Review Review: 70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!

[Rufus]

Due for general release in June, Benny's Spaceship is possibly the most eagerly anticipated set of the year so far, and certainly that of the LEGO Movie range. Sporting the approximate livery of the early 'Blue Era' Classic Space sets, and the ringed planet CS logo, the ship might be considered a spiritual successor to the exalted 497/928 Galaxy Explorer: regarded by many as one of the finest LEGO sets of all time.

I was lucky to win this set as a prize in a speed-building competition at the Eurobricks Event 2014 - though they were selling the set at the LEGOLAND Park. Let's see if the model lives up to expectations.

Review: 70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!

Set Information

---

Name:

Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!

Number:

70816

Theme:

The LEGO Movie

Release:

June 2014

Parts:

939

Figures:

5

(including Astro Kitty)

Price:

GB £<unknown>

|

US $99.99

|

EUR <unknown>

|

AU $<unknown>

|

CA $<unknown>

|

DKK 899

(as I recall)

Links ... Shop@Home ... Brickset ... Bricklink ... Peeron

The Box

---

Click for a larger frontal image

The ship just about squeezes on to the front of the glossy box; not helped by the enormity of the LEGO Movie logo which obscures part of the model. Behind is a faux-CITY backdrop, picked out in contrasting orange to highlight the mostly-blue set; there's a lovely use of parallel lines from the film-strip motifs flanking the long ship to give the illusion of speed, spoiled only slightly by the reverse perspective of the film strip in the top left corner. The five figures occupy the bottom right corner; they are shown again in 1:1 scale on the box top.

The design of the rear of the box is rather clever. The film-strip decorations here diverge in a pattern resembling a movie clapperboard; the space between is bisected by the LEGO-ish fencing, and the resulting halves filled by the ship and its various accessories respectively.

Click for a larger image

Various play-features are demonstrated in the insets along the bottom - we'll see them in action later - and the final inset reminds us that the set is from the LEGO Movie - if the gigantic logo on the front was too subtle. I am pleased to see that the box opens with side flaps, requiring no tearing to get inside.

The Instructions

---

The two manuals come in a cardboard-backed bag, so mine were pristine. Both are of similar thickness; their glossy covers have acres of space making the ship look a little lost. You will be delighted to find that the Win! page at the rear of book one has had a long-awaited makeover.

Inside, the building steps sit against a CREATOR-style blue background with yellow edging. This and the blue and grey hues of the model itself combine to make the instructions rather dark, as best seen on the introduction page; however, I didn't encounter any colour confusion during the build.

The instruction steps are nicely paced, and throughout there's the feeling that you're making progress; though some steps have you adding only one part, it's usually an important part.

The rear of manual two contains the usual set inventory; click the links for pages one, two, and three.

Stickers

Well, we knew there would be some. The decal sheet is printed on clear plastic; the large number of white decals necessitated the use of a black background for the photo.

I was disappointed to find that the Classic Space logos on the large blue tails are stickered; however, that of the 2x4 slopes is printed. Still, at least this means you could potentially use the stickers elsewhere. The rows of computer screens on the left are shout-outs to these pieces which sadly are no longer produced; centre-top is a temperature-gauge panel featuring the characters LL2079¹. If you need me to explain the significance of 'LL929' then go and read this!

The Parts

---

Seven polybags (officially 'pre-packs', I learned in Billund ) each build a separate module; see them all here. It is possible to build each separately, and assemble them together at the end, but there will be a few pieces left loose until you put them all together.

Bag One builds the smaller ships, Emmet, Wyldstyle and the Robot Pilot:

Highlights of this selection for me are the four black inverted bows, new to me but in several sets since last year; the gun with clip, which features in several Movie sets; and the Piece of Resistance, new here in (I think) pearl dark grey Flat Silver. New in blue and in a separate bag at the bottom right is Wyldstyle's hoodie piece, which we'll see later. Classic Space is represented by the 1985 droid body, the 1978 plate with handles, and the space seat bracket which first appeared in 1984. None are especially rare nowadays.

The remaining modules all build the ship; I've partnered two together for speed.

