I think my main gripe is that, for a main set, it's quite underwhelming.

I think my main gripe is that, for a main set, it's quite underwhelming.

Very true, though I'm still hung-up on the whole "What's in a name?" aspect. I appreciate the previous "a rose by any other name"-type comments but, I'm sorry, "alien mothership" tends to have a very specific meaning and isn't really subject to interpretation like some other set names might be. On that point alone, the set fails to deliver. Add in the fact that it's basically the 'main set' for the aliens and the disappointment in the set is magnified.

Still a cool alien, though.

I liked it so much I bought the company! Well, okay, not the company, but I did buy the entire theme today. It's the best space theme since the original classic space sets in my mind, so I don't really get the hating on it. Maybe it's just that the quirky B-movie quality of the spaceships appeals to me. I'd even say the 'mothership' looks like the kind of thing you used to see in old movies, as opposed to the kind of mothership more common in modern films like Independance Day. It's true that it couldn't possibly hold all the ships that surely must have launched from it, but then the practicalities of such things rarely seemed to feature in B-movies either.

So is it up to Lego Space standards? Nope, it exceeds them in my opinion.

A real rendition of the idea of a mothership would be a set with an ADU officer asking a crazy farmer about his experiences. And you get to see a 2x2 tile with a drawing of what the farmer believes is the mothership.

Edited September 9, 201113 yr by vexorian

A real rendition of the idea of a mothership would be a set with an ADU officer asking a crazy farmer about his experiences. And you get to see a 2x2 tile with a drawing of what the farmer believes is the mothership.

Hehe, if they do a second wave that would make a great polybag set.

Now, this is where you and I have to disagree. The printed parts were one of the things I most hated about the UFO theme, and possibly one of the reasons I have such a pro-sticker attitude today. Many UFO printed parts had what I consider excessive detail, and I've never used any of them in MOCs outside the UFO theme. And considering I haven't made UFO MOCs since the theme was new, these printed parts mostly have served to take up space in bins.

I agree that UFO and some other themes around that time went overboard with very specialized printing, especially on rare and large pieces, but I would still take that any day over the complete lack of prints we have today. We got a couple of really nice printed computer pieces with that theme. I think printing also gives a much more high quality feel to the product overall.

What's wrong with "weird" color schemes like Power Miners, World Racers, and Alien Conquest? Instead of "weird", I'd call them "interesting". I might be a bit biased coming from a BIONICLE background, where colors like lime and orange were very, very common. But TLG has worked hard to eliminate many of their most obscure colors, and I think it would be silly not to make good use of the ones they have left (not that lime is especially obscure anyway).

In the case of World Racers, most of the colors were pretty normal anyway. Today, lime isn't much more unusual than green was in the 70s and 80s. Purple, like the Alien Conquest alien craft sometimes feature, is unfortunately still a rather rare color that we should treasure. It's every bit as "normal" as green is anyway, being a secondary color in a slightly darker shade than the classic Bright Blue, Bright Red, and Bright Yellow primary colors.

I like to see colors that contrast well with each other. Many space themes in the past achieved this by using at most one "bright" color, one or two "dull" colors (black and sometimes gray) and a colorful (not trans-black or clear) transparent color. Using too many colors diminishes this contrast. For Power Miners, lime green and orange were both bright colors and gave the theme a very jumbled look, even though either color alone would have looked fine. AC is not quite as bad but still uses too many colors for my liking.

I do like the actual colors though. In fact, one of my favorite color schemes ever is that of the Mars Mission aliens. The models themselves were lousy, but I would like to use those colors for MOCs in the future.

I agree that Lego should revert a bit back to their peaceful space themes like "Life on mars" but alien conquest is pretty awesome as well. I do wish that they made it more like an "Area 51" type thing though.

Well, if the new LEGO Dino rumors prove true (and they pretty much have), LEGO might be more open to peaceful themes than before. That could bode well for a more recognizable throwback to classic Space. Although I still think it would be pretty foolish to hope for a completely faithful re-imagining of the first Space sets (LEGO, as well as the toy industry, has moved on from that) we could still get something in the same ballpark at least.

