icm

The Shin fighter from 75364, in the smaller Ron McPhatty version, works surprisingly well as a hot rod for the CMF Retro Spaceman. It may be sourced from Star Wars, but it's different enough from other Star Wars spaceships that it works very well with that very non-Star Wars minifigure. Of course, I'm glad we're getting other non-Star Wars Space sets too...

No, no, no, no, no! Not this again!

I thought the Ahsoka show was boring, but the three Ahsoka sets were all bangers. I hope Ahsoka season 2 gets a similarly small, but focused and high-quality, line of sets.

If we're wildly speculating on potential Architecture sets relevant to the Space banner, I'd like to see the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center. But that's just a big cube, so it might be too boring. I can easily imagine Seattle as a possible candidate for an Architecture Skyline set, but it would be a stretch to put the Space banner on a Seattle Skyline.

I finally managed to snag another 10497 for $50, but I feel like a dirtbag for buying it on the heels of a few weeks of heavy Christmas spending.

No proof, just conspiracy theories. Just speculation from the years with and without Space, and from the timing of Star Wars and Marvel movies.

No need for an Indy 24 thread when there are no Indy 24 sets in the pipeline.

I just got the X-Jet without box, minifigs, or instructions from Bricks and Minifigs for $20. Pretty sweet!

And there's no insignia on the suit to clearly mark it as the Nazi-era Luftwaffe or even as German. It's only recognizable if you're really into the weeds of different flying uniforms. Otherwise it's a generic tan flight suit without any markings. I don't think this particular flight suit is a problem. Again, we've hashed this out before. Do we really need to argue about Indiana Jones minifigs for the umpteenth time?

The retractable landing gear in the Justifier was pretty impressive, even though the set was overpriced and a bad choice for the summer flagship.

All the Walmart stores in my part of the USA are still selling their last few copies of 10497 for full price.

Personally, I prefer the brown and tan of the Trade Federation MTT and AAT to the light gray and dark blue of the Separatist versions.

What I mean is that the Star Wars franchise is old enough that an update to it (ie the prequels, then the sequels, then the streaming shows) can be just as original as anything else, with the added benefit of existing lore and a built-in fan base - creatively speaking, anyway, for the folks who get to work on the franchise. (In theory, anyway - we can argue endlessly about the execution, ie which of the sequels to hate and why, which of the streaming shows to hate and why.) Except that doesn't quite apply to Lego because Star Wars sets are licensed instead of in-house, of course. I just think it's kind of ironic how much you argue for the rebirth and extension of a 40-year-old space opera franchise and its Lego sets (classic Lego Space themes) while complaining about the creative bankruptcy of an ongoing 40-year-old space opera franchise that continues to get a lot of Lego sets, including a good deal of new material every year. But we've had this conversation before, so I don't see any need to rehash it for old time's sake. I like Space. I like Star Wars. I'm happy we get plenty of Star Wars sets. I'm happy we're getting plenty of Space sets in 2024. Like you, I'd also be pretty chuffed if we got lots of new throwback sets to old Space themes alongside Star Wars.

I'm sorry, I just have to smile at the delicious irony of this quote in light of your position on the continued Space/Star Wars fanbase feud. That's all. I respect you, you know that :)

I think the spirit of the essay quoted below applies as well to Lego as to science fiction. The Golden Age of Lego was in the past - whenever you thought it was. The Golden Age of Lego is in the future - whenever other people will think it is. Personally, I think we've been in a new Golden Age of Lego since about 2014. Isaac Asimov, "Golden Age Ahead", 1979: 1979 Were the stories of your golden age really golden? Have you reread them lately? I have reread the stories of my own golden age and found the results spotty indeed. Some of the stories I slavered over as a teenager turned out to be impenetrable and embarrassing when I tackled them again. A few ("Tumithak of the Corridors" for one) held up very well, in my opinion. It was clear to me, though, that the general average of writing forty years ago was much lower than the general average later. That, in fact, seems to me to have been a general rule. Magazine science fiction over the last half-century has steadily risen above and away from its pulpish origins. That means me, too. I imagine that many people who drooled over "Nightfall," The Foundation Trilogy, and I, Robot in their teens find some of the gloss gone when they reread them in their thirties. (Fortunately for myself, a substantial number do not—and there are always new teenagers entering the field and ready to be dazzled.) "Golden Age Ahead"

I'm no economist, but IMHO the Lego secondary market is clearly small enough that prices and supply can be artificially manipulated by unscrupulous sellers (and buyers). A pure state of supply/demand price equilibrium is only possible with extremely large markets, such that no single buyer or seller accounts for more than an infinitesimal portion of supply or demand. Of course it's possible to jack up prices, restrict supply, and wait for the equilibrium price to climb to the artificially high point desired by a seller.

Lego Space in 2024 is anything with the Space banner on the right edge of the box, with the possible exception of the Duplo and Classic brick boxes.. That's it! It's quite unambiguous.

I agree with that in general. Unfortunately, some bad behavior by a few greedy scalpers has given reselling a worse reputation than it deserves.

This is by far the best X-wing MOC I've seen since the Jerac V2 in 2022. I'll have to see if I can scrape together the pieces to build it.

Nope, just quibbling about where to draw the line between Classic Space and Futuron! No speculation or wishlisting or rumor-mongering, just old-fashioned hair-splitting!

Good catch. Clear Futuron and Blacktron labeling in 1988 - which is appropriate, because that's the first year where no new Space sets were released with the Classic astronaut.

The Futuron monorail box is from 1987. Futuron, Blacktron, and Space Police are listed as distinct subthemes with distinct logos in the 1990 UK catalog here. https://images.brickset.com/library/view/?f=catalogues/c90uk&p=28 They are not given separate logos and names in the 1987 catalog. After all, in build styles there was a smooth transition from late Classic Space to Futuron. It is convenient to distinguish late Classic Space from Futuron by the uniforms and helmets, but prior to 1990 they were all simply Legoland Space.

I agree with that. Battle droids and skeletons don't count as minifigs in my opinion. Neither do brick-built figures or small single-piece molded droids like BD-1 or D-O.

I don't think we need every faction to have an official name. For myself, I'm just calling them City Space '24.