LEGO Sci-Fi Ongoing - Rumors, Speculation, and Discussion

[Mondo-TRON]

6 hours ago, legoturtle said:

If you want to see all different images from all space sets:
https://jaysbrickblog.com/news/lego-city-2024-joins-the-space-race/

Thank you for the link. I was wondering about the price. And more pics.

[Classic_Spaceman]

2 minutes ago, Mondo-TRON said:

Thank you for the link. I was wondering about the price. And more pics.

I am not sure that the prices are accurate, since the spaceship is listed as $20 (should be $30). 🫤
 

[Mondo-TRON]

1 hour ago, TeriXeri said:

After seeing more pictures of the City Space Station, looks a lot better , when they show modularity and options to turn it into various spacecraft, and the center of the circle has an attachment point to build vertical as well.

Will certainly look forward to mixing it with the 2019 and 2022 modules.

Me too, but only with 2019 series

[Lyichir]

37 minutes ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

They probably cannot, but I really hope that those Friends space helmets can fit Minifigs as well! Also, the trans-purple visors are going to be useful. 

Something interesting that I have noticed is the synergy between themes this year - Technic, Friends, and City Space all use the same reddish orange colour and airlock connectors, and City and Friends both feature the same aliens. 
 

Most Friends headgear fits minifigures just fine, and these look to have the same extra space around the shoulders that other minifigure-compatible headgear does.

[Classic_Spaceman]

3 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Most Friends headgear fits minifigures just fine, and these look to have the same extra space around the shoulders that other minifigure-compatible headgear does.

I am only just now realising that these parts only connect to the heads, rather than around the neck. 😑
I certainly hope that you are right, as I am quite tired of the old Atlantis piece being our only option for bulkier EVA suits! 
 

[icm]

Well, that may be Space but it's certainly not City! It's not surprising Brickset has these listed as a subtheme of City, since that's what's on the box, but in design and in spirit this is clearly the first full-on unlicensed Space theme since Galaxy Squad in 2013! (And since a great big Space logo is on the box, just as prominent as the City logo, an argument could be made to Brickset to list these as a subtheme of Space instead...although it would be a stretch to apply that to the other Creator, Dreamzz, Friends, and Technic sets with the same Space logo on the box.) Heck, it even looks a lot more like Galaxy Squad than like City, what with the helmet molds, helmet colors, curvy white sleek shapes of the rovers, and the little green aliens. That's it. In my headcanon, this is a prequel to Galaxy Squad. Don't touch those cute little green alien plant things, they'll grow into great big green Space bugs that want to eat you!

I like the purposeful color-coding of the minifigs and I'm intrigued by the new backpack piece. I'm not sure what all the connections are but they look interesting. I appreciate the use of the Icons space shuttle cargo bay door in trans-clear for large windows throughout City and Friends. On the whole I don’t like the orange colors. I’d rather have shades of blue. But that’s just me.

The little space motorcycle polybag is, like most polybags, just an excuse to get a minifig at a cheap price. I'd prefer if it was wedge-shaped, but that's not a big deal. Pass.

The little space construction mech is fine for what it is. I like the crystals and the little robot. The minifig reminds me of the CMF space miner from several years ago. I'm not big into mechs, though, so the only little mechs out right now that interest me are the Monkie Kid combo mech and the Boba Fett mech. Pass.

The 4+ spaceship and asteroid discovery is honestly not bad for the price point, considering it's a 4+ set. It has two minifigures with different colored helmets, two big boulders, a little alien, a pretty substantial base and crane (by 4+ standards) and a swooshy spaceship that's reasonably large. But the spaceship makes very poor use of the 4+ Big Ugly Space Hull introduced for TLM2. Pass.

