10497 Galaxy Explorer 90th anniversary set

[Time77]

I want to see the alternate universe where space won the vote and: the GWP was space related, the space set was 400 bucks, and the castle set was 100 bucks; the galaxy explorer is great, but the other possibilities are intriguing.

I also wonder what those sets are. They've certainly been designed (at least partially) because the instructions say that the 10497 has been in devlopment since 2013... Meaning, the models are at least partially designed, but currently shelved.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Time77

[jonwil]

32 minutes ago, Operacion Saturno said:

The extra black airtank on set 10497 shuold be Dark Purple!

I think it should have been light bley (to match the light grey airtanks in the original set)

Black was likely chosen since it was already in production for the creator 3-in-1 submarine.

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by jonwil

[RichardGoring]

1 hour ago, Time77 said:

I want to see the alternate universe where space won the vote and: the GWP was space related, the space set was 400 bucks, and the castle set was 100 bucks; the galaxy explorer is great, but the other possibilities are intriguing.

I also wonder what those sets are. They've certainly been designed (at least partially) because the instructions say that the 10497 has been in devlopment since 2013... Meaning, the models are at least partially designed, but currently shelved.

I'm very pleased it was this way round though. For a castle to be impressive, it probably needs to have mass. They already have a $100 castle in production, so we know what it would be like in terms of scale and scope. You either make it more detailed and smaller (which would be cool, but leave you wanting so much more), or do something castle-related, like the blacksmith, but it would be smaller than the blacksmith and so again, probably leave you wanting. Maybe a wizards tower would work? Or a fortified bridge? But it's somewhat niche in comparison with a full-on castle.

For space on the other hand, you have what is probably the ultimate space set that's brilliantly executed for $100. If you spent more, you wouldn't get a bigger spaceship - it would be too much. You'd just get more, like some extra craft, or maybe a moon base, or some ground buggies. And while those would be cool (and would also have been great candidates for a GWP), none of them really grab you as being must haves.

For me, they've got it spot on. Both sets are perfectly formed and capture the attention and imagination of buyers/builders.

None of which is to say that they couldn't build on these with more from the range in the next year or two...

[AmperZand]

11 hours ago, mostlytechnic said:

Built it over the weekend and love it (have an original 497 here as well to display with it). However, WHY oh WHY did they use a 1x2 yellow plate in the nose? It's the only one in the whole set and it's visible under the 2x6 grey tile. Grey or black would have been much less ugly when they peek out there. 

Completely agree. I replaced it with a light bley piece. That’s just one of a number of tweaks I’ve made.

[Time77]

On 8/7/2022 at 8:06 PM, RichardGoring said:

I'm very pleased it was this way round though. For a castle to be impressive, it probably needs to have mass. They already have a $100 castle in production, so we know what it would be like in terms of scale and scope. 

You should consider how (reasonably) "fairly priced the 10497 is though. The 100 dollar castle would probably more detailed than the kid-oriented one we have currently

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If you spent more, you wouldn't get a bigger spaceship - it would be too much. You'd just get more, like some extra craft, or maybe a moon base, or some ground buggies. And while those would be cool (and would also have been great candidates for a GWP), none of them really grab you as being must haves.

I dunno... a 400 dollar spaceship is something I wanna see; I've been hit with the "giant spaceship bug" ever since I saw the blue beast (at least what was completed).

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None of which is to say that they couldn't build on these with more from the range in the next year or two...

Would be spectacular; hope the galaxy explorer (as well as the castle) sells well because I want more sets like the galaxy explorer... Big, cool, pre-star wars style ships

Edited August 9, 2022 by Time77

[jodawill]

I don't think I'd like a $400 spaceship. That would just be too big. I haven't built this set yet, but to me, it looks like the largest scale that would look good and be fun to play with.

I've been wondering what a $400 moon base would look like. I just can't picture it. I don't think this set lends itself to $400 sets. There's nothing wrong with that. Small sets are a lot of fun. I'd love to see more classic space sets in the $100 and below price range. Some $20 sets would be amazing. They really knocked it out of the park with Benny's Space Squad (except for the blue and pink minifigures in my opinion). I really enjoyed the small ship that came with it. Something slightly larger than that would be fantastic.

I did get a look at the box after it arrived at my parents's house (for safekeeping until Christmas). It's gorgeous. The box for 10305 isn't a very pretty one for displaying because it's so large. (An accompanying poster would have been nice though.) Forest Hideout and Galaxy Explorer have beautiful boxes, and their dimensions just give them the perfect sleek appearance. I'd love to see these longer boxes make a big comeback. They're so much more attractive.

[Warbinator]

The Millennium Falcon is an $800 Lego spaceship. I’d love to see what a Classic Space capitol ship about half that size would look like. It would definitely be more of a display piece than a play model. No swooshing allowed. But the amount of detail it could have, from crew quarters, an engine room, science lab, a full bridge… it could be great. 
 

