@Miyakan said:
"This is how we got cell service back in the day!"

And now our layouts have 5G towers on them. Or at least, layouts that _I_ participate in have 5G towers...

Astronaut: "Can you hear me now?...Good..."

All that just to get Netflix

@tmtomh said:
"You’re not a true classic space collector unless you have this set and one of the clear shield/radar dishes is broken. :-)"

Check on the set, and check on the broken shield handle. :))

I always wanted to have this as small kid, long before I got my own pocket money. I never got it. Sometimes I think about creating my own 10497 like remake of this.

My first space set :-)
only one dish is broken.... ;-(

20€ when I bought it 3 years ago. Prices must be higher by now. Examples without the shields don't come as close, of course.

@tmtomh said:
"You’re not a true classic space collector unless you have this set and one of the clear shield/radar dishes is broken. :-)"
Sorry to disappoint, but the ones on mine are in pristine condition ;-)

I was lucky anyway to find and obtain this set on ebay a couple of years ago for a very reasonable price. I think it was around 30 Euro for a complete set including very good instructions without punchholes (something I am very particular about).

I'm fairly sure I own this set... I tried to sort my bin of classic space stuff when I got it from the depths of my brother's garage last year, but I can't remember finding the manual (or discs) for this.

The closing doors are strange as the enclosure is too small for a mini-fig, and the control panel can only be operated with them open if the mini-fig doesn't slide off the tiled floor. So why have them apart from making the set a bit more interesting build?

My very first space set, aged 5.. unfortunately Dad was in a rush and I didn’t get to see the shelves much, he just asked for Lego set 894 and we were out of the shop in 2 mins! Great set, I loved the slope piece with the green monitor!

Great set! Got it a while ago in great used condition with the original instruction.

Back in the day, this small set was a cheap source of cool new parts, I played the heck out of it. Love this one!

@Atuin said:
"Funnily, this set introduced those round shields. There name though suggests they were always planned for Castle (where they would not appear until 1984)."

If you're getting the name from Bricklink, that's not the internal Lego name. If you have the internal Lego name for a piece that old, how? Tell me your secrets!

I have this one. Only one broken shield last I looked.

@Atuin said:
"Funnily, this set introduced those round shields. There name though suggests they were always planned for Castle (where they would not appear until 1984).

I wonder if the transparent ones also broke that easily, though judging by the BL prices, they do :P

Also it seems, this set matches the idea White Astronaut = Ground Crew."

I'm quite sure they're so expensive beacuse they're so rare. Also, they can get lost over time.

For some reason i really liked to rebuild this set back in the days. It belonged to my big brother but i played mostly with it. I believe the radar shields are still in good shape, but i haven’t seen them in a long time

@ambr said:
"The closing doors are strange as the enclosure is too small for a mini-fig, and the control panel can only be operated with them open if the mini-fig doesn't slide off the tiled floor. So why have them apart from making the set a bit more interesting build?"

It looks to me like it's supposed to fold up for transport.

It's a bit small, but I think it's a cool enough design. Basically a radar truck with power shed on the back that you can open to access its control panel. And the tiny trailer for better reception.

@yamaki said:
"I always wanted to have this as small kid, long before I got my own pocket money. I never got it. Sometimes I think about creating my own 10497 like remake of this."

that could be quite nice.

My 1st set! I still have one! My younger brother had the Space Shuttle 442, so while he “flew”, I tracked him. Good times.

This was my first space set and I loved it. It's still on display with both original disks in great condition. I love this set, truly a classic.

@AustinPowers said:
" @tmtomh said:
"You’re not a true classic space collector unless you have this set and one of the clear shield/radar dishes is broken. :-)"
Sorry to disappoint, but the ones on mine are in pristine condition ;-)

I was lucky anyway to find and obtain this set on ebay a couple of years ago for a very reasonable price. I think it was around 30 Euro for a complete set including very good instructions without punchholes (something I am very particular about). "

I'm scraping this set together from parts via bricklink. While I don't have it complete yet, I prioritized the rare parts so my dishes are pristine as well. But it sure cost me... the things we collectors do to avoid asterisks on our Excel sheets...

@Atuin said:
"
Also it seems, this set matches the idea White Astronaut = Ground Crew."

I always took the Red and White to be an idealized future of Soviet and American working together. The cold war was still on in 1978 when Space was introduced.

894 has always been one of my favourite sets. Unfortunately, I no longer have it.

