Legos, anyone?

[Test_Pilot_2]

8 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

 

Due to release in March. Preorders up on the LEGO Shop. Interesting note: Joe Kyde, who designed LEGO Optimus Prime, designed this set. Compared to the previous excellent Tallneck, this set is geared for younger builders and yet still retains enough detail to make the machines easily recognizable. Looks like fun!

Parts hounds and MOC builders like me will likely be excited for this new clip piece. I've been wanting something like this for a very long time, so I'm excited. I POed two copies just to have the second set for its lovely new parts.

Ohhhhh, that clip IS awesome.

[no3Ljm]

It's not an official Lego set. But I think this would be nice mounted on the wall. Planning on getting one for my son's bedroom.

https://www.amazon.com/TG-BLOCKS-Creative-Activity-Suitable/dp/B0CLJH6L9Q

[sh9000]

The Flying Machine looks cool.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

The Flying Machine looks cool.

Ooh, that's neat.

[sh9000]

New DC sets.

[M'Kyuun]

The Tumbler set 76239 from 2021 is larger and more accurate, an excellent set IMHO, and one that was long awaited. It also did a far better job of integrating its stud shooters, placing its gold stud projectiles where they might be mistaken for suspension or steering details. This new set is downsized, which seems to be a trend with LEGO, and while pretty well-executed for its size (compare to MOCs across the internet) leaves a little to be desired when compared to its predecessor. Nonetheless, I like the Tumbler, and this set offers what the original did not: Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face in minifig form for the first time. 76239 gave us Dr. Crane in his Scarecrow mask and Batman came with both a double-sided Bruce Wayne head and a second head printed to resemble his terrifying visage from Scarecrow's fear toxin induced POV. I'm pleasantly surprised that LEGO's releasing another minifig scaled version of the Tumbler, especially after only three years since the last. I had hoped for a set of The Bat back in 2021, but alas, it wasn't forthcoming. Perhaps they'll release a Bat set later in 2025. It's long overdue, as LEGO's only release of his odd flying contraption from Dark Knight Rises was in 2013 and left somewhat to be desired so far as accuracy is concerned. See pic below. I'll admit, though, I found it and the very simplistic tan Tumbler from that set to be fun to mess with, as toys should be.

[M'Kyuun]

Glad to see this theme continuing. Hoping the rumored Blacktron set will be revealed soon.

Edited December 2 by M'Kyuun

[renegadeleader1]

15 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Glad to see this theme continuing. Hoping the rumored Blacktron set will be revealed soon.

I came here to post this, but you beat me to it. This is a must buy for me.

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

I came here to post this, but you beat me to it. This is a must buy for me.

Didn't mean to steal your thunder, Renegadeleader1.  I saw this this pop up on the Classic Space group page on FB this morning and got pretty excited. No one had posted it yet, so I went ahead and did so as I know there are other LEGO Space enthusiasts here and I wanted to share the pics (and the excitement!). Must buy for me too, obviously. I'm hoping there are more to come, and that I can afford them should all this tariff talk come to fruition.

 

[Briareos]

 

https://x.com/seirei526

 

Edited December 3 by Briareos

[M'Kyuun]

3 hours ago, Briareos said:

Not sure which thread to put this in. Lego or Gundam? 

https://x.com/seirei526

 

Those models are exemplary. This is mastery of a rare level, which I've only seen in person once by a different builder. I so wish LEGO would hire people who can do mecha at this level and create some sets targeted at adults. I'm sure I could learn a few things by building one of these. That Gundam Aerial looks splendid and would look even moreso on one of my shelves.

[Test_Pilot_2]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Those models are exemplary. This is mastery of a rare level, which I've only seen in person once by a different builder. I so wish LEGO would hire people who can do mecha at this level and create some sets targeted at adults. I'm sure I could learn a few things by building one of these. That Gundam Aerial looks splendid and would look even moreso on one of my shelves.

So I was looking at the Unicorn... and said... wait... are those ENVELOPE tiles...

There are envelope tiles in there. Definitely next-level. These things have to weigh a ton, but look like they're standing on their own. I wonder how they're supported. Especially the huge Unicorn.

[mark-1s]

/\/\/\
Id like to know what they’re using for the joints.

[M'Kyuun]

For mechs this scale, the builder is most likely using these Technic turntables controlled by worm gears to effect rotation. They can handle a far greater load than the smaller purpose-made ratcheting joints which makes them ideal for large scale builds. The UCS AT-AT, for example, uses them in the hips and knees. Very effective. The only drawback is that they are not quickly or easily poseable relying on the manual rotation of a knob or a special tool, like the AT-AT, to effect rotation, a slow process.