It's the best space theme since the original classic space sets in my mind.

Wow that's an unusual opinion (or so I think). What can I say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I think a fair amount of my criticism is that the color scheme feels too jumbled to feel "natural". Military vehicles tend to have a more concise color scheme, at least when I build them. I have a hunch that TLG was trying to use up some leftover obscure colors from power miners, toy story, and some others that utilized them.

perhaps the set will grow on me. I know Power Miners did.

I agree that UFO and some other themes around that time went overboard with very specialized printing, especially on rare and large pieces, but I would still take that any day over the complete lack of prints we have today. We got a couple of really nice printed computer pieces with that theme. I think printing also gives a much more high quality feel to the product overall.

We don't have a complete lack of prints. In fact, the Alien Conquest Earth Defense HQ introduces a new print for the 2x2 slope, showing a minifigure being "scanned". Since it is a regular minifigure icon rather than an obvious alien, this makes it a versatile print even outside Space themes. Arguably, I'd consider this a better printed piece than most U.F.O. pieces, since it's not as specific to a sci-fi context.

I've become quite fond of the system that has been established in many recent themes, where broad, flat areas get stickers and smaller, more versatile, or less smooth parts get printed. I also don't get the same feeling of low quality from stickers as you do. In fact, I feel that stickers can give the impression of more of a "hobbyist's toy", in that applying the decorations is part of the assembly process. With that said, if TLG ever starts making me paint my own pieces, I'll be one of the first to protest.

I like to see colors that contrast well with each other. Many space themes in the past achieved this by using at most one "bright" color, one or two "dull" colors (black and sometimes gray) and a colorful (not trans-black or clear) transparent color. Using too many colors diminishes this contrast. For Power Miners, lime green and orange were both bright colors and gave the theme a very jumbled look, even though either color alone would have looked fine. AC is not quite as bad but still uses too many colors for my liking.

I also like contrast in color schemes, but I think bright orange and bright yellowish green have enough contrast in hue that they didn't need too much contrast in brightness. Also, the orange was mostly an accent color compared to the lime green, and the heavy use of dark stone grey, medium stone grey, and black helped tone down the colors significantly.

Really there weren't that many vibrant colors in Power Miners compared to some older Space themes-- the difference is that Space themes would tend to have only one bright opaque color and one or two vibrant transparent colors, whereas Power Miners tended to use Transparent Brown or just plain Transparent for its windscreens. Some M-Tron sets are about as vibrant as Power Miners sets, especially in some box art where the vividness of the fluorescent windscreens is raised to almost nauseating levels. And some Classic Space sets had a downright confusing number of transparent colors used for the various details.

I do like the actual colors though. In fact, one of my favorite color schemes ever is that of the Mars Mission aliens. The models themselves were lousy, but I would like to use those colors for MOCs in the future.

Good to hear. There are some people who are extremely opposed to any colors that didn't exist in the days of Classic Space.

I think a fair amount of my criticism is that the color scheme feels too jumbled to feel "natural". Military vehicles tend to have a more concise color scheme, at least when I build them. I have a hunch that TLG was trying to use up some leftover obscure colors from power miners, toy story, and some others that utilized them.

perhaps the set will grow on me. I know Power Miners did.

I'm never very fond of the theories about TLG using themes to "use up" things. Especially considering that TLG's colors today are in the form of dyes added to uncolored granulate during production. So TLG would have no reason at all to "use up" any colors unless they were discontinuing those colors from the palette entirely in the near future.

I highly doubt that TLG wants to discontinue Medium Lilac, Bright Reddish Violet, or lime in the near future, as they are rather frequently used, if not as much as more classic colors. And they certainly would have no reason to discontinue Bright Yellow and Bright Blue (two extremely common colors) or Dark Azure (a color that never appeared in sets before this theme).

Before today I'd only had the $5 and $10 Alien Conquest sets.

