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

[MagBuilds]

Now back on to the topic of the future of Lego space, I propose they bring back the classic themes but with a twist.As in that they all have to work together to stop an even bigger force from taking over their part of the galaxy with the help of a new fraction introduced that is completely original. Now who is this outside force you ask? Well i'll leave that up to Lego to decide,but the new faction,I've already had a real good name with a ton of builds that I've already made(in LLD),and I call this fraction Raddus.

Now you might ask who Raddus is,well Raddus is a mining company and is lead by Commander Marx(in Raddus's universe M:Tron is a rescue-repair fraction)and mines there home world Raddus for the Raddian crystals in the planet to power there vehicles and the like.

Raddus concept art: My first view of what the color scheme,mini-figs and ship would look like.

Raddus ship,sign,and fig by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus figs by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus weapons 1 by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesigns: Next I took so of the old classic space sets and remade them in Raddus's color scheme of Black,tr.purple,tr.pink,old grey,and purple.

Raddus Redsign Space Digger by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Star Patrol Lancher by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Sonar Transmitting Cruiser by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Solar Power Transporter by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Mobile Tracking Station by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Lunnar Rocket Lanch by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Twin Starfire by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Space Supply Station by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Cosmic Fleet Voyager by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Beta-1 Command Base by theo garrison, on Flickr

And finally some extra Raddus concept art of vehicles and ships:

Raddus Ship Concept 1 by theo garrison, on Flickr

Radddus Ground-Vehical Concept 2 by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Ship Concept 3 by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Ground-Vehical Concept 4 by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Track Lazer Base by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Track Lazer Base 2 by theo garrison, on Flickr

Raddus Redesign Alpha-1 Rocket Base by theo garrison, on Flickr

I hope you like my Idea and will give me some feed back on it. Until then, Bye!

Edited January 3, 2019 by MagBuilds
Needed to embed.

[Digger of Bricks]

3 hours ago, leafan said:

Supported!

By the way, are you also aware of this other LEGO Ideas project? 

On 10/23/2018 at 6:24 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

LEGO Ideas - LL497 Galactic Explorer by Peter Reid 

...it's Peter Reid's of Exo-Suit fame! 

2 hours ago, MagBuilds said:

Raddus concept art: My first view of what he color scheme,mini-figs and ship would look like.

  Reveal hidden contents

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1i3Kw_uY2oZAyMK74IBVppAXn4QMZr4wS

Raddus Redesigns: Next I took so of the old classic space sets and remade them in Raddus's color scheme of Black,tr.purple,tr.pink,old grey,and purple.

  Reveal hidden contents

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/192EUjizZWHfIkT5GBqmYmwFcceNvp_m5

And finally some extra Raddus concept art of vehicles and ships:

  Reveal hidden contents

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1FFkL6VTYmm92S6cg9yCUrhkwO2N29PGf

I hope you like my Idea and will give me some feed back on it. Until then, Bye!

Would you be able to embed your Google Drive links as pictures instead? 

[leafan]

5 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

By the way, are you also aware of this other LEGO Ideas project? 

...it's Peter Reid's of Exo-Suit fame! 

Yes, I supported that one shortly after my purchase of his Exo Suit.

The man gave me a green classic space man, so the least I could do is support more of the same. That's not to say that it doesn't deserve it though, because it's fantastic.

Thanks for the heads up.

[TheNerdyOne_]

On 1/1/2019 at 9:34 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

Here's a recently submitted LEGO Ideas project readers of this topic may be interested in. 

LEGO Ideas - Galactic Spearhead by ky-e

5 hours ago, leafan said:

Supported!

Oh hey that's my project!  Thank you for the support/sharing the project!

 

[Digger of Bricks]

1 minute ago, TheNerdyOne_ said:

Oh hey that's my project!  Thank you for the support/sharing the project!

You're most welcome! Best of luck to you on your journey towards 10,000 supporters! 

[MagBuilds]

Fixed my earlier  post,now has pictures. Check it out.

Edited January 4, 2019 by MagBuilds

[GameyRaccoon]

Obviously, TLG won't bring back CS, but could we just have a theme without obnoxious characters desperately trying to appeal to kids? (i.e. Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Chima, etc.) 

Could we go back to the old ways of TLG original IPs? With blank slate characters?

[Captain Mutant]

14 hours ago, MagBuilds said:

I propose they bring back the classic themes but with a twist.

I hope you like my Idea and will give me some feed back on it. Until then, Bye!

I do like your idea! And that's what I love about LEGO: if they won't make what we want, we can make it ourselves.

