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

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

On 10/31/2021 at 5:26 PM, Lyichir said:

The plush spaceman from the gift guide I photographed is red, not pink—which is a good sign that other colors might be available too.

Oooooh. The plot thickens!

[Classic_Spaceman]

2 hours ago, danth said:

The fact that Ninjago hasn't gone to space yet is another reason I'm not sure they can. I mean, underwater ninjas? Why go there before space ninjas? They've done airships, desert stuff, islands, everything but space.

Underwater ninjas make sense when one of the characters is the Master of Water (also, the ninja did go to space, albeit briefly, in the show). Additionally, the episode “Codename: Arcturus” was initially intended to set up a space-focused season, but it did not pan out (and with Tommy Andreasen being adamantly against including space and aliens in the show, we are unlikely to see space ninjas anytime soon). That said, from Andreasen’s comments, it seems that this is a creative decision, rather than a contractual one. 
 

2 hours ago, danth said:

The spaceship in the trailer is awesome! Looking forward to seeing that set.

I agree, and considering its blue/white (or blue/grey) colour-scheme, it should be easy to modify into a Classic Space ship! 
 

Edited November 1, 2021 by Classic_Spaceman

[danth]

1 hour ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

Underwater ninjas make sense when one of the characters is the Master of Water (also, the ninja did go to space, albeit briefly, in the show). Additionally, the episode “Codename: Arcturus” was initially intended to set up a space-focused season, but it did not pan out (and with Tommy Andreasen being adamantly against including space and aliens in the show, we are unlikely to see space ninjas anytime soon). That said, from Andreasen’s comments, it seems that this is a creative decision, rather than a contractual one. 

Sounds like they wanted to do it, were told that they couldn't, and then toed the line.

[Classic_Spaceman]

13 minutes ago, danth said:

Sounds like they wanted to do it, were told that they couldn't, and then toed the line.

I doubt that. While I can understand LEGO not wanting to have overly-similar themes on shelves at the same time, I am really not sure what the terms of the (hypothetical) deal with Disney would be to result in exactly the sets that we have and have not gotten. Any line that I can think to draw between what does and does not constitute a "space" theme feels very arbitrary, easily-subverted, and difficult to enforce (as well as inconsistent with what LEGO has produced). 
 

[TeriXeri]

With rumours of a new color being a solid neon yellow, that could be very interesting for Sci-Fi imo.

Edited November 4, 2021 by TeriXeri

[icm]

Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!!! It's even called "Galactic Explorer", is this the second coming of Classic Space?

Nope - 

It's - 

Wait for it - 

MONKIE KID.

https://jaysbrickblog.com/news/2022-lego-chinese-new-year-sets-officially-revealed/

[TeriXeri]

That's a very cool take on a Space set in Monkie Kid style.

It's a huge rocket, but with Monkie Kid , I wonder about the price.

I do like the parts used however.

Edited November 6, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Classic_Spaceman]

4 hours ago, icm said:

Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!!! It's even called "Galactic Explorer", is this the second coming of Classic Space?

Nope - 

It's - 

Wait for it - 

MONKIE KID.

https://jaysbrickblog.com/news/2022-lego-chinese-new-year-sets-officially-revealed/

That looks good, and the canopies are new in Trans-Red! Also, this further solidifies my stance that LEGO is not barred from making space themes, since at this point, the line between "space" themes and what LEGO chooses to produce is essentially nonexistent. 
 

I just noticed that the ice sculpture festival includes two Minifigs with updated Ice Planet torsos! I wonder if this means that we are getting an Ice Planet build/Minifig in the 90th anniversary set. 🤔



Edit: Looking at the other Minifigures, only three (not counting the tiger) appear to have new torsos, two of which can be reused in City, and none have new heads or hair. Judging by this, LEGO's past tendency to reuse Minifig pieces in CNY sets, and the fact that Ice Planet has absolutely nothing to do with CNY (so making a new torso just for an Easter egg here seems weird), I can confidently predict that we will be getting something related to Ice Planet next year (even if just as a jacket in City sets, or as part of a City Arctic subtheme).  
 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Classic_Spaceman

[Maple]

I'd go with a no this means we aren't getting Ice planet in the 90th set. 