More space seats appear in modules two and three, which begin to show off the colour scheme of blue, greys light and dark, black and yellow. The incongruous red brick will be buried deep inside the model, you may be relieved to know.

It's a fairly unremarkable selection here, but you will be pleased to see that the Classic Space logo is indeed printed on the 2x4 slope. This part never featured a logo in the original Classic Space sets; it wasn't released until 1999. Whether TLG have deliberately avoided using 2x3 slopes (which did appear with the CS logo) to prevent flooding the classic market is anyone's guess.

I've also shown a close-up of the space seat pieces, and this inverted 2x8x2 double-curve which appears only in two other sets since last year.

Benny and Astro Kitty first appear in bag five, shown here with bag four.

The big cockpit canopy from the latest UCS X-Wing, here in trans-yellow, is hard to miss. Note that the jumper plates (centre-bottom) are the newer mold design with a lip and central stud-grip; to the right of these are four 12L flexible hoses which appear in several Movie sets.

Highlights of these two modules are the trans-yellow 1x4 wall elements, found previously only in 2010's Lunar Limo; the three 1x1 plates, new in pearl gold (one is spare); and the new 2x2 corner tiles, found only in the Friends Sunshine Ranch and the Simpsons House.

The printed 1x4 tile is worthy of mention. In the instructions and set inventory, the printing is shown as 'MA-XXXXXXXX', so I assume the characters are chosen at random at the time of printing, effectively making each set unique. I'll be interested to see which codes others get.

There's more Classic Space appeal in bags six and seven, and I'm not talking just about the two more CS logo slopes. Two jet engines, first appearing in 1981 and last seen in 2010's Luke's Landspeeder, accompany the obligatory loudspeakers/manoeuvring thrusters which no Classic Spaceship should be without. There are more droid body parts, here used for their original purpose, and accompanied by the original droid arms, which are still in regular use today. There are even a couple of the original 2x2-2x2 brackets, here in black.

The big Technic shooters are new with a yellow tip, but I don't suppose you care.

The Figures

---

From left to right: Robot Pilot, Astro Kitty, Space Wyldstyle, Benny, and Robo Emmet. I'm not sure how many of these (or at least their costumes) were in the Movie; certainly Emmet did the robot head thing later in the film, and Benny is Benny. I've only seen it the once.

We'll start with the boring characters.

Robot Pilot wears an 'evil-Octan' flight suit over - interestingly - a suit and tie . His head wouldn't look out of place in the Star Wars universe, though there is no alternative 'face' on the rear. Neither is there for Robo Emmet, but at least his aluminium foil head continues round the rear.

Apart from the head, Emmet is very similar to his Collectable Minifigure equivalent, except with light bluish grey hands ...

... and silver printing on the feet, which continues onto the side of the legs. I can't recall whether this featured in the film.

Next up, the girls (assuming Kitty is a girl; you never know!). Kitty has the pearl gold 1x1 plates as her feet; the rest of her costume resembles a blue space-suit, with its own CS logo printed - albeit badly, in my case - on the 1x3 arch. Her head is designed to look like you're seeing her face through a blue helmet, and it's reasonably successful.

Space Wyldstyle is - in my opinion - the highlight of the figures. She's got a curvaceous torso, similar to her regular black outfit², but with a Classic Space-esque motif which continues onto the legs, and round the back; best of all, she's got a spiffing hoodie which is a separate piece, and I hope we'll see more of that outside the Movie range. Note that, unlike her black outfit as it appears in the Super Cycle Chase², she does not have a printed arm, and there is a black mark on the torso neck, suggesting she's Made in Denmark.

I expect Benny will be sought-after, at least because he only appears in this and the Sea Cow - the two most expensive sets in the range. Here he is with a classic blue spaceman (Benny is at positions 1, 2, and 4 if it's not immediately obvious ):

I like the way that Benny looks like an aged classic figure without being too similar - CS logos lose their gold by fading far more easily than they get scratched, and the helmet is of course a new mold. His classic smiley is slightly different to the older ones, and he has his crazy manic look on the reverse. Benny's helmet has a much thicker chinstrap than the original, itself of the 'thick chinstrap' variant; the alternative 'thin chinstrap' type was notoriously prone to cracking: hence the joke with Benny's. I seem to have both thin and thick types in my CS collection.

