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

[BlackFalconSpace]

4 hours ago, Captain Mutant said:

Now all LEGO has to do it hurry up and release proper photos of the sets already! (I know some have leaked, but I love hi res ?)

In the meantime, did you have a chance to check out my new Ideas project?

Where have you seen the leaks? I'm eager to see what's coming. Also, has anyone seen pictures of the summer wave for TLM2 yet? I suspect there may be an additional space set there, since Benny's space squad did so well.

[Captain Mutant]

3 hours ago, BlackFalconSpace said:

Where have you seen the leaks? I'm eager to see what's coming. 

I saw them on Instagram but sadly, they don’t appear to be there anymore ? 

[BlackFalconSpace]

That's too bad. Lego might have told them to take them down. Guess I'll have to wait for summer(not that its truly that far away)

[Captain Mutant]

5 minutes ago, BlackFalconSpace said:

That's too bad. Lego might have told them to take them down. Guess I'll have to wait for summer(not that its truly that far away)

Indeed! ? 

[Digger of Bricks]

The Brick Fan - LEGO City Mars Exploration Summer 2019 Official Set Images

[Captain Mutant]

These new sets look pretty interesting. I like the fact that my own Ideas proposal is kinda compatible with them. I’m going to have fun with them (as long as they’re not too expensive), although I’m a little shocked a decapitated mutant head is in one of the sets!

[Digger of Bricks]

9 hours ago, Captain Mutant said:

I like the fact that my own Ideas proposal is kinda compatible with them. I’m going to have fun with them (as long as they’re not too expensive), although I’m a little shocked a decapitated mutant head is in one of the sets!

Looks like the head is Bright Green and lacking forehead prints this time around rather than Bright Yellowish Green.

P.S. Tell me, does it look like the Light Blue spaceman standing atop the rock has a Classic Space logo center torso? 

[M'Kyuun]

As a fan of LEGO's various space themes, I've been anticipating these, as I dig the neo-realism that the City Space theme brings. That said, overall I think these are done well. The few nitpicks I have are: 1)The new grabber which is quite large, out-of-scale, and not nearly so elegant as the old CS grabber (parts 4221 and 4220) 2) the reuse of the old single piece space helmet and backpack. An update allowing for the helmet to be separate would be welcome  3) Perhaps a bit nitpicky, but the rover just seems a bit plain, albeit far nicer looking than the actual NASA Mars rover concept. I think its playability would have been somewhat enhanced if it had articulated steering, or some sort of limited working suspension, and  4) more a question of semantics, but the Moonbase name would indicate a ground base rather than an orbital station, which is what this seems to be. Orbital Station would have been a better name, as it's more accurate and doesn't tie it to any particular celestial body.

Critiques aside, I like the near-future look of everything. The addition of a Robo-naut is pretty cool, and hearkens back to those simple bots we got with the old Classic Space sets, albeit with better utility and a real world inspiration. It's truly amazing how far tech has come since I was a wee lad in the 70's, and it's great to see it reflected in LEGO. I thought the drone an odd inclusion until I saw pics of the actual one in development. Again, it amazes me how all these recent developments in technology are being applied to our Space Program. The addition of both the geode and airlock parts is great; I'm sure they'll both find their way into other sets. I do think the airlock is a lost opportunity with the small shuttle that comes in the Moonbase set, as it doesn't appear to be functional, and I think that would have been a fanatastic realistic bit of playability to have the astronaut move between his ship and the station via a working airlock. I think the Moonbase also would have been better served if a small stand had come with it to give it some ground clearance to complete the illusion of being in orbit. Alas, can't have everything. Fortunately, a bit of brick and a little imagination make all the difference. I'm really glad that LEGO made a dedicated People Pack for this theme, as it helps flesh out some of the behind-the-scenes activities that transpire in the process of readying a crew and their science packages. After months of waiting to finally see pics of these sets, I'm pleased with the line overall and will definitely be picking them all up once they hit shelves.

[Captain Mutant]

5 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Looks like the head is Bright Green and lacking forehead prints this time around rather than Bright Yellowish Green.

Correct and well observed. It’s probably the lost freckleless race. Probably was endangered too. ;) 

[Lord Insanity]

Well I have to say from a Sci-Fi fan perspective this is the best Town and/or City Space(port) theme Lego has done.   While I would love a follow up to Benny's Space Squad with the red, black, green, and undamaged blue classic space figs, that City Space figure pack is one awesome consolation prize.  The orbital station is better than I would have ever guessed it could be too.  I wish they would have just used the classic space logo recolored like they did in Mars Mission though. The new one has the curve going the wrong direction.  Overall I am really looking forward to adding to my city spaceport.  Because why have mere airplanes when you can have Spaceships!

