1990s Lego Space was best - how to revive Lego Space

[Canondorf]

The themes and colours of the 1990s were the most beloved, and should have just stayed in print, rather than changing every couple of years from 1996 onward. 

The sets were quite hard science hard sci-fi, where everyone wears an oxygen tank, always wear a space suit, the environments are all airless low-gravity, and the smaller ships look like stripped down rocket engines with seats attached (since there is no need for canopies, in a vacuum, your pressure suit acts as one).  Rocket bell nozzles are present on most vehicles, displaying respect for Newtonian laws, and Newtonian motion.

In our solar system, there are hundreds of thousands of airless bodies, minor planets, and so on.  Around our solar system, most stars are uninhabitable red dwarfs, invisible even to decent telescopes.  So early space exploration for the purpose of mining would likely be expeditions to low-G environments, and perhaps barren solar systems around faint stars.

Something like 50 out of 60 local stars are red dwarfs, unlikely to have a habitable planet perhaps, due to high radiation, solar winds, or other factors.  There are dozens of large minor planets in our solar system alone, for example Pluto, Vesta, Ceres, Eris, Sedna, Makemake.  Likely there will be many more around other stars, as well as endless asteroids and comets.  Early Lego sets showed explorers setting up mobile tracking stations, radars, telescopes, etc.  Very realistic and cool.  The Blacktron also had hidden listening posts for intercepting data from other factions. 

Later sets and themes made the mistake of moving away from this very pleasing aesthetic toward too many smooth aircraft-like vehicles with specialised parts.  This made Lego space look like generic sci-fi.  They became more toyish-looking, like a cheap knockoff starfighters, rather than following this far future but realistic hard science fiction aesthetic.  For example, the satellite launchers used by factions like the Ice Planet, look very similar to real world ballistic missle launchers:

Essentially this quite unique look, with well-established colours, was changed for no reason, when it had very good faction differentiation.  The vehicles became more aeroplane-like, just like Star Wars, just as Lego was also producing Star Wars vehicles, meaning there was no distiction between Lego and other generic sci-fi in the 2000s.  As nice as it is to see a Space revival, the City Space stuff looks generic and too near-future.

Here are the factions I would bring back, and just keep in permenant stock:

FUTURON/UNITRON

White, Black, Transparent Blue Canopy

(The standard civilization of space explorers.  Unification of Classic/Futuron/Unitron/Explorien.  Main civilization.)

SPACE POLICE

Blue, Black, Transparent Red Canopy

(The police forces of the above civilization.  They protect the Futuron, and also other organisations like M-Tron.)

BLACKTRON

Yellow, Black, Transparent Yellow Canopy

(The technological rival and thief civilization.  They will seek tech advance by any means.  Espionage experts.)

M-TRON

Red, Black, Transparent Light Green Canopy

(The mining specialists.  They use magnets to mine minerals.  Blacktron steal their technology and raw ore.)

ICE PLANET RANGERS

White, Blue, Transparent Orange Canopy

(Ice world specialists.  They explore barren ice worlds and export water ice.  Blacktron steal their satellites.)

Essentially four good guy factions, and one based on stealing their tech.  You could easily make a Real-Time Strategy game of this.  Optionally you could add Aquanauts and Aquasharks to this same far future sci-fi setting, as water-only factions, mining ice planets like Europa around other stars.

The reason for Blacktron 1 and Space Police 1 colours, rather than Space Police 2 and Blacktron 2, is that they fill out the colour spectrum better without clashing with the other themes, are distinct, and at least in Space Police 1's case, I would say more aesthetically pleasing than Space Police 2.  Combining Blacktron 1 wasp-like colours, with Blacktron 2's cool designs would probably be the best way to handle that.  Otherwise you have both Blacktron 2 and M-Tron using the same transparent elements.  Just keep printing the same sets, adding a few good ideas or updates occasionally, and they can stay across generations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 29 by Canondorf

[Feuer Zug]

As nice as it would be to have the old factions brought back, we'll probably have to live with the few offerings LEGO throws us on occasion. They did the Blacktron GWP recently and that went well. I will say the new City branded Space options are excellent and a good modern look at the theme. Nothing wrong with a little innovation. Even the Friends Space line is tempting me.

[Eggyslav]

Uhhh, that's Exploriens, not Futuron/Unitron.