Benny has been designed to be distinct from the generic Space figures - mostly likely to make him a unique character, rather than to prevent upsetting the market for those who stockpile classic space figures.

The Build

---

To cut down on the length of the review, I've chosen to show the build process via a series of thumbnail images, with a few larger pictures to highlight interesting techniques. Module One builds the smaller ships; you'll get to see them later, but see here and here for their unstickered versions.

The instructions direct you to assemble the ship as you go, but modules one and two are built separately until the end of bag 2; I've build each module individually. I wouldn't recommend this, as it makes attaching some of the later sections a little tricky. Click each thumbnail for a larger image:

The rear section forms a cross of Technic rectangles, with tiling suggesting function to come. Onto this is bolted the forward cockpit and centre section, mostly built onto aircraft fuselage bottom parts. Next come the wings and middle/bottom engine ...

... which slot into the rear cross section to produce the following mechanism:

Pushing the engine in slides the wings out. Simple yet clever; we'll see what effect this produces later. Note the three pronged plates at the inboard edge of each wing - these are used to attach the big Technic guns.

Now some bitty sections are added: some as sub-builds, others built directly onto the emerging ship. In the first image, you can see how the engine intakes are created as SNOT-mounted castle windows; the octagonal section at the lower right contains an intriguing trench whose walls a formed of 2x4 SNOT brackets: it too me a moment or two to work out what this was for.

Image two shows the big rear engine mounts, with some SNOT panelling disguising Technic beams, and a plate with some minor greebling and two droids. Finally some smaller sub-builds complete the ship.

The Classic Space logo'd flaps contain a couple of nice tecnhiques:

Firstly, the prongs of the trap door piece are 'converted' to Technic size with the use of stud-pins, creating a perfect fit to the 1x4 Technic bricks. Kudos to the part designers here for their forethought! I was delighted to see how the radar dishes are attached to the 2x2-2x2 brackets using an aircraft wheel hub, which effectively acts as a stud reverser here. A brilliant use of an otherwise unremarkable part.

Note also the 2x2 round tile with centre hole, here holding an inverted stud. This is also used to attach the jet engines to the blue tails in the final module; it forms a very strong attachment. There are several of this very useful part in the set.

The Finished Model

---

Spaceship,

We'll start with the little ships, which are rather cute:

Two identical blue/grey flyers bear a distinct Classic Space resemblance with the 3W cones attached to space seat pieces. The trans-yellow canopies are stickered to produce what I suppose is a Head-Up Display; note that the 82/28 printed display tile is mounted upside down in the '28' position, for no particular reason that I can fathom. Underneath this are blue male clicky-hinges, one on each side, which are the attachment points for these ships onto the wing pieces of the main ship.

Spaceship,

Next up is the diminutive enemy craft: a dinky one-man ship stickered with the space-Octan logo:

I really like this. The upsloping flag panels give it a vampiric look, helped by the purposeful-looking weaponry and powerful engines. The livery is to my eye somewhere between Blacktron and Space Police, though I confess I'm not too familiar with either of those lines.

The inside is roomy, and the Robot Pilot sits comfortably in what is essentially a flying cockpit with wings.

SNOT brackets hold the wings in place firmly, and a special mention goes to the SNOT-mounted 1x4 bows, attached cleverly via a headlight brick and a 1x1 brick with side stud.

The three ships make a nice little playset on their own:

All are swooshable, making for a nice aerial battle if you have three hands. I guess the blue ships are meant for atmospheric flight, as they aren't exactly airtight (though that doesn't seem to have been a problem for TLG in the past³ ).

SPACESHIP!

Click for an alternative image

Similar to promotional pictures and the box art, this view will be familiar to many. The frontal oblique angle tends to emphasise the sleek low-profile design, and disguise the true size of the ship, which came as a bit of a surprise to me. I do like the gentle tapering of the front, both laterally and in profile; I can live without the flick-fire missiles, but the shape would probably look a little odd without the forward outriggers they are mounted to. The nose-cone is rather reminiscent of 1981's 6929 Star Fleet Voyager⁴.