I could also envision a $400 monorail set that provides transportation around a bustling late 1980s, early 1990s spaceport. You’d have different factions and lots of minifigs just like you do for the Lion Knights Castle. You’d have the Futuron astronauts crewing the Monorail itself. M-Tron would be conducting mining operations in a cave beneath the spaceport. Space Police would have a precinct and a small patrol craft. Blacktron would be lurking in the shadows. Ice Planet researchers would be visiting to exchange technology.

[jonwil]

If they did more Space, I want to see something Blacktron, they were essentially the "bad guys" back then.

 

[Black Knight]

Yeah, Blacktron-Monorail! But a monorail for the Blacktrons to rob would be super awesome, too. TLG had the chance to do this with a Star Wars license for the Han-Solo-Film, but well...

[Lyichir]

9 hours ago, jodawill said:

I don't think I'd like a $400 spaceship. That would just be too big. I haven't built this set yet, but to me, it looks like the largest scale that would look good and be fun to play with.

I've been wondering what a $400 moon base would look like. I just can't picture it. I don't think this set lends itself to $400 sets. There's nothing wrong with that. Small sets are a lot of fun. I'd love to see more classic space sets in the $100 and below price range. Some $20 sets would be amazing. They really knocked it out of the park with Benny's Space Squad (except for the blue and pink minifigures in my opinion). I really enjoyed the small ship that came with it. Something slightly larger than that would be fantastic.

I did get a look at the box after it arrived at my parents's house (for safekeeping until Christmas). It's gorgeous. The box for 10305 isn't a very pretty one for displaying because it's so large. (An accompanying poster would have been nice though.) Forest Hideout and Galaxy Explorer have beautiful boxes, and their dimensions just give them the perfect sleek appearance. I'd love to see these longer boxes make a big comeback. They're so much more attractive.

When I think of a "premium"-priced moonbase, one of the major improvements I can think of would be detailed brick-built landscaping (and possibly a brick-built landing platform for 10497 as well). Perhaps it could have multiple areas linked by a monorail (or more likely, a different rail system) as well. Still, even with those kinds of features I don't know if $400 would be necessary—something like the $200 Pirates of Barracuda Bay set would be plenty impressive!

[RichardGoring]

58 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

When I think of a "premium"-priced moonbase, one of the major improvements I can think of would be detailed brick-built landscaping (and possibly a brick-built landing platform for 10497 as well). Perhaps it could have multiple areas linked by a monorail (or more likely, a different rail system) as well. Still, even with those kinds of features I don't know if $400 would be necessary—something like the $200 Pirates of Barracuda Bay set would be plenty impressive!

Agreed. An extra $100 on a moonbase would be cool. But, the thing to consider for LEGO is whether it's twice as good for twice the money? In fact, it would probably have to be more than twice as good, because there are fewer people happy to spend $200 on a set than $100.

And a moonbase feels like it would much easier to MOC. If they only do one set, then a 3in1 like this is perfect. Of course, other small bits - perhaps as part of a modular moonbase - would be awesome.

[technicfanatic]

I did bags 4 and 5

Spoiler

Another Red Spaceman!

This was the Aha! bag, where a lot of the odd building choices in bag 1 came together and I understood why each and every piece was as it was. Especially the mysterious use of that white circle. It is a work of art that only the builder knows about, since panels cover everything!

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by technicfanatic

[icm]

At $100, I was happy to get three copies for myself and one to give away (two from Lego, two from Walmart), but if the set had been priced at $200 or $250 in order to include a landing pad and a moonbase I would not have been willing to buy extra copies.  So Lego got more money from me by making a single, perfect, affordable, spaceship than they would have if they'd included the other content.  For me, 90% of the playability of the set would be in the spaceship, so the other content would not be "twice as good for twice the money."  For comparison, I got one copy of the $200 Barracuda Bay for me and one to give away, and I only got one copy of the $200 Space Shuttle Discovery.  As far as I'm concerned, the strategy of just releasing the single spaceship at a good price point, with two sets of extra instructions, was brilliant marketing.

[jodawill]

I'm really happy with this price point also. I'm glad it's cheaper because I can buy multiple copies.

I still don't think a large base would fit with the classic space theme. But I could see them doing it with other themes, especially Ice Planet 2002. A monorail would be amazing too. Those things just don't fit the aesthetics of the original space theme in my opinion. But I would definitely be down for large space sets in general. It's surprising to me that they still haven't brought back the monorail. People would go nuts over that.

[Lyichir]

Oh, I absolutely think they did the right thing in focusing on the ship, especially given that it makes it easier to get multiples for the alternate models. But I do think a standalone moonbase set (that can be dedicated fully to that purpose) would be a natural follow-up, if this does well.

I don't think the classic monorail system is likely to ever come back, for reasons that have been discussed a thousand times. But I think the roller coaster track would provide a great substitute if they wanted to have a moonbase with its own integrated transit (not unlike the short brick-built monorail in 6970).

