Rumored Space Collectible Minifigure Series

Okay so everything you read on the internet isn’t 100% true, but recently the rumor going around is that LEGO will release a space themed collectible minifigure series soon. After the Disney 100 series retires, we’ll have Marvel Studios series 2, then Series 25, and then a supposed space series in 2024. No one knows that that means yet. Will it be a CITY space themed series? Or Classic Space? Or a mixture of multiple space themes? Or a bunch of alien minifigures?

If I had to guess, based on the recent success of the Classic Space minifigures showing up in #10497-1: Galaxy Explorer, #40580-1: Blacktron Cruiser, and the brown Classic Space minifigure with space baby showing up in #71037: Series 24, I would think LEGO will cater to the fans with more of the same.

So what does that mean? Let’s take a trip down LEGO Space memory lane to discuss what we might see in this release…

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Classic Space

We have seen a lot of Classic Space minifigures return in different colors and sizes. I suspect that we would see at least one new Classic Space minifigure and hopefully it will be in a color that we don’t have. What’s left anyways?

Side note… I forgot I even had this one. Other than the dust, it looks pretty good. The helmet doesn’t have a crack and the logo is still there. Nice!

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Space Police

The first version of space police looks similar to Futuron, but has a red face shield on the helmet. The re-boot a few years later added some different colors and printing on the faces. We already saw a Space police minifigure in #71029: Series 21 Collectible Minifigures, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them appear again.

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Blacktron

Blacktron I and II have reappeared with the Blacktron Cruiser GWP recently. Maybe we’ll get a new Blacktron II minifigure? I like the jet pack suit. Maybe another one will show up?

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Futuron

Futuron is kind of an upgraded Classic Space series. I enjoyed some of the tools they came with and it would be fun to see a new one, but I’m not sure we’ll be getting another one considering the popularity of Classic Space and how similar these look.

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M-Tron

Please bring M-Tron back in the CMF series!!!!! I was a huge fan as a kid and still am. The magnets in the sets were fun to play with and I wouldn’t mind adding to my M-Tron stash.

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Ice Planet 2002

Ice Planet brought a new theme with new helmet visors, printed faces, and lots of translucent orange pieces. It would be awesome to see these guys re-appear. Maybe some girl space figures?

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Spyrius, Unitron

I forgot I had these guys. I picked them up right before I entered my “Dark Age.” They had some printing on their faces and different looks, but the theme wasn’t really a standout. I doubt we’ll see either of these guys make a return.

Set Review - #10497-1: Galaxy Explorer - Icons

About a year ago, LEGO ran a vote for the favorite theme to bring back for the 90th anniversary of the company. The votes were tallied and Castle ended up winning. The #10305-1: Lion Knight Castle was the resulting set from the vote. As a bonus to fans, we also got this set which is #10497-1: Galaxy Explorer. This set is a remake of 1979’s set #497: Galaxy Explorer. The original set had 338 pieces and retailed for $32. The new set contains 1,254 pieces and retails for $99.99 in the US. This works out to $0.08 per piece. The set was released on 20 June 2022 in the US and it is still out at the time of this post. I purchased the set on pre-order straight from LEGO Shop @ Home, but Walmart has had the set on sale for $75 for the past week or so. I’m not sure how long that sale will last, but it’s crazy to see a new set discounted so quickly after it’s release. It makes me wonder if the set isn’t selling as well as LEGO had hoped.

The box is designed after the old box style and is similar to #21322-1: Pirates of Barracuda Bay. It has the 90th anniversary logo on the bottom right on the front and a few other changes like the “18 years and up” for the age versus sets from the 1970s and 1980s. The back of the set shows some of the various play features of the set.

The contents of the set are 9 parts bags, an 8x16 black tile, the instructions (in a sealed bag), and a sheet telling you that some day LEGO will switch over to paper parts bags, but in the meantime you can keep throwing out your single use plastic bags.

The build starts with some inner substructure made of mostly Technic elements. You also build what will become the landing legs that extend down and then retract.

I failed to add it in the picture, but you get a space minifigure in a red suit here as well as a brick separator.

