Best LEGO Space subtheme - 2011 edition

[Algernon]

LEGO Space is one of LEGO's most beloved themes, and now that Alien Conquest has left us Space fans with nothing to satisfy our urge for deep-space adventuring, I thought the time was right for another bought of 1990's nostalgia. I know there are a lot of different opinions on LEGO Space around here, so I've assembled the most comprehensive LEGO Space poll yet! Which of these LEGO classics brings back the best memories for you?

For me, I absolutely love Ice Planet 2002. But as a 90's child, I also grew up with UFO, Life on Mars, and the more modern themes, so they have a special place in my heart as well.

Edited December 7, 2011 by Algernon

[TheLegoDr]

I loved Ice Planet, but Blacktron II was my favorite. I should dig all those sets back up and rebuild them, just for old time's sake.

[-zenn]

Still love CS as the best space subtheme to build right now, but can't forget about the early 90's era... Have some good memories about that.

Edited December 3, 2011 by -zenn

[fr33manator]

I loved IP:2002 and Exploriens so much I've created military wings for each of the factions.

[Apollo]

As a young TFOL, I was very intrigued when I discovered the Ice Planet theme. Last year, I accumulated all of the sets excluding the Blizzard Baron and Ice Tunnelator, and I feel extremely fortunate to be able to collect such a prestige theme. My LEGO hobby began when Exploriens was fading, so I was never introduced to the Space themes prior until I discovered a SPII plate in a school LEGO bin as a fourth grader.

I'd have to say my number one themes for nostalgic quality are Life On Mars and Insectoids... always.

Edited December 4, 2011 by Apollo

[charlieboy]

Being quite old means I was lucky enough to grow up with the classic and Futuron era sets. I have recently started collecting those again and have amassed quite a collection so far including the entire Space Police 1 theme!

I remember having a few of the Blacktron II sets when younger but SP II was nowhere near as good as the previous SP range. My dark ages started around the early nineties so I missed all of the space themes right up to Space Police III which I have to say was utterly brilliant! Between my son and I we managed to almost complete that theme too.

Alien Conquest has been another great theme that we have a complete collection of (although my son wont find out until christmas day!)

I can't wait to see what Lego dream up next

Edited December 4, 2011 by charlieboy

[Lyichir]

LEGO Space is one of LEGO's most beloved themes, and now that Alien Conquest has left us Space fans with nothing to satisfy our urge for deep-space adventuring, I thought the time was right for another bought of 1990's nostalgia. I know there are a lot of different opinions on LEGO Space around here, so I've assembled the most comprehensive LEGO Space poll yet! Which of these LEGO classics brings back the best memories for you?

For me, I absolutely love Ice Planet 2002. But as a 90's child, I also grew up with UFO, Life on Mars, and the more modern themes, so they have a special place in my heart as well.

'90s child here, too. I voted the 2000s era space sets as my favorites; Life on Mars was a marginal inclusion but I DID like the modularity of the alien vehicles (for instance, their main base included docking ports for the red and blue mechs, and the tan mech had its own docking port that could be attached to the main base). The only space theme from a different decade which I felt deserved my vote was Spyrius, which, looking back, is still a solid theme with some great functionality.

[jonwil]

I voted for Ice Planet 2002 (still the BEST space theme ever created), Alien Conquest (BEST space/sci-fi type theme in at least a decade) and Blacktron 1

[M'Kyuun]

I was lucky enough to grow up in the 80's and 90's, so I got to see, and own, a number of sets from nearly every space theme. Now that I'm older, nostalgia is hitting, and I've started trying to collect some of the classic sets that I never had as a kid. I have to say, though, even today, I think some of the Classic Space sets were some of the most striking looking sets ever produced..Starfleet Voyager and the venerable Galaxy Explorer spring to mind immediately. The gray, blue, and white pallette still stands out to me. I'll never forget seeing the Blacktron sets for the first time. It was such a radical departure, and the sets were awesome in their own right, esp. the modularity....and those sweet minifigs. I keep hoping for a modern revival of these sets. A Galaxy Explorer II would be great!