Ice Planet took place in 2022 so this just a nice little easter egg and I can't wait for better pictures of the torso. We will most likely get in a City set however I don't know how you can say LEGO reuses CNY torsos. They always have a bunch of exclusives torsos. Heck 2021 had a hoodie print that has 2021 on it.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Maple

[Classic_Spaceman]

4 minutes ago, Maple said:

Ice Planet took place in 2022 so this just a nice little easter egg and I can't wait for better pictures of the torso. 

It was 2002, not 2022. As for it being an Easter egg, it could be, but the lack of any connection to the setting (CNY) or year makes me sceptical. 

7 minutes ago, Maple said:

I don't know how you can say LEGO reuses CNY torsos. 

I meant that LEGO reuses City, Hidden Side, etc, torsos in CNY sets. 
 

[danth]

On 11/5/2021 at 10:04 PM, icm said:

Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP!!! It's even called "Galactic Explorer", is this the second coming of Classic Space?

Nope - 

It's - 

Wait for it - 

MONKIE KID.

https://jaysbrickblog.com/news/2022-lego-chinese-new-year-sets-officially-revealed/

Whoa!

I don't love it. I find most Monkie Kid designs to be too bizarre for my taste, honestly.

But I'll grab those trans red parts on Bricklink! I like the sensor arrays too.

On 11/6/2021 at 1:49 AM, Classic_Spaceman said:

That looks good, and the canopies are new in Trans-Red! Also, this further solidifies my stance that LEGO is not barred from making space themes, since at this point, the line between "space" themes and what LEGO chooses to produce is essentially nonexistent.

We already know Lego can do shuttle launch sets so this doesn't prove anything either way, IMO. This is a firmly Earth-based set.

On 11/6/2021 at 1:49 AM, Classic_Spaceman said:

I just noticed that the ice sculpture festival includes two Minifigs with updated Ice Planet torsos! I wonder if this means that we are getting an Ice Planet build/Minifig in the 90th anniversary set. 🤔

Edit: Looking at the other Minifigures, only three (not counting the tiger) appear to have new torsos, two of which can be reused in City, and none have new heads or hair. Judging by this, LEGO's past tendency to reuse Minifig pieces in CNY sets, and the fact that Ice Planet has absolutely nothing to do with CNY (so making a new torso just for an Easter egg here seems weird), I can confidently predict that we will be getting something related to Ice Planet next year (even if just as a jacket in City sets, or as part of a City Arctic subtheme). 

Well spotted! Another piece to snatch from Bricklink. I'm not as optimistic about an Ice Planet revival, but it would be freaking awesome if it happened.

Edited November 10, 2021 by danth

[TeriXeri]

The Ice planet figure is pretty cool reference for sure, unexpected. 

I got most of my neon orange parts from Nexo, so might do some MOC at some point, and that figure gives some more incentive.

My old LEGO has 2 of this small set, I rebuilt 1 of them in 2015, which later got me back into LEGO after seeing Nexo knight's parts/color scheme in 2016.

Edited November 6, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 11/6/2021 at 1:50 PM, danth said:

We already know Lego can do shuttle launch sets so this doesn't prove anything either way, IMO. This is a firmly Earth-based set.

We knew that LEGO can make (relatively) grounded shuttle/rocket sets for City and Creator, but this is the first explicitly-named[1] spaceship to appear in an action theme (which means that we could have gotten a space-themed season of Ninjago, since there is really no substantive difference between the MK rocket and a potential "Space Bounty"). Furthermore, the design of this set is in no way realistic (appearing more fantastical than many ships from actual space themes), so I am still failing to see where the supposed line is. Is it the orientation of the craft on the box? A spaceship can be made only if it is depicted as taking off vertically, as opposed to flying horizontally? If this is the case, why has LEGO not just made a theme based around "rockets" to circumvent this restriction? This is a rhetorical question; the terms of this (entirely hypothetical) deal with Disney are indistinguishable from the rules to Fizzbin at this point. 


[1]: LEGO has already made spaceships-in-all-but-name in non-space themes (e.g. White Dragon Horse Jet), hence my referring specifically to the set's name. 
 

@danth: BTW, I am curious to hear your thoughts on Alien Conquest - Does it count as a "space theme" by virtue of the aliens and their spacecraft, or do you consider it to be an "action theme" due to its setting on Earth and lack of Human spaceships? 
 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Classic_Spaceman

[jonwil]

I don't buy the argument that LEGO isn't allowed to make space stuff. (Galaxy Squad and Space Police 3 are evidence of that, unless this supposed restriction came in after those themes because Lucas got worried about LEGO Space hurting LEGO Star Wars sales but I doubt that)

But I do buy the argument that LEGO doesn't want to (for example) make a full on Space line in the vein of Classic Space because it would compete with not just Star Wars but other action type themes like Ninjago and LEGO doesn't want that.

