Being a pretty new collector, i saw this classic set on ebay and it reminded me of the sets i had my moons ago (passed down to me) for this reason i brought it and all the memories came flooding back, its so simple and cool and just how lego should be !. For any older collector this is a must and sets like this should be cherised.

Many people were huge space fans. 1987 was the last year for classic space which was sad for most fans. However, the theme went on a high note to the end. This set shows what the Classic Space theme accomplished for Lego. It is a Lego Legend and might be rereleased.

This was my first Legoland (non Basic Building or duplo sets) set, which I got with 6 years back in 1987 together with a green square ground plate (not exactly how the surface of the moon looks like).
The extension arms of the satellite can be folded in.

Launching various satellites and probes is one of the main tasks for Classic Space astronauts. Obviously, the most comfortable way to do it is to do launching from the central structure of Lego 6972 Polaris I Space lab. Fortunately, lego designers catered for kids operating on a lower budget and have produced a plethora of smaller sets with the same goal. This is one of them.

At first glance, this is another standard Lego design built as a two-section vehicle joined by hinge plates. What is definitely good and a vast improvement over earlier designs is that Lego abandoned previous practices of making the front end very simple and concentrating most pieces at the rear end which in turn gave rather lame designs such as 6844 "Seismologic vehicle". Indeed, this set contains every part logical for a ground vehicle: A propulsion exhaust situated at the back of the seat, a control wheel, two long red dischargers whose light shall penetrate cosmic darkness (and maybe clear an obstacle or two!), enough ground clearance to operate on reasonable off-road terrain and a beautiful space nose with "Classic Space" logo printed on it.

Rear-end consists of small transport and launching platform for a small probe. The best parts here are two different sloped computer consoles and a small tab with a printed arrow indicating in which way the probe is to be loaded onto a vehicle. The probe itself is manufactured around 4X2X2 tail with a rocket. It has launch leverage and steerable wings. Propulsion produces a greenish glow which together with red signalization gives a mild effect of funkiness.

The vehicle is manned by a single yellow Classic Space astronaut without any tools or additional equipment.

How to play:

Drive this vehicle to the desired spot, embark your astronaut who shall do final preparations at two consoles, and when everything is ready pull the black lever on the probe. Use probe hinges to steer propulsion and wings backward and then detach probe from the platform and make it fly backward. When you are happy with the altitude spread probe wings and propulsion shall now ensure lateral stabilisation in orbit. Under ideal circumstances accompany this vehicle with another small set "889 Radar truck" and ensure everything went according to plan.

What else can you do?

With their impeccable sense for timing, Lego has released another, larger, and more elaborate Satellite transport/launcher in the same year (1987. Set number 6883). If you own both that and this set you might find their roles a bit redundant. Fortunately back of the box provides you with three legit alternatives:

1. A small ground control vehicle with consoles and antennas and a small flier with steerable wings. Astronaut can sit in both of these.

2. An aggressive-looking sub orbital fighter with two powerful lasers, a lateral stabilisation unit, and a STOL device. Whatever non-violent policy lego claimed back then our heroes never ventured into the unknown unprepared!

3. A small but detailed flier accompanied by a ground vehicle of unknown (at least to me) purpose. Astronaut can sit in both of these.

There is no assembly manual for these alternatives, but you can do it. Divide bricks whose position is obvious on the picture and since this is a small set (47 pieces) you shall deduce easily what to do with the rest.

...anything but this, really. An ungainly small wheeled vehicle with a comparatively high and big platform with a tiny drone which manages to please the eye even less. Fortunately, there is something called 'inner beauty' too.

Box/Instructions

No more box for my set, the instructions are just a folding sheet as is usually the case with these smaller sets. Nine steps with an additional sub build and you're done, child's play :)

Parts

The first thing to catch my attention was the substantial overlap between the parts for this set and #6827 Strata Scooter: with just this set you have half the parts for #6827 and if you don't mind the occasional substitution of a white part with its black counterpart or vice versa this even rises to about two thirds! The second thing would be the high ratio of transparent pieces: about ten in a set of not even 50 pieces, since they are mostly small it's less noticeable than expected though. That aside, for such a small set again some nice parts are included: two slopes with different computer prints, a tile with printed arrow and a white space nose with classic space logo (incidentally, this part has only been used in this set and #6827) plus some more assorted hinges, wheels, plates, dishes (of which two in trans-green, my favourites back then) etc. The best part is the tail 4 x 2 x 2 with rocket, our only one in white.

Minifigures

One yellow astronaut, the only astronaut colour which was rarer in our collection was black so an extra yellow one never hurt. He comes without any tool or equipment whatsoever, fortunately the vehicle provides enough fun.

The build

By now, nothing really exciting here. I'm not too fond of the platform which is raised by plopping it down on a white 2 x 4 brick and looks rather crude because of that. I also thought it made more sense to place the lever as an antenna on top of the drone and put the trans-red cone in its place (to be used as a weapon, of course). Or even use one of those otherwise rather oddly placed trans-red antennae for an even bigger bang (just take care not to skewer that poor astronaut with it ;)!

The completed model

Like I said before, it's not going to win a beauty contest but thankfully for such a small set it offers a lot of playability and some good parts. It's like a tiny brother to #6885 Crater Crawler which came out the following year. The Satellite Patroller almost has the Futuron colour scheme too, just like most of the last 'Classic Space' sets like #6972 Polaris I Space Lab or again #6827 which were released in the same year as the first Futuron sets.

Overall opinion

Based on looks and design this set wouldn't merit more than two stars but a nice part selection and above all great playability (keeping in mind it's a very small set of less than 50 pieces) lift it up to a solid four stars. The children have had fun with it at least!