Today I picked up Tripod Invader, Jet Copter Encounter and Earth Defense HQ.

I have to say that I am in LOVE with the Jet Copter. It's easily the most fun build I've done since getting back into LEGO and it ranks among my favorite LEGO vehicles ever. I don't care for the stickers, but without them it just looks so amazing. It's sturdy and fun. Heavily armed. I adore it. The Tripod Invader is pretty awesome also. The alien clinger is adorable. Haven't built the HQ yet.

I like the ADU, I sort of think of them as fascist space marines ala Warhammer 40k. Alien Conquest as a whole gets my imagination going pretty well, which is what I ask of LEGO in the first place. I'm really, really impressed. I'll likely pick up the smaller UFO but leave the Mothership on the shelf... it looks pretty unimpressive, even if the Alien Emperor is cool.

We don't have a complete lack of prints. In fact, the Alien Conquest Earth Defense HQ introduces a new print for the 2x2 slope, showing a minifigure being "scanned". Since it is a regular minifigure icon rather than an obvious alien, this makes it a versatile print even outside Space themes. Arguably, I'd consider this a better printed piece than most U.F.O. pieces, since it's not as specific to a sci-fi context.

It's good to know that there is at least some printing in the theme, but there could have been a lot more. From looking at the Brickset pictures, I see a number of other places in those sets where control panels or generic ADU logos are stickers that could have easily been prints, if TLG wasn't trying to cut costs so much.

The good prints from UFO I am referring to include the two control tiles (especially the oscilloscope, which is among my favorite prints from any space theme), the 2x3 computer slope and the UFO logo tile. I even like the 4x3 hinge panels in 6915 since they can be used as large display screens, although I am usually against printing on this type of piece.

Really there weren't that many vibrant colors in Power Miners compared to some older Space themes-- the difference is that Space themes would tend to have only one bright opaque color and one or two vibrant transparent colors, whereas Power Miners tended to use Transparent Brown or just plain Transparent for its windscreens. Some M-Tron sets are about as vibrant as Power Miners sets, especially in some box art where the vividness of the fluorescent windscreens is raised to almost nauseating levels. And some Classic Space sets had a downright confusing number of transparent colors used for the various details.

The big difference there is that all the fluorescent parts there were the same color, and you only had that one color sticking out. The trans-neon green by itself looks excellent but would clash with other, similar colors. A better analogy with PM would be if you had trans-neon green and trans-neon orange in the same model, with both colors having that UV reactive look on the boxes.

Granted, I did think even some of the old themes had too many colors. The red in SP2 always seemed like one color too many, and I never liked the jumbled look of Hydronauts, which used practically every classic color somewhere.

It's good to know that there is at least some printing in the theme, but there could have been a lot more. From looking at the Brickset pictures, I see a number of other places in those sets where control panels or generic ADU logos are stickers that could have easily been prints, if TLG wasn't trying to cut costs so much.

The good prints from UFO I am referring to include the two control tiles (especially the oscilloscope, which is among my favorite prints from any space theme), the 2x3 computer slope and the UFO logo tile. I even like the 4x3 hinge panels in 6915 since they can be used as large display screens, although I am usually against printing on this type of piece.

I didn't really like those UFO control tiles. Just felt too sci-fi for me (kind of like a lot of printed Roboforce parts). Meanwhile, I think things like ADU logos make sense as stickers rather than prints-- it's not like they'll likely be used outside this theme.

The big difference there is that all the fluorescent parts there were the same color, and you only had that one color sticking out. The trans-neon green by itself looks excellent but would clash with other, similar colors. A better analogy with PM would be if you had trans-neon green and trans-neon orange in the same model, with both colors having that UV reactive look on the boxes.

Granted, I did think even some of the old themes had too many colors. The red in SP2 always seemed like one color too many, and I never liked the jumbled look of Hydronauts, which used practically every classic color somewhere.

