6107 Recon Ray

Once again, good readers, we present you with a review of a tiny little Aquazone set, for the simple reason that my Aquazone collection was among the few bits of LEGO that came back to Canada with me. In the picture below you can see the entirety of my Stingray (the subtheme, not the animals) collection--and, no, that does not include the two baseplates.



6107 Recon Ray was a new release when I bought it in the summer of 1998, while staying at my grandparents' for a week. It was also not the foremost among my purchases that week, since my focus was on the two Fright Knights sets I acquired (small, the both of them), and Recon Ray was just an afterthought because, hey, I had few bucks left, and I didn't have any Stingrays yet. (For whatever reason, I always figured I should try to get at least one of everything in my collection, rather than focusing on a theme or two. I'm better in my "old age," but the instinct still holds.)

While this little guy may have been an afterthought in 1998, he is a bit more significant than either of those Fright Knight sets: neither 6007 Batlord or Fright Force are recognisable as distinct sets in my collection these days. Of course, Recon Ray had an unfair advantage insofar as I've been re-accumulating my Aquazone sets with this Aquazone Breakfast News in mind, but the fact is that both those Fright Knights sets were more army-builders than stand-alone sets, and Recon Ray is, at least, a stand-alone set.

Actually, when I think about it, it's the most standalone "classic Aquazone" (aka, 1990s sets actually sold under that name) set I have. The reason? Unlike my five other classic Aquazone sets, Recon Ray is the only one to include something apart from the little submarine and its pilot. Yup... of all my old Aquazone sets, this is the ONLY one with a Hydrolator crystal--and NONE of them have sharks, octopi, or seaweed pieces.