space

40921 Upscaled Blue Spaceman SpaceMan SPACEMAN!!!

ramblingbrick Lego, Minifigures, Review, space , , , , , ,
A scaled-up blue astronaut minifigure from LEGO, showcasing a friendly smile and wearing a blue space suit with a planet logo. The background is a dark green with a yellow foreground, and text on the left side indicates a review of the model.

This is the fourth in the LEGO Scaled Up Minifigure series, and the first spaceman. Last year, I had the chance to put together the ultra-cute red Baby Spaceman, which had been available as a gift with purchase. This year, we have a blue spaceman. This may polarise some: he’s playing it straight. It’s not Benny with the broken chinstrap and idiot grin. It’s a classic smiley. And it’s blue. I mean, sure, its kind of acceptable: I was there in the beginning, when LEGO Spacemen were red or white. The set, 40921 Scaled Up Blue Astronaut Minifigure goes on sale on the first of March and will be priced at AUD99.99/ USD59.99/ EURO59.99 and £54.99

The box for this set is around 20% larger than that for the ‘regular’ 40649 upscaled minifigure, released in 2023, and it features the silver ‘Space’ sideband that was everywhere space-like in 2024.

LEGO box featuring a scaled-up blue astronaut minifigure with a smile, set against a space-themed background. The box includes the set number 40921, recommended age 10+, and a total of 793 pieces.
Back of a LEGO box featuring a large blue space-themed minifigure with a smiling face, along with images illustrating its features and a small astronaut model.
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40767 Up-Scaled Space Baby: A good reason to order fresh LEGO?

ramblingbrick GWP, Lego, Review, space , , , , , , ,
A large red LEGO Space Baby figure stands next to smaller pink and blue LEGO minifigures, with a text overlay asking if it's a good reason to buy LEGO.

After weeks of rumor and innuendo, the 40676 Scaled Up Baby Astranaut is going live as a gift with purchase on May 15th, with a purchase threshold of $USD150/€150/Aud 245

A group of LEGO minifigures including an adult astronaut with a communication device, a blue space baby, a pink space baby, and a female astronaut holding a tool, all displayed on a black base.

Space Babies have been a cause of some excitement over the last couple of years – appearing in 2023’s Series 24 minifigures (blue) and series 26 Minifigures (pink) with responsible adults, and also incorporated in to the 31142 Creator 3in1 Space Roller Coaster. While a white figure has appeared in miniature, it maintains a Classic Smiley face, while the babies have additional cuteness added. Will this cuteness survive the transition to a brick built model approximately 6x the size in most directions?

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10360 Shuttle Carrying Aircraft: Rambling Review

ramblingbrick 18+, ICONS, Lego, Review, space , , , , , , , , ,
A person holding a LEGO model of the Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, featuring the Shuttle on top, against a clear blue sky. The image includes text overlaying the model with the title '10360 LEGO ICONS Shuttle Carrier Aircraft: Rambling Review' and the word 'SWOOSH!'

After the conclusion of the Apollo Moon Landing, the public’s interest in Space exploration waned. Then we saw our first images of the next phase of NASA’s manned Space Program: the Prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise being transported on the back of a modified 747, before being released to glide independently for a landing. We knew something exciting was happening.

The 747 subsequently received a a new paint job and was involved in transporting the Space Shuttles from their landing site in California across the country to Florida, in time for the next launch, through to the end of the program in 2011.

While we have seen many sets depicting a space shuttle at this scale or larger, in varying detail ( at least 20 at the most recent count), this is the first time we have seen a LEGO set depicting any variant of the 747 jumbo jet.

So, will this new model inspire us like the Saturn V from LEGO Ideas in 2017 did? Let’s take a closer look. Along the way, we will include some insights from Andy Grubb, one of the design team members who worked on this set.

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10355 Blacktron Renegade Reborn!

ramblingbrick 18+, Lego, Reveal, space , , , , , , , ,

After a seemingly endless parade of Spaceships in 2024, throughout City, Technic, Friends, Classic and Dulplo, it seems that ICONs is trying to scrape through before the 2025 Formula One dominance kicks in. And what a way to go, with a reimagining of the 1987 classic, 6954 Blacktron Renegade. The original version cemented Blacktron’s Bad boy image by its blatant disregard for the symmetrical spaceship design that was the norm in LEGO Space to that date. The new one doubles down and embraces the legacy of the first iteration of Blacktron.

The set will be released on January 1 2025, and comes with 3 minifigures, a droid and 1151 pieces. It will be priced at $AUD179.99/USD99.99/€99.99/£89.99

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Space: but not as I’m used to. 10422 3in1 Space Shuttle Adventure

BrankotheFather duplo, Lego, Review, space , , , , , , ,

Like me, Branko is a long-standing fan of Space LEGO. Today, he looks at a set that is just a little different from the rest of this year’s space offerings…

Growing up with Space LEGO (not yet labelled Classic Space at this time) and a strong love for Science Fiction, especially of the space-faring kind, I was very excited about LEGO’s space-themed push this year. Many themes this year have some sets tagged with the ‘Space’ corner on the box, somehow tied to this central topic. Duplo is no different with 10422 3in1 Space Shuttle Adventure. The box contains 58 pieces and retails for AU$89.99/£59.99/US$59.99/€64.99, which is more than $1 per piece! Clearly, this set cannot be considered by such an ‘AFOL’ standard; we need to consider things a little differently.

