The Classic (Unlicensed) Themes - What's the Big Deal, Anyway?

[Mylenium]

On 3/21/2026 at 3:42 AM, Karalora said:

I've experienced this same debate, more or less, about a completely different entertainment phenomenon. [...]

That's cute, but - no offense to anyone - also that very one-sided "Western" view of the world. Even if I subtract my years growing up in the Eastern block and for that reason having hugely different childhood memories it is probably too simple an explanation just to reference certain tipping points and mass phenomena. And in a way as a creative person I'm also still regularly puzzled by how much people cling on to the old and are at least being skeptical to the new. Reminds me a bit of the recent debates in the Star Trek World and the ensuing weirdness. I'm the old guy in the room and can embrace change, but some young people get all riled up about Starfleet Academy ruining Trek? Hmm... What a strange world we live in!

Mylenium

[MAB]

On 3/21/2026 at 2:42 AM, Karalora said:

Faction #1 trends older/more established in the fan base and prefers the "classic" standard for developing ideas, ....

Faction #2 trends younger or more recent and never experienced a time when the company wasn't producing new material ....

There is another faction, one that I identify with. Faction #3 tends to be older / more established in the fan base and enjoys vintage LEGO while also enjoying modern LEGO. I find it truly amazing how LEGO has been able to produce essentially the same thing for about 65 years now (I've removed some years at the start when they were refining the brick design) but constantly reinvented it to remain meaningful to kids and much more recently become so popular with adults.

On 3/21/2026 at 10:26 AM, JesseNight said:

What did go crazy however is the amount of such insanely large and expensive sets are being offered aiming at AFOLs, and how the amount of smaller sets for kids may be a lot fewer in comparison.

I think the clever marketing here is that LEGO are not necessarily selling large sets to AFOLs but to adults that might not be AFOLs,  but are fans of specific LEGO themes or licenses. There are Adult Fans of LEGO Botanicals, AFOLSW, AFOLHP, AFOLFormula 1 and so on. Not interested in general LEGO but very interested in "their" bit of the product line.

[JesseNight]

1 hour ago, MAB said:

I think the clever marketing here is that LEGO are not necessarily selling large sets to AFOLs but to adults that might not be AFOLs,  but are fans of specific LEGO themes or licenses. There are Adult Fans of LEGO Botanicals, AFOLSW, AFOLHP, AFOLFormula 1 and so on. Not interested in general LEGO but very interested in "their" bit of the product line.

Yes you're totally right about that.
Imagine a Star Wars collector wanting everything SW, that would include the LEGO stuff.
We live in a time it's all about clever marketing (just look at how FOMO is exploited and how easily that works thanks to modern social media). Maybe that's why I cling so much to the past. I'm a fan of quality and durability and that was much better once.

[SpacePolice89]

3 hours ago, Mylenium said:

That's cute, but - no offense to anyone - also that very one-sided "Western" view of the world. Even if I subtract my years growing up in the Eastern block and for that reason having hugely different childhood memories it is probably too simple an explanation just to reference certain tipping points and mass phenomena. And in a way as a creative person I'm also still regularly puzzled by how much people cling on to the old and are at least being skeptical to the new. Reminds me a bit of the recent debates in the Star Trek World and the ensuing weirdness. I'm the old guy in the room and can embrace change, but some young people get all riled up about Starfleet Academy ruining Trek? Hmm... What a strange world we live in!

Mylenium

How is it a Western viewpoint? All countries had mostly the same themes and sets. I understand that countries under Russian occupation didn't get any Lego at all (except in special stores for high ranking party members like the store in the Waldsiedlung gated community) but that doesn't change the fact that some prefer the previous design style of Lego sets. It's also possible to like themes and subthemes that are from before your time. My first contact with Lego was Futuron (my first sets were Futuron) but later I found out about Classic Space and started to like that subtheme as well even if it was from before my childhood. It is not always nostalgia, most of the time people just prefer the old design and style. 

[MAB]

2 hours ago, JesseNight said:

Yes you're totally right about that.
Imagine a Star Wars collector wanting everything SW, that would include the LEGO stuff.
We live in a time it's all about clever marketing (just look at how FOMO is exploited and how easily that works thanks to modern social media). Maybe that's why I cling so much to the past. I'm a fan of quality and durability and that was much better once.

