71460 Mr Oz's Space bus - a space gem hiding in plain sight?

[JDurham]

Hey everyone,

I'm new around here! I've very much enjoyed being a lurker for the past few months on this awesome forum but I finally decided to make an account and get posting. :) 

I wanted to make a thread about Mr Oz's Space bus because I haven't seen it spoken of here within the context of space themed lego sets. I have to say I really, really like this set. I left off a few of the stickers and I'm thinking about swapping the yellow bus parts out for white and blue. It gives me a huge mid 90s space theme vibe (reminiscent of Exporiens) and it was an absolute pleasure to build. It doesn't have a ton of play features but I still find myself taking it off my living room bookshelf all the time to open the bay doors, detach the swappable parts, open the big front hatch and spin the radar disc while my 1 yr old watches enthusiastically. :) It looks fantastic and it's very swooshable/solid.

To me it's a really exciting set because it gives a small glimpse of what Lego could do with a totally new unlicensed space theme. For anyone who is on the fence about this set... if you like mid 90s space themes then you'll probably love it! If you haven't yet, go check it out.

Has anyone else picked it up and been pleasantly surprised? and if Lego made a new unlicensed space theme, do you think It would try to capture the wackiness of mid 90s space or return to a more "grounded" feeling like classic space went for?

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by JDurham
adding image

[Lyichir]

It's definitely a neat sort of spaceship design, but while I'm fine with a good mashup, personally in this case I feel like the spaceship parts are outdone by last year's Monkie Kid's Galactic Explorer and the bus parts are outdone by 2019's Paranormal Intercept Bus 3000. I'd chalk that up largely to the minimal interior of this set—compared to the dense array of control consoles in the Monkie Kid ship or the well-detailed lab in the back of the Hidden Side bus, the interior of this combination spaceship/bus is disappointingly sparse. I can see how you might find it to compare favorably to 90s space themes like Exploriens (which similarly tended to have more sparse interiors), but I feel like it's not quite the best showcase of what designers have been able to do with modern sets.

[Time77]

Its a step in the right direction, but its still too 'space shuttle' for me; that jarring bus piece is offputting too. 

Points for the unique(ish) logo (not just the CS logo repeated 1,000k times over) and dark blue windscreen though! The build is also nice

Edited August 29, 2023 by Time77

[SpacePolice89]

It's actually a very nice set and I'm not easily impressed. As you stated you just need to swap out the yellow for more appropriate space colors and you'll have a great spaceship. You can then add some Futuron or Exploriens astronauts or maybe create your own space faction. 

18 hours ago, Lyichir said:

I feel like the spaceship parts are outdone by last year's Monkie Kid's Galactic Explorer

That set has a great selection of trans red canopies and visors. Perfect for Space Police MOCs.

[Classic_Spaceman]

I am curious as to what the Spacebus would look like with the middle section shortened and remodelled to look like a spaceship rather than a school bus. Maybe some trans-red lights and dishes to offset the canopy and blue accents? 
 

[danth]

I see a couple cool trans blue parts that I can bricklink, and a ridiculous number of stickers. And too many el cheapo dreamlings or whatever they're called.

Also I'm sick of mashups like this. I don't want a spaceship/schoolbus. Not everything unlicensed has to be some bizarre mish mash. Except TLG definitely disagrees.

[icm]

Yeah, I agree. I want to like the Spacebus, but it's definitely more Space Shuttle than Spaceship, and it requires a lot of color changes in the center section to be a satisfactory Space Shuttle. Having only two minifigs (the dreamlings don't count) and such a huge sticker for the canopy are pretty big marks against it too.

Edited August 29, 2023 by icm

[Lion King]

On 8/29/2023 at 6:05 PM, danth said:

I see a couple cool trans blue parts that I can bricklink, and a ridiculous number of stickers. And too many el cheapo dreamlings or whatever they're called.

Also I'm sick of mashups like this. I don't want a spaceship/schoolbus. Not everything unlicensed has to be some bizarre mish mash. Except TLG definitely disagrees.

I don’t understand why you think that these mashups are “sick”? DreamZzz obivously revolts about heroes protecting the Dream World from Nightmare King and his minions. So…dreams are NOT always realistic. I like that idea, to be honest. Just dreamy, bizarre, yet interesting.

Plus, I LOVE those cute dreaming! :)

But I get that you are a Space fan preferring a proper spaceship. I just get it.