Random set of the day: Orion II Hyperspace
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 6893 Orion II Hyperspace, released in 1987. It's one of 17 Space sets produced that year. It contains 163 pieces and 2 minifigs.
It's owned by 1387 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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45 comments on this article
So I guess this was a pre-Clone Wars Star Wars set?
Blue spaceman is the guy who walks around with his mask over his chin.
Well it’s definitely interesting, I’ll give it that.
Wow. That looks like it would handle like a sports car with a bank safe chained to the back.
Oooh, some Futuron goodness. Sign me up.
I mean, I'm not sure I want to hurtle through hyperspace with the top down, but there appears to be a compartment in the back.
So many pieces of the era here. The white domes alone would make it look different if you tried to rebuild in currently available parts, regardless of colours.
I like that little rover. It kind of looks like it might be evil though.
The robot probe vehicle in the back is more protected (while still not being fully enclosed) than the poor pilots who only get some motorcycle-style windscreens. I guess those robots are pretty delicate and/or expensive (see also 6885)!
It will translate to Blacktron very nicely, based on those octagon domes on the back.
Not going to lie, the name of this ship does not scream "Awesome ship name" but more "That doesn't roll off the tongue too well".
@LordDunsany said:
"The robot probe vehicle in the back is more protected (while still not being fully enclosed) than the poor pilots who only get some motorcycle-style windscreens. I guess those robots are pretty delicate and/or expensive (see also 6885)!"
I’ve noticed that most Futuron sets are just robot containers with seats and engines/wheels tacked on. Sometimes it looks great. Other times it doesn’t.
Almost Star Wars. Almost.
Not a bad ship overall.
@Harmonious_Building:
Took me a while to realize you were referring to a chin diaper. If you look at it from a perspective of an Apollo astronaut, the helmet would have an unstated clear visor, much like the Classic Spacemen would have had. The colored visor would be for use when you’re in full sunlight. The Apollo EMU had a clear visor that was built into the helmet, but there’s no atmosphere to filter sunlight on the moon. Not only is the visible light brighter, but you get the full dose of UV rays. So they had reflective sun visors that they could lower over the clear visors, because it’s hard to slip a pair of sunglasses on under the helmet. When they weren’t facing the sun (or maybe just when they were limiting the LEM), they could flip the reflective visor up out of the way so they’d have unobscured vision.
Transition set from Classic Space to what came later. By this point many of the poor building techniques were gone and the sets introduced interesting new parts to keep things fresh. (some trans-blue and red parts, the control joysticks, the white domes on the rear of the ship).
I don't like the white on the spacemen outfits, though.
Overall this is a quality set that looks like it swooshes nicely.
A- grade.
Great how the four models come together. It’s got so much beautiful backend heft.
The Technic pin-and-hole connections for the various modules make the model very "bendy" when in swoosh mode. Maybe my copy is just old and worn, but the modules don't snap together very tightly and tend to wobble when handled. Otherwise not a bad design for such a compact craft.
I do not recommend entering hyperspace with an open cockpit
This definitely doesn't appeal to me personally, but that wasn't a ship that I ever had as a kid either. In fast, I never owned any LEGO until I was about 35 or so. Even though I never had any Classic Space sets as a kid, I have acquired 497 Galaxy Explorer and I think it is fantastic.
For once, I am going to go very slowly and just collect a few Classic Space sets and leave it at that. I tend to get carried away with collecting and I want to do this right by only finding a few sets that really appeal to me and that I truly see myself displaying/modifying.
I love this set. Filled to the brim with functionality. Front section, mid section and rear section can be seperated and played with seperately. If the grill print at the back of the front cockpit were a triangle print it would have been more informative though, indicating the modular build.
If you guys think this Orion II Hyperspace ship has some issues with the open cockpit, you should have seen the Orion I Hyperspace ship where the pilots have to sit facing backwards.
Excellent Futuron choice! One thing that’s not immediately visible from the picture is that the ship can be disconnected into three independent parts. Adds so much play value. But the set could use a third minifg, to be able to occupy all three parts of the ship when disconnected.
"Orion II Hyperspace"...sounds like either: a interstellar trade route, or a movie title...
'Build-wise': Not bad for an 'intersystem' craft, but...there's no waaaaay I let this thing near 'hyperspace', too much (writes with irony) negative/empty space. Seriously, any more 'gaps' and it'd be a series of shopping centers :). And before anyone get mad, my second favorite set from Classic Space is 6861: X1 Patrol Craft, a set with tons of negative/empty space...which; now that I think about it, is a bit of an oxymoron...:) (First place will always be: 918: One Man Space Ship...I could probably built that ship, with my eyes closed, possibly in my sleep...).
I read it „Onion II Hyperspace”
Ahh Futuron, a Space set with 80's flavor.. I miss sets like this and this came out about the time of my dark age entry sadly..
@GSR_MataNui said:
"I do not recommend entering hyperspace with an open cockpit "
What could possibly go wrong?
Ah! Futuron! I loved this set as a kid - the way it all separated made for some great action and stories. And I love the new uniforms. The colours are sharp, the selection of parts is good. Yes. I know it doesn't have a proper cockpit, but maybe those new spacesuits are super protective? Either that or there's a lot of 'Event Horizon' type incidents... Either is good for more stories!
