#ThrowbackThursday Review: 6986 Space Police Mission Commander
Posted by Mr_Cross,
6986 Space Police Mission Commander (aka Galactic Enforcer) from 1989, was in many ways the replacement for the 6985 Cosmic Fleet Voyager (aka Taurean Ore Carrier), at the very least, it was Space Police I’s equivalent mothership.
6985 had been doing a valiant tour of duty since 1986, and although decommissioned by 1989, it looks like the designer of the new ship kept much of what made the previous ‘mothership’ so good.
Even though I felt I was too old for this set at the time, I still wanted it. You probably wanted it too. A kid at your school had it and you rightly hated them. I recently acquired this set in the glorious condition you see presented here. You may now hate me too (but please don’t!).
Parts
A mixture of black, blue and trans red parts really is a law enforcement palette. With the exception of silver on the printed parts, only those colours found in the minifigures deviate from that.
Instructions
The 16 page A4 instruction “book” gets the job done in approximately 112 steps, even if it is labelled up as 17!
Minifigures
This big mother of a ship comes with three characters to play with.
‘Standard’ Blacktron Spaceman
In my opinion, villains have never looked so totally at ease, content and downright happy. I didn’t ever cast these guys as baddies when I was a kid - that whole aspect passed me by. To me, these guys were just the coolest. They were equal parts heavy metal bikers, elite commandos, secret agents and special forces, and so I’m disappointed that just one of them is provided here.
Space Police
Two identical Space Police officers come with the set. This minifigure reuses the classic Futuron torso design (we recently saw an updated version - Space Police Guy in the collectible minifigure series 21 71029) complete with the instantly recognisable diagonal zipper!
Would a standard brick-built robo-officer have been too much to ask as an addition? Carrying on from the robots that were present in a fair few of the classic space sets that preceded this one.
The Build
As you all well know, old sets didn’t have numbered bags and so there’s not the handy format to follow when structuring the build process for a review. So, instead I have documented the build at the end of each of the double page spreads.
Pages 2 & 3
The first things to build are a pair of little (surface skimmer?) scooter vehicles, these are extremely economically built using just ten pieces each.
The next little associated build is a rover, which upon building it, I thought looked to be of quite an odd design… but the reason for this became clear later on in the build.
The last of the “side” builds are the two containment cells/pods.
Mind out for those laser containment bars !
Interestingly, the decorated panels for the pods are printed in two directions - making the sign read the right way up from both sides when the pods are on their backs. This is a detail that I think we would usually only get in sticker form these days.
Pages 4 & 5
The enormity of this thing becomes clear from the very beginning. That’s four different styles of wing/wedge plates and I wonder how that would be approached for a modern set. I’m given to understand that designers have to limit the number of unique parts they use.
Pages 6 & 7
Having noted the wide variety of parts, there is still a great economy here. Getting to this point uses very few parts in total.
Pages 8 & 9
This was the first time I encountered the printed slopes during the build, and they were all in excellent condition. In fact this was the point that I marvelled that the bricks looked hardly used at all… and that created some questions in my mind. Was this set really ever properly played with? Was it ever mixed up in a big storage box and used to create wonderful imaginative things? As a collector, I’m delighted with the condition, as a father it makes me a bit melancholy to think of a toy like this that wasn’t played with.
Pages 10 & 11
The entire midsection of the ship is given over to housing the mechanism. Already it feels like it is sad that such a large proportion of the overall structure is monopolised. Off the top of my head I can think of an alternative method that uses period appropriate parts. So I have to ask, why sacrifice so much space? Space that could have featured navigation controls or equipment bays.
Perhaps the usage was a case of justifying the cost of the rack winder that had been introduced the previous year. Interestingly (perhaps), that part is classified as a technic part on bricklink, but only features in a total of nine Town and Space sets. The rack however, does appear in a single technic set.
Pages 12 & 13
The main fuselage is just about complete by the end of the penultimate spread. Again, I’m struck by the economy of steps and parts usage that has led me this far into the build.
Pages 14 & 15
Here is the deployable space base. My inner nerd is screaming “Apparently there is no vacuum in LEGO Space!”, not that there ever was, but look at all those gaps and open panels!
Two 2x1 modified plates with vertical bars (4623a) are used on the back of each pod and trapped under intentional gaps in the construction to secure the pods in place.
Page 16
Finally, it’s time to attach the multifaceted trans red canopy that is so characteristic of the late eighties and early nineties spaceships.
Test flight
After I’d built the Mission Commander ship, I gave it a thorough swooshing, it is satisfyingly weighty and surprisingly solid.
My son had a go too and remarked that the thinner central section was good for holding it and that he thought it was light for such a big ship.
He really liked the play features too.
This is where the build of the rover now makes more sense (however odd looking it is) as it is drawn into its ‘docked’ piloting position by the rack mechanism… but there are no controls in the main cockpit of the ship.
It is cool that you can deploy the space base (or containment unit)…
…but there is a distinct lack of controls here also. That had me scratching my head, because it felt unusual. It was then that I realised that there is not one panel of instrumentation in the whole ship!
Furthermore, there are no tools provided, not one walkie-talkie, no requisite space spanner or common astro hammer, none of the loud hailer raygun blasters, not a galactic utensil of any shape or form!
How the Space Police intend to apprehend Bobby Blacktron is beyond me - perhaps they assume he will just smile and come quietly.
“Come on Bobby, let’s be ‘avin’ ya!”
“Ok then officer, you got me, it’s a fair cop.”
I feel those things are serious concerns and potentially harm the play value and the immersiveness of the LEGO world. For me at least.
Something else that I think is also potentially missing here, is a vehicle for our “baddie”. I can easily imagine swooshing two ships around in some chase scenario.
“This is Captain Redscreen of the LSPD*, I am in hot pursuit of one Bobby Blacktron!”
I have to admit, the modern sets have so much added play value when there are vehicles/builds for two opposing sides.
Perhaps LEGO during the late eighties felt that it was enough that they provide other vehicles for the villains within the overall range and that a complete story wasn’t needed within one set… I can see that the clear delineation of the subthemes was a useful marketing device as and when sets were retired. I can also appreciate that often we feel that a sidebuild or “second” vehicle is a little lacking in one way or another. I do feel that the modern approach to set design does seem to create a whole world to play in.
*Lego Space Police Department
For me though, the biggest disappointment was that however neatly the scooters fit under the windscreens on the wings, you can’t seat a driver/pilot on them and have the canopy close down. For what it’s worth, that didn’t bother my son as much as it bothered me as an ex-toy designer. Clearly, I need to re-find my inner nine-year-old and stop over-thinking this stuff!
