Since the release of The LEGO Movie there has been a huge revival of LEGO Classic Space. And not just LEGO blogs and forums are reaching back in time to LEGO Classic Space, but even more so people who haven’t touched LEGO for decades or are just now discovering LEGO Classic Space the first time. There is something magical about these sets. 🙂
I have seen on popular social websites like Facebook, Google+, Reddit, etc, people excitedly sharing stories of digging out their childhood LEGO sets or asking for help with trying to rebuild their old collection. And it is not just those who grew up with these sets who appreciate them. A lot of the younger generation also got interested in LEGO Classic Space. Whether this is due to the influence of their parents, or the contagious enthusiasm of little Benny from The LEGO Movie, or just because LEGO Classic Space is just plain awesome with a timeless appeal, I don’t know, but the fact remains that right now LEGO Classic Space is hot – very hot. 😀
If you are not familiar with LEGO Classic Space but would like to learn more about it, or you grew up with the sets and would like to re-live some old memories, one of the best ways to learn about LEGO Classic Space is through JANGBRiCK’s YouTube channel. JANG is one of my most favorite LEGO set reviewers, and he recently really got into LEGO Classic Space; meticulously researching, acquiring and rebuilding old sets, and reviewing and showcasing them on his channel. I learned quite a bit from his LEGO Classic Space videos about the history of these great sets.
I’m embedding here JANGBRiCK’s YouTube playlist dedicated to LEGO Classic Space sets. There are something like 40 videos in the series, so you will have lots to check out. They will play one after another if you would like to watch them all, or use the drop-down list on the left of the video-player to navigate to the videos you would like to see. Some of my favorite videos in the series are comparing the old style LEGO Space helmets with the new ones (including Benny’s broken helmet), looking at the whole fleet of LEGO Classic Space ships, and also showcasing JANG’s entire collection of LEGO Classic Space sets. And there are also individual set reviews.
If you are interested in LEGO Classic Space I’m sure you already know that Benny’s Spaceship from The LEGO Movie is going to be released later this year (see links at the end of this post). Although not exactly like the original LEGO Classic Space ships, Benny’s spaceship is definitely a wonderful tribute to the old theme both in style and color. And we just talked about the upcoming LEGO CUUSOO Exo Suit set the other day, which is also going to be tied in with LEGO Classic Space. If I were LEGO, I would release even more – riding on the wave of popularity! But even if we only get those two sets these are good times for LEGO Classic Space fans!
And if you would like to acquire the original LEGO Classic Space sets, eBay is your best friend. Right now LEGO Classic Space is very popular, so expect a bidding-war on the most popular sets, but you can also find some good deals on both old sets and minifigs. LEGO Classic Space usually refers to the blue and gray (and later blue and white) sets from the ’80s with the LEGO Classic Space logo, but also don’t forget about some of the other iconic old LEGO Space sets like Futuron from the late ’80s, Blacktron from the late ’80s and early ’90s, M:Tron from the early ’90s, Unitron and Exploriens from the mid ’90s, and even Ice Planet, RoboForce, Insectoids, and Space Police I & II from the late ’90s. Check eBay listings here: LEGO Classic Space Sets & Minifigures on eBay
One of the nice things about LEGO Classic Space is that it is not always conflict-based like today’s LEGO Space sets. There was a lot of exploration and research going on, although I have read that LEGO designers always tried to sneak in some covert guns and shooting abilities even when this was against company policy. The fact is that blowing up badguys and stuff is fun… for whatever reason… I’m not a psychologist…
What do you think? Do you prefer the old LEGO Space sets or the new ones? Or do you like them both? Do you own any LEGO Classic Space sets? Are you planning to get some? Or do you prefer to get Benny’s Spaceship and whatever other LEGO Classic Space inspired sets LEGO is going to release? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below! 😉
And you might also like to check out the following related posts:
http://www.bricklink.com
Don’t even look at Ebay. 😛 😉
I normally shop at BrickLink too, however for bargains on older LEGO sets and for mixed lots eBay tends to work out better. 😉
People on eBay piss me off. They buy Lego sets and then part them out on eBay for exorbitant prices. They are basically societal leeches. They produce nothing. They just take what others produce and try to make money off of it. It’s ridiculous. You can find everything you want related to Lego sets on bricklink.com without getting ripped off.
