Making up for the strange color scheme of the first series C.I.E.L. comes the "silver" series C.I.E.L., with a color scheme that almost gets it right! Gone is the obnoxious hot yellow replaced with a cool gray, a nice compliment to the blue. With the red nose cone in front and red boosters in back being the only odd color out, this "new" Cosmic Interstellar Exploration Lab still makes a stunning addition to the rare Inter-changeables line.

Second only to the Cosmic Attack Cruiser in intricacy and parts included, the "silver" C.I.E.L. can break down and become 3 or 4 different ship combinations much like the original Mego Mobile Exploration Lab could, even with it's ill-fitting parts due to the cheap plastic used. All three versions are almost identical except for a few minor variances.

 
 
 
 

One interesting detail to note: as nice as this ship looks, no one can pilot it in the standard upright configuration. You really can't fit one figure in any of the numerous pilot seats. The front nose cone ship section and observation dome seat do not have the holes cut into the "floor" for the figures legs to go...and the rear seats behind the tower were designed smaller to begin with to accommodate the M-10X barefoot Microman.


 

 
When the C.I.E.L. ship is reconfigured to it's horizontal "rover" mode however (adding the smaller "forward capsule" attached shown at left) it can comfortably seat 3 figures. Another detail to note: the "silver" series red plastic used is a deeper cherry red color, with the first series being more of a candy apple red, so telling the difference in parts is easy (when you have them side by side to compare with).

"silver" C.I.E.L. red (l) first series C.I.E.L. red (r)
 
C.I.E.L. also came with Inter-changeables versions instruction and sticker sheets, which were basically altered Micronauts sheets and came packaged bearing the HourToy logo. Also any kind of copyright or company info was removed from the ships body, and any kind of release date or year indication on the packaging was nonexistent…even further deepening the mystery of the exact origins of the toys altogether. The Micronology below shows C.I.E.L. clocking in as the 5th variation on the same ship.