These are the parts that I mostly wanted the set for… and given the shortcomings I’ve noted, I’m inclined to suggest that here is part of the reason the set commands the second hand price it does. Have a look at the rebrickable inventory, you’ll quickly see what I mean, as this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Background and other thoughts
This particular example of the set was a fruit of the Gumtree.
Buying classic “vintage” LEGO Space at what I think of as reasonable prices has become something of a rarity. With luck playing an instrumental role. I paid circa £95 for this set. There were organisational shenanigans of buying it remotely from a seller who wouldn’t accept PayPal and insisted on cold hard cash face to face. Luckily this was fairly straightforwardly achieved - a case of asking for a favour from a friend who just happened to live nearby to the seller, who was willing to forward the set onto me for no extra cost and didn’t appear to be tempted to keep the set for themselves… [I don't mind you mentioning my name, and I already have one! -- Huw]
I think I must have acclimatized to building modern sets. I was rusty in the art of ‘spot the difference’ that we used to have to play with the old sets like this, and I’m slightly abashed to admit that I found some steps of this quite difficult to make sure I had completed. Being perfectly honest, I had to retrace my steps a couple of times to get it right! I’m blaming my middle-aged eyes of course.
There is an efficiency in these instructions, it has to be acknowledged. If we compare them to instruction books of many modern sets (with a similar parts count), the instructions are many, many pages longer and usually substantially weightier.
However, modern builds are very often more complex than the Mission Commander.
Were this set released today I’m sure there would be criticism of ‘gaps’ in the fuselage and the over-large mechanism, at the very least.
So, I’m torn on this matter, are new models overly complicated or were the older instructions and models just simpler? There is a further issue with older instructions having been hand-drawn and therefore time-consuming to produce especially with several hundred pieces needing to be placed.
The colour palette of black, blue and trans red is reflective of the limited colours available at the time, and although a splash of another colour in the livery might have livened things up a bit, this is a bold and striking looking vessel.
It definitely picks up from where 6985 left off with a removable space base clipped onto the back…
One final point to consider (after just over thirty years I’ve now realised that) this ship shows very little in the way of visible signs of propulsion. Does it matter? We’ve got this far without it really being an issue. Perhaps it is another case of needing to find my inner child and wildly invent an inter-dimensional brickmatic induction warp drive to create invisible thrust or whatever else is needed in the thick of imaginative play!
Conclusion
In my searches for retired sets previously, I have plumbed the depths of online Argos catalogue archives in the search for the original RRP, but it doesn’t look like they sold this particular set (retromash - Argos '89 - flip to pg 316).
Initially, I could only find verification for the US price of $49.99. After extensive google image searches, I found the UK price (in a Brickset Throwback Thursday article of all places) in 1989, the bargain sum of £34.99 would have secured this set for you. I suspect therefore, that the European price would have been an equivalent of around 39.99€ in the pre-union currencies for the 448 parts and three minifigures. I could easily imagine needing to pay £64.99 for this at current prices (allowing for the multiple larger pieces).
Obviously I feel like I have to recommend the set, I spent a stupid amount of money on it - although to be fair, as covered above, its current market value is way beyond even what I spent.
I’m a big Space LEGO fan, the unique and rare parts are fantastic, the finished model looks so very cool, however, there are some problems I don’t think I can overlook (however nostalgic I allow myself to be).
The lack of a “villain’s” ship, the interaction of the scooters (when manned) with the onboard canopies that are intended to house them, the barren insides of the deployable space base section and cockpit, the absence of tools and finally not including any rocket boosters just really weighs heavy on the negative side. Looking cool isn’t enough.
So, on balance, I’m going to advise that if you’re looking to, don’t buy this set for anything other than nostalgia or the breathtaking parts, because it’s a mother(ship) of a disappointment where play value is concerned. I’m still pretty excited to own it though, so I don’t quite know what that means...
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87 comments on this article
I want space themes back again I miss them :’(
Still rising in value. Need to catch it before it get out of reach.
Thanks for the great review. The ship design is timeless and could also be from Battlestar Galactica.
Not a big fan of space sets but cool build
For what it's worth, lack of tools or villain vehicles never would have bothered me when I was a kid. Supplementary vehicles especially, I thought, always felt dull compared to the main attraction of any given set, and I wouldn't have missed them. That said, though, I suppose a big part of the reason for including multiple small vehicles in a set is so that siblings can potentially play with the set together without having to fight over who gets the only vehicle, so I can completely understand how lacking them could detract from the play value... at least for anyone who, unlike me, wasn't an only child!
In any case, a very interesting and entertaining review! This set was from before my time, so it's cool to take a look at it in more depth... maybe we could get throwback reviews of this nature more often, they're fascinating! :D
I think what I love most about this set is the colour scheme. It's so *striking*, especially with the absence of pins in various contradictory colours... I don't them I've ever seen a set before that used so few colours, much less so effectively. And those trans-red pieces are NICE.
I wanted this set so badly when I saw it in the catalogue back then. I finally picked it up off of eBay a couple of years ago for more or less the same price you paid. It's in great condition and even tinted by nostalgia it doesn't disappoint. I have since acquired the entire space police 1 range bar the lock up isolation base which sadly is rare and very expensive. Excellent write up, hope to see more articles on older classic sets.
@ThatBionicleGuy said:
"In any case, a very interesting and entertaining review!… maybe we could get throwback reviews of this nature more often, they're fascinating!"
Totally agree.
JANG does some retro reviews and they are among my favourites of his videos.
I managed to get it from ebay this summer for €122 including the postage; in a very good condition, just instructions were missing. Not bad considering usual asking prices. The seller had also all other SP1 sets save one, so I was quite happy :-)
Lately I’ve been prioritising older sets, 80’s and early 90’s, to buy from my wishlist. Trying to get them before prices go completely crazy.
Doesn't matter if there are no control panels as there are no propulsion system anyway. Very odd! Cool colour scheme but I dislike the whole police idea in space immensely. Blacktron are the cool guys. Always have been, always will
This was the last decent space theme, along with M-tron. SP2 is a stepdown in quality
One of my favourites, I got one last year for £80. I made some modifications to mine though, filled in the gaps put a proper top on it and added engines while keeping the main build intact.
I got this set for Christmas when I was maybe 4 going on 5 years of age and those instructions were horrible, like a puzzle you had to work out. I remember having to flick back and forth through the pages to make sure something was lined up properly before moving on. Worth it in the end.