It doesn't help that the last time they tried something that looked like a Space theme (Galaxy Squad) it failed.

 

Alien Conquest was awesome and if they did more stuff like that I would definitely want to buy it (funds permitting)

 

[danth]

Galaxy Squad and Space Police 3 were definitely Space themes, but existed a long time ago, before The Force Awakens came out and before the near constant presence of SW movies in theaters or SW series on TV that have associated Lego sets. So they either weren't affected by the hypothetical restriction or predate it.

The thing about legal contracts is they are very specifically worded and those words matter. If the restriction specifically exempts space shuttles launching from Earth, which would allow for NASA style sets, then the new Monkie Kid set would be totally allowed under the exemption.

You can see evidence for this language everywhere. Like the Benny's Space Squad set which curiously doesn't show the minifigs on another planet, but instead on a mechanical surface, with what looks like "shuttle launches" in the background:

Or the Cyber Drone set which shows a futuristic city instead of a space background, and also has a robot instead of a human for some reason, possibly invoking multiple exemptions in the hypothetical restriction:

And then you have the Space Mining Mech which very strangely doesn't even have a human pilot but totally has room for one. Probably because one of the restriction is specifically on sci-fi depictions of minifigs on other planets.

Of course it's easy to see patterns where none exist so this could be all coincidence or cherry picking.

I've just yet to hear a better explanation for why we don't have a Space Creator set hot on the heels of the Pirate and Castle sets.

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

Pictures of the classic spaceman plushies have showed up in red, white, blue, and pink. Also, I did notice on the ad that they include tanks. I think I will be picking up one or two colors!

Edited November 10, 2021 by BrickHat

[Aanchir]

On 10/10/2021 at 8:08 PM, Robert8 said:

You might as well rename it LEGO SciFi Memorial thread, because now with Disney+, SW will get new content pretty much every year from now on

I wouldn't rule it out entirely. After all, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series provided new Star Wars content from 2008 to 2014, and LEGO still ended up launching three new Space themes during that time. And even if LEGO's changed their mind about whether Space and Star Wars themes can coexist in non-movie years, that doesn't mean they couldn't change their mind again in the future.

 

On 10/13/2021 at 8:42 AM, Classic_Spaceman said:

How did we miss this?? The images have been up since September 1st (per Twitter), but the only reason that I managed to find them is because I was looking further into my theory that the 2022 City Space wave will be inspired by the Artemis Program (their official Twitter account retweeted one of the LEGO Education videos)! 

Oh, these spacesuits are nicely designed! Certainly a bit less futuristic than we're used to seeing in actual Space themes, but they could still be decent MOC fodder. I'd be interested to see what sort of helmets LEGO pairs with these. Given the Dark Azure details around the neckline of the orange spacesuits, I could definitely see them reusing part 49663 but molded in White + Dark Azur instead of White + Black.

On 11/1/2021 at 4:52 PM, danth said:

The fact that Ninjago hasn't gone to space yet is another reason I'm not sure they can. I mean, underwater ninjas? Why go there before space ninjas? They've done airships, desert stuff, islands, everything but space.

It could just be that they haven't gotten around to that yet… I mean, I had been speculating about the possibility of an underwater wave since 2014 or so, and yet it took them a decade to actually introduce one. When there are so many directions a theme like can take, the designers have a lot of leeway in which of them they end up prioritizing.

I would not be too surprised to see a space-themed Ninjago wave in the future — perhaps with spacesuits that pair the visored ninja hoods from this year's Ninjago Seabound sets with the breathing apparatus from the City Sky Police sets (I don't have any of the latter to test whether they are compatible, but it looks to me like they might be).

I agree with @Lyichir that the yearly Star Wars UCS sets likely play a part in why we haven't seen any futuristic Space D2C sets like we have for Castle and Pirates, but I can't help but hope that LEGO might explore that possibility in the future. One possibility that would stand out pretty well from any of their sci-fi licenses. (and could be a great callback to classic LEGO Space themes) is a futuristic moonbase, perhaps taking inspiration from the moonbase collabs that Space MOCists often exhibit at fan conventions. I haven't browsed Space models on LEGO Ideas in a while, so maybe I should check and see if anybody has any active projects along those lines.