Aaaron, yeah, a lot of sellers do that. However it is a free market and if people want to use eBay instead of BrickLink and pay double prices, that’s their choice. BTW, you can still find good deals on eBay – mostly from people who are getting rid of their old collection, not resellers. 😉
Yeah like I got a blacktron space ship ( i don’t know what it’s called :p) for 10 bucks on e bay
Space isn’t my favorite of the themes, but I do have a soft spot for classic space. I did own a couple sets, one with the hard to find black suit spaceman. I did like some of the later space themes like Futron, Blacktron, Ice Planet?, and the different iterations of Space Police.
I was reading something interesting the other day on Brickset as a comment at this article. Aanchir mentioned the following, quoting from an interview conducted by Mark Stafford in the sixth issue of Brickjournal:
From Jens Nygaard Knudsen, one of the original LEGO Space designers and the inventor of the LEGO minifigure: “We started with only Red and White figures, we considered the red ones to be the ‘bad’ guys, and that they were two competing factions…. The original two colors were explorers, yellow were scientists, blues were technicians or mechanics and I guess the black were warriors, but we were not allowed to make a big deal out of this. We were not allowed to make war.”
And from Niels Milan Pedersen, another classic space designer: “There were a lot of disagreements about the aerials and other elements that pointed forwards on the ships because of the ‘no war’ policy. We were not allowed to make weapons, and these things we built looked aggressive, so there were a lot of ‘radar dishes’ added and ‘sensor probes’, but to us they were really guns!”
I was planning to mention this in the article, but then decided against it as it was getting too long. But it is interesting stuff. 🙂
That is interesting. It brings to mind how many years we had police men but no actual guns for them and no “criminal” figures. Admittedly though as cool as some of those “criminal” figures were, I like creating villains out of ordinary people. Did that when my brother and I were younger. When I get my 1985 Air Port set built and on my blog, I will have a few stories to relay about a troublesome control tower woman.
My brother and I did the same. Although we always used the coolest pieces for the good guys, and built the badguys from random leftovers. Looking forward to your stories! BTW, I think you need to add a / at the end of your website link, like this: . Right now when I click on your name I just get an error message, but with the / at the end it works. Just thought to mention that. 😉
Oh thanks for letting me know! My site is very newbish I know, as blogging about Legos is a new thing and I’ve been so on and off the hobby since about mid high school which was almost 20 years ago. But hopefully I can make something interesting and worth looking at eventually. =D
Cool!
I only recently got into Lego, and missed all the old stuff.
I think the only reason I know about Classic space is this blog, actually. I tend to avoid older sets and themes, but Classic Space is cool. The antique-ness of these makes it better than a lot of newer SW sets.
And wasn’t Space Police from 2008-2010? My brother has one.
Also, they revealed the Fairground set: 😀
http://brickset.com/article/11096/10244-fairground-mixer-unveiled!
There were several iterations of space police throughout the years. I think the first one was either late 80s https://brickset.com/sets/6955-1/Space-Lock-Up-Isolation-Base
And in the early 90s. https://brickset.com/sets/6813-1/Galactic-Chief
Yeah, I checked Brickset right after. Space Police 1 and 2 are from the late 1980’s-early 1990’s. My brother’s set is from Space Police 3, which is from 2009-2010.
There has been three different incarnations of Space Police.
