Finally! After speed-buying all the other sets of this series shortly after they came out, this large set had evaded me until yesterday. Being a reasonable person, who would never spend too much money (ha, ha), I waited for a good discount. Since this set is LEGO shop exclusive (only one other store here in Germany had it), discounts were rare, and the original price of 130€ is just ridiculous. So I ended up importing it from the Netherlands for 110€. Worth it, since I didn't have to pay any shipping.
Now, on to the review.

Parts

Even though 1,056 parts are a normal amount for a large set, this one here features several large parts, making the finished model quite impressive. We have several large lattice towers, big baseplates, masts, wall elements, large windows and more. The crawlers of the rocket transport are made of 42 separate elements, well-known from other chain-driven vehicles. Also included are two of the new crystal rocks and two parts of the roller coaster-tracks, even though they serve as barriers here. Also, a lot of TECHNIC parts are included to provide the structure of the rocket transport, the cargo crane and the rocket itself.
All in all, there are not that many special or new parts to this set. Simply big ones. Furthermore, the set comes with 18 stickers, which quite a lot, especially for a lazy bum like me who hates applying stickers...

Minifigures

The set comes with seven minifigures, not counting the buildable robot. This is a very good amount for a large set, and seems to be the maximum of minifigures that LEGO includes in it's sets as of late. We have 4 male figures: two astronauts, a technician and a flight director. The three female figures are a technician, an analytics scientist and a laboratory worker, the last one complete with lab gear and protective mask. Gave me some strong Corona vibes here... The minifigures have a lot of gear, especially in the rover lab. There's a lot of tools, like a screwdriver, electric drill, wrenches, hammer and more. Also included are a walkie-talkie, a laptop and, of course, a coffee mug.

The build

In short, the whole build is not very complicated, but could still take a little time due to the number of pieces.
The rover and the control center are built first, followed by the small truck and the rover laboratory. Then the crane is built and the rocket transport and the rocket in the next steps. The six (!) instruction booklets are easy to understand and so detailed that even a handicapped one could easily get it.
The build gets a little annoying when coming to the chain tracks, since all these small parts have to be clicked together. Not difficult, just a little tedious. I appreciated the design of the rope that is used for the crane. One end of it already has a black ball of plastic to it, that holds it to the bobbin. So you only need to tie one knot to fix the hook to the rope.
Without interruptions (like kids...) the build can be done in less than an hour.

The completed model

Obviously, the set roughly consists of five different pieces: the control center, the truck, the laboratory, the crane and the transport with the rocket. I'll take a detailed look at each piece individually.
The control center: This small building with a glass door and large windows has several computer panels and a large "screen" that shows what seems to be the surface of Mars. The screen is basically a drum with stickers on its side, that spins when the large satellite dish on the roof is turned. Near the control center is a small patch of ground with some crystal rocks and a lamppost.
The truck: a simple, four-wheeled truck with a cargo area in the back, which fits the small rover. It also has a long claw-arm to pick up samples of rocks and stuff. It is NOT suitable to pick up and unload the rover, unfortunately.
The rover laboratory: two large gates can be moved (individually) to open the entrance to the lab. Inside is a lifting platform to gain easier access to the rover. Above the platform is a long robotic arm, which can be controlled from the computer station next to the platform. Here are also drawers and other spots for all the tools. The rover itself is a six-wheeled vehicle with sensors, solar panels, a drill arm and a frying pan of sorts. (Huh?)
The crane: The large crane has four pillars and two massive beams between which the main mechanism can be moved left and right on some sort of crab.
The Transport w/ Rocket: The transporter is a very flat and sturdy vehicle, running on four chain tracks. Piloted by only one driver, it has not really any functions other than carrying the rocket and setting it up for launch. This is done by tilting the whole carrier-part on top of the transport backwards, forming a small pad for the rocket to stand on. The rocket has three stages: Propulsion, cargo and cockpit. The four rocket boosters look very powerful. The cargo area has room for the rover to deploy it on a Mars Mission (see what I did there?). The cockpit has room for two astronauts and has a nice, stream-lined design.

Overall opinion

Like all sets of this series, this one also puts all its focus on playability and adventure. And with success!! The main purpose of the set seems to revolve around the rover and getting it on its mission. But the good amount of different parts in the set give an open mind a huge potential for even more scenarios and hours of playing. I know this, because both of my girls wanted me to let them play with it immediately after I finished building. And even now, one day later and them having been gifted a new doll and play horse, they still can't take their eyes (and hands) of this set. So while being a perfect play-set, there is even more to it. As an AFOL, I am, of course, a sucker for nice designs and presentation value. Especially the large rocket (44cm) and the no less impressive transport caught my interest and where a good reason for me buying this set. The colour scheme also is nice, combining a futuristic, sci-fi-like look with a down-to-earth, casual design
Now, with all the praise, there are some flaws. Some people might not see it that way, since they are all design-related. First, it's the design of the small truck. The cargo area does not have enough protection to carry the rover, for it could easily fall off to the left or right. Also, the claw-crane-thing can not lift the rover, which is quite stupid, since the whole purpose of the truck is to transport it, so it seems... Another negative point is the design of the rover lab. Being a larger structure, a little more effort to its design would have been nice. Why not add a closed wall between the two lattice towers to give it more of a "room-like" look? Like it is, the huge double doors don't even make any sense.
But still, this is a very good set, with some points in presentation value and an awesome playability! Just be on the watch for good discounts (130€ is simply too much!!), for I can guarantee beaming children's eyes when gifted with this adventure-set!

