LEGO Sci-Fi Ongoing - Rumors, Speculation, and Discussion

[Renny The Spaceman]

14 hours ago, 6180HydroSearchSub said:

Yes! Strangely, I felt the 2 x 8 black tile on the LEGO version actually highlighted the yellow in the area, whereas minimizing visual complexity by adding more yellow paradoxically led to the opposite effect.

I think it's because it feels like a black vehicle with a yellow stripe rather than a black and yellow vehicle. 

 

14 hours ago, 6180HydroSearchSub said:

Thanks! One thing I noticed was just how many parts of the original set looked unfinished. For example, the Black Fence 1 x 4 x 1 Lattice pieces around where the smaller craft dock just stick out like a sore thumb on the original model. Just a few tile pieces would really integrate them into the rest of the wing--in my mod, seven tile pieces per wing, 14 total. Given how simple that would have been, I have to assume the only reason the designer didn't do that was for budget reasons.

Yeah, I imagine it was just the money people being tight because this small change helps the model so much, looks great like this

[Black Falcon]

1 hour ago, danth said:

Big yellow hoses instead of the yellow stripe would be my choice, if there are any big hoses available in yellow. Actually this one just came out last year: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=14301#T=C&C=3

I was thinking more about this ones Hose, Flexible 8.5L with Black Tabless Ends Fixed : Part 73590c03b | BrickLink come also closer to the ones the original Renegade used.

[6180HydroSearchSub]

8 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

I am actually surprised you didn´t try to remove more black parts there too and instead used yellow hoses instead of the black ones.

8 hours ago, danth said:

Big yellow hoses instead of the yellow stripe would be my choice, if there are any big hoses available in yellow. Actually this one just came out last year: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=14301#T=C&C=3

The primary reason why was because I was trying to make as few changes to the official set as possible since I ultimately did want something on the shelf that reflected as much of the out-of-the-box design intent as possible. So things like the yellow stripe stayed in since I liked the idea that the stripe was the designer's homage to the original's yellow hoses. The resulting creative and practical constraint I put on myself was that I could only use the parts available on LEGO PaB (USA) at the time, which meant things like using black hoses instead of yellow--another reason why I ended up keeping the yellow stripe.

At the end of the day, I think I'll be okay with the end result of this completely arbitrary set of constraints because (1) I personally don't want to invest too much more $$$ into 10355 Blacktron Renegade, (2) it did lead to some interesting creative choices I wouldn't have otherwise made (e.g., using fishing rods in the sensor array), and (3) 10355 will never be the ICONS model I (and I think others) imagined in the months before its release but I think I'll be satisfied with how my modded version looks next to 10497 Galaxy Explorer.

[danth]

15 hours ago, 6180HydroSearchSub said:

So things like the yellow stripe stayed in since I liked the idea that the stripe was the designer's homage to the original's yellow hoses. 

The first time I realized the yellow "stripe" might be an homage to the yellow hoses was when looking at your modded Renegade. I think you removed enough yellow "noise" that I could finally see it. 

[RichardGoring]

For anyone in the US, the Blacktron Renegade is on sale at Target for $55. You can use the rest of the money to buy parts to modify it!

[BitByBrick]

1 hour ago, RichardGoring said:

For anyone in the US, the Blacktron Renegade is on sale at Target for $55. You can use the rest of the money to buy parts to modify it!

Got it. Now is the time of year to watch for sales on the retiring sets. This (40% off) was definitely a good sale. Thanks for the heads up!

[Time77]

3 hours ago, RichardGoring said:

For anyone in the US, the Blacktron Renegade is on sale at Target for $55. You can use the rest of the money to buy parts to modify it!

At that price (and given that PAB standard is not doing anything in the USA until the Virginia factory opens) I might have to go for it.

[Space78]

8 minutes ago, Time77 said:

At that price (and given that PAB standard is not doing anything in the USA until the Virginia factory opens) I might have to go for it.

Agree, I have no interest in this as a set, but it is favorably priced on clearance as a parts pack.  Kind of depends if you need a lot of black or special yellow parts.  I have no interest in Blacktron, just CS - so mostly blue and old light gray with trans yellow.  I guess the trans yellow parts might be worth it?

[Retrocity]

Really tempting to grab a 2nd one for the alternative builds.

[Time77]

https://brickset.com/article/126606/lego-10356-star-trek-u-s-s-enterprise-ncc-1701-d-announced!

lego star trek; never thought I'd see the day.

[Time77]

25 minutes ago, Space78 said:

Agree, I have no interest in this as a set, but it is favorably priced on clearance as a parts pack.  Kind of depends if you need a lot of black or special yellow parts.  I have no interest in Blacktron, just CS - so mostly blue and old light gray with trans yellow.  I guess the trans yellow parts might be worth it?

I've got like 3 or 4 of those trans-yellow canopies extra that'd I'd give you, lol. I think bricklink has a ton too.

[Space78]

36 minutes ago, Time77 said:

https://brickset.com/article/126606/lego-10356-star-trek-u-s-s-enterprise-ncc-1701-d-announced!

lego star trek; never thought I'd see the day.

Unfortunately, it's Next Generation rather than the original.

18 minutes ago, Time77 said:

I've got like 3 or 4 of those trans-yellow canopies extra that'd I'd give you, lol. I think bricklink has a ton too.

Yeah, not worth buying the whole Blacktron set just for the trans yellow parts.  Would work if one wanted all the black pieces.  I'll have to look at the parts list on Bricklink.

[danth]

Damn, that's a great price for the Renegade. I'd probably grab a couple for MOCs if I had room.

