exclusively at Japanese LEGO stores Click-Brick. The alternate model is called “Van-Force.”

Naturally, the Japanese LEGO blogosphere buzzed with anticipation. Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen any pictures until fairly recently, so I waited to post until now.

Courtesty Japanese tech blog B-log Cabin TP:

I’m hoping one of our AFOL counterparts in Japan will take some better pictures and post them on Brickshelf as well. (And here’s a note to ask for that.)

日本のレゴファンの皆様にお願いしたいことがあります。河村監督の Exo-Force 組み替え「Van-Force」を作ったお方がいましたら、写真を撮ってアメリカの皆が見れるように Brickshelf にアップ出来ますか？お願いしま〜す！ m(_ _)m

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