Space 1989

New Parts

Minifigure, Space Police 1

Wheel Hard Plastic Large (54mm D. x 30mm)

Windscreen 10 x 4 x 2 1/3 Canopy

Evolution of black-suited astronauts (left-to-right): Classic Space, Futuron, Space Police 1.

Astro Dart (1620)

Features: Cute simple scooter with adjustable wings and thrusters piloted by a yellow astronaut.

Thoughts: I like the printed 1 x 1 tiles used to decorate the wings.

Lunar MPV Vehicle (1621)

Features: Articulated truck comes with a blue astronaut and a brick-built robot companion.

Thoughts: I quite like this bilaterally asymmetrical little truck.

Lunar MPV has a very cool steering mechanism that was only ever used in one other space set. Bonus points for upside down building.

Astro Dart and Lunar MPV were sold packaged together as “Space Combi-Pack”

Star Quest (1974)

Features: Cool flyer with movable wings, four hover pads, and a single astronaut.

Thoughts: I like the pair of printed 1 x 1 tiles on the wings and the reappearance of the slope with Classic Space logo for the nose. This was the only set where the black Futuron astronaut appeared with a white helmet instead of black.

Star Quest came packaged with Town (Flyer Cracker USA) and Castle (Smuggler’s Hayride) sets.

SP-Striker (6781)

Features: Mid-sized Space Police ship with electric lighting. Inner core slides out to form a smaller ship. Detachable jail cell with Blacktron prisoner.

Thoughts: This is my favorite of all the Space sets that used the 9V lighting system. The glowing computer panel slope is an especially nice touch. The new windscreen part is used with a canopy extender to elongate its shape even further. The jail cells are neat.

Blinky lights. There are actually only 3 light bulbs: one for the computer and two to power the horizontal light bar. The light bar comprises two passive spreaders (with three front-facing prisms each) and two transparent red 1 x 6 bricks.

Laser Ranger (6810)

Features: Small ship with posable wings and thrusters.

Thoughts: Cool use of goblet pieces as thrusters. Shout out to the white slope printed with the Classic Space logo.

Message Decoder (6831)

Features: Small rover with ample firepower. Smallest Space Police set comes with one policeman astronaut.

Thoughts: Cute little buggy.

Auxiliary Patroller (6850)

Features: Small single pilot craft whose wings can be tucked in beneath the canopy.

Thoughts: I’m not so sure about making the center of the windshield opaque though…

Galactic Peace Keeper (6886)

Features: Small-sized Space Police ship. Wing guns tuck away beneath the side panels, and a jail cell with Blacktron prisoner mounts in back.

Thoughts: The new windscreen part gives this ship a sleek look. Without the jail cell, the ship looks skeletal.

Small and medium-sized Space Police ships

If the folding wing guns hidden under corner panels technique looks familiar, that’s because we just saw it in the Auxiliary Patroller (6850).

Spy Trak 1 (6895)

Features: Space Police ground vehicle with large wheels and elongated transparent red cockpit. Obligatory jail cell with Blacktron prisoner in rear.

Thoughts: This set marks the first appearance of the large hard plastic space wheels. Some people hate them, but I’m happy to see wheels that are both taller and wider than a minifigure as it allows for new types of vehicles. It also uses the new windscreen part to form its cockpit (which looks only half-finished).

Spy-Trak I uses a cool steering mechanism built from Technic parts.

Spy-Trak I’s steering mechanism is very similar to the one used in Lunar MPV, albeit on a larger scale.

Space Lock-Up Isolation Base (6955)

Features: Space Police base has room for two jail cells and a small flyer for transporting prisoners. Comes with two policeman and one jail cell with Blacktron prisoner.

Thoughts: Only comes with a single jail cell, so you need to combine it with another set to show its full potential. Sitting on only a half-sized baseplate, it is much smaller than previous space bases.

Yet another Technic rack winder motion element: Turning the knob raises a jail cell to the upper deck while lowering the radar mast and retracting the launch platform.

Mission Commander (6986)

Features: Space Police flagship has detachable rear module, two jail cells, two small flyers, and a rover that doubles as the ship’s cockpit. The rover can be used to haul a jail cell. Comes with two policemen and one Blacktron prisoner.

Thoughts: Very nice-looking ship, but the mid-section is entirely devoted to the moving function. Like all other Space Police ships, it makes use of the new elongated windscreen part. I like the transparent red covers for the small flyers on the wings. The heft and shape of this ship reminds me of Cosmic Fleet Voyager (6985).

Mission Commander employs a Technic rack winder to raise the cockpit canopy and eject the rover.

Wrap-Up

That’s it for the 11 space sets from 1989 (5 Futuron + 6 Space Police).

Futuron’s third and final year were all smallish sets. I think I liked them better than the Futuron sets from 1988. My favorite is Lunar MPV Vehicle.

Coming in at 6 sets, this was the entire run of the Space Police 1 theme. I like seeing transparent red used in space sets for the first time. I thought the jail cells and how they mount onto vehicles was fun and clever. It’s always good to get more Blacktron minifigures even if they’re only serving as prisoners. Spy-Trak 1 might be my favorite set although I also quite like SP-Striker and Mission Commander.

Next up: Space 1990 and the power of magnets!