[Aanchir]

Honestly, this idea feels implausible right from the outset. After all, the very reason LEGO introduced entirely new Space factions and color schemes every year or two from the late 80s onward was to ensure each year's sets felt fresh and new, and keep the theme from stagnating. If sets focus too heavily on matching the aesthetics of the sets that preceded them, they won't stand out immediately as "new" on store shelves, and they will have a harder time drawing in new buyers that might've been less drawn to the color schemes and motifs in earlier waves. In other words, the very reason that so many 90s Space factions and their color schemes felt so unique and memorable is that they were designed specifically to stand out from the Space sets that preceded and followed them!

Factions like Space Police, Ice Planet and M:Tron might never have existed if LEGO didn't have that motive to avoid simply recycling previously established factions, spacesuits, and color schemes year after year. And that's also the entire reason that Space Police 2 and Blacktron 2 (two 90s themes that your "90s was best" thesis seemingly disregards) didn't just reuse the graphics, motifs, and color schemes from their previous incarnations!
 

Besides all that, your arguments that the 90s subthemes were the best or that a "hard sci-fi" design philosophy is better than prior or subsequent aesthetics largely just speak to your personal tastes. I know that a lot of AFOLs in the emerging adult fan community back in the 90s far preferred the Classic Space sets of the 70s and 80s over the more specific subthemes that followed, and did not hesitate to voice their distaste for those later sets.

Meanwhile, I was a 90s kid myself, but some of my favorite Space subthemes were Spyrius and Exploriens. The former was a cartoonish faction of spies specializing in giant robots and flying saucers, while the latter was full of weirdly-shaped spacecraft which made prominent use of gimmicks like holographic communication screens, giant "telescopic lasers" for communication, and colorful filters to scan magnetic "alien clue" tiles. But NONE of that stuff made those sets any less enjoyable to build or play with — if anything, it did the very opposite!
 

Even the late 80s/early 90s factions you claim to prefer are hardly as scientifically grounded as you seem to remember them. Need I remind you of M:Tron's Particle Ionizer, known as "Cosmicopter" in the UK and "Exo-Copter" in Germany? Yes, it has what could generously be interpreted as rocket engines — but that doesn't change that it is fundamentally a space helicopter with spinning rotors seemingly made of the same material as its windscreen and radio antennas!

Meanwhile, the laser bars on the Space Police prison cells are a staple of "soft" science fiction, with dubious real-world practicality. And to make room for those prison cells, the Galactic Peace Keeper and SP-Striker entirely omit any sort of rocket engines or thrusters, and even the Mission Commander has only two small rocket engines and two detachable rocket craft for propulsion. Oh, and the exhaust cones for those detachable rocket craft point… directly at the attached prison pods. Oopsie!

Certainly, Ice Planet 2002 had plenty of realistic rocket transport vehicles, but it also had a flagship with two cockpits (how exactly is that practical?) that both convert into trackless rocket sleds. Moreover, its headquarters had no enclosed crew quarters despite the harsh environment — but it DID have a laser gate with beams that conveniently terminate after a short distance, more like a lightsaber than any sort of real-life laser technology.
 

I get that you're especially nostalgic for these particular factions, which is totally legitimate! But in general, the reasons you think they're better than subsequent Space themes seem far more subjective than you realize. And even if we assume that some of them could be viable to bring back in the modern day, the idea of keeping them around in the long term contradicts runs afoul of the persistent need for novelty which motivated LEGO to create these factions in the first place!

[SpacePolice89]

I agree with you. The design language they used to have was a huge hit and those subthemes are legendary. All of those sold extremely well. Only later when they strayed too far from that style the sales started to go down. I'd prefer yearly releases of such sets. Some could me more traditional while others could use modern building techniques, then there would be something for everyone to like. It's amazing to se all the MOCs for those subthemes that are made today that are far superior than most current sets. Personally I also like the colors of Spyrius, Blacktron 2 and Space Police 2 but they would have to alternate between factions from year to year to be able to do this so I think there would be room for all the faction and colors but not at the same time

[danth]

12 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Honestly, this idea feels implausible right from the outset. After all, the very reason LEGO introduced entirely new Space factions and color schemes every year or two from the late 80s onward was to ensure each year's sets felt fresh and new, and keep the theme from stagnating. If sets focus too heavily on matching the aesthetics of the sets that preceded them, they won't stand out immediately as "new" on store shelves, and they will have a harder time drawing in new buyers that might've been less drawn to the color schemes and motifs in earlier waves. In other words, the very reason that so many 90s Space factions and their color schemes felt so unique and memorable is that they were designed specifically to stand out from the Space sets that preceded and followed them!

