Welcome back, brick fans, to another set review. Today, we are heading into the freezing sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic
to look at a clone of a classic Lego
set from 2018. We are reviewing the
Bela 10997 Arctic Mobile Exploration Base, which is a direct 1:1 copy of the
LEGO 60195
set.
Truth be told,
I actually bought this set nearly five years ago from AliExpress, and it has been sitting quietly in my closet ever since. Well, I finally
dragged it out of storage, dusted off the packaging, and put it all together.
Let’s dive in and see if this long-lost backlog build was worth the wait!
About Bela
Bela (sometimes branded as Lari) has been around the bootleg block scene for
an incredibly long time. They were pumping out clones well before Lepin made a
massive splash and subsequent exit. While you can still find plenty of
clone sets on AliExpress these days,
you won't see them carrying the Bela brand name anymore. I'm not entirely sure if the company went completely under, or if they
simply dropped the name to fly under the legal radar and remain inconspicuous.
Set Specifications
-
Brand:
Bela (Lari)
-
Set Number:
10997
-
Original LEGO Set:
60195 Arctic Mobile Exploration Base (2018)
-
Piece Count:
804 pieces
-
Minifigures:
6 Arctic Explorers
-
Special Figures:
1 Woolly Mammoth (moulded)
-
Sticker Sheet Included:
Yes (1 sheet, but didn't use them)
-
Numbered Bags:
Yes but still requires dump-and-sort
-
Purchased From:
AliExpress
in 2021 for under $40
To compare, the original retail price of the LEGO City Arctic Mobile Exploration Base (Set 60195) when it was released in 2018 was about $120 USD. The set was subsequently retired not long after by Lego in late 2019, early 2020, hence making the original set quite rare.
Unboxing
As is typical with many of these alternative brick sets ordered straight
from AliExpress,
this set arrived completely boxless, packed inside a large cellophane
bag. Inside, I found a handful of numbered plastic bags, a sheet of
stickers, and a single instruction manual that wasn't broken down into
progressive building stages.
There are parts bags numbered one through nine.
And when you open bag nine, there are another six bags numbered 10 thru
15. But remember that they don't correspond to anything in the
manual.
Interestingly, the front cover of the manual doesn't feature the Bela logo at all—it just says "Cities" across the front. You actually have to flip the
manual over to the back cover to find the set number. As an added bonus,
that back cover also serves as a mini-catalog, showing off all the other
LEGO sets Bela cloned during that production run.
So even though the bags are numbered, they don't correspond to the manual
steps and therefore requires a "dump and sort" method. While I
don't have the original Lego manuals to compare, I think the 47 page Bela
instructions are condensed.
The sticker sheet was in surprisingly good condition but the set number
depicted on the stickers reads 10997 not 60195.
The Figures
Before getting to the builds, let's look at the figures. You get
six minifigures
in total: an expedition leader, a driver, and four distinct Arctic
explorers. In my opinion, they look pretty legit as clones. All
the little accessories are also reproduced.
Here's the mastodon molded figure. From the front it looks alright
but from the side you can see a big gap between the head and the body. Pretty
sure this was the same design cloned from Lego, so it's not a Bela issue.
The Build
So no numbered steps means dump, sort and build.
One of the initial builds is this snow bike. It resembles a motocross bike
but instead of wheels it has a rear track and a monoski upfront.
Next build is the ice cave where the mastodon will be placed. You need to
remove the four ice panels to put the mastodon in. It should have been
designed so that the ice formations are on hinges that can tilt away for better
playability.
The Mobile Saw Vehicle: This vehicle is a dedicated heavy unit equipped with an adjustable boom
arm and a massive, spinning circular ice blade designed to carve deep into
the frozen ice sheets. Rounding out the build is a rear tow hitch and a
canopy that opens up so you can drop a driver or operator into the
cockpit.
Personally,
I really like the inclusion of the huge balloon tires, but their massive scale actually makes the rest of the vehicle's body
look a bit small by comparison. If I were to modify this build down the
line, I'd probably beef up the body and add some extra height to the cockpit
canopy to give it a more heavy-duty profile.
Here's the rear view of the mobile saw with boom arm fully retracted.
Next up is the
The Trailer Sled: A simple flatbed trailer that attaches to the rear of the any vehicle
with a tow ball joint.
It's primary function is to carry the snow bike or the specimen crate, however
it doesn't appear to have been designed to carry the ice cave with mastodon.
The Mobile Lab Unit: The mobile laboratory unit serves as the high-tech command center of the
arctic convoy. Ditching traditional wheels, this striking orange and dark
blue lab is uniquely built on top of a heavy-duty
dark blue ski-skid foundation, allowing it to glide across rough, snowy terrain when towed via its front
ball-joint coupler.
The exterior is highly interactive, featuring a
360-degree rotating radar transceiver dish
perched on the roof and a wide side-opening panel that swings open alongside
the roof canopy to provide full access to the cabin interior.
Inside the super compact research hub, the space is incredibly
well-utilized for analyzing geological finds on the fly. It comes fully
equipped with a computer terminal desk, a detailed touchscreen monitor, and
diagnostic scanner panels.
To help the crew endure long sub-zero shifts, the designers even squeezed in
a tiny single bunk bed for tired explorers right alongside an essential
wall-mounted coffee maker to keep the team caffeinated. Personally, I
think the lab is way too small and needs a huge upgrade to make it
bigger.
The Heavy Crane Truck
This is the core brute of the convoy, riding on six massive, chunky
rubber tires. The rubber quality from Bela is surprisingly good—soft and
grippy rather than hard, cheap plastic. The crane features a 360-degree
rotating base and an expandable boom arm equipped with a working
winch.
While the crane truck looks nice and wide outside, it's surprisingly cramped
on the inside. I would have at least expected to have two minifigs
seated side by side.
The scale is definitely on the smaller size.
Final Summary
Overall, the
Bela 10997 Arctic Mobile Exploration Base
is a stellar budget-friendly alternative to the original LEGO City 60195
set. Bela has a long history of reproducing popular themes, and this
particular build highlights why their brick quality consistently rivals
major brands.
The set design allows you to hitch the 6x6 mobile crane, the ski-based
laboratory unit, and the all-terrain buzz saw together into a massive arctic
exploration train. Combined with a functional snow bike and six highly detailed
and accurate minifigures, the playability and display value of this set are
incredibly high.
Brick clutch-wise, I found that the Bela bricks tended on the tighter
side. It makes for a sturdy build, but I think it would not be as easy
to pull the bricks apart. I just wish that the vehicles were a bit
larger, but that's something I will try to rectify in the future.
Final Rating
-
Brick Quality:
4.0 / 5 (Tight clutch, but minimal scratches)
-
Design & Playability:
4/ 5 (The variety of the vehicles and minifigures was impressive)
-
Value for Money:
5 / 5 (Massive savings compared to aftermarket secondary LEGO
prices)
-
Overall Rating:
4.5 / 5
That is it for today's review, brick fans! If you are looking to expand
your polar layout without destroying your wallet, the
Bela 10997
is an absolute no-brainer of a pickup. Surprisingly, you can
still find
this set on AliExpress, though it now commands higher
2026 pricing.
At the time of writing, the lowest price sits around
$47 USD. However, if you strategically combine
AliExpress coupons and promo discounts, it is highly possible to drive that price down to roughly what I paid
five years ago.
Thanks for reading my blog post review! Bye!