The low-profile design is even more apparent when viewed from the front; I could imagine the ship would be very streamlined if that mattered in any way in space. Admittedly, the overall design with its sleek nose, wings, and lovely but superfluous engine air intakes looks rather more befitting an aircraft than a spacecraft: a role at which it excels in the film, as I recall.

Click each thumbnail for a larger image

Round the back, the three large engines have exhaust flames formed by 1x1 round tiles on stud pins; there are only four on the bottom/middle engine, as two of the stud holes are used for 3L friction pins; these can be replaced if you like to keep things consistent, with only minimal risk of the central axle sliding out. See an oblique view of the engines here. I love the way the oblique-mounted tails sit almost parallel on each side.

This side view isn't especially dynamic (click the picture for a more 'action'-esque shot), but it demonstrates some important points. Firstly, the wedge-shaped profile is most apparent from this angle: the rise from the skinny nose to the bulky tail is quite dramatic, and the angle perfectly extends the rake of the cockpit canopy.

Click for an alternative image

Secondly, the underside sits flat on whatever surface it is placed: there is no landing gear; and not even any inverted domes to reduce scratching when it is inevitably slid along the antique dining room table. I'm disappointed by this, but not particularly surprised: this is very much an action set; however, since the model will undoubtedly appeal to casual adult fans even beyond the usual AFOL demographic, it would be nice to have some way to display it. A UCS-style stand would work, but if given a choice I'd plump for retractable landing gear, which would help to disguise those ugly Technic blocks which are all-too visible under the wings.

There is, after all, plenty of room for landing gear underneath the wings, though you'd have to modify the front end somehow to make a tripod.

This is the best view to appreciate the ship's overall shape: the sides slope gently at the front, with the angle becoming steeper around the centre section, until it sweeps outward around the wings, and tapering again at the rear. Does it remind you of anything?⁵ On the whole, the colours work well here, though some of the black is a little incongrous, particularly the flick-fire mounts at the front. I'm not so keen on the blue plate on the base of the middle engine; this is blue to ensure all the 2x8 plates in the set are the same colour.

The shape is admittedly less easy to discern from the top, but you do get to see how each section of the ship bulks out progressively front to rear.

Click for an alternative image

This is an excellent time to comment on the stickers, which are present I think more for the Classic Space reference than because they add to the model; you can compare to the set without stickers here or here. Certainly, the 'LL929' decals are part of the set's charm, and the white stripe along the sides of the cockpit looks smart, even if it isn't completely essential. The CS logo stickers on the rear tails are a must; they look great and are easy to apply, unlike some of the others as we shall see later. You can easily swap out stickered pieces for spares as none are placed across multiple pieces.

As we move toward the rear, the bulk of the rearward hull becomes apparent, and you start to get a better idea of the size of this thing:

Click for an alternative image

Note the manoeuvring thrusters - a prerequisite of any Classic Space vessel; though here they have the 'green-for-starboard, red-for-port' lights configuration of aircraft, real or LEGO (these days, at least). The shapely contours of the rear engine casings can be seen at the back. The gaps between the body and the wing flanges are a little unsightly - exposing the Technic bricks as they do - and not altogether necessary, since the flanges do not need to lift beyond horizontal and indeed will flap around if the ship is inverted.

You can see this gap clearly in this three-quarter view, which is otherwise a lovely angle.

Click for an alternative image

Note the Technic clutch pieces forming what I suppose are exhausts from outrigger engines, in homage to the great 497/928, though they are diminutive next to the three enormous main thrusters. Under these are the firing triggers for the big Technic guns. Some blue slopes make for neat C-shaped contouring of the rearmost hull.