Dug out the parts a few years back, replaced the missing parts and instructions online and then packed it away for my son (along with 6811, 6389 and 6879). He's only 2 years old so it'll be a while yet before he gets into them :)
Not sure if you realised this or not but the weird shape of the rover is not just so the mechanism can take it in/out but also so it can load one of those jail cells :-)
Most of your criticisms were exactly like mine when we got this (I remember saving up to be able to buy it, approximately 2000-2500 BEF at that time IIRC - this would be 50-60 EUR), especially the mechanism taking up most of the interior space, the empty base and those gaps next to the door on that; I could excuse the other gaps, the lack of opposing spaceship, the lack of propulsion and the fact that those tiny scooters couldn't fit under those trans-red covers when manned. Although the lack of some cool computer tiles or bricks miffed me too, back then ;-)
We did get a lot of mileage out of all those panels building our own space stations and the like though, so much so that all those blue panels were thoroughly discoloured. Luckily I've been able to score replacements in much better condition!
@nineteenseventyfour said:
"This was the last decent space theme, along with M-tron. SP2 is a stepdown in quality"
I was quite disappointed by 6984 Galactic Mediator. Very boring and empty when compared to 6986
Also, simpler building techniques and no cool panels. Did have propulsion though but no weapons instead. At last SP3 got both back
Unfortunately I don't own the larger Space Police sets but I did manage to acquire the light-and-sound set from this line (which includes the only-in-that-set light up computer screen element)
I do like this theme though (although nothing can beat Ice Planet for coolness IMO :)
Don't forget inflation. £34.99 in 1989 is equivalent to ~£77.70 today. £0.17 / piece!
This is also still on my to-get list.
Compared to modern sets, this one wins hands down imho.
I am of course highly biased, having grown up during the time sets like this were around, but I don't care.
The current TLG just isn't for me anymore, as I've already said in the article about the imminent price hike.
From now on I'll stick to hunting down all the great classic sets from decades ago that are still missing in my collection.
I only ever had the smaller ship and the rover from SP1. The lack of visible thrusters was definitely noticeable for me, and a little annoying because I had other Classic Space sets.
But I really liked the portable containment cells. I can’t remember if my two Blacktron sets were bad guys or not, though!
It looked very cool but seemed to break up whenever you touched it, sold mine for The Ghost and never looked back.
So, reading between the lines ...
"These are the parts that I mostly wanted the set for…"
... you bought the set just to break it down and use those blue and trans-red parts?
Bringbackspace
Very nice read, thank you! This set 'got me into trouble' when we were all instructed to start working from home last year...
I have owned a copy of this set since it was originally released and I, too, felt I was too old for it at the time, but I bought it anyway! I do agree with your comments on all the missing features, but for me the cool look of this vessel was sufficient at the time and it still is.
I don't remember what got me started last year, maybe an RSotD, but soon after starting to work from home I decided to put it back together, after having been disassembled for decades. Soon thereafter I found myself collecting all the other Space Police I sets (except @the27thMONKEY also the Lock Up Isolation Base), then all the M:Tron sets and finally all the Blacktron I sets.
Then I even went beyond that point and recreated some of the sets I liked from other Space themes in the Space Police I, M:Tron and Blacktron I color schemes, with adjusted play features to match with the themes I translated them to. I started off with recreating 6957-1 Space Police II Solar Snooper in the Space Police I theme, carrying 6886-1 Space Police I Galactic Peace Keeper on its trailer. Then I created a heavily armed version of 6989-1 M:Tron Mega Core Magnetizer in the Blacktron I theme and finally I created an M:Tron version of 6973-1 Ice Planet 2002 Deep Freeze Defender with and M:Tron version of 6848-1 Futuron Strategic Pursuer loaded in the lab section.
I really like how these projects turned out. I should post some pictures somewhere someday. Maybe some of you out there would appreciate them.
Thanks again for this excellent article!
It always amazed me how modular these things where, across the different lines (aquanauts, castle, space, etc.), and how many smaller builds can be separated and played with. 6986 is a great example.
Sometimes you can split things apart and a get a few new possibilities to re-combine things into ships, vehicles and buildings... it's a key feature of LEGO models and TLG should embrace this approach in more ways.
On a side note: Isn't the rover built to transport the prison cells from A to B?
awesome colours and awesome presence!!
More throwback retro set articles pls!!
This was the first set I bought when getting out of my dark ages some 5 years ago! I made some modifications for what's missing, including a big thruster section that could be re-attached when the middle section is left out.
Ah, I was "too old" for Legos at this time, but fortunately my little brother was 10 years younger. So I could play with him and got him the sets I liked and could afford come Christmas and birthdays. This allowed me to score points as a good older brother and offering the excuse to keep playing. Hit me right there in the nostalgia.
Thank you so much for this awesome review!
The Commander is a spectacular set. I like the colors that they used for Space Police I. Blue, black and trans red look so cool together!
I like all sets that were produced during the era of Space Police I, Blacktron I, M:Tron and Blacktron II. The colors were just amazing. You were able to determine quickly who are the bad guys, who is a magnetic crock ;-) and who tries to bring a peace to the galaxy. IMHO all these sets look the best and are just priceless...
For some reason I have one of those containment pods, but not the rest of the ship... Cool set though!
I had this! Loved it. My only big space ship from childhood. Used to continually rebuild it. Still have all the parts and instructions somewhere. Looking forward to when my own kids can build it and enjoy in a few years.
This is a very good review. Well written, entertaining, objective, but also laced with good subjective opinions with a decent basis in reality, and a great understanding of modern vs classic Lego building styles. Can you write more please Mr Cross?
I'm also curious as you mention a background in toy design. I believe that places you in a good position to write excellent reviews like these, plus I'd like to know what you got up to in your career.
@nineteenseventyfour said:
"Doesn't matter if there are no control panels as there are no propulsion system anyway. Very odd! Cool colour scheme but I dislike the whole police idea in space immensely. Blacktron are the cool guys. Always have been, always will
This was the last decent space theme, along with M-tron. SP2 is a stepdown in quality"
Last decent theme? What about Ice Planet, Galaxy Squad, Space Police 3?
@jsworpin said:
" @nineteenseventyfour said:
"Doesn't matter if there are no control panels as there are no propulsion system anyway. Very odd! Cool colour scheme but I dislike the whole police idea in space immensely. Blacktron are the cool guys. Always have been, always will
This was the last decent space theme, along with M-tron. SP2 is a stepdown in quality"
Last decent theme? What about Ice Planet, Galaxy Squad, Space Police 3?"
I have no interest in modern LEGO, for me the cutoff is Futuron/BT1. Ice-Planet does have some cool ideas but it just doesn't push my CS buttons
@Faio said:
"For some reason I have one of those containment pods, but not the rest of the ship... Cool set though!"