[Big s]

A lot of the metal build figures look kinda Legoish and these don’t really look out of place with those

[Briareos]

Lego Alcohol?

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/tudor-corner-10350

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, Briareos said:

Lego Alcohol?

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/tudor-corner-10350

Nah, they made it an expresso bar.  LEGO have put nods to alcohol in other sets, and these are aimed at the adult collector, so it wouldn't be totally unexpected. That said, clearly emphasizing the expresso machine dispels the notion of more 'spirited' imbibing.  I like that they've included a hat store, something they haven't done before, and the clockmaker's flat is brilliant, and also a first. As usual, design and detail are on point and its anachronistic look contrasts nicely against the usual 1940s-50sish look they tend towards with the line. I love it.

[mark-1s]

23 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

For mechs this scale, the builder is most likely using these Technic turntables controlled by worm gears to effect rotation. They can handle a far greater load than the smaller purpose-made ratcheting joints which makes them ideal for large scale builds. The UCS AT-AT, for example, uses them in the hips and knees. Very effective. The only drawback is that they are not quickly or easily poseable relying on the manual rotation of a knob or a special tool, like the AT-AT, to effect rotation, a slow process.

Thx!

Worm gear was the first thing that came to mind. I was just thinking maybe LEGO came up with something more robust and practical for larger mech builds by now.

[M'Kyuun]

5 hours ago, mark-1s said:

Thx!

NP. Always happy to help!

5 hours ago, mark-1s said:

 I was just thinking maybe LEGO came up with something more robust and practical for larger mech builds by now.

Man, I wish. The best thing they've given us for larger mecha are these relatively new bits

which work with , this brand-new Technic joint  and .

Unfortunately, these joints are still fairly small scale, although they do impart far more strength and stability to medium sized mecha than the old Exo-Force joints could handle. Look no further than Cole's Titan Dragon Mech, set 71821 as a perfect official example of a good scale for use of these joints. This mech is nearly 15" tall and those shoulders are hefty. Both shoulders and hips utilize a combination of the first two parts I posted as well as those Exo-Force ratcheting connectors. Cole's Titan Drago Mech, designed by Niek van Slagmaat (Toothdominoes), a mecha enthusiast and LEGO designer, was an attempt to make the most articulated mech possible as a final set since Niek got a promotion and will no longer be directly designing the Ninjago sets. It's a very impressive set and really shows what LEGO can and should do as a matter of course regarding articulation and complexity.

i

[Big s]

14 hours ago, Briareos said:

Lego Alcohol?

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/tudor-corner-10350

Yup, single cat lady boozin it up

[hutch]

This thread delivered Space Pizza and booze today.  Thank you.

[renegadeleader1]

On 12/2/2024 at 7:33 PM, M'Kyuun said:

Didn't mean to steal your thunder, Renegadeleader1.  I saw this this pop up on the Classic Space group page on FB this morning and got pretty excited. No one had posted it yet, so I went ahead and did so as I know there are other LEGO Space enthusiasts here and I wanted to share the pics (and the excitement!). Must buy for me too, obviously. I'm hoping there are more to come, and that I can afford them should all this tariff talk come to fruition.

 

It's all good my friend. Realizing though that we likely both saw the same FB post from the same FB group has me like this...

 

Lol!

In other news thanks to Lego's holiday sale I've expanded my starship collection with a Space Hoopty and a Space Bus.🤣

[M'Kyuun]

3 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

It's all good my friend. Realizing though that we likely both saw the same FB post from the same FB group has me like this...

 

Lol!

In other news thanks to Lego's holiday sale I've expanded my starship collection with a Space Hoopty and a Space Bus.🤣

😄

I also took advantage of the sale and scored a Hoopty! I was hoping they'd mark the similarly ludicrously overpriced X-Men Blackbird down too, but not yet. At $85 for 342 pieces, I can't imagine it's flying off shelves when there are so many other more reasonably priced sets with more to offer. I'll bide my time and hope it comes down. If not, I still have the original Blackbird from 2014 which was priced much fairer and came with a small buildable Sentinel. (And a better Magneto, IMHO)

After building the Hoopty, a pleasant build, too, I might add, I fail to see what drove the $85 price tag. There are some larger parts in there, but ultimately nothing that would drive the price to double what a set this size would typically command. According to the Bricklink inventory, there were no new molds although there may have been some recolored parts that are new, which LEGO considers new parts. There were no new prints, either, beyond the minifig torsos. It's a headscratcher that only the bean counters at LEGO understand. Anyway, I paid $54 for it before tax, and while still a little overpriced, it was far better than the MSRP. Anyway, it's a unique and lovely looking ship, and I'm glad I have it now.

