In 1981, LEGO released Set 6929 “Starfleet Voyager” – with its gray-white fuselage and the transparent blue windshields a distinct visual set-away from the otherwise blue-yellowish scheme used (at this time) for the other space ships like the Sets 918, 924 & 928 – of which the first one is described in an earlier post.
Now the model that I got via eBay was pretty much showing its age – dust & dirt all over the place, some parts broken and repaired, you name it. So naturally (and as a test for all the other sets that I now own) I decided to try one of two cleaning methods usually proposed: the dishwasher.
However, you are not putting the tiny bits and pieces into the dishwasher – you will find them tossed around and lost (at best in the filter) by the water. Instead, place them into a washing bag and then place the sealed bag in the upper tray of the dish washer… and use the low temperature mode! Mine washed at 35°C (but I somehow was thinking it must have been warmer in there when I finally removed them…)
So when I got them back out, they really came back nice and clean – of course, a dishwasher cannot work wonders but the dust and most of the dirty was gone, the rest was taken care of while drying them… then came the long process of re-assembling the set, always trying to make sure that damaged or discolored pieces were used on locations where they would not show much when looking at the model.
The result is pretty good – the model now looks relatively clean and – despite the damage done to some of the bricks over time – almost as good as mine in the mid-80s looked.
I remember having always liked the slim and slick design of this particular set – that and the blue-white color scheme made it really look “science fiction” way back when…
My model gave me a pleasant surprise when I received it from the eBay Seller: most (in fact: all but one) of the stones showing the Classic Space Logo had been in good condition with the planet still clearly visible (in many cases, the planet part of the logo has been washed out over time and mostly a dull disk and the better preserved red space ship remains visible.
Likewise, the two Computer bricks in the back have remained in almost mint condition – nothing really to complain about and making well up for the purchase price of about 25€.
Did I say I like the set for its elegant slim and slick design? This is what I meant: looking at the model from the front, you can see that it more resembles and attack craft than an exploratory vehicle but LEGO (at least back then) was a peaceful setting and real “fighter crafts” not in place. Which explains why even this beautiful ship goes along by having a cargo compartment which can be opened and a large box of cargo in the hold.
To me, it remains one of the most beautiful Classic Space Sets ever – and I am happy enough to own not only one but two at the moment (maybe I will re-auction one of them at a later point in time)…
And by the way: this post from earlier this year shows my original set amongst the other sets I used to own – unfortunately, back then, the picture was taken severely out of focus but you can still get the idea…