The Future of Lego Space. (opinions, ideas, discussion)

[Exetrius]

In reaction to various opinions and statements in this thread:

• I think a ~3000 piece set would be all the more in competition with the Star Wars theme, because that is the price range of the UCS models.
• The changing of the era, sci-fi disappearing from mainstream media, real-life (aerospace) science not advancing towards the envisioned utopia; all very valid reasons why a continuing space line may have been considered not viable. 
• Of all themes within City, I think police and firearms are the most boring, by far. The other services, on the other hand, really inspired me as a kid (about 10 years ago). Shops, restaurants, garages, sports, harbor, etc. In other words: everyday stuff was awesome.
• Star Wars has a few iconic, good-looking designs, but indeed there are loads of vehicles that just didn't attract me at all. I liked the generic troops, and some lightsaber guys were also cool, but nothing extraordinary.
• Mars Mission, the first space theme of my childhood, got me hooked immediately, despite not being familiar with sci-fi through media, at that time. The consistency of all the vehicles and the astronauts throughout the sets was very appealing, something that Star Wars didn't (and does not) have. 

From my own experiences, I think a fresh 'classic' Space theme could work out, given an exploration/civilian approach. As a kid, I didn't necessarily need any kind of special characters or 'weird' conflict-based vehicles. Generic civilians and services, which represent the gearing of the system of society, were enough to inspire me. These are barely present in the SW theme, so there wouldn't be competition between this new classic space theme and SW. Moreover, games like No man's sky, Horizon Zero Dawn, and movies like The Martian and Interstellar are proof of the renewed interest in space and exoplanet exploration. Instead of a City mobile police office, the new generation of fathers may be more inclined to buy a cool exoplanet exploration vehicle. 

[Trekkie99]

3 hours ago, Exetrius said:

In reaction to various opinions and statements in this thread:

• I think a ~3000 piece set would be all the more in competition with the Star Wars theme, because that is the price range of the UCS models.
• The changing of the era, sci-fi disappearing from mainstream media, real-life (aerospace) science not advancing towards the envisioned utopia; all very valid reasons why a continuing space line may have been considered not viable. 
• Of all themes within City, I think police and firearms are the most boring, by far. The other services, on the other hand, really inspired me as a kid (about 10 years ago). Shops, restaurants, garages, sports, harbor, etc. In other words: everyday stuff was awesome.
• Star Wars has a few iconic, good-looking designs, but indeed there are loads of vehicles that just didn't attract me at all. I liked the generic troops, and some lightsaber guys were also cool, but nothing extraordinary.
• Mars Mission, the first space theme of my childhood, got me hooked immediately, despite not being familiar with sci-fi through media, at that time. The consistency of all the vehicles and the astronauts throughout the sets was very appealing, something that Star Wars didn't (and does not) have. 

From my own experiences, I think a fresh 'classic' Space theme could work out, given an exploration/civilian approach. As a kid, I didn't necessarily need any kind of special characters or 'weird' conflict-based vehicles. Generic civilians and services, which represent the gearing of the system of society, were enough to inspire me. These are barely present in the SW theme, so there wouldn't be competition between this new classic space theme and SW. Moreover, games like No man's sky, Horizon Zero Dawn, and movies like The Martian and Interstellar are proof of the renewed interest in space and exoplanet exploration. Instead of a City mobile police office, the new generation of fathers may be more inclined to buy a cool exoplanet exploration vehicle. 

Thank you for your comment! I agree with your opinion on games and movies, such as the one's you cited, renewing interest in space exploration. And yes, I to dislike the over saturation of cops and robbers for city. But C&R for space? I think its great! And as for municipality services? I'm a sucker for garbage trucks!

LMF

[TheLazyChicken]

On 4/26/2017 at 10:03 PM, Evolved Turtle said:

You know what would be cool? LEGO City- in space. Perhaps an entirely separate theme, just so normal LEGO City doesn't get too wacky. Imagine robbers smashing through the wall of a bank with a thick-fronted speeder, only to be caught by the space police right afterwards. Or imagine the fire department! Since there are no flames in space(or at least none small enough as house fires), I guess a pipe or something could break open and allow water to freeze over a building and maybe some citizens. The fire team would come in and unfreeze the flames with heat rays, perhaps represented by the same pieces used for the elemental blades in Ninjago. Not to mention construction, or a space-zoo, or a mining team in the city's outskirts! LEGO wouldn't be limited to the boundaries of real cities. They could even add in space travel, or space military defending it from hostile alien attackers! The possibilities are endless...