I don't necessarily think it is just licences.  I know of some people that only buy Botanicals, and one that buys 'wall' sets (mosaicsc and art) but nothing else. And of course there are also people that just collect Modulars, or just Castle, or just Space andcdong look at other themes.

[Karalora]

7 hours ago, Mylenium said:

That's cute, but - no offense to anyone - also that very one-sided "Western" view of the world. Even if I subtract my years growing up in the Eastern block and for that reason having hugely different childhood memories it is probably too simple an explanation just to reference certain tipping points and mass phenomena. And in a way as a creative person I'm also still regularly puzzled by how much people cling on to the old and are at least being skeptical to the new. Reminds me a bit of the recent debates in the Star Trek World and the ensuing weirdness. I'm the old guy in the room and can embrace change, but some young people get all riled up about Starfleet Academy ruining Trek? Hmm... What a strange world we live in!

Mylenium

It's a Western viewpoint in that I am a Westerner, but apart from that I'm talking about tendencies I have witnessed in very specific online debates, not making broad statements about all of humanity. That's why I used words like "trends" instead of making categorical statements.

4 hours ago, MAB said:

There is another faction, one that I identify with. Faction #3 tends to be older / more established in the fan base and enjoys vintage LEGO while also enjoying modern LEGO.

If you can see both sides, then you're not taking up arms in the debate and therefore aren't a "faction" in that sense.

It'd be nice if we had more people like you. The conversation gets so rancorous at times.

[Devsan]

Alright a few thoughts so likely to break this up. But first absolutely the advent things once associated with coming up with their own distinct things becoming more focusing on licensing out is in the air and push back and worry that it represents pop culture is losing the ability to imagine new things and just replicate the same old things over and over and over.

The big one I have some knowledge of is Magic The Gathering. Which has its own story lines, set fantasy vibe ect, and now major sets are you Ninja Turtles. Way more fuss has been raised there I think than in the Lego community given Lego doesn’t have as much a set vibe, or if you want to argue the licensed stuff is out of step you have to go back to like the 70’s and 80’s. Lego has embraced a lot more action and violence that lines up with most licensed stuff for awhile now. And of course with Lego you can avoid the licensed stuff by just not buying it, were with the necessity of another player in MTG, if you like the classic flavor of MTG but your possible opponents all don’t care and load up on Transformers, Spongebob and The Office cards, too bad, you either have to deal with the death of the flavor, or not play MTG.

Anyways, I think there are often a few things that can get caught up in the talk around the Classic themes. One of course is just matters of taste. If you like pirate stuff or castle stuff, or Lego’s often more vibrant approach to space than Star Wars then you would likely want more of it than just one big set every so often. One can like Science Fiction and not like Star Wars for example. You’re looking at a living example! Or just like the idea of Lego coming up with more in house themes that have things like a setting than leaning on old established IPs from others. Or the prefer the aesthetics, be they color choices or even building approach and how that influences looks. At a certain point more rounded and curved plates came into use and combine that with a shift to more SNOT construction over building up from bricks leads to a different aesthetic. One can just prefer one aesthetic to another. Nothing really to debate there I would think.

Now I think there are other opinions that cross over with the classic themes ‘debate’ that play into it, but I’ll have to get to those later.

[danth]

23 hours ago, Karalora said:

It'd be nice if we had more people like you. The conversation gets so rancorous at times.

The guy that just said this to someone?

On 3/20/2026 at 3:05 PM, MAB said:

And yes, I do now enjoy that you cannot enjoy LEGO. 

[icm]

On 3/22/2026 at 4:24 AM, MAB said:

There is another faction, one that I identify with. Faction #3 tends to be older / more established in the fan base and enjoys vintage LEGO while also enjoying modern LEGO. I find it truly amazing how LEGO has been able to produce essentially the same thing for about 65 years now (I've removed some years at the start when they were refining the brick design) but constantly reinvented it to remain meaningful to kids and much more recently become so popular with adults.

