feanor

I have on display for 2-3 years a white model based on the 1996 Exploriens Starship. I keep it most of the time away from direct sunlight and it hasn't yellowed at all. I think white (and other light coloured) bricks tend to yellow only under continuous exposure to direct sunlight. If you can protect your Legos, I think it shouldn't be a problem. I have also seen the 10212 Imperial Shuttle displayed at a Lego store and I was impressed. To me it also felt considerably larger than what I had thought. The price may look steep but when you see it in flesh you realize why. Even with UCS standards this thing looks really adult, maybe because the building technique doesn't leave many studs visible. It's one of the best Legos I've ever seen, no doubt about it. I may be getting it one day.

Right! Finally the second wave of SP3 is available in Germany and I bought -right when I saw it in a Lego store- my (too) long anticipated 5983 -Undercover Cruiser. I cannot say that it exceeded my expectations, because they were too high, but it is still very good! I was surprised by the smooth 'automatic' rotation of the wings, when one performs the transformation. I was also pleased to see that tilting the rear part down is obviously meant to act as a support for landing. In this case the vessel does not stay 100% parallel to the ground but the angle is almost negligible (and it is a toy, for a toy it's very, very well thought through!). I will start soon though with the construction of a landing stand as it was my plan (thanks again, Toa Of Justice for the idea) to have the ship properly displayed. I made a quick first effort and it is a very easy task. I am already contemplating of buying also the Lunar Limo and the SP Central...

I wish we got one day a UCS type of Sci-Fi set, something for an adult audience. But I cannot see any big market for TLC to bring something like this in production anywhere soon :-/ However in the imaginary case they did, I would like an abstract spaceship, something like a 7644 MX-81 Hypersonic Operations Aircraft or a 7674 Star Wars V-19 Torrent.

Looks very professional for a first design, wow... ...and attractive, too

What a great review Rufus!!! I am not a City specialist as I buy almost exclusively Space but I think if I ever wanted to feel like 10 years old again, I would choose this set. I think the concept is great! A classic City set in every aspect but strongly influenced by the experience Lego has gathered from the Creator Houses and the Modular Houses. It was a necessary addition to City. I hope we will soon see more styles of City houses, maybe a block of flats or something?

'Fair comment', Artanis I, even though I pretty surely remember that you also value a lot spaciousness? I can only comment on your unbiased way of thinking and judging of my comments, many thanks!

so, that's the difference, I counted the length of the Exploriens Starship without the buggy, because in display I have it without it. Haha, it always seems funny to me when you people talk about the spaciousness of a spaceship as the defining criteria, as if you organize parties in there Honestly speaking, the Galactic Enforcer is not packed with features, but hmm... it still does more than the Cosmic Fleet Voyager and is much more detailed. At least if you compared it with a really feature rich spaceship, like the Mission Commander or the Deep Freeze Defender, then I would understand your point. But then again the aforementioned feature-rich spaceships suffer from almost complete lack of space, so I guess that wouldn't satisfy you either. I think the Galactic Enforcer is a good compromise between features and spaciousness.

sooooo much better than the original

Do you also count the hanging baggy on the overall length of the Exploriens Starship?

Hey, I'm also puzzled by your statement. I am pretty sure that the Galactic Enforcer is the longest spaceship TLC ever made (excluding Star Wars sets, we are talking about Space Proper here), actually it's a bit longer than the previous big spaceship, the 6982 - Exploriens Starship. Honestly speaking, already the Galactic Enforcer is borderline for children, if it were any bigger they wouldn't be able to lift it...

Looks great! Who is the fisherman under the hat? And how did you make his legs look bent?

I'm in awe... of how much money people spend on MOCs... these things must have cost a fortune!!! Anyway, they all look great. The Futuron version is my favorite though, white and trans. blue is the most space-like combination for me.

And this: and this: looked also better than roboforce. I actually owned a 6940 - Alien Moon Stalker as a child and it was great!

Whether successors of the Space Police or not the fact is that Unitron was a poor theme; only four sets, a ground vehicle with peculiar wheel arrangement and a generic space station which was a copy of the Spyrius station, which in turn was a simplified version of the Ice Planet 2002 station, which in turn was also very similar to the older Blacktron and Futuron stations. And then this Star Hawk II, which was a mess; great plan view marred by those mountain-like side... thingies and a colourful, sparkly mosaic of a tail to complement the cheesiness of the set. I tend to believe that these sets were not designed by the same designers working at Lego headquarters but they must have been commissioned to some others especially to develop the theme for the American market. The exchangeable cockpits that were the core of theme did not bring again anything new to the table because by 1995 they were extremely common since the days of classic Space and Blacktron I and II.

