LEGO Icons Galaxy Explorer gets a modern recolour – and it works

Retired since last year, a latecomer to the LEGO 90th anniversary 10497 Galaxy Explorer has given it a modern recolour that works surprisingly well.

With LEGO Icons 10497 Galaxy Explorer no longer officially on shelves (although American shoppers can still buy it – and at a discount – at Walmart) since the end of last year, one fan on reddit decided to take matters into their own hands, ordering the parts for the 90th anniversary set so they can build it themselves. Although they knew some of the parts would be in white not grey ahead of time, more than they expected arrived in white – but with a surprisingly good-looking end result.

“It took a month for half the pieces to arrive from Billund but it turned out well, I think,” the redditor, who goes by the username you_might_rabbit, wrote. “The only parts I couldn’t find that I wanted to be white were the landing gear plates. Other than that, 99% of the parts that were supposed to be medium stone grey, are now white, including the robot and buggy.”

The white and blue colours, contrasted with the yellow and trans-yellow accents that remain, does strike an impressive look. It appears more modern than the 90th anniversary set was likely intended to, relying on the signature grey to evoke feelings of old-school LEGO space sets. However, the clean white of the main body of the unoffically-recoloured ship does give it a sleek overall appearance.

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