Friends

Mars Space Base and Rocket

A proper little Mars colony with real play built into every module.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 42605 · 2024

Pieces981

Minifigs3

Year2024

Set number42605

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The verdict

This one won me over faster than I expected.

It's Friends doing science fiction with a straight face, and the modular base with its working airlock is smarter than the box lets on. The odd fragile mechanism and some awkward shuttle proportions keep it from perfect, but at 981 pieces for the price it's a genuinely good buy. If you like play features that actually do something, you'll get real mileage here.

Best for: Kids (and grown-ups) who want a space playset with working parts, not just a display piece

The full review

Here's the thing about this LEGO® set: it looks like a cute pastel space toy on the box, and then you build it and realise how much thought went in. The Mars Space Base and Rocket is 981 pieces of proper colony-building, with a research base made of two big quarter-dome modules linked by an airlock, plus a rocket, a rover, a drone and a satellite to round out the mission. There's a greenhouse for growing food, a little science pod with a microscope, a comms station and even a relaxation corner with a coffee machine. It's the kind of set where every section gives the characters something specific to do, which is exactly what you want from a playset rather than a shelf model.

The star feature for me is the airlock. You put a mini-doll on the platform, close the door, turn a gear, and they cycle through into the base. It's a simple mechanism but kids love that sort of thing, and it connects to the wider Friends Space range so you can dock other sets alongside it and build out a bigger station. Olivia, Julian and Aveline come along for the ride, all in matching unisex spacesuits, plus Jones the cat in his own tiny suit, which is ridiculous and wonderful.

Now the caveats, because there are a couple. The bed that folds into a table is genuinely fiddly and pops apart more than it should, even with the Technic bits holding it together. And the rocket, once you've assembled the full configuration with the central module attached, has proportions that look a bit off, chunky in the wrong places. Neither ruins the set, but they're the moments where the design stops feeling polished. Value is strong though, 981 pieces at the original 79.99 works out to sensible money, especially for how much playability you're getting.

So who's this really for? Kids around 8 and up who want a space base they can actually operate, and adult Friends fans who appreciate a clever airlock and a nice parts haul. If you only build for display and want flawless proportions, the rocket might nag at you. But if you value working features and a set that invites hours of story-making, this is one of the best of the 2024 Friends Space wave, and it earns its spot.

The parts story

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

The build breaks into satisfying chunks. You start with the rover and the smaller vehicles, which are quick wins, then move into the two dome modules of the base, and finish with the rocket. The dome sections are where the interesting engineering lives, with the airlock gear assembly and the reinforced (though still fragile) furniture transformations. It's an approachable build with enough variety that you never feel stuck doing the same technique for pages on end, and the modularity means you can rearrange the finished base however you like.

On parts, there's a decent haul here for fans. The set introduces a new Panel 6x5x3 and a third Curved Top mould in trans-purple that's unique to this set, plus a new Aircraft Fuselage Curved Forward 6x8 in white and a fresh minidoll space helmet mould. Colour hunters get six trans-purple panels and a windscreen unique in that shade, several reddish orange structural pieces making their 2024 debut, and six macaroni tiles in medium lilac you won't find elsewhere. Aveline is worth a note too, she uses the new umber brown skin tone, lighter than dark brown so the printed eyes read properly. It's not the richest parts pack LEGO has ever shipped, but for the price it's a genuinely useful mix of new moulds and rare recolours.

Fun facts

01The set was designed by Bas Brederode as part of the 2024 Friends Space wave, which relaunched the whole theme around a new cast of characters.
02The airlock uses a special connection element that lets you dock this base to other Friends Space sets and build one big interconnected station.
03Aveline debuts LEGO's new umber brown skin tone, a lighter shade than dark brown that was created so printed facial details show up clearly.
04It holds a strong 4.6 out of 5 community rating on Brickset, and quietly retired at the end of 2024 after just a single year on shelves.