Features

---

Now we've had a good look round the outside, it's time to see what the ship can do. First up, a closer look at the nose section:

Note the modern take on the Classic Space 3x6 slope. The huge, detailed logo is lacking, but the dark grey stripes and the contouring of the corner wedges do help to smarten and modernise the look. I like the way the latters' angle is continued forward, tapering to the blue nose cone. Again, the black flick-fire mounts look a little out of place; I think dark or light bluish grey would have been a better choice. Note how the cockpit canopy sits flush with the 1x3 slopes at its rear, just like in the UCS X-Wing.

The big cockpit canopy can open to ninety degrees, revealing a spacious interior with seating for three, even allowing for hoodies, airtanks or pieces of resistance. There's even space for coffee cups or radios, though Benny's radio will rattle around with nowhere to clip it.

Two modern printed control panels sit under red and green lights: presumably Benny has trouble remembering left from right. One of the Classic Space computer stickered panels is partly visible; this one is nicely applied, the other is wonky despite my best efforts.

Here are the three humanoid protagonists in situ:

Wyldstyle's seat is raised a little higher to allow for the join between aircraft fuselage bases; I think she'd choose this seat. Although Emmet can sit comfortably even wearing his Piece, his helmet prevents closing the cockpit lid fully in this position. Removing the Piece allows him to lean back slightly, solving the problem. You can see this view of the cockpit without the figures here.

Behind the cockpit, we find the 2x4 SNOT bracket-lined trench which is where, of course, Astro Kitty sits, as I'm sure you've figured.

I hope her costume is indeed a spacesuit, as she's open to vacuum here. She has another control panel, this time in '82' configuration, but no way to use it unless her whiskers are more than just sensory. She doesn't actually attach to the yellow round brick, so the droid body behind acts as a kind of latch to stop her falling out. Pulling the black bush-pins behind ...

... allows the octagonal section to separate entirely, creating a little flying saucer for Kitty. It isn't clear whether this is a deliberate feature, and the black pins aren't easy to pull out, but it's kinda cool to have a section that separates.

Kitty's flying saucer is heavily armed with those spring lasers. I'm sure kids think they're awesome, but I hate them, and their placement on this model - in the place you find most natural to put your thumb if picking the ship up with one hand - will ensure they soon disappear behind the furniture. No wonder the set comes with a spare.

It is certainly intended for the saucer to hinge - lifting it reveals another compartment:

Here Emmet and Wyldstyle can sit and do important things, not excluding drinking coffee, though the computer panels suggest these things should include work. It isn't quite possible to close the lid with them sitting there, unless you remove hoodies and Pieces and whatnot. See the section without figures here. Note the 'LATCH' stickers flanking the saucer. The irony? It doesn't latch.

I would guess this area is the engineering bay, as the forward area contains tools, and at the rear is a stickered window looking at a dalek brick (1x1 with studs on all sides) with a yellow gem in each face. I presume this is meant to be a power source, dilithium crystal or whatever.

It's a nice touch which would be a whole lot easier to see were it not for the damn sticker. It's a nice decal, but it decided it would immediately attach itself at a kooky angle, and removing it to reposition left half of the adhesive behind. And this is why I HATE STICKERS.

A note on the black and yellow parts visible in this and the previous shot. There's a lot of black and yellow in the set, referring to the bumblebee stripes of the original Blue Era CS sets, but it is used more as filler rather than decoration. Perhaps that's a good thing, but I for one wouldn't be averse to a little more black and yellow striping on the ship.

Progressing towards the stern, we encounter the radar dish which till now I've left in the 'down' position. It lifts in a manner reminiscent of the rear radar of the great 6980 Galaxy Commander⁴, except this one rotates too. Underneath are two little droids very much in the style of the 1980s robots which first appeared around 1985:

I presume these are repair droids, judging by how they are stowed away, but I guess they could be multi-purpose. Another thoughtful and unexpected touch.

Now we come to the flagship feature of the set: the extending wings. Pushing the centre/bottom engine in extends both wings outward in a single, smooth, easy movement:

Click for a larger image

This pushes the big Technic guns into their 'ready to fire' position. It sounds a little lame, but it's really rather effective, and fun; also, it greatly increases the wingspan, particularly if ...

