Spyrius Lore

[iluvspacepolice]

I am doing a project and for it I need Info on 1994s Spyrius theme. I couldn't find much online so some information on the story or role of the theme in classic space would be helpful.792 × 1,117

[Classic_Spaceman]

Some catalogue excerpts regarding Spyrius: 
"The Spyruis agents steal a lot of hi-tech equipment from Ice Planet 2002. They hide it in secret places on Spyrius. The even have a spy on the Ice Planet. Only you can help Captain Magenta in his fight against the robots of Spyrius. / SPYRIUS The planet of spies. They steal satellites and rockets whenever they can get away with it. They hide the loot in secret places protected by robots, so the Space Police can't find it." 
 

[Aanchir]

I mean, on a very general level, they are spies. Relative to other space factions, they specialize more heavily in robots and flying saucers to do their dirty work, which gives them a bit more of a sci-fi B-movie vibe.

Technically, Spyrius is not the name of the faction, but the name of the planet they hail from. The inhabitants of this planet are usually described as "Spyrius spies" or "Spyrians" — however, Spyrius is still used sometimes used as shorthand for the people of that planet, in much the same way that the names of real-world countries are sometimes used as shorthand when referring to their people collectively.
 

The 1994 LEGO catalog from the UK includes some very general blurbs about Spyrius which generally applies to all countries as far as I've seen (and is translated nearly word-for-word in some other European catalogs from that year). It is described as a planet of spies who steal technology from high-tech factions like the explorers of Ice Planet 2002, while evading capture or surveillance by the Space Police.

In some 1995 material from the United States like this LEGO Mania Magazine page, Unitron would effectively take the place of the Space Police as Spyrius's law enforcement adversaries. However, since most Unitron sets aside from the monorail did not see wide release outside of North America, it's unclear whether the same would apply in other countries. The 1995 LEGO catalog from the UK (and those from other European countries)  also included a short comic of the the robot minifigure commanding or supervising the human robot/mech operators from afar via a walkie-talkie, implying that the robot minifigure holds a higher rank.

The British LEGO Club's Summer 1994 issue of "Bricks & Pieces" magazine provided some further lore about the Spyrians, establishing them as a relatively new threat to the peace of the United Galaxies, led by the villainous Major Kartofsky. Neither this magazine nor the British catalogs make it immediately obvious which Spyrius minifigure depicts "Major Kartofsky", although more recently the video game "LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed" has used this name specifically for the Spyrius robot minifigure (which aligns neatly with the aforementioned comic which portrayed that figure as the humans' commanding officer).

In general, both the name "Major Kartofsky" and the British set name "6939 Spyrian Sovek with Major Kartofsky" seem heavily Russian or Eastern European-influenced, perhaps taking cues from the numerous Cold War era sci-fi stories from the United States and Great Britain which presented alien invaders and other extraterrestrial antagonists as an allegory for the Soviet Union.
 

One oddly specific bit of lore that I've only ever seen mentioned in the Canadian LEGO Innovations Magazine is that the Spyrius robot minifigure "can make itself invisible (except for its red hands) when it wears a magical helmet." This seems to correspond to some lore in the aforementioned British "Bricks & Pieces" magazine issue, which stated that the Spyrians had stationed a spy on Ice Planet 2002 who could turn completely invisible except for his eyes — the main reason that this magazine used "eyes" instead of hands appears to be so that the magazine editor could include simple cartoon eyes on various pages throughout the issue as part of a search-and-find puzzle for readers.

In several countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Russia, the robot minifigure is also given a proper name in the local language which translate to "Red Robin, the spy" in English. In Germany, this minifigure was referred to as a "mutant-robot" — a term which, in English, sounds contradictory, but that I believe may have been meant to differentiate him from the less humanoid robots from earlier Space themes. In the Netherlands, this figure was called an "Elektronische Spion" (Electronic Spy), and in the United States, it was generally referred to as a "droid", although LEGO has since stopped using that term in non-licensed themes (except when used as part of a compound word, like the "Nindroids" of LEGO Ninjago) because it is a trademark of Lucasfilm.

Significantly, all catalogs or marketing materials that I've seen also tend to use terms like "Robot", "Giant Robot", or "Monster Robot" for the larger brick-built figures, rather than the word "mech". In modern parlance (and modern LEGO set names), "mech" tends to be the preferred term for robotic vehicles operated by an on-board pilot character, whereas terms like "robot" or "droid" tend to be reserved for automated or pre-programmed machines. But back when the Spyrius theme came out, the term "Mech" had not caught on quite so widely, and among English speakers it was still largely specific to anime and tabletop gaming fan communities, and I have yet to see any contemporary LEGO magazines or catalogs which used that term in reference to the Spyrius theme.

