LEGO Sci-Fi Ongoing - Rumors, Speculation, and Discussion

[SpacePolice89]

16 hours ago, Ptchnk said:

The motorcyle helmet, legs and arms are available in Dark Azure and Bright Green already. Those will just miss the 3838 air tanks but black will work fine with the torso desgin . This already better than for the previous redish orange torso for wich only the arms and hips are available so far.

I'm considering getting those with black hands and blank tank and may keep the black right arm.

What do you think about white air tanks for the dark azure and bright green minifigs? The torso already features a lot of white.

[Ptchnk]

2 hours ago, SpacePolice89 said:

What do you think about white air tanks for the dark azure and bright green minifigs? The torso already features a lot of white.

Yep the white tank works well for those two...

Also like these to include the bright orange torso, this gives a good balance

Or these that include all of the new torsos and considering available parts

Or these as special units of Space Police ;)

Edited February 18 by Ptchnk

[SpacePolice89]

2 hours ago, Ptchnk said:

Or these as special units of Space Police ;)

Edited 2 hours ago by Ptchnk

These I like very much. I wish they would make official sets with this style of astronauts.

[GeoBrick]

For the moment, I kinda switched to using these torso's for jumpsuit atire for when the astronaut is indoors.

[oki_ebi]

On 2/18/2025 at 10:42 AM, Ptchnk said:

 

Hi.

Why don't you try this: The tank matches the color and the visor also matches the color in trans.

Then the colors could have an even stronger meaning for the rank.

[Classic_Spaceman]

On 2/18/2025 at 4:42 AM, Ptchnk said:

Yep the white tank works well for those two...

Also like these to include the bright orange torso, this gives a good balance

I think a combination of these two designs, but with the white City space helmet, would look the best - Solid legs (no black hips), black hands, either black or white airtanks (whichever makes the colours look more balanced), and white City space helmets. 
 

[6180HydroSearchSub]

On 2/11/2025 at 2:12 PM, Lyichir said:

Here's some quick and dirty pictures of the modification: https://bsky.app/profile/lyichir.bsky.social/post/3lhwec47bys2s

My order also included a handful of other parts that I hope to maybe use in MOCs related to the City Space theme, including lime green elephant tails/trunks for a potential larger alien build and satin trans-purple 4x4 rock wedge pieces to maybe use for a larger energy crystal deposit.

Fantastic modification! It looks much more polished!

[imposter]

 

[Mandalorianknight]

On 2/16/2025 at 12:36 AM, danth said:

Only a total disingenuous or delusional person would think this had nothing to do with Star Wars.

You're conveniently leaving out Space Police 3, which had aliens and more star-wars like sets and was immediately after that second Mars theme, as well as Galaxy Squad, which was possibly the most star-wars like in-house space IP lego's ever done. That's what's disingenuous.

I could see there being an original deal for lego to sideline it's space sets (Though I wouldn't take Faber's word as gospel, this guy's been very, very fast and loose with bionicle and sort of pretending he could/would bring it back), but it's clearly no longer the case. We're getting a Star Trek set this year, and I refuse to believe Lucasfilm would be A-OK with that (and something like Galaxy Squad) if they had this spooky noncompete on lego.

Is Lord of the Rings what's kept Lego Castle in the playset grave for a decade? Were/are the 2017 and 2025 POTC sets the reason our last Pirates theme was in 2015? Did the Thor Love and Thunder sets come at the expense of lego vikings? 

What happened is over time, the way kids play has shifted, or at least lego's understanding of it has. Most of the minifig-based sets today are either licensed sets with existing storylines or lore-heavy in-house IPs like Ninjago that come with tie in shows, with City as the only real remaining storyless theme. (And one lego's done it's best to cram stories into for years now.) 

It's not unlikely Star Wars had something to do with Space shifting to a more inside-the-solar-system place with Life on Mars, but it's clear that right now, and I'd argue for well over a decade, star wars hasn't been the thing holding back classic space, anymore than, like I said, Lord of the Rings prevents Castle sets. Lego just doesn't think kids would be into a generic classic space or castle style theme. It's not about some lawyer holding a gun to lego and forcing them away from the classic themes, it's that lego doesn't think kids would be into those themes anymore.

Edited March 22 by Mandalorianknight

[danth]

10 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

You're conveniently leaving out Space Police 3, which had aliens and more star-wars like sets and was immediately after that second Mars theme, as well as Galaxy Squad, which was possibly the most star-wars like in-house space IP lego's ever done. That's what's disingenuous.