I too created a modern version of Classic Space - it didn't go anywhere on Ideas, but the photos are there forever. Hop on over to my website to see all the photos I took of that project :)

 

[Exetrius]

7 hours ago, GameyRaccoon said:

Obviously, TLG won't bring back CS, but could we just have a theme without obnoxious characters desperately trying to appeal to kids? (i.e. Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Chima, etc.) 

Could we go back to the old ways of TLG original IPs? With blank slate characters?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'blank slate characters'. And 'desperately trying to appeal to kids' is kind of the point of marketing toys... 

So, what exactly would you like to see differently? A theme without a tv-show tie-in, meaning: named characters who are not fleshed out by means of voice acting and animation? Think of Rock Raiders, Alpha Team, Island Extreme Stunts, Power Miners, Galaxy Squad, Agents, Atlantis, etc., but mind that some, especially the earlier ones, had PC game tie-ins which had the same effect. Or would you wish to leave out names, backstories and distinguishability between characters alltogether? 

Edited January 4, 2019 by Exetrius

[Captain Mutant]

9 minutes ago, Exetrius said:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'blank slate characters'. 

I think what they're saying (could be wrong) is that back in the late 70s, early 80s, there were no TV tie-ins and the characters in the Space, City, Castle and Pirate themes were ours to do with as we wished. We made up their names, and had our own adventures. It was a "golden age of opportunity and adventure"

But now maybe kids are more inclined to play with named characters? Like Star Wars and Marvel characters? Maybe imagination isn't what it used to be?

[x105Black]

16 minutes ago, Exetrius said:

Or would you wish to leave out names, backstories and distinguishability between characters alltogether? 

Kinda?  I don't mind a few facial features, hair styles, etc. but I don't think names and backstories are necessary.  As a kid, I found it fun to invent them for myself, and a lot of my own builds as an adult have known characters that have been repurposed into my own invented characters (because LEGO is about creating).

Just my 2 cents.  I understand why people like those things, but I also understand that I don't have to pay any attention to it and I can make what I want to make.

1 minute ago, Captain Mutant said:

I think what they're saying (could be wrong) is that back in the late 70s, early 80s, there were no TV tie-ins and the characters in the Space, City, Castle and Pirate themes were ours to do with as we wished. We made up their names, and had our own adventures. It was a "golden age of opportunity and adventure"

But now maybe kids are more inclined to play with named characters? Like Star Wars and Marvel characters? Maybe imagination isn't what it used to be?

I agree.  That's how I saw things as a child in the 80's.  I didn't need He-Man, Thundercats, or Voltron LEGO.  I had the TV shows to entertain me, and action figures.  LEGO was for me to be creative and come up with my own stories.

I did, however, try to build Middle Eastern architecture after watching Aladdin.

[MAB]

5 hours ago, GameyRaccoon said:

Could we go back to the old ways of TLG original IPs? With blank slate characters?

 

You could have gone for these, but unfortunately, they are not a blank slate - they have names and presumably characteristerics and voices too once the movie is out.

 

Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Chima, etc have a blank slate if you don't watch the associated media. You don't have to follow their storyline.

 

[x105Black]

Just now, MAB said:

You could have gone for these, but unfortunately, they are not a blank slate - they have names and presumably characteristerics and voices too once the movie is out.

...

Ninjago, Nexo Knights, Chima, etc have a blank slate if you don't watch the associated media. You don't have to follow their storyline.

Yeah, that's true.  Like I just said:

5 minutes ago, x105Black said:

I understand why people like those things, but I also understand that I don't have to pay any attention to it and I can make what I want to make.

LEGO is what you make it, really.  It's just easier to make things when you don't have to separate them from a source material first.

[Exetrius]

1 hour ago, Captain Mutant said:

I think what they're saying (could be wrong) is that back in the late 70s, early 80s, there were no TV tie-ins and the characters in the Space, City, Castle and Pirate themes were ours to do with as we wished. We made up their names, and had our own adventures. It was a "golden age of opportunity and adventure"

But now maybe kids are more inclined to play with named characters? Like Star Wars and Marvel characters? Maybe imagination isn't what it used to be?

1 hour ago, x105Black said:

Kinda?  I don't mind a few facial features, hair styles, etc. but I don't think names and backstories are necessary.  As a kid, I found it fun to invent them for myself, and a lot of my own builds as an adult have known characters that have been repurposed into my own invented characters (because LEGO is about creating).

Just my 2 cents.  I understand why people like those things, but I also understand that I don't have to pay any attention to it and I can make what I want to make.

I agree.  That's how I saw things as a child in the 80's.  I didn't need He-Man, Thundercats, or Voltron LEGO.  I had the TV shows to entertain me, and action figures.  LEGO was for me to be creative and come up with my own stories.