[Algernon]

Blacktron I and Ice Planet 2002 seem to be pulling ahead... I'm kind of surprised!

Maybe if I have time, I'll do another theme review...

[Lothos]

I really enjoyed the futuron stuff from my childhood, and I don't know what it is, but the Space Police 3 stuff was fantastico.

[legomonk]

I loved Blacktron 2 it was a big one when I was a kid I am 30 so I was at my silver age if you will of collecting I mostly played and I remember playing with Blacktron and Space police 2 for hours. I must have saved the galaxy every day after school. this is making me kinda misty eyed. I should call my mom and tell her thanks for buying my Legos when I was a kid. I still own a pretty good collection of Blacktron 2 sets along with space police 2 6957-1 solar snooper complete and some Mtron. I know I had more Mtron but lost much of my original collection through my dark age in my 20s when girls and partying was way more important to me.

[Doddsino]

I was actually going to start a topic on this, but I figured I'd post in this thread. I bought and collected Legos from about 1990 to 1998. I'd definitely say without a doubt that this was the best time for the Space genre, it came up with so many classic designs and color schemes that automatically take me back to a better time. While the 80's Space sets were nice, I'd say a lot of them were too simplistic, especially since I didn't get around to seeing them until I was well established with what was coming out at the moment, so I guess I can't really criticize. I decided to rank the sub-themes I grew up with from best to worst.

Ice Planet 2012 (1993) I love this series, I really do. Everything from the color schemes, to the new parts, and giving the crew individual personalities (technically SP II did it first, but this was just cooler). The first Space set I ever had was the 6814 Ice Tunnelator, still my favorite mini-figure ever. Although the real winner to me is 6973 Deep Freeze Defender, so much variety and fun to connect each section and rework it, still remains my favorite set ever. The whole series was completely awesome, in fact the only set I never liked was 6879 Blizzard Baron. That set looked way too clunky and uninteresting, whereas all the other sets had a sleekness to them.

Blacktron II (1991) I really love Blacktron II as well. It's really neck and neck with Ice Planet, simply because the Blacktron series had more sets, and all of which were awesome, which I can't say about any other Space series. Nothing more to say really, although as a kid I heavily sought out any set that had a Blacktron figure wearing that little rocket pack. I don't know what my fixation was, I guess I was a weird kid.

Exploriens (1996) Honestly, I always treat this line as the "end" of the silver age of the Space line. It reminded me of Futuron as far as the color schemes. This to me was a step up from what we got in 1995, and it had a nice diversity or land vehicles, air vehicles and bases. 6982 Explorien Starship is my second favorite "large" ship vehicle. There's very few flaws in this series, although 6899 Nebula Outpost always looked a tad goofy to me.

M-Tron (1990) I only had the tiny sets as a kid, but I was always envious of the larger sets. I was also intrigued that they were less of a space exploration group, and more of a mining and industrial role. Therefore, my favorite sets were the big clunky land vehicles like the 6989 Mega Core Magnetizer, a set I'm still looking to get at some point! The ships were alright, 6923 Particle Ionizer was cool...but they're all completely overshadowed by the sets a few years later.

Spyrius (1994) This was probably the most affordable Space Theme when it came to completing the series! I don't recall any of these sets going for over $50 US, so I knew a lot of kids who owned a lot of these. It was also the first Theme to contain a android, so at the time, it was a big thing! 6949 Robo-Guardian was a lot of fun, although more times than not, it would end up in pieces after playing. 6939 Saucer Centurion was also one of the most beautiful ships made. 6959 Lunar Launch Site was pretty disappointed, I didn't like the BURPs being used, especially in excess...it always takes away from it's creativity.

Space Police II (1992) While not bad, I feel Space Police II was simply overshadowed by it's previous and following years' themes. Another issue was that only 3 sets were released in 1992. There were a couple sets that were released the following year, but like a lot of kids, by 1993, the SP were old news, I wanted Ice Planet! 6984 Galactic Mediator is an alright set, a little clunky, but not bad. 6957 Solar Snooper is a fun land vehicle and 6897 Rebel Hunter is also nice.

