Commlock

In 1975 Space 1999 hit our TV screens with its predictions of how exciting life would be in 1999. Sadly today we do not now have the coolest spaceship ever designed or have a manned moonbase. However, they did manage to predict smartphones 32 years before the i-Phone.

The Commlock was designed by Keith Wilson for the show and it offered person to person comms with ‘FaceTime’ via its small screen, it was a multifunction device which controlled access to the various sections of the base and even the ‘Eagles’. The Commlock also provided access to the main computer and had a locator device. (the technical manuals also suggest it has a calculator function!).

This project builds a full sized Commlock. One side of the middle section is smooth, on the original props this had a label with a picture of the Commlock’s owner. I have presented it with a label for Commander Koenig, but you could design and print a label for any of the stars from the show - or even one for yourself! Printed pieces would be required for the keypad and screen.

There is one compromise in the design of the model - the belt clip is not functional, this would require a new Lego piece which is not on option for a Lego Ideas project. Instead I have gone for a design which gives the appearance of the belt clip.

In total the model is made from 268 pieces which should allow it to be reasonably priced.

If you would like to see this in production then please spread the word across the Space 1999 and Gerry Anderson fan sites and let’s see if we can get enough support to show that it’s worth producing the Lego Space 1999 Commlock as a set.