Random set of the day: Space Supply Station
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 6930 Space Supply Station, released in 1983. It's one of 9 Space sets produced that year. It contains 206 pieces and 4 minifigs.
It's owned by 2772 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
Help me come to life! If you like the set I've chosen for you today, please pledge your support for me on LEGO Ideas so I have a chance of becoming an official LEGO set!
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84 comments on this article
Another set I bought as a kid and (still own). I have yet to figure out where the supplies are stored.
It’s a sign that classic space should win the 90th anniversary contest.
Of course I’m not biased.
Gotta love spacemen flying on radar dishes.
"Better than that crummy Bionicle schlock, amiright!"
- Some bitter fan that won't just let it go after 20 years
I own this one!
@MCLegoboy said:
""Better than that crummy Bionicle schlock, amiright!"
- Some bitter fan that won't just let it go after 20 years"
I just want to preface that this does in fact look pretty fun, although I am wondering, exactly where are the supplies? Like, what supplies are at this station? Is it just a place to store tools and vehicles? I'd suspect there's also fuel but a container for such fuel is absent. Also maybe this is a dropoff depot for harvested materials. That is the true beauty of LEGO, you can make up your own story, but still, I am very curious as to what supplies are stored here.
Prior to one xmas as a kid I politely wrote to my relatives and asked for money instead of a present (assuming they were thinking of getting me anything of course) as I wanted to buy some bigger Lego sets. This is the one I ended up getting. Still have it.
When I was a kid, even though these are about 20 years before my time, I remember looking at the spacemen online and wanting the yellow one so I could make an undressed minfig.
Beautiful Playset. ...and balloon tyres- Yes!
But where are the supplies?
I own this. It’s one of my favorite sets that I got as a kid. I could build this by heart, without using the instructions, since I would build an rebuild it into different bases all the time.
I like how there are cockpits on a building
I received this set for Christmas when I was 12 years old, and it was one of my all-time favorite Christmas gifts. The nostalgia was so strong, that I bought myself one for Christmas this past year (during the pandemic) so I could build it again on Christmas Day. And it was totally worth it. Four Classic Space minifigs, two little hovercraft, two moon rovers, and a little base to return to? This is such a great playset!
(For those who are curious, the original 1984 price tag on the set I bought showed a "reference retail" price of $22.95, and "your price" of $19.97.)
Thanks to the classic crater baseplate, the stilts, and the multiple vehicles, this set feels much, much larger than its 206 pieces or $20-23 original price would lead you to believe.
@Illya said:
"When I was a kid, even though these are about 20 years before my time, I remember looking at the spacemen online and wanting the yellow one so I could make an undressed minfig."
I don’t know if this is apocryphal, but apparently the reason that LEGO stopped doing yellow hips for quite some years was to prevent people from making naked minifigures. There was even a Santa minifigure taking a shower with his black underwear on! ( https://brickset.com/minifigs/hol010/santa-yellow-legs-with-black-hips-yellow-torso )
@BJNemeth said:
"Thanks to the classic crater baseplate, the stilts, and the multiple vehicles, this set feels much, much larger than its 206 pieces or $20-23 original price would lead you to believe."
To be fair, inflation is a factor. When adjusted accordingly, most classic LEGO sets are more expensive, at least by PPP, than new ones.
The "supplies" are cocaine. Space cocaine. "Moondust", if you will. It was the 80s. Enough said!
ooh, I remember trying to make a remake of this years ago in LDD
I loved this set. It is at my parents house and I have built this and other old sets for my daughter many times.
You guys are all wondering where the supplies are, and I'm making goo-goo eyes at the beautiful baseplate with the cratered terrain.
Not really sure where the supplies are, but it looks like an awesome set anyway!
I still remember receiving this as a Christmas gift from my grandmother back in 1983. Great little Classic Space base, picked it up on ebay again almost 20 years later, still have it in my collection. Love the moon rovers and the hovercraft.