We will talk about the Fairground set next week. I got the press-release as well, but since we focus on one topic a day so we can fully discuss and digest it, I couldn’t sqeeze it in. I don’t want to overwhelm you guys with too much goodness. 😉
Lego should bring the classic space sets back
They are doing that with Benny’s Spaceship and the Exo Force set. And if the demand is there I’m sure LEGO will do more. 😉
Lego should really stop wasting their money on Lego mixels and chima. They should focus on stuff people would like!! Oh. Lego space.. Why did you have to retire? U’ll never get old, ur plastic!
Chris, some people may not like all themes, but the fact of the matter is that both Chima and Mixels are hugely popular. The good thing is that LEGO makes all kinds of themes for all kinds of tastes. 😉
Classic space is fab. My brothers had a heap of it but it’s now crazy expensive to collect. I morn the day my cousin sold 3x the monorail set for about £20 15 years ago. Still Bennys new set gives us a lot of the key pieces 🙂
I’m so looking forward to Benny’s Spaceship! Counting down the days! Your cousin sold 3 Monorail sets for houw much???!!! 😯
I wish I had some classic space sets! but I wasn’t around then. 🙁
Me too man. I like it too, but I wasn’t born then. I wish 🙁
The very first Lego I owned were Classic Space (the very small sets, like the lunar car or the very small spaceship).
Actually visiting my parents for New Year’s I rummaged through the attic trying to find them, but with no luck. 🙁
I assume they were given to some younger cousin at some point in the 90’s. My mom can’t remember, and neither can I. Too bad
David, yeah, a lot of people are rummaging through attics and basements to dig out Classis Space sets right now. Little Benny started such a revolution! 😛
Oh, Lego space. If only lego could make more space. 🙁
I wasn’t born in that great, great time for lego. It’s so pricey on amazon and ebay. I only have 6 minifigs. 4 are from a pack of minifigs.
Old is gold.
My story is a little different. After I saw The LEGO Movie, I got a Classic Red Astronaut from someone. The astronaut came in set 6861 X-1 Patrol Craft, which did not have all the pieces in it due to it moving between houses. Later, I decided to build a sleeker, more modern version of that ship, and I kept building.
And I still build.
The skills to play the builds!
Nice! Thanks for sharing! I actually like the red astronauts the most, and they provide a nice contrast to the gray and blue color sceme of Classic Space. Keep building! 😉
I really want to get Benny’s spaceship but other than that I probably won’t get any other Classic Space stuff. eBay iS great though, I’ve gotten a few good deals on LEGO there.
I recently completed the entire classic space series. It cost about $1500 US to build. I also added a monorail set and it all looks so fantastic. I am sorta sad but I am going to buy the new Benny’s starship.
I think the color combination looks great and worth to be added to the quite large display. 16 crater plates and 8 landing plates.
Would love to see your display! Any pictures? Why are you sad for buying Benny’s Spaceship? It is a fantastic set and fits right in with Classic Space. 🙂
Aww ur so lucky man. Congrats 🙂
Dang, I’m so unlucky. I can’t get any more lego sets because my parents aren’t very fond or lego and I love lego space so much. 🙁 And there’s no way I can earn money. 🙁
Chris, you might consider checking wtih your school or local library. Many of them have LEGO related school programs. Also, there may even be a LEGO Club near you. And you can make friends with kids who’s parents encourage using LEGO. It is one of the most versatile educational toys, and it is also lots of fun. 🙂
my parents like lego but don’t like to get them often XD
They just don’t like getting lego space often because its so expensive. I was overdoing it cuz i saw so many lego space videos XD. But also thx for the advice!
Oh and do you know how i can articles like how i see people doing their own?
Chris, I’m not understanding the question. Would you please re-phrase it?
Srry XD I meant like post an article.
Oh, I see. Just send in your article to my email address. Attach any pictures you want to add and make an note in the article where do you want them to go. If you want to include a video, just add the link and I will embed it. That’s pretty much it. I will take care of final formatting and put it on the schedule for publication. 🙂
Ok thx!
