It was 1979, February and I was now staring at the LEGO® Catalog for the 3rd consecutive hour. I was enarmoured with the new spaceships. Fast forward to 2014 and the time had come to patch the 918 shaped hole in my collection. The 928/497 Galaxy explorer may have been the Ulimate Space Playset of the era, but the one man spaceship just seemed to do all the right things for me. Zip forward another decade and it appears that LEGO City is heading into space in a new direction.

While I might have considered the 2022 NASA Artemis sets as bringing us most of the things that we needed in a Space theme, the models were rooted in a near-future reality that may well be achieved by the end of the decade. While the elements were there, some of the sets were rooted on earth. The other daunting prospect here was the cost of entry, with 3 large sets and one moderately sized one all starting at $USD 40.

This year we see LEGO City return to space, but it feels a bit different to the last time: it feels like the inevitable narrative time skip has occurred and we are now exploring the wider galaxy. We see recurring themes encountered in Classic Space: searching for minerals. Now we a re looking for opalescent purple crystals that can be converted into batteries; Investigating the genesis of life on Strange New Worlds and shipping it all back home. To say nothing of the big silver band sown the sid of the box saying “Space”

The astronauts have a variety of robots to help them, as well as a collection of new outfits and accessories. More on that in the near future.

I was really excited when the LEGO Group sent the new City Sets over look at. Then the challenging moment arrived: which one to look at first? The small one? The Big one? The one that sat somewhere in between?

And so I Opted for the 60430 Interstellar Spacecraft. With 240 pieces, but only one (exclusive) minifigure this space ship appeared to be one of the most swooshable in the theme. And it felt like it might be the model to bear the closest resemblence to Ye Goode Olde 918.

Lets take a closer look:

The Knoller in chief has laid out the elements of the set and it is obvious that we have a distinctive colour scheme: white and black are strong colours in the theme, and the set sports a transparent black variation on the canopy seen on the Blacktron Cruiser GWP last year. Sand blue is another key colour in the palette, as is the new reddish orange. Sitting somewhere between bright orange and bright red, this new colour is found throughout the City SPACE sets, giving them all a very distinctive appearance.

The set features a variety of wedge plates in white, black and medium stone grey We have a number of curved wedge bricks, along with plenty of clips, bars and small sloped elements. There are no stickers in this set: All decorated elements are printed. This rule does not stand true throughout the City Space range, but for this set, and the 60429 Spaceship and Asteroid Discovery, there are no stickers to be seen. We have some 2x4x1 curved slope elements with engine intakes printed on theme, 2×2 tiles with an updated version of the classic Space Logo, the in ship computer screen and battery labels. Power packs are somewhat ubiquitous across the range, with the opalescent purple mineral that goes into the power cells being the primary target of the variety of mining crews to be found across the range.

This set comes with one minifigure, the torso of the figures is identical across the range, as are most of the leg elements. The distinctive differences appear in the colour of the arms and helmet. The majority of pilots in the City Space range are sporting azure colouring, but this one has dark blue arms with golden hands, and is sporting a dark blue helmet with a transparent full face visor.

I am starting to think that the darker coloured personnel, particularly if they have golden gloves might suggest a greater rank in the hierarchy. This pilot has plainly seen some stuff, as she has a most intriguing silver print on the side of her face. The results of a previous accident? Cybernetic implants? Projected maps from the heads-up display? A moment of indiscretion in a tattoo parlour back on Aldus Prime? You be the judge. [I’ll present the entire minifigure line up in a future post.] Also… just noting: while the face is coded as female: she has a lip print, as well as the eye shaping – she is not depicted wearing lipstick. Things have come a long way since the bright red lips and hoop earrings of Ice Planet.

The lower central aspect of the torso features a gold on sand blue radial design that extends down to the legs, while a dark band across the top of the chest is punctuated by the orange moon being circled by a shuttle and a couple of golden tabs. While out pilot wears a medium azure air tank, there is also back printing that would cover the purpose in the absence of the real accessory.

