I had aged out of my childhood Lego years when this was first released, but I became aware of it in recent years as I've gotten back into Lego as an adult. There are other Lego classic space bases that are larger and have more functionality (Blacktron Message Intercept Base for example), and there are other classic space bases that are more, well, classic (Alpha-1 and Beta-1 bases, for example). But I agree with some other reviews here that this 6972 set is the most aesthetically cohesive and refined base Lego ever released. The mini monorails, shuttle craft, rocket/satellite, and hinged white and trans-dark blue window assemblies provide plenty of functionality and play value for sure - but it's the clean, high-contrast colour scheme and the architectural symmetry of the base that really makes this one stand out.

This is not the best value in used classic space bases - the 3x blue space figures are not the largest number or the most varied selection available in a Lego space base, and the part count is small given the fairly high price this goes for on the used market.

So I would say this should not necessarily be your first or only Lego space base if you are getting back into Lego space as an adult, or if you are looking to get a child into Lego space. But it's a wonderful set that's worth seeking out and adding to any medium-sized or larger collection.

Finally, while it doesn't have a ton of parts for the money, the parts that it does have are great: printed tiles and slopes, trans-red and trans-dark blue parts that are uncommon (or in some cases unique to this set), a crater plate, and all kinds of hinges, SNOT bricks, windows, and struts.

Highly recommended.

Judging by the amount of yellowing that had occurred, this one ranks up with #6080 Kings's Castle as sets that have remained built-up for far too long. Luckily the internet provides some guides to whiten those yellowed pieces, so this base now is white again (slightly creamy white but still a huge improvement over something that could easily be mistaken for tan).

Box/Instructions

I can still remember getting this, opening the front flap and looking at all the parts under the plastic cover... the box was saved in the attic for a long time until we moved house and then all our lego boxes ended up in the paper bin. At least I still found the manual, which is about A4 or letter format and shows a picture of the set on half of the front page, all the rest is just instructions (no advertising, parts list or other pictures). Instead it dives right in with the construction of the two scout/defender hoverbike thingies (4 steps x2), followed by the rocket/satellite (9 steps + another 9 for a sub build) and ending with the base itself (17 steps with numerous sub builds). It looks like a very small amount of steps, were it not for those sub builds which keep it all manageable. All that on 16 pages too, there's hardly any wasted space here.

Parts

White. Black. At least that coveted crater baseplate is gray so the building stands out :-). Fortunately there is some colour in the form of trans-red and trans-blue, around 30 parts in total. Especially the 4 trans-red 3 x 6 wedge plates and the 4 trans-blue window panels for the 4 x 4 x 3 roof windows add a lot of character for so few parts. Still, the parts that are there are useful for space: supports, hoses, engines, computer terminals, an octagonal canopy, a slope with the classic space icon, etc. And then some parts that were not expected: white 1 x 2 x 3 train windows (you know, trains) and 3 x 3 x 6 corner walls (so far we had seen these only in castle).

Minifigures

Only three and they are all blue (this set alone provides about a fourth of all our blue classic spacemen), it's like they had a 'buy two, get one free' offer on blue spacemen? Another one would have been nice, as with all vehicles manned the base is left empty. And another colour too, although these blue ones go rather well with the overall colour scheme and there is a certain charm to the monochrome crew.

The build

Having just rebuilt this for the children it was actually a rather challenging build, having started with some small vehicles and houses this was one of the first bigger sets to be reassembled. The small vehicles are easy, as is the satellite although there is already some sideways building there (headlight bricks with the top stud facing forward and that ever useful 2 x 3 x 2/3 brick with studs on sides). Then comes the base itself and a rise in complexity. It starts with having to carefully position the first bricks on the crater plate, and then the build proceeds almost symmetrical, if you don't pay attention you miss the 1 x 2 became a 1 x 1 on the other side or changed orientation. The little monorails are clever, too short to be useful but with some more parts they can easily be made longer. The launch tower is the best part here, the way the radar dish arrays are connected is still impressive (the forethought needed to have it all measure up, the probably useless position for a radar can be excused as rule of cool).

The completed model

While some things are less then perfect (the satellite canopy comes off very easily, the too short monorails, the haphazard position for the hoses...) overall the set has a very future-industrial feel to it, enhanced by the monochrome crew no doubt. The outlying launch platforms work well to expand beyond the base plate, although the need for them to be hinged escapes me: folded up they don't use less space as the supports are almost equally long, besides this the hinges have weakened so they no longer stay up anyway. Playability is the main drive here, with the small monorails shuttling back and forth between the launch platforms and the base itself, the launch tower opening and closing, small scouts flying around and of course expeditions to wherever your fantasy leads the rocket to go!

Overall opinion

Following up on the title with my children's words: whooosh! What more does one need?

The Futuron color scheme and rorschach symmetry of the Polaris 1 Space Lab makes it the most visually striking of the classic Lego Space Bases.  The only set to use the dark trans-blue windows.  One of my favorite sets.

1987 was the year when Lego Space really took off. With the introduction of Futuron and Blacktron, Space became more focused and really impressive. This set may not be a Futuron but it bears very obvious influences from that series and it looks really impressive. To me it looks more like an architectural model of a futuristic industrial building rather than a mere toy. Excellent!

To me this should have been part of the Futuron series (too me Futuron and classic are the same) beacuse of its white dominace. But who cares, this is another brilliant piece of design. Great to look at, very versatile, minifigs and the rocket finish it off.