Set #6973-1: Deep Freeze Defender

[MsRowdyRedhead]

(old film pic scanned..)

This brickshelf pic is much better than mine!

The 6973 Deep Freeze Defender is a large modular spacecraft from the Ice Planet line, Circa 1993
It is  one of the coolest starships in LEGO history! The two front cockpits detach from the body, which can detach from the rear cargo bay. You can also re-attach one cockpit to the center of the body and the other cockpit to the cargo bay to make two more medium-sized cruisers! These cruisers are good enough to be sets themselves. As an interesting note, this is the only Space set to include a garage door from the Town theme. The garage door can open to launch a small scooter, as well! The color scheme is blue and white as primary colors, and black and neon-orange as the accents.
A cockpit module uses the pre-fab fuselage and sloping windshield pieces to form an arrow shaped cockpit. The underside is blue, and connects to two long white skis ( originally Technic ).

The middle 'rocket' module supports the first set of main wings, and holds the rocket launching station and satellite storage bay. The front of this bay is a sloped cockpit piece with the Ice Planet Logo embossed into it. Once raised, this sloping piece allows access to the top of the rocket, where the satellite can be attached. The rocket can be raised into launch position and then launched into orbit!   The underside of the rocket module supports the 6 drive engines that help propel this module through space.
The rear 'bay' module is the most massive on the ship, broken up by large wings to the sides, and modular  outer bay lights  Two connector pegs are needed to keep the intermodule connected with the middle module, and two hinges,marked with arrows, hinge down securely to form a tight seal when the middle module is in place. Two black jets on top and six white jets on the bottom provide propulsion. The most impressive feature of the bay module is the rocket sled launch pad. Once the top jets are safely moved up and off to the side out of harm's way, a segmented bay door is rolled forward to open the top of the launch bay, and the sled will rise into launch position. Once it is launched, the door can be sealed again.
The rocket sled is a small, single pilot vehicle featuring pilot-ski storage, a compact design, and a side magneto coupler for attachment to the rockets of Ice Planet 2002.
The rear end of the bay module has two maneuvering jets per wing, two at the rear, and two larger jets on sloping frames at the top provide precise control over the positioning of the module. Two long antenna at the wing tips of the module provide the Deep Freeze Defender with its communication capabilities
I rated the set excellent because of its great features and sweeping, spaceship look. Like most space themes, Ice planet has some theme specific parts, like tiles, slopes, computers but most of all, the 4x6x2 printed blue canopy.
This set has most of the octagonal corridor elements that were so prized from the Blacktron 6987 Message Intercept Base of the late 1980s. It is missing the very important inside-corner element, tho.
Another piece from that era is the 4x6 sloping cockpit piece with hinge connect.
Some other parts are interesting, like the blue cameras, the blue garage bricks. In fact, all blue bricks of the set are interesting! After classic space blue parts sort of disappeared from the radar, so several space parts are quite rare in blue.
Also quite cool are the 3 sets of large 7x12 wing plates, usually used in large airplane sets,  and the garage door elements that are used in the rear of the ship (half, including the handle element, are white, the other four are neon-orange).
You also get these long blue bricks1x12; 1x14 and 1x16. They're good parts to build whatever you want to...
The playability of the set is also excellent. The modular construction , great for many configurations and  scenarios , plus all the  gadgetry and moving parts = an awesome play experience. It's lots of fun to mess with all the stuff on this ship, and to take it apart and put it back together in lots of different ways. The two separate launch doors, the rocket, the small space vehicle... there's just so much to do with the set. If you're a Space Maniac, then upgrade this rating to "Gotta Get It!"

[Kritzelei]

Was that one of the first vehicles that had more than one vehicle in it? It looks like this is the older sibling of the new Galactic Defender.

[Tommy_60]

The 6973 Deep Freeze Defender is a large modular spacecraft from the Ice Planet line, Circa 1993
It is  one of the coolest starships in LEGO history! The two front cockpits detach from the body, which can detach from the rear cargo bay. You can also re-attach one cockpit to the center of the body and the other cockpit to the cargo bay to make two more medium-sized cruisers! These cruisers are good enough to be sets themselves. As an interesting note, this is the only Space set to include a garage door from the Town theme. The garage door can open to launch a small scooter, as well! The color scheme is blue and white as primary colors, and black and neon-orange as the accents.
A cockpit module uses the pre-fab fuselage and sloping windshield pieces to form an arrow shaped cockpit. The underside is blue, and connects to two long white skis ( originally Technic ).

The middle 'rocket' module supports the first set of main wings, and holds the rocket launching station and satellite storage bay. The front of this bay is a sloped cockpit piece with the Ice Planet Logo embossed into it. Once raised, this sloping piece allows access to the top of the rocket, where the satellite can be attached. The rocket can be raised into launch position and then launched into orbit!   The underside of the rocket module supports the 6 drive engines that help propel this module through space.
The rear 'bay' module is the most massive on the ship, broken up by large wings to the sides, and modular  outer bay lights  Two connector pegs are needed to keep the intermodule connected with the middle module, and two hinges,marked with arrows, hinge down securely to form a tight seal when the middle module is in place. Two black jets on top and six white jets on the bottom provide propulsion. The most impressive feature of the bay module is the rocket sled launch pad. Once the top jets are safely moved up and off to the side out of harm's way, a segmented bay door is rolled forward to open the top of the launch bay, and the sled will rise into launch position. Once it is launched, the door can be sealed again.
The rocket sled is a small, single pilot vehicle featuring pilot-ski storage, a compact design, and a side magneto coupler for attachment to the rockets of Ice Planet 2002.
The rear end of the bay module has two maneuvering jets per wing, two at the rear, and two larger jets on sloping frames at the top provide precise control over the positioning of the module. Two long antenna at the wing tips of the module provide the Deep Freeze Defender with its communication capabilities
I rated the set excellent because of its great features and sweeping, spaceship look. Like most space themes, Ice planet has some theme specific parts, like tiles, slopes, computers but most of all, the 4x6x2 printed blue canopy.
This set has most of the octagonal corridor elements that were so prized from the Blacktron 6987 Message Intercept Base of the late 1980s. It is missing the very important inside-corner element, tho.
Another piece from that era is the 4x6 sloping cockpit piece with hinge connect.
Some other parts are interesting, like the blue cameras, the blue garage bricks. In fact, all blue bricks of the set are interesting! After classic space blue parts sort of disappeared from the radar, so several space parts are quite rare in blue.
Also quite cool are the 3 sets of large 7x12 wing plates, usually used in large airplane sets,  and the garage door elements that are used in the rear of the ship (half, including the handle element, are white, the other four are neon-orange).
You also get these long blue bricks1x12; 1x14 and 1x16. They're good parts to build whatever you want to...
The playability of the set is also excellent. The modular construction , great for many configurations and  scenarios , plus all the  gadgetry and moving parts = an awesome play experience. It's lots of fun to mess with all the stuff on this ship, and to take it apart and put it back together in lots of different ways. The two separate launch doors, the rocket, the small space vehicle... there's just so much to do with the set. If you're a Space Maniac, then upgrade this rating to "Gotta Get It!"[/color]

OMG, I'm getting this set from eBay!  I can't wait!!!

EDIT: Please don't quote images or use a ton of exclamation points. Images slow down the forum and exclamation points are an eyesore. ~Fawful