The second bag starts to give the ship it’s shape and adds some of the crew compartment. It’s great to see the printed tiles and bricks from the past return. From the bottom view, you can see the three landing legs. Each of them have a piece that is flat on the bottom and then has studs on top to connect with the rest of the ship. I’m not sure if this is a new piece or not, but it’s a cool use of this part.

Builds three and four help to create more of the shape of the ship. The use of LEGO geometry to create the angles is impressive. Not only are plates used, but the various leading and trailing edges of the ship still match the angles with very little gaps. Well done LEGO design team!

I found the build to be a bit fragile as I was putting it together. There were a lot of parts that kept coming off. This was rectified by the end, but just a note to be careful as you assemble the set.

Throughout the instructions, LEGO included various fun tidbits about the set which were nice to include. You’ll notice the use of colors. The designers only used colors available back in 1979 except for the light gray which was slightly different back then.

Bag three adds another space minifigure. This time it is in white.

Build 5 adds more detail to include the “shooters” on the front, some colored tiles on the top, and the start of the crew compartment. Initially, you attach an assembly of parts to the main structure of the ship with a Technic pin. For a while it just looks awkward as it sits at a weird angle and looks out of place. As you go further, you see that it fits right in and matches the angles perfectly. The fifth bag also includes another red colored space minifigure.

The sixth bag adds more detail to include additions to the crew compartment (beds that support leaving your oxygen tank on), storage for gear, the rear storage section for the space buggy with a ramp that folds out, and the start to where the engines connect.

Build 7 includes a white space minifigure and finishes off the crew compartment. You get additional control panels to add into the back compartment. You also add in the two yellow windscreens. I heard numerous complaints about these screens being scratched, but I didn’t have any issues. The set also comes with more printed parts to include the Classic Space logo and the numbers on the side.

Build 8 completes the rear tail, storage compartment, maneuvering thrusters, and the functionality that lets the rear compartment flip open to let the vehicle out.

This set comes with 4 space minifigures. While we didn’t get any new colors from the past, it’s still great to have additional space suited minifigures to add to the crew. Also included is a robot/droid. It wasn’t in the original set, but was in some of the other Classic Space sets. This one can carry coffee mugs which is fun considering they are in space and the coffee wouldn’t actually stay in the cups.

Here’s the final set. The ninth bag adds the engines. Two are on the sides in the back and two are attached to the back. The two on the sides can be removed and you can stick a minifigure on top to ride them. The ninth bag also adds the space buggy. You can open the rear of the ship, pull out the ramp, and it slides out. This is another cool addition to the set.

I highlighted the landing gear earlier and I took a picture of it extended here. The new piece is great and I like how it extends out to land and then folds up and tucks into the ship to allow it to swoosh away.

Overall, it’s a great set. I think it’s priced well and $75 is an even better deal if you grab it from Walmart. As a Classic Space fan as a kid, I was pumped to see space return and I appreciate the addition of this set to the line. Side note, I voted for the M-Tron theme to return…

I recommend this set for fans into the nostalgia of older LEGO sets as well as new fans. My 5 year old enjoyed playing with the space buggy and minifigures and I’m sure others as well. Also, it’s a great way to get into the 90th Anniversary sets without dropping $400 on the Castle.

Happy building!

Classic Space and Castle Themes Back to Drain Our Wallets

If you follow any of the LEGO Fan Media sites or LEGO itself, you saw that LEGOCON 2022 had some big set announcements. I was surprised at the number of announcements and also the scale of some of the sets. It wasn’t like an introduction of the LEGO CITY line for the next year. There were some big drops which is pretty cool if you ask me.

The set I’m most excited about is #10497-1: Galaxy Explorer. This is probably because I was a big LEGO Space fan as a kid (M-Tron was one of my favorite themes), but it is cool to see a set like this show up. It has four minifigures, 1,294 pieces, and with a retail price in the US of $99.99, it works out to $0.08/piece which isn’t too bad. It’s available starting on 1 August 2022, but you can pre-order it on LEGO.com now.

The box design is reminiscent of the sets of the past with the yellow coloring and packaging design. This started with #21322-1: Pirates of Barracuda Bay and returns here. I’m looking forward to putting this set together some day.