It's also still a mystery what theme/themes LEGO will be focusing on for their anniversary sets next year, so for all we know LEGO might take that opportunity to finally take that plunge. I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if they opted for a Space-inspired set, even if Bionicle was more of a childhood favorite theme for me personally.

I guess part of why I remain hopeful about seeing a set like that despite not seeing any in over two decades is that lately LEGO has released a lot of "premium" sets that I'd never have imagined ten years ago — stuff like the Ninjago City sets, Chinese festival sets, Botanical Collection sets, Ideas Piano and Typewriter, "Everyone is Awesome", etc. It's not nearly as narrow a scope as it was back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, when D2C sets tended to focus narrowly on 20th century town scenes, famous buildings, famous vehicles, and stand-alone playsets spun off from current/recent themes.

3 hours ago, danth said:

The thing about legal contracts is they are very specifically worded and those words matter. If the restriction specifically exempts space shuttles launching from Earth, which would allow for NASA style sets, then the new Monkie Kid set would be totally allowed under the exemption.

You can see evidence for this language everywhere. Like the Benny's Space Squad set which curiously doesn't show the minifigs on another planet, but instead on a mechanical surface, with what looks like "shuttle launches" in the background:

https://images.brickset.com/sets/AdditionalImages/70841-1/70841_alt1.jpg

Is that surface really supposed to be mechanical? I had always seen it as more as a hilly lunar landscape, since the "seams" across the planet are just part of the geometric style that appears in the backgrounds of most LEGO Movie 2 sets (in order to imitate the brick-built backdrops in the movie but still differentiate them from the actual LEGO parts that appear in the sets). You can see the same geometric textures on the box art for sets like Emmet and Lucy's Escape Buggy.

Plus, there are other LEGO Movie sets with box art that DOES show minifigs on alien planets, like Rex's Rexplorer and Rex's Rex-treme Off-Roader. Even if an extraterrestrial jungle setting with breathable air is a far cry from the sort of barren lunar landscapes featured on most Classic Space box art, it's certainly more alien looking than Star Wars planets like Tatooine, Dagobah, Hoth, and Endor which really don't look much different from deserts, swamps, forests, or snowfields here on Earth.

And again, if there were some "no depicting minifigures on alien planets" rule with this many loopholes, that'd still be more than enough leeway for LEGO to continue releasing actual Space sets. They'd just have to opt for a planet with a metallic/cybernetic surface, icy surface, volcanic surface, swampy surface, urbanized surface, etc. instead of defaulting to a sandy or rocky surface.

After all, that's sort of what they're already doing with the 3-in-1 Cyber Drone set — the official product description says it's for "action-packed adventures in space", along with lots of similar phrases. If the Star Wars licensing contract did have some prohibition of other themes putting minifigs on alien planets, I can't imagine an abstract futuristic city backdrop on the box (let alone an ambiguous rocky backdrop like they used for the mech build on the back) would be enough for Disney to let that slide!

[danth]

21 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Is that surface really supposed to be mechanical? I had always seen it as more as a hilly lunar landscape, since the "seams" across the planet are just part of the geometric style that appears in the backgrounds of most LEGO Movie 2 sets (in order to imitate the brick-built backdrops in the movie but still differentiate them from the actual LEGO parts that appear in the sets). You can see the same geometric textures on the box art for sets like Emmet and Lucy's Escape Buggy.

Ah so you're saying it might be going for a brick-built moonscape type appearance. Yeah I hadn't considered that. I would expect concave craters in that case and more dust/rocks instead of the little square "panel" type markings on the tiles but who knows. It's a good thought.

21 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Plus, there are other LEGO Movie sets with box art that DOES show minifigs on alien planets, like Rex's Rexplorer and Rex's Rex-treme Off-Roader. Even if an extraterrestrial jungle setting with breathable air is a far cry from the sort of barren lunar landscapes featured on most Classic Space box art, it's certainly more alien looking than Star Wars planets like Tatooine, Dagobah, Hoth, and Endor which really don't look much different from deserts, swamps, forests, or snowfields here on Earth.

And again, if there were some "no depicting minifigures on alien planets" rule with this many loopholes, that'd still be more than enough leeway for LEGO to continue releasing actual Space sets. They'd just have to opt for a planet with a metallic/cybernetic surface, icy surface, volcanic surface, swampy surface, urbanized surface, etc. instead of defaulting to a sandy or rocky surface.