Premise ...

My 6-year-old is a big fan of space in general, men in space, and the 2019 city space wave. We already have the 60228 "Space Launch System inspired" rocket and some smaller sets of that wave, and he had spotted this special set on a visit in legoland, not giving up to get it since then. Oh well, there are worse things on a child's wish list, so we purchsed it on lego.com, as this is an almost-exclusive set (at least here in europe).

Build, Design, Parts

We get to build 6 main modules and some accessory:
– The rocket, about 35cm high
– The rocket transporter
– An assembly building to prepare the rover
– A crane to mount the rover into the rocket's 2nd stage
– A launch control
– A car(?)
– 7 minifigs and a robot, 2 of them astronauts

Building this by plan is totally easy – boy is used to build sets almost that large, and was able to do this alone. Only thing is that it's just a tad too much with all the accessories, i had to ask him whether he still wants to finish the rest after the rocket and transporter were done.

The colour scheme is distinctive and nice to look at – no odd colours except for the computer specialists red cap stat sticks out a bit.
The models are well formed, especially the first two stages of the rocket. The third stage (space ship) looks like it's design was not quite finished – it does not really fit the first stages of the rocket with their smooth surfaces.
The rocket transporter is all good – looks bulky and strong to bring that big rocket to launch.
The crane and the assembly building look industrial and show what they can do, so that's good too.
Let's forget about the rest for now ...

Parts are okay, some new to us, some large parts especially in the rocket, but nothing too specialised either, so they are reusable.
Large stickers are abundant, with two 6x6 stickers and one 6x3 mounted on a round surface being the "highlight" with a one-time-right chance to apply ... that's worse than average.
What this set really really lacks is a baseplate tough, to assemble all the sub modules into something stable, transportable and some place the minifigs can be actually placed "outside" the buildings.

So let's play ...

Generally, the boy likes the set quite a lot and plays with it, but he's totally focussing on the rocket and the rocket transporter, that do several launches each day and that works very well.

The tracks of the transporter are moved by hidden rubber wheels that provide the grip need not just to slide on wood floors. The rocket holder can be turned 90° to get into starting position, and there it goes ...

As separation of the rocket stages are very(!) important to the boy, we left out the plates holding the sections together ... this makes the rocket a bit unstable (mounted with only two technic pins), but it's still okay. To the boy it's a bit disappointing that the "boosters" are actually not intended to be separated – these are very(!) important too for him, but it get it the rocket is a different design than a space shuttle or SLS ...

The loading crane can move the hook along the blue bars and and of course up and down (no Y axis on tracks or the like). is a bit flimsy without some big baseplate for stability, and unfortunately it lacks some height to fit in the rover into the rocket without frustration. At least the latter could have been easily be done right with some more bricks at the base, instead of just two tiny plates. If it was not for that frustration, playability woud be far better – going to fix this myself. (Additional AFOL wish: having tracks to move the crane back and fourth would be cool.)

The assembly factory was "noted" and the rover was once "repaired" there. It has sliding doors (not very spectacular), it can lift up the rover with a small technic funktion, and that robot arm can perform repairs / assembly. Unfortunately, the ball joints are a bit stiff to play without actually lifting or sliding around the whole building instead of the arm ... hello 32x32 baseplate, where are you?

The control room is a mediocre variant of the one in 60228 which has far more options. When turning the radar dish, some mars "webcam" barrel rotates inside the building and shows a mars landscape. But that's quite it ...

And i actually can't even imagine what that car and mars scenery thing are doing ... it's no space capable car and the driver has no helmet either, as the boy noted immediately, but it has a gripper to grip mars rocks from that tiny mars scenery and a loading area for the rover(?) ... are they practicing rock harvesting on earth with a car that will not be on mars? Are we on mars here or on earth? Who knows ...

So value for money and conclusion ...

This set has the burden that it's sold exclusively (at least in europe). As an exclusive, it costs 130€ and there are defacto no discounts, and what you get for that is disappointing, not for parts or parts count, but for the playability and the overall conception of the set ...

Rocket, transporter, assembly and crane are good – but the money on the control room and that car are totally wasted – strip them away, add a proper baseplate for stability and playability and make that crane a bit higher, put it in the open market to get the price down towards 100–110€, and we are talking great value and a conceptionally strong set that does one thing right – assembling and preparing a rocket for launch, without schnickschnack*. Luckily this is Lego, so we can modify this to our liking ...

So there are some untapped opportunities unfortunately with the things that actually could work, and some unnecessary elements that add very little value.

* 60228 (the "SLS" rocket) is doing that far better ... it has a launch control, it has a rocket, and it has a transport to bring the astronauts there. Yes it's lacking a baseplate too, but it does not waste time and money on additions no one really asked for. And it's in the open market so prices are okay.