The containment pods also appeared in the other SP1 sets 6886-1, 6895-1, 6781-1 and 6955-1 (Can't place more than 5 hyperlinks apparently. Annoying!)
I have to be honest, I never really understood the appeal of this ship. Ever since I binged the instructions on sites like Peeron and Brickfactory I always knew of the limited interior and suprising gimickyness of this set's functions (I mean... most of the interior is used up for opening the front!). It mostly seems to be about the cool factor of its looks and the modular system it shares with the other sets.
In contrast, I think 5974-1 Galactic Enforcer is just a waay better set. The modules can be manned during flight, they even combine into a medium-sized ship and a mothership! The rover there can be deployed from a ramp in the back. There's plenty of interior and interior details and tools. And the quad cannons are even on ball joints, so can hit ships from multiple directions like a capital ship would!
I know that I'm comparing a modern set to a classic (apples to oranges?)... but these are objective improvements and people still seem to think the SP1 (and sometimes SP2) capital ships are better somehow. I swear, 5974 is just so underrated.
For a comparison closer to its era, 6985-1 Cosmic Fleet Voyager is a lot more functional than it is, even though the Mission Commander looks better. The CFV splits into three parts with the last section turning into an acutally spacious base. The front can zip off. And there are airlocks in between! The base even has room to house the rover that can also carry the blocks with equipment around.
So ehm.. back to 6986-1 ... It looks cool but is dated. I would recommend 6886-1 Galactic Peace Keeper and 6895-1 Spy Trak I above this one any day. And those at least don't cost an arm and a leg! 6986-1 is for completionists and people that REAAALY want to get that one set from their childhood only.
Creator 3-in-1 or IDEAS are long overdue for a Command Ship like this.
I know LEGO had a "space" theme as recent as 2019 with sets like :
70835 : Rex's Rexplorer!
70839 : The Rexcelsior!
70816: Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! will be 8 years ago next year.
As with most sets of the time, the build is crude, but the colors on this are legendary!
Honestly, I think some of the oddities in the design are what add to the charm of older sets like this for me. It's a nice reminder that when you create something, it doesn't have to be 100% perfect or super detailed to be fun.
Maybe I'm getting a bit too sappy, but this sorta holds a similar charm to the old Star Wars sets for me. Still recognizable on what it should be, but very blocky and with some oddities here and there.
Honestly, I think some of the oddities in the design are what add to the charm of older sets like this for me. It's a nice reminder that when you create something, it doesn't have to be 100% perfect or super detailed to be fun.
Maybe I'm getting a bit too sappy, but this sorta holds a similar charm to the old Star Wars sets for me. Still recognizable on what it should be, but very blocky and with some oddities here and there.
Nice to see a review of vintage Lego set for ThrowbackThursday. A potential opens for a whole series of vintage Lego set reviews, though if that ever happened, Brickset budget might go down very fast.
Was and is one of my favorites. Still have it.
I always switched the visors. Red visors on the bad guys and black visors on the good guys. I just felt like it made the bad guys a little more ominous and good guys a little more sleek.
You think there are no control surfaces? You'd be right...so how do we control the ship? Watch this... 'HEY SIRI! Set course for Alpha-1 Rocket Base. Warp 6. Engage!'
I love it!
@PDelahanty said:
"You think there are no control surfaces? You'd be right...so how do we control the ship? Watch this... 'HEY SIRI! Set course for Alpha-1 Rocket Base. Warp 6. Engage!'"
Funny thing is in 1989 when this set was released, voice activated IT was the stuff of science fiction. It existed but was so rudimentary as to have no practical applications.
I don't think they hand drawn instructions in 1989: we had computers and CAD software in abundance back then! I remember one of my school textbooks in this period, it proudly said "Written on an Apple Macintosh system".
I think LEGO moved from hand drawing to computers in the mid '80s, you can compare the instructions from the early years of the decade with ones from later and the difference is very noticeable: the proportions, cleanliness, shading, everything screams "made with a computer" (the same applies to school textbooks)!
They might have used a CAD, 3D modeller or illustration software, but being a large company they might as well have had a proprietary tool similar to LDraw.
Those concave and convex pieces are the best parts: they enable you to have a smaller or larger build without decreasing or increasing the footprint, as the case may be. Genius. They also have that geometric aesthetic, too, which serve to yield concrete examples of both technical and artistic ideas like symmetry; all the while the use of complimentary colours and the harmonious result is a testament to design.
Sure, there may not be as many obvious play functions in the use of space and may lack even basic details and accessories, but you can’t beat the overall appearance here as elegant and attractive.
Too bad Space Police and Blacktron were so short-lived. On the other hand that does make the want-list shorter, too. For me this is a set I have long sought, and to date have failed to come across it in a bulk bin like so many other space sets. The search continues. Congratulations on your find!
STILL.ONE.OFF.THE.BEST.
@MeisterDad said:
"Those concave and convex pieces are the best parts: they enable you to have a smaller or larger build without decreasing or increasing the footprint, as the case may be. Genius. They also have that geometric aesthetic, too, which serve to yield concrete examples of both technical and artistic ideas like symmetry; all the while the use of complimentary colours and the harmonious result is a testament to design.
Sure, there may not be as many obvious play functions in the use of space and may lack even basic details and accessories, but you can’t beat the overall appearance here as elegant and attractive.
Too bad Space Police and Blacktron were so short-lived. On the other hand that does make the want-list shorter, too. For me this is a set I have long sought, and to date have failed to come across it in a bulk bin like so many other space sets. The search continues. Congratulations on your find!"
The whole family of cool panels lasted more than a decade. I love using those (I have several hundreds) and it's not possible to build anything today with modern parts that comes even close
Bricklink used to be plentifull but they're getting rare. And expensive. Better stock up now ;)
As far as the controls go, it could be piloted like the Wakandan vehicles, and it has a holographic interface for the pilots.
@biffuz said:
"I think LEGO moved from hand drawing to computers in the mid '80s, you can compare the instructions from the early years of the decade with ones from later and the difference is very noticeable: the proportions, cleanliness, shading, everything screams "made with a computer""
I'd assumed that the switch to computers came later, with the increasing step count of mid 90s instructions (look at 6982, which has a 48 page book, for a similarly-sized ship to this, which gets by with just 16). Maybe the difference is not that they were newly computerised so much as that both computing and printing got more affordable?
(One interesting thing about some of the earliest instructions on Lego's site, like 6982, is that they are true vector files. Lego's modern PDFs are bitmaps, but the older ones can be scaled up to arbitrarily large sizes, which is nice if you want a huge poster of an Explorien astronaut.)