I also try to be in "faction #3". The problem is that as online AFOLs, instead of talking up what we like about different types and eras of Lego we tend to lash out at other "factions" (types/eras/people) as much as we talk up what we do like. So faction #1 and faction #2 end up at each other's throats, and when faction #3 steps in and says there's good and bad in both classic and modern Lego, let's take a balanced look at this, everyone else sees it as punching down and telling both faction #1 and #2 that they're not allowed to like what they like, which isn't the case at all. It's not, as @danth said in the Unpopular Opinions thread, "dogpiling" someone "for daring to have an opinion that isn't 'Everything is perfect the way it is now," it's trying to get people to take a balanced look at things and express their opinions in ways that can be described clearly and supported, rather than contradicted, by the data. So that's talking about, what do we mean by a "theme", what do we mean by a "specialized part"? And we finally got to the point where we're like, ok, what you're really objecting to is mainly bespoke licensed minifig parts and accessories, and part molds that are only used in a very small number of kits over a short period of time, and that was supported by some statistical analyses. Possibly flawed statistical analyses, but fairly open and well-explained analyses. That's not dogpiling on someone for expressing an opinion, that's just trying to encourage balanced, critical thinking and communication. I'm a grad student and I deal with statistics all the time. Clear communication and clear thinking are my bread and butter, they're what I want to see even though I'm not very good at them myself.

But yeah, the quote from @MAB cited by @danth in the post just above this one comes across as unnecessarily vindictive and mean-spirited.

 

Edited March 23 by icm

[Karalora]

2 hours ago, danth said:

The guy that just said this to someone?

You know what? That's a fair point. We need more people like @MAB when they're being moderate and even-handed, not when they're saying snotty and mean-spirited things to other EB members.

[Karalora]

Now, to (hopefully) turn down the temperature in this thread a little, I want to share a theory I'm developing about AFOL approaches. The way I'm starting to see it, there are at least two distinct "modes" AFOLs (especially those who have been in the hobby since they were much younger) use with LEGO. I call them "Grow Up With Me" and "Keep Me Young."

AFOLs operating in "Grow Up With Me" Mode are using LEGO less as a toy and more as a sculpting/modeling medium that can be used to portray anything. This is where you get MOCs of historical battles (with dozens of minifigures in uniform), depictions of R-rated content, etc. This is also where you sometimes gets frustration with TLG's own internal guidelines and standards for what can and can't be produced on the grounds of "appropriateness" and the image of the brand. I feel that GUWM Mode is more accepting of licenses, especially those that are socially acceptable for adults to enjoy (e.g. Star Wars, MCU, Stranger Things.) and often inspires speculation about other such licenses that could be acquired.

In "Keep Me Young" Mode, on the other hand, AFOLs are using LEGO not just as a toy, but as a vehicle for personal nostalgia for their childhood. In this mode, they are most attracted to the themes they enjoyed when they were younger or that are aimed at kids, are more likely to view minifigures as characters in a story than in GUWM Mode (where they are more like poseable statues) and to make up elaborate and often whimsical lore for their MOCs.

It's important to note that these are modes, not permanent priorities or personality types. Anyone can--and most AFOLs probably do--switch between modes depending on how they feel at the moment. Although most probably also lean toward one more than the other, and I think that plays a lot into the "classic/unlicensed vs. current/licensed" debate.

[Devsan]

I don't that lines up with issue either way. Heck a lot of licensed themes are from the buyer's youth. Well Star Wars can do adult stuff like Andor, that's not what Lego Star Wars is remotely channeling, it channeling the simple pulp adventure stuff form people's childhoods. Same Harry Potter, and even LoTR. As for  sculpting/modeling being a GUWM thing... WHAT? Both people who like classic themes and those who like licensed themes stuff build MOC. This division seems utterly unsupported by any real facts.

[JesseNight]

I'm mostly "KMY" mode when it comes to actual bricks, but my methods of displaying nostalgic sets has changed (grown up with me) throughout the years.
I'm somewhat "GUWM" mode but mostly just in Stud.io. It certainly appeals to me, but the stuff I'd like to make always ends up too big and too expensive. So I just try to enjoy a digital building experience without having to worry about cost going up or essential parts being out of reach. Not to mention I'm still somewhat clumsy with newer modern building techniques 

[Devsan]

Okay to touch on something I do think gets folded into the discussion sometimes, but is also its own thing. Namely the changes to how Lego sets are designed and made. Because there is something that reflects change sometimes part of championing classics can be part of why someone might do so. Older sets clearly use the older building approach. But,obviously any classic theme can be and has through Creator lines and the like, been done with the newer building approach.