I disagree about your box art analogy. When you look at LEGO's color spectrum, Bright Yellowish Green (lime) and Bright Orange are the same "brightness" as classic colors like Bright Red, Bright Yellow, and Bright Blue. Incidentally, this is also why I never quite understood criticisms of the second year of Power Miners switching Bright Orange with Bright Blue-- they are the same brightness as one another, and both have about the same contrast in hue with Bright Yellowish Green. Neither has quite that same eye-searing effect as the transparent fluorescent colors-- so arguably, the color schemes of themes like Ice Planet 2002 or M:Tron could be considered more vibrant.

Of course, the greater brightness of Transparent Fluorescent windscreens also means more contrast, which might please some people, although I doubt replacing one of the colors in Power Miners with a brighter color would be most people's solution to the theme's perceived color scheme issues.

I didn't really like those UFO control tiles. Just felt too sci-fi for me (kind of like a lot of printed Roboforce parts). Meanwhile, I think things like ADU logos make sense as stickers rather than prints-- it's not like they'll likely be used outside this theme.

On the flip side, they would in fact be used a lot within the theme. I often build MOCs based around TLG's official themes, for which these printed logo pieces are especially useful. As far as the official sets go, they can also be used across the entire theme instead of being specific to one set. The same arguments apply to minifigures specific to a theme, which we see all the time.

I disagree about your box art analogy. When you look at LEGO's color spectrum, Bright Yellowish Green (lime) and Bright Orange are the same "brightness" as classic colors like Bright Red, Bright Yellow, and Bright Blue. Incidentally, this is also why I never quite understood criticisms of the second year of Power Miners switching Bright Orange with Bright Blue-- they are the same brightness as one another, and both have about the same contrast in hue with Bright Yellowish Green. Neither has quite that same eye-searing effect as the transparent fluorescent colors-- so arguably, the color schemes of themes like Ice Planet 2002 or M:Tron could be considered more vibrant.

Well, "vibrant" is a good thing in my book. It's what sets Space apart from themes like Star Wars. I like to see the contrast too though, and it's hard to achieve that when you have two very "bright" colors. I don't necessarily find the medium blue any worse than orange, although I would rather have not had the second color at all.

On the flip side, they would in fact be used a lot within the theme. I often build MOCs based around TLG's official themes, for which these printed logo pieces are especially useful. As far as the official sets go, they can also be used across the entire theme instead of being specific to one set. The same arguments apply to minifigures specific to a theme, which we see all the time.

I MOC within official themes, but official themes that I like. I liked U.F.O. a lot when it was out, but my opinions of it quickly dwindled as I got more sets and realized just how inconsistent it was aesthetically with a lot of other LEGO themes-- especially when it came to its high-detail printed pieces. The large number of "<insert that tiresome argument>" pieces in the theme were probably another factor in my later dislike for the theme-- every time I tried to MOC something within the theme I had difficulty making it look like anything but a variant of one of the existing sets, except without any cool functions to make it interesting.

More recent themes' aliens are a lot more likeable, but then again 1996-1998 was a period of time long before TLG hit their stride when it came to minifigure design (the bandits in Wild West were some of the first non-female minifigures who weren't variations on the classic smiley, but then again one of them had sclerae and a nose, a plague that spread to every Native American fig in that theme). Today you could use a lot of themes' minifigures interchangeably, even if aliens still stand out obviously as aliens and so forth.

Really, as much as I appreciate some of the older Space themes of my lifetime like Spyrius (and even some of the ones I missed out on like both iterations of Blacktron), U.F.O. is a theme I prefer to leave in the past. At least the Mania Magazine stories, where the commander Alpha Draconis feared nothing but his own hideous reflection, can bring a smile to my face when I do look back at that theme.

Well, "vibrant" is a good thing in my book. It's what sets Space apart from themes like Star Wars. I like to see the contrast too though, and it's hard to achieve that when you have two very "bright" colors. I don't necessarily find the medium blue any worse than orange, although I would rather have not had the second color at all.