I reviewed this one myself after rebuilding it recently and also noted that it must be difficult to command missions from this ship without a single computer on board. The rear section definitely should have had at least a small computer terminal if not a bank of them--even by 80's standards, it's pretty sparse, and there was certainly room. Still, it's a great looking ship, though I prefer the CSV.
ThrowbackThursday Reviews seem like a really cool idea.
I don't "have" this set itself, but I bricklinked pieces to recreate it in the Ice Planet 2002 colour scheme.
It has quite an aggressive and mean look to it, compared to other older Space vehicles, which is cool to see. This drew me to recreating it in different colours, I love IP2002, but don't feel that much of a connection to the Space Police series.
The main feauture is nice, seeing the cockpit open and pushing the cart out is weirdly elegant.
What you talking about, no computers on board? This ship integrates with the organic computers that are the minifigs! Mind over matter!
@PDelahanty said:
"You think there are no control surfaces? You'd be right...so how do we control the ship? Watch this... 'HEY SIRI! Set course for Alpha-1 Rocket Base. Warp 6. Engage!'"
“Now playing Warped Sex Engaged.” I would NOT want Siri controlling my space ship!!
Sigh…what a thing of beauty. I wish child me had this set. He would have loved it. I would love it now too, even though I wouldn't do much with it. One can never go back.
The sets back then were simpler, but they had so much presence, so much heft. There's a reason you didn't get bad guy ships in the same box—you were supposed to go out and buy the fabulous bad guy ships too. Better two impressive sets than four mediocre ones. We forget that back then, Lego subthemes lasted three, sometimes four years on the shelves—enough time for a child to save and collect a whole line.
In 1989, I received the beautiful little 6886 Galactic peacekeeper. I was already 14y/o, I think I was my last Legoland set, before my Technic era, then my dark age.
I love it so much, and never dismantled it. But the 6986 was so incredible ! The design of all the Space Police set is attractive. It is weird and original in many ways, not a single engine at the back, for example. I found it on eBay in 2010 for 35 euros, when I was looking after Space Sets from my youth.
Interesting review! It's great seeing detailed pics and descriptions of a vintage set like this.
Reading along, I am reminded of both the fun aspects and frustrating of some of the older parts in sets like this one. I remember the system of panels like the ones in this set being loads of fun, and truth be told they're a great fit for building chambers and corridors for space and underwater themes. And since I've grown up and learned more about the Space sets from before my time, I realize just how many ways they were used in sets even beyond the ways that I saw them used during my childhood.
Conversely, some of those old wing and wedge pieces could be a pain in the butt sometimes, what with their odd angles, lack of stud notches along the edge, and specific left/right versions of even the old 4x4 wedges!
Reading marketing materials for some of these older Space factions has honestly given me quite an appreciation for some of the choices the designers made with them. For instance, in some countries, the Futuron and Blacktron themes were branded as "white space" and "black space" — and the color schemes themselves had even sharper contrast, not only between the white and black bodywork but also between the Tr. Blue and Tr. Yellow windscreens. Space Police completed the trifecta of primary-colored windscreens, although its black and blue bodywork didn't fit nearly as neatly into the white/black dichotomy established previously.
As a kid, neither the Space Police I or Space Police 2 fleets' color schemes really screamed "police" to me — Space Police 3 much more closely evoked the high-visibility vehicles and multicolored lights that I would normally associate with police vehicles in either fiction or real life. That said, the Space Police I minifigures communicated the "police" idea very clearly, in spite of repurposing existing Futuron uniform decorations!
It also seems like a bit of a shame in hindsight that neither Space Police 1 nor Blacktron 1 had any minifigures that clearly represented a chief/commander/captain like some later Space factions. By contrast, I quite like Space Police 2's reuse of the epaulettes from the Pirates theme to create a police chief/captain figure without introducing any unique decorations. Space Police 3 did the same thing to great effect.
Design-wise, this is definitely a clever expression of the general wedge shape that had been a staple of LEGO spacecraft design ever since the first wave of Classic Space sets. The prison pods with laser bars are such a delightfully cheesy sci-fi concept. I greatly prefer them to the Space Police 2 prison pods, although the Space Police 3 "force field cylinder" style prison pods measure up pretty nicely to the originals IMO. I love how the prison pods can slide into place either on the sides of the cargo hold or the back of the rover (as @DarthNorman pointed out).
The rover sliding into the cockpit is also a brilliant idea, but besides amount of interior space the gear rack consumes, it sounds superfluous and perhaps even a little tedious to even use a gear rack for this feature instead of just manually opening the front hatch and docking the rover.
Overall, I don't feel bad at all about missing out on this set, but it's neat to see it in so much detail, especially since in many ways sets like this one helped pave the way for ones that I enjoyed in my KFOL, TFOL, and AFOL years. Thanks for the detailed review, and also for your personal perspectives on what it's like to obtain, build, and play with a vintage set like this today!
This is so great, thank you! A pleasure to see a review of a set I own since childhood, as if it was a recent release. Great idea!
"So, I’m torn on this matter, are new models overly complicated or were the older instructions and models just simpler?"
Is that even a question? Older models are simpler, considerably so. In their construction methods, as well as the range of parts and shapes they had to work with. And while it's often remarkable how much they were able to do with what looks like few parts today, how much of an impression some models manage to make, just as often it's the opposite. Builds that look awfully basic by newer standards. Sets that ride high on a baseplate and some impressive windows, or a few large wing elements.
Older Lego sets are much like old video game graphics: They provide a sort of framework, they show some details, imply others, and then let your imagination fill in a lot of the rest. Doing that well, giving the impression of a lot with fairly little, is definitely a feat, and has a charm all of its own. In both cases though, Lego and games, this was a result of making the most of limitations, and what came after increased in complexity and visual fidelity as soon as it could.
The other point I was gonna mention, inflation, has been brought up already. The Bank of England reckons that £35 in 1989 bought about as much as £89 do today. Lego was never cheap, and if didn't seem expensive when we were kids, that's largely because our parents and grandparents were buying much of it.
Loved this theme (and old enough to remember it when it was new). Never had this set of the bunch but had the rest of the first SP wave.
“Stop, or I’ll say ‘stop’ again!”
Clearly it’s the coppers that are “bobbies”, not the Blacktron victim.
I have no nostalgia for SP1 because the only SP1 “set” I got was 6704 (might be the only M-Tron set I got, too). But, man, that poor Blacktron citizen who’s being unjustly harassed looks fantastic.