[iluvspacepolice]

On 11/8/2023 at 6:34 PM, Aanchir said:

I mean, on a very general level, they are spies. Relative to other space factions, they specialize more heavily in robots and flying saucers to do their dirty work, which gives them a bit more of a sci-fi B-movie vibe.

Technically, Spyrius is not the name of the faction, but the name of the planet they hail from. The inhabitants of this planet are usually described as "Spyrius spies" or "Spyrians" — however, Spyrius is still used sometimes used as shorthand for the people of that planet, in much the same way that the names of real-world countries are sometimes used as shorthand when referring to their people collectively.
 

The 1994 LEGO catalog from the UK includes some very general blurbs about Spyrius which generally applies to all countries as far as I've seen (and is translated nearly word-for-word in some other European catalogs from that year). It is described as a planet of spies who steal technology from high-tech factions like the explorers of Ice Planet 2002, while evading capture or surveillance by the Space Police.

In some 1995 material from the United States like this LEGO Mania Magazine page, Unitron would effectively take the place of the Space Police as Spyrius's law enforcement adversaries. However, since most Unitron sets aside from the monorail did not see wide release outside of North America, it's unclear whether the same would apply in other countries. The 1995 LEGO catalog from the UK (and those from other European countries)  also included a short comic of the the robot minifigure commanding or supervising the human robot/mech operators from afar via a walkie-talkie, implying that the robot minifigure holds a higher rank.

The British LEGO Club's Summer 1994 issue of "Bricks & Pieces" magazine provided some further lore about the Spyrians, establishing them as a relatively new threat to the peace of the United Galaxies, led by the villainous Major Kartofsky. Neither this magazine nor the British catalogs make it immediately obvious which Spyrius minifigure depicts "Major Kartofsky", although more recently the video game "LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed" has used this name specifically for the Spyrius robot minifigure (which aligns neatly with the aforementioned comic which portrayed that figure as the humans' commanding officer).

In general, both the name "Major Kartofsky" and the British set name "6939 Spyrian Sovek with Major Kartofsky" seem heavily Russian or Eastern European-influenced, perhaps taking cues from the numerous Cold War era sci-fi stories from the United States and Great Britain which presented alien invaders and other extraterrestrial antagonists as an allegory for the Soviet Union.
 

One oddly specific bit of lore that I've only ever seen mentioned in the Canadian LEGO Innovations Magazine is that the Spyrius robot minifigure "can make itself invisible (except for its red hands) when it wears a magical helmet." This seems to correspond to some lore in the aforementioned British "Bricks & Pieces" magazine issue, which stated that the Spyrians had stationed a spy on Ice Planet 2002 who could turn completely invisible except for his eyes — the main reason that this magazine used "eyes" instead of hands appears to be so that the magazine editor could include simple cartoon eyes on various pages throughout the issue as part of a search-and-find puzzle for readers.

In several countries such as Spain, Portugal, and Russia, the robot minifigure is also given a proper name in the local language which translate to "Red Robin, the spy" in English. In Germany, this minifigure was referred to as a "mutant-robot" — a term which, in English, sounds contradictory, but that I believe may have been meant to differentiate him from the less humanoid robots from earlier Space themes. In the Netherlands, this figure was called an "Elektronische Spion" (Electronic Spy), and in the United States, it was generally referred to as a "droid", although LEGO has since stopped using that term in non-licensed themes (except when used as part of a compound word, like the "Nindroids" of LEGO Ninjago) because it is a trademark of Lucasfilm.

Significantly, all catalogs or marketing materials that I've seen also tend to use terms like "Robot", "Giant Robot", or "Monster Robot" for the larger brick-built figures, rather than the word "mech". In modern parlance (and modern LEGO set names), "mech" tends to be the preferred term for robotic vehicles operated by an on-board pilot character, whereas terms like "robot" or "droid" tend to be reserved for automated or pre-programmed machines. But back when the Spyrius theme came out, the term "Mech" had not caught on quite so widely, and among English speakers it was still largely specific to anime and tabletop gaming fan communities, and I have yet to see any contemporary LEGO magazines or catalogs which used that term in reference to the Spyrius theme.

Thanks so much this was so helpful