It looks like the first Lego stop-motion film with synchronized sound just surfaced online and it uses classic space sets. It was made by Marc Leidy in 1985. Here’s the link:
https://vimeo.com/110311846
I had a lot of the classic space sets when I was a kid, but a few years ago a went a little bit crazy on bricklink and ebay, and now I have ALL of them. Even the unreleased 1526 which I created from parts. It is a massive collection. I’m still missing some of the instructions though.
My kids love it. I have a partially assembled 928 sitting in front of me right now. My son recently told me that he likes my Lego better than his Lego (a decent collection of city, creator, and chima stuff).
I wrote up a big document that reviews every classic space set in detail, giving my ratings on a scale of 1 to 10. 1593 scored lowest, and sets like 928 and 6980 got full marks. Maybe I should share it online some time.
That would make a really interesting article! If you would every like to write one you are welcome to do so and I will publish it for you. I’m jealous of your collection! 🙂
To me the classic space era corresponds to the rise of the space shuttle program. A time when many of the launches were televised.
Hence the model reflects a dreamy atmosphere of space discoveries and exploration, without any of the bad ass look in other space sets, the starwars models (which are still cool) and many MOCs…
One big advantage: they were made of many basic pieces (still with exciting novelties of the time such as colored translucide pieces) with which it was easy to make our own creations (including childish ones: when I was ten, I would often create hydro-space ships, able to land on lakes). I do not like the large sort of “all in one” pieces in newer models which (I feel) tend to limit creative possibilities.
In comparison starwar sets are good and bad: they are the only models which I tend to keep as they come with the instruction (I am not going to destroy this X-wing fighter, it is so cool!), whereas I would always re-create new stuff from the classic space sets (and that is what all lego is about).
Thanks for the blog. Good read.
If you want to see something special: look at moddb.com and look under “mods for homeworld 2” in there you will find a mod called “brickspace” where someone a few years ago someone made a special version of hw2, where all the space ships are made from lego- there are two videos and one can see actual real time footage of space battles in classic space, blacktron and ice…something- amazing! the sound affects of laser guns firing and explosions are stunning!
Those are pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing. For others who want to check out the videos, here is the link: http://www.moddb.com/mods/brickspace/videos/
I remember my first Lego space set. It was a Futuron set Laser Ranger I bought with my birthday money back in 1989. My next space set was a combo pack set from 1990. After 20 some years later I miss the Futuron, Blacktron I, Space Police I sets.
Yeah, those were great sets! I hope young LEGO fans these days will also fondly remember their childhood LEGO sets. 🙂
I doubt that anyone will read this, but I think you meant “Exo suit,” not “Exo force.” Just sayin’. 😛
Oh, thanks for caching that! Someone nobody noticed it before. Had it fixed. 😀
Classic Space is not dead!
Please help me get 10k supports so it will be an official Lego set.
This Lego Ideas project includes:
2800 pieces
all 9 different official color astronauts released, including the elusive light gray astronaut.
More than 15 different new trans yellow pieces.
Cargo transport, exploration rover, hover ship, lifter MECH, crane.
4 separated functional modules
Great play value, MODULAR Build, modern building techniques, 80s Nostalgia.
Ever wanted a Classic Space reboot? This is your chance to take part in it.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/43814e85-ead4-46d0-886c-b024d6156756?fbclid=IwAR0U-UpU8fQ3wVo0icgnT38MsFfeQf4_NSQcNQikzOMZ_CzSuJ0BJlXTFSw
I wish the faggots in charge of Lego would just re-release more classic space lego. Either that OR Lepin should start selling it.
The LL918 scout, the LL924 freighter, the LL928 explorer and the LL929 voyager. Or, as I like to think of them in this post-Movie era: Benny’s fleet. That’s aside from all the base modules and crawlers that you could also get.
If Lego had sense, they’d fund a ‘Starfleet: Benny’ spin-off movie for all those kids like me who pestered their parents to get these sets back in the day!
Awww! Haha! I call them Benny’s feet too! And yes, they should totally make a Benny movie! 🙂