@Binnekamp:
You probably made one of two easy mistakes, as I’ve never seen any evidence of a limit on set number links. The first mistake people make is including the “-1” at the end of the set number. You only need to do that for “-2” and higher, or it breaks the link. The other is that if you edit it, it screws up any set links in the text by adding in stray spaces. If you edit it again, it converts them to plain text. If you edit a comment that has one of these links, you either need to re-paste the text if you wrote it in a text editor and transferred it over, or you need to dig through the text and change all the set number links back to their original format.
6886, 6895, 6781, 6955, 5974, 6985, 6886, 6895
That should be all eight of the set numbers you tried to link to, as functional links.
The Galactic Mediator is the Space Police flagship of my childhood; I only knew this one from old catalogs and generally had very little SPI exposure. I never understood the general shade that gets thrown at the Galactic Mediator, which at a glance seemed pretty similar to this... but this review shows this guy actually has a ton going on, vs. the relatively limited play features of the GM.
By the way, you mention a lack of control surfaces, but my impression is that when the rover is docked, the signals from the left and right joysticks get rerouted from controlling the rover's wheels to controlling the ship's flight, perhaps with triggers built into each joystick for the laser cannons.
Of course, that's a far cry from complex panels of switches, gauges, and display screens we're used to seeing on both real-world and sci-fi aircraft and spacecraft. But it's easy to imagine the windscreen functioning as a "head-up display" that lights up with maps, alerts, and video transmissions from other ships in the fleet! And in fact, many newer Space sets include windscreen stickers for that express purpose.
Similarly, you commented on the lack of propulsion and the fact that the scooters can't be manned when mounted on the ship, but I honestly feel like there's a good explanation for both those things — when the scooters are docked, they act as the ship's thrusters!
Of course, this means that the scooters can only be used when the main ship is either at rest on a planet's surface (as with the rover) or drifting through open space — contradicting the set's box art, which shows one of the speeders in use while the mothership cruises low over a planet's surface. But I honestly think that opens up neat play and storytelling possibilities, since this means it's a strategic risk for the ship's crew to sacrifice the mothership's maneuverability to deploy the quicker and more maneuverable scooters.
And in regard to your comment about the specific left and right "POLICE" patterned panels, you're right that designers today would likely prefer a sticker sheet over two largely redundant printed elements. But there are other options they might just as easily employ, such as printing the "POLICE" pattern on a tile or curved slope instead of a panel. That way they could use the same printed element not only for all the sets that include prison pods, but even in 4+ or polybag sets.
@Rob42 said:
"Older models are simpler, considerably so. In their construction methods, as well as the range of parts and shapes they had to work with. And while it's often remarkable how much they were able to do with what looks like few parts today, how much of an impression some models manage to make, just as often it's the opposite. Builds that look awfully basic by newer standards. Sets that ride high on a baseplate and some impressive windows, or a few large wing elements.
Older Lego sets are much like old video game graphics: They provide a sort of framework, they show some details, imply others, and then let your imagination fill in a lot of the rest. Doing that well, giving the impression of a lot with fairly little, is definitely a feat, and has a charm all of its own. In both cases though, Lego and games, this was a result of making the most of limitations, and what came after increased in complexity and visual fidelity as soon as it could.
The other point I was gonna mention, inflation, has been brought up already. The Bank of England reckons that £35 in 1989 bought about as much as £89 do today. Lego was never cheap, and if didn't seem expensive when we were kids, that's largely because our parents and grandparents were buying much of it."
I agree with both of these points. There are a LOT of my favorite sets from my childhood that I would be reluctant to get today if I had to pay for them with my own money, even if they only cost me a price roughly equivalent to what my parents would've paid for them!
Moreover, I feel like a lot of the varied parts and complex building techniques in modern sets like 71705-1 and 71722-1 not only add more excitement to the build than older equivalents, but also more MOCing potential. Of particular note, even back in the 90s when I was growing up, sets tended to include a lot fewer Technic functions, SNOT techniques, or hinges suitable for mech or creature builds than they do today — not to mention lower piece counts.
I think the Creator 3-in-1 theme exemplifies this. Despite its reputation for focusing on basic/generic parts and a "traditional" design ethos, it also makes great use of SNOT techniques, hinges, Technic connectors, curved pieces, and unconventional part uses to do stuff that would have been practically unimaginable in sets of the 80s or 90s.
I can't help but marvel at the hinge-based construction of 31119; the custom-built awnings, signage, and shorelines of 31118; the expressive articulation and musculature of 31112; the brick-built hull and sails of 31109; the gentle, lifelike curves of 31088; or the streamlined and gently angled wings of 31076.
And even with such varied parts and colors, there are typically as many (or more) possibilities for building totally different models from any of those sets' parts than with many of the sets from my own childhood. I think that speaks not only to the the versatility of today's parts and the skill of today's set designers, but also to their trust in how much complexity, creativity, and abstract thinking today's kids are capable of when given the right tools and clear guidance on how to use them.
Perhaps the ship is controlled by brainwaves?
Also, I count at least six protrusions on the ship that appear to be weapons-that would be more than enough incentive for me to surrender to said space police.
please more of this!
@Binnekamp: 6985 only splits into 2 sections, not 3. You are thinking of <6984.
This ships looks amazing but its lack of computer panels, minifig tools/accessories, usable interior, and obvious main engines (I don't think those scooters are suppose to propel the entire ship) are the main reason why this is one of my least favorite large ships from the golden age of LEGO Space (80s to 90s).
This ship might look like 6985 but it sacrifices almost all of the interior corridor of the front section for the lifting nose playfeature. By contrast, 6984 has a large enclosed corridor like 6985 (arguably accessing all 3 sections if the glass at the end of the first section is open-able). The relatively sparse and empty interior, while suitable for an long range exploration/cargo ship like 6985 (imagine being confined to a sitting position for an extended period of time as for most large LEGO spaceships; the pilot can actually stand up and move throughout the ship/change shifts!), doesn't quite work as well for police vessels like 6984 and 6986. One would expect banks of computers and equipment to occupy much internal space if these ships were capital ships/prison transports (perhaps they are meant to be prison ships like that New Republic vessel on the Mandalorian rather than simply prison pod transports?). 6984 takes a step in the right direction with its 4 tool clips in the rear garage and a single computer slope (on the floor?) in the otherwise empty midsection but it still falls short of 5984's better planned interior corridor.
Hmmm...that's a reeeally nice looking ship. The only thing I'd change is: swap all trans-red windscreens for trans-yellow ones, and all black for grey...oh, and add the classic 'Space' logo...what:)
Now that we have the perfect reimagined of the SPI minifigures, we need some ships. Even if it is a Creator set. The color scheme is just so perfect.