@Zander said:
" @Illya said:
"When I was a kid, even though these are about 20 years before my time, I remember looking at the spacemen online and wanting the yellow one so I could make an undressed minfig."
I don’t know if this is apocryphal, but apparently the reason that LEGO stopped doing yellow hips for quite some years was to prevent people from making naked minifigures. There was even a Santa minifigure taking a shower with his black underwear on! ( https://brickset.com/minifigs/hol010/santa-yellow-legs-with-black-hips-yellow-torso )"
A quick search on Bricklink seems to indicate that the last use of yellow legs on a figure that wasn't a yellow spaceman re-release was in 1999 in 2585 . Actually, it seems that the only other non-space use was in a Dacta set, but maybe someone can correct me there.
Got this as a birthday present in '83 or '84. Suddenly my space LEGO had a base! Still have 90% of it. Of course it is the now expensive printed parts that went missing. Sigh.
Yep, still have it. My father got this for me back in 80's. I remember being disappointed because I wanted 6980 Galaxy Commander. I eventually got that one also, but now I'm glad that I have this little gem, too.
If Classic Space wins the Anniversary vote I hope it's a base like this. A lot of people are demanding a Galaxy Explorer remake, but we already got a big spaceship with The LEGO Movie a few years ago, I'd rather get some sort of station to park it at
@blueshift said:
" @Zander said:
" @Illya said:
"When I was a kid, even though these are about 20 years before my time, I remember looking at the spacemen online and wanting the yellow one so I could make an undressed minfig."
I don’t know if this is apocryphal, but apparently the reason that LEGO stopped doing yellow hips for quite some years was to prevent people from making naked minifigures. There was even a Santa minifigure taking a shower with his black underwear on! ( https://brickset.com/minifigs/hol010/santa-yellow-legs-with-black-hips-yellow-torso )"
A quick search on Bricklink seems to indicate that the last use of yellow legs on a figure that wasn't a yellow spaceman re-release was in 1999 in 2585 . Actually, it seems that the only other non-space use was in a Dacta set, but maybe someone can correct me there."
On the old Lego Creator video game my sister and I would make a bunch of yellow minifigures when we were like seven years old; have them walk in circles and we'd laugh our buts off at this army of poorly pixelated "naked figures" walking over the screen.
craterplate, Craterplate, CRATERPLATE!
My dad might have owned this, as I think some of these pieces are in the collection (not the craterplate unfortunately)
Ahh like a vintage fine wine.. It is amazing that really without a lot of part selection some amazing looking sets were made for Classic space.
One of the three Classic Space set bases I had as a kid. I loved this one and the shorter ground vehicle in this set was one of my favorites!
I had this as a kid. I got this, and my brother got 6980, the _true_ flagship of Classic-Space, in the most common Classic-Space color scheme, which also happened to be over twice as many parts. Nope, not still bitter about that one tiny little bit...
So much of this set made no sense. There’s two pivoting sensor dishes on the front, but two fixed dishes on the back that are right next to each other and pointing the same direction, plus what appear to be directional antennae aimed in the same direction mounted to the back corners. The “cockpit” area has no sides, but it has standard minifig chairs (not the space chair), so the minifigs have to stuff their air tanks in the cabinets to either side before sitting down and closing the canopies that, one would hope, allow a bubble of air to hover around their heads so they have something to breath. There’s landing stations for the saucer ships, but nowhere to step off to once you’ve parked. There’s two supply vehicles with nothing to carry (maybe they got robbed?).
@legodachi:
Clearly they’re a supply depot for magic, which, as we all know, is invisible. Because it’s magic. The cabinets on the base are for storing air tanks, and even have handy arrows to alert you to their presence as you’re gasping your last breath before dying, because you forgot to collect them when you stood up to go grab a snack and hit the restroom. The rover in the right has a similar cabinet, but I don’t remember there being anything to put in it. The rover on the left has twin hoppers, but again there’s nothing to put in them.
@Your_Future_President:
I vastly improved the saucer flyers. I found someone who was selling trans-yellow or trans-red antennae, and I made some in Blackmon I colors.
