Review: LEGO Atlantis 8058-1 Guardian of the Deep

This is a review of the LEGO Atlantis 8058-1 Guardian of the Deep from the Atlantis theme. As I mentioned in the 8056 review, the box date says 2010, however it was bought in a Toys R Us on 14 November 2009. It cost $14.99 USD (SKU 673419128780). Like the 8056, it doesn’t show up on ToysRUs.com. To see it compared to the other two sets (8058-1 and 8060 Typhoon Turbo Sub), see the General Impression of LEGO Atlantis 8056, 8058, 8060.

Your first thought upon seeing this is to start figuring out whether you can come up with minifig versions of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw. Don’t let the price fool you – this is a fairly complex set. Once it’s finished, it looks very cool and very evil.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO Atlantis 8058 Guardian of the Deep (Atlantis theme)
Type: Large sea creature
# of Pieces: 144 Pieces
# of Extra pieces: 7
# of Minifigs and what kind: 1, a human diver with speargun, fins, helmet/air tanks
Stickers? Yes (see photo below)
Price: $14.99 at Official LEGO Shop, also at Amazon.com (price may vary)

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Completed - Extended

Remember: click on the photos to see larger images at flickr (Full LEGO Atlantis 8058-1 gallery at flickr)

Box Art:
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Back of Box

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Front of Box

Set Instructions, Stickers, Parts Bags:
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Parts/Stickers/Manual

The Minifig: For the diver’s suit, see this flickr photo
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Minfig

The Parts:
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Parts List

(4200486 which was the loose part shown above is included with this group of parts)
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Parts 1

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Parts 2

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Parts 3

Some photos of the sub-assemblies:
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Stomach

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Whoa!

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Mouth

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Coming Together

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Tail

Extra pieces:

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Extra Parts

Completed:
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep

LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep

Fins/Hands Retracted:
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep - Completed - Retracted

Thoughts – Pricing, Design, and Build:
I think it’s definitely worth the price. It’s a very cool looking model and even though the box is smaller than the #8060-1 Typhoon Turbo Sub, it’s actually just about as big overall, and even bigger/taller in some areas. It’s very well designed except for one thing – it doesn’t sit well on a flat surface – you almost need to build a stand for it out of some 2x4s. Even if the mouth is fully closed, the fins/hands on the sides have a lot of movement in them and aren’t going to keep it upright. The tail also makes it difficult to set down. Speaking of fins and tails, there are a lot of moving parts on this thing. The body has a pivot point in the middle, in addition to the fins and tail, and the tail also has quite a bit of movement. It’s very well designed over all. The eyes and teeth are very well designed.

Update: Just a photo showing that the jaw is fine – it wasn’t a piece blocking it from closing, the rubber bands just needed adjusting:
LEGO Atlantis 8058 - Guardian of the Deep

Thoughts – Parts and/or stickers:
The stickers actually look good and blend well, but I have a feeling many people will leave them off since you don’t necessarily need them – the eyes are not stickers like the 8056 Monster Crab Clash. The parts are excellent and very usable for your own MOCs – other fish, boats, etc. Lots of moving parts – hinges and pivots, lots of plates, lots of Technic pieces, and most of them are black with the rest being mostly yellow. I can easily see people buying this and perhaps buying even more than one just for the parts. Outside of the teeth, most of the parts could be used in boats/submersibles and other designs.

Thoughts – Minifigs:
See the Review of the LEGO Atlantis 8056 Monster Crab Clash for my thoughts on the minifig diver. To sum up: I think it’s a great little minifig and well designed, but the fins do easily come off, which is actually okay.

Thoughts – Swoosh factor, playbility and integration with other sets: About the only thing you can do with this thing is swoosh, unless you’re willing to build a stand out of 2x4s. Due to the fins and tail it’s not going to sit well on its own as I said earlier. It is incredibly cool looking though and really fits the theme. The integration with the other Atlantis sets is definitely there.

Conclusion:
Definitely worth the $14.99. I would even go so far as to say it’s very nearly worth the money without a minifig. You get a lot of parts, and a lot of good parts that can be reused, including moving parts and plenty of plates, and most of the parts are black. The big drawback is that you kind of need a stand for it to display it properly. It’d be a really cool looking set just to display. Kids definitely will enjoy it, and AFOLs will as well, especially with how much of it can be used for MOCs, etc.