The Interstellar Spaceship is a nice swooshy 918-class courier/fighter ship that is far from the best example of the 918-class courier genre, but it's got a fun gimmick. The way the back flares open when you press the button on top is pretty cool. It's the fourth use of that canopy, but the first use of it for a wholly original in-house spaceship. (The Lightyear ship is from a movie, the Blacktron Cruiser is a faithful remake of a set from 1987 rather than being a new spaceship design, and the Pirate Snubfighter is from a TV show.) I think I'll go ahead and get it. Swoosh, swoosh! I wish the pilot was blue rather than dark blue though. It's overpriced at $30, but I have $10 in coupons right now so I'll get it for $20. Buy.

The Space Rover Explorer is a pretty nice midsize rover with a lot of interior space and some pretty good suspension. Considering the size of those wheels, the PPP isn't shocking. The front suspension is pretty cool and the aliens are cute. I like it, but it doesn't make me want to rush out and buy it. Maybe buy.

The Command Rover is a great big Turbo Tank of a rover, which is pretty cool. It's certainly a valid successor to the tradition of great big Space rovers. I like the Portal-style robot. I need to wait for more pictures of the interior and features before making a buying decision, but big rovers aren’t really my thing. Pass.

The Modular Space Station is an interesting idea. It looks like the Endurance in Interstellar and like the ring of Jupiter spaceships in the third season of Lost in Space (Netflix version). The space train on the back of the box is fun. But like all Lego space stations, it has piddling small solar panels, and the insides of the modules don’t look very interesting. Also, the ring shape looks both overengineered and underutilized. I would rather have another modular space station like the 2019 version than a ring station that doesn’t make effective use of the ring concept. Pass.

The Space Base and Rocket Launchpad is intriguing but not yet convincing. I like the idea of a big glass control tower and a big solid hatch on the front of the base. But the colors clash terribly, and I need more pictures of the spaceship, the launch pad, and the base interior. The rover reminds me of the pickup truck from Lightyear, which at the time I wanted as a Lego set, but the build looks awkward and cramped. I like the way the base opens and I think the integration of a rotating crane beneath the control tower is clever. Maybe pass.

The Friends Mars Base and Rocket is a bit of a mixed bag. I like the new windscreen mold, but I don’t like the colors. The Friends Space Camp set from 2022 had a building that was all pinks and purples, but the space shuttle in that set only had a thin stripe of pink along each side and was otherwise normally colored. There’s nothing wrong with the Friends Mars Base and Rocket being all pinks and purples, but it’s not my jam. (Except blackberry jam, which is very purple and very tasty.) I want to wait for more pictures of the features and interiors of the base and ship. If I get this, it’ll primarily be out of completionism rather than positively wanting the set. Now that we’ve had Friends in Spaaace, can we get Ninjas in Spaaaace next year? Maybe pass.

I was hoping for something like a stylized Apollo lunar rover from the Dreamzz space car, so I’m disappointed that it’s a simple yellow car with some Space wheels and a robot arm bolted on. To my eyes, its rover mode looks fragile and its spaceship mode looks contrived. On the other hand, the Dreamzz Spacebus has been growing on me since the summer, and I might end up getting that one after all. Pass.

The buildable astronaut figure from Creator is pretty realistic and it’s a pretty good example of that style of buildable figure, but I’m not really into those figures. I bought the Peter Parker Spider-Man set and haven’t felt a need to buy any of the others. The astronaut is pretty realistic, but not at the level of detail and accuracy that would compel me to buy it, and the B and C models aren’t interesting. Pass.

The Technic polybag of the Perseverance Mars rover is ok, but it’s just a tiny little polybag. Pass.

The Technic orrery is very cool. It’s got nice prints for the globe and I’m glad the guts are left open so you can see the gears moving around. I’m not really into Technic but I might get it. Maybe buy.

The Technic Surface Space Loader is pretty cool. It reminds me of the T-3 Trike from Life on Mars and the other trike from Mars Mission, except it has four wheels instead of three. I like the changing ride height for the front cabin. Ultimately Technic isn’t my thing, so I won’t get it. Pass.