I didn't conveniently leave it out. I've addressed it a thousand times. Any regular on these boards has heard me talk about it so I try to keep it short and not repeat myself. But since you are twisting my arm...

Space Police 3 was during the period between prequel movies and sequel movies. So it was okay have Space sets on shelves, but even then, Space Police 3 was technically Earth based. The planet Earth was literally on every box in the background. Mars Mission was of course on Mars and therefore in-Solar system. Alien Conquest was obviously on Earth.

Galaxy squad is the only Space theme since the the first Lego SW sets to not be specifically in the Solar System. It was also the last ever non-City Space theme. Enough time had passed since Revenge of the Sith that they were legally allowed to do that again.

And then the Sequel movies happened, so no more Space themes after that.

10 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Is Lord of the Rings what's kept Lego Castle in the playset grave for a decade? Were/are the 2017 and 2025 POTC sets the reason our last Pirates theme was in 2015?

Yep. Harry Potter also. I think the license agreements for those aren't as strict about competing in-house sets but I won't go into that.

10 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Lego just doesn't think kids would be into a generic classic space or castle style theme.

They literally did an entire generic sci-fi Space theme in 2024/2025. They just had to put it in City and stick to NASA style colors to not violate their license agreement. So Lego actually knows kids and adults want cool space themes.

[SpacePolice89]

I remember reading a long time a ago that Lego had to stop working on in house Space themes after Star Wars was released in 1999. Insectoids was supposed to get more sets and a successor subtheme was already in the design phase but had to be abandoned after Star Wars was released.

[Black Falcon]

Here we go again I guess...

5 hours ago, danth said:

Galaxy squad is the only Space theme since the the first Lego SW sets to not be specifically in the Solar System. It was also the last ever non-City Space theme. Enough time had passed since Revenge of the Sith that they were legally allowed to do that again.

And then the Sequel movies happened, so no more Space themes after that.

There were Star Wars Sets on the shelves the whole time, so whether or not there were movies out for SW doesn´t play a role here. The licensing agreement was for the sets, and now claiming it was because of the movies, sounds a lot like you are trying prove something where there is not any prove there for.

5 hours ago, danth said:

Yep. Harry Potter also. I think the license agreements for those aren't as strict about competing in-house sets but I won't go into that.

The problem with this is, that Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings both existed alongside with Castle, Harry Potter even for 10 whole years - when they stopped doing Castle Sets Harry Potter was already discontinued. Lord of the Rings ended at the same time, so there is nothing that would have kept them from doing more Castle Sets, since neither LotR, nor Harry Potter would have even existed at that point.

5 hours ago, danth said:

They literally did an entire generic sci-fi Space theme in 2024/2025. They just had to put it in City and stick to NASA style colors to not violate their license agreement. So Lego actually knows kids and adults want cool space themes.

There is literally nothing to back that up. The past has shown, that they could make Space Sets as long as they kept it in the Solar System and later on they even moved out of it with Galaxy Squad, which proves that that agreement was changed later on (very likely when they renewed the SW license, before it retired).

[icm]

Well, whatever small blue planet was in the background of the box art for Space Police 3 and Galaxy Squad, the actual content of the sets for Mars Mission, Space Police 3, and Galaxy Squad was as far-out as it was for any pre-1999 Space theme, and IMO that's what counts. But I don't really think it's worth hashing this out again. Because everything is under NDA, there's very few statements other than circumstantial evidence to back any of this up, but it does appear that changing availability and theming of Lego Space is at least somewhat correlated to Lego Star Wars license renewals and renegotiations.

Edited March 23 by icm

[Commander Fenris]

20 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

with City as the only real remaining storyless theme

If Lego Space also had received games (on the production level of Lego City Underground), TV series (on the scale of Lego City Adventures), it might also have a wider recognition and fanbase.  In fact, since Lego Space potentially has the most interesting lore out of all the original big three themes - Lego Castle, Lego City, Lego Space - it's rather tragic that we haven't got a big budget video game or kid's TV show about Futuron, Space Police, Blacktron, M-Tron and Ice Planet. 

[Renny The Spaceman]

2 minutes ago, Commander Fenris said:

If Lego Space also had received games (on the production level of Lego City Underground), TV series (on the scale of Lego City Adventures), it might also have a wider recognition and fanbase.  In fact, since Lego Space potentially has the most interesting lore out of all the original big three themes - Lego Castle, Lego City, Lego Space - it's rather tragic that we haven't got a big budget video game or kid's TV show about Futuron, Space Police, Blacktron, M-Tron and Ice Planet. 