... you attach the little blue/grey ships to the wingtips:

Note how one wing folds to allow the little craft to dock; if the other wing remains extended, it perfectly continues the taper of the wing. A beautiful feature.

As I was saying, with the smaller craft attached and the wings extended, the wingspan is very impressive:

As, indeed, is this ship as a whole.

... But is it Classic Space?

Well of course it isn't, you silly, it's a LEGO Movie set. Still, you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise, even allowing for the clash of old and new and grey, and even though the ideal comparator - the iconic 928 itself - isn't shown here. (My restored Classic Space sets are packed away, and you can't dismantle and rebuild these old sets willy-nilly without cracking a few parts on the way). Benny's spaceship is a homage to the original: it is rather more a modern take on the old classics; perhaps what TLG would have produced today had the Blue Era line miraculously continued to the present. Call it Neo-Classic Space; with the LEGO Ideas (formerly CUUSOO) Exo-Suit coming later this year I do hope for a bit of a Classic Space revival.

Conclusion

---

Even without the nostalgia, this is a cool ship. It is sleek, streamlined, yet sturdy; there is just the right balance between functionality and greebling; it is fun for play and great for display. Add in the Classic Space charm and the set hits another dimension of awesome. There are things the designer might have done differently: the ship could have been built with an opening rear, like 497/928, or with separating sections, like 6980; however, I think they were wise to keep the set different enough to prevent it being branded a re-hash of an old classic. I would like to have seen landing gear, or other ground-based activity, which was one of the charms of the old range; this is very much a model for swooshing. But it's still pretty awesome.

Of course, I'm writing from the perspective of an AFOL who fondly remembers the originals, and my definition of cool might not match that of the set's target demographic, or even younger AFOLs to whom Spyrius was perhaps the epitome of awesome. Because, let's face it, the model wasn't included in the Movie, and subsequently made into a set, just for us die-hard AFOLs; it is there to appeal to that other mysterious - and much larger - group of people: those who had LEGO as a kid, but no longer routinely collect or build LEGO, but who just happen to be the right age to be taking their kids to the cinema.

Design & Build

9

She's a beautiful and cleverly-designed ship, and an engaging and enjoyable build; a point is lost only for the lack of landing gear.

Parts

7

There are a heap of big parts with limited uses, so you'd be unlikely to buy the set as a parts pack unless you're building Neo-Classic Space.

Figures

9

Four of the figures are exclusive to this set, and Benny is only available otherwise in the pricier Sea Cow; you've got to love Wyldstyle's outfit. I'm not sure quite how collectable the figures are, though.

Playability

9

Opening hatches, detachable ships, a rather one-sided battle with a dinky black ship, shooty things and extendable wings - the set is a load of fun. If I have one concern it's that the ship might be a little too large for small hands to handle easily, but I'm sure TLG have tested for this!

Value

8

It's a little hard for me to judge as I don't yet know the UK price, but based on US $100 the value doesn't look so great part for cent. However, you do get and awesome ship and a bunch of exclusive figures.

Overall 84% My Score 9/10 For me, this set is the highlight of the LEGO Movie range. If you're a TLM aficionado, or a Space fan, or you like anything that flies, or you just want a cheaper Benny, then this set is a must.

---

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the review. Please leave a comment!

Rufus

References & Acknowledgements

More pictures on my

flick

r

album

Photo credits:

[1] Rocket Brick at

Marutan.net

with some great Classic Space resources

[2] Picture and Link to Clone O'Patra's

70808 Super Cycle Chase Review

[3] Greg Hyland's comics at

FBTB

[4] Star Fleet Voyager and Galaxy Commander pictures from

1000steine

via

Brickset

[5] Classic Space Logo slope by drdavewatford at

Gimme Lego

Thanks to KimT for the prize, CopMike and Bonaparte for the Event organisation

See other The LEGO Movie reviews

here

[Brickus]

Excellent review Rufus, I can't wait till I have my own, a wonderful set.

[Kristel]

Thanks for the awesome review Rufus!

[Hive]

Absolutely outstanding, which goes both for the set and the review! Wow!

