The LEGO City Space Science Lab (60439) features a great looking building and 2 Minifigures, including one in a wheelchair, they’ve also taken on a new Alien apprentice. The set comes complete with an airlock element allowing the set to be connected to other LEGO Space sets.

The LEGO City Space Science Lab (60439) will be available from 1st April.

Having an interest in Space generally, it’s logical that it translate to LEGO, so I had to grab at least one set, build it and review it. I decided to build this during our weekly livestream, which happens every Thursday at 8pm (GMT) over on Instagram, as I wanted to share the experience with you. I also follow-up a build with a review here on the website so make sure to bookmark us.

The Box & Contents:

As you can see from the images of the box, it’s bright and colourful, with City branding in the top left corner as usual. You can also tell it apart from other City sets as there is clear Space branding running down the right-hand side, with the classic logo we all know and love.

On the front is the Explorer Rover, side build and 2 Minifigures, all set in front of a purple/dark Space back. I like the use of more realistic surroundings, it highlights the set more and that it’s obviously LEGO. The back is similar in design but focuses more on the playability features which include front spring-loaded wheels, individual wheel axis as the back and how the roof and tail sections lift off and pull down.

You’ll find 4 numbered bags inside along with 6 wheels and 2 instruction manuals. At first, when shaking the box, it feels heavy and that a lot of parts inside, but the wheels themselves weigh a lot surprisingly. The bags themselves don’t have too much inside them, making the build flyby. Also there aren’t any stickers, it’s all printed, get in! Granted there are only a few parts with designs on them but still, it’s a win.

One instruction manual is very thin and covers the side build portion of the set. The other manual included bags 3, 4 and 5, making it somewhat unfair if building with family or a friend.

The Build:

Being broken up into 4 bags that don’t really contain many parts, the steps are simple, with some having just the one part being added at a time. This means the build process is quick, don’t get me wrong, the build is enjoyable and with the use of a few Technic parts is interesting.

Bag 1 is the small side build and the two little Aliens. It’s simple but works as a portion of the Planets terrain, with craters for the Aliens to loosely stand in. More on those oddly cute creature later in the review.

Bag 2 makes a start on the Explorer Rover by first creating the base complete with Technic bars, pins and more to help make it sturdy. Bag 3 builds up the sides and you start to see a shape forming. The bag, 4, finishes the set off and we have our completed Rover, with the canopy, separated cargo compartments and cockpit for the Minifigure Astronauts.

The spring loaded front axis makes the vehicle fun to push down and play with, traversing uneven flooring beit on the table you’re building on or the floor. With the back wheels also being on different axis, they too can rotate individually, combine these and you have a satisfyingly clever LEGO Space Rover!

There’s enough room inside the cargo bay for the small brick-built robot and the crews’ accessories. The tail lift/door swings down giving you easy access to the back. Added details all over the vehicle really finish it off with a communications mast, lights, handles and more, we even get 2 printed Space logo tiles, one on top and one on the tail door.

You’ll find there’s plenty of room inside the cockpit as both Minifigures fit inside. Read more about the Minifigures below.

The Minifigures:

Included in the set are two Astronaut Minifigures, one has green accents whilst the other has blue. Not entirely sure what the colours mean, perhaps it’s a sign of rank or job, let me know in the comments if you know why.

Apart from the accent colours, gender and visor, the Mini are identical, their torso and leg prints are the same and features a shiny/metallic design and the Space logo. The helmets are slightly different moulds which I’m guessing helps to hold the different visors.

Each Minifigure has a backpack, again different in mould. The Green one has a printed tile and a 1×2 stud/clip piece attached to it whilst the Blue one has just a bare stud, for attaching an accessory too later.

You also get two little alien creatures that sit in the craters on the side build. They are identical in design and look surprisingly cute, with their three eyes and upside down plant element bodies. They’re quite simple in build, with a hollow 1×1 stud holding them together. They do complete the set nicely though and gives the set its Alien Life name.

Overall the set is great and for the Cost, £24.99, it certainly is affordable for the 311 parts you get. Some of the cost is in the 6 wheels and it shows as the build itself is a little on the skimpy side. The 2 Aliens and 2 Minifigures do make up for that, just.

Do you have this set? What do you think of it? Let us know via the comments section below. Thank you for reading this review, we really appreciate your time and support.

The next wave of LEGO City will be Space themed and full of cool looking ships, Minifigures and more. These coincide with the recently revealed LEGO Technic Space themed sets and would look great together.

What do you think of the sets below? Let us know in the comments section.

Space Construction Mech (60428):

Spaceship and Asteroid Discovery (60429):

Interstellar Spaceship (60430):

Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life (60431):

Command Rover and Crane Loader (60432):

Modular Space Station (60433):

Space Base and Rocket Launchpad (60434):

Space Hoverbike (60663):

The new wave of the LEGO City subtheme, Space, is very exiting and captures a lot of different aspects of exploration and what does and could go on up there.

In this review I’ll be taking a look at the most affordable in the current wave, the LEGO City Space Lunar Roving Vehicle (60348) set!

The Box & Contents:

I’ll admit that it has been a while since I purchased any LEGO Space sets, the last being the small ‘battle pack’ style set that introduced Benny’s friends, Kenny, Jenny and Lenny.

The box art really does capture the whole Space vibe with a Moonscape image in the background and the Lunar Rover and characters in the foreground.

You’ll find the usual details down the left-hand-side, set no.60348, 275 piece count, suitable age, and so on. Also on the front is a small panel detailing where the inspiration came from for this particular Lunar Rover, the NASA concepts for its Artemis Lunar Rover. Its great to see LEGO basing these sets on real-life ideas and concepts from the World we live in, perfect for younger fans to really get stuck into and learn more about.