Yeah, that'd be fun. I think the City Undercover model is the best compromise, the sets work as standalones but include the lead from the game. I thnk a big issue with modern LEGO original themes (that wasn't an issue for the first few waves of Ninjago, funnily enough) is they just don't really make sense unless you've seen the show in a way most successful LEGO non-licensed themes don't do.

As for all the people arguing again about Star Wars and how it affects LEGO Space, there's probably nothing legally but yeah the theme is less of a priority when they have a million star wars shows to make sets of. Maybe it was at some point part of an agreement but there would have been so many renegotiation over the years especially given the big change in leadership that took effect for LEGO in 2014 (I believe that's when the Disney Logo started showing up on the boxes). I think there's not enough to say anything either way about it. Though, yeah, I'd obviously prefer for us to have a break from the 70 quid grey baseplate sets based on a streaming show no-one will remember in 7 years for an original Space wave but that's not how LEGO's current model works.

[Mandalorianknight]

11 hours ago, danth said:

I didn't conveniently leave it out. I've addressed it a thousand times. Any regular on these boards has heard me talk about it so I try to keep it short and not repeat myself. But since you are twisting my arm...

Space Police 3 was during the period between prequel movies and sequel movies. So it was okay have Space sets on shelves, but even then, Space Police 3 was technically Earth based. The planet Earth was literally on every box in the background. Mars Mission was of course on Mars and therefore in-Solar system. Alien Conquest was obviously on Earth.

Galaxy squad is the only Space theme since the the first Lego SW sets to not be specifically in the Solar System. It was also the last ever non-City Space theme. Enough time had passed since Revenge of the Sith that they were legally allowed to do that again.

And then the Sequel movies happened, so no more Space themes after that.

This is a serious reach and not really supported by the evidence. First of all, in that in between period, at almost the exact same time lego space police 3 was coming out, there was a HUGE push for the clone wars TV show including massive waves of lego Clone Wars sets. Why would Lucasfilm be fine with a theme releasing during their big new show- one that also got a theatrically released movie? Why were the 2008-10 and 2013 star wars set counts significantly higher, not lower as you would expect from this theory, than when the prequel movies were coming out?

Just to be clear, you think the contract states the following:

Lego is not allowed to produce in-house space sets outside the solar system for 7 years* after the release of specifically a live action** star wars film. There is a shorter cooldown, only 3 years, for space themes that, while featuring unrealistic sci-fi designs, technically take place in the solar system.*** They are, however, allowed to produce sets for competing space-themed franchises.****

*This number could be slightly lower, but if we're going off your idea that lego really wants in house space themes but George Lucas had a gun to their head, it should be as close as possible, giving us a weirdly arbitrary number of years

**must be live action due to theatrical TCW movie, which would be an odd contract stipulation when we wouldn't get an animated movie for almost a decade after the contract was made

***Space Police lll. Also, the whole "Solar System" thing is kind of absurd to me, implying lucasfilm is more concerned about the lore of what at the time were very lore-light themes than, you know, the designs of the physical sets.

****We could play semantics with spaceships in other licensed themes, but the one that really blows this open is Star Trek.

11 hours ago, danth said:

Yep. Harry Potter also. I think the license agreements for those aren't as strict about competing in-house sets but I won't go into that.

Dude, Lego Harry Potter ran alongside castle sets for a decade. Lego Castle was already in the grave when the theme came back. Lego LOTR ran alongside a castle theme. And- c'mon- you're really saying that a set in 2017 and a set in 2025 are why we haven't gotten an in-house pirates theme in that 8-year interim? Despite the fact that it was a full theme in the early 2010s but we had a pirates theme between then and 2017?

[icm]

@Mandalorianknight, this is @danth's favorite conspiracy theory. Just let it be.

Edited March 23 by icm

[Commander Fenris]

I wouldn't be surprised personally, if there was some backroom deal between Lucasfilm and LEGO, because I've seen enough of how societies operate to know that this kind of thing isn't exactly unheard of.  However, I would like to think that LEGO could revive their own in-house space theme, given how beloved it's history and aesthetics were.  I find it distressing to think that the LEGO brand managers think nobody young might be interested in LEGO Space.  If there was an issue of narrative recognition, then building it up with a TV show and games would be the way to go!

