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

[pombe]

@gedren_y

Thanks for that information, but instead of finding instructions for old sets, I want to generate parts lists and instructions for my MOCs to share with others.  Sorry if I wasn't clear. 

[Captain Mutant]

1 hour ago, pombe said:

@Captain Mutant

I'm so sorry about your LEGO IDEAS submission (I supported it!).  That would have been awesome to see on the shelves.  However, I am glad that you have a positive attitude about it and are continuing to expand on your idea.  I look forward to seeing more of it.

Thanks Pombe

It's still got a few more months of life, but it's not getting any traction. Even being interviewed on Beyond the Brick didn't lead to a significant boost in support, so I think it's just not meant to be.

Thanks for your support - I too would've loved to see it in stores. Instead, it's going to be my own unique sci-fi Outpost. I won't show what I'm working on for weeks yet, but when I do, you'll be able to enjoy it on my YouTube channel ;) (right now I'm going to be releasing tips and tricks on how I built the Outpost - if you're interested :D

1 hour ago, pombe said:

@Captain Mutant and @Murdoch17

I noticed that both of you know how to build digitally.  As someone who has only built in physical bricks, I want to go back and rebuild my Classic Space MOCs digitally so that I can:
1) generate a parts list
2) generate instructions
both of which I would like to share with the community.  I'd also like to create those cool animations of the set building itself that I often see online.

Are there programs which can do this for me?  Which program should I use and what are the pros and cons for each?  Thanks in advance!

I use Studio. It can generate part list and allows you to make instructions (don't know how that works yet but unlike LDD, you have to do it manually which is a bit of a pain).

 

[pombe]

2 hours ago, Captain Mutant said:

I won't show what I'm working on for weeks yet, but when I do, you'll be able to enjoy it on my YouTube channel ;) (right now I'm going to be releasing tips and tricks on how I built the Outpost - if you're interested :D

I use Studio. It can generate part list and allows you to make instructions (don't know how that works yet but unlike LDD, you have to do it manually which is a bit of a pain).

I'll be sure to subscribe!

Does Studio allow you to create those animations where the bricks assemble themselves?

[Captain Mutant]

38 minutes ago, pombe said:

I'll be sure to subscribe!

Does Studio allow you to create those animations where the bricks assemble themselves?

yes, I tried to do it but it take for ever, and I only had a couple of hundred pieces. I gave up after over a day of rendering and I wasn't even halfway there. Quicker to do the manual stop motion builds I do ;)

[gedren_y]

I prefer the reverse build method.

1. Complete your build, save it, and then import it into a new file.
2. Find the optimum orientation, and take a screenshot.
3. Copy one part. Set it next to your build.
4. Use the hide tool on the part you copied in the build.
5. Find the optimum orientation, and take a screenshot.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 until you have a screenshot for all parts.
7. Crop and edit (background, text, lines) the screenshots as needed, and rename each image with numbers in reverse of the order in which they were taken.

Doing sub-builds is a bit more involved, but not by much. If you want to do full renders, then you may need to remove parts instead of using the hide tool, and save for rendering.

[Digger of Bricks]

This might be of interest to y'all here... 

1 minute ago, Digger of Bricks said:

LEGO Ideas - Fan Vote: Help Celebrate the 90th Anniversary of The LEGO Group!

Quote

To celebrate the 90th Anniversary of The LEGO Group, help us choose a classic theme to be reimagined as a single new product for the 2022 LEGO Adult Portfolio. We have created a list of our 30 favourite classic LEGO themes for you to choose from.

Splitting this fan vote into two parts, you will have three votes in the first vote. You can vote a maximum of once for a theme in the first vote. This vote will be 100% transparrent!

The second vote will be the top three themes from the first vote. One of the three themes will be the theme the 90th Anniversary Set will be based on. This vote will not be transparrent, so it's still a little bit of a secret.

[BlackFalconSpace]

4 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

This might be of interest to y'all here... 

Oh boy, I haven't been on here in a hot minute. I'm super excited for this, since I'll like almost anything that's on the list, but space is definitely taking my first vote. I wonder how having slots for different factions from space and castle will effect the results for the classic space and classic castle categories.

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, BlackFalconSpace said:

I wonder how having slots for different factions from space and castle will effect the results for the classic space and classic castle categories.

Huh, didn't even think of that...  ...while we're on that subject though, I should mention that @Trekkie99 brought-up over on another topic that Futuron is oddly absent from the selection. Is it that Lego just lumps that subtheme under Classic Space rather than being its own distinct thing? 