The second year used Bright Blue, not Medium Blue. But I get what you're saying. I guess we just have different tastes in color schemes. I've been a big fan of BIONICLE and Hero Factory, where color schemes with vibrant primary and secondary colors have been common (incidentally, I have much fonder memories of color schemes with vibrant colors to memories of color schemes from 2004-2005 BIONICLE which used darker, bolder colors alongside grey and silver).

An example color scheme from this year's Hero Factory sets which I'm particularly fond of is seen in Furno 2.0, who uses bright yellow and bright red together rather well. An older BIONICLE example is Tahu, although with his bright red primary and bright orange secondary his contrast pales in comparison to Power Miners. Hard to say whether my interest in these sets inspired my love of this type of color schemes or the other way around.

As others have already noted, whether or not Alien Conquest measures up to the rest of Lego Space is purely arbitrary. Personally, I think it fits the Space criteria just fine---and by 'Space criteria,' I mean that it centres around outer space travellers. I definitely feel that it's head and shoulders above say, Life on Mars, Exploriens, and Sectoids.

Oh, and I work in a retail chain that sells Lego, and so far, Alien Conquest has been doing well.

They need to go back to where they started from: into space. Though I liked SP3, they were moving closer and closer to Earth without the exploration and open space focus anymore. Mars Mission was only taking place on Mars, not in space; Space Police was also on a planet, they didn't even have fully enclosed helmets to start with; Alien Conquest is obviously only on Earth with ground vehicles and an infantry helicopter. It's not space. I like the idea but I'd prefer (and abuy again) space ships. To fly to other worlds, to explore and to find new adventures for ship and crew. Enterprise meets Millennium Falcon meets the Normandy. It's all based on using a vessel to experience new adventures in space. We need that. Some epic space ships.

To fly to other worlds, to explore and to find new adventures for ship and crew. Enterprise meets Millennium Falcon meets the Normandy. It's all based on using a vessel to experience new adventures in space. We need that. Some epic space ships.

(Star Trek theme plays) Space... The final frontier...

I agree here completely with you. Space exploration is what made Space so good. So maybe exploring this new idea is a good thing, but that doesn't mean that Lego has to leave REAL space on hold for that!

We all miss the good ol' days.

(Star Trek theme plays) Space... The final frontier...

I agree here completely with you. Space exploration is what made Space so good. So maybe exploring this new idea is a good thing, but that doesn't mean that Lego has to leave REAL space on hold for that!

We all miss the good ol' days.

Not I. I guess I did "miss" them, in the sense that they occurred far before my lifetime. I guess Exploriens was an exploration-based theme, but it doesn't hold a very special place in my heart.

If the definition of space themes has to involve open space, with no strict planet-based setting, then Insectoids doesn't count as a space theme. It does take place on a largely uncolonized planet, but according to the story in many catalogs such as those in Turkey and New Zealand) the story focuses on a group of space explorers from another planet who have settled on a planet inhabited by giant insects. See here. Ice Planet, although again on a planet untouched by civilization, was also distinctly planet-based. All the vehicles seen operating outside the planet's atmosphere were rockets used to launch satellites-- no interstellar travel was ever visible, so it might as well have been Mars Mission in more of a fantasy setting.

Really, it's silly to treat exploration-based sci-fi stories as superior to non-exploration-based ones, or even to say that they're more valid as "space" themes. Now, personally, I do separate space themes into two categories: "near-earth", for themes like Mars Mission, Life On Mars, and (arguably) Space Port, and "deep space" for any others. But I don't treat some as superior to the other, even if I prefer deep space for its greater creative freedoms. And I don't treat Space Police III as near-earth-- Earth is never referenced outside some possible appearances on box art, and it clearly depicts a "space society" autonomous of our own planet's society.