Now also we do seem to have some people who define what counts as modern vs classic differently. Basically some older folks put the cut off around late 90’s to the 2000’s with City jr and that strange Bionical stuff, where others put those periods as firmly in classic. So for this I’m counting around say the 2010’s or so as roughly when the modern period started to emerge.

And if you haven’t guessed when I’m talking about modern building approach vs older ones I’m talking about the increase of SNOT building vs more ‘classic’ stacking building. Bottom to top with brick as your bread and butter and plates as helpers and a handful of panels for where you need things to slid against each other or want some printed or sticker based decoration.

This shift can also I think can for some, not all add to the feeling that Lego is about super specific parts over bread and butter building parts. Because in a set you’re more likely to have more brackets than bricks. The reality of course is in SNOT building brackets and the like have largely replaced bricks as the bread and butter of building.

Now, putting aside how the use of SNOT effects appearance, where there is maybe, possibly a connection to other issues is how it could effect rebuilding and making your own little creations form sets. Now I don’t even know if people and kids doing less of that is even a thing. And if it is, no clue if this is in fact a contributing factor or not. But I do see how it might be.

SNOT, I think we can agree is much more complicated than just building up. Which is why historically, despite the idea being used since the 60’s it was mostly in official sets small flourishes. But now they have much clearer instructions so guiding a person through the steps is very doable. Were it might fall though is in getting people to understand it enough to do their own thing. Again SNOT is complicated compared to building up the old fashioned way. So maybe, possibly, people do walk away from modern Lego sets feeling “man I made this complicated thing! But no way could I ever figure out how to make my own thing with those pieces.”

Also maybe related is the greater use of small pieces making taking something apart building it into something new and then building it back to yet a third thing or its main build too much of a hassle. But also as noted maybe its just having more Lego sets and SNOT has nothing to do with it.

[SpacePolice89]

2 hours ago, Devsan said:

Now also we do seem to have some people who define what counts as modern vs classic differently. Basically some older folks put the cut off around late 90’s to the 2000’s with City jr and that strange Bionical stuff, where others put those periods as firmly in classic. So for this I’m counting around say the 2010’s or so as roughly when the modern period started to emerge.

For me the classic era ended in the late 90s but the very similar renaissance era emerged in 2007 and lasted to the mid 2010s. I see that era as a very successful modern adaption of the classic themes and something that should be replicated today.

[hrdknxbrix]

Thank goodness we have brick conventions where AFOLs can display their myriad MOCs that are not tied to any IP, right?  How boring would BrickWorld, Bricktastic, etc. be if 50% of the displays were Star Wars based, 35-45% were based on other IP and only 5-10% on original creativity.

[Khargeust]

A very lean year ahead for classic themes. Apart from a remake of 6057 Sea Serpent as GWP and a 3-in-1 Pirates set, nothing has leaked. It's quite disheartening...

[Lego David]

On 3/23/2026 at 8:24 PM, Karalora said:

AFOLs operating in "Grow Up With Me" Mode are using LEGO less as a toy and more as a sculpting/modeling medium that can be used to portray anything. This is where you get MOCs of historical battles (with dozens of minifigures in uniform), depictions of R-rated content, etc. This is also where you sometimes gets frustration with TLG's own internal guidelines and standards for what can and can't be produced on the grounds of "appropriateness" and the image of the brand. I feel that GUWM Mode is more accepting of licenses, especially those that are socially acceptable for adults to enjoy (e.g. Star Wars, MCU, Stranger Things.) and often inspires speculation about other such licenses that could be acquired.

In "Keep Me Young" Mode, on the other hand, AFOLs are using LEGO not just as a toy, but as a vehicle for personal nostalgia for their childhood. In this mode, they are most attracted to the themes they enjoyed when they were younger or that are aimed at kids, are more likely to view minifigures as characters in a story than in GUWM Mode (where they are more like poseable statues) and to make up elaborate and often whimsical lore for their MOCs

I think this is a pretty decent way of analyzing the divide, but as someone who would fit into what you describe as the "Keep me Young Mode" I would like to add a few nuances. 

