Classic Space set names

[Scooter]

Hi there, having recently come out of my Dark Ages, I notice that the names used for the Classic Space sets on sites like Brickipedia and Peeron are often different than the names I was familiar with as a kid from the UK catalogues. The most obvious example is the Galaxy Commander (6980), which I knew as the Starship "Explorer" from the Legoland catalogues of the early 80s. I wonder what the reason for this difference is - is it that the UK catalogues were different from those from other parts of the world, that Lego released official names that I was unaware of, or what?

[Sir Michael Le Fanu]

Do you have evidence of more sets like that? Check on bricklink as well and search for both names.

[Scooter]

Just looking at the 1983 UK Legoland catalogue, as scanned on PICSL, here's the names given for the sets (UK catalogue name first, Brickipedia/Peeron/Brickset/Bricklink name in brackets):

6970 Command Centre (i.e. Beta-1 Command Base)
6930 Mission Control Centre (i.e. Space Supply Station)
6980 Starship "Explorer" (i.e. Galaxy Commander)
928 Space Cruiser (i.e. Galaxy Explorer)
6950 X15 Satellite Launcher (i.e. Mobile Rocket Transport)
6929 Space Transporter (i.e. Starfleet Voyager)
6927 Mobile Tracking Station (i.e. All-terrain Vehicle)
6803 Space Patrol Craft (i.e. Space Patrol)
6801 Space Scooter (i.e. Rocket Sled)
6842 Inspection Spacecraft (i.e. Shuttle Craft)
6844 Explorer Vehicle (i.e. Seismologic Vehicle)
6890 Explorer & Shuttle (i.e. Cosmic Cruiser)
6880 Mercury Surveyor (i.e. Surface Explorer)
886 Space Buggy (same)
6821 Lunar Rock Collector (i.e. Shovel Buggy)
6822 Space Grab (i.e. Space Shuttle)
6823 Survey Vehicle (i.e. Surface Transport)
897 Mobile Rocket Launcher (i.e. Launcher)
6870 Spacecraft Launcher (i.e. Space Probe Launcher)

That's just 1983, and I think there are others in the other catalogues too (not all the UK ones are on PICSL though). For example, I seem to recall that I called 6985 Cosmic Fleet Voyager 'Taurean Ore Carrier', which I think was in the 1986 catalogue in the UK (which I may have a copy of in my parents' attic in Ireland if I ever get a chance to retrieve it). Having had a quick look at the US catalogues on Peeron, the current internet names seem to be derived from them. Interesting! But hey, you say tomaytoes, we say tomahtoes...

[Sir Michael Le Fanu]

That's a typical brand that does worldwide producing. It seems to add a bit of a 'rarity' to one or the other. I believe this happened with 1 of the Indiana Jones movies, "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death" in Europe and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" in North America.

This was also the case with one of the Harry Potter books.

[Scooter]

Yes, that sounds right. I just find it interesting that there's no mention of the alternative names in the various popular internet sites. It's not really surprising though that the North American names have become standard, given the demographics.

[SKotK]

Digging up this topic for a little addition...

Recently I decided to research the various different Classic Space set names in English. Turns out there are different set names for FOUR different countries: USA, Canada, UK, and Australia. Sometimes there's crossover in some of the names, but each of these countries has their own names for at least some of the sets. Bricklink's set names were mostly based of the US sets, probably since the site was US-based. When the set wasn't released in the US, it's anybody's guess what name they went with.

I've pulled most of this info from catalogs for each country, but I'm missing some data from around 1985-87 for the UK and Australia (Australian catalogs have been tough to get, and almost none are scanned online!). I've put together a spreadsheet detailing all of the name differences - here is the gist of it (sorry about the lost formatting):

Set / Year / US name / Canada name / UK name / Australia name
897-1 / 462-1 1978 Rocket Launcher Launcher Mobile Rocket Launcher Mobile Rocket Launcher
920-2 / 483-1 1978 Alpha-1 Rocket Base Launch Pad Rocket Launching Pad Rocket Launch Pad
924-1 / 487-1 1978 Space Cruiser Transporter Space Transporter (1) Space Transporter (1)
926-1 / 493-1 1978 Space Command Center Command Centre Command Centre (1) ?