When you look at Space Police, none of the iterations have had a focus on exploration. It's always been about justice and crime-fighting. No matter where the box art happens to show that taking place, the set designs stayed mostly the same aside from stylistic developments over the years. And this is how I like it: having grown up in the 90s, I am nostalgic for the societal aspect of Space themes, not the exploration aspect. The interactions between many different Space factions has always been a big part of my LEGO Space experience. And so Space Police III, not including more than two factions but referencing countless ones from classic themes, was a godsend for me. And for that matter, any multi-faction Space theme as we have seen since LEGO Star Wars began has at least some societal components, even if it's just the "clash of cultures" visible in the differences between the spaceships of the two competing factions.

Really, Classic Space was a cool theme, but I feel that a lot of people remember it as the pinnacle of LEGO Space themes, not realizing that it depicts a vision of the future that is no longer novel. Back then, the very idea of people in space had some novelty-- it was seen as cutting-edge and futuristic. And you can see this in some of the realistic moon rovers and rockets of Classic Space. This was the future: dart-shaped shuttles, exploration, and research. But today, people being in space is routine, and some people even go so far as to say that true "space exploration" is no longer necessary (you hear this a lot in the US, anyway, because some people looking for unproblematic federal budget cuts see NASA as a waste of money that doesn't affect us back on Earth). So what's important to a Space theme today becomes how being in space changes us as a society, and what the human race and any "new neighbors" we discover get up to once we're there.

Not I. I guess I did "miss" them, in the sense that they occurred far before my lifetime. I guess Exploriens was an exploration-based theme, but it doesn't hold a very special place in my heart.

If the definition of space themes has to involve open space, with no strict planet-based setting, then Insectoids doesn't count as a space theme. It does take place on a largely uncolonized planet, but according to the story in many catalogs such as those in Turkey and New Zealand) the story focuses on a group of space explorers from another planet who have settled on a planet inhabited by giant insects. See here. Ice Planet, although again on a planet untouched by civilization, was also distinctly planet-based. All the vehicles seen operating outside the planet's atmosphere were rockets used to launch satellites-- no interstellar travel was ever visible, so it might as well have been Mars Mission in more of a fantasy setting.

Really, it's silly to treat exploration-based sci-fi stories as superior to non-exploration-based ones, or even to say that they're more valid as "space" themes. Now, personally, I do separate space themes into two categories: "near-earth", for themes like Mars Mission, Life On Mars, and (arguably) Space Port, and "deep space" for any others. But I don't treat some as superior to the other, even if I prefer deep space for its greater creative freedoms. And I don't treat Space Police III as near-earth-- Earth is never referenced outside some possible appearances on box art, and it clearly depicts a "space society" autonomous of our own planet's society.

When you look at Space Police, none of the iterations have had a focus on exploration. It's always been about justice and crime-fighting. No matter where the box art happens to show that taking place, the set designs stayed mostly the same aside from stylistic developments over the years. And this is how I like it: having grown up in the 90s, I am nostalgic for the societal aspect of Space themes, not the exploration aspect. The interactions between many different Space factions has always been a big part of my LEGO Space experience. And so Space Police III, not including more than two factions but referencing countless ones from classic themes, was a godsend for me. And for that matter, any multi-faction Space theme as we have seen since LEGO Star Wars began has at least some societal components, even if it's just the "clash of cultures" visible in the differences between the spaceships of the two competing factions.

Really, Classic Space was a cool theme, but I feel that a lot of people remember it as the pinnacle of LEGO Space themes, not realizing that it depicts a vision of the future that is no longer novel. Back then, the very idea of people in space had some novelty-- it was seen as cutting-edge and futuristic. And you can see this in some of the realistic moon rovers and rockets of Classic Space. This was the future: dart-shaped shuttles, exploration, and research. But today, people being in space is routine, and some people even go so far as to say that true "space exploration" is no longer necessary (you hear this a lot in the US, anyway, because some people looking for unproblematic federal budget cuts see NASA as a waste of money that doesn't affect us back on Earth). So what's important to a Space theme today becomes how being in space changes us as a society, and what the human race and any "new neighbors" we discover get up to once we're there.