[renegadeleader1]

On 12/5/2024 at 8:06 PM, M'Kyuun said:

😄

I also took advantage of the sale and scored a Hoopty! I was hoping they'd mark the similarly ludicrously overpriced X-Men Blackbird down too, but not yet. At $85 for 342 pieces, I can't imagine it's flying off shelves when there are so many other more reasonably priced sets with more to offer. I'll bide my time and hope it comes down. If not, I still have the original Blackbird from 2014 which was priced much fairer and came with a small buildable Sentinel. (And a better Magneto, IMHO)

After building the Hoopty, a pleasant build, too, I might add, I fail to see what drove the $85 price tag. There are some larger parts in there, but ultimately nothing that would drive the price to double what a set this size would typically command. According to the Bricklink inventory, there were no new molds although there may have been some recolored parts that are new, which LEGO considers new parts. There were no new prints, either, beyond the minifig torsos. It's a headscratcher that only the bean counters at LEGO understand. Anyway, I paid $54 for it before tax, and while still a little overpriced, it was far better than the MSRP. Anyway, it's a unique and lovely looking ship, and I'm glad I have it now.

It's got to be something to do with the Marvel licensing. There is nothing in either the Hoopty or the newer Blackbird release to justify their insane prices.

[sh9000]

https://www.walmart.com/ip/LEGO-Super-Heroes-Batman-vs-The-Joker-Gift-Set-66790/5425511452

$50.

[renegadeleader1]

First leaked photo supposedly of the upcoming upcoming Blacktron Renegade. People seem unimpressed.

[Tking22]

I finally got the retro radio and I absolutely agree with most reviews, probably one of the best sets of the year, hands down! The build is fun, the end result is fantastic, and the functionality is incredibly well done. 

[Scyla]

14 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

First leaked photo supposedly of the upcoming upcoming Blacktron Renegade. People seem unimpressed.

Count me in as being unimpressed. Something gone missing from the original design.

The original toy of the Blacktron Renegade had this big loading bay in the center of the ship that is missing from this picture.

Also the original design had a think, swan neck connection between the main fuselage and the cockpit that is also missing here.

Of course it is hard to tell from this one picture how the final toy will look like so my opinions can change. For example a container could be included that fit in the empty space in the middle or even the vehicle shown in the image.

Still, while I think the Galaxy Explorer was an awesome recreation of the original toy, this is a miss to me. Doubly sad because I have no nostalgia for the Galaxy Explorer and all the nostalgia for Blacktron I. 

[edit:] Some more pictures from TFW:

Still meh to me. But it looks a lot better in the picture on the box.

Edited Wednesday at 04:41 PM by Scyla

[danth]

4 hours ago, Scyla said:

Still, while I think the Galaxy Explorer was an awesome recreation of the original toy, this is a miss to me. Doubly sad because I have no nostalgia for the Galaxy Explorer and all the nostalgia for Blacktron I. 

Same. I honestly cannot believe this was approved, especially as an 18+ Icons set. This looks more like a 9-14 set, and is less polished than, say, 70816:

[IronRaptor]

Just got finished building the Dune Ornothopter. What a cool kit. Also comes with a ton of mini-figures.

[M'Kyuun]

10 hours ago, Scyla said:

Count me in as being unimpressed. Something gone missing from the original design.

The original toy of the Blacktron Renegade had this big loading bay in the center of the ship that is missing from this picture.

Also the original design had a think, swan neck connection between the main fuselage and the cockpit that is also missing here.

Of course it is hard to tell from this one picture how the final toy will look like so my opinions can change. For example a container could be included that fit in the empty space in the middle or even the vehicle shown in the image.

Still, while I think the Galaxy Explorer was an awesome recreation of the original toy, this is a miss to me. Doubly sad because I have no nostalgia for the Galaxy Explorer and all the nostalgia for Blacktron I. 

[edit:] Some more pictures from TFW:

Still meh to me. But it looks a lot better in the picture on the box.

