I recently wrote a review of 60095 thinking that it was perhaps the best set in the Deep Sea Explorers line. Now, after building 60096, I think that this may be an even better set. I really like the design of the underwater habitat base. The sea plane is also nice, although it feel a bit awkward next to the base. Nevertheless, it's a fun plane that looks good and has useful features such as side hatches revealing a roomy cargo compartment. The submarine and underwater scooter look nice as well with the scooter providing a cool way for the female diver to ferry gas cylinders to and from the underwater base. The aqua-raiders dude with the heavy helmet looks a bit out of place in the set and the little treasure scene is a bit underwhelming, they are not central to the set anyway.

The build is quite a bit of fun with the various components of the set quickly taking shape and providing a rewarding experience. The parts selection is really good with some useful beams and specialized bricks. The instructions are broken into 5 booklets which for some inexplicable reasons are all different sizes. I wonder if this is a new trend and what is LEGO's thinking behind the booklet design. The box art is very attractive and does a good job at showcasing the set.

The underwater base is the crown jewel of the set. It is highly detailed and mostly plausible. The main habitat room is decorated with a fire extinguisher, flashlight, speargun, and lots of status displays. On the outside, the habitat features spotlights, support elements, and gas cylinders. The loading bay features a neat crane which lifts the sub from the water access pool onto the parking spot. It operates smoothly and is fun to play with. This is a suitable base for the exploration team.

In and of itself, the set is very cool, but I think it really is meant to be deployed in tandem with 60095 which includes a cool shipwreck with treasure chests which provides a much more exciting exploration subject for the team in the underwater base than the one included in this set. In fact, one of the status screens in the habitat shows a shipwreck and a shark. Each of these sets are neat by themselves, but together they tell a much more epic story. I really think that 60096 and 60095 could have been released as a really cool single large super-set leaving the airplane out of it (it does not fit, anyway), but then we would have had harder time justifying the $220 retail price, wouldn't we? Speaking of price, this set is much more reasonably priced at $100, even though it contains almost 200 more parts than 60095 which costs $120 retail.

Overall, a really nice divers set which offers a cool underwater base that compliments nicely the shipwreck scene from 60095. The set offers lots of playability and looks really good. In fact, it may be the best set of the 2015 Deep Sea Explorers series.

This set is pretty cool I really like yellow things anyway but here is my review

plane

it’s a Lego city plane it just standard but with the side placed door it looks nice and plays well

base

it’s yellow so it’s already in my good books but I don’t like the fact that there is no back wall I know that is for play reasons but I’m looking at it right now I would be happier if I could not see through it

submares

both perfectly good for the job

minifigs

again perfect

My Daughter is 3 and a half and "graduated" to LEGO from DUPLO just before she turned three. We recently got membership at the local aquarium and immediately thereafter she started taking interest in the Deep Sea range. Her preference was for the exploration vessel but a pricing anomaly in the UAE (USD 117 for this vs USD 189 for the ship; the anomaly was how cheap this set was) meant I grabbed this one.

Parts

Lots of interesting parts that are on the rarer side. My daughter likes the transparent canopies whilst I see the most potential in the steel columns and long beam pieces (18 studs long) for use in other creations.

Minifigures

A nice range. Not knowledgeable enough to comment on exclusivity, new prints etc. My daughter always likes sets with female characters and this one has two (the scientist and one of the divers)

The build

No fancy techniques which meant my daughter could do most of it herself with a little guidance (The gantry crane was beyond her). Generally as can be expected from a City set.

The completed model

This is what prompted me to submit a review. It's just a strange set. The AFOL side of me would prefer the parts value of the plane reinvested into expanding the base section which is frankly a little small. I think that the gantry section of the base would make more sense as part of a floating platform but the enclosed section (and the box art) doesn't fit with this.

My AFOL opinions aside, the set has been a hit with my daughter and that's the most important thing. She doesn't care about some of the issues I do; she lands the plane next to the base and the pilot goes and has a chat to the scientist without a care in the world.

The enclosed submersible is serviceable. May not be as appealing as the bigger one in the 60092 set but it is more than adequate for kids.

A real drawback is the absolutely tiny little underwater scene provided. My daughter more often than not leaves the smaller submersible back at the base during play so perhaps those parts could've been invested into a slightly bigger scene. Both the starter kit and scooter provide cheap options to add a submersible so I think LEGO missed a trick here.

Overall opinion

I wouldn't have originally opted for this set as the pieces just didn't seem to fit together but my daughter absolutely loves it. I will probably be stumping up for the exploration vessel shortly to address the lack of underwater scene to explore.

I'd be a little concerned that an older child would have more issues with the playability and so perhaps the exploration vessel would be a better option for most.