So I was digging through some of my old crap cleaning up today and ran across an old pre-order bonus I had received for the videogame Lost Planet 2 from 2010...its a "GTF-11 Drio Vital Suit" from the videogame, in the form of a 124 piece Lego set.

 

Interesting thing about it is that I had forgotten it was made of genuine Lego pieces when I opened it a couple years ago, I had forgotten and assumed it was cheap knock-off bricks, because the box and instructions don't say Lego at all anywhere on them, instead the word "NEVEC" appears within the red box (NEVEC was the fictional company in the game that created the mech suits).

 

So what's the deal with this thing? No set number, no mention of the word lego anywhere on it, and I can't even find this thing on Ebay or google images to show you guys a picture. How many of you have this? It's gotta be a genuine Lego product though, becasue the picture on the box shows the mech built and if you look closely the pieces say "LEGO" on the stubs. Kinda weird.

Guess very few on here have seen or heard of this thing either...really weird. I'll try to get a pic of it up tomorrow. I don't understand how this set could possibly be a "bootleg" considering it was a bonus promo item for an officially licensed video game...

I have seriously scoured the net and can't come up with anything.

 

I mean ANYTHING. This is both fascinating and disturbing. Few things irritate me more than being unable to find something on the internet. I get inappropriately annoyed.

So did I, and with similar annoyance. I originally acquired this set, a lost planet stuffed Akrid alien doll, and a lost planet aluminum coffee thermos from a guy online who told me they were all pre-order promo products for the game that were given out to different vendors to promote reservations.

Scouring the net I found only 1 thing that could be a hint of a clue: apparently in 2007 at some convention for Lost Planet, a Lego designer by the name of "Nathan Sawaya" was creating Lost Planet Lego designs "on the fly" according to the article. I'm wondering if this set was one of those designs. I'm just wondering how Capcom ever got Lego's permission to do this. The more I think about it, the more I think this could've been some one of a kind handout. None of the pieces used to make it look unique so it could be easily bricklinked. But the packaging definitely makes it unique.

You might have a serious thing on your hands if it found the right home, assuming you're looking at it from an investor's standpoint and not a collector's.

 

The suspense is murdering me. Find a camera!

If the lady wasn't asleep and I didn't have to be at work early I would dig it out and snap a pic of it, but I'll do that tomorrow. I'm a big skeptic and have a hard time believing this is anything special but who knows. I just don't see this thing being an official product without Legos blessing anywhere on the packaging, yet Capcom's logos and copyrights are on it. I guess someone could've fabricated all of this as a MOC, after all, I'm not the 1st owner. But to create an instruction manual and packaging seems like a lot of effort for this small set.

It is odd no matter how you slice it. Looking forward to what you end up showing.

I have never heard of such a pre-order item; very intriguing indeed.

You might have a serious thing on your hands if it found the right home, assuming you're looking at it from an investor's standpoint and not a collector's.

 

The suspense is murdering me. Find a camera!

Indeed to both.

Few things irritate me more than being unable to find something on the internet. I get inappropriately annoyed.

That is a major pet peeve of mine too. I love the fact how you can always find useless crap at any given time, but can spend days trying to find the one thing you actually are looking for and yet still turn up with nothing. Man I tell you what, I absolutely love that with every fiber of my being.

A box without any obvious markings to say it was made by LEGO while unusual is definitely not unheard of either.  I would say though if the instructions also do not have a LEGO logo then I seriously doubt you have an officially sanctioned LEGO product.  This feeling is further collaborated by the fact Nathan Sawaya (a freelance LEGO artist) most likely was involved.  I think it is safe to conclude that LEGO was not directly involved here.  In fact there is quite a long history of third party custom LEGO items, which bring me to the good news: a lot of these items remain collectable, so you may not be too bad off despite the setback.

It appears there's a Lost Planet 3 game coming out later this year.  A well timed sale in conjunction with the release of LP3 may net you big $.

Ok so it won't let me use photobucket image URL's....not sure how I'm gonna make this happen with the pics.

 

Edit...figured it out, see below.

 

It would have some value to a big Lost Planet fan, I'm sure, but as already mentioned, this was not created with TLG, so it's not the kind of thing a non-gaming LEGO fan would have to have in their collection.

No offense, but that is a really crappy replica of the vehicle shown next to it.  Also, do the instructions look like genuine Lego ones?

No offense, but that is a really crappy replica of the vehicle shown next to it.  Also, do the instructions look like genuine Lego ones?

 

None taken, I don't really care with things such as this, it was a promo item. That being said, to simulate the detail in that model for the videogame would have required a much more detailed set with more pieces that they probably wouldn't have been able to give away as a freebie or whatever. This actually reminds me of a Lost Planet version of one of those Lego Store monthly mini-builds.

That is the strangest thing ever. Is LEGO printed -anywhere- on -any- material other than the bricks themselves (IIRC you said they were in fact LEGO elements)?

That is the strangest thing ever. Is LEGO printed -anywhere- on -any- material other than the bricks themselves (IIRC you said they were in fact LEGO elements)?

 

No, just the bricks. If you look closely (probably can't with my crappy Iphone quality pics) they are indeed Lego bricks on the packaging and the pieces are actual Lego of course, but only Capcom's name and copyrights are all over the box and manual.

It's just something that Capcom created on their own with Nathan.  If it involved TLG, it would likely cost a small fortune.  If you just hire a guy who builds on his own, much cheaper to do.

It's still an interesting piece. Definitely worth trying your luck listing it.

Well, I'm glad we figured out at least a little more about it.

 

I see a major pro and a con with this now -

 

The pro being that this thing is pretty damn unique, can't really find anything about it anywhere on the net, ebay, etc.

 

The con is that this can easily be bricklinked, it's all pretty common pieces. So if someone wants this its going to be because they love the game and want the packaging, which isn't in the greatest shape.

 

Oh well, I may list it upon the release of the third video game, we will see.

It's wierd how they put "nevec" in the corner as a logo and down next to "building blocks" as though it were a 'bootleg brand' itself. I'll admit it is interesting how they took the term NEVEC (NEo VEnus Construction) from the game and used it in such a way, but man alive is that design just plain poopy. They should have got LowestFormOfWit to design something, seriously.

Did you ever have any luck selling this?