Flip the box around and you’ll see some of the playable features, from lowering & lifting the tail gate, the side airlock doors, the meteor, front pincers, and many more. Of course being made from LEGO the possibilities are endless.

Inside the box you’ll find three numbered bags, instruction manual and a small sticker sheet. 

As usual with sets of this size, stickers are inevitable unfortunately, but in this case it is fine with me, as the stickers included are the shiny foil type, with one design in particular that really grabs my attention, and the rest of the LEGO Space fanbase, the Classic Space logo!

The Build:

Cracking the first bag open and being introduced straight off the bat to the two Astronauts and Rover Pilot was a nice surprise, one I would have imagined they’d left until last. More on the Minifigures later in the review.

Getting stuck into the rest of bag 1 and the small side build, the Meteor, we start with a circular base, pop a few sloped bricks a jumper tile, a flag pole and of course the rock itself, and we’re done. Not a lot of thought has gone into this particular build but there doesn’t need to be, it’s the Moon, which is a baron, lifeless place with very little going on, so it’s actually very suitable.

There’s a nice little surprise waiting for you inside the very cool rock piece, a small gem. Apart from the rocky grey exterior the accent colour really pops, especially if you catch it in the right light. The transparent blue of the interior peeks through the gaps, really adding to the look, feel, and most importantly the imagination!

Bags 2 & 3 are purely for the Lunar Rover vehicle which is surprisingly very detailed and includes some nice techniques.

Starting off in the cockpit you’ll find two small control panels and joysticks, sitting opposite each other, perfect for the pilot to sit between and Steer the vehicle and maneuver the front pincers.

The front windscreens have been done in an interesting way, with the bottom one essentially upside-down. Both are done in the exact same way and clip onto the main body. Being clipped in place rather than connected via studs it does mean they don’t always lineup or sit correctly in relation to each other. This is the one flaw that does unfortunately bring the set as a whole down and reflected in our rating.

Opening all the doors and removing the roof section you’ll get a better look inside, although there isn’t much else to see

The back section is where the Astronauts store their equipment and the scientific finds whilst out on missions, as this area is shut off from the front by windows and solar panels.

I like the use of the large Technic pieces either side of the Lunar Rover, they look exactly how airlocks do, well I’m going off of the many Space themed movies I’ve seen over the years.

The wheels go on last and if you’re a LEGO wheel fan you’ll love the 12 there are included, with their cool looking gold rims.

They simply pop onto the underneath of the vehicle and away you do, in pretty much any direction you feel like. These wheels are so much fun, I can’t stop whizzing it about on the table!

The finished product is a fun take on a real-life concept that gets the imagination running. Grab a vintage Moon baseplate or two and setup base for a Roving good time, take an Astronaut each and start exploring. I love these sets and what they offer both young and older fans!

The Minifigures:

There are three Minifigures included, two Astronauts and a Rover Pilot.

During the Instagram live stream in which I build this set, found here if anyone is interested in seeing how it was built and listen to a LEGO fan waffle on, I always ask the viewers to name the characters. We have Tim and Dawn the Astronauts and Doug the Rover Pilot!

Up first is the man that controls the Lunar Rover itself, Doug. He is a happy chap who dresses in official LEGO Space attire which is essentially light blue overalls, a cool looking brown jacket, and a baseball cap.

Due to the baseball cap accessory there isn’t an alternative face, whice is fine, some Minifigures don’t need a second expression, Doug here has the ‘I’m very determined‘ look.

Tim and Dawn are the two fully kitted out Astronauts, in their primarily white Space suits.

What really excites me about these Minifigures are the newer style of helmet and the large gold visor, they look so cool and very futuristic, again just like in the movies.

Tim has a couple of lights attached to his suit whilst Dawn carries the equipment, a shovel and saw. Their suits are identical and feature a crisp design filled with a ton of details.

Turn them around and you’ll find printed LEGO Space logos on 2×2 sloped tiles. These are great to have in a set this size and to be printed is a nice touch too, perfect for MOCs (my own creation) and using elsewhere.

You can also see in the image below the dual-moulded Helmets, with the black trim running along the lower back section, another reason that makes these so cool.

LEGO has gone all out with Tim and Dawn the Astronauts, as they both have alternative faces and a hair piece each!

Tim’s hair looks smart and suits his beard rather well, whilst Dawn has her blonde hair up in a ponytail.

Although these aren’t based on the Classic LEGO Spaceman most of us older fans remember they’re still worth getting ahold of and adding to the collection. They bring new and exciting things to the table and I personally want to explore more in this series!

The Conclusion:

Overall the set is enjoyable to build and play with, the Lunar Rover vehicle maneuvers in a way I’ve not seen LEGO do, or at least for a while. Attaching the wheels to the body in this way makes for a very entertaining ride and had me spinning it around for quite awhile.

The Minifigures are spot on and add a lot to the set, with each of the Astronauts coming complete with their very own Space suit and accessories. The pilot is also cool in his overall, jacket, and cap.

Having foil stickers makes them rather sought-after and I might find myself ordering more from Bricklink/Brickowl soon, the shiny classic LEGO Space logo is worth the extra pennies for sure.

If you’re a LEGO Space fan, or even a City one, you’ll want to grab this set, especially if you have a Space department in your cityscape.

Another awesome aspect of this set is that it can be combined with a larger one in the same series, Lunar Research Base (60350), which makes a lot of sense and expands on the play features and scenarios you and your young fan(s) can dream up!

Thank you for taking the time to read this review, we really appreciate it.

If you’d like to leave us a comment or question then please do so below via the comments section.