CP5670

The anti violence thing was never really taken seriously by the set designers though, especially with space sets. They even said later on that the ships had weapons in their minds (and in the minds of kids who played with the sets), even though they were not allowed to call them that. Some sets like 6940 are obviously SW inspired.

Stick to used sets, most of the non-flagship classic Technic sets are actually reasonable on Bricklink. I think most people like me already got the sets we wanted in the early 2000s when ebay became mainstream, so the prices are not rising that much anymore. Technic sets also contain less in the way of unique parts or minifigs compared to system sets, which props up the prices of the latter. MISB sets are a different matter and have ballooned in value. At one time the difference between used and MISB was not nearly so big.

This is a good point. I actually think even in the 80s/90s TLG would have made licensed sets if they had the licenses, and we would have grown up loving those sets instead of classic space. Everything consists of tie-ins across different types of media these days (movies, games, books, TV, toys, etc. all based on the same franchise), that is what sells to both kids and adults. My main issue with the licensed sets is the lack of sharp, high contrast color schemes with colored transparent canopies like we saw in classic space.

He had a huge impact on so many of us worldwide. I used to spend hours staring at these sets in the catalogs as a kid and picked them up on ebay in the late 90s.

I'm doing well, thanks! Yeah I have used Brasso to remove scratches in the past but it leaves a cloudy look on the parts afterwards. I also have a car headlight cleaning fluid that does a decent job without leaving the cloudy look, but it might not be strong enough to remove printing.

Thanks, there is an ebay store called Brickstand that sells those. The print quality is very nice.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/141514326@N04/albums/72177720314766157/ Blacktron deep space installation hidden inside an asteroid field. Unsuspecting ships that stumble upon it don't live to tell stories.

Great use of curves on all of these. I especially like the Chomp and the front end of it.

This looks great. The road train design fits really well with the style of the original. For the middle trans neon panels, did you rub off the blacktron printing or are they prototype parts?

This is by far the best of the Technic ones, especially since there were very few Technic parts available back then. I have kept that excavator built long term: https://www.flickr.com/photos/141514326@N04/47262266881/in/photolist-24oYb4t-24oYb5k-2f1ptmn The 6000 Bill/Mary book is also really nice. I especially like the space sections. There are scans of all of them here: https://brickset.com/library/ideasbooks

Also within afols there are many categories: decades-long fans (like most people here), set collectors, moc builders, Star Wars/Harry Potter/etc. fans, etc. I suspect TLG doesn't care so much about moc builders and doesn't see us as such a big revenue source. They can make much more money selling $500+ Star Wars sets or $400+ Technic cars who are not into Lego specifically. They seem to have had trouble selling the big Razor Crest though. It has been often discounted at 30% and I got it for $350 after combining several discounts. I am not even familiar with that TV series and wasn't planning to get it, but the engines and interior look beautiful to a space fan.

Great shape and I especially like the use of those aircraft engines.

There were several distinct sub-themes within CS with very different color schemes though, like blue/gray/tryellow, white/blue/trblue and gray/trgreen. Also the last wave of CS is almost indistinguishable from Futuron except for the minifigs (sets like 6972 or 6783).

Yes these pieces are very prone to breaking. It's better to never remove them once you have attached them together. However, their single plate height allows you to do a lot of things that are not possible with newer hinges, so I always keep some around.

Yes I think they added the Futuron name retroactively. The Unitron monorail was also sold in Europe but appears as its own thing, and the Unitron name was never used there.

Futuron seems to have no logo in 1987 European catalogs I have. I think the sets first appeared in 1988 in America, and has the logo in American catalogs. Blacktron went the other way, coming out in 1987 in America and 1988 in Europe, but had the logo in both regions. Dino Attack is a good example. Apparently TLG thought it was too violent for Europe, similar to the Blacktron Renegade, and watered it down.

Several sets actually had slightly different versions for American and European markets, not just different names. Some early pirates sets had spring loaded cannons only in some markets. Train and technic sets with wall transformers had 110V and 220V versions. Sometimes only one region had updated revisions of parts due to different release years (small Technic pieces, light grays, etc.). The original classic space and expert builder sets had different numbers, but I'm not sure if they were actually different in any way. Many sets were only sold in some markets too, like 12V trains in Europe and Unitron/Aquaraiders/Roboforce in the US. Most of the 1xxx/2xxx numbered sets were like this. Many large Technic sets in the early 1990s were not advertised in any of the American catalogs, so I'm not sure if they were ever sold here. I only learned about them many years later on the internet.

Yes the color issues are not a "problem" as such, more of a deliberate choice they made to reduce costs by changing the coloring process around 20 years ago. You can ask them for replacements but often the new bricks have the same issues, so it's not worth it.

Exactly, CS can mean a lot of different things, either the original blue/gray/tryellow colors, anything with CS minifigs up to 1987, or anything space before 1999. It seems to have only had that name in the American catalogs, and only starting in 1988. The earlier Futuron sets were kind of treated the same as late stage CS sets.

Color consistency is a much bigger problem today than pre-2000, but cracks are not more common than the past. Certain pieces have always been prone to cracks.

The Blacktron II guy is cool but seems too "unique" to make an army out of, while the MTron and Ice Planet ones would work better in multiples. We have had a bunch of Blacktron and SP1 figs at this point, so it's good to see more such themed minifigs. I'll pick up some off Bricklink/PAB.

This is a really nice set. It's the kind of thing we used to only see in universal sets and idea books back in the day. It's pricey but I'll probably get one.

Just got another at the walmart clearance price. It sold out in minutes.

You can build 90% of the two smaller models from a single Galaxy Explorer set. The only things you have to add are the wedge plates and some standard tiles and cheese slopes. I actually picked up one more of these sets while it's still available, so now I have 5 total. It's a fantastic parts pack for space builders. I got three for half price last year, but even at the full price it's a good deal.

Classic Space reconaissance craft that maps out uncharted alien worlds, with high speed engines and a ground rover for exploring the terrain. This was somewhat inspired by that trans-green canopy piece, since we hardly ever get new windscreens in that color.