City

Space Base and Rocket Launchpad

The biggest City space set in years, and it actually earns the space.

Brick Rated Score

4.2/5

Set 60434 · 2024

Pieces1,424

Minifigs6

Year2024

Set number60434

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The verdict

This one is a proper play centre, not a shelf piece, and that's exactly why it's fun.

You get a base with a working crane, a rocket on a launchpad, a rover, a little alien planet, and figures spilling out everywhere. The price is steep and the interiors are thinner than the box hints at, but if you love City space play you'll get your money out of it.

Best for: Kids (and grown-ups) who want a full space-play world in one box, not a display model

The full review

What it is

Here's the thing about the Space Base and Rocket Launchpad (60434). It's the big one. For a good stretch LEGO® City space had gone quiet, and then 2024 rolled in as the Year of LEGO Space and this 1,424 piece set landed as the flagship of the whole City lineup. When you get it built you understand why it's the headliner. There's a central base with a control room, a 360 degree crane tower that actually swings and lifts, a rocket sitting on its own launchpad, a chunky rover, and a little alien planet scene off to the side with power crystals poking out of the rocks. It's less one model and more a whole space program in a box, and that's genuinely what makes it fun. You're not building something to admire from across the room, you're building a place where six space crew, a small robot, and two aliens get up to things.

The catch

Now for the honest bits, because there are a few. This was the priciest set in the 2024 City space wave (around $134.99 at launch), and that price is the thing reviewers kept circling back to. It got the most mixed reception of the wave when it was revealed, and the worry was whether the variety really justified the cost. The other niggle is the interiors. The base opens up to show a science lab, an equipment carousel, and a little refreshment area, but for such a large footprint those rooms are on the sparse side. You expect a bit more furniture and detail once you crack it open. And while it's marked 8+, some of the play features lean young, so if you're an older builder chasing a meaty engineering challenge, this isn't quite that. It's built to be played with first and admired second.

Who it's for

So who should grab it? If you have a space-mad kid, or you just love City play and want one set that does everything, this is a lovely pick. The crane alone will get worked to death, the rocket and rover give you separate play zones, and the sheer number of figures means nobody's fighting over who gets to be the astronaut. It also plays nicely with the other 2024 City space sets, so it can grow into a bigger base over time. If you're after a sleek display model or a slow, satisfying adult build, I'd point you elsewhere, maybe toward an Icons space set instead. But taken for what it actually is, a generous, playable, slightly nostalgic space world, it delivers. I came around to it more than I expected to.

The parts story

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

The build breaks into satisfying chunks, which is part of why it's a good one to build alongside a kid. You've got the central base and its crane column, the rocket and launchpad, the rover, and the alien planet, so you can tackle a whole sub-model in a sitting and feel like you finished something. The crane in the middle is the highlight to build, it runs up the central column and swings a full 360 degrees, and there's real thought in how it's anchored. The rover cabin looks like a simple cube from a distance but it's actually a nice bit of SNOT work, with tiled walls clipping onto sideways-facing bricks so the finish stays smooth. And the little alien planet has a great party trick: a gear you turn to make the rocky surface burst apart and reveal the hidden crystal underneath, all watched over by the aliens.

On the parts front, the two green aliens are the stars, tentacled little figures new to the City space subtheme and a proper nostalgic wink to old-school LEGO Space fans. The power crystals use a lovely bright reddish violet and a trans medium violet opalescent element that catches the light and ties into the whole exploration story. You also get a big, useful haul of everyday City parts here: plenty of plates, SNOT bricks, printed control panels, and the kind of greebly greebles that make good background detail in your own builds. For 1,424 pieces the part count value is fair rather than spectacular, since a chunk of the price is riding on the play features and the nine figures rather than rare elements, but as a parts donor for space and vehicle MOCs it pulls its weight.

Fun facts

01LEGO designated 2024 the Year of LEGO Space, and this set was the flagship of the City space subtheme's big return after years without a dedicated space line.
02The little green tentacled aliens were new to LEGO City, a nostalgic callback to classic LEGO space aliens that got long-time fans genuinely excited.
03The base is designed to connect with other 2024 City space sets, with vehicle capsules that dock to it and extend the ground level into a larger station.
04The alien planet hides a gear-driven reveal: turn the mechanism and the rocky surface bursts apart to expose a purple opalescent power crystal underneath.