[Jim]

Excellent review indeed! Great work

I won't be running to the store to get it, but it's definitely on my Billund 2016 list

(if it will still be available by then)

[Hewman]

I think it's a tie between how great this set is and how great the review was. Many thanks!

[glendo]

Thank you. 2 of these will find a home at my place. Your review sold me.

[caperberry]

Fantastic review Rufus! Interesting to see where we agreed and differed...for example I totally missed the fact that interesting greebly cavity houses Astro Kitty!

I think the choice of 2X4 rather than 2X3 slopes more likely relates to the desired design than the aftermarket.

[Zzz]

Great review - thanks a lot for this! I am not yet sold on the set, I would have loved to see more space in the back or a separation function instead of the wingspan feature, as well as a ground control or some look alike friends for Benny. Also, I concur that the 4x4 technic parts under the wings look terrible.

[Csacsa234]

Excellent review!

You covered everything it was really enjoyable to read, I have to say that seeing the Space Wyldstyle fig on yoru pics already sold this set for me (not like I wasn't aching for it already ), she is beautiful and I love that CS motif in the painting The ship itself is also outstanding and it's great to see so many play functions without making the ship look like they are squeezed in. However I don't like the evil octan fighter and the pilot. Thanks for making this review!

[Jan Beyer]

Great read! Thanks for all the insights. I am looking forward to build the ship myself soon.

[lightningtiger]

All I can say about this review and ship is AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME !

It does have that classic space feel to it and a tilt of a hat to other classic sci-fi space craft......I can see a light BSG original viper shape there.

Thanks for the review 'Rufus'.......Brick On Review On !

[1974]

and you can't dismantle and rebuild these old sets willy-nilly without cracking a few parts on the way

What? That is nonsense. I have thousands of CS bricks and +150 CS sets that I constantly MOC with and my son plays with. No broken parts here. In fact bricks from that era are of higher quality than the subpar stuff TLG puts out now

Boring ship anyway, but thanx for the review

[Dane]

Thank you for a fantastic review of this much anticipated set. I can almost not wait to get my hands on this set

[kinggregus]

Excellent Review Rufus. This set largely met my expectations. The only reason I did not give the "Outstanding" rating is due to the number of stickers. I think some stickers could have easily been replaced by printed parts, especially for a set of this size. I am under the impression this set will be a real best seller.

Do you know if it is a Lego exclusive or whether it will be available in retail?

[MstrOfPppts]

I was sitting right behind Rufus at the lap-speed building competition. Maybe I should have used some "fairplay" and shook his chair a little, since I only had 4 pieces left when he finished. Though review vise I think it's far better the set got into Rufus' hands. Nice review and I can't wait to get this amazing set!

[cocabottle]

So many stickers! But still a must-buy set for me

[ShaydDeGrai]

Thank you for yet another outstanding and insightful review.

This is definitely the highlight of the TLM line for me and I look forward to getting my hands on one as soon as I can.

[mechamike]

Thanks for a very nice review! Would have been nice as said if there had been some sort of land based vehicle in the set , but its a sweet set as it is, a good parts pack for any neo-space builder. And I really wish Lego would bring that crater base plate back into production.

[JopieK]

Very nice review and nice set too!

Already a must have for me for the stickers... The stickers are very nice I think ;) Also really reminds me of my childhood ages of course! Especially the little robots. Maybe subconsciously they are the reason for me to teach robotics ;)

[jonwil]

This set is the closest thing LEGO have released to a proper Space set in nearly 2 decades IMO and it is AWESOME.

I WILL be buying it as soon as I can get my hands on it, if no local retailer has it at a good price in the mid-year toy sales (or the rumored "August" release date for Australia is true), I will find an overseas retailer who will sell me one.

[Yooha]

I love the little Octan spaceship with the octan-space logo, and the robopilot with spacesuit and tie!

[zidane]

Must buy at least 2!

[jtr]

Great review. Shame about those stickers, but I think I'll pick up two of this set.

Edited May 15, 2014 by jtr

[HJR-Holland]

best set of 2014 IMHO; and coming from a strict Star Wars LEGO fan & buyer, that's quite something