305-1 / 453-1 1979 Crater Plates Crater Plates Lunar Baseplates [2x] Lunar Baseplates
306-1 / 454-1 1979 Landing Plates Landing Plates Landing Strip/Roadway Landing Strip/Roadway [Runway]
885-1 1979 n/a One Man Scooter Space Scooter Space Scooter
886-1 1979 Astro Car (1984) Lunar Jeep Space Buggy Space Buggy
889-1 1979 Radar Vehicle? (1984) Radar Vehicle Radar Truck Radar Truck
891-1 / 442-1 1979 Space Shuttle Two Man Scooter Two-Seater Space Scooter Two Seater Space Scooter
894-1 / 452-1 1979 Mobile Tracking Station Tracking Station Mobile Signals Centre Mobile Signals Centre
918-1 1979 n/a Spaceship One Man Space Ship One Man Space Ship
928-1 / 497-1 1979 Galaxy Explorer Galaxy Explorer Space Cruiser and Moonbase Space Cruiser and Moonbase

6821-1 1980 n/a Geological Inspection Lunar Rock Collector Lunar Rock Collector
6841-1 1980 n/a Prospectors Vehicle Survey Vehicle Survey Vehicle
6861-1 1980 X-1 Patrol Craft X-1 Patrol Craft n/a n/a
6901-1 1980 Mobile Lab Mobile Lab n/a n/a
6970-1 1980 Beta-1 Command Base Beta-1 Command Base Command Centre (2) (1981) Command Centre (1981?)

6801-1 1981 Rocket Sled (1983) Space Scooter Space Scooter Space Scooter
6822-1 1981 Space Digger (1985) Space Digger Space Grab Space Grab
6842-1 1981 Shuttle Craft Inspection Spacecraft Inspection Spacecraft Inspection Spacecraft
6870-1 1981 Space Probe Launcher Launching Vehicle Spacecraft Launcher Spacecraft Launcher
6927-1 1981 All-Terrain Vehicle Tracking Vehicle Mobile Tracking Station Mobile Tracking Station
6929-1 1981 Starfleet Voyager Transport Spacecraft Space Transporter (2) Space Transporter (2)

0012-1 1982 n/a Red Spacemen (x2 red) n/a n/a
0013-1 1982 n/a White Spacemen (x2 white) n/a n/a
0014-1 1982 n/a Yellow Spacemen (x2 yellow) n/a n/a
0015-1 1982 n/a Assorted Spacemen (x3 red/yellow/white) n/a n/a
6880-1 1982 Surface Explorer Explorer Vehicle Mercury Surveyor All Terrain Probe
6890-1 1982 Cosmic Cruiser Explorer Spacecraft Explorer & Shuttle Galaxy Explorer
6950-1 1982 Mobile Rocket Transport Mobile Satellite Launcher X15 Satellite Launcher Cosmic Satellite Launcher

1593-1 1983 n/a n/a Delta Spacecraft (promo set) n/a
1977-1 1983 Space Value Pack ? n/a n/a
6701-1 1983 Space Mini-Figures (x6) Spacemen (x6) 6 Astronauts/6 Space Men (x6) Astronauts Pack/6 Space Men
6711-1 1983 n/a Spacemen (x4) n/a n/a
6803-1 1983 Space Patrol n/a Space Patrol Craft Space Patrol
6823-1 1983 Surface Transport n/a Survey Vehicle Mineral Transporter
6844-1 1983 n/a Seismologic Vehicle Explorer Vehicle Radioactive Earth Detector
6930-1 1983 Space Supply Station Space Supply Centre Mission Control Centre Base Supply Centre
6980-1 1983 Galaxy Commander Space Command Ship Starship "Explorer" Phase 3 Command Ship

1983-1 1984 Space Value Pack ? n/a n/a
6804-1 1984 Surface Rover n/a ? Surface Explorer
6824-1 1984 Space Dart-1 Inspection Vehicle ? Blue Leader's SPX
6846-1 1984 Tri-Star Voyager Space Explorer ? Red Eagle 1
6871-1 1984 Star Patrol Launcher Space Launcher ? Surface to Air Team
6881-1 1984 Lunar Rocket Launcher Rocket Launcher LL20 Satellite Launcher Zero 3 Rocket Launcher
6928-1 1984 Uranium Search Vehicle All-Terrain Vehicle Mercury Crawler Lunar Field Unit
6951-1 1984 Robot Command Center Space Robot Cybernaut Mission Control Robot
6971-1 1984 Intergalactic Command Base Command Centre Space Station Alpha Hyperspace Outpost

