The 3-decker version ( Lightning Bolt - Phase 2B ):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
7.1
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
13.2.
13.3
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
Notes:
The hangar bay was initially intended to house a crane ( PM 5254 ), as a gantry substitute, but the wide unobstructed space caused outward bowing of the walls, in the original ( Phase 1 ) version of the ship. The crane was meant to lift cargo and vehicles ( like the rover ) out of the hangar bay, and lower them onto the planet — which did work as intended. Phase 2B added a horizontal tension truss across the hangar bay ( seen above the captured Dark Invaders' spaceship ), to prevent it from collapsing under the weight, thus obstructing the crane's operation. Possibly, it might have been possible to use only the top of the crane, without the legs, and use
it as a tension truss. I think I was missing pieces to try that out, if I remember correctly.
Interestingly, and somewhat disappointedly, my young nephew never fully embraced the Lightning Bolt as a playset, much preferring the allure of... Spy Team! While he did play with it, some, it never captured his imagination like it did mine. I chalk that up to the fact that his generation — Gen Z — didn't grow up in what I deem the "golden age" of sci-fi shows and toys, like I did, in the late 1970s and early 80s. Back then, Star Wars was a juggernaut, and spawned TV shows like Buck Rogers, and Battlestar Galactica. We also had reruns of Space 1999, Logan's Run, and of course, Star Trek, along with seminal movies like Alien and Blade Runner, to turn to — to name a few ( remember The Last Starfighter? Enemy Mine? Outland? ). Space, and sci-fi, was all the rage in those days. Lego, for instance, released its original space theme — which I mostly owned ( those moon plates! ) — in 1978, while the Playmospace theme was introduced in 1981. As for Kenner Star Wars, well, it was everywhere, and I had them all — well, not
quite ( lucky me! ). Boys play, back then, was all about swooshing ships [ eventually, "swooshability" would became a toy-design concept ], firing lasers, and landing in and on bases ( remember MB's
Starbird, with its Command Base? ).
Of all the dioramas and sets in my nephew's playroom, I did notice, however, males of my generation ( Gen X ) heading straight for The Lightning Bolt, as if to a lure — kind of awestruck: taking it in, getting it. It may also be that, in my nephew's
specific case, he was definitely more interested in narrative play, whereas I enjoyed the construction and design aspects more — as I always did, since childhood — reveling in projecting myself, visually, and in
the idea of the thing, drawing on established notions, such as: a ship's bridge,
hangar bay, engine room,
docking platform, antenna array, reactors,
massive landing gear,... An entire sci-fi
design — even
aural ( I don't care if we're in space, everybody knows reactors do make that throaty, crackling, gushing / hissing sound, as wondrously exemplified by
the thrusters of the USS Cygnus! ) —
vocabulary, acquired over many, formative years of media exposure, both filmed and in print. Oh well...
A touchstone, for many GenXers ( which could be found at Waldenbooks, alongside Terran Authority books, I believe, and in select public libraries )
Here is the original ( aka. Phase 1 ):
Note the misaligned decks, due to needing a lot of room to fit the PM 5254 crane, while not having enough plates to fit a fourth deck. Without the tensioning truss, the hangar bay had a tendency to bow outward and collapse, especially if applying too much pressure on the hovercar's landing pad, above. The front section was solid, though, due to the 'flying buttress' configuration.
Phase 3:
If I was to do it again, it would definitely be as a 4-decker ( living quarters! ), and longer, with huge thrusters ( PM rockets? ), as originally envisioned, and more hangar bay — enough to store one or two fighters,
and the rover, or possibly the Galaxy Police truck, with lots of room to spare. I would also figure out that gantry crane thing. Finally, I would add greenery, possibly in the cargo hold, or as its own greenhouse, or maybe via planters throughout the ship, to breakup the gray, hard-surface monotony. How about live, unruly cargo, like: dinosaurs ( which could be repainted to make them alien )? ...Ah, and weapons, of course; space isn't safe — everyone knows that — just look at the other sets: it's full of pirates, and belligerent, semi-intelligent species! ☺
And, if I were
truly ambitious, I'd give it a custom — extremely weathered — paint job, and maybe add custom greeblies throughout — as well as integrated LED lighting, of course. It's a lot of creative fun, for not too much money, come to think of it.
