Having been raised on Lego Star Wars and Rock Raiders, and having got back into the hobby as a way to destress after work, I often find myself discovering, sometimes on this very site, a whole world of themes that I wasn't around to experience. Lego Space in particular has always been something I've loved, the precursor to the factions that followed, with all their fantastic theming, brilliant colours, and distinct, fantastic designs, from Ice Planet to Blacktron. The builds might have been simple by modern standards, but nothing can take away their style.

The build here is anything but simple, and the result is an elegant set full of wonderful surprises, and an excellent day of building for any Lego fan. From the technic landing gear and the elegant ramp from the rover bay at the rear, to the detailed interiors evocative of everything from the Alien films to a classic Star Trek episode, the Galaxy Explorer remake has so many moments that reminded me why I loved Lego, those small surprises or satisfying constructs within constructs that produce a wonderfully scaled and surprisingly sturdy final display model or playset alike. It's almost impossible to not crack a smile at the minifigures included as they're out and about or taking their places in the cockpit, and their clean, vibrant, and joyful aesthetic is something that takes the hobby back firmly to the realm of delightfully colourful fantasy.

It's been a great time trying out newer Lego builds, but I'm not quite sure any yet (with the possible exception of a UCS 2nd edition Star Destroyer) have captured the heart of why I enjoy taking a few hours in a month and just building like this set has. It's uncluttered yet complex, ungrounded yet brilliantly detailed and lively. It rules.

When this set came out to mark the 90th anniversary, it leapt out at me. I had the original of this as a kid and loved it and the nostalgia was overwhelming.

Then I had a thought. Somewhere, tucked away in my mum and dad's house, was a big plastic box containing all my old Lego. Why have some pretend nostalgia at £90 a pop when you can have some genuine nostalgia with the original?

So that weekend I went to my parents' house and rooted around in the cupboard under their stairs until I found the box, before taking it home and gleefully sneaking it into the house without my wife seeing.

The nostalgia came in waves. Firstly, there was finding all the models I'd created myself as a kid, still intact within the box. Multicoloured robots, tanks, Airwolf-inspired helicopters... It was sad to dismantle them but I took a photo of each one for posterity before doing so.

Then I sorted the parts into colours, downloaded a copy of the instructions and got building. I've since found the original paper instructions and it would have been so much better using them, but it was still great.

I was always very fastidious with my toys as a child and I found every brick. The spaceship, the buggy, the mini-base, the crater and launchpad plates... all there, and all taking up pride of place on a shelf in my garage (which might not sound much but there are a whole load of shelves and repurposed DVD and CD racks along one wall, illuminated with LED lights and covered in Lego. It's my pride and joy, much to my wife's disdain...)

I went on to build #386 (my first ever proper set), #918, #383, #6950, #6010, #6022, #6030 (the only only missing a piece. Argh!) and, of course, #375. They are all now displayed on the same wall.

Nostalgia sated, I went back to buying other sets. But then...

I stumbled across a review of this beauty, saying that it might just be the perfect Lego set. I then saw it was retiring in a few weeks and that it was out of stock on the Lego site. And I got this enormous pang of remorse and, as much fun as the old set was to remake, I knew I'd made a mistake in not getting this one.

I idly looked around a few other websites but it was either not there or was there but for a ridiculous price. I looked at Smyths Toys and they were out too. I was about to give up when I saw it was still available to click and collect. Yeah, I thought, at the other end of the country, probably. I looked anyway and, to my delight, found it was in stock in my local branch, a mere 3 miles or so away.

And it's brilliant. Such a fun set to build and has those features you only imagined when playing with it as a child - the properly engineered ramp, the airlock, the storage cupboards, the sleeping area, the retracting landing gears...

OK, so you don't get the base plates or the control centre, but I already have those!

This updated model didn't make it onto my shelf though. No, instead it is strung with fishing wire from the underside of the shelf above, soaring over its forefather on the landing pad below, with LED lights strung through its cockpit and cabin, with #918 flying in tandem beside it.