I haven't been on social today as I was busy making soup earlier and then working on a MOC. I decided to check my messages and this thing popped up. Needless to say, curiosity piqued so I put the MOC on hold to do some internet recon. I got the Renegade for Christmas as a kid, probably in '87 the year it came out. I loved the Blacktron I figs with their all-black suits, that cool white-printed harness, and that awesome black visor. I was a big Robocop fan and I loved putting those guys' visors halfway down so only their mouths could be seen. Decades later, they're still one of LEGO's most striking original minifig designs. Concerning the update, like others, it's a mixed bag for me as well, especially as someone who grew up with the original theme and still has a copy of the original Renegade on his Classic Space shelf.

The OG Renegade

First the negatives: I wish they'd produced a new version of that windshield that tapered towards the front, even if only by two studs, i.e. 6 studs wide in the back- 4 in the front, or even 2 in the front. I think it would have helped the look of the cockpit considerably. However, the OG set had a similar shaped canopy, albeit only 4 wide, with a printed wedge brick to serve as the nose. Lacking a proper piece at 6 studs' width to represent said wedge brick, the designer used a large polyhedral flag which looks ok. It's not the best and one would think a company making a couple billion dollars a year would spring for a new mold or two, but apparently not. I also wish the winglets on the sides of that cockpit were larger to scale better, as the original's did. The little scooter craft on the wings employ yellow triangular road signs in a pattern invocative of the Blacktron trifoil, but honestly, I'd rather they had used a printed slope on the front of those scooters and also found a way to reuse those old tri-directional thruster pieces. I think the OG did it better.

The proverbial elephant in the room is the lack of a removable cargo container and opening back doors a la the Galaxy Explorer to facilitate its loading and unloading.  Instead, there's a functional air-drop mechanism built in to simply let the vehicle fall out of the ship. Lacking a crane and being confined to its alcove on all sides, there seems to be no other way of disgorging the vehicle when landed. IDK about all of you guys, but opening the cargo doors on those old ships to remove whatever sufficed as cargo was a huge part of the fun and they've engineered that salient feature right out of this design. Moreover, the vehicle doesn't even get a cargo box with a lid to nest in, which was also part of the fun of the original. That nesting box was also a modular component which could be attached to combos of the other bits and bobs to form smaller craft in the OG set. Wasted opportunity, IMHO. Also lost is another opportunity to build in a folding ramp to load the vehicle. The area behind the cockpit tapered down to a nice gooseneck on the OG ship; this one has a bulky section instead to house the retractable landing gear. While I LOVE retractable gear in a model, I can't understand why the gear couldn't have been more compact allowing at least a little of the original's taper to remain intact on this update. It seems that many of the salient features were ignored or rebuilt in such a way as to remove any flavor of the original set. The positives. Retractable landing gear! As I said, I absolutely love it when LEGO includes this feature in a set, as it's a rarity. I think the housings are oddly too bulky , but I'm glad the feature's there. The asymmetry is also preserved even if the cockpit section doesn't extend out as much as it did on the original. It looks a little stubby on this model which isn't helped by the bulky gear housing. However, the designer seems to tried to mitigate that bulkiness and give the impression of a thinner "neck" by using these girder support bricks  which also add a nice heavy industrial feel to the ship. The modularity is also preserved, although the lack of a central cargo box erodes the playability compared to the original set. It comes with an additional minifig and a little buildable robot that looks identical to the one that came with the FX Star Patroller, another excellent CS set.

Arguably the best updated part of this set is the ground vehicle, a much larger and more heavy-duty take on the OG. Alas, there doesn't seem to be a single printed tile or brick with the Blacktron trifoil, but all the signature colors are there, and it looks downright lovely. Again, it's a shame that the main ship doesn't feature a ramp enabling it to drive into its alcove. A storage box with drop-down sides with tools and accessories would have been glorious and would have really gone a long way towards redeeming some of the set's other misses.

