Brownout: Pythagoras Chase

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the dried-up, burnt-out dust ball the locals call Brownout Colony. The desert stretches as far as the eye can see, and shimmering waves of dry heat on the horizon seem to cloud out the stars. Into this still air comes the whine of high-powered engines straining for speed, and the suns are blotted out momentarily as the beat-up old freighter Pythagoras roars overhead. Engines constantly adjusting to scrape out every last bit of speed as the crew make their desperate escape, the weathered ship screams toward escape. With her turrets scanning around for signs of threat, the Pythagoras rumbles through the sky, trying to gain enough altitude to escape the vicious bounty hunters on the tail of the crew.

Inside the cockpit, Captain Jack Freeman clenches at the back of the pilot's seat as "Crash" Wu, perhaps known space's worst pilot, tightens his grip on the control. He knows the hunters are closing in, and the bounties on his head and those of his crew may come due sooner than he imagined. The reason for all the excitement, renegade android Bravo 88, mans the guns from her control station on the starboard side, and the muffled curses of Kam Collins' grumbling can be heard belowdecks as the engineer struggles to hold the rusty death trap of a ship together.

This is Brownout: Pythagoras Escape. A set containing enough space adventure for a thousand lifetimes, with parts sure to make even the most hardened of hearts soften a little at the thought of all the possibilities waiting to be unlocked. A gorgeous mid-size spaceship model, the Pythagoras herself is the centerpiece of the set: a tough, utilitarian freighter in a distinct neo-western/cyberpunk style. Everything a kid or kid at heart could want in a space set is here- four swiveling engines, gun turrets slung along the bow, railguns, sensor modules, antennae, flare launchers, probes, five hatches, and three decks crammed with cargo crates, control stations, crew bunks, weapons racks, coffee pots, and more. The interior is fully furnished- uniquely-designed control panels, radar screens, and assorted junk dot the interior, and in what could be a first for Lego Space sets, the starship itself is ready for long voyages- a fully-appointed crew cabin adds a touch of realism to the space opera setting. Not to be outdone, the exterior boasts dozens of details in a host of colors and shapes rarely seen in the galaxies of Lego's past space offering, and the ship as a whole has a cohesive aesthetic mixing elements of many genres. 

The roughly 1,500-piece set is made complete by the addition of a small bounty hunter speeder with its own jury-rigged passenger area and two swiveling VTOL engines. With elements of the Old West and the far future, even the small vehicle is sure to inspire adventure in kids and AFOLs alike.

Minifigures and More

No set is complete without minifigs, of course, and Brownout: Pythagoras Escape does not disappoint. Six unique minifigures make up the crew of the Pythagoras and their two bounty-hunter antagonists, and each comes with a fully-detailed printing scheme and appropriate accessories. Although the main focus of the set is the ship, the minifigures are well worth the price of admission; each has a distinct neo-Western feel with space-age detailing, ready for mixing, matching, or simply enjoying the characters as they are.

Brownout: Pythagoras Escape has something for everyone. Whether you're a kid wanting a sturdy, cool spaceship model to play with, an AFOL searching for unique parts and a novel model for your desktop (or a sturdy, cool spaceship to swoosh around), or someone who just wants something completely original and fresh out of their Space sets, you're sure to find a winner in the stars with Brownout: Pythagoras Escape.

Don't forget to follow the Brownout Flickr group for more views of the ship, creations set in the same universe, and closer looks inside!