[Digger of Bricks]

On 4/23/2019 at 12:15 PM, M'Kyuun said:

The addition of a Robo-naut is pretty cool, and hearkens back to those simple bots we got with the old Classic Space sets, albeit with better utility and a real world inspiration.

BTW, looks like that "Robo-naut" has an all-new helmet speaking of such! 

On 4/23/2019 at 2:49 PM, Captain Mutant said:

Correct and well observed. It’s probably the lost freckleless race. Probably was endangered too. ;) 

Here's a better look at that head if you're wondering (courtesy of The Brothers Brick):

[Captain Mutant]

Yep. It was Jimmy. He was working on an anti-gravity propulsion system. And he was sooo close. ? 

[makoy]

Now we can a variety of  those cthulhu inspired aliens. I always love those green heads. I look forward to bricklink some of those. 

[x105Black]

It's really weird that he has an alien head on a stick, but I'm not complaining about getting that piece.

[Captain Mutant]

3 hours ago, x105Black said:

It's really weird that he has an alien head on a stick,

Must be a new delicacy...

17 hours ago, makoy said:

Now we can a variety of  those cthulhu inspired aliens. I always love those green heads. I look forward to bricklink some of those. 

The original (and the best) ones are already available there - but they ain't cheap...

 

[Digger of Bricks]

22 hours ago, makoy said:

Now we can a variety of  those cthulhu inspired aliens. I always love those green heads. I look forward to bricklink some of those. 

I've often seen others repurpose that head for their own "Cthulhu" humanoids and the such, and I've wondered on occasion if Lego had originally designed that head for such a purpose. I mean, would Lego do something in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft's work and his "Cthulhu" mythos for a generic Collectable Minifigure and/or playtheme, or is it all considered too macabre/morbid? * 

* P.S. I know very little about Lovecraft's stuff myself beyond circumstantial knowledge BTW.

[makoy]

10 hours ago, Captain Mutant said:

Must be a new delicacy...

The original (and the best) ones are already available there - but they ain't cheap...

I was hoping it will be released in a more exotic colour but I think another shade of green is okay.

I already have half a dozen of those CMF Alien Troopers, so adding a different variant of head colour can add more diversity in the mix.

6 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I've often seen others repurpose that head for their own "Cthulhu" humanoids and the such, and I've wondered on occasion if Lego had originally designed that head for such a purpose. I mean, would Lego do something in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft's work and his "Cthulhu" mythos for a generic Collectable Minifigure and/or playtheme, or is it all considered too macabre/morbid? * 

* P.S. I know very little about Lovecraft's stuff myself beyond circumstantial knowledge BTW.

I don't think TLG will go the macabre/morbid way. But hey, Stranger Things  set is coming so anything is possible.

[Captain Mutant]

3 hours ago, makoy said:

I was hoping it will be released in a more exotic colour but I think another shade of green is okay.

You're right: a different colour would've been nice.

Personally, I'm quite excited by those geode pieces. Has LEGO ever produced something like that before? I know they made crystals, and gold nuggets, but I don't remember seeing those geodes before. (I might make good use of them in my project ;)

[Aanchir]

14 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I've often seen others repurpose that head for their own "Cthulhu" humanoids and the such, and I've wondered on occasion if Lego had originally designed that head for such a purpose. I mean, would Lego do something in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft's work and his "Cthulhu" mythos for a generic Collectable Minifigure and/or playtheme, or is it all considered too macabre/morbid? * 

* P.S. I know very little about Lovecraft's stuff myself beyond circumstantial knowledge BTW.

Well, for what it’s worth, one of the main foes in LEGO Ninjago Season Five, the Preeminent, was fairly Lovecratian in a conceptual sense, even if the season as a whole didn’t adhere to the tone and themes of Lovecraft’s stories. Same can be said for the Shadow Creature in LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale.

But I don’t know if a theme based around Lovecraftian horror could work all that well by virtue of the fact that the main purpose of most villains, monsters, or adversaries in  a LEGO theme is to let kids role-play good-vs-evil conflicts.

The “monsters” in Lovecraftian horror are characterized by being as unfathomable as they are malevolent. Role-playing as a villain is difficult when they lack any comprehensible motivations for their actions. And true Lovecraftian horror often presents its heroes as utterly hopeless/helpless in the face of these dark unknowns, making it difficult to craft any kind of play scenario where the heroes can achieve any sort of meaningful victory.