@Zander:
There’s a guy named Jojo who posted a hilarious photo of a yellow Classic Spaceman getting the CS logo tattooed on his chest, where it quickly becomes apparent that he’s stark naked (I think there’s even a black censor bar over his groin).
@Zander:
There was at least one Castle minifig that had black legs on yellow hips, which was a lot cheaper way to make solid yellow legs than to just buy them. I haven’t heard that rumor, but it wouldn’t surprise me (they absolutely refuse to make light-flesh hips). I’ve long wondered if the Futuron outfits were purposefully designed to avoid that appearance, since they all have white legs.
Is that a gas station in space?
(Or whatever the fuel is)
I really wish they brought back those Crater Baseplates. I really love those.
Huwbot is influencing votes!
@LegoDavid said:
"I really wish they brought back those Crater Baseplates. I really love those."
Somebody should start a company where they make Lego compatible crater plates and monorail track. That would change the world. Or at least.... my world.
PurpleDave - I guess this style of sets is the reason I never were that into Space. As you say, they rarely made much sense and often felt like just too many specialized parts slapped together to make a vaguely futuristic but also rather skeletal structure. Especially the utter lack of pressurized habitats made Space look like a quite unpleasant place, AFAIK the theme never had the equivalent of the 6441 underwater base. One of my favorite Space sets was 6985 because it felt like a realistic spaceship and not just a flying piece of scaffolding, OTOH i once got most of the parts of 6982 in a collection of secondhand bricks but never bothered to rebuild it as it looked like such an unappealing mess.
I think this has to be one of the greatest Lego deals I’ve ever got. Somehow, I managed to pick this up for £4.50 with the instructions and box.
Also, for people wondering where the supplies are, there are two containers in the main control area. They’re completely empty, but I always liked storing my extra air tanks in them.
This is just simply the best lego there is? A few colors, bricks and plates and not too much fancy stuff, a craterplate and cool minifigs. Loving the 80’s
Love this set and I still have it. The space scooters are one of the best small vehicles Lego ever designed.
Remember getting this as a child. Loved it to death! Still have it, although it is really faded now. Must have been on display for 10 years or more. Remember being really excited about the new colours and parts of the 'second wave' of classic space. Yellow space men and balloon tyres, what a thrill to my 10 year old self! Always considered this more of a logistic control centre for my space transporter 6929 and space cruiser 928 , rather than a storage facility - hence no supplies and the little flyers were like port inspection craft. Happy memories....
Not going to lie, it looks like a big space post office
@captcrouton said:
"Somebody should start a company where they make Lego compatible crater plates and monorail track.(...)"
Some very lovely monorail track:
https://www.4dbrix.com/products/monorail/
They used to sell on Bricklink until 'the big takeover' led to a disappointing rules-change.
So simpel, yet so nice.
"Huwbot is biased" hahaha
As for where the supplies were, well, stored in gigantic underground tanks of course. The supply lines are inside the stilts, going up to the landing pads to fuel the craft.
That's what imagination was for when we were kids you know.
By the way, love it that this set contains four vehicles, a baseplate plus a whole station, all made from just 206 pieces! Nowadays, a set like this would have at least a thousand pieces, yet offer nothing additional that this one doesn't.
Good memories. Limited number of pieces, limited color palette, some specialized pieces and a baseplate. The Lego figure was made for these kinds of sets. Lego design at its best ...
I always wanted this set. So much to do. From a nostalgia factor, it’s less of a draw due to terrifying eBay UK prices though!
I still don't understand everyone's obsession with Classic Space... must just be the nostalgia. This set looks awful compared to when opposing factions were introduced to space, but maybe that's because I grew up around Space Police, Blacktron, and Ice Planet and have the same nostalgic glasses on. Oops, just solved it. Lol
I love it. I got it from my late grandmother for my 8th? 9th? birthday. Few pieces, lots of fun.
@legodachi said:
"Another set I bought as a kid and (still own). I have yet to figure out where the supplies are stored."