What does Duplo offer to the Space realm? We will explore how this set can be enjoyed by older children; the ones who learned to read in a century that started with ’19’. How does it compare to half-sized LEGO (in comparison to Duplo), and why might you consider this set? We will also consider briefly if this set might be enjoyable by children of a new generation: the ones who are currently counting their age in single digits.

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Setting the Scene: Moving from Cardboard Cutout to Polystyrene

ramblingbrick Lego, photography, space , , , , , , , , ,

In which a long weekend craft project gets a little out of hand…

Its allegedly early Autumn here in Melbourne. We just had a long weekend. Associated with three days in a row where the temerature was 38ºC /100 F. So I set about a little craft project. I have found my attempts to review the last few LEGO Space have been stymied somewhat by the lack of space. In particular, the Command Rover and Lifting Crane, along with the Space Bace and Launchpad are both substantial sets.

My Current Cardboard Cutout Planetary background

If you have been following The Rambling Brick for a while, you will have clued into the fact that I enjoy using a bit of cardboard cutout scenery for themes such as Town, castle, Space… and even extending more recently to Ninjago and City.

This time, I am ready for something a little larger. So, for the public holiday, I took on a little project…

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42180 Mars Crew Exploration Rover:Does size matter?

BrankotheFather Lego, Review, space, technic , , , , , , , ,

Today, Branko returns to look at the largest of the LEGO Technic 2024 Space sets. It keeps the white, light grey and reddish orange of City Space sets, but does it fit in? Read on to find out!

This year LEGO is really pushing the space concept across a lot of different themes which reminds us that LEGO plays across borders and you can mix an match to your heart’s content. For Technic it is quite new to offer such a clear connection for play to the minifig scaled worlds of LEGO City and Heartlake City. As we explored recently with 42178 Surface Space Loader, the space themed Technic sets promise to provide a playing platform for minifigs, although no minifigs are included in the sets.

How does this behemoth fit in this idea? Does it integrate nicely with other themes or is the scale not right? Join us on a journey to explore how minifigures and minidolls experience the largest of the Space Technic play-sets released so far, and how this set fares by itself, without minifigs.

The 42180 Mars Crew Exploration Rover contains 1599 pieces (a lot of pins) and retails for AU$ 199.99/£129.99/US$149.99/€149.99, which puts it among the range of largest Technic sets. It is not exactly cheap, even by Technic standards, but there is a lot happening in this set which we will explore further below.

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LEGO Technic Space: 42178 Surface Space Loader LT78

ramblingbrick Lego, Review, space, technic , , , , , , ,

“Two Space Rover sets available priced at AUD49.99/USD34.99” was not on my 2024 Bingo Card! Personally, I was pretty satisfied when 60431 Space Rover and Alien Life came out in January. It gave us a couple of minifigures, some aliens and a really zoomable Rover. Fast forward two months, and I seem to be looking at another Rover – This time, it’s a Technic set, with a similar (give or take connector mins) number of pieces and a similar price. How does 42178: Surface Space Loader LT78 compare with 60431? Do we have interesting mechanisms and playfeatures? Will it still seat a minidoll or minifigure? Join us while we take a look.

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60429 Space Ship and Asteroid discovery: Telling the story in a single frame.

ramblingbrick City, Lego, Review, space , , , , , , , , , , ,

The new City Space sets have a lot going on – between Mechs, Space Stations, ships heading out to the stars and purple crystals all around, there might be some form of narrative developing. But what if this is your first exposure to the ‘seek the resources, mine them and convert them into an energy source’ type of storyline? How do you know what’s going on?

There is one set that clearly tells the mining story in a single frame: the 4+ set 60429 Space Ship and Asteroid. It’s another $30AUD/$20USD set due for release on January 1, 2024.

If you opt to use the increasingly irrelevent metric ‘Price per part’, it lives up to the 4+ reputation : It has around half the pieces of the 60430 Interstellar Spaceship, for the same price. At the same time, this set contains so much of the underlying narrative in such a small package that its real value can never be said to be in doubt. Read on to find out why…

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There is Space for Everyone in 2024’s LEGO Catalogue…

ramblingbrick City, DREAMZZz, friends, Lego, preview, Reveal, space , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Now that December is under way, German retailers Lucky Bricks and JB-Spielwaren have unveiled the majority of releases for January 2024 (and just a couple for March 2024 as well). The LEGO Builder App has got in on the act with these reveals as well, and there seems to be a recurring theme: SPACE. I was a childhood Space fan, and LEGOLAND Space with its red and white astronauts tickled my interest in just the right way back in 1979. Fast forward to 2024 and we see sets featuring LEGO Space Branding on the box, but also across multiple themes. How wide spread? We have seen it across not only City, but also Technic, Duplo, Dreamzzz, Friends, Creator 3in1 and Classic.

The branding takes the form of a diagonal silver cutoff, featuring the Classic Space LOGO with a purple planetoid and a red shuttle swooshing around it, and appears across the featured themes.

Lets Take a look…

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