I think it is mistaken to think of such AFOLs as just "using LEGO as a vehicle for personal nostalgia." Many of us have not only grown up with those Classic Themes, but have invested a big part of our money, time and energy into those themes. We do not enjoy those themes simply because they make us feel young again... We enjoy these themes because we simply find the concepts and stories in them engaging, even as adults. Our relationship with those themes isn't just a nostalgic look back... it is often a present reality, that continues to shape what we build with LEGO today. Speaking as someone who has been in the Bionicle fan community. Many of the people there have literally grown up with the theme since it started all the way in 2001 up until its end in 2010. That's en entire childhood of being invested into a particular story and world. Many of the people in that community found the mature story and themes engaging, not just when they were young, but appreciated them even more as adults, and continue to discuss the story, characters, and themes even today, more than 15 years after the original line ended. Most of them wanted to see the story continue, and when LEGO pulled the plug on it so abruptly in 2010, it left many people very bitter; almost like a part of your identity has been taken away. Although I did not grow up with Castle, Pirates, or Space myself, I can definitely see how people who grew up with those themes which lasted for decades would feel in a very similar way when those themes ended for no apparent reason. 

The point I am trying to get at here, is that growing up with those original themes has shaped our identity and who we are today as adults... When we look back as those themes, we aren't just looking at re-living our childhood, but rather, we are looking back at something that is still part of our identity and who we are today. We are still building MOCs, making stop motions, and creating fan-made stories about those themes, and their worlds and characters, simply because we continue to find those worlds and characters engaging even as adults. 

So when we barely get any sets to collect and barely any new pieces to use in our MOCs, it should come as no surprise that many of us feel so disgruntled and unhappy, because apparently our hobby and identity is not important enough for LEGO to acknowledge and respond to, even though we are more than prepared to pay a lot of money (heck, we are already paying thousands of dollars just to acquire the old sets on the second hand market, which just become more and more expensive with each passing year!) 

Edited March 29 by Lego David

[Karalora]

3 hours ago, Lego David said:

I think it is mistaken to think of such AFOLs as just "using LEGO as a vehicle for personal nostalgia." 

Part of my point is "such AFOLs" don't really exist as a category. This model isn't about "types" of AFOLs, it's about ways that AFOLs--any AFOLs--can approach the hobby. And I'm certain there are more than just the two, but that contrast was what I wanted to focus on.

[danth]

Here's a thought experiment. 

Let's say Lego decided to keep making Star Wars sets. But they decided to not tie themselves to the existing designs. Any cool looking sci-fi space vehicle design, as long as it fit into general SW design aesthetic, would be fair game. And they decided not to stick to boring gray and went with much more vibrant color schemes, including colored windscreens. And then the decided not to make figures based on known characters, and made generic pilots, mechanics, troopers, space pirates, etc. And they decided not to use stickers. And then they decided, screw it, drop any Star Wars references on the box or in the sets.

Now, if you weren't a Star Wars fan, this proposed theme would be superior in every way to Star Wars. Less restrictions on designs, more variety in sets, more exciting colors, more reusable minifigures and prints, and no stickers. This is basically what Classic Space was. Of course it's preferable to anyone who doesn't specifically want Star Wars sets.

This proposed theme is also pretty close to what we got with Lego City Space 2024. The vibrant trans purple windscreens were, unfortunately, found only in Friends Space sets. But still, white, trans black, and pops of orange were a breath of fresh air. The designs were fresh. The figures were cool and had no movie baggage. Many of the City Space sets had no stickers. It's very close to everything I would ask for in a renewed Space theme. 

And, while fans of Classic Space may have had some nitpicks, we generally really liked City Space 2024. I bought almost all of them. Which demonstrates that this isn't just a nostalgia thing. I had no "nostalgia" for City Space 2024 because it wasn't like any old Space theme. It had its own aesthetic, colors, and minifigs. But I like sci-fi space ships, I like Lego, and I'm sick of Star Wars. That has nothing to do with nostalgia, and everything to do with liking what I like, and avoiding what I don't like. 

Hope this helps!