Just focus on the history of Lego Space, such as the big factions: Futuron, Blacktron and Space Police.

On another topic guys, are there any rumours about what is happening with Lego Space in 2025?  I was hoping for a return of Blacktron.

On 3/22/2025 at 6:47 PM, Mandalorianknight said:

What happened is over time, the way kids play has shifted, or at least lego's understanding of it has. Most of the minifig-based sets today are either licensed sets with existing storylines or lore-heavy in-house IPs like Ninjago that come with tie in shows, with City as the only real remaining storyless theme.

It would be so easy to turn Lego Space into a lore heavy IP.  It has the lore, it has the rabid fanbase, it has unofficial comics/books like Space: The Comic, or Building the Future, it has history. 

[Mandalorianknight]

1 hour ago, icm said:

@Mandalorianknight, this is @danth's favorite conspiracy theory. Just let it be.

Thanks, not on this thread a ton so I wasn't aware.

3 minutes ago, Commander Fenris said:

It would be so easy to turn Lego Space into a lore heavy IP.  It has the lore, it has the rabid fanbase, it has unofficial comics/books like Space: The Comic, or Building the Future, it has history. 

Everything you just listed is true of Castle, Bionicle, and other in house themes. Bionicle actually HAD the lore heaviness in it's first gen, and we saw how well lego handled the revival. The reason lego isn't doing a classic space story theme for kids seems pretty clear to me, they just don't think it would do well. Everything you listed works more in favor of the Icons sets we've been getting targeted towards adults than it does a resurrection for kids.

I'm a Bionicle fan. I've seen what happens when Lego attempts a revival without what made the original work. (In classic space's case, I think the lack of established lore is part of what makes it special) You guys are getting more coverage than something like bionicle, so I'd caution you to be happy with what you've got. I'll take my Galaxy Explorers over a "modernized remake" any day of the week. Removing the classic smileys, creating established characters and storylines, it would take away from what classic space is in my opinion. We started to see it towards the end of the original themes. I just like my little smiley astronauts where I get to decide the lore.

[Commander Fenris]

6 minutes ago, Mandalorianknight said:

You guys are getting more coverage than something like bionicle, so I'd caution you to be happy with what you've got.

Don't get me wrong, I fear any "modern revival" of anything these days, considering how bad franchises like Star Trek have been treated.  It pains me to say, as many of them mattered a great deal to me.  There was a time when I would have never missed an episode of Star Trek.  It would have been inconceivable.  Now it's barely recognisable, and I can't bear to watch what it has become. 

With LEGO Space, I'm therefore just going to say this as a speculative exercise in "what if they actually did it right".  If they actually did it right, they would run a mile away from the ill-conceived late Space themes, with their over-the-top cartoon aesthetics.  They would instead build the setting as a intericate semi-serious space opera, while preserving it's scope.  Stick to the industrial construction workers in space aesthetic for most of the factions.  Not over-reliance on characters, but rather any named heroes are just one incidental group, within a large setting.  Ironically enough, some of the non-franchised games actually get this balance right, such as Blacktron mercs turning up in an MMO, the old LEGO Mars Mission RTS game, the Space cameos in LEGO City Undercover.

You can be funny, like LEGO City Undercover, but also have some degree of Space realism, real geopolitics.

[icm]

Strange New Worlds, 10497 Galaxy Explorer, 10355 Blacktron Renegade: modern homages done right!

[Commander Fenris]

Strange New Worlds is hit and miss.  Sometimes it's a faithful Star Trek production.  Just as often, it becomes an ironic self-referential parody.  I'm not into shows being ironically revised.  Or making fourth-wall breaking meta-jokes, etc.  Star Trek shouldn't have had a Buffy-style musical episode.  Or a hybrid episode with a cartoon comedy (which itself shouldn't have existed, and would have been superior if it had just been played straight).  Prodigy was unironically much more faithful in spirit, once it stopped behaving like a Pixar/Disney knockoff.  But, Prodigy aside, none of the modern productions have felt like they were respectful of the original material or spirit sadly.  They feel like a hostile takeover by someone engaged in "asset stripping".

[Mandalorianknight]

3 hours ago, Commander Fenris said:

Don't get me wrong, I fear any "modern revival" of anything these days, considering how bad franchises like Star Trek have been treated.  It pains me to say, as many of them mattered a great deal to me.  There was a time when I would have never missed an episode of Star Trek.  It would have been inconceivable.  Now it's barely recognisable, and I can't bear to watch what it has become. 