@LuvsLEGO_Cool_J said:
"These discs are also the shields in some Castle sets."
I’m still using one as a shield. This picture is over 18 years old but all three minifigures remain part of my display collection: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.php?i=2208983

I bought this on a school trip to Guernsey many many years ago from Woolworths. Still have it built in its box ( somewhere!).

My first Lego set!!!

Simply the best. That little cubbyhole contained so many adventurous ideas for little me.

The trans yellow, green and red of classic space is an unmatched vibe.

This set is special to me. I had hours of fun playing with it as a small child

@AustinPowers said:
"This might be a stupid little story overflowing with nostalgia, but it came to my mind when I saw this set today, coupled with recent events in my life.
As some may remember, since I mentioned it a couple of times already, my father passed away in 2023. And ever since I have been helping my mother with all kinds of things, one being the renovation of her house.
This year we will get a new roof and insulation installed, and therefore the attic needs to be cleaned out. I have already dismantled my model railway and the 0-gauge layout of my dad, and this last weekend I have dismantled several pieces of furniture, including the wardrobe I had as a child and which later became a part of the storage situation in the attic.

And this brings me to the nostalgia part, because as a kid I often had a very specific dream involving the wardrobe. In the dream I would climb into one of the larger compartments of it and the back wall would open, leading to (of all places) some kind of moon or planetoid or other space environment. Strangely enough I didn't need a space suit there (but otoh Classic Spacemen didn't need visors either). Anyway, I would experience all kinds of adventures in my dreams, clearly inspired by my Classic Space layout and the stories I played there during the day. And when the events would turn dangerous and / or frightening, I would run back to the opening in the hill or crater or whatever it was that would lead back to the safety of my wardrobe and bedroom.
I had to think about that while finally dismantling said wardrobe for the last time. Kind of sad, but it's really old now and will not be reassembled once the renovation of the room is complete.
But the reassuring thing and kind of a consolation is, every time I see one of these awesome Classic Space sets like this one I will always be reminded of the adventures I had in my dreams back in the day as a kid.
:-) "

Great story.

@AustinPowers said:
"This might be a stupid little story overflowing with nostalgia..."

Pretty sure it's overflowing with the Chronicles of Narnia.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @Atuin said:
"Funnily, this set introduced those round shields. There name though suggests they were always planned for Castle (where they would not appear until 1984)."

If you're getting the name from Bricklink, that's not the internal Lego name. If you have the internal Lego name for a piece that old, how? Tell me your secrets!

"

Easy going - LDD.

3876 MINI SHIELD Ø19

Some of those can also be found on BrickOwl. I guess the users providing that info acquired those decades ago from the consumer service.

Anyways it used to be way easier accessing TLG's parts database via Lego.com around 2005-2010. However that little "leak" doesn't work anymore.

@ ra226:

Thats true as well!
Seems to be the older version though and TLG wasn't too happy about their designers thinking that direction, according to the interviews.

When they introduced the new colors they changed anyways:

White - Groundcrew (Jim Spaceborn from the the comic book of the same name was one)
Red - Pilot (a female named one called "Viva" appeared in the comic)
Yellow - Scientists
Blue - Security/"Military" (The commander of the Spearhead, "Bart Seeker" was a blue one)
Black - Spies (According to the designers, they weren't allowed to put too many in the sets, because TLG felt it was "too dark". A rare appearance was "Captain Kirby" who was among the first to meet the Futurons)

@Atuin said:
" @ra226:

Thats true as well!
Seems to be the older version though and TLG wasn't too happy about their designers thinking that direction, according to the interviews.

When they introduced the new colors they changed anyways:

White - Groundcrew (Jim Spaceborn from the the comic book of the same name was one)
Red - Pilot (a female named one called "Viva" appeared in the comic)
Yellow - Scientists
Blue - Security/"Military" (The commander of the Spearhead, "Bart Seeker" was a blue one)
Black - Spies (According to the designers, they weren't allowed to put too many in the sets, because TLG felt it was "too dark". A rare appearance was "Captain Kirby" who was among the first to meet the Futurons)"

According to two posts made by Mark Stafford, the cosmonauts/astronauts thing was true early on, but he also posted two conflicting lists for the five color set:

White - Pilots
Red - Soldiers/Explorers
Yellow - Scientists
Blue - Commanders
Black - Spies

or

White - Explorers
Red - Pilots
Yellow - Scientists
Blue - Security/Soldiers
Black - Spies

So, Yellow and Black remain consistent across all of these lists. Your Red and Blue match the second list Mark posted, but your White doesn't match either. And the idea that they're groundcrew conflicts with sets like 1977 or 1969-2, where White is on a flyer, and it's Yellow that's on the ground vehicle.