LEGO.com

LEGO.com

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The other big reveal was #10305-1: Lion Knights’ Castle. This one will also be released on 1 August 2022 in the US and I don’t believe there is a pre-order option. The set will contain 4,514 pieces and will retail for $399.99 in the US. That will work out to $0.089/piece which isn’t too bad. I count 21 minifigures which may or may not be accurate, but is pretty darn close. This one is pretty pricy, but it’s great to see Castle finally come back in a big way. I suspect this one will fly off the shelves and will be hard to get for a bit.

LEGO.com

LEGO.com

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Andres Lehman from Zusammengebaut.com just recently posted an interview he did with the set designers from LEGO. Mike Psiaki and Milan Madge are well known from previous set designs they’ve had and they show some of the cool details and functions of these sets. It’s worth the just under 16 minutes of your time to see what is up.

Happy building!

Visiting an Open LEGO® Display in 2020 - Gartenschau - Kaiserslautern, Germany

The Gartenschau in Kaiserslautern was closed in early 2020 as COVID-19 first hit Germany. Thankfully, it re-opened and I finally was able to get there to see the updated LEGO® display. So we donned our masks and went in…

Before moving on, here are the links to the previous visits I’ve had to the Gartenschau:
2018, 2019 (part 1), 2019 (part 2)

Here’s the welcome sign. It says die große LEGO® ausstellung (the large LEGO® display) and it is hosted by Lauter Steine E.V. If you live locally, I believe it closes on 31 October and then re-opens in April.

The start of the display had a few cases with some MOCs. Some of the minifigures had masks added to them.

Next up, a large MOC of a 2x4 red brick. Then there was another case with a few MOCs and some sets.

In that case (shown above) were a few MOCs designed by Daniel Krentz. He was the designer of the #375 LEGO Classic Yellow Castle (shown below). Daniel passed away in 2016. There were a few MOCs from Daniel in the case purchased during a Fairy Bricks fundraiser.

The first picture looks like a Native American totem pole only out of bricks and in various build styles.

Next is a case with some train MOCs and some Formula 1 race car MOCs. The bottom has the VW Bus set with some VW MOC. Further down is a space shuttle.

There was no sign next to this one, but it looks like a recreation of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. It’s a very impressive build!

I apologize for the reflection and lighting. The displays have plexiglass in front of them (smart move) and the lighting is not meant for cameras.

This MOC has been there previously and is a western US scene from the 1800s or so. I like the use of the wallpaper background incorporated with the brick background.

I wasn’t as big of a Castle fan as a kid so I’m not sure if these next pictures are sets or MOCs, but they are in the Castle theme.

I didn’t see a sign next to this one, but perhaps this is a MOC of an actual castle in Germany? The German flag is on top of the main structure so maybe.

This MOC was there last year and it’s a build of the electricity plant of the city of Kaiserslautern in 1894. I like the hot air balloon to mix things up a bit from the industrial look. I’m also a fan of the tall smoke stack they build. I’m curious if it is brick only or if there is a supporting structure inside.

Here’s an impressive build of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. If you look closely, you an see some fun details like Santa Claus.

Here is another Berlin landmark. The Reichstag where the German Parliament meets. I saw this build at a show last year. The new addition this time is the park nearby with the LEGO logo in brick flower form.

Here is a MOC of the Fruchthalle in Kaiserslautern. It’s a music venue for performances. The MOC is built from ~80,000 bricks. It took about a year to build and was built in 2016. I’ll let you read the description in German in the picture below.

I’m not sure if this MOC is new or just hasn’t been displayed in the past few years, but I found it to be the most impressive one there this year. The Frankfurt train station. First picture is the sign on the display letting you know what it is.

Here’s the full display… or at least most of it. I like how they added in the mirrors so you could see the trains. I didn’t get any close ups of the trains, but they had a mix of sets (the Disney train) and a few MOC trains.

A few more pictures of the station. I think the main building is impressive. The curve they were able to recreate in brick is really impressive.

Added into the scene were many of the modular buildings. I didn’t see the Cafe Corner or Green Grocer, but they have the City Hall and a few of the less recent buildings.

Nearby were a few buildings that are re-creations of actual buildings in the Frankfurt area.

I don’t know if this is of an actual train station or not. If you zoom in on the sign, Reiichelsheim (Odenwald) is an actual place. Not sure if they just wanted the sign on the station or not.