Look under the base. Plenty of space there being supplied.
The set tied in nicely with the 6980 galaxy explorer RSOD https://brickset.com/article/43469 , which would no doubt bring the 'missing' supplies. For the dumper tipper vehicle shouldn't the steering wheel be facing the other way so the spaceman can see what he is tipping. I always had childhood nighmares about the spacemen falling in the gaps when trying to get on or off their fliers as there was no plate underneath to stand on, but kept telling myself they would fall slowly and land softly on the baseplate due to the lower gravity.
I recall this being very expensive for a 10 year old me.
I remember 1x1 plates coming with a spruce piece in between.
I used the transparent ones as 'energy crystals' for the space vehicles.
Sounds like 'supplies' to me. ;-)
I'm not sure, was it the 1x1 round plates that had this spruce piece or the 1x1 square plates too?
@Feroz said:
"I remember 1x1 plates coming with a spruce piece in between.
I used the transparent ones as 'energy crystals' for the space vehicles.
Sounds like 'supplies' to me. ;-)
I'm not sure, was it the 1x1 round plates that had this spruce piece or the 1x1 square plates too?"
Over here it was just the 1x1 round plates, not the square ones. Same with the classic flower petals.
@AustinPowers said:
" @Feroz said:
"I remember 1x1 plates coming with a spruce piece in between.
I used the transparent ones as 'energy crystals' for the space vehicles.
Sounds like 'supplies' to me. ;-)
I'm not sure, was it the 1x1 round plates that had this spruce piece or the 1x1 square plates too?"
Over here it was just the 1x1 round plates, not the square ones. Same with the classic flower petals. "
1x1 round plate, definitely the transparent red and green ones. Used to keep the spurs, don't know why!
@matrox2001 said:
"(....) Used to keep the spurs, don't know why!"
Ha ha ha, I used to keep the coloured sprues too!! Still have the ones from childhood, and also no idea why! The trans ones are quite pretty.
The absolute BEST sprues were the ones that came with Pirates' coins; they were like huge ingots of GOLD.
Absolute perfection.
Great set! It is my first "large" LEGO space, I suppose!
Still have it on my LEGO shelf, certainly not in perfect conditions (it was played a lot!) but enriched with extra bricks!
I have to agree with some of the comments above - these poor guys have to wear space suits 24/7 - the only respite is in some of the fully enclosed ships.
Huwbot seems to have made his choice, he mustn’t have been pleased with the lack of a clikits option to vote for
My only stand alone "base" i had as a kid. beside for the small one that came with 928
@legodachi said:
"Another set I bought as a kid and (still own). I have yet to figure out where the supplies are stored."
ha ha ha, exactly my thinking too!
@bananaworld said:
"
@matrox2001 said:
"(....) Used to keep the spurs, don't know why!"
Ha ha ha, I used to keep the coloured sprues too!! Still have the ones from childhood, and also no idea why! The trans ones are quite pretty.
The absolute BEST sprues were the ones that came with Pirates' coins; they were like huge ingots of GOLD.
"
Gold bars! Before we actually got gold bars. :-)
The supplies are underground.
This was never a set I wanted as a kid, but I’m so pumped Huwbot picked a good ol’ Classic Space set.
Bought it on Ebay and built it this week, after not having it in my Space Lego as a kid. Really like it. Love the simplicity and open-endedness of it.
What's everything in it for? No idea! Love that. It just works.
I thought it was a refueling station. The supply being power. Admittedly then there are no pumps or hook ups.
10-year-old me would have looked at this set and thought:
4 large radar dishes (!)
8 large space tailfin pieces (!)
2 regular radio dishes / ground thrusters (!)
4 red *and* 6 green 1x1 round transparent bricks (lasers!)
2 gray, 4 blue antennae
1 hinge joint
4 steering wheels
2 hinged blue windshields (!)