Does any of that even matter?

Look at Star Wars. People just buy the same designs, in the same colors, year after year after year. People don't want new, they want what they want, again and again forever.

I know what the next argument is going to be: Star Wars is different because it's SO popular. But it's not different. It's the same. People in every fandom want the same stuff they wanted before. Star Wars fans want more Star Wars, Harry Potter fans want more Harry Potter, and Classic Space fans want more trans yellow, blue & gray spaceships forever.

City is the same. It's fire trucks and police cars again and again. And the fire trucks are still red, the police cars are still mostly white.

I mean, I definitely get tired of the same ol' same ol', and cycling colors to keep things fresh is fine. Even Classic Space cycled colors in the 80s before the single-color-scheme themes starting with Futuron. Sometimes they had completely different colored sets in the same year  -- 1986 is a good example -- giving variety such that there's not enough of any single color scheme to become stale.

But even what's old is new again. Futuron, Exploriens, and SP3 all repeated the same color scheme because it's so good.

12 hours ago, Aanchir said:

Besides all that, your arguments that the 90s subthemes were the best or that a "hard sci-fi" design philosophy is better than prior or subsequent aesthetics largely just speak to your personal tastes.

I get that you're especially nostalgic for these particular factions, which is totally legitimate! But in general, the reasons you think they're better than subsequent Space themes seem far more subjective than you realize.

Can't people just say something is the best without being "corrected"? It's obviously their opinion; stating it like they don't know it is negative, weird, and exasperating.

Edited March 30 by danth

[Canondorf]

4 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I agree with you. The design language they used to have was a huge hit and those subthemes are legendary. All of those sold extremely well. Only later when they strayed too far from that style the sales started to go down. I'd prefer yearly releases of such sets. Some could me more traditional while others could use modern building techniques, then there would be something for everyone to like. It's amazing to se all the MOCs for those subthemes that are made today that are far superior than most current sets. Personally I also like the colors of Spyrius, Blacktron 2 and Space Police 2 but they would have to alternate between factions from year to year to be able to do this so I think there would be room for all the faction and colors but not at the same time

Agreed 100%.  I really like the colours of Spyrius, Blacktron 2 and Space Police 2 as well, so it's a pity not to use them.  I was thinking, in an ideal world, Lego could have say 20-30 sets in is permenant circulation, among the 5 factions.  Then if a particularily well-received update or MOC is deemed popular by Lego, add that to the list, but otherwise be very cautious in changing classic sets.  Like say always have a Blacktron cruiser, Futuron monorail, Ice Planet satellite launcher in circulation.

I came across some of the many excellent MOCs on Google images, of how the classic sets could be updated:

I'm not sure who to credit with those, so apologies.  The problem with 2010s Space, right as it died off, was the science fiction influences became quite generic, I feel.  Silly B-movie alien invasion aesthetics, or making Space Police resemble 20th century cops, or limiting action to the planet Earth, or the planet Mars, rather than open exploration.  I think this might be an example where a no-alien sci-fi worked better.  I personally didn't like the designs around that time at all, or the colours.

17 hours ago, Eggyslav said:

Uhhh, that's Exploriens, not Futuron/Unitron.

I just meant that Futuron in 1987, then Unitron in 1994, then Explorien in 1996, all shared the same white with blue canopy aesthetic.  You could explain that post-hoc by saying that they were all related, perhaps all descended from the classic space guys :)

One from each:

In my head-canon, I see them as successors to each other.  Unitron might have been a unification of Futuron, M-Tron and Ice Planet perhaps.  However, you could say something like "Futuron continued to exist alongside the others" too. 

Edited March 30 by Canondorf

[mon-o-mat]

9 minutes ago, Canondorf said:

Oddly enough Ice Planet is one of those themes I could imagine today. Maybe with a new light block as gimick to represent special heaters that are needed to survive the harsh envoirement.

Btw, do we know why the magnets were retired? And why they then came back for two City sets, but completly oversized?

[Moriboe]

7 hours ago, danth said:

People don't want new, they want what they want, again and again forever.

And that's often taken too far for my liking. I have little to no interest in remakes, e.g. like the recent pirate ones. Why do I need another barracuda when I already have the original? I'd much rather have a new ship with a new crew. The same for space: I think a new wave of M-Tron (my most precious childhood theme) could be cool, but then maybe create a base rather than a mega core magnetizer update. Make it fresh.

