Lego in Spaaaace

Some of my very favourite Lego sets are ones based on real-world space-stuff. Indeed throughout my childhood my dream Lego set was one the space shuttles; and I had no lack of sets to choose from, to date there have been at least fifteen different Lego representations of the space shuttles! My dream came true in 2010, when I decided to get a newly released set, what I think is the best model of a space shuttle Lego ever made (and indeed one of the best Lego sets outright), 10213 Shuttle Adventure.

This is by far the most detailed and accurate Lego model of the shuttle, one of just four that includes the fuel tanks and booster rockets. In a perhaps ironic reflection of the problems in the real shuttle program, there were design issues with the fuel tank, prompting Lego to reissue a tweaked version of the set in 2011, 20131 Shuttle Expedition.

This set is a thing of beauty, but it's just one of many wonderful Lego sets based on real space science. Continue below for a look back at Lego's long-time fascination with space.

Exo-Suit official images

Lego have updated their image servers with official images of the forthcoming Lego Ideas set 21109 Exo-Suit. Those include the box, front and back views of the suit, and a close-up of one of the new green space minifigures.

The images continue below, and for more on this Ideas project, check out the latest post on the Ideas blog, which looks at the development of the set from the original proposed model, to the final version pictured here.

Exo-suit revealed

Lego have released a short animation to reveal the next Lego Ideas set, 21109 Exo-Suit. Have a watch:



The final set will include not just the suit, but two classic Lego spacemen (a man and a woman in fact), for the first time in green, and a small robot companion for them. Brickset came across the box art for the set:

As you can see, the final set has maintained the overall character of the originally proposed design, but added in more robust joints, and slightly different detailing.

UPDATE: Brickset posted a comparison image of the originally proposed design and final set, which is also the best image yet of the set:

In the past couple of days, the original project designer, Peter Reid, has been posting teaser images leading up to the reveal. You can find all those on his Flickr account, and a couple of my favourites after the jump, as well as screencaps from the above video to get a better look at the final design.

The set is due to be released in August.

First details of The Lego Movie sets, video game, books, and other merchandise

Coming Soon has announced details of Lego's merchandising plans surrounding the release of The Lego Movie next year. Those plans of course include the release of a range of Lego sets based on the film. Seventeen sets are planned, which will take full advantage of the diverse Lego universe featured in the film, including City, Western, and Space settings. One image has been released, showing a set featuring the exotic motor bike seen in the trailer, apparently being chased by what looks like robotic police:

In addition to the sets one series of the Collectable Miifigures will be turned over to the film. The usual assortment of sixteen characters will include new and "new-again" minifigures, presumably meaning some of the vintage Lego designs seen in the film will be getting new life as minifigure releases.

As well as sets there will be a new Lego video game based on the film. Due to be released for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC, 3DS and PS Vita, the game will feature fifteen levels and ninety characters, allowing us to use building skills to play through the events of the movie. Comicbook.com posted this teaser poster for the game, featuring the same moment in the story as the above Lego set:

Meanwhile Video Gamer posted screencaps, showing events in the City and Western settings. Continue after the jump to see those, and for details of other merchandise:

The Lego Movie

Warner Brother have released the trailer and teaser poster for The Lego Movie, which is due out next February. The film comes from writers and directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who previously brought us the charming, hilarious, and beautiful, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (one of my very favourite films).

As the trailer demonstrates, the movie pulls in Lego characters and designs from the entire range of licenses and original themes, new and old - It's just as if the world of The Lego Movie takes place in your own eclectic Lego collection. There are some nice new character, location, and vehicle designs too, which surely will be translated into real world sets as well.

Voice talents include Chirs Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, and Morgan Freeman. Here's the official synopsis:

The 3D computer animated adventure tells the story of Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

UPDATE: An international version of the trailer has also been released, it's a bit shorted but has a few extra scenes (have added more screencaps from this below as well):

Here are some screencaps from the trailer (after the jump), which hopefully gives us some clues to a few future Collectible Minifigures (there is definitely a panda costume character among the crowds, and several new historical characters), or sets based on the film - The new characters for the film have some especially nice character designs, plus there seems to be a Western sequence:

Theme Guide: Galaxy Squad

Page created 25th March 2013. Last updated 24th July 2013.

2013 has a new Space theme from Lego, Galaxy Squad. The sets are coming with two waves, with the first batch already out, and a handful more coming later in the year. This new theme sees the return of space insects, last seen in any notable way all the back in 1999 with the Insectoids theme. Like Insectoids there are lots of insect shaped spaceships for the space bugs to fly. But that's not all, as like all recent Lego themes aimed at boys the story is shaped around conflict, so the insects are paired off against teams humans and robots, all in bright coloured livery. The humans in Galaxy Squad sets are a sort of combination of two recent Lego Space themes, taking the space-suits and alien battling weaponry from the Alien Conquest theme, and matching them with the mostly white (with accents of bright colours) classic sci-fi looking vehicles last seen in the Mars Mission theme.

The overall effect therefore is that Galaxy Squad seems really quite derivative from previous Lego Space efforts. The last space theme, Alien Conquest, was derivative in it's designs; those models were based on classic flying saucer looks - While drawing from well know sci-fi archetypes it was an approach to Space Lego hadn't done before, and as a result seemed much more original than this new theme. It would also be nice to see a modern Lego theme not built around conflict; how about some Star Trek-like seeking of strange new worlds for the purposes of scientific advancement? I'd love to see a space version of something like the old Divers sets, with astronauts collecting alien animals or something.

Anyway, lack of concept originality aside there is still much to offer in this new theme, the insect designs are a huge step up from the old Insectoids sets, and there is lots of stuff that is new, particularly with the alien and robot minifigures, as well as making best use of all the latest Lego tricks, colours and pieces. So lets have a look at the sets (continues after the jump):

70706 Crater Creeper

• One of the smaller insect sets, I think is the best of the range: This ant-like walker does a great job representing the animal it's based on while making it work as a vehicle too. It also has a fun pair of elasticated mandibles, so should be fun to play with as well. Nice detailing too; the mouth behind the mandibles is a printed title. As well as the insect there is a small hover-disc vehicle for the green clad human in the set. The alien minifigure is a vaguely termite-like creature which appears in several sets.
• Purchase: Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it.
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70702 Warp Stinger

• This set seems to be a sort of hybrid, taking the mouth, head, and wings, of a mosquito, and combing them with the a wasp-like abdomen, flexing inwards to sting, or in this case fire a little ball. The overall effect is quite menacing I think! There's another little flying vehicle for the red-clad human in this set, plus a robot. I quite like the robot head design here; it seems a little dinosaur-like. The insect minifigure in this set is a mosquito-like chap with a long mouth part and lovely wings - This guy is also armed with a brilliant weapon; a Lego scorpion with a saucepan on top and a small dish piece mounting on the front as the emitter.
• Purchase: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, Amazon.co.jp.