Space Research Rover

"With a BrickScore of 80.6 and 203 owners averaging 4.81 out of 5, the Space Research Rover is one of the most critically and commercially validated sets in the 2024 Friends lineup, praised by experts from Jay's Brick Blog to The Brothers Brick for pushing LEGO Space design to a new level within the Friends theme."

The LEGO Friends Space Research Rover (42602) earned broad praise across four expert sources for its sophisticated, near-studless design, distinctive color palette of dark orange, purple, and trans-blue, and remarkable use of advanced building techniques for a Friends-line set. Jay's Brick Blog called it one of the best modern LEGO Space sets ever released from Billund; The Brothers Brick lauded its price-per-part at under 10 cents per piece and strong cross-theme interoperability. Owner ratings back the expert consensus strongly, with 203 ratings averaging 4.81 out of 5, and LEGO.com signals returning a perfect 5.0 for both value for money and play experience. The one dissenting note came from JANG, who flagged the wheel assembly as requiring Technic-level precision that is inappropriate for the target age range.

Where they split: Three of four expert sources rated the set at 78 or above and recommended purchase. JANG was the outlier at 72 with a mixed verdict, focused specifically on the wheel assembly design flaw rather than the overall concept or aesthetics. The owner community disagreed with any skepticism: 203 ratings average 4.81 out of 5 with LEGO.com signals at 5.0 for both value and play experience.