Thank you for the review! I picked this set up last week at the LEGO Store downtown. This was the only one out of the space theme available, which is probably a good thing since I'm an impulse buyer!

I voted Above Average- I think it's a cheap way to get a nifty space shuttle loaded with features. Sure it could use booster rockets and extra crew, but I know that would kick it up into the $40-50 price range. I rejoiced when I discovered the wings were real plates and not another giant piece. In fact, I felt like I was building Classic Space during the first few steps! All in all, a very nice set for the price.

In case anyone was wondering, here's the shuttle riding in style on top of the CITY Passenger Jet. It is very secure- nice and swooshable. I can even turn it upsidedown without the shuttle falling off!

Cool! I've tried building a Shuttle Transport Aircraft for the Shuttle Adventure on LDD, but haven't really made much headway (I think I've been too much of a perfectionist about the shape of the wings). One thing I have learned, though, is that City passenger planes (assuming they're meant to represent jumbo jets) are pretty much exactly the right size. I'd love it if you could match the chunky shape of the plane itself, but let's face it, LEGO didn't bother with that during the 90s, and there's no particular reason we should bother with it when using a shuttle that's stylized to begin with.

Is there any way to get this to fit with the solid rocket boosters and main fuel tank from the Shuttle Adventure? Despite a difference in detail, the two aren't vastly different in size.

We already know about the Space Station set coming out later this year (although we have no idea when it's due), and so there's still the possibility of City Space sets lasting into next year and potentially including more things for the shuttle, like the shuttle carrier aircraft (for that matter, LEGO could return to the Airport subtheme and throw one of those in, just like they have the Farm-branded grain boat in the Harbor subtheme this year). Since the shuttle is quickly becoming a thing of the past, I'm not totally sure whether LEGO would bother making more accessories to go with this shuttle, especially considering it's not likely to be as affordable to put the shuttle itself in so many sets like in the 90s (and without the shuttle, a carrier aircraft, mobile launching platform, or fuel tank would be pretty pointless-- LEGO doesn't like making sets that you have to own another large set to enjoy) Still, I'd love to see as much as possible come out of this LEGO-NASA partnership.

Dang, now that you showed me the cockpit, I will have some modding to do when I find it at Wal-Mart (Hint, hint of where I moved to last summer) to seat two astronauts.

MARS MISSIONERS WILL GO TO THE MOON!

Thanks, Brickster, for a splendid review ! I have to confess I was ready NOT to like this set..... The big nose section really put me off, and it all looked a bit Playmobil to me. I only bought it because I collect the LEGO shuttles and wanted to keep the collection complete. Once built, however, I loved the minifig and interchangeable helmet, I liked the play features, and found the ship quite nice and swooshable. An unexpected WIN for me.

D.

Thanks to this review, I've just bought one from Amazon.co.uk - £19.97.

Many thanks.

Thanks for the feedback fellas.

The big nose section really put me off, and it all looked a bit Playmobil to me.

Probably why I like it.

It really is a nice little set and as drdavewatford mentions above, very "swooshable".

Great and very detailed review as always TheBrickster, really enjoyable, I loved the reference pics!

This new Space line brought me back to my childhood in '92-'93. I was a huge fan of the Shuttle sets back then and I remember drooling over the catalogues, hoping to get one (didn't happen eventually, dark ages got me...).

This is a must buy for me, especially after buying the two smaller Space sets. The design looks really nice and there is something with the colour scheme that makes it look sleek. I don't have a big problem with the nose piece, I guess I've grown immunity after being an AFOL for 2 1/2 years now.

Thanks again for the review!

P.S

A grumpy face for the minifig TLG? Come on...

Wow, its very amazing thank you for posting it. I really like space and space ships or shuttles. I wish i could ride in a true shuttle. I hope i will win in Space Needle contest so that i could go to outer space. For its golden anniversary, the Seattle Space Needle is offering a distinctive competition. There is also a special reward. The winner will get a visit into space. I found this here: Space Needle competition promises to put the winner in space

well actually, this is not a bad set! At first i thought this craft had the nose of the big airplanes, but it seems to be more sophisticated than that. still, i can see some sections to mod: the cockpit looks pretty smooth from the outside. the cabin behind it has too many sharp edges for my taste. i also would change the white wing where it touches the fuselage.

next to this, this is a neat model. the parts look interesting as well, even though 1 pair of white and 1 pair of black wings doesn't give you much to do with