Random set of the day: Twin Starfire
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 1499 Twin Starfire, released in 1987. It's one of 17 Space sets produced that year. It contains 89 pieces and 2 minifigs.
It's owned by 994 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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31 comments on this article
Classic Space, the new Bionicle.
It's a beautifully-designed ship, but that's a lot of grills.
Ah nothing like a classic space set to give you that warm fuzzy feeling as you drift off to sleep...
Oh man, if Starfire had a twin... She has a sister, but she's insane, don't even go near Blackfire, but a Starfire twin, oh man...
Oh, this is about LEGO, I'm sorry, got carried away.
When you tell your team you're going to narrow the designs down to the top ten, and then you realize they only came up with nine...
Proto-Futuron
@MCLegoboy said:
"Oh man, if Starfire had a twin... She has a sister, but she's insane, don't even go near Blackfire, but a Starfire twin, oh man...
Oh, this is about LEGO, I'm sorry, got carried away."
Doesn't help when Starfire herself is in at least one set. (76035, and the Dimensions TTG one as well)
And I guess you are not counting the set that is named Twin Starfire (6820 from 1986) either! (which hasn't been RSOTD yet I will point out)
The nose looks a little dorky with those little fins on either side, but at the end of the day, it’s Classic Space!
Holy cow there’ve been a lot of CS sets gracing Huwbot lately. Computer randomness sure is weird.
I had this one. It was WEIRD! Almost like a parts pack. But I still love it.
I want the blue cockpit things.
Surprised this is Classic Space, feels more like Futuron to me!
It's hard to cheer for some of the Classic Space sets. This certainly is one of them.
I got this one in the two-pack with the Spy-Bot. Goofy little ship, but I like it. Looks a little Star Wars-ish, and also leans towards Futuron, with the round cockpit domes, but the color scheme goes back to at least 1983.
I have to keep looking up at the picture for an accurate reference - mine is on my desk at the moment, but I modded it to be more of a Futuron ship, with black, white, trans-red, and some weapons based on the Stardefender 200.
Nice! I loved this one--came in a two-pack with Spy-bot. I remember replacing those flags with Pirate flags, which made it even cooler.
I loved this set. Sadly, it was one of the larger spaceships I had back in the day. Most of the other ships were tiny little things that certainly weren't enclosed.
I always loved the Classic Space logo on the front piece. At one point, I traded it for the white nose piece of an airplane set so I could have a spaceship AND also a plane that belonged to my town's "Space Department".
Yellow astronauts are stored in the pods
@GSR_MataNui said:
"Surprised this is Classic Space, feels more like Futuron to me!"
Classic space has three colour schemes. The blue/yellow (terrible only liked for nostalgia) a grey one and then a white one. 1987 has examples of all three. In short classic space is a mess. The other space themes are more consistent. AFOLs today would slate classic space if it was a new theme.
Almost Futuron, just Classic Space yellow minifigs need to be swapped for yellow Futuron ones
Is this one of the earliest sets to have a SNOT plate? I only have earlier Classic Space, which never had much if any SNOT.
By examining the aesthetics of this set, it's apparent that it's from the end of CS. The nature of the earlier sets was that they didn't need a huge number of specialized pieces to make up a practical vehicle.
Almost ten years later, these latest sets already took advantage of all the parts released over the years. This led to more variety and sophisticated models, but the change was very radical. 1499 definitely still maintains many of the themes distinctive features (angular windscreens, studded surfaces, big rocket boosters, the logo), but the whole look of the ship seems like a stretch. Two cockpits is understandable play-wise, but the main body is too bulky and disjointed from the long protruding nose. It's quite imaginative, yes, but not very smart or pretty. The new elements are well desinged, but don't blend in with the existing building style.
While I'm not a fan of Futuron by any means, a new theme was needed in order to distinguish and formalize a more advanced design style. As mentioned, this set could easily be a Futuron set without much modification and, indeed, looks almost too different when put next to the previous CS sets.
Got that classic look of something I’d have hodge-podged together as a kid. Classic Space is gloriously kitschy
In the UK this was some sort of limited offer via post - loved Classic Space, but did prefer the Futuron/Blacktron aesthetic.
What's the ship for? Who are the astronauts? Up to your imagination. That's the magic.
It looks like... hmmm?
Ok, I didn't say anything.
The hull integrity at the front worries me.
@stepwise said:
"...but the color scheme goes back to at least 1983."
Indeed. Actually, 1981. 6927 had blue and white opaque pieces as well as trans blue parts (and trans yellow not featured in 1499 but harking back to some of the earliest CS sets).
@jsworpin said:
"AFOLs today would slate classic space if it was a new theme."
Depends how it was billed. If it were released as 3-in-1 Creator where parts have multiple uses within the set, there would be acceptance of it by AFOLs.
Also, I suspect that kids today would love CS. Has anyone on YouTube given a new condition CS set to a seven- or eight-year-old without telling the kid that it was a really old set? What was the reaction? What did kids think of Benny’s Space Squad from a couple of years ago?
Not sure why this one gets negative reactions. I wrote a review of this one... a pretty good set in my opinion. Had it as a kid and when I rebuilt recently, it held up.
Looks really cool and would have gone well with several others I had at the time. Pity therefore that this was never available here as it was a US exclusive.
@jsworpin:
Classic Space had slightly more than those three schemes, though they were mostly variations. This set is not quite Futuron as it uses solid blue as a primary color instead of black but otherwise uses many of the same characteristic parts. I also feel that Futuron (mostly) had a bit of a cleaner, sleeker aesthetic than the late Classic Space sets.
@TheWackyWookiee:
The hull integrity at the sides of the pods worries me (though this is common enough in Space sets)!
@jsworpin:
Classic Space can really be divided up into four groups. Three are the more defined color schemes that you mentioned, and the fourth was just a random assortment of all those colors.
@SimonSpace70s:
I assume you're referring to the 1x2-1x4 bracket? That part did first appear in 1987, so this is actually the only Classic Space set to include one. There were, however, two Futuron sets released the same year that used it (monorail and a base).
@TheWackyWookiee:
I'm pretty sure the hull has already been blown off of the front half, and all that's left is the frame.
@tenfootgerbil said:
"In the UK this was some sort of limited offer via post"
Yes I think you're right. We had to send off barcodes from other Lego boxes iirc.
@Spartan_Ghost said:
"People say Classic Space is The Greatest Ever. Those people clearly never owned sets like this."
Depends. Of course objectively, modern sets like from Ideas or Creator Expert are way better, but as there are no modern Space themed sets that would be comparable to Classic Space sets, there simply is no match.
And if you grew up loving Classic Space, or Fabuland, or Legoland, or Classic Trains or Technic, you will always be biased. As am I, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Actually I am proud of it. :-)
@AustinPowers:
I am too young to have any nostalgia for Classic Space. However, there is a certain appeal to these sets that is lacking from most modern sets. Perhaps it is the relative lack of texturing/greebling, the bright primary colors, the utilization of a more limited number of available pieces, and/or the plain smiling faces of the minifigs. That being said, this set is unlikely to be ranked among the top Classic Space sets even when compared to sets of similar size. I would still pick this set over a Star Wars battlepack set if offered the choice.