 

I'm not certain if any background details behind this set's development are in the public domain just yet but given the differences in approaches between this and the Galaxy Explorer update, it seems like there were two very different goals or two different designers behind them. As 10497 was an improvement in virtually every facet of the original's design (baseplates and little satellite station notwithstanding), this takes too many liberties thus eliminating much of what made the original's set design appealing. IMHO, they were going for a heavy-duty industrial feel as opposed to the original ship's minimalistic and more streamlined design. Personally, I wish this was more streamlined with more interior spaces for the figs to work/live in, like a small area behind the cockpit with a bed or a small galley with snacks, built into a tapered cowl to match the original enabling all three minifigs to ride in the cockpit section. I love the ground vehicle and to have had a cargo box that accommodated the vehicle along with a small workbench area with tools and accessories that can be offloaded as a total unit out the back of the ship while landed would have added a great deal more playability to the set than the air-drop function. LEGO has been doing a pretty good job over the last few years giving us the occasional Classic Space era homages so perhaps they were due for a dud. I don't outright hate this version, but it's admittedly not what I was hoping for either. I'm still going to get it, and with luck, like 10497, it'll get early price reductions like 10497 did at Wally back when it came out. Even at $100 MSRP for 1151 pieces, it's a pretty good deal, but I wouldn't mind picking up a second copy perhaps to mod at a reduced price.

[renegadeleader1]

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I haven't been on social today as I was busy making soup earlier and then working on a MOC. I decided to check my messages and this thing popped up. Needless to say, curiosity piqued so I put the MOC on hold to do some internet recon. I got the Renegade for Christmas as a kid, probably in '87 the year it came out. I loved the Blacktron I figs with their all-black suits, that cool white-printed harness, and that awesome black visor. I was a big Robocop fan and I loved putting those guys' visors halfway down so only their mouths could be seen. Decades later, they're still one of LEGO's most striking original minifig designs. Concerning the update, like others, it's a mixed bag for me as well, especially as someone who grew up with the original theme and still has a copy of the original Renegade on his Classic Space shelf.

The OG Renegade

First the negatives: I wish they'd produced a new version of that windshield that tapered towards the front, even if only by two studs, i.e. 6 studs wide in the back- 4 in the front, or even 2 in the front. I think it would have helped the look of the cockpit considerably. However, the OG set had a similar shaped canopy, albeit only 4 wide, with a printed wedge brick to serve as the nose. Lacking a proper piece at 6 studs' width to represent said wedge brick, the designer used a large polyhedral flag which looks ok. It's not the best and one would think a company making a couple billion dollars a year would spring for a new mold or two, but apparently not. I also wish the winglets on the sides of that cockpit were larger to scale better, as the original's did. The little scooter craft on the wings employ yellow triangular road signs in a pattern invocative of the Blacktron trifoil, but honestly, I'd rather they had used a printed slope on the front of those scooters and also found a way to reuse those old tri-directional thruster pieces. I think the OG did it better.

The proverbial elephant in the room is the lack of a removable cargo container and opening back doors a la the Galaxy Explorer to facilitate its loading and unloading.  Instead, there's a functional air-drop mechanism built in to simply let the vehicle fall out of the ship. Lacking a crane and being confined to its alcove on all sides, there seems to be no other way of disgorging the vehicle when landed. IDK about all of you guys, but opening the cargo doors on those old ships to remove whatever sufficed as cargo was a huge part of the fun and they've engineered that salient feature right out of this design. Moreover, the vehicle doesn't even get a cargo box with a lid to nest in, which was also part of the fun of the original. That nesting box was also a modular component which could be attached to combos of the other bits and bobs to form smaller craft in the OG set. Wasted opportunity, IMHO. Also lost is another opportunity to build in a folding ramp to load the vehicle. The area behind the cockpit tapered down to a nice gooseneck on the OG ship; this one has a bulky section instead to house the retractable landing gear. While I LOVE retractable gear in a model, I can't understand why the gear couldn't have been more compact allowing at least a little of the original's taper to remain intact on this update. It seems that many of the salient features were ignored or rebuilt in such a way as to remove any flavor of the original set. The positives. Retractable landing gear! As I said, I absolutely love it when LEGO includes this feature in a set, as it's a rarity. I think the housings are oddly too bulky , but I'm glad the feature's there. The asymmetry is also preserved even if the cockpit section doesn't extend out as much as it did on the original. It looks a little stubby on this model which isn't helped by the bulky gear housing. However, the designer seems to tried to mitigate that bulkiness and give the impression of a thinner "neck" by using these girder support bricks  which also add a nice heavy industrial feel to the ship. The modularity is also preserved, although the lack of a central cargo box erodes the playability compared to the original set. It comes with an additional minifig and a little buildable robot that looks identical to the one that came with the FX Star Patroller, another excellent CS set.

Arguably the best updated part of this set is the ground vehicle, a much larger and more heavy-duty take on the OG. Alas, there doesn't seem to be a single printed tile or brick with the Blacktron trifoil, but all the signature colors are there, and it looks downright lovely. Again, it's a shame that the main ship doesn't feature a ramp enabling it to drive into its alcove. A storage box with drop-down sides with tools and accessories would have been glorious and would have really gone a long way towards redeeming some of the set's other misses.

