The Lego Ideas International Space Station Is Out of This World

Yet another amazing enthusiast-created Lego set has become a reality. Today, the company announced the release of the Lego Ideas International Space Station.

The original MOC was submitted by Christoph Ruge in the fall of 2017 (though he had submitted another one several years earlier). By the following summer it had already surpassed the 10,000 vote mark and earned a date with Lego’s review team.

Their initial assessment? Sorry, but we’re not releasing this one as a set. However, to celebrate 10 years of Lego Ideas, the company held a special fan vote. The community spoke loud and clear, with nearly half of the 22,000-plus votes cast going to Christoph’s ISS.

It’s not quite to the scale of the meter-tall Saturn V rocket. It is, however, a wonderfully detailed (and geeky!) model that’s very reasonably priced. Lego’s retail price for the 864-piece set is just $69.99.

The finished model measures 12 inches long by 19 inches wide and stands 7 inches tall when perched atop its display stand. There are several interactive elements, including 8 adjustable solar panels and a fully-articulated Canadarm2. One awesome note on the building front is that the panels are printed elements — you won’t have to line up and smooth out an entire sheet of stickers.

Lego has also included a brick built space shuttle to deliver vital supplies to the ISS as well as a trio of cargo space craft. They’ve even thrown in a couple of astronaut microfigs to complete the display. They’re not to scale, naturally, but they look great affixed to the stand.

The set goes on sale on February 1. You’ll want to make sure you have your purchased and assembled in time to celebrate 20 years of humankind’s permanent presence in space. The Soyuz rocket carrying the first resident crew launched on October 31, 2000 and arrived at the ISS two days later.

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