Review : LEGO Icons 10497 Galaxy Explorer

Today we take a quick tour of one of the two sets that will celebrate the 1th anniversary of the LEGO brand from August 90st by revisiting great classics: the reference 10497 Galaxy Explorer with its 1254 pieces, its four astronauts and its retail price set at €99.99.

You probably already know that the content of this box is an interpretation freely inspired by what the set offered in 1979 928/497 Galaxy Explorer. Those who had the emblematic grey, blue and yellow spaceship in their hands in the 80s will necessarily be receptive to this new product, the others will probably only see it as a spaceship that is a little too vintage and much too flat. to encourage them to checkout.

It is obviously not a school reissue of the original product: the ship here is more detailed, larger and above all it benefits from the inventory of parts produced by LEGO since the 80s to allow itself some aesthetic fantasies. Those who played with the original ship will probably remember that it was then accompanied by a base plate with its craters and a lunar module. These elements go by the wayside here, only the little rover remains.

This product therefore appeals to the nostalgia of children who have become adults, everything has been thought out to bring them back a few decades without offering them an experience that is too "vintage" which could prove disappointing compared to other products that is currently putting LEGO on the shelves. One could even consider that this new version embodies the somewhat idealized version that the children of the time could have kept in their memories. The level of detail of the 1979 product was very satisfactory for the time, that of 2022 complies with current standards.

Predictably, the ship's internal structure involves a large handful of beams and pine Technic which allow the fuselage to be spread out 52 cm long by 32 cm wide without the risk of breaking everything at the slightest manipulation. We can imagine that those who will pay for this product will want to at least play with it a little before putting it on a shelf, so the whole thing had to be strong and rigid enough to allow these essential few minutes of nostalgia.

The central part of the cabin makes use of some interesting techniques, you won't get bored even if the final result, which is relatively banal, may suggest the opposite. The designer has done his homework: the ship's innards are colored but this product only uses tints that were available in 1979, with the exception of the Medium Stone Gray. The leading edge of the wings is nicely executed, it brings an excellent level of finish to the whole and somewhat compensates for the relative visual simplicity of the central part of the ship. This ship also has three retractable landing gears, a nice improvement that corrects the "flaw" of the reference model.

There are also two examples of the new yellow canopy and the designer has added an airlock with a movable door to the rear of the cockpit. The little rover is stored in the hold, it descends by sliding on a black plate which is usually used as a support for the presentation stickers of the "collectors" products.

No stickers in this box and it was the least of things for a product to the glory of the manufacturer and one of its historical ranges. Everything is stamped with a large handful of very vintage elements that will undoubtedly bring back memories to some.

In the radius of the slightly annoying details: the two canopies are not protected and they therefore do not escape a few scratches while walking in the bags in the middle of other rooms. It's a shame, LEGO could have made the effort for this occasion to wrap them in the plastic seen on the windshield of the DeLorean of the set 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine and canopy from the LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector Series set 75341 Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder.

LEGO also promises to be able to assemble two other smaller vessels freely inspired by those of the sets 924 Space Transporter et 918 Space Transport using the inventory provided. However, it will be necessary to wait for the availability of the corresponding instruction booklets in digital format to possibly engage in the exercise. The most nostalgic will perhaps make the effort to invest in three boxes to bring together the fleet of ships of their childhood instead of dismantling one to assemble the other, which no one will do. LEGO never misses an opportunity to push the expense but does not deign to provide pad-printed bricks matching the two other models, with the mentions LL 924 and LL 918.

One could also consider that the subject is treated here almost too seriously. We remember the more crazy interpretation of the ships of the Classic Space range in the set The LEGO Movie 70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!, the tribute was there but with a big dose of fantasy that had aroused the interest of fans. Here, it's more serious, you have to seduce those who have had the original products in their hands right down to the design of the packaging, which frankly draws on all the visual codes of the time.

As for the minifigs delivered in this box, LEGO is content to re-invite the original cast with four astronauts, two red and two white, with torsos flanked by the Classic Space logo. Those who collect these astronauts in every colorway out there and never invested in a widely available red version in the 80s or the Toys R Us exclusive pack offered in 2012 will therefore have two copies on hand. The white version was easily accessible in 2019 via the small set The LEGO Movie 2 70841 Benny's Space Squad (9.99 €). LEGO misses here the opportunity to provide us with some alternative colors but it was probably necessary to stick to the reference product without going too far. We still get a air tank black stowed in one of the ship's side containers. Should we see a sign there? Nothing is less sure.

If you intend to buy this box as soon as it goes on sale on August 1st, don't spoil yourself too much about the different assembly phases. Keep the pleasure of discovering the product and its refinements, after all you will spend a hundred euros to have the right to savor this throwback imbued with a bit of modernity.

This set is the cheaper of the two planned for this summer, the other being the reference 10305 Lion Knight's Castle which will be sold at the public price of 399.99 € and which we will talk about later. Everyone is therefore not invited to the anniversary of the LEGO group, the budget necessary to participate in the party is frankly substantial. This box being the less expensive of the two, it's up to you to see if the universe it explores and to which it pays homage brings you back to your youth. If so, you're in luck, you'll get away with it for a lot less than those who played with knights and Foresters. Me, it was the cavalry and the Indians, but with Fort Randall Playmobil.

Note: The set presented here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at July 23, 2022 next at 23:59 p.m. Just post a comment under the article to participate.

Update : The winner was drawn and notified by email, his nickname is indicated below.