That's a great idea! Maybe they could make builds like the ones featured in the space police mini movies! I'd love to see something like that. Especially if it lasts for a good few years!

Edited April 28, 2017 by TheLazyChicken

[Evolved Turtle]

7 hours ago, TheLazyChicken said:

That's a great idea! Maybe they could make buils like the ones featured in the space police mini movies! I'd love to see something like that. Especially if it lasts for a good few years!

You mean the cows with jetpacks? 

[Trekkie99]

1 hour ago, Evolved Turtle said:

You mean the cows with jetpacks? 

LOL! He meant to say builds. That's a funny picture in my mind!

LMF

[danth]

I'm not a fan of things like Space Police or space garbage-trucks. That's just taking the City theme and putting it in space. SP3 just felt like Future City to me, not true deep space. I want space ships, not flying cars!

I prefer Space to be stay Space. Civilians in space would be doing exploration, launching rockets, salvaging space trash, fixing satellites, mining ice, etc. 

[TheLazyChicken]

2 hours ago, Evolved Turtle said:

You mean the cows with jetpacks? 

OH I meant builds!  

The space farm with the space cows would actually be pretty cool! I wouldn't mind seeing that become a set. 

As I never really liked classic space, I don't mind it being gone. I found it quite uninteresting. I prefer more wacky themes with usable alien parts and characters. That's one of the reasons why I loved Space Police III and Galaxy Squad so much! Those two have been some of my favorite themes to date and I would be happy seeing something like that happen again. Preferably something like Space Police III because I only managed to get two sets from the theme.

I do hope they make creator style sets that focus on the classic space themes to please the fans of those themes. I personally wouldn't be interested but I know many people that would be!

[Trekkie99]

1 hour ago, danth said:

I'm not a fan of things like Space Police or space garbage-trucks. That's just taking the City theme and putting it in space. SP3 just felt like Future City to me, not true deep space. I want space ships, not flying cars!

I prefer Space to be stay Space. Civilians in space would be doing exploration, launching rockets, salvaging space trash, fixing satellites, mining ice, etc. 

Yes, but the "flying cars" and "space garbage trucks" was a idea for the "civilians factor". And realize much of this would take place on some sort of fictional planet. Meanwhile, things like exploration would be taking place as well elsewhere. It doesn't have to be one or the other, it can be both.

LMF

[Evolved Turtle]

24 minutes ago, TheLazyChicken said:

OH I meant builds!  

The space farm with the space cows would actually be pretty cool! I wouldn't mind seeing that become a set. 

As I never really liked classic space, I don't mind it being gone. I found it quite uninteresting. I prefer more wacky themes with usable alien parts and characters. That's one of the reasons why I loved Space Police III and Galaxy Squad so much! Those two have been some of my favorite themes to date and I would be happy seeing something like that happen again. Preferably something like Space Police III because I only managed to get two sets from the theme.

I do hope they make creator style sets that focus on the classic space themes to please the fans of those themes. I personally wouldn't be interested but I know many people that would be!

Okay, I was a bit confused! 

[Trekkie99]

13 hours ago, TheLazyChicken said:

OH I meant builds!  

The space farm with the space cows would actually be pretty cool! I wouldn't mind seeing that become a set. 

As I never really liked classic space, I don't mind it being gone. I found it quite uninteresting. I prefer more wacky themes with usable alien parts and characters. That's one of the reasons why I loved Space Police III and Galaxy Squad so much! Those two have been some of my favorite themes to date and I would be happy seeing something like that happen again. Preferably something like Space Police III because I only managed to get two sets from the theme.

I do hope they make creator style sets that focus on the classic space themes to please the fans of those themes. I personally wouldn't be interested but I know many people that would be!

I liked galaxy squad as well, but classic space and the themes that came off of it such as Mtron and blacktron are in a way "boring", but that's sort of the whole point. Look at model trains, doesn't get more "boring" then that. But it depends on what ones idea of boring is. Do you like big, crazy movies with drama, action, explosions, deception, etc.? Cause you won't find that in model trains. Now classic space does have it's own plots which are often times written by the fans, but to understand them you have to be realistic and think about what it would be like living in space and-or colonizing an empty planet which has no atmosphere. (Figuratively and literally). You get the idea. Just my opinion.

LMF

13 hours ago, TheLazyChicken said:

 

Edited April 29, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[x105Black]

I never found M-Tron or Blacktron to be boring, nor did I find Classic Space to be boring.  That said, I love the idea of Space Cows and farming, even if only for one set of a theme.  Could you imagine using the base cow mold with a new alien head piece in, say, lavender?  That could be really interesting.

