The 90th anniversary of LEGO brought with it a series of brick-sets evoking popular themes from its decades-spanning past. The medieval aesthetics of Lion Knights Castle (10305) throws back to LEGO Castles. The blocky contours of Galaxy Explorer (10497) hearken back to the simple builds of old-school LEGO Space. Even the iconic LEGO spaceman minifigs are at the controls. By now Galaxy Explorer is fully available following its August 1 launch. Longtime LEGO builders or more recent fans by way of the “LEGO Movies” would certainly snap this up. And would you believe it; LEGO can make the experience better.
Brick Fanatics shares with us this neat extra treat or two, courtesy of LEGO, for the Galaxy Explorer set (10497). The Building Instructions portal at LEGO.com features two official alternative builds for the already cool-retro brick-built space vehicle. The alternates turn Galaxy Explorer into close approximations of two oldie LEGO Space sets. With the instructions you can turn the Explorer into a Space Cruiser (924) or Spaceship (918). These alternates slim down the Explorer and also swaps the cockpit between two-seater or solo. Only the pieces from Galaxy Explorer (10497) are needed to recreate 918 or 924, which is brilliant.
Both alternate building instructions for the Galaxy Explorer can be downloaded at LEGO.com free. We’ve already linked them to the names above. Of course, you need to have purchased the actual set 10497 to make use of these PDFs. That’s pretty much the point.