[jodawill]

18 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Oh, I absolutely think they did the right thing in focusing on the ship, especially given that it makes it easier to get multiples for the alternate models. But I do think a standalone moonbase set (that can be dedicated fully to that purpose) would be a natural follow-up, if this does well.

I don't think the classic monorail system is likely to ever come back, for reasons that have been discussed a thousand times. But I think the roller coaster track would provide a great substitute if they wanted to have a moonbase with its own integrated transit (not unlike the short brick-built monorail in 6970).

Yeah, I think the roller coaster track would be great. I think there was also something similar in the base for Ice Planet 2002 if I recall correctly. But imagine having a big moon base with a roller coaster track going up around a mountain on another planet with some kind of wheel system to bring the up to the top - maybe some kind of mining operation. That would be a really cool $400 set.

[TeriXeri]

I wonder if LEGO would make some terrain of a classic space planet, that it would be Grey, or Light Yellow or Tan , either way, it will be a different grey from the old baseplates.

I know grey ships on grey terrain is the original, but when looking at Barracuda Bay, Lion's Knight Castle etc, those all use very different terrain and water colors.

 

Of course parts of the base infrastructure could still be grey, especially something that would reference an old space road baseplate with yellowish orange stripes.

 

Even before this 90th anniversary, many references to the classic space terrain are yellow planets , as is the logo gold or yellow , the only exception was Benny's Space Squad, and the latest 10497 is more sand/tan color and not as yellow.

 

As for actual planet terrain LEGO made outside of Star Wars, 2019 / 2022 used Mainly Dark Tan for Mars rocks and stuck with a mix of grey for the Moon, but for something fictional, it doesn't have to be either of those.

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by TeriXeri

[jonwil]

The roller coaster track would be perfect for a new Space monorail type thing. They used it to great effect in the 2019 Friends resort set for example.

 

[danth]

21 hours ago, Lyichir said:

But I think the roller coaster track would provide a great substitute if they wanted to have a moonbase with its own integrated transit (not unlike the short brick-built monorail in 6970).

I would love to see a re-imagining of 6970 with the new track; it's an amazing set.

I finished the alt build for 918 (One Man Space Ship) last night! It's just amazing. I did a similar mod to @icm to get the pilot & steering while upright. Pretty trivial mod.

But I noticed the Technic brick used to hold on the main thruster is red! And the red is very visible from the back. There's another red brick used in the removable antenna unit that is also visible. I can't remember if others complained about this...did they? The weirdest part is there are blue versions of both bricks that aren't used! So I just swapped them out for blue, solving the problem. But why didn't the instructions use the blue bricks? Weird!

Also...boy is it tougher to build the alts! I had a hard time finding a few of the smaller parts. Can't go by bag number. And I didn't really have enough room to sort all the pieces out ahead of time...there are a lot!

Edited August 10, 2022 by danth

[technicfanatic]

I did bag 6

Spoiler

This seemed like a busy bag for some reason and was also a "goodie bag". It had the last spaceman, all the computer panels, the canopies, and the windows. Here we get to build the airlock, which is very cleverly made and seated, and we put instruments all over the ship. It wasn't a straight up "build this part of the ship now" thing, and the instructions were thoughtfully done, with each mini-assembly being shown with an arrow to indicate where they went.

 

[Lyichir]

Got my copy in today and just finished building it! Really enjoyable build process and a great finished product.

There was one issue my set had that I figured I'd mention. The printing on this part seems to be a bit off-register on both of the ones in my copy of the set—the red square button isn't aligned with the other three green buttons. It's a minor issue but it is noticeable. Has anybody else with the set had this issue? I'm wondering whether it'd be worth contacting customer service for new ones.

[icm]

 Now that you mention it, that seems to be the case on those parts from my copies of the set too.

[danth]

Yup, same here! And the other computer tile has a blue dot out of place. Didn't notice either issues until now.

[technicfanatic]

55 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Got my copy in today and just finished building it! Really enjoyable build process and a great finished product.

There was one issue my set had that I figured I'd mention. The printing on this part seems to be a bit off-register on both of the ones in my copy of the set—the red square button isn't aligned with the other three green buttons. It's a minor issue but it is noticeable. Has anybody else with the set had this issue? I'm wondering whether it'd be worth contacting customer service for new ones.

Good observation! I checked mine and one of my tiles has the red square maybe 2mm too low. 

[LegoFjotten]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:19 PM, Navy Trooper Fenson said:

The files are ready.  https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-119187/BigJudge/1-galaxy-explorer-10497-2-alternate-models-additional-parts/#parts

When you use 1 set to build both alt models you will need to get 340 parts additionally and 261 parts would be left over.

Looks like the file is gone, is it still available somewhere? Just got my second copy of the Galaxy Explorer today :D