Creator

Space Rover Explorer

A chunky little planet rover with more play packed in than its price tag lets on.

Brick Rated Score

3.9/5

Set 31107 · 2020

Pieces510

Minifigs1

Year2020

Set number31107

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The verdict

This is one of those small Creator 3-in-1 sets that quietly overdelivers.

The rover itself is the real star, with working suspension, a crane arm that actually swings, and a hatch that opens onto a proper little lab. At around forty dollars new it was honest value, and if you have a kid who loves space (or you just want a cheerful desk companion), it earns its keep. The catch is that the second and third builds don't quite live up to the first.

Best for: Space-mad kids aged eight and up, and adults who want an affordable rover with real play features

The full review

What it is

The rover is what got me. I went in expecting a forgettable little box-ticker of a set, and instead I got a chunky six-wheeled machine with suspension that actually gives when you press it, a crane arm on the back that swings out to grab things, and a side hatch that opens to reveal a proper little interior with a lab and a living nook. For a 510-piece set that launched at 39.99 dollars, that is a lot of genuine play feature. The clever bit is the door: LEGO reused a train and ship bridge window as the rover's hatch, which looks far more like a real vehicle door than the usual whole-front-swings-open approach on sets this size.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the caveats. This is a young set and it knows it. The trans-neon green canopy, the bright studs-out surfaces, and the buildable alien all point squarely at eight-year-olds, so if you are hunting for a sleek display piece this is not it. The bigger honest mark against it is the figure count. You get exactly one minifigure, an astronaut, which gives this the leanest brick-to-figure ratio of any Creator 3-in-1 from its year. And as with almost every 3-in-1, the three models are not equals. The rover is excellent, the space base is fine, and the space flyer is the runt of the litter, a bit flat and clearly there to hit the number three rather than to wow anyone.

Who it's for

So who should get it? If you have a kid who lights up at anything space, this is a small, sturdy, feature-rich toy that will survive being driven off the edge of the sofa a hundred times. It is also a quietly good buy for AFOLs who want a cheap bag of useful space parts and a fun evening build, because the rover genuinely holds up on a shelf. Skip it if you need a lot of minifigures for play scenarios, or if you want a grown-up display model with restrained colors. It retired at the end of 2021, so it is a secondary-market buy now, and prices have crept up modestly above retail rather than spiking, which feels about right for what it is.

What works

The main rover has working suspension, a swinging crane arm, and an opening hatch onto a detailed interior lab
You get three characters to play with: an exclusive astronaut minifigure, a buildable alien, and a little robot with moving arms
Strong value per piece at 510 parts for the original 39.99 dollar price, and it is packed with useful space-colored elements for your own builds

Worth knowing

Only one actual minifigure, the worst brick-to-figure ratio of any Creator 3-in-1 that year
The third build, the space flyer, is noticeably weaker and does not use up the parts as satisfyingly as the rover
The trans-neon colors and studs-out styling read very young, which not every adult builder will love

Sold? Grab it.

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The parts story

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

Building it is a genuinely pleasant hour and a bit. Reviewers clocked the rover at around 80 minutes, and it never drags because you are constantly assembling something that does something: the suspension linkage, the geared crane, the hatch mechanism. It is meaty enough to feel like a real build for a younger builder without ever getting fiddly or frustrating, and the interior lab gives you a satisfying reveal moment when you finally close the shell over it.

For parts hunters, the headline is the astronaut torso. This set introduced the dark blue Classic Space logo torso with the strap printing, a lovely nod to old-school LEGO space that later turned up in 31111 Cyber Drone. Beyond that, the value is in volume rather than rare molds: you get a generous helping of light bluish gray and trans-neon-green space elements, plenty of useful bracket and slope pieces, and the wheels and axle parts for the suspension. New Elementary singled it out as a strong single-set source for space MOC parts, and at roughly eight cents a piece it is an easy recommendation if you build your own rovers and bases.

Fun facts

01The dark blue astronaut torso with the Classic Space logo and printed straps made its debut in this set, a deliberate wink at LEGO's 1970s and 80s Space line before it reappeared in 31111 Cyber Drone.
02All three official builds share a theme: the same box of 510 pieces becomes a Space Rover Explorer, a space base, or a space flyer.
03The rover's opening door is actually a repurposed train and ship bridge window element, which gives it a more convincing vehicle look than the front-opening approach common to sets this size.
04Released in January 2020, the set retired in December 2021 and has since drifted modestly above its 39.99 dollar launch price on the secondary market.