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Set 10191
895 Pieces
$99.95 from The LEGO Store (Glendale, CA)
Build time 3.0 hours
Imagine my surprise when I entered my local LEGO store and saw 10191 Star Justice sitting on the shelf. The store manager (Elizabeth) said they just arrived. Immediately discarding my plan of finally buying Town Plan and the Motorized AT-AT during the double stamp week, I made a b-line for the new arrivals section and grabbed both 10191 and 10192 intending to relive my glory days of Classic Space sets from the late ‘70s.
In my mind, I replayed the previous evening review of the Eurobricks forums and did not recall seeing anything about these sets being available now. I had thought they were slated for late April. Could I have stumbled into some space-time vortex causing these sets to be delivered a month in advance? Perhaps the more pressing question is could the Eurobricks community tolerate two more of my mindless reviews? Oh, the humanity!
The Box:
Interestingly, the box is eerily similar to the Market Street box in both size and appearance. It gives the appearance of a compact and sturdy box that is packed with LEGO goodness.
The back of the box is identical to 10192 and shows models from both sets:
Here is what we get inside:
As you can see, we have 11 bags, 2 manuals and the DDS (dreaded sticker sheet).
The Manuals:
As is the norm lately, we have two very high quality manuals with all the features we have come to expect:
- Piece callouts
- Models divided into sections
- Large images
- Page numbers
The manuals were 52 and 46 pages
Parts list
Random manual shot
The Pieces:
The pieces and color selection really brought me back to the days of Classic Space. The grey, white and blue pieces really work well together. There are a lot of small pieces in this set. Notable pieces include the 1x1 sloped tile, tractor tires, 3 different sizes of radar dishes and lots of robot arms. I didn’t notice any new pieces but I’m not normally one to immediately pick up on these things.
Of course, we can’t go too far in this discussion without mentioning the Dreaded Sticker Sheet:
I had read about this in the other thread and needless to say the topic has been beat to death. Clearly it was a LEGO decision and there is not much we can do about it. I should point out that there are a few printed elements in the set (1x4 tiles, some 2x2 round tiles and 2x2 slopes).
As far as applying the stickers, I am normally adroit in my day to day activities but whenever I come within 10 feet (or meters) of any LEGO sticker sheet my dexterity drops about 10 points and I fail my saving throw every time (hopefully there are some old school D&D players out there who get my lame attempts at humor.)
This is especially the case when applying these tiny little stickers on the 1x2 modified tiles:
Of course, there was much consternation about the stickers on the minifigs. Again, it was a LEGO decision. The good news is it gives quite a bit of latitude for people to make up their own designs as many have done. Here is a photo of a minifig with the sticker on the torso and a 2x2 tile with sticker:
Even with my ineptness, I think it looks fine.
Here is what is left over:
The Minifigs:
We get four minifigs in this set plus we get to build four more robots.
Here are the minifigs:
Opps, here is the real photo:
And once you apply the decals:
And our little Cylon, errr I mean, robot friends:
Too bad we don’t get the little air tanks and walkie talkies with these guys:
The Build:
The build was broken down into several smaller builds which makes the progress move along briskly. There were no gotchas or any difficulties. There are a number of cool building techniques that really update the feel of the Classic Space vehicles. I’ll cover those in the Design section below.
The Design:
I think the designer (Chris Giddens) did a great job of creating that Classic Space feel of the set while updating the vehicles with some new design and techniques. Here are some examples:
We have our little scout ship here:
Notice the use of the robot arms for the landing gear and how they fold up under the hull. Yes, those are printed tiles on the vents (2x2 round tiles) but a sticker on the 2x2 tile control panel. Also note the wheel rims for the engine and nice use of the slopes all over. Finally, we have some SNOT techniques as well.
How about the interceptor:
Lots of nice techniques and design here. The detail is outstanding. Check out the interior during the build:
And the view from below:
Next we have my favorite, the transport:
Check out the detail on the side cannons, the side rail in the truck bed and the independent steering on the rear tires. Even the tailgate lowers. Cool stuff!
Finally, we have the mission control base. Typical of the Classic Space sets you have a building of some sort with some ancillary devices (rocket launcher, laser cannon, mining facility, radar dish, etc.) and this set does not disappoint. You pretty much get it all.
View from the front:
Adjacent power generator/shield generator/nuclear device/whatever you want to call it (nice detailing though):
Radar, laser, missile launcher:
Heavy weapons storage:
Those of you who like to complain about non-airtight compartments and facilities will be miffed to see the entire rear of the control tower is lacking a wall. Do not despair as you can easily add a couple of windows and you will be all set:
Here are some additional cargo items:
The entire lineup:
Overall Thoughts:
I was very excited to see this announced a month or so ago. I’ve always been a fan of the Classic Space sets. This set does a great job of bringing you back to that era and updating some of the designs. I think there is definitely room for a revival of Classic Space to co-exist with Mars Mission and Star Wars.
These vehicles are very swooshable and have high playability. The parts selection is good and has lots of reusability. There are a lot of small parts but not so many larger plates or bricks. You will need to tap into your additional parts stock if you’re looking to build the next Galaxy Explorer. Chris does a great job in adding little details to the vehicles and really has a good grasp of the Classic Space feel.
I think people can live with the stickers, but the $100 (US) price is going to turn off some folks. It seems whenever I play around with LEGO Digital Designer my creations are always 2x the price I expect it to be. I kind of get that feel with this set especially with the large number of small parts. I also feel that in some ways the design was cut a few times (at LEGO’s request). Seems like this was discussed on the previous thread as well. No doubt if Chris gave us what he really, really wanted the price would be much higher.
Overall, it is a great set and a great return to the Classic Space era.
Final Rating: 84%
Build 10/10 (Excellent – Quick and smooth build.)
Minifigs 8/10 (Nice, would have liked to see some accessories and perhaps different color suits)
Design 10/10 (Excellent – Really captures the feel of Classic Space and updates it nicely.)
Parts 8/10 (Good. Somewhat limited by LDD and a lot of little parts.)
Price 6/10 (Price ratio is lower than expected. Seems overpriced.)