The Technic Mars Crew Exploration Rover is very cool. I want to see more pictures of the functions and the interior. At first glance it reminds me of the Arocs, but of course it’s much smaller and has a fraction of the part count, so it can’t be nearly as feature-rich as that paragon of Technic. It’ll be nice to have a big Technic movie-Watney rover after the 2019 City movie-Watney rover and the 2020 Creator book-Watney rover. Maybe buy.

The Technic VTOL Heavy Cargo Spaceship is pretty cool. The functions of the lowering cargo box, the rotating engines, and the retractable landing gear are pretty cool. The design is something fresh and new for Technic, and it looks like something out of a video game. The price point is pretty good too. But the spaceship design doesn’t strike my fancy and I’m not big into Technic, so I won’t get it. Pass.

It’s not a set with the Space banner on the right side of the box, but it is a swooshy 924-size courier/shuttle - I refer to the Crimson Firehawk from Star Wars. This one has a nice big printed windscreen in transparent light blue and it makes good use of the existing 2019 Big Ugly Space Hull and a new one special for it. On the whole, though, it’s a very mediocre spaceship in design and execution. Pass.

It’s not a set with the Space banner on the right side of the box, but the Dune ornithopter from Icons is extremely impressive, and it comes from a sci-fi franchise that could well work as a Space-adjacent subtheme if you filed off the serial numbers. I’d love to get it but I can’t afford it. Pass.

It’s not a set with the Space banner on the right side of the box, but it is a swooshy 918-size courier/fighter - I refer to Rocket Raccoon’s Warbird, which has not been revealed yet. Still waiting on that.

The 10341 licensed Icons Space set, rumored for this spring, should be very interesting. Maybe buy.

The 10391 black spaceship from Icons, rumored for April, should be very interesting. Maybe buy.

The rumored Technic Apollo Lunar Rover, rumored for about $250 this summer, should be very interesting. But on the other hand, I probably can’t afford it, and I haven’t bought the 2022 Technic Perseverance Mars Rover yet. Maybe buy, maybe pass.

On the whole, I'm enormously pleased by the quality and quantity of intentional Space offerings for 2024, where Lego outright says "this is a Space set" rather than just making Space-like swooshies as in any other action and adventure theme. Even so, I don't think I'll get more than a few of them. My wanted list is so large, and most of these just don't compete with things I want more. I bought the entire 2019 and 2022 City Space lines because they were exactly the kind of realistic NASA space I wanted, and I'd find a way to buy an entire line of Classic Space in the style of 10497. This falls into the middle ground of yay, all this Space! / Meh, it's not actually everything I want Space to be. But that's just the problem with all fan communities and franchise extensions, you can't please everyone. I'm sure many kids will be very happy with all the Space this year.

[TeriXeri]

It's so nice LEGO actually has cross-theme compatibility here, like the Friends set uses the same orange connectors, to add the Friends base onto a City space section.

And even further, the Friends space base is very modular by itself as well, many grey technic bricks used between sections, could even put it with regular "earth" city set structures as it use the same 8x8 scale for some of it.

Also the Friends space base toilet is funny.

Edited December 2, 2023 by TeriXeri

[The_Fiery_Rooster]

1 hour ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

I think that those are alien plant life; the batteries seem to be created (per a display in the base) by combining plants and crystals.

You're probably right on those being alien plants, but notice how some batteries use pink cylinders vs purple ones (base launchpad is the most obvious one, also station hover-bike garage), so they are distinct. Maybe it's meant to be a kind of bio-fuel?

[TeriXeri]

LEGO already had AntiMatter (Ultra Agents joke), now they have crystals, so that explains the warp drives, those spacecraft have no obvious rockets.

Star Trek has those cylindrical Antimatter storage containers, and also cylindrical Plasma Injectors, so those batteries using purple cylinder pieces is quite fitting.