2 blue, 1 gray ladders
1 sbase plate
8 1x3 white slope bricks
2 mailboxes
2 red guy, 2 yellow guys
16 2x2 round bricks, blue
2 computer 2x2 slope bricks
some guns and things
But no wing pieces, and no rocket engines. Pass.
This set started my 40 year practise of raising every base I make on supports. No idea why, but I do it regardless. So fun.
It's more a redistribution hub than a supply base; note the third bay underneath for dropping-off and the two vehicles for the onward chain. Also the post-box on the upper level suggesting a fast courier service with those hover-scooters.
And you don't need ladders and gangways; in the lower gravity you just jump around where you want to go.
Eh this set does nothing for me really, I get the nostalgia, but it’s just a platform with mini figs, in Comparison to the latest building techniques I don’t see any way to ‘expand’ this to meet current Lego building standards.
Classic space can never be epic level unless they do a modular base or creator expert ship.
So much more can be done with castle And pirate.
@Monopoly:
As shown on the set box, those storage cabinets are for the two Spacemen in the control booths to stow their airtanks, since they can’t sit in the minifig seats while wearing them, and they can’t close the canopies while standing at the controls.
As an 8 year old back then, I never really liked or understood this set. As mentioned above, there are no supplies and no place to really secure any, and cockpits on a base did not make much sense to me. Perhaps I lacked imagination.
Also I had/have 6970 so I had a the best base already. Before you ask, there was a force field across the opening, or the front wall is left off doll house style for access, depending on your mood.
@bananaworld said:
"
@matrox2001 said:
"(....) Used to keep the spurs, don't know why!"
Ha ha ha, I used to keep the coloured sprues too!! Still have the ones from childhood, and also no idea why! The trans ones are quite pretty.
The absolute BEST sprues were the ones that came with Pirates' coins; they were like huge ingots of GOLD.
"
Glad to see I wasn't the only one, my brothers and I never threw those away. Always went in the treasure chest with the gold coins as ingots. haha
@bananaworld said:
"
@matrox2001 said:
"(....) Used to keep the spurs, don't know why!"
Ha ha ha, I used to keep the coloured sprues too!! Still have the ones from childhood, and also no idea why! The trans ones are quite pretty.
The absolute BEST sprues were the ones that came with Pirates' coins; they were like huge ingots of GOLD.
"
I bid you five bars of gold-pressed Latinum ;-)
SPACE!
You all are paying way too much attention to the US name of this set. It was known as "Mission Control Centre" in the UK, a slightly more fitting name as matrox2001 has noted.
@namekuji said:
"Beautiful Playset. ...and balloon tyres- Yes!"
Man, i love those tyres!
"You all are paying way too much attention to the US name of this set. It was known as "Mission Control Centre" in the UK, a slightly more fitting name as matrox2001 has noted."
That's something that has been confusing me ever since I found out about it. The fact that sets in the US either had very different names to those that we got in Europe or that they had names in the first place when sets over here didn't have any.
I loved this set as a kid - one of my favourites!!! Remember the legs to be fragile though - what a great set!
@The_Creator said:
"I still don't understand everyone's obsession with Classic Space... must just be the nostalgia. This set looks awful compared to when opposing factions were introduced to space, but maybe that's because I grew up around Space Police, Blacktron, and Ice Planet and have the same nostalgic glasses on. Oops, just solved it. Lol"
As a TFOL, I don't have a ton of nostalgia for old Space subthemes, but I still think they're iconic/cool. I want remakes to catch up on what I missed out on.
Hello !
Wow, what a nice memory, directly back to Christmas 1984, when we came back home from Holyday in Denmark to visit my grandparents. It was a set I really hope to receive, full of spacemen, radar dishes, blue cockpit, containers, computer... Cool set as as a control or a research center in my base, a must have in classic space collection.
@kdu2814:
Something’s wrong with that picture of the Message Intercept Base...
@PurpleDave:
;)
I took a couple of minutes before I understood what you were saying. Mine has a monorail...
@kdu2814:
So does 71376.
Pretty much all the classic space sets are some of the best sets ever.