I did, however, try to build Middle Eastern architecture after watching Aladdin.

I'm sure kids will still play with unnamed characters, project their own stories on them, and perhaps make custom figures, just like the generations before them. However, I think kids are much more likely to choose characters they are already familiar with through media, over the ones that are 'blank' to them, so to say. 

It seems like a double edged sword to me: the characters get recognized (read: bought) at an earlier age, but also it will take longer before those characters are outgrown, while something of your own imagination comes off as 'silly' or 'childish' much quicker. 

[MAB]

Also nothing stops you using imagination and being creative making up stories involving He-Man, Thundercats, etc.

[TeriXeri]

7 hours ago, x105Black said:

I agree.  That's how I saw things as a child in the 80's.  I didn't need He-Man, Thundercats, or Voltron LEGO.  I had the TV shows to entertain me, and action figures.  LEGO was for me to be creative and come up with my own stories.

I used those wings of the 928 Galaxy Explorer set my family had for many builds all the time, for airplanes, space ships, and even as the deck of an aircraft carrier on top of those white/red boat hulls.

Imagination didn't need named characters to be good.

I suppose kids have more options now and grow up even earlier with digital media then me. But even so, the number of LEGO sets/themes with named characters is very big right now compared to City and a few Creator minifig sets (2019) 

 

Edited January 4, 2019 by TeriXeri

[x105Black]

5 hours ago, MAB said:

Also nothing stops you using imagination and being creative making up stories involving He-Man, Thundercats, etc.

8 hours ago, x105Black said:

I understand why people like those things, but I also understand that I don't have to pay any attention to it and I can make what I want to make.

Exactly.

[danth]

18 hours ago, GameyRaccoon said:

Obviously, TLG won't bring back CS

Fight me

[GameyRaccoon]

18 hours ago, Exetrius said:

I'm not sure what you mean by 'blank slate characters'. And 'desperately trying to appeal to kids' is kind of the point of marketing toys... 

By "blank slate" characters I mean Lego Pirates characters, or even ones in the same vein as Link (LoZ), who have names, but not really much of a personality. 

Once I went to Legoland and saw a Nexo Knights cinematic, and I thought it was extremely cringey. :/ (yeah, I know I'm not the target audience of 7 y/o) 

 

5 hours ago, danth said:

Fight me

I want CS back, but I don't see it realistically happening. 

If a kid today sees a blue CS astro and says "Look mom, Benny from the Lego Movie!" and not "Look! An astronaut from classic space!" then that shows how kids aren't actually interested in CS itself.

Also, If TLG is going to brand those other colours as Jenny, Lenny, Kenny, etc. this problem will only get worse. 

18 hours ago, Captain Mutant said:

I think what they're saying (could be wrong) is that back in the late 70s, early 80s, there were no TV tie-ins and the characters in the Space, City, Castle and Pirate themes were ours to do with as we wished. We made up their names, and had our own adventures. It was a "golden age of opportunity and adventure"

But now maybe kids are more inclined to play with named characters? Like Star Wars and Marvel characters? Maybe imagination isn't what it used to be?

That's exactly what I mean.

When I watch kids play, they never play just "space" it's always "Star Wars" or "Halo". They never play Pirates or Cowboys. Everything must be pre-packaged.

[icm]

1 hour ago, GameyRaccoon said:

When I watch kids play, they never play just "space" it's always "Star Wars" or "Halo". They never play Pirates or Cowboys. Everything must be pre-packaged.

I think the question of whether kids play "space"/"Star Wars" vs "pirates" or "cowboys" is a bit misguided.  The appropriate question would be, when they play "pirates" or "cowboys," do they play "Pirates of the Caribbean" instead of "pirates" or "The Lone Ranger" or "Roy Rogers" instead of "cowboys."  Generally, Space/Pirates/Cowboys are very different themes for play, and the real question is about whether kids play with existing characters or with characters they define and name themselves.  Color me skeptical on the sky-is-falling lack of creativity and imagination among children in the use of existing named characters.  My dad tells about playing "Lone Ranger" or "Roy Rogers" as a kid instead of generic "cowboys," fifty years ago.  A hundred years ago, kids might play "Peter Pan" and "Treasure Island"; two hundred years ago they would play "Knights of the Round Table" instead of generic "knights" or "Robin Hood" instead of generic "robbers in the forest."  (Check that last one by reading some Twain.)  When I was a kid twenty years ago, I was fully aware of the named characters in Lego themes and the Star Wars, and I used the names freely.  It saved me the trouble of having to come up with a unique name for each little minifigure when I added a set to my town.  That doesn't mean I ever re-enacted movie scenes with my Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker minifigs and their accompanying sets, nor even tried hard to copy the movie personalities.  Same with Vernon Dursley - same with the astronaut minifigure I named after Buzz Aldrin. 

