LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life avoids an awkward position among a great selection of LEGO City Space sets thanks to its price.
When every small set is knocking it out the park and every big set offers completely wild and never-before-seen LEGO experiences, it can make for a difficult spot that you’d usually expect the likes of 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life to occupy.
Not so heading into this January 2024 wave of releases for the theme, because 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life is so very well priced.
--- LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life set details ---
--- Where to buy LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life ---
LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life releases on January 1, 2024 at LEGO.com, in LEGO Stores and at select third-party retailers.
--- LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life build ---
LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life is another simple but cleverly designed vehicle in the lower price range from the upcoming Space subtheme, making the most of its oversized wheels without letting them dominate the entire model nor push the price of the set out of orbit.
Of course, the wheels to this thing are massive and do pull a lot of focus. But the body to the model is nicely proportioned against them and sits at a sensible, visible height and is pitched at a great front-leaning angle, so as to provide great visual balance to the whole model. Combined with the suspension built into the front two wheels and the moveable axis for the back four and you have the perfect six-wheeled vehicle to traverse space terrain in typical bouncy fashion.
Because of the movement built into the wheels (not in steering, mind), there is a lot of immediate and fun playability to 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life, which really helps the set compete with the likes of the better-looking and instantly-playable 60430 Interstellar Spaceship (anything that can swoosh is a step ahead in LEGO Space) by drawing you back to interact with the model again and again.
The explorer includes an interior with seating for the two minifigures and a hatch at the back to store the included mini explorer, and while it’s simplistic in approach, it’s exactly what such a vehicle needs to offer – playable, practical interior space to house almost everything you need to then drive around the living room quite dangerously.
Indeed, this is LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life in a nutshell – it’s easy to build, has some simple features to the wheels and is just great fun to interact with and wheel along. It may sound like it makes for a slightly more junior experience than some of the other LEGO City Space sets, but the model then has enough detail and design to it to keep it suitably and stylistically grounded in the universe being built across this subtheme. There’s far more consideration having gone into this model than its main play feature and first impressions would have you see.
--- LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life characters ---
LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life comes with two minifigures: a blue pilot to drive the Explorer Rover and a green ground crew to walk around the included terrain build and snap photos of two very cute little green aliens that are also included. Those aliens really elevate the character selection here and help to give 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life even further appeal.
--- LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life price ---
LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life is priced at £24.99 / $34.99 / €29.99, which is a core reason why – in spite of feeling a little more one-dimensional in play – this is not a set to overlook. Large pieces as are found in this set could otherwise bump up such a set to the £35 to £45 range and that would write this vehicle off for lacking the required depth and value.
But at this price, what you get is more than fair value, and the set is a lot more dynamic than perhaps any collection of photos can get across.
--- LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life pictures ---
--- LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life pros and cons ---
LEGO City 60431 Space Explorer Rover and Alien Life is a very playable and bouncy LEGO set with a lot more going for it than its main gimmick would initially suggest. A lot of care has gone into the specifics of this model’s design and it is those details that begin to catch your eye once you’ve finished wheeling it around and up and down, making for a LEGO set that continues to deliver once the initial excitement has faded.
For the price this comes in at, that’s better value than you can ask for.
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