With LEGO Space, I'm therefore just going to say this as a speculative exercise in "what if they actually did it right".  If they actually did it right, they would run a mile away from the ill-conceived late Space themes, with their over-the-top cartoon aesthetics.  They would instead build the setting as a intericate semi-serious space opera, while preserving it's scope.  Stick to the industrial construction workers in space aesthetic for most of the factions.  Not over-reliance on characters, but rather any named heroes are just one incidental group, within a large setting.  Ironically enough, some of the non-franchised games actually get this balance right, such as Blacktron mercs turning up in an MMO, the old LEGO Mars Mission RTS game, the Space cameos in LEGO City Undercover.

You can be funny, like LEGO City Undercover, but also have some degree of Space realism, real geopolitics.

Exactly. At the end of the day a theme like lego space simply cannot flourish as a children's playset theme since lego will not make a theme like classic space again. Every theme has to have a defined story now.

3 hours ago, icm said:

Strange New Worlds, 10497 Galaxy Explorer, 10355 Blacktron Renegade: modern homages done right!

I can't speak about Star Trek as I haven't seen anything but chunks of TOS, TNG, and the Chris Pine movies, but I assume it was similar to Star Wars's Rogue One? Going back to the classic aesthetics and themes?

[SpacePolice89]

10 hours ago, Commander Fenris said:

It would be so easy to turn Lego Space into a lore heavy IP.  It has the lore, it has the rabid fanbase, it has unofficial comics/books like Space: The Comic, or Building the Future, it has history.

I believe that turning Lego Space into a lore heavy theme would not be a good idea. Elaborate backstories and too many minifigures with official names is off-putting for me. I see official lore as something that is restricting imagination and creativity. When I was a kid it was so fun to make up stories when playing with Lego and other toys. Basic stuff like the name of a planet or a general description of a subtheme is fine like that they are police, spies or scientists but anything more than that is too much.

14 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

Dude, Lego Harry Potter ran alongside castle sets for a decade. Lego Castle was already in the grave when the theme came back. Lego LOTR ran alongside a castle theme. And- c'mon- you're really saying that a set in 2017 and a set in 2025 are why we haven't gotten an in-house pirates theme in that 8-year interim? Despite the fact that it was a full theme in the early 2010s but we had a pirates theme between then and 2017?

The licensed themes destroyed the in house themes slowly, it was "death by a thousand cuts". Only Star Wars had a more immediate effect on Space because of the legal stuff.

Edited March 24 by SpacePolice89

[Commander Fenris]

6 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

I can't speak about Star Trek as I haven't seen anything but chunks of TOS, TNG, and the Chris Pine movies, but I assume it was similar to Star Wars's Rogue One? Going back to the classic aesthetics and themes?

It's not really a good analogy since Rogue One was genuinely faithful.  To the degree it was almost a fan film.  In the case of SNW, the modern producers resent a lot of Star Trek's older aesthetics, often ignore established continuity, etc.  The tone is also irreverent.  To take one change as an example: A previous show had for example retconned the entire appearance of the ship, in a way that couldn't be reconciled with previous established appearances (say by saying it was a refit of the ship), and this show continued with that CGI model.  Then the timeline of the show was altered through time travel, when it had remained largely consistent for 60 years. 

It's better than some of the other modern productions, but that isn't saying much.  It's reputation as 'better' is built on low expectations set by it's peers.

Star Trek relies on the audience taking it seriously, as an earnest serious setting, so the introduction of fourth-wall breaking comedy is completely anathema to the point too.

23 minutes ago, SpacePolice89 said:

I believe that turning Lego Space into a lore heavy theme would not be a good idea. Elaborate backstories and too many minifigures with official names is off-putting for me. I see official lore as something that is restricting imagination and creativity. When I was a kid it was so fun to make up stories when playing with Lego and other toys. Basic stuff like the name of a planet or a general description of a subtheme is fine like that they are police, spies or scientists but anything more than that is too much.

I agree entirely, it's just if LEGO really needs some narrative for a Futuron 3, Space Police 4, Blacktron 3 theme, they could perhaps stike a balance by just having a few tie-in games or cartoons like how Chase McCain isn't really neccecary to LEGO City (not narrative to the degree of stuff like Ninjago).  Don't do much more than set generalities like dropping a few planet names and a bit of geography.