I was excited when Lego announced (after acquiring Bricklink) that they were going to do these "second-chance" idea sets. I had backed the Science Tower (BL19007) from the 60th Anniversary Bricklink Design Program (or whatever it was called) and that set was great. I figured if they did the same thing with sets that had previously reached 10000 votes on Ideas, that we were in for a treat.

As it turns out, there's definitely some room for improvement.

Packaging

All I have to say about the packaging was that like many of the bigger Lego sets, this had a secondary box inside, so approximately half of the bags were loose, and the other half were in an unmarked white box. However, (unless I am remembering incorrectly), when Lego sets do this, usually the first half of the bags are in the white box, and the second half are loose, which makes it a little faster to find the bags you need. This had all bags distributed between both white box and loose, with no apparent reason as to what went where. Also, the sticker sheet was packaged with an insert that gave you a link to the instructions (which I'll address next), but wasn't really protected against crumpling. Luckily, mine was only slightly warped on a couple of stickers, but a little frustrating on such an expensive set.

Instructions

UPDATE JUNE 2023

PDF instructions are now available. This will eliminate the problems I experienced with the app.

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This will be a deal-breaker for a lot of people; there are no physical instructions included with this set. Now for me, I wasn't too worried, until I got to the actual digital instructions. Instead of a pdf of an instruction book (which is what I expected), you are taken to the Lego app and given a set of 3D instructions (basically what Bricklink will autogenerate for you if you tell it to). I've had a lot of issues with this setup:

1. The app is fairly slow. I ran it on both my Chromebook and Pixel phone, and it is a little sluggish.

2. Transparent pieces are represented terribly. They don't even show up in the part box (just empty where the piece is supposed to be) and it's extremely difficult to tell what transparent colour you are supposed to be using. There's a section with water that has two different colours of transparent blue, and I could rarely tell which they wanted me to use.

3. It often doesn't correctly save how far you got, and it's not easy to skip ahead. You either tap the next arrow over and over, or you drag the slider to try and find where you were, or at least get close, so you can then tap the arrows.

I will say occasionally it is beneficial to be able to move the model around to see exactly where something goes, but I think if the instructions were created better this wouldn't be a problem.

Build Experience

Besides being somewhat soured by the instruction medium, the build experience was pretty good. However, it is obvious that this set went through VERY minimal revisions by official Lego designers, if any at all. There are a lot of times when the step order is weird (an assembly being placed under a previous assembly that requires a small amount of disassembly) and there are gaps in some areas (that are covered up, so you can't see them in the final product, but it just feels incomplete). The aforementioned Science Tower felt more akin to a licensed Lego product in terms of the build.

Final Model

Once finished, the set is pretty cool. It feels stable, the different levels come apart and go together easily, and there are a lot of great details throughout. It has stairs to each level (which is always nice to see), which consist of a research area in the basement, a museum of sorts on the main level, a balcony with binoculars and a small telescope on the 2nd level, then the big ol' space telescope in the dome. I will say the light brick included is exceedingly underutilised (honestly may replace it entirely), and there are some 1x2 tiles included as pamphlets that are just placed in a display rack loose, meaning the first time you move the set they'll probably fall out and scatter about the floor.

Price

Now I placed my order when it was listed at $249.99, but shortly after it was bumped up to $319.99. I don't think it's worth the higher price point. While it may contain more pieces than your average modular, it's close to the same footprint, and it definitely feels less polished with the instructions and build itself. I think if Lego had spent just a little time fine tuning things (at least making proper instructions as a PDF), this would've been a much more enjoyable set.

Final Verdict

This feels like a set that didn't reach its potential. This is the only one of the Designer Program sets I have built, so can't speak to the others, but I have to assume they have similar drawbacks. The finished product itself is very cool. I love space things, but not just shuttles and space stations, so it's great to get something more focused on the science of it. Then again, that surprise price hike makes it that much less attractive for the cost, and the build experience with the digital instructions was not at all enjoyable. I think I'd have to say that I'm happy to have it, and that anybody who wanted a modular style observatory will be happy as well, but it has definitely coloured my view of the Bricklink Designer Program, and I'll be much more scrupulous in any purchases from additional waves.