The large recreation of the brick fence behind the train station is cool!

I saw these MOCs of Venetian buildings last fall. You can see a few more pictures of them here.

A Ninjago scene.

The city scene has remained a constant over the past few years, but every year they make some changes and throw in some new things. Like last year, they have a fair, a rural area with farms, a European style city center walking area, and a more downtown/urban area. This year included more lights to include LEDs in the modular buildings, a subway type train route (the trains weren’t running while we were there), and a new train station to name a few.

I’m trying out a new (to me) web feature. You should be able to click an arrow or swipe on your phone/tablet to advance through the city scene pictures. Let me know in the comments if it doesn’t work.

I believe this scene was there in previous years. It’s a European style town/city next to hill/mountain. I’m going to guess Bavaria… maybe? The detailing on this one is very impressive and I like the colors too.

An imperial ship from the Pirate’s theme and then some recreations from JK Brickworks.

Some brick built birds which appear to be pretty close to scale. They are designed by Felix Jaensch. You can see his work here on Flickr.

The Dom…

Here’s the Cologne Cathedral again. It’s been there every year that I have visited and I still find it to be an incredible MOC.

Here’s the room dedicated to the space themes (should be able to click through the pictures). There are Ice Planet, M-Tron, Futuron, a large MOC of a ship, and some MOCs in the various space theme styles. This room is awesome! It makes me want to build some MOCs to add to them. I was a huge M-Tron fan and still have my sets.

Here are some architecture themed sets and MOCs. The Statue of Liberty (#21042-1), a MOC of Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), a version of the Taj Mahal, and a few churches.

Various MOCs on display.

Star Wars™ sets have to make an appearance. Here are a few of the UCS sets on display.

A tall brick skyscraper. The top is lit up with LEDs.

Here is the logo for SteinHelden.de. This is a store located on site and they have an online store (only ships within Germany). It loosely translates to “brick heroes” and the business is set up to employ the disabled. A number of the workers are in wheel chairs or have other disabilities. It’s a cool concept!

Here is a microscale representation of the city of Kaiserslautern. Specifically it is the Rathaus (City Hall) and the Pfaltztheater.

A larger scale version of the Burj Khalifa.

A large scene of ancient Egypt.

The western US circa 1800s.

Last display case with some modified sets to include some Ideas sets, the James Bond Car, and some Harry Potter sets. There are also some fighter jet and biplane MOCs on the bottom row.

Another awesome display this year. So glad I was able to visit despite all of the COVID-19 closures. Thanks to the team who puts this amazing exhibit on! Hope you enjoyed my picture tour.

Happy building!

Gartenschau Kaiserslautern, Germany - Back with Another Great LEGO Display in 2019

In case you missed it, I visited the Gartenschau in Kaiserslautern, Germany back in 2018. It just opened again for the season back on 1 April 2019 and I had the opportunity to go for a visit this past weekend. The ads for the park highlighted another big LEGO based display, but I wasn’t sure if it was just the same display from 2018 or not. I was pleasantly surprised that Lauter Steine eV put together another awesome display for 2019. There were some returning displays and items, but there were also some brand new ones. I was only able to get a few pictures, but I plan to go back soon and will post more. Here are a few highlights.

Some brick built, larger scale minifigures greet you as you walk in…

One of the new displays is of the Pfalztheater-Kaiserslautern (link should take you to a Google Images page for the theater).

There was a classic space focused display last year with a big monorail. While they still have pieces of classic space, there are some changes this year. There is a Ice Planet themed section. The light in the room makes it hard to take photos, but it does make the orange and white of the Ice Planet theme look pretty cool.

Some classic space and M-Tron sets.

I was a huge M-Tron fan as a kid. I had a bunch of the sets and thought the magnets were great. Here’s an awesome M-Tron space station.

Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! (#70816-1) from the first LEGO Movie makes an appearance.

As a kid, I saved up and purchased the Mega Core Magnetizer (#6989-1). Still a great set!

The first case has some larger scale, brick built versions of various pieces along with the brick art underneath. The next picture is a working minifigure head designed out of bricks clock.

The next two picture are various architecture themed type sets. There are some actual LEGO sets mixed in, but many are fan built sets in the format of LEGO Architecture. There are also a few larger scale buildings.