UFO (1997) I loved this series when it was first promoted. In retrospect, it's kind of disappointing. This was the the beginning of guiding the Space genre in the opposite direction of where I wanted it to go. 6979 Intersteller Starfighter is probably the only set that I would pick up for nostalgia, the rest of the series really hasn't aged well IMO. I actually take that back, I do like smaller droid vehicles, but the Aliens in general weren't that interesting.

Unitron (1995) Technically, the best set in this series came out in 1994, which was 6991 Monorail Transport Base. The problem was that this set was electric and very expensive when it came out. The other issue was there weren't very many sets to choose from, which is too bad, because I really do like the color schemes. The only set I was able to afford as a kid that was any good was 1789 Star Hawk II, one of the better designs at the time. However on the flip side, 1787 Crater Cruiser was one of the UGLIEST sets I've ever seen, I have no idea what they were going for there, since the set looks extremely fragile, I wish they could've put a few more wheels on there. Oh well. One last point, at the time Aquazone was just released. I thought at the time that it was another sub-theme of Space, so I put my focus on that instead of Unitron.

Roboforce (1997) I couldn't have really cared less about this series when it came out. While 2152 Robo Raptor was a decent set, the rest weren't as appealing. Also, this entire line was completely overshadowed by the UFO series coming out later that year, which had more sets and sleeker models.

Insectoids (1998) Much like UFO, at the time...I was super excited for this. And while the designs were really cool, I just look back with regret for buying them. I don't know why, I had the sets but they never looked THAT appealing once displayed. I worked a good portion of the summer with my dad while he was in-between jobs. While I was never "paid", my dad did put money aside to buy 6977 Arachnoid Star Base, which I didn't shut up about. Once I had it built, I was sort of disappointed. It was a cool set, but just didn't have that "space" theme.

By that point, Lego started focusing on Star Wars and such, which was cool, but less and less time was devoted towards other themes. Also, while I ended up not "liking" Insectoids, I had a had time believing that Lego could "top" that creatively. By this point, I was already closing in on 14, so I had stopped collecting, but correct me if I'm wrong. I believe they followed up with Rock Raiders, which just looked ridiculous and I never paid attention to. That's basically the extent of my review!

[choban]

Ive been getting back into lego. I stopped around mtron. Space lego was always my preference, so i wanted to see what came afterwards.

My favorite is definatlly space police 1 and classic space. From what ive seen from the newer stuff its mainly space police 2, iceplanet that can compete.

The great themes are classic space, futuron, blacktron 1/2, space police 1/2, ice planet.

the mediocre themes are mtron(ugly colors) and spyrius(ugly robot designs).

some of the new stuff like alien conquest or ufo is really horrible imho. Ugly big pieces, 50s retro kitch inspired themes. I really dislike it.

when you see so many cool sci fi moc designs on the net its really strange to see lego release crap like that alien conquest.

Edited March 4, 2012 by choban

[Hrw-Amen]

I remember classic space being released and going with my father to buy the first two sets. I think it was the little rover with the white space man and the little flyer with the red space man. I think over time we collected nearly all of them, my favourite being the rocket launcher. However I have to say that I do not have such fond memories of these as I do the Space Police and Blacktron II sets or the Ice Planet ones. I think if I recall the reason was probably that during classic space, M-Tron, Blacktron 1 I was living with my parents still as I was still a child. By the time Blacktron II came around I had my own house and could leave stuff out, had more space and scope for MOCing. I know i bought most of the Space Police I sets at this time although they had started to disappear from the shops by then and be replaced by the second set. Still it was a good time for me and LEGO was all over my new home as it was then.

[John Carstairs]

I'm pretty pleased that my two favorites, Blacktron I and Ice Planet 2002, are currently leading. I think my love of both stems from their distinctive color schemes, awesome minifigures, and excellent capital ships. The Renegade and Deep Freeze Defender are still two of my favorite sets of all time.