[Classic_Spaceman]

1 hour ago, icm said:

In my headcanon, this is a prequel to Galaxy Squad. 

I can see that, but I also think of this as a more direct prequel to Mars Mission (logo, colours, mining/energy focus). 
 

[jusvans]

2 hours ago, icm said:

The Technic polybag of the Perseverance Mars rover is ok, but it’s just a tiny little polybag.

Which one is that? I know of the larger Perseverance Technic set from last year but this is the first time I'm hearing of a polybag sized version.

[Lion King]

I. Don’t think we will have more Space sets past 2024. I really don’t mind some space-focused Icons sets in 2025. But. I’m sure Space sets will be sill sit on shelves in 2025. 

[jusvans]

After looking at these sets some more, one minor nitpick I know I'm going to have is the mix of visor styles. Okay the yellow molded mining helmet from the #12 CMF Space Miner is fine in that role, but I'll probably have to bricklink enough to make sure everyone has the same style since they all have the same helmets.

[Classic_Spaceman]

1 hour ago, jusvans said:

After looking at these sets some more, one minor nitpick I know I'm going to have is the mix of visor styles. Okay the yellow molded mining helmet from the #12 CMF Space Miner is fine in that role, but I'll probably have to bricklink enough to make sure everyone has the same style since they all have the same helmets.

They do not have the same helmets, though; blue/dark blue and the pimp-commander have the 2019 space helmet, green/dark green have the Nexo Knights helmet, and orange/dark orange have the new mining helmet (not a reuse of the CMF helmet). I can see giving them all coloured visors, though (either the same (e.g. gold or trans-dark blue) for all, or different colours for each division). 
 

[JintaiZ]

3 hours ago, Lion King said:

Don’t think we will have more Space sets past 2024.

I think it will depend on how well the sets sell, but I also don't see them releasing a brand new subtheme for it to only last one year so we might see more.

3 hours ago, Lion King said:

I really don’t mind some space-focused Icons sets in 2025.

Me too, there hasn't been one since 2021.

[TeriXeri]

LEGO City set lifespan can be all over the place, with some examples like most of the 2022 Farm sets only being officially around for 6 months (Jun22-Dec22), but I doubt this will end up like that, likely not even just a 1 year lifespan, but probably 2.

If they do last shorter then that, maybe there will be more sets after 1 year instead, like Stuntz first sets were Oct21-Dec22, but then had new sets in Jun22, and Mar23 to last until Dec23.

But then again, this isn't just City, but Space all over many themes.

Edited December 3, 2023 by TeriXeri

[Black Falcon]

10 hours ago, JintaiZ said:

I think it will depend on how well the sets sell, but I also don't see them releasing a brand new subtheme for it to only last one year so we might see more.

Me too, there hasn't been one since 2021.

I don´t think it will depend on how good they sell honestly. Usually planing should be so far ahead that they either have them in development already or not. Of course if something sells very bad already in developments themes could get canceled, but I really don´t see that happening.

[Lord Insanity]

Wow these are the best City Space sets so far.  When the first pics showed up it looked like the windows might be clear and I thought it is a shame they aren't trans dark blue or trans purple.  Then the Friends set showed just how well trans purple works with the new reddish orange.  The pics confirming most of the windows are the new trans-black really makes them work well.

The space station is the first one that has multiple connection points allowing combining multiple sets.  That was an obvious flaw of the first two space stations.  The new one does have the flaw that the main hub doesn't actually allow internal movement between modules so it is still far from perfect.  Unlike previous station sets it probably does have all the parts in the box necessary to make your own multi-connection modules using only the parts from the set.  So overall I think this new one is the best actual mini-fig compatible space station set Lego has made so far, but there is room for improvement.

The space base looks like the kind of industrial operation that I have wanted since I was 10.  Easily up there with the all time greats of years past like the Futuron Monorail and Blacktron MIB, seriously.  It can so easily be used as anything from a command tower to a mining operation with only the power of your imagination.  The designer hit a total home run with that one, it looks awesome.