Is there an Orion 1? Or is the II just leet speak and the ship is literally just going from Orion to Hyperspace and they wanted to be cool about it?
Orion I maybe the 1 seater in the middle, where the mini-fig disappeared last time they went through hyperspace, so this is the 2nd attempt using the cool sun visors.
So much playability in under 200 parts. Good ol' Futuron.
Christmas 1987 I got this one. We were in the middle of moving house so it got a ton of play as the rest of my Lego was packed away. What an awesome little set this was.
@ElephantKnight said:
"It will translate to Blacktron very nicely, based on those octagon domes on the back.
Not going to lie, the name of this ship does not scream "Awesome ship name" but more "That doesn't roll off the tongue too well"."
Blasphemy! You shall not rebuild Futuron sets with Blacktron colours. The other way round is of course no problem :-)
@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"An Open Letter to whoever designed this... thing.
I insist you try harder.
Sincerely,
Professor Philo Hieronymus Whymzi, ESQ."
I realise that you’re not being serious, but even if you were, the set was designed 35 years ago so its designer is likely no longer at LEGO.
@brick_r said:
"empty space...which; now that I think about it, is a bit of an oxymoron."
Not an oxymoron. Tautological though.
@Capslock said:
"I read it „Onion II Hyperspace”"
It's a set that has so many layers!
Hey, I have that. Never knew it under this name though. I think the Geman catalogue had different names in many cases.
Huwbot is doing a great job selecting sets this week.
@NotProfessorWhymzi said:
"An Open Letter to whoever designed this... thing.
I insist you try harder.
Sincerely,
Professor Philo Hieronymus Whymzi, ESQ."
That's admittedly a nice attempt at a disguise, but you won't fool us, Professor Whymzi! Or experts have carefully analysed your signature - which ultimately betrayed your true identity, and now the game's over!
So, I don't know why, but I have ZERO recollection of this set as a child. And I OWN half of the space sets from this year. I don't remember it in a catalog, I don't remember seeing it in stores at all. I went through and looked at the years prior and after and I recognize all of them. This set is a mystery to me, lol. It's kinda wonky and I honestly don't like it. That might be the reason I don't remember it.
I don’t think we got this bad boy here in the States.
Must’ve gotten lost in transit.
@chief7575, I don’t think US catalogues of the time showed it, not the medium format ones anyway. So if it wasn’t on store shelves in your area and you only had that catalogue, it might explain why you’ve never seen it. May not be that your recollection is faulty.
Pre-internet, it was much more common not to know about products. When I became an AFOL in 1993, I only discovered LEGO’s service packs by chance when I spotted them at my then local department store’s toy department.
@Capslock said:
"I read it „Onion II Hyperspace”"
Same
@chief7575 said:
"So, I don't know why, but I have ZERO recollection of this set as a child. And I OWN half of the space sets from this year. I don't remember it in a catalog, I don't remember seeing it in stores at all. I went through and looked at the years prior and after and I recognize all of them. This set is a mystery to me, lol. It's kinda wonky and I honestly don't like it. That might be the reason I don't remember it. "
I don't remember it either, I think it wasn't in the catalogs or I only got the small single sheet catalogs that year.
One thing Futuron objectively has over the Classic Space sets: torso moons are a lot harder to rub off to oblivion. So either the printing improved (though I can’t see that since they were produced at the same time) or the size and placement of the symbol made it safer. Might even be why they made the change to Futuron-style there.
In my empirical experience, the rate of Futuron moons I have seen obliterated is about the same rate as Classic Space moons I’ve seen in good, gold shape. Good move by LEGO in any case, if the preservation rate inverted like that.
@myth:
Right. Because Blacktron I designs are cool and worth copying! Kinda like how China keeps ripping off the aesthetics of US and other nations’s aircraft, but nobody does it to them.
@peterlmorris:
A Futuron hyperspace transport that’s unsuited for travel across the pond? Sounds about right.
@PurpleDave said:
"Wow. That looks like it would handle like a sports car with a bank safe chained to the back."
The fast and the futuron?
In my head canon, Futuron is the R&D dept of Central (Classic) Space, which is why a lot of their designs can be a bit... clunky. This craft looks to be used mainly for testing the flight requirements (thrust) and handling (inertia, balance) of a rough build of a large rear compartment. An early stage on its journey to be part of a finished product. Blacktron, however beat them to the punch, by stealing the design, improving it, and implementing it in their second generation cruisers (6933,6988).
@Zander said:
" @chief7575, I don’t think US catalogues of the time showed it, not the medium format ones anyway. So if it wasn’t on store shelves in your area and you only had that catalogue, it might explain why you’ve never seen it. May not be that your recollection is faulty.
Pre-internet, it was much more common not to know about products. When I became an AFOL in 1993, I only discovered LEGO’s service packs by chance when I spotted them at my then local department store’s toy department."
It just plain wasn’t available in the States. Now there might’ve been a specialty toy store here or there that ordered it from Europe or something, but it wasn’t in US catalogs and wasn’t on US shelves at any major retailer.
That’s not that unusual, though. There’s several LEGO sets from back in the day that were region, or in some cases, country specific.
@sid3windr:
Nah. They had _two_ sports cars towing a bank safe that likely weighed more than both cars combined. That makes it totally plausible, right?