City

Command Rover and Crane Loader

An eight-wheeled planetary beast that looks the part, even if the crane never quite earns its keep.

Brick Rated Score

3.6/5

Set 60432 · 2024

Pieces758

Minifigs4

Year2024

Set number60432

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The verdict

The rover itself is what got me here, that long body stretched across eight fat tires reads like something rolling across a red planet in a film still.

It builds sturdy, the cockpit is wide and detailed, and there is real room inside for crew and play. I'll be straight with you though, the crane is mostly along for the ride and the price runs hot for what you get. If you want a big characterful City space centerpiece for a kid who loves a mission setup, it delivers. If you count function per dollar, the smaller rovers in this same wave sting.

Best for: Kids (and parents) who want one big dramatic space vehicle to run missions with

The full review

What it is

The first time I set the finished rover down and gave it a push, I grinned, because it just looks right. Command Rover and Crane Loader is a 758-piece City Space set built around one long eight-wheeled explorer, and the silhouette does a lot of heavy lifting. Those oversized tires, the stretched chassis, the wide twin-seat cockpit up front that pops open for two drivers, it all reads like a serious piece of off-world machinery. There is a central research capsule that lifts out as its own little pod, sample storage hatches along the body, and a crane section at the back. You get four astronauts (two blue pilots, a green science type, and a yellow crew member the New Elementary reviewer cheekily nicknamed Ripley), plus a robot sidekick and two lime squid-like aliens to actually explore toward. As a play scenario in a box, it sets up beautifully.

The catch

Now the caveats, and they are real ones that builders kept raising. The crane is the headline disappointment. It rotates and it looks the part, but it mostly just lifts a couple of battery packs, it can't hoist the research module out of the center where you'd actually want it to, and it doesn't reach the ground. Several reviewers landed on the same feeling, that the crane is a bit of wasted potential. Then there's the driving: rigid axles, no suspension, and no turntable, so this planetary explorer can only roll dead straight forward and back. For a vehicle meant to cross uncharted terrain, that's an odd omission. And the price is the part that stings most. At $84.99 it sits awkwardly next to the smaller 60431 Space Explorer Rover from the very same wave, which costs less than half and arguably gives you more clever function per brick.

Who it's for

So who should get this one? If you or a kid in your life loves big dramatic space vehicles and wants a single centerpiece to run rescue-and-discovery missions with, the rover absolutely delivers that fantasy, and the extra figures and aliens make it a proper little playset rather than just a model. Aim it at the 7-and-up crowd who care more about swooshing and story than about engineering payoff. If you're the builder who lives for a mechanism that genuinely works, or you're weighing value coldly against the rest of the wave, I'd point you to the cheaper rover instead and let this one stay on the shelf. It's very good with real caveats, not the slam-dunk its size suggests. Worth noting it's now retiring, so if you do want it, the window is closing.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build is a pleasant, steady one rather than a puzzle box. Most of the effort goes into a long, sturdy chassis that leans on a few Technic elements to stay rigid across that eight-wheel span, and the frame really is solid once it's together. There's satisfying variety along the way: assembling the wide cockpit, dropping in the detachable central research pod, and rigging the rear crane section. It moves at a good clip for its part count and never bogs down, which makes it approachable for younger builders working alongside a grown-up, though experienced hands will find it fairly gentle.

For parts hunters there are a couple of quiet treats. The set brings two exclusive recolors, including one debuting in the newer Reddish Orange: eight of the 2x2 curved macaroni tiles in that Reddish Orange, plus a Rock Panel 2x4x6 in Dark Orange, both handy for anyone building alien terrain or rusty sci-fi surfaces. The eight big balloon tires are the other draw, useful and not cheap to source loose. Add the four astronauts, the robot, and the two lime aliens, and the minifigure-and-creature haul is genuinely generous. It's the working functions, not the pieces, that hold this set back.

Fun facts

01The set includes two exclusive recolored parts: eight 2x2 curved macaroni tiles in the newer Reddish Orange and a Rock Panel 2x4x6 in Dark Orange.
02Beyond the four astronauts and robot, the rover's crew encounters two lime, squid-like alien figures during their exploration.
03Reviewers repeatedly compared it unfavorably to the smaller 60431 Space Explorer Rover from the same 2024 wave, which costs less than half as much.
04The rover has no steering or suspension, so despite its rugged look it can only roll straight forward and backward.