But then again I'd prefer they make something new entirely if it otherwise means butchering the aesthetic and "feel" of the original. I already don't like the new CMF for that reason, I much prefer the current new space sets (city and friends)!

[Black Falcon]

7 hours ago, danth said:

I know what the next argument is going to be: Star Wars is different because it's SO popular. But it's not different. It's the same. People in every fandom want the same stuff they wanted before. Star Wars fans want more Star Wars, Harry Potter fans want more Harry Potter, and Classic Space fans want more trans yellow, blue & gray spaceships forever.

Well I have to bring it up anyways. Star Wars fans sure want to get Sets that look like the stuff before. And yeah, maybe classic space fans will like the classic space design more than others also. But the thing here is just, you have classic space fans, blacktron fans, those of M-tron, Iceplanet and you will find fans of the other themes aswell. And surely there are also enough fans that do like more than one of them, and wouldn´t mind that much if they get Classic Space or Blacktron for instance. 

[Lyichir]

4 hours ago, mon-o-mat said:

Btw, do we know why the magnets were retired? And why they then came back for two City sets, but completly oversized?

Smaller magnets can be a major hazard for kids if they were to swallow them, leading to stricter laws about magnetic toys in several countries. So nowadays magnets have to be encased in an unopenable plastic shell that's too large to potentially swallow.

[Eggyslav]

Coincidentally, some time ago I actually made a neo-Ice Planet ship:

 

[danth]

3 hours ago, Black Falcon said:

But the thing here is just, you have classic space fans, blacktron fans, those of M-tron, Iceplanet and you will find fans of the other themes aswell. And surely there are also enough fans that do like more than one of them, and wouldn´t mind that much if they get Classic Space or Blacktron for instance. 

Absolutely. And I'm a fan of all of them. I think Ice Planet needs some love especially.

Even when it comes to Classic Space, I'd rather see a trans green/gray or trans blue/white throwback set now than another trans yellow/blue/gray set.

[Black Falcon]

2 minutes ago, danth said:

Absolutely. And I'm a fan of all of them. I think Ice Planet needs some love especially.

Even when it comes to Classic Space, I'd rather see a trans green/gray or trans blue/white throwback set now than another trans yellow/blue/gray set.

I can personally live with everything that looks cool lol. No matter if it is a throwback set or something completely new. Though on the other hand if something doesn´t suit me it is fine too, there are to many good sets from different themes around honestly.

As for Ice Planet. Would that work for you if they would to it with transparent orange, now that trans neon isn´t around anymore? I´ve seen many stating that it needs the neon one, but personally I wouln´t mind that much as long as the set in the end looks cool. And acutally I also think the difference between both colours isn´t that big, compared to the same case with M-tron and transparent neon green. Though I would likely have to have the parts in front of me to really compare them.

[danth]

5 minutes ago, Black Falcon said:

As for Ice Planet. Would that work for you if they would to it with transparent orange, now that trans neon isn´t around anymore? I´ve seen many stating that it needs the neon one, but personally I wouln´t mind that much as long as the set in the end looks cool. And acutally I also think the difference between both colours isn´t that big, compared to the same case with M-tron and transparent neon green. Though I would likely have to have the parts in front of me to really compare them.

What would be fine with me is tarring and feathering the person responsible for getting rid of those colors, and re-instituting those colors now, regardless of cost.

Honestly, I am tempted to think the decision to get of those colors was inter-department sabotage. The Ice Planet, M-Tron, and Blacktron 2 CMFs were in the pipeline when that decision was made. And the brand new Light Year canopy was perfect for Ice Planet. Was some Star Wars department head pushing for their removal to head off competition? If you've read books about the toy industry, that kind of thing is actually common.

But I'm wondering, like you, would it better to just say "Ice Planet uses trans orange now" and "M:Tron uses bright green now"? I dunno, maybe that's better than the lack of visors as seen in the CMFs.

[Black Falcon]

11 minutes ago, danth said:

Honestly, I am tempted to think the decision to get of those colors was inter-department sabotage. The Ice Planet, M-Tron, and Blacktron 2 CMFs were in the pipeline when that decision was made. And the brand new Light Year canopy was perfect for Ice Planet. Was some Star Wars department head pushing for their removal to head off competition? If you've read books about the toy industry, that kind of thing is actually common.