 

I'm not certain if any background details behind this set's development are in the public domain just yet but given the differences in approaches between this and the Galaxy Explorer update, it seems like there were two very different goals or two different designers behind them. As 10497 was an improvement in virtually every facet of the original's design (baseplates and little satellite station notwithstanding), this takes too many liberties thus eliminating much of what made the original's set design appealing. IMHO, they were going for a heavy-duty industrial feel as opposed to the original ship's minimalistic and more streamlined design. Personally, I wish this was more streamlined with more interior spaces for the figs to work/live in, like a small area behind the cockpit with a bed or a small galley with snacks, built into a tapered cowl to match the original enabling all three minifigs to ride in the cockpit section. I love the ground vehicle and to have had a cargo box that accommodated the vehicle along with a small workbench area with tools and accessories that can be offloaded as a total unit out the back of the ship while landed would have added a great deal more playability to the set than the air-drop function. LEGO has been doing a pretty good job over the last few years giving us the occasional Classic Space era homages so perhaps they were due for a dud. I don't outright hate this version, but it's admittedly not what I was hoping for either. I'm still going to get it, and with luck, like 10497, it'll get early price reductions like 10497 did at Wally back when it came out. Even at $100 MSRP for 1151 pieces, it's a pretty good deal, but I wouldn't mind picking up a second copy perhaps to mod at a reduced price.

There's a YouTuber named Tiago who has uploaded an interview with the designer. Looks like it was somebody completely different than the Galaxy Explorer designer, a relatively newer guy to lego named Jae Won Lee. The video does a could job giving some insight it why he made the design choices he did.(Not that I 100% agree with them.)

 

 

[Chronocidal]

Yeah, I think if they really wanted to bring back the classic shape, there were plenty of ways to do so.  Clearly that just wasn't the goal.

Doesn't mean I won't try and pick one up to rebuild into something more classic-looking.  I did the same with Benny's ship when it came out, and there are plenty of modern elements that better evoke the look of the old designs (as they proved pretty handily with the Galaxy Explorer).

[M'Kyuun]

7 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

There's a YouTuber named Tiago who has uploaded an interview with the designer. Looks like it was somebody completely different than the Galaxy Explorer designer, a relatively newer guy to lego named Jae Won Lee. The video does a could job giving some insight it why he made the design choices he did.(Not that I 100% agree with them.)

 

 

I'm familiar with Tiago. He was a former set designer who reluctantly quit the job for family reasons. Concerning the interview, until now, I wasn't familiar with Jae but I think it's cool that as a new designer he got to work on a project of this level. I appreciate his passion as he walks Tiago through the features and functions. Alas, knowing the background has done little to change my feelings about the model on the whole.  There are a few things I like but it's just not quite what I was hoping for or expecting, especially after the excellent 10497 Galaxy Explorer set the bar so very high for these Classic Space revival sets.

[danth]

12 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

The proverbial elephant in the room is the lack of a removable cargo container and opening back doors a la the Galaxy Explorer to facilitate its loading and unloading.  Instead, there's a functional air-drop mechanism built in to simply let the vehicle fall out of the ship. Lacking a crane and being confined to its alcove on all sides, there seems to be no other way of disgorging the vehicle when landed. IDK about all of you guys, but opening the cargo doors on those old ships to remove whatever sufficed as cargo was a huge part of the fun and they've engineered that salient feature right out of this design. Moreover, the vehicle doesn't even get a cargo box with a lid to nest in, which was also part of the fun of the original. That nesting box was also a modular component which could be attached to combos of the other bits and bobs to form smaller craft in the OG set. Wasted opportunity, IMHO.

In the video, the designer shows the drop ship fall very quickly and swooshes the ship away. I don't think he got the memo on 18+ Icons sets. Adult Icons sets should have interesting, well thought out mechanisms that don't sacrifice the overall integrity of the design for an "action" feature. Just dropping an exposed buggy out of an otherwise empty mid section of the ship -- that belongs in a kid's action theme, not in Icons.

The buggy doesn't even look like it fits snugly into the ship's midsection. It just hangs back an entire stud behind the front cross beam. If the front of the buggy sat on and hid the crossbeam, it would feel like, hey, someone carefully designed this. As it is, it just looks haphazard.