Good counter points. Also why would a contractual restriction not block mechanical surfaces too since that's similar to a Death Star? 

Well I hope you're right...I'm all in favor of the proposed cybernetic-slash-jungle-planet Space theme!

And with all the Space paraphernalia we're seeing...including yet another puzzle...I'm almost feeling naive enough to get my hopes up that an actual Space set might be coming.

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by danth

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 11/10/2021 at 4:07 PM, Aanchir said:

Oh, these spacesuits are nicely designed! Certainly a bit less futuristic than we're used to seeing in actual Space themes, but they could still be decent MOC fodder. I'd be interested to see what sort of helmets LEGO pairs with these. Given the Dark Azure details around the neckline of the orange spacesuits, I could definitely see them reusing part 49663 but molded in White + Dark Azur instead of White + Black.

From the intro to the LEGO Education videos that feature these Minifigs, the helmets appear to be the same white/black ones that were used in the 2019 sets (though the solid Dark Blue visors are new). 

On 11/10/2021 at 4:07 PM, Aanchir said:

And again, if there were some "no depicting minifigures on alien planets" rule with this many loopholes, that'd still be more than enough leeway for LEGO to continue releasing actual Space sets.

I agree - There are far too many loopholes for this to be an actual, enforceable, rule. 
 

21 hours ago, danth said:

And with all the Space paraphernalia we're seeing...including yet another puzzle...I'm almost feeling naive enough to get my hopes up that an actual Space set might be coming.

 <IMAGE> 

IMO, we are absolutely getting something space-related in 2022 (my bet is the 90th Anniversary set). LEGO pushing a decades-retired theme this hard (two puzzles and (at least) four plushies), particularly towards children with no nostalgic memories of the original sets, makes little sense as anything other than a tie-in for a new set (sets?). 
 

[mrfang2]

More of the target merch was revealed including spaceman notebooks, shirts, and gift wrapping paper, some of which seems to show grey space minifigs with helmets, with both light and dark grey. I know we had a grey space torso in the rocket boy minifig, but given the helmets and regular sized legs, I’m inclined to believe these will be released in some form later. 
 

this seems like a huge push (2 puzzles, shirts in multiple sizes, a backpack/handbag, 4 plushes, at least one notebook, gift wrapping paper, etc.) for a theme that’s been out of production for so long now, and it’s not like they’re trying to use the presence on Benny to market since none of these have the scuffed logo or cracked chin, so I’ve gotta wonder if there’s going to be a few new space sets soon. Maybe the anniversary thing will be a full line with a few sets from each of the winning themes? 

Edited November 12, 2021 by mrfang2

[danth]

4 minutes ago, mrfang2 said:

More of the target merch was revealed including spaceman notebooks, shirts, and gift wrapping paper, some of which seems to show grey space minifigs with helmets, with both light and dark grey. I know we had a grey space torso in the rocket boy minifig, but given the helmets and regular sized legs, I’m inclined to believe these will be released in some form later.

Guys...

Guys?

I'm getting scared. I am seriously almost getting my hopes up here...

Hath hell frozen over? Is it the End Times?

Are we about to see the return of...? 😨😱😬

Somebody please slap some sense into me quickly! I can't take this!

[Robert8]

I find quite amusing that they release classic space merch but not classic space sets

[danth]

39 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

I find quite amusing that they release classic space merch but not classic space sets

Right?

[TeriXeri]

Well, there's the LEGO mosaic set with the Classic Spaceman, but yes, I hope this is more then just a "tease".

 

LEGO using a regular blue spaceman instead of benny seems like a good sign that this isn't LEGO Movie related.

 

Also while Bionicle had the most votes in terms of that 90th anniversary vote , I don't think it's really iconic enough for something like a 90th anniversary (and 64 years of the LEGO "Brick") , not trying to insult bionicle fans here.

Classic Space got a clear second in that vote, and the 3rd place vote Pirates got a big homage to 1989 Pirates with the Barracuda Bay.

 

Even the 60th anniversary sets in 2018 had some reference to Classic Space : 

Edited November 12, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Maple]

9 hours ago, Robert8 said:

I find quite amusing that they release classic space merch but not classic space sets

Merch is also bought by adults, sets are bought for children.

However we got pirate ship, castle and viking ship in 2022. At some point LEGO should be making a Creator 3 in 1 'classic' Space set.