[BlackFalconSpace]

Just now, Digger of Bricks said:

Huh, didn't even think of that...  ...while we're on that subject though, I should mention that @Trekkie99 brought-up over on another topic that Futuron is oddly absent from the selection. Is it that Lego just lumps that subtheme under Classic Space rather than being its own distinct thing? 

I hardly even noticed that in seeing all the other possibilities. Maybe they view it as a second generation or something, kind of like the two versions of Blacktron.

[Lord Insanity]

3 hours ago, BlackFalconSpace said:

I hardly even noticed that in seeing all the other possibilities. Maybe they view it as a second generation or something, kind of like the two versions of Blacktron.

Well that is how I always treated Futuron.  Its the culmination and pinnacle of Classic Space tech.  I consider Space Police, Ice Planet, Mars Mission, and the handful of newer minifigs to be specialist groups of Classic Space too.  Its all about the logo.

I voted for Classic Space, Blacktron, and Black Knights.  I just hope the final set isn't a stupid gift with purchase and is actually something we could buy multiples of.

[danth]

Yeah, as a kid, I saw Futuron as the next iteration of Classic Space with a new visored helmet.

I'd guess Futuron is not included because they're not going to make a Monorail.

[Stuartn]

I hope we end up with a set that is either space, pirates or classic castle, there are already town and arctic sets (city), friends is similar to paradisa and train sets will be made again. While I would prefer town or trains myself, I think space is more deserving.

[astral brick]

21 hours ago, danth said:

Yeah, as a kid, I saw Futuron as the next iteration of Classic Space with a new visored helmet.

You were not the only one, in fact the white and trans-blue color scheme was already used in Classic Space models.

21 hours ago, danth said:

I'd guess Futuron is not included because they're not going to make a Monorail.

I thought the same, I can't find any other explanation.

Anyway I noted with sadness an unpleasant attitude towards Space in (too) many comments both on Brickset and on this forum. Totally unexpected.

Although I have appreciated the mention of so many Space sub-themes, the risk of scattering the votes is real.

 

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

I was honestly conflicted with my vote. Recently I've gained some interest in Castle. I ended up choosing a diverse set of themes, with Ice Planet being my Space choice. I was sure that Classic Space would get enough votes without my contribution, and I thought it was important to show Lego that there is love for the other Space themes as well!

[Umbra-Manis]

I gave my space votes to Blacktron and M-Tron. I really wanted to vote for Ice Planet as well, but M-Tron won out because of the existence of a leaked modern ice planet fig

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

On 1/19/2021 at 8:27 PM, Umbra-Manis said:

I gave my space votes to Blacktron and M-Tron. I really wanted to vote for Ice Planet as well, but M-Tron won out because of the existence of a leaked modern ice planet fig

Ice planet figure? Wow, somehow I missed that. Do we know where it would come in?

[danth]

On 1/19/2021 at 5:27 PM, Umbra-Manis said:

I gave my space votes to Blacktron and M-Tron. I really wanted to vote for Ice Planet as well, but M-Tron won out because of the existence of a leaked modern ice planet fig

 

37 minutes ago, BrickHat said:

Ice planet figure? Wow, somehow I missed that. Do we know where it would come in?

It's not a real minifig, it's just a render for a Ninjago card. There's no proof it will be an actual minifig.

[Aanchir]

55 minutes ago, danth said:

It's not a real minifig, it's just a render for a Ninjago card. There's no proof it will be an actual minifig.

Yeah there's no reason to assume he or his prints will ever appear in sets (though slight correction — it's an illustration, not a render). There have previously been several Ninjago trading cards like this one that depict "show-only" characters. Here's a link to a site with a picture of the card, though (I can't find any images of it without a watermark).

I do find it interesting that there's even a design for "Ice Planet" inspired Ninjago character that isn't included in the Ninjago City Gardens set's ice cream shop. That seems like a pretty good sign that there are going to be at least slightly more Ice Planet references in future episodes of the TV series than there were in that one set. And it's certainly possible that some of those references could end up showing up in future sets. But I'm not currently aware of any upcoming Ninjago sets that an unnamed civilian character like this guy would be likely to appear in.

[Flak Maniak]

Sort of for this topic, sort of for that other "will they ever do another space theme?" topic... Here's what I think should count as reasonable maintenance of old-timey Lego space, in the absence of a proper return:

-Reasonably often, new good sci-fi minifigure parts. Stuff like the newish classic space-logo torso prints.

