DK book covers and exclusives revealed

Ooh, can't wait to take a look at the zombie skateboarder!

I'm guessing now is the time to track down all those old sets I've been dreaming of, before their prices skyrocket.

Huw, I think you'll find that the micro-scale space set with that book is actually 928, not 924.

I would love it if LEGO were to re-release 928. Although I've owned a copy of the set for 35 years, it's not in great condition. It's rather dusty and dirty, with a bit of sun damage.

Definitely must buys.

Also Huw do you never sleep? :)

@Sabreman64
Dusty and dirty - can be resolved. Sun damage - not really. But if pieces are in good condition, then the set is playable.
I have some sets from my childhood, that were played with so much that the pieces are worn and the whole sets look good only on display. Untouched.

I will be looking after the second book.

Wouldn't we all snap up re-released classic space sets?
Galaxy squad was fine but Benny's SSS! really got me wanting more classic space.

@ThisAndThat @Sabreman64 Sun damage solution I've used successfully across most of my (complete) collection of 1978-1988 classic space sets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGagdufGvGM (Sorry I have no text tutorial, only video, that's my medium.) Works exceptionally well on *all* colors as well as transparents, doesn't lighten darks, doesn't damage prints. The key is to not let the parts float & partially dry up. Keep them submerged & wet. If the day is sunny & hot, stir the pot very regularly. If you live in a sun-starved area, a strong blacklight makes a worthy substitute, it's just slower.

Looking forward to the "Great LEGO Sets" book. Will be a Christmas present for me.

@ThisAndThat @Sabreman64
I watched the Jangbricks video about two months ago and it indeed works wonderfull. But it is a pain in the ass (sorry) to keep the bricks under as the bubbles make them even float more.

Here is another method. I haven't tried it yet, but maybe someday.

http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/497/brick-discoloration-due-to-sunlight-smoking-and-methods-to-restore/p1

Benny's Spaceship, Exo-Suit, Spaceman set and now a micro spaceship; it's about time we get the Classic Space theme back into the current lines.

Do want

^Well, it'll be a while, if the Fantasy Era rumors for next year are true. LEGO doesn't like to have Castle, Space, and Pirates on the shelves at the same time anymore because they have so much other stuff.

Oh, that's what happened to the books we helped write. WOO! How exactly is Brickset credited in these books I wonder... anyway, I think I will buy Great LEGO Sets and borrow the other one from my local library. I want to see how many of those minifigs I have.

The micro spaceship looks more like 497: Galaxy Explorer. But cool nonetheless!

Love the little spaceship, but micro-scale...more for looking at, to me.

My first chance to own a Galaxy Explorer! :D

Wasn't going to buy but then I realized that I helped write these in some way.

You might want to have a look at my Lego Idea 'Space Explorer' project : https://ideas.lego.com/projects/101467

THIS is want I want from DK. Not another Ninjago character guide! Definitely getting both, but the 'zombie skateboarder' is disappointing.

@theJANG I’ve tried your method with no success trying to correct the color of my Dark Orange bricks. I recently got 5 BrickLink orders for “new” bricks, all were Dark Orange that were found in the Town Hall. I was shocked at the color variation between the orders. Some are downright yellow, others are darker or richer red, or orange. If I’m being really particular – there are about 7 distinct color shades between them. They shouldn’t have sun damage if they are new, but I figured maybe they were sitting out in an exposed bin in a room with a lot of sun. They were fully submerged for half a day, and it was a sunny Florida day. Just wondering if anyone has any feedback.

@Sabreman64 considering how many molds the set used that Lego has retired (namely the helmets and all the wedge plates), I doubt they will every straight up re-release it. If anything they would probably re-engineer it and re-imagine it in the vein of Benny's spaceship.

Eeeee! Zombie skateboarder and classic space was all I needed to hear! Sold!

@floridabrick That sounds more like trouble in LEGO quality control town. Sun damage tends to take years -- the youngest parts I've seen yellowed were about 5 years old and from Guam where the heat & humidity accelerate degradation. The most commonly varied-when-new colors I've encountered are orange, yellow, and white. Did you verify that all of the bricks were genuine LEGO? It might even be worth politely inquiring with your seller about his/her thoughts if the range of colors is as striking as it sounds. Looking at my own dark orange bin just now, I see perceptible hue differences, but they're quite subtle and wouldn't bother me even if formed into a wall. Definitely far less than I see with LEGO's orange parts in almost every set that has 'em.

@theJANG Thanks for responding. This is what I was afraid of – quality control where it’s supposed to be the same color but it varies so much. At least I feel better about ruling out sun damage. As far as being genuine LEGO, they all say LEGO and fit together and feel the way they should. All the BrickLink sellers I purchased from had a minimum of 100s of reviews and positive feedback in the high 90s. So if any of them are selling knock offs, I guess no one else is able to tell either.
As soon as I looked at them I could easily break them into 3 groups (yellowish, reddish, orangish). But then looking closely under good light all lined up next to each other, I could separate them into 7 different shades of Dark Orange.
I bought enough Dark Orange bricks to build the equivalent of 3 Town Halls. I had to use 5 BrickLink sellers to get them all, so it wasn’t just 1 of the orders that conflicted with the rest. It’s like each order has its own unique hue! It does actually bother me because they were intended to be formed into a wall. It’s really put me off as far as buying anything from BL in bulk like this. I guess if I want the same color without variation I’m going to have to source it all myself, or only use only 1 BrickLink seller to minimize the chance of getting bricks from different batches.

Giant book with 928 on cover? You've got my attention!

Amazing what happens to colours of bricks - when you don't use pre-tinted plastic palles eh. Once they changed over to die on the fly pellets - it doesn't take much to affect the tints and colours. Heat, humidity, calibration etc.

No offense, but I really don't see why people think classic space is so great.(except maybe for nostalgia).

Try to imagine yourself back then: not even 10 years since man walked on the moon, and we're in the middle of the cold war, a time of hope and fear. We're seemingly on the verge of interplanetary travel--if we don't annihilate ourselves first. Meanwhile, here's the current line-up of what Lego has to offer:

http://brickset.com/sets/year-1977

Note the lack of even minifigs. Now add Space to that. A huge assortment of new parts, and a completely new direction for the imagination. Space was Lego's first truly open-ended theme, something rooted in the future, not the past or present. That's what makes classic space so great. To me, it's the best representation of Lego's ideals.

tl;dr
You're too young, you wouldn't understand ;)

LL928!!! Best LEGO set ever. This was my first "big" LEGO set that I owned.

Both books look amazing and I'll get them if I can afford them. I voted for the Classic Space cruiser on the cover, so I feel I should get the book.

With regards to whitening parts, I restored a Classic Space set from the 1980s using the strongest H2O2 I could get + sunlight + Oxy Action Crystal White. The Oxy cuts the time down to an hour. You can no longer tell the difference between the restored old parts and brand new ones. I don't have 'before' pictures, but 'after' pictures can be found here: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=182210

At least for the Great Lego Sets book, I hope DK reached out to the community or LEGO to get new photos of these sets. It's starting to feel like they are just rearranging and combining the same pool of stock photos over and over. Or at least get some cool interviews from the original designers or the community instead of just making up fact bullets.

When I was a kid and Macy's in the middle of Manhattan still had a toys floor, they hung from the ceiling a life-size lego-built model of the 918/924 Space Transport. That was the junior companion to the 928/497 Galaxy Explorer and also played a vital role in the 1980 Legoland 6000 Idea book. I was so in awe of that ship. I wonder where is that model now or if it existed anywhere else. I never did get her or her big sister, but they made trans-yellow canopies cool.