1968-1 1985 n/a Space Express? (promo set) ? n/a
1969-2 1985 Space Value Pack ? n/a n/a
1999-1 1985 Space Value Pack ? Space Value Pack Space Value Pack
6805-1 1985 Astro Dasher ? Space Patrol ?
6806-1 1985 n/a ? Surface Hopper ?
6807-1 1985 Space Scooter with Robot? Space Sledge with Astronaut and Robot ? ?
6825-1 1985 Cosmic Comet Patrol Craft Xenon 4 Thruster ?
6826-1 1985 Crater Crawler ? Lunar Mobile ?
6847-1 1985 Space Dozer Geological Vehicle Lunar Dumper ?
6848-2 1985 Interplanetary Shuttle ? n/a n/a
6872-1 1985 Lunar Patrol Craft (1986) Spaceship with Robot Xenon X Craft (year?) ?
6882-1 1985 Walking Astro Grappler Walking Space Machine Xenon 2 Walking Machine ?
6891-1 1985 Gamma-V Laser Craft 2 Section Spacecraft with Robot Intergalactic Freighter "Dark Star" ?
6931-1 1985 FX-Star Patroller FX Star Patroller Intergalactic Star Cruiser (1986) ?
6952-1 1985 Solar Power Transporter Multi-Function Space Vehicle Saturn Ranger ?

1507-1 1986 Space Value Pack Space Value Pack ? ?
1526-1 1986 unknown (unreleased promo set) unknown (unreleased promo set) unknown (unreleased promo set) unknown (unreleased promo set)
1557-1 1986 Space Scooter Scooter? ? ?
1558-1 1986 Mobile Command Trailer Mobile Command Trailer? n/a n/a
1580-1 1986 Lunar Scout n/a n/a n/a
6702-1 1986 Space Mini-Figures Spacemen & Robots (1987) 4 Spacemen + 2 Androids ?
6750-1 1986 Light & Sound Sonic Robot (1987) Robot (1987) Magma Robot with Light & Sound n/a
6780-1 1986 Light & Sound XT-Starship (1987) Spaceship (1987) Magma Star Ship with Light & Sound Galaxy Starship
6783-1 1986 L&S Transmitting Cruiser (1989) Module Transport (1987) Scorpio Modular Transporter with L&S Pioneer Research 1
6802-1 1986 Space Probe n/a n/a n/a
6820-1 1986 Starfire I Space Scooter Space Speeder ?
6845-1 1986 Cosmic Charger Delta Wing Explorer Scorpio Three Explorer ?
6874-1 1986 n/a Transporter with Scout Moonrover ?
6892-1 1986 Modular Space Transport 3 Section Ground Transport 3-Section Terrapod ?
6926-1 1986 Mobile Recovery Vehicle 3 Section High Wheeler 3-Section Highwheeler ?
6940-1 1986 Alien Moon Stalker Walking Robot Launcher Thunderfoot Launcher ?
6985-1 1986 Cosmic Fleet Voyager 2 Section Command Ship Taurean Ore Carrier ?

1498-1 1987 Spy-Bot ? n/a Spy-Bot?
1499-1 1987 Twin Starfire Twin Starfire? Twin Starfire? Twin Starfire?
1510-1 1987 Space Value Pack ? ? n/a
6808-1 1987 Galaxy Trekkor Galaxy Trekkor Swing-Wing Sky Bike ?
6809-1 1987 XT-5 and Droid (1988) n/a Speed Rider and Robot n/a
6827-1 1987 Strata Scooter n/a Scanmobile ?
6849-1 1987 Satellite Patroller n/a Comsat Launching Vehicle ?
6883-1 1987 Terrestrial Rover n/a Cosmi-Probe Satellite Transporter ?
6972-1 1987 Polaris-I Space Lab Ground Base Star Gate Departure Centre Intergalactic Rescue Centre

1530-1 1988 ? Space Value Pack ? ?

Hope that's of interest to some of you.

--SKot

[amaninspired]

Impressive amount of typing by SKotK! It's interesting that some names are more logical than others and it's by no means always the same part of the world that had the most logical name for a set.

I can't see myself ever referring to 6985 as anything other than "Taurean Ore Carrier", but where is the ore? And where is the cargo hold to carry it? I always thought of it as a command ship, its rear section detaching to become a static command centre when required. Having said that, its buggy gave elements of exploration to the overall function of the set.

6980, however, was Starship "Explorer" to me. I always thought of it as a ship of exploration, rather than a command craft. The fact that the detachable rear unit resembled a mobile lab, always confirmed my thinking. I'm presuming other people also thought the lab was mobile and could at least skim along a planet surface on its own!

As for 6824 and 6846, the British names are missing from the list given. From memory, which I have not been able to check, I am certain that the British names for these were Zero–10 Interceptor and Zero-15 Interceptor, respectively. I was quite surprised when I discovered that the two did not have linked names in other parts of the world. The vaguely menacing looking red coloured aerial parts pointed forward on these ships always made me think that they had high-powered weapons for their size!

Similarly, I was surprised to learn that the names for 6825, 6872 and 6882 were not linked in other parts of the world, as they were in the UK. The three ships, although quite different, appeared to share a design theme with common elements.