Space exploration does include exploration of other planets, which seems to be the purpose of Ice Planet. True, other good space themes included Space Police and didn't rely so heavily on exploration, but they were still set in deep space, as you say. For me, this is the real important component of space, not exploration, as I thought before.

You're right in that our distinction is unprecise, so I think that I would make a distinction between themes that are closer to real life, and themes that seem to exist in a completely different fictional universe. The Mars themes of course take place in our same Solar System, and Alien Conquest on Earth. Many of us prefer themes that are not as related to "the real world". That's one of the reasons why I prefer SW over Star Trek. SW occurs in a different galaxy. Of course that we have the latin alphabet in older space themes, and some other aspects related to our world, but you didn't feel so close to your own reality. Although Classic Space took place greatly on the Moon, I don't feel there was such a strong emphasis on that as there was with the Mars themes, or Alien Conquest.

Maybe it's an arbitrary personal preference, I don't know for certain. At least this is what I like, and please don't get me wrong: I don't mean to say that a theme is superior to other in absolute terms. I mean that I feel that these themes were not as good as the ones before (although I do feel that SPIII was "up to it".)

I do agree on the fact that maybe people are too biased when they regard classic space as the best space theme. Some factors affect here, such as growing up with the theme, and having the common notion of "there will never be something better than the good old things". I include myself here. However, I don't feel that Alien Conquest addresses a vision of the future much better than classic space did. True, space exploration isn't regarded as novel today, but then again, an alien invasion, although depicting future technology, is not addressing so much our vision of the future, at least not in a better way than classic space still does.

Edited September 21, 201113 yr by johnnyvgoode

I grew up with the classic space toys. I think my parents started buying some of the first lego space toys for me in 1979. From this time to about 1988 I collected most of the Space sets lego released. But, to be honest, when I got older I thought most of the "Explorian Space Sets" were pretty boring. Most other toy lines like Star Wars and Masters of the universe had two factions fighting eachother. So I thought those early space sets were a little boring, with all those smiling, colorful, peaceful space explorians. When Space Police I and Blacktron I were released, those were the best space sets for me and are still today. The color schemes and minifigs were beautiful and the story around the cool blacktron space pirates gave me a lot of ideas what storys to play with them.

I was very disapointed when I found out that the beautiful Space Police III toyline would be cancelled, without a return of blacktron. But I think Alien Conquest isn't a bad line.

Pros:

- Two fractions with Invaders and Protectors of earth had a lot of play value for kids.

- I really like those ADU figs. Just like the Space Police III figures, they simply look damn cool.

- Those alien ships and aliens all have classic sci-fi-looks. They look like action, but cute, retro and kid friendly at the same time.

- I think Alien Conquest is a fresh idea and a welcomed exception to the rule. Story, design and colors are a new chapter in the lego book, instead of just repeating the old stuff over and over again.

Cons:

- I simply don't like those color schemes. Blue and yellow on the ADU stuff isn't a good mix. It makes the sets more colorful and kid friendly than the Space Police III line did. I think SPIII apealed to more mature collectors and kids at the same time, while Alien Conquest seems to appeal more to kids.

So I think Alien Conquest is a nicely done and fresh line and I would prefer it over the mars mission line. It's not exactly a Space line, but I think it is fun and a nice idea for a new line. My biggest problem with it is, that I think it came much to early. I would have prefered to see (lets say 2 more years) with Space Police III and a revival of Blacktron as their enemys.

I think the standards have changed over the years, as well as LEGO's philosphy regarding conflict, and that comes through in the sets. Growing up in the 70's and 80's,I've followed and bought Space sets from nearly every theme, and in my opinion, every theme had its hits and misses. I'd prefer if LEGO would abandon the self-contained conflict and focus on each model for its own sake; alas, I doubt that'll happen again any time soon. Standards are very subjective. Personally, I would put this theme in an action category instead of Space, but it's LEGO's own classification so I'll not argue the point. What I will say is, I would put the ADU HQ set on par with any of the best Space sets I've built in terms of build, colors ( I like the smoked screen over the trans-yellow, personally), aesthetics, and most importantly, functionality. I got a very nostalgic feel building the HQ...the ramp with the little car (love that sort of thing), the blues and grays, the solidarity of the model, all harken to early classic Space sets. I was actually hoping the UFOs in the theme would be closer to the Alien Avenger UFO set, esp the mothership. i still like what we got in the theme. I thought the two small alien ships that combine in the heli set were pretty neat. I love the modularity of the Blacktron sets...always neat to see in newer sets and themes.