[Time77]

47 minutes ago, danth said:

Damn, that's a great price for the Renegade. I'd probably grab a couple for MOCs if I had room.

Amazon has the same price too, if that floats anyone's boat more

1 hour ago, Space78 said:

Unfortunately, it's Next Generation rather than the original.

Yeah, not worth buying the whole Blacktron set just for the trans yellow parts.  Would work if one wanted all the black pieces.  I'll have to look at the parts list on Bricklink.

Even if it was a Wrath of Khan or TOS set (AKA, had an enterprise that wasn't butt-ugly), 400 dollars is too rich for my blood.

Edited November 6, 2025 by Time77

[danth]

I haven't heard anything about the Upscaled Blue Spaceman in a while. I'm hoping for some sort of update soon. 

[6180HydroSearchSub]

3 hours ago, Time77 said:

400 dollars is too rich for my blood.

Will be getting this--budgeted for this since the leaks came out--but I couldn't help but be a little disappointed by one thing I noticed in the reveal: stickers instead of prints?? On a $400 USD set??🤦

Edited November 6, 2025 by 6180HydroSearchSub

[Space78]

4 hours ago, danth said:

Damn, that's a great price for the Renegade. I'd probably grab a couple for MOCs if I had room.

Yes, but not as good as when Wallmart put 10497 on clearance - less than $40, as I recall.  I picked up 3.

[SpacePolice89]

Kinda sad to see most of the City Space sets getting discontinued soon. While I still struggle too see them as proper Space sets they are fantastic in their own way. It's a shame that they didn't make more of them or introduce another faction. With them gone and the new Renegade also getting discontinued there will be no unlicensed sci-fi sets available. That sucks big time.

[SpacePolice89]

I ordered the Classic Space minifigs from the vending machine set from Bricklink for € 13.40 and € 13.29. What do you think, did I pay too much and should've waited for PAB instead? I originally planned to buy them from PAB but I got worried that some of the pieces for the minifigs will sell out very fast. At the same time I ordered some pieces I needed and one of the Paradisa minifigs.

[Space78]

9 minutes ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I ordered the Classic Space minifigs from the vending machine set from Bricklink for € 13.40 and € 13.29. What do you think, did I pay too much and should've waited for PAB instead? I originally planned to buy them from PAB but I got worried that some of the pieces for the minifigs will sell out very fast. At the same time I ordered some pieces I needed and one of the Paradisa minifigs.

That's about what I paid on BL.  I purchased two of each color.  Cost me US $15 each plus shipping/tax.  That was the cheapest I could find.  That's 1/3 of the price of the entire set, so I thought about just buying the set and selling off the other minifigs, but I figured that was too much hassle just to get the 4 space minifigs, and I don't need the extra parts that would have been in the set.

[Black Falcon]

2 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I ordered the Classic Space minifigs from the vending machine set from Bricklink for € 13.40 and € 13.29. What do you think, did I pay too much and should've waited for PAB instead? I originally planned to buy them from PAB but I got worried that some of the pieces for the minifigs will sell out very fast. At the same time I ordered some pieces I needed and one of the Paradisa minifigs.

You would have been much cheaper with PAB, but likely they will sell out fast, so you would have to wait some more probably, till they are stable in stock - so if it is worth for you to get them now instead of having to wait I guess it is just fine ;).

[SpacePolice89]

8 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

You would have been much cheaper with PAB, but likely they will sell out fast, so you would have to wait some more probably, till they are stable in stock - so if it is worth for you to get them now instead of having to wait I guess it is just fine ;).

I wanted to wait for PAB but the possible situation of some of the pieces selling out and then having to monitor the availability constantly started to stress me out. 

11 hours ago, Space78 said:

That's about what I paid on BL.  I purchased two of each color.  Cost me US $15 each plus shipping/tax.  That was the cheapest I could find.  That's 1/3 of the price of the entire set, so I thought about just buying the set and selling off the other minifigs, but I figured that was too much hassle just to get the 4 space minifigs, and I don't need the extra parts that would have been in the set.

As I have no interest in the set itself and only needed one of each Space minifig and one Paradisa minifig I guess it was the easiest and best option to order from Bricklink.

[GeoBrick]

3 minutes ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I wanted to wait for PAB but the possible situation of some of the pieces selling out and then having to monitor the availability constantly started to stress me out. 

I've obtained the whole set, and I,m quite happy with it. Not only for the set (and at least half of the minifigs) itself but also for a number of the elements that come with the set, predominantly the transparent pieces. Those big curved window pieces don't come cheap in PAB, and I already made good use of them in a MOC.

[Space78]

14 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

You would have been much cheaper with PAB, but likely they will sell out fast, so you would have to wait some more probably, till they are stable in stock - so if it is worth for you to get them now instead of having to wait I guess it is just fine ;).

I don't think there is any guarantee all the parts are going to show up on PAB.  In fact, the way Lego has been operating (making more items "exclusive"), I think the probability of getting all the parts is near zero.  This is particularly true in the USA, where we have not been able to order "standard" pieces for some time.  Only "best selling" items, which are stocked in the US warehouse are available to order.

[Murdoch17]

49 minutes ago, Space78 said:

I don't think there is any guarantee all the parts are going to show up on PAB.  In fact, the way Lego has been operating (making more items "exclusive"), I think the probability of getting all the parts is near zero.  This is particularly true in the USA, where we have not been able to order "standard" pieces for some time.  Only "best selling" items, which are stocked in the US warehouse are available to order.

They just reopened PAB standard yesterday for the USA. Just letting you know!