What happens when the director of a highly anticipated film about a Space Ranger also happens to be a fan of LEGO Classic Space? You end up with a gorgeous spaceship with a sleek new yellow canopy that writer, director, and adult fan of LEGO Angus MacLane wanted for his own builds. The LEGO Disney·Pixar Lightyear 76832 XL-15 Spaceship is hands-down the star set of this new movie tie-in line. We got a chance to familiarize ourselves with this 497-piece set a few months before the movie hits theaters. Buzz Lightyear’s XL-15 Spaceship is available now from the LEGO Shop online and retails for US $49.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Unboxing the set and contents
This 8+ set shows the XL-15 boosting through space on the front of the box, with Buzz piloting the craft and Sox just barely visible behind him. The cosmic art suits the set well and I love the transition from animated Buzz to LEGO Buzz on the front and back. The back of the box highlights the rear of the ship in a scene featuring Buzz, Sox, and two more characters. We’ll meet them all later. On the left side is an inset of the ship on its Ultimate Collector’s Series-style stand, complete with an info placard. Another inset shows the two opening hatches on the back of the ship.
Inside the box are five numbered bags along with the instruction booklet and the sticker sheet.
A good quarter of the sheet is taken up by the info placard. The print for the computer screen features a mirrored and inverted image of the crystallic fusion chambers featured in this and the 76831 Zurg Battle set. There are new control prints, too, for those shipbuilders out there hankering for some variance.
Printed pieces from the set include the crystallic fusion chamber and the triangular IVAN control panel. I let out a little shriek of glee when I saw this, particularly because none of the promotional material hinted at the inclusion of this AI character. Also included is a keyboard-printed tile with light grey printing. That one isn’t super exciting though, as it’s similar to previous versions, so forgive me for not including it in the shot. Along with these prints are recolored parts in dark azure such as the 4L bar, 1×1 cone, and the vented 1×2 slope. We also get 2×6 wedge plates now in white as well as that dark stone grey handle on the fusion chamber below.
Of course, Classic Space fans were most excited about the angular new canopy. The director even joked on Twitter about making the film just so LEGO fans, himself included, would get a new yellow canopy. The hinged canopy steps away from more square-topped designs we’ve seen in the past, while still fitting nicely in the system. The beveled sides fit smoothly with existing slopes, though the central one is flatter than any current angles.
The build
Spaceship and vehicle fans will be familiar with the start of this process as its a pretty straightforward building of the base. Angled wedge plates are placed in layers to match the body of the movie ship. The control panel stickers and IVAN printed piece also get placed during this step as part of the pilot’s seat. Meanwhile, space is left for Sox behind Buzz, and behind him are the beginnings of the cargo and fuel canister areas.
The wings use a bit of color-coding so that they match the red and green tiles at the end of each wing. The construction of them involves stacking various wedges together for the right shape and thickness of the wing. Each wing is also hinged to allow for the angle you see in the final product.
After they’re both connected on the top, some more of the cargo bay is built up before flipping the model over. Underneath each wing is a spot to secure them to the bottom of the body via Technic pins. This sets the angle of the wings and keeps them from flopping around. Then a spacer sub-build (with the new angled wheel bearing bricks) is added to the bottom so that the whole ship can sit flat without stressing the wings.
The angles provide some gaps between the wings and the main body which get filled with brackets and slopes. This is repeated a few times throughout the build to give the ship such smooth angles. In fact, most of the rest of the build is finishing out those interestingly shaped engine blocks behind the cockpit.
Brackets start shaping the fronts of the engine blocks while the structures that will hold the engine nozzles are built up in the back. Once in place, the housing is covered with grey bricks.
Next, the new azure cones and bars are added to the back ends of each wing. The front parts of the engine block are also added, creating a new connection point between the wing and the body that lines up the white blocks with the wing studs. A bracket creates the look of the intake on the front while another bracket with slopes fills in the gap created at the top. I really love how this all comes together. Techniques like this always make a set fun.
After a litte more tiling on top to complete the smooth look of the body, cargo doors are added which allow access to the lower and upper cargo areas. The top can hold Buzz’s laptop and blaster, while the bottom has space for two crystallic fusion chambers. I’m sure this is part of the movie, but it’s also nice that everything Buzz comes with, including his cat, has space in the ship.
Aside from the yellow canopy, the other eye-catching elements are the differentials used as engine nozzles. The designers pulled off some really nice parts usage with this one. The textured, complex design gives the engines lots of details as well as a little rotational motion. Usually, these are used to adjust for speed differences in the drive train of a vehicle, but this piece clearly works well as an imaginary engine nozzle by itself.
The last additions to the ship are the stickered fins above each engine. The stand comes next, which is a simple structure that can easily be altered to suit your display needs.
The info placard is a nice touch that makes this feel like more than just a mainline set.
The minifigures
This set comes packed with new torso and leg prints. Buzz’s orange suit features front and back prints for space fans to make use of in their own creations. It doesn’t feature any Star Command logos, so it really does have good reuse potential. Of course, you can’t forget about Sox, the adorable, bright orange cat. This is a delightful new cat print for LEGO animal lovers to add to their collection.
The grey chest piece matches the bulky armor characteristic of the Buzz Lightyear action figure, complete with studs on the back for a wing pack (or other accessories) to be added on later. There are also connection points for the dome helmets featured with the old Buzz minifigures, though this set didn’t come with any. Instead, we get one of the commonly used dual-molded helmets with a clear visor. Buzz also comes with a blue flight cap head which looks really similar to the purple one he usually sports.
Next comes two new characters that will accompany Buzz in his journey. Mo Morrison and Darby Steel are two ZAP guards who are recruited by Izzy Hawthorne in the trailer. Izzy comes in two variants in the other set in this line, one which matches Buzz and another that matches the ZAP armor that Mo and Darby are wearing here.
Of course, they also have shoulder pads. Though these pieces don’t have some of the markings from the on-screen characters, the prints on them will be another fan favorite for custom minifigures. Darby, the ammunitions and explosives specialist, comes equipped with a large blaster, using the new stud shooter, that feels more like a rocket launcher. Mo has what I could only assume is some sort of welding torch or a flame thrower. We’ll have to wait until the movie to be sure.
Conclusions and recommendation
Despite not being an Ultimate Collector Series product, this set does well at giving fans a display-worthy build at a decent price point. There are clearly a few ships featured in the trailer but, until we have those in LEGO form too, this makes for a great introduction to the movie and characters. The angular wings and odd shaping of the engine make for an engaging design as well as a fun build. The parts are a knockout, not just because of the new yellow canopy and the inclusion of the differentials, but also for some other obscure ones like the wheel-bearing bricks and the new stud shooter. My only gripe is that the wings just barely go over the info placard when looked at straight on. Still, the characters more than makeup for that little issue.
LEGO Disney·Pixar Lightyear 76832 XL-15 Spaceship comes with 497 pieces, and is available now from the LEGO Shop for US $49.99 | CAN $64.99 | UK £44.99. It is also available from third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.
The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.
Tempted to get this just to refit it into a WipeOut racecraft.
Is this going to be exclusive to Lego stores and their webshop? Haven’t seen it on Amazon yet.