Okay, now let’s finally take a crack at the real, full, genuine, deluxe Galaxy Explorer.
For the sake of getting everyone on the same page, here is the original set:
It’s main gimmicks are as follows:
- It has four minifigures, which is quite a bit more than you usually got in a set of this size
- You can fit all four figures inside (though it’s cramped. You can’t, for example, put them all in the cockpit)
- It has a rover
- The rover can be stored in the rear cargo hold
- I think it has tiny lab/living quarters inside the cargo hold (it’s hard to tell because I couldn’t find any good interior shots of the hold)
- It comes with a landing pad with a little radar station
For comparison, here is what the modern set can do:
- It has four replica minifigures in the same colors
- All four figures can now fit in the cockpit, and they even get their own seats and computer displays
- It still has a rover
- The rover still fits in the rear cargo hold, but now there’s a gimmick that lets the floor drop down, which causes the rover to automatically roll down and out of the ship
- The lab/living quarters is now much bigger, and includes actual beds, computer displays, and even an airlock to keep it separated from the cargo hold
- It does not come with a landing pad or radar station, but it does come with a replica of a tiny robot that comes from another old Space set.
- It has retractable landing gear
- It has a second openable hatch.
While I’m sad to see the loss of the terrestrial accouterments, it’s nice to see all the on-ship gimmicks are expanded upon.
I’m going to try and chronicle the build as best as possible. If I ever do this again, I’m going to write down what I’m trying to highlight with each photo, because right now I’m honestly struggling to remember what’s significant about each of these shots.
This is essentially the skeleton of the ship. Everything is going to be built on top of it.
Just like with the previous build, notice how it uses lots of different colors of bricks, presumably to make it easier to figure out where everything goes.
Signs of the cockpit, as well as the (unfortunate) flat pieces that smooth out the studs around the edges of the ship.
The ship’s a bit like a pie, with the colorful pieces as the filling, and the outer hull being the crust.
I appreciate the large, classic Space logo right by the hatch.
Here is a shot of the living quarters in the back, complete with two beds.
Now the two hatches are attached. I probably tried stacking two hatches like this as a kid, but never came close to making it look this natural.
This is probably the neatest thing on this set. They use bricks - and nothing but bricks - to create an arrow in the side of the ship. Now to be fair, that white pentagon piece is fairly specialized and not something you see very often, but the arrow shape built into the wall itself is still very impressive:
Here is the rear cargo hold, complete with the sliding airlock and the platform for the rover:
It’s quite a large space for any sort of Lego spaceship, but what I really want to focus on is the gimmick that lowers the platform and releases the rover. Simply put, there’s a smooth, flat floor that can pull out and down. This creates a downward angle/downward ramp for the rover to roll down. It’s a clever idea in theory, but in practice it’s a bit flimsy. The smooth floor can pull out of the ship all too easily; if I were playing with this set, I don’t think I’d be using this gimmick very often.
Let’s wrap up by looking at some of the accessories and accoutrements. First, here are the minifigs:
It doesn’t get any more old school than this. The plain smiley faces, the lack of face shields, etc. Personally, I’m not a fan of the face shield-less look, but I understand that it was the style of the era.
Here is the rover:
It’s very small and very simple. I understand that this is necessary in order to get it to fit into the cargo hold, but still. It feels underwhelming.
Here is the robot:
The robot was not part of the original Galaxy Explorer, but instead comes from another, later set (I can’t remember which). It’s cute, and it looks (intentionally?) a bit like a walking coffee machine.
The ship’s engines have seats on them, so that the minifigures can ride around on them:
It’s an unnecessary gimmick, but I guess it is cute.
Finished Build
Here is the final Galaxy Explorer:
As you can (hopefully) tell, it’s big. But just in case you want another frame of reference, here it is next to a High Grade Gunpla:
So it’s pretty tall too.
Conclusion
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this thing.
As an homage to my favorite era of Lego design, it sort of works. The minifigures, the yellow hatches, and some of the computer screens are all on point, but at the same time, the size and sleekness of the ship is not.
As a playable toy, it works if kept in place, but can’t easily be picked up and flown.
And as a building experience, it was almost all misery.
Really, this is the crux of the problem with Adult Lego sets. They work pretty great as setpieces, but they’re not really toys, nor are they really fun to build. And if you ask me, that means that they miss the point.
Listen, I love being nostalgic for some things, and I’m not above buying products that tickle that nostalgia. But there are certain things that really feel like they exist in their best form when they’re targeted towards children. For instance Pokemon games, or Disney parks. Or Lego.
Lego sets should be played with. They should be taken apart and rebuilt. Or built into something new. They shouldn’t take an entire day to build (since less time building means you’re more likely to deconstruct and reconstruct to your heart’s content). It’s not stretch to say that the most enjoyment I got out of this build was watching my kids play with the One Man Spaceship variant after I finished it. I took a video, and it’s already one of my favorite moments of watching the two of them play together.
For that video alone, I don’t regret this purchase. But if it wasn’t for that, I probably would. It’s going to look great on a shelf somewhere, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever consider it worth the time and effort and cost.
Oh well. Back to Gunpla then.