I find it odd that so many dislike the old UFO sets. It still stands as one of my favorite themes. I like the intricate printed designs on both figs and parts. I absolutely love the alien helmet from that theme...it looked foreboding and wonderful. The Alien Avenger was my favorite set, and I still have it built and stored away. I love how the ground vehicle can be tucked inside, and that the smaller saucer can detach. To me, it was very creative, different, and dark for its time.

I find it odd that so many dislike the old UFO sets. It still stands as one of my favorite themes. I like the intricate printed designs on both figs and parts. I absolutely love the alien helmet from that theme...it looked foreboding and wonderful. The Alien Avenger was my favorite set, and I still have it built and stored away. I love how the ground vehicle can be tucked inside, and that the smaller saucer can detach. To me, it was very creative, different, and dark for its time.

Personally, although I missed the UFO theme entirely, I like it and always have done so. I find the color scheme to be very appealing. In addition, I love the patterns on the parts. I sometimes wish there were even bigger ships from UFO, but I think that the ships Lego released in the theme were very good. It's one of my favorite Space sets actually.

Personally, although I missed the UFO theme entirely, I like it and always have done so. I find the color scheme to be very appealing. In addition, I love the patterns on the parts. I sometimes wish there were even bigger ships from UFO, but I think that the ships Lego released in the theme were very good. It's one of my favorite Space sets actually.

I think you and I stand alone in that opinion. I had all but the largest UFO ship set. The Alien Avenger outshone it, anyway, IMO. I still think the little Cyborg Scout is one of the coolest small vehicles from any theme (the T-3 Trike from Life on Mars was excellent, too). I just love it. The intricacy of the various printed parts/figs was a huge part of the appeal of those and subsequent themes. To this day, I have to scratch my head when folks complain of an official LEGO product being too detailed for LEGO. No such thing as "too detailed" IMO. That's as bad as saying that a model has too much detail built into it. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, however; fortunately for those of us favoring detailed prints, LEGO continues to improve the detailing on both parts and figs. It adds to the quality of their product, which is what makes them stand above the rest, and keeps me loyal and spending my hard earned cash.

Earlier in this thread, I believe, someone make a poignant observation that most of the earlier space themes took themselves seriously, whereas the latest batch of themes, i.e SP3, Agents and now Alien Conquest, are demonstrably tongue firmly in cheek. Not a bad thing for a kid's toy; but i like the serious stuff too. The Mars Mission Crystal Reaper has an area on the Reaper where you can connect a hose from the alien to the Reaper itself, as if siphoning its life energy to power the machine. That's how it played out in my mind, anyway. Then again, without ever reading any official backstory, one can easily see the human space miners as the antagonists in Mars Mission. Still, seems a little dark for LEGO, but maybe I'm inferring too deeply.

As far as Alien Conquest is concerned, I initially didn't think much of the sets. As I picked them up, however, I came to like them alot, esp the HQ. I love the addition of the viper craft, an excellent tribute to NNENN, as well as rounding out the set. It's not as elegant as the Agents' HQ, but then again the ADU HQ has a nice heavy military vibe to it, and few military vehicles are designed with elegance in mind. I was hoping for a continuation, but I guess it's another come and go theme. If I had my druthers, like many others here, I'd like to see either a limited release of fan-choice Classic Space sets (maybe one a year or every two years), or an updated revisitation of some of the old sets with today's parts, techniques, and aesthetics; perhaps a Galaxy Explorer 2.0.