The Dark Panther set (8115) is a LEGO Exo-Force set which came out in 2008. It comes with 3 minifigs and 244 pieces. This set does include a few decals and there're no mistakes in the instructions and no missing pieces.


Minifigures:

Robot: The robots are very basic to the LEGO Exo-Force theme. The heads are attached to their torsos and don't move. The arms, legs and hands do move. There're 2 brown robots and 1 grey robot in this set. The brown robots also come with a jetpack with 2 chainsaw pieces which are supposed to be the blades. Both figures come with a laser gun.

Mini robot:

The mini-robot looks a little bit like a spider. The robot has 3 legs on each side and two eyes which can be moved up and down. On the back, we get a tail which also moves.

Dark Panther:

The dark panther mech is awesome. The cockpit opens, and you can also see a code on the windscreen. You can use the code for the LEGO Exo-Force website if it still exists. There're 2 guns in the front and the 4 legs are all movable. The best thing about this model are the stingers on the top: The purple stingers can be folded down and there's also a gun. It's like a turret. I would highly recommend you to buy this model if you can find it.

Positive:

Great pieces which you can use for brickfilms or MOC's
Nice starter set
Price
Play features
Attractive box


Negative:

Stickers

All in all, it's a great set to get, and I would highly recommend you to get this model. You can find this set on eBay and BrickLink for sure. Here is the link where you can check out the full gallery I made for this set on my website: www.klokriecher.de

Videos I made of this set:

Stopmotion 1

Stopmotion 2

Review

Speed Build

I got it out of impulse yesterday for no reason after I saw its box. I just went to see if the new SP3 stuff arrived, it didn't... Even though I really did not plan to spend the money like that, I do not regret it.

Building experience 4/5

Don't get me wrong, just like any LEGO set with legs or arms, there is going to be repetition on this. With a set with four legs, thats a lot of repetition. but the set manages to hav interesting parts of its build. I liked the SNOT used in the cockpit and the way the spikes curve is just smart. Then we have the spider which is stunning and I really liked the level of detail. I can't really expect a lot out of a 15.0 bucks set, and this model did not disappoint me in this regards.

Parts 5/5

There's is just something for everyone. The minifigs themselves are rather good in this regards. Yeah, they are generic, bland robots, but that's the good thing! They will fit in so many situations if you let them. Then we have the purple galore. Ever wanted purple ceiling? This set has some purple slopes. Purple grills are also used just about everywhere. The bad news is that the large yellow spikes you see in the pics and the purple slope thingies are actually a single piece, that limits the use in mocing for those pieces to things with this purple-yellow color scheme. Purple is great, but I am actually more excited about the small yellow horns. Thanks to the multi-bag packagement of the parts, there are actually two spare yellow horns, and that's very nice. Then we have the usual exo-force bits that allows us to make mechs. There are four system ball joints and sockets, and there are also four of the more rigid articulations, so there's plenty to pick for. Some technic pieces in yellow as well. Finally, the canon, and the system trans pieces which you can never have too few off if you are into sci-fi MoCing. Oh, forgot, there are four minifig saws.

As always with evil exo-force sets I do not like something about the minifigs, the head and chest are a single part. An improvement though about the devastator in this set, is that unlike the ones from the previous year, he doesn't have a blended transparent color in the chest. That makes the chest a lot more plain and actually easier to use in custom stuff.

Just like every exo-force set, it abuses stickers, but so far I have not applied stickers to any of the robots' sets and they all look good. This set on his part does not really need the stickers to look well, I actually it may look better due to the smoothness.

Playability 4/5

Read this: It does not extend the playability in cheap ways such as adding a launcher or flick fire missiles. Instead, it goes for a more old school way, of adding content to the set. There are basically 4 vehicles in this set. The two iron drones drive what look like helicopers that can cut through vegetation. There is also the little spider and the "panther". The panther has articulated legs and a canon that can rotate 90 degrees. There is a lot of role playing to be done.

For cons, I think the canon could have used a piece to rotate also horizontally. The leg articulation is not optimal. You would sometimes wish it had knees. I also guess that some fans are gonna miss to have an actual launcher. I am giving it a 5 because I think that being able to have a mobile Iron Drone base with 3 minions is cool enough in itself when you consider the price tag.

Value for money 5/5

Yeah, the price tag. Somehow this set just delivers. As I mentioned it just has a lot of content. The little spider, the flying drones, the legs, the canon... When I stop to compare it to just about every set I got this year for that price , this set looks bigger. It also has an actual good piece ratio. And again, tons of purple.

Overall

This set is not the best set ever, it is also not a must-have. But it has so many redeeming qualities that I think it is a highlight among Exo-Force sets and has really good value for money. The price was great when it was released and if you can get it cheaper now (I didn't), then it is a great purchase if you: Like purple, robots, space or insect robots.

I personally think that this lego set is actually a pretty solid set.

pros
1. comes with 3 minifigs
2. comes with some rare building parts
3.nice design
4. good price ( got mine for 15.00 )
5.over 200 pieces

cons
1. doesn't stand up very well

Just got this set from Target this week. I like the soft rubber/ hard plastic spikes. Comes with three aliens. The set is not to easy to maneuver when playing but looks good when standing still.

For the price it is well worth it. Best of the new exo-force in my opinion.

I don't find this set all that good,
The legs have no knee articulations, which makes it a bit stiff as far as stealthy panther robot exo skeletons go.
it feels like the back legs are actually on backwards (the non articulated knee joints point backwards, rather than forwards)
The head has no movement
It bears little to no ressemblance to a panther.
What no jaw, no fangs, no tail ?
only 2 claws per paw?
and spikes?
Why a mini spider robot?

Apart from the inconsistency of the 'background' the set seems sturdy so far.
and there are 3 robot minifigs, but they don't really count do they?
The buzzsaw flight packs are a nice idea though, even if they are totally irrelevant to a stealth panther theme.
and on top of that, the exoforce codes are now on stickers rather than being printed :(
that seems like a cheap trick.

So plenty of cons for this one :(