We complete the initial part of the build with a small drone, or is it a jet pack? At the trailing end, there is a battery unit (1×1 round) featuring the opal purple

The Build

Let’s taks a look at the build. The base of the craft is built up of elements you might normally associate with a city speed boat/ The layer is secured with a number of wedge plates, initially grey, and then black. At the rear of the craft, we attach hinges to a couple of SNOT bricks lined with transparent orange plates. more on this later, I am sure.

As you can see, these hinged elements are puched open – what is not so clear is that the element puching them apart is a 1×2 plate with door rail (in white). Protruding rounded plates limit the movement, while providing greater freedom than square bricks might have done.

Progressing with the build, we work on this mechanism a little more:

As we complete the second bag, we add in a button: a 2×2 square plate with slopes attached, pushed by a round brick. It is secured through the use of a circular plate.

Note: we have also added in some detail to the cockpit, which features the printed screen, and 2 joystick type controls on either side. It is a far cry from the original LEGO Steering wheel used in the true Classic Sets. We also install the power cells on top of the button. Opalescent bricks and printed tiles. What a time to be alive.

We add in the canopy, and the lateral engine mounts, applied on a hinge. NOW it looks like a space ship! We also add in a dorsal engine cowling, so that we have the three hinges open when activated.

This is, without a doubt, a ship designed to go somewhere. The build is solid, and it feels like it is designed to withstand some child induced freestyle flight across the room (ie being thrown). I did not diligently test this feature. But it feels solid in my hands and great fun to swoosh.

Here it is compared to the 918, which is a little smaller:

There are some other features, which are quite endearing to fans of the older ships, but omitted here.

• The antenna for one. Without one, you cannot knock it off and put it back in the wrong place.
• The orientation lights. To be fair – Red and Green for port/starboard would be a pretty earth-centric issue, and at the distances/sppeds at which this ship would be observed, you would not be able to identify the direction of travel using the coloured lights until it was about to pass right through you.
• The Handy Dandy storage compartment at the back. I actually wish we had one to store the drone in.
• The forward …antenna: these were part of the charm of the old sets, but vulnerable to excess swooshing, as were the landing gear.

I built a stand to display/photograph the model on:

And then it must be time to put it in its place against the sunset – please excuse me while I redevelop some of my standard backgrounds:

Swoosh Testing

My thoughts

For $USD19.99/AUD29.99 this set feels like a substantial build, and good value for money. However, if you are looking for more of a playset, with an extra Minifigure and a lab, you might consider 60429 Spaceship and Asteroid Discovery – which sells for the same price. However, this ship feels more comfortable for serious swooshing than than that one does – in my adult hands at least. I’ll review that set soon, .. but here’s a preview:

The push button afterburner/hyperdrive deployment works flawlessly everytime, and while the fuselage may not fit easily into my hand, there is sufficient strength in the wings to feel comfortable to hold it here while flying it around the living room.

It might not be Blue/Grey/Trans yellow, but it is a striking colour scheme.The orange and sand blue really pop out together. I loved the fact that this set has NO Stickers. The Classic Space logo betrays the origins of the model. It might be a little larger than 918, but is still easier to handle. The wide variety of slopes and wedge plates, along with other elements, provides scope for alternative builds. It is great to have the 10x4x2 windscreen available in the trans black, in a relatively inexpensive package.

The theme, the price point, as well as the substantial nature of the build and lack of stickers all force me to give this set 4.5 Arbitrary Praise units out of 5. Where did it lose out? Perhaps if there were some form of landing gear, and a place to store the drone while traversing the vast interstellar distances. It feels a bit naff to just click it onto the wing.

I hold out great hope for the 2024 City Space range: at this point: all the ingredients are conspiring to influence kids (and their parents ) for years to come! There are other ingredients in the other sets that build upon how things have gone before. I cant wait to share them with you! If these sets and material continue beyond the one wave, I would be quite excited.

You can order the new LEGO City Space Sets from LEGO.com, or general retail stores selling LEGO sets. The 60430 Inter Stellar Spacecraft is priced at $AUD29.99/USD19.99/£17.99/CAD24.99/€19.99 and will be available from 1st January 2024, unless your local shelves have had them put out early.

They might not be Classic Space, but the range has all the hallmarks that made Classic Space so appealing. I’d love to know what you think. Please leave your comments below.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!