Spyrius was a distant third, and mostly on the strength of two sets: the Recon Robot and Saucer Scout. The other sets in the line were decent enough, I suppose, but these were the only ones I ever actually bought... two of each, in fact. Like the other two lines, Spyrius had a nice, distinctive color scheme, excellent minifigs (especially the androids), and a couple of really nicely designed sets to pull me in.

After Spyrius, I kind of lost interest in the space sets, barring one or two, until the Space Police III line drew me back in with some of its great designs.

[Spaceman8811]

Unfortunately, I missed out on a lot of the old space themes. I tend to be a big fan of the realistic space sets, such as the Space Shuttle Adventure.

[et3012]

Ever since i got the United Galaxies minifig set, I was in to the space theme all the way.

My first ship was the Deep Freeze Defender. Have been building modular starships ever since.

[VK-318]

My paternal grandmother had a Spyrius Recon Robot in amongst the Legos at her place, and every time we visited I would build it until it vanished a year or two back. I just bought one for myself, and am a diehard Spyrius fan now.

[DPrime]

Classic Space all the way for me. I was tempted to pick some of the other '80s space lines as they were pretty good too. Futuron especially!

[LegoFjotten]

Thread resurrection!

Anyway, Classic Space is it for me. I do like some of the other stuff too though, Futuron, Blacktron II, and oddly enough some of the Space Police III sets are growing on me after I got them in a used lot (especially the Galactic Enforcer).

Browsing through all the space sets I have to admit that there are many I don't like at all, but I guess others enjoy them if they had them as a kid.

[danth]

I was lucky enough to experience Classic Space as a kid. When Futuron and Blacktron came out I was blown away by the new helmets and the exciting color schemes -- they kind of ruined all the previous sets with the visor-less helmets. M:Tron and Space Police were also amazing and I was lucky to get one set from each of those themes. I was sort of miffed that Blacktron 2 and Space Police 2 changed so drastically, so I kinda ignored them. However Ice Planet 2012 blew me away when it came out. After that I got more into video games.

Now that I'm older I am learning to love the Classic Space themes with the old helmets again. They are definitely equal to anything else in coolness, and those sets were being made for NINE YEARS.

[3mBuilder]

We can all agree that Blackron and Ice Planet were one of, if not the best Space themes to every exist, I love them to death myself too.

I wanted though to talk about Spyrius, to me it's like the middle child of the Space theme. It is still loved, but quite a few people just seem to overlook it. Lego could've done alot with it, they could've built more onto the storyline and make it about a faction of baddies in stealthy ships that steal data and launch surveillance rockets and stuff. It was a theme that had potential for more sets.

That aside..we are lacking Space themes in this generation of Lego sets. Alien Conquest was a huge failure, and Galaxy Squad was meh (The only thing I liked were the massive bugs). Why don't we still keep up to the conflicts standards (Which I find a bit saddening, kids want fighting over exploration) and reboot Blacktron and Space Police, but keep it organic with simple designs and humans vs humans, (Aliens vs humans is getting old).

[Ardelon]

Mainly because of nostalgia, the best theme in my book is Ice Planet. It was one of the last subthemes to have that feel of an isolated group of explorers in the vastness of space (as opposed to the newer themes), but the minifigs were more detailed (and thus more intersting to me) than the older ones. Can't comment on any evolving quality of the builds, as I only had the smaller sets. But the main reason would be that the Blizzard Baron was my first space set.

I was too young for the 80s sets, but some other subthemes I appreciate are Blacktron 2 (more than Blacktron 1, thanks to nostalgia), M:Tron and Exploriens (yes, really - exactly because of the isolated explorer vibe). Anything beyond Insectiods didn't really catch my interest.

[Jobalisk]

90s kid here. New Zealand was often a bit behind product wise, but i can still remember getting my second ever lego set when i was 3 from a department store. It was the Cyber Blaster from UFO that sparked a love affair with lego space. I think my favorite theme is ice planet, probably more than anything else because my uncle was a star wars buff and i think i saw the hoth part of episode 5 every time i visited.