So while the aesthetics and some of the concepts associated with, say, the Cthulhu mythos are certainly a viable source of inspiration for sets and MOCs (truly, my “Rise of the Dread Colossus” MOC I build for a contest on this very site back in 2011 drew on such inspiration), the storytelling genre associated with them doesn’t make a particularly effective premise for a play theme.

Edited April 29, 2019 by Aanchir

[TeriXeri]

I always felt that the Sea Monster concept of Nexo Knights had a bit of Lovecraft influences.

Giant Squidlike "island" Behemoth, and a squidfaced minifig were amongst the concept art.

But it never was more then that, just a concept.

[Digger of Bricks]

21 hours ago, Aanchir said:

But I don’t know if a theme based around Lovecraftian horror could work all that well by virtue of the fact that the main purpose of most villains, monsters, or adversaries in  a LEGO theme is to let kids role-play good-vs-evil conflicts.

The “monsters” in Lovecraftian horror are characterized by being as unfathomable as they are malevolent. Role-playing as a villain is difficult when they lack any comprehensible motivations for their actions. And true Lovecraftian horror often presents its heroes as utterly hopeless/helpless in the face of these dark unknowns, making it difficult to craft any kind of play scenario where the heroes can achieve any sort of meaningful victory.

As a one-off generic CMF though, perhaps they could get away with it? 

On 4/29/2019 at 3:23 AM, makoy said:

I don't think TLG will go the macabre/morbid way. But hey, Stranger Things set is coming so anything is possible.

From what I've read, Lovecraft's Cthulhu does somewhat remind me of Stranger Things' Mind Flayer from Season 2 in a couple of ways, so... 

21 hours ago, Aanchir said:

So while the aesthetics and some of the concepts associated with, say, the Cthulhu mythos are certainly a viable source of inspiration for sets and MOCs (truly, my “Rise of the Dread Colossus” MOC I build for a contest on this very site back in 2011 drew on such inspiration), the storytelling genre associated with them doesn’t make a particularly effective premise for a play theme.

OMG, I just love that contest entry of yours, as I don't see many LEGO Atlantis MOCs very often!!!  

[Aanchir]

7 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

As a one-off generic CMF though, perhaps they could get away with it? 

Oh yeah, absolutely. After all, the Collectible Minifigures not only don't typically need to fit into a larger story with a clearly defined conflict, but also tend to have bios that make even their less existentially terrifying monsters like werewolves and vampires feel silly or lovable rather than extraordinarily fearsome.

I could easily see a Lovecraftian horror monster reusing some of the molds introduced for Hidden Side like the clawed, torn wing pieces used in the high school or the tentacle pieces used in the boat. Possibly the CMF Faun legs as well.

17 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

OMG, I just love that contest entry of yours, as I don't see many LEGO Atlantis MOCs very often!!!  

Thanks! I wish I had more time/energy/patience to create MOCs like that these days.

[gedren_y]

I always thought that the closest Lego got to Cthulhu inspired aesthetic in a production minifig was the Atlantis Squid Warrior. The aesthetic of a number of the stickers of the theme work well for mystical symbolism.

Edited April 30, 2019 by gedren_y

[ProvenceTristram]

I think it's immensely depressing that all the forums seem to have an iteration of this same thread - "the future of space;" "the future of pirates;" "the future of castle."

It shows that there is still a ton of interest in classic themes from customers, yet lacking attention paid by Lego to the very universes they helped to spawn (at least in brick form). Really, the word I'm looking for here is "sucks." :(

[TeriXeri]

22 minutes ago, ProvenceTristram said:

It shows that there is still a ton of interest in classic themes from customers, yet lacking attention paid by Lego to the very universes they helped to spawn (at least in brick form). Really, the word I'm looking for here is "sucks." :(

I don't think it's lack of attention, but more like a timing issue with concurrent themes ongoing and new.

Space is strong in 2019 with LEGO Movie 2 and upcoming City subtheme, but even so, Creator and Overwatch has had Space Shuttle sets as well, and the Saturn V being popular.

Pirates has some elements sprinkled across other themes, but not as big as space. 

Castle has had very little since Nexo Knights ended and that was less then 1 year ago, however Ninjago has had some castle-ish builds and dragons in the meantime. As well as the Harry Potter line expanding it's Hogwarts sets.

Also right now the amusement park subtheme gets pushed pretty widely, along with some divers/treasures type sets across multiple themes.

I'm not saying this as an excuse to not have a full in-house Space/Pirate/Castle theme, but I do think between the ending of Nexo Knights, Star Wars Episode 9, and LEGO Movie 2, 2019 was pretty occupied.

I hope there's more room for another in-house theme in 2020. That patronus deer mold is complex enough and I doubt that's just for 1 set.

Edited April 30, 2019 by TeriXeri