All reviews of set 7644-1: MX-81 Hypersonic Operations Aircraft

This set is very cool. It can flip down a platform, deploy a miner, and separate into four parts (The big part, two defense flyers, and a probe.) There is also a blunt launcher with more lasers attached and an alien prison pod. It used to have a tendency to break in two, but I fixed it once and squeezed it together extra hard to make sure it would not fall apart, and it has not since. The alien ship was interesting, but my brother stole it one day and took some pieces, the rest he mixed into the lego boxes. The secret lab is rather hidden because, an armor plate that can flip up covers it. I prefer to keep it combined when I am not playing with it.

pros:
Ingenius design.
Flip-down platform.
Blunt launcher.
Interesting Alien ship.
Awesome separating function.

cons:
Sometimes breaks in half.
Drill on drilling vehicle cannot move downward.

In all, an awesome Mars Mission, but I recommend the Ultra-Drill Walker more.

I really like the look of this ship--when I first saw pictures of it, I knew I had to get it. It calls back the Deep Freeze Defender from the classic Ice Planet 2000 series.

After building it, I have to say I'm a little disappointed with the interior--or complete lack of one. Besides the two cockpits up front, there is one tiny cramped lab in the middle. Everything else is just framework for the buggy deployment mechanism. The mechanism is pretty cool, and like nothing I've seen in any LEGO set. I'm not sure if it's good enough to build an $80 set around.

I got this set around the same time I picked up the Agents Semi Truck. It suffers in comparison. That truck uses every square inch for playability, trap doors, vehicle storage, etc. This set is a real one-trick-pony, two cockpits and a buggy deployment system.

When I got this for Christmas, I was astounded at its real size and was amazingly impressed at how the 2 front ships detatch, and can form a heavy armoured ship, a light attack ship or just put the 2 together and make a double armed ship. The drop-down platform is simple yet amazing and is a great way to deploy a land craft; however, the rubber-band which is meant to lock the platform back in wears out after a few months, and I have to manually lock the platform in place. Overall though, I am extremely happy with it.

This is a nice set and I bought this in legoland because my robotics team participated in the tournament there. I went into the lego shop and took this out. At home I built it all, but one minor problem is that only 3 astronauts went in! You could hold about 7 if you put it in the cargo space and about maybe 12 if you put in the rest in the engine room. The mining vehicle is great and part of the reason why I got this is because the alien ship is really sleek and looks stealthy holding a commander. I recommend this to a friend and buy this before it is discontinued. 4.9 out of 5

i got this 1 day before my birth day i was suppose to get it in my birth day but i got it 1 day early some how.
this set huge then i thought.but some how its kinda getting smaller.
pros:
AWESOME
includes alien commander minifigure
prefect for a base
more pices then the eagle base!
huge
cons:
when you try to take it apart the wings wont come off easily
i really wanted this set!
its a must-have set.

With the completion of Exo-Force, I was forced into trying something new and this immediately caught my eye and I was not disappointed. The build for the entire set is very fun. There's a lot of stages that are broken down quite nicely and there are times when you are in the middle of building a section and then wonder why the instructions have left building that part you were working on only to find out that there's a very good reason for that b/c it accomodates a gun port, wing, or detail. I'm a fairly intuitive builder but this set keeps you interested as you work through and marvel at the construction.

Let's have a look at the Hypersonic Aircraft:

Pros
- Great modular design: Everything has a place and it comes apart nicely such that each of the individual components (jets, tank, drill, etc) all retain their individual appeal.
- Weapons array: Whoa, this thing is packed to the rafters!
- The massive wing is a really strong visual aesthetic. It dominates the appearance of the aircraft just as it should
- Presence: this thing just stands out. It's imposing and add all those guns, it's just downright awesome.
- The lab's done very well. There's the internal wiring/tubes/pipes which really enhanced the look of it.
- The drop down platform is so simple but adds such an immense level of playability. Having the drilling vehicle on it in aircraft mode looks very cool.
- Prison cell: very lovely. It's done in such an unobtrusive way (off the left side) and just adds to the playability of the whole set.

Cons
- Mini-Figs: I started off with Lego again a few months ago and really didn't see a purpose for mini-figs. But how things have changed! I feel that in this set the Astronauts are short on staff with only 3 of them to man this big mother of an assault vehicle.
- The open dock/work area. It makes the whole vehicle feel a bit too exposed. In combined mode, it's unnoticeable but it's very accentuated once you remove the component parts.

Overall: 4.9
Great build, excellent playability; the only major downfall being the open dock area.

Alien Spacecraft
Pros
- Love the wing build and shape, surpisingly fun.
- The Alien Mini-Figs: look very, very cool. The larger of the aliens is an imposing little mini figure. The glow in the dark features just add that extra wow factor. My little sister loves this set.

Cons:
- Doesn't feel very imposing. Feels like they're just adding it in there for the token bad guy b/c when you look at the size and scale of the Hypersonic Aircraft, you just wonder how daft this alien really is to be issuing a challenge in his puny infiltrator/jet.

Overall: 3.8
It's not its fault really as given the limited parameters within which to work, this jet could never really come close to rivalling the main attraction of this set: the Hypersonic Aircraft. The designers were never going to be able to come up with a vehicle just as imposing so I decided not to be too harsh.

Final Score for the Set: 4.8/5

Very much recommended. One of the best sets among the Lego sets released this year.

This set is definately the best in the mars mission line so far. If you have enough money, buy it!

Hypersonic Operations Aircraft
Pros: It can split into two strike fighters and has a lowerable bay for the digger. Inside it has a small lab and two engines. For weaponry it has 14 Laser cannons, a missile launcher, and an anti air turret.
Cons: LOTS of stickers, and the lab has very little room. It also has a rather large hole in the back, but that is easily fixed with some blocks.

Alien "Needler" attack ship
Pros: Well built, quite sturdy. It has four laser cannons, and one of those new alien commander figures. The stickers have shiny areas.
Cons: Stickers, some of which are especially hard to place, and the alien commander has a deep pit in his back.

Summary
It is a very good set, one that should definately be gotten by Mars Mission Fans, especially if you aliens outnumber your humans.

Lego has yet to release a better or more inspired design for a "space" set. The ship really utilizes all of the versatility of Lego bricks, and the separating modules are great. I like the alien ship that came with this better than some of the ones that are the main ships of their sets. And thank goodness Lego decided to release a new alien minifig, because the ones they had are pretty weak, and totally uninspired. All in all, this set is awesome!

Pros:

Separating modules
Cool drill machine & drop-down mode
Three MM minifigs
Center science station
Alien ship and new, more detailed alien minifig
Lots of guns
Size & wingspan

Cons:
Center science station is open to air when the smaller ships are removed
Stickers always suck...

Overall Score: 4.8/5

Its The best MM set out there now! I got mine from Lego.com and I am very pleased with it. As the title says it is very big and yet still looks great!

PROS:
Its Big
Looks fantastic
Great fun to play with
Loads of guns
ULTRA COOL COMMANDER ALIEN!
Nice alien ship
Good price
Really-well working deploy platform
Cool lab inside
Lots and Lots of fun to build

CONS:
Well there isn't any

So overall, there is NO reason you should not buy this set, because its good price and you will love it! It is by far THE BEST of the MM series and i am very glad i got it.
Boberik1