I took a picture of this display and the sign that goes with it, but the sign that goes with it is all in German and I haven’t translated it yet. So enjoy the picture and I’ll update this post with info on this display once I translate what this is.

26 April 2019: Okay, I had time to use Google Translate… long story short, this is a model of a power plant built in Germany in 1894.

I included a picture of the info sheet so you can try and translate yourself, but this display is of a section of Kaiserslautern that is being re-developed. The buildings are models of what the final area will look like.

A returning display from 2018 is the Cologne Cathedral. I talked about it a bit more during my 2018 post. My family was able to visit Cologne in December 2018 for the Christmas Market. We got to see the cathedral while there. It is incredible on the outside and on the inside! If you are ever there, definitely check it out. Here is the picture I took of the LEGO brick built version and then a picture of the actual cathedral that I took from the nearby Christmas Market.

I visited with my kiddos so I had to rush through the displays and get the the play area that they have. I didn’t get the pictures that I wanted so I’ll have to go back (oh darn!). Last two I’ll post for now… one is an Elves themed display and the other is a cool looking building that I’ll need to get a picture of the sign and translate. Sorry.

I have never been to a LEGO Fan Convention, but I imagine that going through Gartenschau Kaiserslautern is what it’s like. A ton of cool displays to look at everywhere. Well done Lauter Steine eV! It’s another incredible display this year and they did a phenomenal job putting it all together! If you’re ever in the area, you definitely need to check it out.

Happy building!

Set Review - #70841-1: Benny's Space Squad - The LEGO Movie 2

From what I can tell, the LEGO Movie 2 was released on 8 February 2019 in the US. Is that right? Well it’s the end of March and I have yet to see it. I’ll get there, don’t worry. And you don’t have to worry about spoilers in this post if you haven’t seen the movie either.

From the last movie I wasn’t a huge fan of the sets that came out. I bought a few, but that was it. With this movie, there really haven’t been any sets that I saw and immediately wanted to add to my collection. That was until I saw #70841-1: Benny’s Space Squad. I was a huge LEGO space fan as a kid. I collected some of the Classic sets and then some of the others like Blacktron, M-Tron, and Space Police. Some really great sets… those were the days…

Well the LEGO Company knows that there are suckers like me out there who miss our kid days and would love to see more LEGO space. In the first movie we had #70816-1: Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! This time around we have Benny’s Space squad. It was released in the US on 10 January 2019. It contains 68 pieces and has five minifigures (well four and a droid). At $9.99 that makes it $0.147 per piece which is pretty steep… As I mentioned, I’m a sucker for space so I bought into the overpriced set.

With only 68 pieces in the box, it’s a pretty small box. The front shows the set while the back shows the features. It also names the characters. Kenny (yellow), Benny, Lenny (pink), and Jenny (white). I can’t wait to see MOCs appearing with a bunch of pink Lenny minifigures and spaceships made of LEGO Friends colors. The pink is a fun addition to the yellow, blue, and white space minifigures. I think I have red and black from back in the day and if you bought the Exo-Suit (#21109-1), you have green too.

The contents are two small parts bags and an instruction booklet. Nothing special considering it’s such a small set.

It’s a pretty simple build. There is a small ship that is built in the Classic Space colors. There is also a small dune buggy type vehicle that two of the minifigures can ride on. There is a droid this you get to build as well. The minifigures each come with an accessory. I assembled them for the picture based on the instructions. Some interesting things about them… the metal detector is different from the old space line. The detector portion itself is flat versus having a stud and hole like back in the day. Also the radio that Benny is holding has a different design on the one side. It’s indented versus flat. That’s the first time I have seen one like that.

Benny is the only minifigure with two facial expressions (happy and sad). The rest of the figures just have the old fashioned two dots and a line for a mouth.

Overall it’s a minifigure pack. I bought the set because I liked the minifigures. So if you’re interested in the minifigures like I was, then go for it. Otherwise, don’t bother. There isn’t much of a build involved and not a ton of great pieces or just pieces in general.

I haven’t seen this one on sale yet, but hopefully it’ll catch at least $1 off at some point. Maybe before next Christmas?

Happy building!