[Trekkie99]

6 minutes ago, x105Black said:

I never found M-Tron or Blacktron to be boring, nor did I find Classic Space to be boring.  That said, I love the idea of Space Cows and farming, even if only for one set of a theme.  Could you imagine using the base cow mold with a new alien head piece in, say, lavender?  That could be really interesting.

I don't find it boring either, as you can see I put the word boring in quotation marks.

LMF

Edited April 28, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[Trekkie99]

.

Edited November 14, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[Trekkie99]

I have edited this topic to invite more people to share their thoughts. And thank you to all who have responded!

LMF

[Trekkie99]

Something I have often lamented was that Lego didn't do more to add parts into non space/castle/classic themed sets. Parts which would aid in fans being able to make their own creations based on other themes. Now fortunately we have had recently some very nice yellow windshields from the LBM, orange from nexo knights, and a couple of red one's else where. But what of other translucent colors such as neon green, dark green, blue, light blue, and magenta pink? That was one of the things fans complained about galaxy squad. Plain old clear translucent? Boring!!! Other such parts include stickered or printed parts and of course, minifigures. But besides that, there is plenty to work with on all the other part categories. So I guess what I'm saying is that IMO, we don't need a classic space theme, we just want one for reasons that we wish it would become popular again like when we were kids. ("I" being extracted from "we" because "I" didn't grow up with these themes, but I understand the sentimental values these themes hold for some.) So why can't Lego do a "heritage line" or something equivalent for all the fans who grew up with these sets and themes?

 

Edited May 4, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[Digger of Bricks]

Hey,good topic! I have pondered upon the same thing regarding CP and Creator. With 2018 arriving ( the 60th anniversary of the system and 40th for CP,castle, town,ect),perhaps then we might see some CP related products. Now no one has mentioned the Juniors theme for CP. I have often seen that as a possible theme for a CP styled set or two, maybe? Though Juniors is composed of many pre-molded "parts made out of other parts", trans-yellow canopies, printed tiles, and minifigures could be exploited from these sets that would be undoubtedly useful for MOCs. Castle and pirates have been done for the theme, so why not at least something sci-fi? I can not see Juniors Star Wars happening.

[Trekkie99]

15 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Hey,good topic! I have pondered upon the same thing regarding CP and Creator. With 2018 arriving ( the 60th anniversary of the system and 40th for CP,castle, town,ect),perhaps then we might see some CP related products. Now no one has mentioned the Juniors theme for CP. I have often seen that as a possible theme for a CP styled set or two, maybe? Though Juniors is composed of many pre-molded "parts made out of other parts", trans-yellow canopies, printed tiles, and minifigures could be exploited from these sets that would be undoubtedly useful for MOCs. Castle and pirates have been done for the theme, so why not at least something sci-fi? I can not see Juniors Star Wars happening.

Thank you for your very insightful comment! And I totally agree with you! As I was just saying in my previous comment and as you have pointed out, Lego should take advantage of existing themes and install parts into them that can be used elsewhere. Oh, and welcome to eurobricks!!! I really "dig" your username! 

Heh heh! Get it? Your name is digger of bricks, and I sad I "digged" it! Heh! ......Get it?...... Guys?......

Edited May 5, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, LegoMonorailFan said:

Something I have often lamented was that Lego didn't do more to add parts into non space/castle/classic themed sets. Parts which would aid in fans being able to make their own creations based on other themes. Now fortunately we have had recently some very nice yellow windshields from the LBM, orange from nexo knights, and a couple of red one's else where. But what of other translucent colors such as neon green, dark green, blue, light blue, and magenta pink? That was one of the things fans complained about galaxy squad. Plain old clear translucent? Boring!!! Other such parts include stickered or printed parts and of course, minifigures. But besides that, there is plenty to work with on all the other part categories. So I guess what I'm saying is that IMO, we don't need a classic space theme, we just want one for reasons that we wish it would become popular again like when we were kids. ("I" being extracted from "we" because "I" didn't grow up with these themes, but I understand the sentimental values these themes hold for some.) So why can't Lego do a "heritage line" or something equivalent for all the fans who grew up with these sets and themes?

 

Maybe intentionally on part of the set designers,but it interesting that part no. 28782 introduced this year in trans-yellow for the LBM's  batmobile has a brick height and stud dimensions of 6 studs by 6 studs by 2 bricks. That is the equivalent of 2 of part 3939(1979's Galaxy Explorer windshield piece) stacked a top each other. Something that would work perfectly for a neo-Galaxy Explorer!

