Last night I posted my first review of a Summer 2015 LEGO set with the 60078 Utility Shuttle. But while I think I was completely fair in my assessment of that set, I do feel kind of bad starting my reviews on a sour note with so much complaining about the set’s value. And so, to ease my guilt, today I’ll be reviewing another LEGO City Space set that just went up for order and is an outstanding value: the LEGO Space Starter Set 60077!

The Right:

I don’t always pick up LEGO City sets–and almost never the really small, simplistic ones–but I was so excited to come face-to-face with the LEGO 2015 Space sets this weekend that I grabbed the 60077 Space Starter Set on a total whim. And I am very glad that I did!

This is the smallest and cheapest of the LEGO City Space Summer 2015 sets–containing 107 pieces for $9.99 (a strong value of under 10 cents per piece!)–but low-priced doesn’t necessarily mean bad!

“Value” is the greatest asset of LEGO 60077. Much like Star Wars Battle Packs–before the price was raised–we get four Minifigures here for $9.99. That’s $2.50 per Minifigure! Considering that LEGO Minifigures Series blind bags retail for $4 each now (or $16 for four minifigs), this set feels like a huge deal right out of the gate!

The four Minifigures consist of two identical astronaut Minifigures (more on this later), a female Scientist Minifigure (or perhaps she’s Mission Control?) and a Technician Minifigure.

I’ve got enough construction worker-looking guys to last me a lifetime, so I wasn’t particularly excited about the Technician minifig, but I love the female scientist (she looks like my wife!) and I always have room for more astronaut minifigs.

One of the astronauts comes with a couple of extra accessories that really add energy to the figure–dual thrusters and a backpack-mounted spotlight! I’m baffled by why the astronauts in the Utility Shuttle 60078 didn’t get these add-ons, but I’m glad to get them here!

If this set were composed solely of the four LEGO Space Minifigures, I’d still be giving it a favorable review. But it’s not!

First, the set includes three little diorama pieces. One is a small surveying station (which is basically just a camera on a pole attached to a base), while another is a pole with two translucent yellow bricks on it (presumably to act as guidance signs). These aren’t huge deals, but every diorama piece adds fun to an overall theme!

The final brick-built diorama piece is a very cool little computer station! The station has a piece of rocky terrain as a base, and includes a pivotable computer screen (with keyboard) and two capped translucent blue vials. Is the female scientist Minifigure analyzing samples at the station? Calibrating the moon rover? Hanging out on Tumblr for some R&R? The possibilities are endless!

I also love that this computer station has three printed bricks, which I wasn’t expecting from such a low-priced set. Having both the computer monitor and keyboard be printed bricks definitely makes this set feel classy and an even better value.

But wait–there’s more! The final complement of the LEGO Space Starter Set 60077 is a little brick-built space buggy!

While not the most complex vehicle ever, this moon rover features a communications dish, a turning steering wheel, four free-rolling wheels, a pivotable headlight and a little sensor on the front (no doubt for minesweeping on the moon). You can also store one of the astronaut’s helmets on the space buggy.

If this little space vehicle was a $5 polybag, I’d buy it. As part of a $10 set with four Minifigures and three other diorama pieces? Awwwww, yeah!

The Wrong:

I don’t like to ever leave the ‘Wrong’ section blank, so here goes my nitpick that won’t really count as a strike against the set: I hate that the two LEGO astronauts Minifigures in this set  are virtually identical.

After getting male and female astronauts in the 60078 Utility Shuttle set, it seems like a step backward to get not only two men with this set–but two men with face prints so similar that they almost look like clones of each other.

The smile on the one astronaut is slightly different than the grin on the other one, and one has brown eyebrows compared to the other’s black eyebrows, but that’s all. It’s a trivial complaint, but I still would’ve preferred a female astronaut or at least a more differentiated male head.

Overall: While there’s technically nothing wrong with this LEGO City Space Starter Set 60077, it also didn’t make my jaw drop to the floor in amazement, so it earns an ‘A’ instead of an ‘A+’. With four Minifigures, a neat little vehicle and a trifecta of diorama pieces, this set is packed with both fun and value. While there’s (obviously) no space ship here, this is a terrific set for diorama-building and creating interest in the logistics of preparing for space exploration. Outstanding.

GRADE: A