Hmm... Because usually an agency is using a specific colour combination for all its operations. From a practical point of view, a unified colour combination, makes products (Lego toys too) easier identifiable by the customer. And most importantly, if one theme uses strictly a specific colour combination, it's easier to combine the sets for larger MOCs...

My Top 5 list: 1. Futuron: After the already excellent Classic Space era, the Futurons introduced a unified family identity, many futuristic designs that influenced all Space themes thereafter and a very space-like colour combination. Designs like the Stardefender 200 look great even with today's standards (I think it puts into shame even modern similarly sized spaceships like eg. the VX-Facon) and space bases like the Cosmic Laser Launcher set the pace for pretty much all bases that followed. And let's not forget the Monorail Transport system. 2. Space Police I: Tmho the best colour combination (though less space like than Futuron, or SP III) and very aesthetic and clever designs. 3. Blacktron I: Similarly to Futuron and Space Police I, the Blacktrons had their own unique identity and some great designs. The interchangeable parts were also very well resolved. 4. Classic Space: Well, it's classic... Only the Galaxy Explorer and the Galaxy Commander are good enough reasons, I think. 5. Hmmm... I'm torn between Mars Mission and Space Police III: Apart from the nasty aliens and boring astronauts, the second year of Mars Mission brought many gems, like eg. the MX-81 Hypersonic Operations Aircraft, the MT-61 Crystal Reaper or the ETX Alien Infiltrator. I think Space Police III is a bit more conventional and a bit uninspired in direct comparison, but it comes with better colours, better minifigs and consistent designs.

and what would be the problem of using the same colour palette in all sets?

My Top 5 list of the worst Sci-Fi themes (only Lego Space subthemes are included): 1. Life on Mars: What was that? The worst way of reintroducing an ailing theme. Maybe the reason was that by that time Lego Space was long dead and Life on Mars was trying to capitalise on the interest of the then ongoing Mars exploration rather than on the past success of Lego Space, but still... 2. Roboforce: Where do I start from? The uncoordinated colours? The <insert that tiresome argument> design that looked like a haphazard pile of bricks? Every 10 year old child MOC would look better than these random robots. 3. Unitron: Underdeveloped theme, re-warmed and re-served ideas (and not even the best ones) from past Space themes. And one more comment; if Unitron where the Space Police replacing military group to protect Ice Planet 2002 civilians from the evil Spyrius, how did they make this evident? No prison pods, no insignia, no way to show their function or position in the Lego Space Universe. 4. Insectoids: Nice try but already the idea that alien civilizations would look like terrestrial insects seems very tacky to me. I think possibly to children too. 5. Spyrius: Blackton I and II were well concieved subthemes with strong family identities. Their replacement, Spyrius was uncoordinated in colours (some canopies where trans-blue, others trans-red, why?) and a bit random. Apart from their evil facial expressions, I cannot feel any evilness in their design. Tmho Mars Mission and Space Police III do not capture 100% the spirit of the 80's and early 90's Lego Space but still they are much better than the mid to late 90's subthemes.

Grr...! And in Germany the 2010 SP III sets are still nowhere to be found! It seems that they will come eventually, as they have appeared on online shop lists but with mentioned availability around August to October.. why?!!!

haha, I never realized this subtle difference... I always thought it was 'fraction'! It made sense to my foreign mind. Thank you for correcting me Artanis I

I agree. I would prefer a nice remake of another old fraction... like Blacktron 3 for an example. 'Rench' from 5981 Raid VRP is hinting that Blacktron are starting recruiting aliens!

I cannot see anything interesting on this set... The look of this base is typical generic mid-90's Space base, with a quarter dome, like the 6983 Ice Station Odyssey or the 6959 Lunar Launch site, it feels repetitive. I also don't see any innovative function like e.g. the similar in size but much older 6953 Cosmic Laser Launcher. By the time Unitron appeared, Lego Space was already well exhausted. And I guess that back then the Unitron fraction was created to put the new monorail in some context, and the other sets of the theme were only filler.

Hopefully yes, but I have a hunch it won't... Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll see another Space theme.

Hmmpf! I miss the Undercover Cruiser in this ad. Let's hope it's coming up!

Generally I agree but the difference in Star Wars is that inevitably the theme will die out (like any other lisenced theme) as there are no new designs to be interpreted from Lego, without this necessarily meaning that Science Fiction/Space exploration will simultaneously become unpopular. I am no child of course but for me it would be hard to imagine a Lego line-up with no spaceships anymore. It would be a first after almost 35 years. Let us hope it won't be the case.