LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader review

LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader is a fun, hands-on reminder of Technic’s ability to offer something as unique as it can be playable.

Not to mention good value too – 42178 Surface Space Loader is one of a trio of early 2024 releases from Technic to tie into the LEGO Group’s wider cross-theme Space branding, and at £29.99 / $34.99 / €34.99 is one of this wider project’s most affordable sets. For its transformative play feature, unusual appearance and some striking large wheels complete with new-colour tyres, this is a Technic set that draws in more casual LEGO fans for good reason and then rewards them for their curiosity.

— LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader set details —

Theme: LEGO Technic Set name: 42178 Surface Space Loader Release: March 1, 2024

Price: £29.99 / $34.99 / €34.99 Pieces: 435 Minifigures: 0

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— Where to buy LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader —

LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader is available at LEGO.com and from LEGO Stores, as well as select third-party retailers.

— LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader build —

With that new darker orange, white and grey colour scheme, it’s clear that 42178 Surface Space Loader belongs to the excellent cross-theme expansion of LEGO Space 2024 that has primarily seen releases in City, but that has also included Friends, DREAMZzz and Creator, and soon Minifigures too.

It’s a very bold and very Technic-friendly choice of colours that helps minimise the need for too much shell-like bodywork to this build into the broader range. Indeed, a small selection of well-placed panels is all that is on offer for shaping and cover to primarily the front cockpit area of the model, leaving plenty of visibility for the mechanisations that shape and power the model’s central construction.

For LEGO purists and those perhaps more familiar with the Space sets offered up by City and Friends, it does make for a slightly more abrasive appearance to first take in, but this is a Technic set and every part built into this is for function, support or purpose of some kind. There are no wasted bricks, nor that many made available for superfluous aesthetics, and once you’ve ratcheted up the front cabin by twisting a lever at the back, then pushed it back down with a satisfying crunch, all that makes perfect sense.

And that’s not to say that 42178 Surface Space Loader is ugly by any means – there is space-vehicle-esque shaping in its panels, with those large wheels and that long, wide cabin creating a quite unique and unusual vehicle, whilst the ability to raise and lower the front end is almost animalistic, as well as being functionally perfect for off-world roaming.

We cannot speak highly enough of the core function to 42178 Surface Space Loader and how well realised, different and genuinely fun it is to continually play with. It’s also something that could only work for Technic and for the strength and stability that this theme’s parts selection and techniques can offer. That’s not just for how locked in the model feels and behaves whether the cabin is pushed to the floor or is raised high, but also for how the mechanism is activated so effortlessly and effectively whilst on four wheels. If this was a pure LEGO set and built out of typical LEGO pieces – with all due respect to that LEGO City line-up of awesome Space-themed sets – this thing would be rolling forward and back every time you tried to move the cabin up or down.

42178 Surface Space Loader embraces the storytelling on offer from this cross-theme Space branding at the same time as showing LEGO fans exactly how Technic can contribute in its own, unique way. The only thing (and this is ignoring the cheap price that the set comes in at for a second) that feels more like a gimmick than a fully fleshed-out concept is the rear loader. While the entire top of the back of the model does raise off to the side for said purpose, with a second lever attached to that for further reach, the ‘loading’ aspect to 42178 Surface Space Loader is fairly redundant and ineffective.

The attached air-lock-style container – which is compatible with those that appear in the City and Friends sets – sits clumsily when being held up by the vehicle and there’s no getting around that. Separately, there is a way for the container to slot into the mid-section of the vehicle while it is in the lowered configuration, but it is unclear how intentional this is as there’s no demonstration of it in the instructions or on the box art.

All that being said, it’s far more forgivable for just how good the main play feature is, and for the excellent price at which the set comes in. 42178 Surface Space Loader is one not to miss.

— LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader price —

LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader comes in at £29.99 / $34.99 / €34.99, which for 2024 prices, for this piece count and for just how fun and good this set is, represents some of the best value we can find at the moment – and makes this set one that is very easy to recommend.

— LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader pictures —

— LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader pros and cons —

42178 Surface Space Loader is an excellent example of what LEGO Technic can offer as a theme. It’s a chunky, strong and technical LEGO build with a durable, intelligent and genuinely fun function that serves as its core purpose. That ratcheted lifting and lowering of the front cabin is realised so well and plays out so enjoyably that not only is the impractical loading element of a set with ‘loader’ in its name forgiven and forgotten, but your understanding and appreciation of this theme and exactly what it can contribute to story and play should reach new levels.

42178 Surface Space Loader pros	42178 Surface Space Loader cons
Excellent up and down feature for the cabin	Loader element doesn’t work so well
Striking colour scheme works well	Cabin isn’t minifigure scale so City/Friends cross compatibility somewhat lost
Unique vehicle design	Some of the stickers aren’t for younger builders

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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— Alternatives to LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader —

LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader ties into the wider cross-theme Space branding going on through City, Friends, Creator and more at the moment. It makes for a varied and very interesting selection of sets to consider, and currently our eyes are otherwise on 60439 Space Science Lab from City, which comes in at a similar price to 42178 Surface Space Loader, and 42602 Space Research Rover from Friends, which takes the large four-wheeled explorer approach in a different creative direction.

— LEGO Technic 42178 Surface Space Loader FAQs —