However, I agree that children's enthusiasm for Benny as a named character doesn't necessarily show that children today would like neo-Classic Space as a theme on its own.  I haven't had the opportunity to closely observe how children today play with Lego and engage with licensed or story-driven themes vs open-world themes, so I defer to your experience.  

As for the future of Lego Space, I have said it before and I will say it again: I am cautiously optimistic that there will be another "true" Space theme in the next few years, and until then I'm content to get my Space fix through bits of other themes.  However, I recognize that my tastes in Space are a lot wider than those of many other people: I love the Space sets released under the City and Ideas labels, and I'm happy to get a cool spaceship in a licensed theme and treat it like any other as long as I don't know much about the IP it's based on.  That Overwatch rocket?  It's just a Spaceship to me.  The much-maligned 2017 Milano?  It's just a Spaceship to me.  The Arrowhead from Lego's animated Star Wars TV show?  It's just a Spaceship to me.  None of those, of course, satisfy the dedicated Space fan who hasn't gotten a dedicated Space line since 2013.

Edited January 5, 2019 by icm

[Exetrius]

5 hours ago, GameyRaccoon said:

If a kid today sees a blue CS astro and says "Look mom, Benny from the Lego Movie!" and not "Look! An astronaut from classic space!" then that shows how kids aren't actually interested in CS itself.

They associate it with Benny, of course! Is it in TLM even explicitly stated that Benny himself is a Classic Space spaceman? I'm not even sure. You can't be interested in something that never reaches your sphere of awareness.

Also, let's not forget kids's reactions become more nuanced and thoughtful with age. A 9-year-old will definitely see that Benny, Lenny, Jenny and Kenny all have the same logo, and deduce that they must be in the same organization, while a 4-year-old might remark: LOOK AT ALL THOSE BENNYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. 

5 hours ago, GameyRaccoon said:

Everything must be pre-packaged.

See my post above: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/149502-the-future-of-lego-space-opinions-ideas-discussion/&do=findComment&comment=3060215

 

5 hours ago, GameyRaccoon said:

Once I went to Legoland and saw a Nexo Knights cinematic, and I thought it was extremely cringey. :/ (yeah, I know I'm not the target audience of 7 y/o) 

Off-topic but I don't think a Legoland spin-off is a good way (for adults) to plunge into a LEGO media IP. If you're serious about getting into, say: Star Wars, then you start with the original movies, not something like SW Rebels, right? That said, the Nexo Knights show never hooked me, imo Ninjago is better in any aspect and has grown into a respectable series that feels genuine (e.g. not just to sell toys).

[Digger of Bricks]

7 hours ago, GameyRaccoon said:

I want CS back, but I don't see it realistically happening

I sorta don't get why people expect Classic Space as it was having any sort of chance for a present-day comeback. In my eyes, a near-verbatim incarnation of CS as a full, standalone line of sets isn't a possibility, yet I can rather think of a multitude of ways a spiritual successor could be viable. I mean, how could anyone place their bets on a Classic Space revival when we haven't even seen any sort of in-house Space theme in the past six years? 

[Captain Mutant]

good point. I think LEGO feel there wouldn’t be enough money in their own sci-fi IP so they keep to Star Wars (yawn).

I tried a modern rendition of Classic Space on Ideas. It didn’t get much traction. Of course, YMMV ? 

[Digger of Bricks]

17 minutes ago, Captain Mutant said:

good point. I think LEGO feel there wouldn’t be enough money in their own sci-fi IP so they keep to Star Wars (yawn).

I tried a modern rendition of Classic Space on Ideas. It didn’t get much traction. Of course, YMMV ? 

The best I think fans should hope for in terms of Classic Space as-many-knew-it, are individual LEGO Ideas projects such as Reid's Exo-Suit, offerings from Benny & Friends such as 2014's SSS and this year's Space Squad pack, promotional offerings, and most importantly, the Creator theme! 

Having said that though, I do believe there are many ways an in-house Space theme can be viable currently, it just couldn't be the good ol' Grey, Blue, and Trans-Yellow of yesteryear.

[Captain Mutant]

50 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Having said that though, I do believe there are many ways an in-house Space theme can be viable currently, it just couldn't be the good ol' Grey, Blue, and Trans-Yellow of yesteryear.

I agree. I think we need to accept this and move on from that position (although I do like that particular blue colour ?)

Don't forget that the City theme is getting space exploration, including a moon base, this year - I for one am excited about the possibility. And if LEGO don't make it to my exacting standards, I'll use their bricks and pieces to build my own, and see how they like it!!! ?