885-1: Space Scooter, 1979. One of the smallest Classic Space sets. Blue round bricks stuck in a fence for engines. Maybe too simple.
Month: January 2017
442: Space Shuttle
442-1: Space Shuttle, 1979. Room for two, dual steering wheels, jets, positioning thrusters, computer, laser gun, and antenna. Simple, swooshable.
462: Mobile Rocket Launcher
462-1: Mobile Rocket Launcher, 1978. Two astronauts, vehicle, trailer, rocket, computer console, and radar dish for tracking. Simple yet functional.
The LEGO Space Project
LEGO was my favorite toy as a child. That lasted up until the point that I discovered video games and computers. My favorite LEGO theme was Space (now referred to as “Classic Space”) although I only ever had a few early sets from 1978 to 1980.
Last year I discovered the websites Brickset and BrickLink. For the uninitiated both sites catalog pretty much every LEGO set ever released. Brickset has user reviews, links to online instructions, and nicer set images. BrickLink has comprehensive part inventories for every set as well as a worldwide marketplace of people with parts or sets for sale. All of a sudden I could not only find the name of some set I had always wanted as a child, but could find a way to buy it (or the parts needed to build it) and obtain the building instructions!
The set that started all this interest was a 1980 set that I had seen in catalog pages and really wanted. I had even saved up money and gone to toy stores to buy it, but never found it in stock. That set was Mobile Lab (6901). The transparent green windows and the articulated arm ending in a shovel/scoop fascinated me. It all looked so futuristic and scientific.
Well, thirty six years later I finally picked up that LEGO set and it did not disappoint. All these intervening years I never knew what else LEGO did with its Space theme after 1980. I was unaware of the golden age of LEGO space from 1987-1993 when new sub themes were introduced that were arguably better than anything produced during the “Classic Space” period of 1978-1987.
I enjoy sharing these older sets with my son who is now the same age as I was when my interest in LEGO was at its peak. Today’s sets offer many new parts and colors as well as content from licensed themes (superheroes, Star Wars, etc), but I appreciate the simplicity and design of these earlier sets that perhaps left more to the imagination.
I’ve decided to try and build all the LEGO Space sets that interest me in chronological order by release year. That will be every space set from 1978 through 1999 – over 2 decades of LEGO Space.
Update: I’ve been posting photos and a short 140-character synopsis of each set to Twitter as I build them, but I will also do a blog post with each year’s sets.
First Stop: Space 1978
Then:
Space 1979
Space 1980
Space 1981
Space 1982
Space 1983
Space 1984
Space 1985
Space 1986
Space 1987
Space 1988
Space 1989
Space 1990
To Be Continued…