@Rob42 said:
[[[[So, I’m torn on this matter, are new models overly complicated or were the older instructions and models just simpler?]]
Is that even a question? Older models are simpler, considerably so. In their construction methods, as well as the range of parts and shapes they had to work with. And while it's often remarkable how much they were able to do with what looks like few parts today, how much of an impression some models manage to make, just as often it's the opposite. Builds that look awfully basic by newer standards. Sets that ride high on a baseplate and some impressive windows, or a few large wing elements.
Older Lego sets are much like old video game graphics: They provide a sort of framework, they show some details, imply others, and then let your imagination fill in a lot of the rest. Doing that well, giving the impression of a lot with fairly little, is definitely a feat, and has a charm all of its own. In both cases though, Lego and games, this was a result of making the most of limitations, and what came after increased in complexity and visual fidelity as soon as it could.
The other point I was gonna mention, inflation, has been brought up already. The Bank of England reckons that £35 in 1989 bought about as much as £89 do today. Lego was never cheap, and if didn't seem expensive when we were kids, that's largely because our parents and grandparents were buying much of it.]]
I strongly disagree: I find many of the new sets overly complicated for what they are. Using tons of bricks and pieces where and when they are not needed. 71717 is a prime example of this...
That size of a model needed just 17 steps! 17! It would be at least 50 nowadays.
I only have 1 black blacktron astronaut and he was my favourite figure by a mile. Cool black suit, lot's of print detailing. He was the bad boy good guy obviously. :)
This ship looks really cool, but it's indeed oddly barren. I would've played with it, but I definitely think kid me would've added some buttons/lights on the inside to "push".
I love that cockpit hiding a car. I recently tried building that myself, but I find those cool cockpits a nightmare to properly arrange around a figure wearing a helmet and an armour. I think I need to check this manual out for some inspiration.
And don't forget, there may be a vacuum in space and everything is full of gaps. But that's what helmets and invisible forcefields are for! :D
@myth said:
" @nineteenseventyfour said:
"This was the last decent space theme, along with M-tron. SP2 is a stepdown in quality"
I was quite disappointed by 6984 Galactic Mediator. Very boring and empty when compared to 6986
"
Me too, when I finished the build I couldn't believe it was that. But I got lots of pieces from the mediator in some random stash so that didn't cost me much. It stayed builtfor a day and then it went straight to pieces bins...
SP1 though is another thing entirely. But nostalgia may have something to do in here, so don't mind me ;)
According to an Austrian catalogue from 1991 the retail price was 835 ATS = roughly 60€ at that time not 40€!
Good old times when Lego was creative and original.
@myth said:
" @nineteenseventyfour said:
"This was the last decent space theme, along with M-tron. SP2 is a stepdown in quality"
I was quite disappointed by 6984 Galactic Mediator. Very boring and empty when compared to 6986
"
I would argue 6986 is also very empty. It is less boring thanks to its looks (6986 has a sleek aggressive profile, 6984 looks like the familiar NASA space shuttle), functionality, and those 2 additional scooters.
@darthnorman said:
"On a side note: Isn't the rover built to transport the prison cells from A to B?"
Yes, that's the main reason for the rover's design. A cell hooks into it the same way that it hooks into the detachable base.
Modern LEGO instructions limit to 1-3 pieces per step. The old instructions didn't use such limits, and you were lucky if they did something like outline the new pieces. It was not uncommon for an entire layer of plates to be added in a single step.
The old instructions were definitely more of a collection of 'find the difference' puzzles. When you were building something sprawling, it was easy to miss the addition of some 1x1 plate in a step, among all the other things going on. Or use an undecorated 1x2 brick because they didn't bother to show in the step that you should be using a decorated one.
I've inherited a fair share of vintage Lego sets from my uncle (all already taken apart, of course, so finding pieces is way more of a challenge than it should be). My grandma recently unearthed the near-pristine manuals for his collection, and this set was amongst them! Didn't know this was such a sought-after set at the time.
After this review, I really want to finish tracking down the pieces so I can see this set for myself in all its glory.
But I inherited A LOT of space-theme sets from this era (not to mention all of the Castle and Town sets mixed in too, plus everything else from my collection). So finding all of these pieces may take me a long, long time. :(
@eMouse:
I regularly see as many as a dozen pieces added per step in modern instructions, depending on target age range, of course. The main difference (and it’s huge) is that now they do an inset panel showing all the required parts for each step. Back then, they only did this for Technic sets that were targeted at an older and, theoretically, more experienced crowd (kind of like the Blacktron I and Super B Blacktron Cadet/Target Corps in that regard, where you have to prove you have what it takes to survive before you get to use the stealthy uniforms and vessels).
I have a friend from college who became a pandemic AFOL, and commented to me that he’s finally able to follow the instructions, like something just clicked years later. I then explained to him how much the instructions have changed over the years to make them easier to follow. I believe three things fed into that. One is that the models got more complex and really needed some additional clarification. Two is that a rapidly growing market base has needs that weren’t being catered to by instructions that were geared towards people who may be more mechanically-minded. And three is experience, where they’ve trialed different styles of instructions and learned what works and what doesn’t, while people who grew up building sets are now being hired to design them and bring all of their childhood experience into the fold.
@zux said:
"That size of a model needed just 17 steps! 17! It would be at least 50 nowadays."
I mean, part of that is just because LEGO has made big changes in how they label their steps compared to back in the 80s and 90s.
6986's instruction manual includes a lot of the "sub-steps", "sub-sub-steps", and even "SUB-sub-sub-steps": for example, the wing assembly on page 5, the floor assembly on page 7, the gear rack assembly on page 9, and the detachable ground base on pages 14 and 15. These subsections are all numbered independently, so they are not counted as part of the final step count.
Instead, you end up with oddities like the entire 72-piece ground base (consisting of 10 steps, 15 sub-steps, and 18 sub-sub-steps) being constructed between the END of step 16 and the BEGINNING of step 17. In today's sets, most of the building steps for sub-assemblies like this would be treated as full steps, and numbered in sequence with the main build.
To put it another way: 6986's instruction manual ALREADY has at least 50 steps, even without counting the rover and prison pod (which are assembled before the "main" build begins). But because a lot of them weren't labeled as "full" steps back then, the number labels didn't actually reflect how many building steps had been completed at any given point.
@eMouse said:
"Modern LEGO instructions limit to 1-3 pieces per step. The old instructions didn't use such limits, and you were lucky if they did something like outline the new pieces. It was not uncommon for an entire layer of plates to be added in a single step."