3 minutes ago, LegoMonorailFan said:

Thank you for your very insightful comment! And I totally agree with you! As I was just saying in my previous comment and as you have pointed out, Lego should take advantage of existing themes and install parts into them that can be used elsewhere. Oh, and welcome to eurobricks!!! I really "dig" your username! 

Heh heh! Get it? Your name is digger of bricks, and I sad I "digged" it! Heh! ......Get it?...... Guys?......

Thanks! All my bricks I own are second hand, collected from thrift store-ing over the years. So hence my name. I suppose that makes me a Lego brick archaeologist. 

[Trekkie99]

12 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Maybe intentionally on part of the set designers,but it interesting that part no. 28782 introduced this year in trans-yellow for the LBM's  batmobile has a brick height and stud dimensions of 6 studs by 6 studs by 2 bricks. That is the equivalent of 2 of part 3939(1979's Galaxy Explorer windshield piece) stacked a top each other. Something that would work perfectly for a neo-Galaxy Explorer!

Winner winner, chicken dinner! Your right! You know there had been a couple really good GE on ideas a while back and unfortunately they didn't pass, but with the popularity of Benny's SSS! (I don't like spelling out "spaceship!, spaceship!, spaceship! Oh wait... I just did.) you'd think Lego would high tail it and make another! But with the LM2 coming out soon, we shall see what's in store.

12 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Thanks! All my bricks I own are second hand, collected from thrift store-ing over the years. So hence my name. I suppose that makes me a Lego brick archaeologist. 

Ah, I see! Well Lego Indiana Jones is the way to go for your profile pic then!

Edited May 5, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[Digger of Bricks]

39 minutes ago, LegoMonorailFan said:

Winner winner, chicken dinner! Your right! You know there had been a couple really good GE on ideas a while back and unfortunately they didn't pass, but with the popularity of Benny's SSS! (I don't like spelling out "spaceship!, spaceship!, spaceship! Oh wait... I just did.) you'd think Lego would high tail it and make another! But with the LM2 coming out soon, we shall see what's in store.

Ah, I see! Well Lego Indiana Jones is the way to go for your profile pic then!

I remember those projects, some of those were great homage takes on the original, especially one posted here on Eurobricks called the Galaxy Explorer 2015 project, with the UCS X-Wing canopy and the upper level Speed Racer windshield. It was pretty sleek but simple like it's namesake.

[Trekkie99]

6 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I remember those projects, some of those were great homage takes on the original, especially one posted here on Eurobricks called the Galaxy Explorer 2015 project, with the UCS X-Wing canopy and the upper level Speed Racer windshield. It was pretty sleek but simple like it's namesake.

Cool! I'll have to look around for it sometime.

[Digger of Bricks]

20 minutes ago, LegoMonorailFan said:

Cool! I'll have to look around for it sometime.

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/72716                                                                                                   This is the project. Only 675 supporters before it expired, same with a few other Galaxy Explorer projects . So yes, CP has not got much traction on Lego Ideas unfortunately.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Digger of Bricks
Bad format

[Trekkie99]

27 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/72716                                                                                                   This is the project. Only 675 supporters before it expired, same with a few other Galaxy Explorer projects . So yes, CP has not got much traction on Lego Ideas unfortunately.

Oh, I remember that one! The thrusters were a pretty cool design!

 

[Trekkie99]

10 hours ago, LegoMonorailFan said:

 

You know it is sort of surprising considering that Pete Reid's mech not only passed 10,000, but was excepted and turned into a ideas project. Surprising in the sense that it and not something more classic such as a spaceship or a moon buggy got up to 10,000.

11 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/72716                                                                                                   This is the project. Only 675 supporters before it expired, same with a few other Galaxy Explorer projects . So yes, CP has not got much traction on Lego Ideas unfortunately.

 

Edited May 5, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[x105Black]

On 5/4/2017 at 6:29 PM, LegoMonorailFan said:

Now fortunately we have had recently some very nice yellow windshields from the LBM, orange from nexo knights, and a couple of red one's else where. But what of other translucent colors such as neon green, dark green, blue, light blue, and magenta pink? That was one of the things fans complained about galaxy squad. Plain old clear translucent? Boring!!!

Interestingly, the wacky colored windshields were one of the things I didn't like about Space themes as I was growing up.  I understand wanting to build in a style that is reminiscent of the originals, that makes complete sense.  Still, I prefer plain trans and trans black for windshields.