[danth]

Here's another thought. The new unlicensed action themes are similar to licensed themes in ways I don't like: specific characters, theme specific (or aesthetic specific?) minifigures, and lots of stickers. 

[Black Falcon]

1 hour ago, danth said:

 

Now, if you weren't a Star Wars fan, this proposed theme would be superior in every way to Star Wars. Less restrictions on designs, more variety in sets, more exciting colors, more reusable minifigures and prints, and no stickers. This is basically what Classic Space was. Of course it's preferable to anyone who doesn't specifically want Star Wars sets.

 

I was going to recommend the rebuild the galaxy sets (well at least some) when I started reading but in the end even those would be ruled out. 

But anyways, I wouldn´t agree that those sets your are proposing would be superior to Star Wars in every way. In the end everything depends on your own taste, and not everyone has to be a fan of colourful builds. Same as people can like the SW ship designs without liking the franchise.

 

[danth]

38 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

I was going to recommend the rebuild the galaxy sets (well at least some) when I started reading but in the end even those would be ruled out. 

I do like the colors of the Rebuild the Galaxy sets, but in the end, the stickers annoyed me.

I almost mentioned Freemaker Adventures as a less-limited SW theme.

38 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

But anyways, I wouldn´t agree that those sets your are proposing would be superior to Star Wars in every way. In the end everything depends on your own taste, and not everyone has to be a fan of colourful builds. Same as people can like the SW ship designs without liking the franchise.

Well, there's nothing limiting my proposed theme to just one set of colors. If you really hate colors and just want boring gray, then sure, but are there any non-SW fans that demand only gray ships?

If someone who doesn't like SW just happens to like an SW ship, they could just as easily happen to like a spaceship from a theme that isn't limited to SW. 

[Devsan]

On 3/31/2026 at 3:20 PM, danth said:

Here's another thought. The new unlicensed action themes are similar to licensed themes in ways I don't like: specific characters, theme specific (or aesthetic specific?) minifigures, and lots of stickers. 

And the reality is if Lego were to do some kind of space or castle theme today, it would get most of that treatment. A show with specific characters, sets made at least partly to recreate specific conflicts and themes ect. We live in a multimedia world, that how you advertise for better or worse. Even City has a lot more story than it used to. Its just its cartoon and such are not as popular so that its filled with not named individuals with distinct personalities personalities in place is easier to ignore. Though we've been watching the dominoes fall towards more per-defined story telling since... at least when Castle and Space got factions in the mid 80's or so give or take a few years in either direction.

[danth]

14 hours ago, Devsan said:

And the reality is if Lego were to do some kind of space or castle theme today, it would get most of that treatment. A show with specific characters, sets made at least partly to recreate specific conflicts and themes ect. We live in a multimedia world, that how you advertise for better or worse. Even City has a lot more story than it used to. Its just its cartoon and such are not as popular so that its filled with not named individuals with distinct personalities personalities in place is easier to ignore. Though we've been watching the dominoes fall towards more per-defined story telling since... at least when Castle and Space got factions in the mid 80's or so give or take a few years in either direction.

That's what I'm afraid of. 

But, City Space 2024 just happened. It may have had named characters. I didn't pay attention. But the minifigs were generic enough to ignore any names. They just looked like pilots, engineers, etc to me. And many of the sets had all prints! So, it definitely seems possible to have a "classic" feeling unlicensed theme. But is that only because it was in City? 

If Lego did a "big bang" action Space or Castle theme, then yeah. It'd have named characters and some kind of media. I think I could live with that, if the minifigs were "archetypal" and the sets had a good aesthetic. I just don't like how "goofy" the in house action themes are these days. Ninjago is kinda goofy, with it's own ninja/power rangers/mecha aesthetic. But Monkie Kid and Dreamzzz were very goofy, and really doubled down on their specific goofy aesthetics. I'm hoping Space or Castle would be somewhat immune from that kind of goofiness because I'm not sure how "Goofy Space" (or Castle) would work. 

Examples of goofiness: a broccoli headed ninja, or a humanoid robot with a metal flat top. A helicopter that has literal swords for rotors. I'm not saying people aren't allowed to like that stuff, but it's not my cup of tea.

Maybe Lego makes their in house action themes "goofy" because they consider their licensed movie sets, or City, to be the more "serious" alternative?