Lego 6810

Today is a big day, I am reviewing a set with the black Futuron astronaut.  He is one of the rarer Futuron spacemen, so I won't get to do this very often.  Let's relish the moment.

Ahh, sweet perfection, bliss, that grand feeling.  Here is Laser Ranger; one of the best examples of  tiny Lego sets.  It is also a fine Futuron model.  If you were only to have one Futuron set, and you were buying on pocket change; then look no further; this is your set.

Like most of the Futuron line Laser Ranger features moving parts.  In this case they are the wings and rocket boosters.

The Black Futuron Astronaut came in three sets, 6810 Laser Ranger, 6885 Crater Crawler, and 6703 Minifig Pack.  It is my personally held opinion that these are all above average Futuron sets.  Someone at Lego must have loved this minifig color.

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio

― William Shakespeare, Hamlet 

Laser Ranger came out in 1989 and was the last Futuron set to provide the Black Futuron astronaut, but it was the first and only year of Space Police, which borrowed the shirt and altered the hands to white.  I am of the opinion that this uncommon minifigure could potentially be available in greater numbers than Blue and red, if not yellow.  All one must do is procure the parts.  Of course, this could lead to a drastic decline in Space Police numbers, so I don't recommend you run out and do this yet; as I'm not done collecting Space Police.  It would be inconvenient for me if they suddenly got even more expensive.

Notable unique Futuron parts include:

The goblet times two in white.  Pretty spiffy for such a small set.  This is the only set to get more than one white cup and there are only eight other sets to contain the part.  2 Belleville sets, 1 Juniorized Pirate set, 1 Harry Potter set, and 2 castle sets adding an additional re-release for each of them, (Wow)  I expect then that in a very real sense only three of these sets are the sort that would invite consideration from you, the typical readers of this blog.  This set is the cheapest way to get these cups in quantity, though Guarded Inn and Knights challenge are certainly the most desirable.

This wall piece times 2 in white...I could have sworn Futuron had more of these.  Oh well, learn something new everyday.  It's not particularly rare otherwise.

Other notable parts include

The White grille is only shared with Star Quest, and Laser Ranger has two, giving the Futuron theme three in total.

Finally, we come to an anomalous part from Classic Space.  This piece is also only shared with Star Quest and the implication to my mind is a Futuron connection with Classic Space, suggesting direct lineage.  It is a good print, one of my favorites in fact, so I can't fault its use here. It's fairly common in white.

To Laser Ranger's credit there is a nice selection of specialized and transparent pieces within the set, though it is a bit spare on basic pieces, having only two standard plates and one sloped brick with a print, all the other pieces are specialized.
It's an interesting challenge to build something distinctive with this set.  Here's what I came up with for my alternate build.

It's a handy little space scooter, ready to zip from crater to base and whither the moon dust goes.

Final score A
Pros: Black Spaceman, nice parts, classic space print
Cons: Lacking in basic pieces