-Cool-looking canopies in relevant/important transparent colors.

That's it. That's the wishlist. For example, I think the Batman sets from a few years back, with a million trans-yellow canopies and windscreens and such, count as a relevant boon to both classic space and Blacktron I. Some of the trans-neon orange parts from Nexo Knights are, in the same way, relevant pandering to space fans.

Yes, obviously, one can wish for things like "winning the 90th anniversary poll" or "a new and proper line that somehow captures the magic of being a child again", but, as long as Lego keeps making good and relevant spaceship parts, including canopies in the most prominent transparent colors, I think they've done good. New parts like the Cyber-Drone head are very useful; it's clearly in the lineage of the robot heads from Spyrius and Exploriens.

[TeriXeri]

Now that summer set info is slowly coming in officially (like the Harry Potter reveal) , next on the radar in terms of Space/Sci-Fi would probably be the Space Shuttle 3-in-1 set.

Creator 31117 Space Shuttle Adventures - €49,99 | 486 parts , which has been known for a while but hopefully pictures soon.

That's larger compared to the 2017 Shuttle set, and about equal of the 2020 31107: Space Rover Explorer Rover set.

It's also listed as Space Ship Adventure at some other sites , so might not even be a traditional shuttle , considering the 18+ Nasa Shuttle just released, and 3-in-1 having the more silly side of things with Aliens in recent years (including spaceships in the 2018 Caroussel), I do hope it's a fantasy build rather then just yet another Nasa earthly design.

Edited April 16, 2021 by TeriXeri

[danth]

Pics leaked for 31117 and it's definitely a shuttle. Lego doesn't do sci-fi space anymore, unless it's Star Wars or something.

[Aanchir]

On 4/16/2021 at 8:46 PM, danth said:

Pics leaked for 31117 and it's definitely a shuttle. Lego doesn't do sci-fi space anymore, unless it's Star Wars or something.

I mean, 31117 being based more strictly on real-world space exploration technology doesn't really lead me to think that sci-fi stuff is off the table — just that real-world space exploration is still really popular right now, and LEGO wants to make sure they can offer something of that sort for kids who'd be too young to enjoy more teen/adult-targeted sets like 10283, 10266, and 92176.

After all, even if their color schemes resemble real-world space agency livery, 31107 's A- and B-models both include aliens, and its C-model is a "Vic Viper" style spaceship. Likewise, 31115's A-model wears a jetpack and includes an alien, and its B- and C-models carry glowing energy crystals/fuel cells and are piloted by robots. That all seems pretty sci-fi to me!

On another note, I just noticed Space Mining Mech's set description answers the question of what the brick-built elements inside the A-model's transparent dome are for — that center build can be flipped around to change the eye color/expression from "calm" fluorescent green to "distressed/agitated" reddish violet (at least, that's my interpretation of what the two eye colors likely signify). Which, again, gives me far stronger Forbidden Planet vibes than NASA vibes.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Aanchir

[TeriXeri]

Creator 3-in-1 has done Shuttles regularly with 2017 (minifig scale) , 2019 (microscale) , so it's not a huge suprise if its a shuttle again in 2021, still doesn't take away that alternate builds could be nice as well.

I actually really liked the 2017 shuttle despite being non-realisticly proportioned, it's a great playset and had a good selection of parts.

Edited April 20, 2021 by TeriXeri

[TeriXeri]

Ok, with a picture of the shuttle on brickset I assume it's ok to link it : 

Overall doesn't look bad, certainly a followup to the 2017 Shuttle, but with what looks like more system parts for the tail engines, and landing gear and what looks like wing Flaps.

Blue/Red stripe is continued , so it's certainly keeping the same space company feel there. (and also the Town Space sets from 1995 Launch Command) 

Update : Ok just saw a picture with the alternate builds , a Lunar Lander and a Saturn V , for a 3-in-1, I think that's very nice budget alternative to the Expert/IDEAS sets of the past.

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by TeriXeri

[Flak Maniak]

Here's my complaint of the day: There aren't enough (especially modern) canopies available in trans-neon green. Trans-bright green is fine, but it's not the same, and I don't like mixing them. I wanna see 21849 and 92579 in trans-neon green! I don't really care what kinds of sets they'd be in; as long as they put them in at least one set and then on B&P, that's good enough for me. I'll buy a dozen of each.

I suppose while I'm at it, I'd like those two in trans-dark blue and trans-neon orange, too.

A line of space sets, without any new parts or recolors, would be less useful to me than those two recolors.