There isn't really a strict limit in modern sets — how many parts are added per step depends a lot on the set or theme in question (including the target age) and what sort of parts are being added in any given step.
For example, 71705 Destiny's Bounty (a 9+ set, same as this set was back in 1989) has many steps that include anywhere from ten to sixteen parts. But it also has a lot of one- to four-piece steps, particularly in Technic-heavy parts of the build like the mast and sails. It ultimately ends up with 451 steps, or about four parts per step on average.
And frankly, I think it's pretty telling to look at what sets were considered to have a 9+ level of complexity back then compared to today. Even if some folks feel that modern sets' high piece counts and levels of intricacy are unnecessary or excessive, it's clear that these days LEGO has a more positive outlook on the level of complexity kids can handle than they had back in the 80s. It's quite possible that "quality-of-life" changes like clearer building instructions, numbered bags, etc. have helped enable that shift.
Great article, and designs are much more complex as it appears LEGO wants to be more and more 'accurate' to the real world instead of the idea that LEGO is its own, and in LEGO space they use force-fields to ensure that oxygen is available, or they use air connections, or maybe there is oxygen in LEGO space (or the planet/moon they are on)... Im disappointed that many sets seem to have to be 'real' instead of being 'LEGO scale'. Maybe that's why LEGO classic space has not come back (among the main reason that somehow LEGO space would take away from Star Wars-IMO it would not).
I will also say that maybe its because it was an era of when I was growing up, but the cross torso zipper and visor just seem so '80's' LEGO :-)
I love this set! I never saw it in the catalogues as a kid, so there was no nostalgia that could blurr my reception of this spaceship. I discovered this ship later via internet, and instantly fell in love with it - the design, mechanisms, playability, colours... Today it is still a very good set, even though there are so many sets with new crazy bricks.
@madforLEGO said:
"Great article, and designs are much more complex as it appears LEGO wants to be more and more 'accurate' to the real world instead of the idea that LEGO is its own, and in LEGO space they use force-fields to ensure that oxygen is available, or they use air connections, or maybe there is oxygen in LEGO space (or the planet/moon they are on)... Im disappointed that many sets seem to have to be 'real' instead of being 'LEGO scale'. Maybe that's why LEGO classic space has not come back (among the main reason that somehow LEGO space would take away from Star Wars-IMO it would not)."
I don't think expectations of "realism" have anything to do with the lack of a current Space theme, to be honest. After all, other current and recent sci-fi/fantasy themes like Ninjago and Monkie Kid often tend to be wildly unrealistic, and kids don't seem to mind one bit.
Also, spaceships in licensed themes like Star Wars and Marvel often don't appear truly "airtight" or "watertight" themselves due to various gaps, especially around the windscreens. Same with spaceships and/or submarines in real-world-inspired themes like City and Friends.
For that matter, who's to say that today's sets seem more realistic than classic ones because they NEED to be, rather than just because they CAN be? In interviews with the designers of classic sets, they often tend to express a lot of pride in any new and authentic details they were able to introduce via those sets, and also mild regrets about places where they were forced to compromise on authenticity due to limitations on parts, colors, or subject matter that chairman of the board Godtfred Kirk Christiansen considered too scary or violent at the time.
Needless to say, if those old-school designers had access to today's LEGO elements back then (e.g. curved slopes, "cheese slopes", Mixel joints, round plates/tiles, curved windscreens, etc), I suspect they'd have eagerly taken advantage of the possibilities those parts now offer. After all, even back then, they showed a great commitment to making the most of whatever resources they had.
@Aanchir:
Certainly there was nothing realistic about the old Space themes. Classic Space had visorless helmets, Futuron had those wildly impractical diagonal zippers, Space Police 1 arrested several Blacktron agents, and the colonization of Ice Planet should have at least started 19 years ago.
As for use of modern elements, I kinda feel like things weren’t really primed for anyone to take full advantage of them back then, at least not to the extent that people do today. Between having a generation of kids who grew up building the models created by the previous slate of set designers, and the internet allowing the rapid dissemination of ideas and techniques worldwide, the current set designers had a better starting point from which to expand and grow. The previous designers surely would have found uses for them, but they wouldn’t have brought the same level of experience to the table.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Aanchir:
Certainly there was nothing realistic about the old Space themes. Classic Space had visorless helmets, Futuron had those wildly impractical diagonal zippers, Space Police 1 arrested several Blacktron agents, and the colonization of Ice Planet should have at least started 19 years ago.
Those diagonal zippers were present on the Project Mercury spacesuits (granted those suits were not designed for EVA)."
This is one of the few vintage sets I rebuilt. Unfortunately missing about three pieces but not bad for a set that’s been in storage since the early 90s. Was very shocked about the price on it, definitely one I will keep! Now I need to go back and rebuild all of my old late 70s early 80s space sets which were also in storage. Thanks for the article!
@LordDunsany:
I did a bit of research on the Mercury suits. It sounds like the reason for the diagonal zipper was that the Mercury suits were modified from an existing Navy pressure suit. The suit consisted of a large inner airtight layer, and a smaller durable outer compression layer. The outer layer was tight enough that it was difficult to put the suit on, so the torso needed to open up as much as possible. The diagonal entry zipper helped in that regard, but there had to be a second expansion zipper (like you find on some suitcases) for just the outer layer that allowed it to expand even more without creating a second breach in the inner airtight layer.
And yet we've shifted away from diagonal zippers. In terms of everyday garments, there are several reasons not to use them. A jacket needs four openings when fastened shut. The wrist holes are fairly simple, as you can leave the cuffs large enough to fit a hand through. Then you need holes at the waist and neck. Almost every jacket closes vertically to connect these two holes. A diagonal zipper connects the waist hole with the shoulder, not the neck hole. So you either need to leave the neck large enough to shove your head through, or you need an additional closure to link the neck hole to the shoulder zipper. If you overheat while wearing such a jacket, you can’t just open it up to cool off, as it will leave two long panels hanging in front of you, always getting in your way (and when hanging it in a closet, you’d have to zip it up for the same reason). It will also pull and tug at you asymmetrically, as the zipper won’t stretch, and will fold and wrinkle differently than the cloth it’s attached to. For guys, the vertical zipper can also be extended down into the crotch so you don’t have to use a catheter or shuck the entire outfit just to take a bathroom break.
For a primitive pressure suit, it can serve a useful purpose, though we’ve advanced beyond that in the decades since. As a basic uniform, it’s a terrible design, much like the bulky uniforms worn during the first six Star Trek movies that they were constantly wearing with the collar unfastened to prevent overheating (which probably didn’t help all that much).