The rovers and ships (even the 4+ one despite its target age restrictions)  are really nice looking too.

Yeah I am in for at least one of all these "City" sets and the Friends one too.  The Technic sets are sort of a question mark.  If I can't make them mini-fig compatible I am not really interested.  I would rather buy duplicates of the "City" sets for MOC/MOD fodder.

[TeriXeri]

It's quite interesting that the 4+ set is only one that directly shows the process of using crystals to recharge those power cells due to the big printed panel.

The other sets do have plenty of connection points for those power cells, so maybe there's some other print/sticker in another build that shows it too.

Edited December 3, 2023 by TeriXeri

[legoturtle]

Space is now also in Duplo set? What is going on?

We have seen it across not only City, but also Technic, Duplo, Dreamzzz, Friends, Creator 3in1 and Classic.

https://ramblingbrick.com/2023/12/03/there-is-space-for-everyone-in-2024s-lego-catalogue/

 

...

Actually, now I understand what is going on. We will see this Space LOGO and NAME only in 2024. For example in 2025 it can be for example Castle. The Year of Castle and then we see castle related sets in many many themes... this is very sad because I hoped that we could have own space theme... BUT instead we see some space sets, in different themes... not this many than 2024, but some... :/ 

Edited December 3, 2023 by legoturtle

[jodawill]

I've always thought Duplo classic space would be really cool. This one looks kind of dumb to me.

After seeing the rest of the City sets, I have a bit more appreciation for what they're going for here. But none of those sets appeal to me. The only space sets I like so far are the Technic ones. I plan to buy all of those.

I really hope we get some more old school type space sets in 2024. This is pretty disappointing for the year of space, except for the Technic ones. I'd rather see a new scifi theme than all of these random teases that amount to nothing useful. It does remind me of Nexo Knights in how it was so close, but none of the pieces were useful for castle MOCs.

[CF Mitch]

26 minutes ago, legoturtle said:

Space is now also in Duplo set? What is going on?

We have seen it across not only City, but also Technic, Duplo, Dreamzzz, Friends, Creator 3in1 and Classic.

https://ramblingbrick.com/2023/12/03/there-is-space-for-everyone-in-2024s-lego-catalogue/

 

...

Actually, now I understand what is going on. We will see this Space LOGO and NAME only in 2024. For example in 2025 it can be for example Castle. The Year of Castle and then we see castle related sets in many many themes... this is very sad because I hoped that we could have own space theme... BUT instead we see some space sets, in different themes... not this many than 2024, but some... :/ 

I was just coming to this topic to find out what's with all the space sets across multiple (previously unrelated) themes, so I'm glad you've provided the answer already  
It is too bad we won't be getting a full Space theme, but the alternative is a nice prospect as well, I think  

Regards,
Mitch

[legoturtle]

For me this is a DREAM come true. Of course we all hope OWN space theme BUT we have to be realistic. That Star Wars theme has taken sci-fi space themes place. That is very sad BUT let's enjoy whole year!! (2024).

 

DOES ANYONE know why 2024 is a year of SPACE?

Edited December 3, 2023 by legoturtle

[tafkatb]

39 minutes ago, legoturtle said:

DOES ANYONE know why 2024 is a year of SPACE?

It may, in part, have to do with the Artemis program. While there doesn't seem to be any direct tie-in so far, it could just be that LEGO is anticipating increased public interest in space travel. That's just speculation on my part, though - perhaps the best answer to "why now?" is "why not now?"

[legoturtle]

Yes Artemis program and also I would say the UFO phenomenon which is going on in USA. Congress wants more transparency for the topic. Also SpaceX and Elon Musk. Plan is to get to the Moon first to establish a moon base. (James Webb telescope also)

Edited December 3, 2023 by legoturtle