The #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V has been out of stock from pretty much the day it became briefly available back in June. Since then, there were a couple of very short periods of just a few hours when it was available at the Online LEGO Shop, but then it went out of stock again. According to the latest update at the LEGO Ambassador Forum, more stock should be coming in November, however it’s not clear if that is going to be enough to both fulfill backorders and new purchases.
Hopefully, LEGO will be able to catch up with demand, and fans can buy the set before it gets retired. It is definitely one of the best sets of the year, and a real pleasure to build. The set also has quite a bit of educational value. As William mentioned in his review (see: Brick Breakdown: LEGO Ideas Saturn V), the building techniques are amazingly complex, and in addition, you will learn lots of interesting details about the Apollo Program.
Even though the #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V is a very tall set, measuring over 39″ (100cm) high, it is a fairly skinny at 6” (17cm) in diameter, so it’s easy to display it on a shelf, either lying down, or standing up. I have mine displayed horizontally, with the three sections slightly separated, so you can see the different modules. Other people prefer to display it vertically in various ways. Today, I wanted to show you a couple of really nice display ideas I have seen by LEGO fans.
LEGO fan T-REXX3000 uses what’s called the Up Goer Five Poster, which is a diagram of the Saturn V with explanation on how it works, using only the one hundred words people use most often. It’s funny, clever and educational. The rocket on the diagram is only a couple of inches taller than the LEGO version, so it creates a perfect background. The poster is free to download and print out at xkcd.com, or you can also purchase it already printed for a very reasonable price at the xkcd.com store.
LEGO fan imnojezus displays the Saturn V horizontally, with a copy of an original poster that was prepared by the NASA Office of Manned Space Flight in May of 1967. This poster shows the flight path that took Apollo Astronauts to the moon and back. It served as a blueprint for the first lunar landing in July of 1969. Orbital paths indicate the positions of the Saturn V, the Command Service Module, and Lunar Excursion Module at each critical stage of the mission. It is available printed in four colors on 80 lb. stock at allposters.com. It looks perfect as a background for the Saturn V.
You might also consider printing out this LEGO poster that’s available through the Amazon page of the set. It comes with a similar blue background like the Up Goer Five Poster, but with more LEGO-ish details. See: LEGO Ideas Saturn V on Amazon
If you have the #10213 LEGO Shuttle Adventure set from 2010, it is an almost perfect match to the #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V, as demonstrated by LEGO fan ZxZxQ in the picture above.
Another popular option is to build a stand from LEGO. This could be a simple expansion of the blue stand that comes with the set to display it horizontally, some kind of platform to give it support when it stands vertically, or a full on mobile launch tower, like the one above by saabfan2013, one of the original creators of the #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V.
Because of the realistic look and feel of the #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V, it also makes a beautiful display in a perfectly sized wood, glass, or Plexiglas case. This elegant custom-made display box was made by LEGO fan jdiknight92, and there are many other similar solutions.
As you can see, there are a many different ways to display the #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V and there are plenty of ideas to choose from, whether you want to display it vertically or horizontally. If you have the set already, these examples will hopefully give you some inspiration. If you don’t have the set yet, it should be back in stock at the beginning of November at official LEGO stores and the Online LEGO Shop.
What do you think? Do you have the #21309 LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V yet? How do you display it? And what do you think of the display options discussed here? Feel free to share your thoughts and own solutions in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