The question really is why they did that decision. And as long as noone that works for Lego spills the beans (and the question actually is how many even know the reason anyways) we can just speculate, which won´t get us anywhere. However I don´t think that the CMFs were in the work when they made that decision, since it takes some time IMO to let those sets run out first.

[danth]

1 minute ago, Black Falcon said:

And as long as noone that works for Lego spills the beans (and the question actually is how many even know the reason anyways) we can just speculate, which won´t get us anywhere.

But it's fun!

1 minute ago, Black Falcon said:

 However I don´t think that the CMFs were in the work when they made that decision, since it takes some time IMO to let those sets run out first.

It takes a long time to plan CMFs too. I doubt they would even plan Ice Planet & M-Tron CMFs if they knew those colors would be unavailable.

Oh, I forgot to say, I think the established rule is you call something "XXX 2", like "Blacktron 2" or "Space Police 2", you get to change the colors anyway.

So, maybe Ice Planet 2 is trans orange + some other shade of blue + white? I like this color scheme, maybe with white or light blue wheels.

 

[Black Falcon]

7 minutes ago, danth said:

It takes a long time to plan CMFs too. I doubt they would even plan Ice Planet & M-Tron CMFs if they knew those colors would be unavailable.

Well, I don´t doubt that, but how long ago was it that we saw the last set showing up with trans neon green? And sure they could have changed the colour in a later phase of the designing process, or better said it is very likely they did that with some sets. But anyways I think Sets take a bit longer to design than CMFs do.

[danth]

I still think one answer to this question is CLASSIC. THEMED. CREATOR. SETS.

There's still the mystery of why castle and pirates and vikings had their creator sets but not Space. I think we all know it's because of Star Wars but we all have to pretend it's not that for some reason. But if we ignore that, just imagine what could be done.

One big and one small Space themed Creator set a year, each featuring a different classic faction, would be amazing and go along way to satiate the appetite of Space fans without cutting to deep into Disney's loot pile.

[Black Falcon]

37 minutes ago, danth said:

I still think one answer to this question is CLASSIC. THEMED. CREATOR. SETS.

There's still the mystery of why castle and pirates and vikings had their creator sets but not Space. I think we all know it's because of Star Wars but we all have to pretend it's not that for some reason. But if we ignore that, just imagine what could be done.

One big and one small Space themed Creator set a year, each featuring a different classic faction, would be amazing and go along way to satiate the appetite of Space fans without cutting to deep into Disney's loot pile.

Honestly, I rather have them staying with Icons than Creator. I mean the Castle is no bad Set but three Minifigures for a castle is just a bad joke. Especially with only two knights and the third minifigure beeing some kind of sailor from a few years later.

Also Creator has a different building Style and I think the Galaxy Explorer is something that is very unique and I´d rather get more sets like that, actually rather more modernized than less.

[mon-o-mat]

5 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Smaller magnets can be a major hazard for kids if they were to swallow them, leading to stricter laws about magnetic toys in several countries. So nowadays magnets have to be encased in an unopenable plastic shell that's too large to potentially swallow.

Sounds reasonable. But of course the old magnets were so much better for a sci fi crane than just plain hooks.

[SpacePolice89]

7 hours ago, Moriboe said:

And that's often taken too far for my liking. I have little to no interest in remakes, e.g. like the recent pirate ones. Why do I need another barracuda when I already have the original? I'd much rather have a new ship with a new crew. The same for space: I think a new wave of M-Tron (my most precious childhood theme) could be cool, but then maybe create a base rather than a mega core magnetizer update. Make it fresh.

But then again I'd prefer they make something new entirely if it otherwise means butchering the aesthetic and "feel" of the original. I already don't like the new CMF for that reason, I much prefer the current new space sets (city and friends)!

I agree, If remakes are done they have to respect the aesthetics and colors of the original theme/subtheme. I also prefer new sets in the same style as the old ones instead of remakes. But some remakes are just perfect, like the Blacktron Cruiser and the new Galaxy Explorer.

11 hours ago, mon-o-mat said:

Btw, do we know why the magnets were retired?

Some kid swallowed 50 of them and then got stuck on the side of a bus.

[JesseNight]

11 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

But some remakes are just perfect, like the Blacktron Cruiser and the new Galaxy Explorer.

I have mixed feelings about the Blacktron Cruiser remake myself.
Love the front, but I like the middle better on the original (though sizing it up a bit behind the larger canopy would have worked great).
Rear's fine but would have preferred the wings just trans red like the original.
(and should I mention the stickers vs the printed parts on the original...?)

