u/-somepersonsomewhere

Purchased from some random AliExpress choice seller on 9/25 and arrived on 10/6 (USA). It is a copy of LEGO 11382.

Paid $15 USD after coins and coupons since the seller was trying to feed the AliExpress algorithm with sales. All of their listings for the same set are now $50+ so I would recommend looking for another seller. The cheapest listings I can see now are in the $30-$35 range, which IMO is still a little steep.

Unusually, the package arrived in a box rather than bubble mailer. The bags were numbered and paper instructions were included, but I did not use them.

The good:

None of the bricks were missing, though there were also zero spare parts. Everything was 1:1 with the official LEGO instructions so I personally just used the LEGO builder app. Clutch was great, would say about 9.5/10 compared to LEGO. No mis-molded pieces. Only a couple pieces showed scuff marks or mold release stains, which were very easy to clean off with a magic eraser (this was a much lower rate compared tosome other sets I've purchased recently). Printing on the minifigure itself was good, as were the prints of the famous Hubble Telescope images on the stand.

The bad:

Obviously, the solar panels are missing. Additionally, the sticker sheet was missing (NASA logo, description plaque, panel decorations). Both of these would typically be slipped into the pages of the manual for protection, but they were for some reason not included with the set I received. This is quite annoying and the set does not look good without the panels. The printing on the EVA pack of the minifigure was also not well centered/aligned.

The resolution:

I contacted AliExpress customer service about the missing parts and sent pictures of the paper instructions indicating where the stickers and solar panels were missing. I requested for the seller to either send replacement parts or provide a partial refund and let me keep the set. AliExpress gave me the option for full refund with return or a partial refund of $10 without returning. I opted to keep the set and take the partial refund, which leaves me at $5 out of pocket for the set. I would normally try to bricklink the solar panels but there is currently only one listing, shipped from UK and almost $40 USD, which costs more than re-purchasing the set from another seller. Maybe I'll tear it down for parts or maybe I'll print my own panels. Hopefully someone else who purchased this set can give a review showing the solar panels they received.

Overall, I would recomend the set, but would personally not want to pay more than $25, even if the panels and stickers were included. The official LEGO version costs USD $140+tax.

Is this a niche meme or something? $7 after coins and coupons though so not much to lose, especially if it actually has 2000+ pieces, but I think there's a few error bars on that number

Bonus pics: ninjago x minecraft crossover

Official LEGO pink spaceman and space baby compared to the recently released clone version in green. Echoing another review from here a few days ago, here's the main differences I can see:

Spacebaby:

• Black line printing on the clone version not present on LEGO version
• Classic Space Logo on clone version is slightly larger (barely noticeable without zoom)
• The clone version consists of 6 parts (head, airtanks, helmet, torso/legs, and 2 hands)
• The chin-strap on the clone version is slightly thicker
• LEGO version consists of 2 parts (torso/legs and dual-molded head)
• The clone version has a regular face rather than a baby-face, which looks like it's based on the micro-scale classic spacemen that were exclusive to LEGO GWP/insider rewards
• The LEGO version on the rear side has an indentation separating the legs, which is not present on the clone version

Spaceman:

• Black line printing on the clone version not present on LEGO version
• Classic Space Logo on clone version is slightly larger (barely noticeable without zoom)
• The clone version has a dual-sided head with a different expression on it, details on that can be found in someone else's review

Why

Paid ~$3 USD after coins and shopping credits from a random seller with an AI-edited picture of the set. Technically there were no missing pieces. However, this version of Eevee did not include any of the Brick 2x2x1 2/3 bow w/cutout and instead replaced all of them with 2 each of Brick 1x2x1 2/3 bow w/cutout. This is not an issue everywhere except for the mouth, which was split into two pieces and covered with a sticker. This sticker unfortunately looks awful and I can't unsee how much it looks like a circle beard.

I used the LEGO builder instructions rather than the paper ones included. Clutch was fine, part quality was fine. The beard was the only problem.

Overall good for the price paid, but I know there's a version out there with a printed mouth and wish I had received that one instead:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/1sug1p9/pokemon_eevee_aliexpress/

Central Illinois, looked like only Messi was left. Maybe useful as a parts pack but I think the US is the wrong target audience for this set

edit: should have been 43015/43016