Who says you have to grow up?

Is it weird to feel nostalgia for something that existed before you were born?

Classic Space was far before my time, yet when I look at this Galaxy Explorer, I still feel a warm sense of familiarity, as if this is an old friend I remember from another life. It's not all too weird though, because this set feels like a pure celebration of Lego Space in its entirety, across all its eras.

Of all the Lego sets I have built in my time, none have exceeded this in quality, functionality, and pure joy. I lost count of the number of times during the build process where I just stopped to admire Mike Psiaki and Carl Merriam's work; for where do I even begin? The shaping of the ship itself, the way the hull builds up at an angle, the perfectly robust yet flush landing gear, the full interior, the opening back with deployable ramp, buggy, and sliding airlock, I could go on and on. I adore the sense of continuity within the model; a spaceman can clamber up the ramp, enter through the airlock (don't ask me how many times I've slid that thing open and closed), walk through the main cabin, and crawl through the small gap to get to the front cockpit. It's also a fun touch that the buggy automatically races down the ramp once it's pulled out and deployed.

Were this a licenced set, it'd easily be double the price.

Hyperbolic as I may be, it's clear that every element of this model was thought through and iterated upon exhaustively. It captures how I used to feel building a Lego set as a child, the very pure and unrefined sense of creating something spectacular and a firecracker for the imagination. It's the one set that goes a step beyond perfection, and if Lego one day suddenly decided that they hated money and decimated their yearly portfolio to just make one set like this every year, I'd still be content - and I say this as a massive Lego Star Wars fan.

I do sincerely hope more sets like this are planned for the future, regardless of whether they're inspired by what came before or not. A model of this calibre represents the best that Lego can be, and were I the designers, I would wear this accomplishment with pride every single day. In a very real sense, my standard of what a perfect Lego set is will forever be shaped by 10497.

I never wrote a review in my life. I have over 300 sets and now, after building this spaceship, I felt the need to write one for it. That alone should give you an idea of how cool this set is.

This is an in depth review of the Lego 10497-1: Galaxy Explorer.

Just buy it.
If you like space: buy it.
If you like pirates: buy it.
If you like castle: buy it.
If you like Lego: buy it.
If you don't like Lego: buy it and you will start liking Lego.
If you feel happy: buy it.
If you feel down: buy it, it will make you feel happy.
If you think there are to many "ifs": just buy it, because this set has no "if".


Conclusions:
Doesn't matter if you are a man, woman, LGBTQ+, AFOL, KFOL, TFOL or whatever your acronym is; as long as you're a living human being you must get this.
If I could kiss the man who designed this lego set I would and I know my wife would understand me, because he gave me the best building experience of my Lego life. Thanks for it.
And if, after reading all this amazing review, you still don't know what to do, let me clear it for you: just buy it.

Space - the final frontier.

With this set the good old times are returning.

Owning a lot of sets from the original space age of LEGO this set was on my shortlist for quite a while.

The building

The building was not difficult yet very interesting having some combination of technical construction and design elements on the outer shell. The technical part is reduced to a minimum. The parts are quite simple, not really very special pieces included. Making a great model from very common parts is a pleasure to build.

Size and design

The overall size is huge given it is close to space sets from the 80's. It does not come as a bulky spaceship yet having this clear lines makes it very elegant. A stand for this icon would be a great addition.

Minifigures

Minifigures are almost the same as the original minifigures from the 80's. The only differences are the slightly updated helmets to fit on some visors. The astromech is nice with its simplicity.

Playability

Playability is great with the hidden compartment for the moon buggy. The interieur has a lot of details to offer e.g. monitors and space beds for the figures with their backpack on. In addition to the other sets from the LEGO Movies the Galaxy Explorer fits quite good overall.

Price

The price tag is quite good compared to other spaceships or similar piece count models. And it does come with all printed bricks, no stickers.

Now I will have to find some crater and space plates to give this set a natural habitat.