[SpacePolice89]

1 hour ago, JesseNight said:

I have mixed feelings about the Blacktron Cruiser remake myself.
Love the front, but I like the middle better on the original (though sizing it up a bit behind the larger canopy would have worked great).
Rear's fine but would have preferred the wings just trans red like the original.
(and should I mention the stickers vs the printed parts on the original...?)

Yes, the stickers are not good. That's true. I very much prefer printed bricks. But I'm glad that the remake looks a bit different because I also have the original. It was one of my favorite spaceships when I was a kid.

[Canondorf]

I'll do a hopefully positive friendly critique / review of the 2024 Space revival. 

I'm thankful that Space is back.  I like the sets, and am hoping they are a prelude to the re-introduction of Blacktron alongside these 2024 sets as an antogonist faction ("Blacktron 0", I guess, if this is earlier in history?)  The only thing I would say, is that I'm not a huge fan of the orange elements, which I'm guessing is inspired by the orange fuel tank on the NASA Space Shuttle, or the Ares launch system, I wish the glass canopy had been more blue-coloured like old space, and have mixed positive and negative feelings that the overall look is a little aeroplane-like like Mass Effect.  I wish the old box art was back too, as it fired the imagination.  I like some designs much more than others:

The flagship set, the Interstellar Spaceship, is a very sleek and pretty design.  It feels solid too.  10/10 within it's own aesthetic.  8/10 judged by 1990s space's aesthetic.  I just miss elements like rocket nozzles, RCS thrusters, etc.  I am guessing the engine is something like an aerospike, Hall-effect thruster, or Star Trek-style fusion-powered impulse engine of some kind.  In the current era, VTOL rockets, with bell-nozzle engines, are still the height of technology and affordability, whereas space planes, a concept that always had critics, are largely just attached to rockets for now. 

As a matter of interest, I photoshopped Lego 60430 onto a classic blackground (with the laser grid thing) to see how it would look:

Much better :)

It looks like it could be an early Classic Space-era or early Futuron-era space vessel.  If you photoshopped the canopy as the same darker blue as 1987-1996 space sets especially.  In terms of where it might come on a fictional Lego Space timeline, I would say this was a couple of centuries after City (after present day).  It has the Classic Space / Futuron logo, as late Lego City astronauts started using, meaning Classic Space civilization was probably born out of present day astronaut programmes.  So you could place 2024 Space either just before Classic Space, where the spacesuits have become more Star Trek-like, or maybe between Classic Space and Futuron, in terms of aethetics.  (As if humanity abandoned sleek aeroplane-like fuselage in favour of pure stripped-down rocket ships at some point).  The space suits are starting to be primary coloured, just like the Classic Space figures, and Futuron figures.

I like the overall aethetic, but for different reasons than why I like the 1987-1996 Space era.  Basically these sets look like Mass Effect.  But in classic space, I appreciated the use of rocket engines, bell nozzles, RCS thrusters, etc, which will probably never go out-of-fashion, as well as open canopies, and big inflated wheels like a moon buggy.  I also think this item would be great for a return; these EVA jet packs, which look totally realistic, just a zero-G, vacuum thruster pack, no wings or aerofoil:

One way to quickly get back some of the older space aesthetic, would be a couple of mini-sets like the open-top, seated-at-the-front Lunar Rovers, or small rocket nozzle LEM-like vehicles, which could be sold for cheap on supermarket shelves, or packaged in with bigger sets.  They are not the most detailed sets that the 1990s produced, but they are totally functional elements, keeping afloat via small bursts of RCS propellant like a LEM. 

 

Those smaller open-to-space vehicles are a nice hard science concept, whereas I'm not keen on the 'hover bike' concept, as it's close to Star Wars, with anti-grav technology speeder bikes.  So I'm hoping for a return of straight-up rockets, rocket launch rovers with satellite payloads, as well as the iconic bell nozzle pieces of the 1990s:

I feel that the return of space in 2024 is a great start.  Perhaps the mis-management of the Star Wars brand by movie studios has effected Lego's descision to re-introduce their own Lego Space theme.  I'm hoping however that this is just the start of a wider revival of the classic factions, eventually producing mining vehicles like the M-Tron and Ice Planet Rangers.  If this is simply the first "Futuron" faction in a wave, hopefully Lego will embrace the past sets more going forward, treating this wave as a prototype.

Edited March 31 by Canondorf