Pause Magazine's Lego Set Reference Guide - Space

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For many people, the Space theme holds a special place in the heart. It was, after all, the first theme other than Town. And it also came at a time when many young kids were looking to the skies, thanks mostly to Star Wars. The 497 Galaxy Explorer was even somewhat reminiscent of the big Imperial Star Destroyers. The Space System logo, pictured above, was proudly displayed on the space suits of orbiting mini-figures until 1990.

This first group of sets are the Generic or Unspecified sets - those which don't fall into a Space sub-theme. Following are the sets in the Blacktron, Futuron, Space Police, M:Tron, Blacktron Future Generation (aka Blacktron II), Space Police (aka Space Police II), Ice Planet 2002, Spyrius, Unitron, Exploriens, U.F.O., RoboForce and Insectoids sub-themes.

Many people will say that for sheer coolness, the original Blacktron sub-theme has no equal. Three of the sets (6954 Renegade, 6941 Battrax and 6894 Invader) were presented in the 1987 catalog, but without the Blacktron name or logo. Despite this, the boxes of the sets themselves did include the logo, making Blacktron not only the first Space sub-theme, but the first Legoland sub-theme ever. Two additional sets were added in 1988.

Although the first three Blacktron sets appeared in the 1987 catalog, Futuron was the first official Space sub-theme to have its name in a catalog. It debuted in 1988 with the flagship set being the 6990 Monorail Transport System. This was also the first of the three Lego monorails, the other two being the 6399 Airport Shuttle and the current 6991 Monorail Transport Base.

Introduced in 1989, the original Space Police were the first sets to include adversaries to a sub-theme. In this case, the bad guys were Blacktron astronauts, who were held captive by the Space Police in the Space Lock-Up (why Lego trademarked Space Lock-Up is a mystery). This device was a little pod which held a nasty Blacktron person captive with red energy beams.

M:Tron blew into the galaxy in 1990 with the power of magnets. The 6989 Mega Core Magnetizer (later renamed Multi-Core Magnetizer), with its six giant wheels, is one of the largest and most sought-after Space System ground vehicles.

The Blacktron Future Generation logo included the words "Future Generation" in yellow letters underneath "Blacktron," but a suitable logo wasn't available for scanning (was Future Generation a play on Star Trek's Next Generation which, by 1991, had already started receiving critical acclaim?). Many Space afficionados despise Blacktron II simply because it was nothing like the original Blacktron (except, perhaps, for 6832 Super Nova II) which everybody loved so much. Still, the sub-theme did include some nice sets.

As with the original Space Police, 1992's Space Police II were the peacekeepers of the galaxy, enforcing the laws set forth by the Galactic Council (according to the 1992 catalog). This time, the adversaries were the Blacktron II folk, who, like their precursors, were no doubt up to no good. Space Police II included only three sets initially, but the size of both the 6984 Galactic Mediator and the 6957 Solar Snooper are impressive indeed.

Frosty eyebrows and moustaches were just…well…the tip of the iceberg in 1993's Ice Planet 2002 sub-theme. The 6973 Deep Freeze Defender and 6983 Ice Station Odyssey were the first Space System sets to include a woman mini-fig: The Ice Babe. Unfortunately, she's not available in the smaller sets, so you'll have to shell out probably $50+ to get one.

Shhhh! These guys have secrets! And cool weapons...and androids...and giant robots. Hmmm...it's a wonder more people didn't really take to the Spyrius sub-theme, introduced in 1994. The 6949 Robo-Guardian has got to be one of the tallest Space System sets around...and includes some nifty pieces to boot.

This U.S.-only sub-theme was introduced for 1995 with only three sets. Apparently, 1793 Space Station Zenon has sold so poorly that it's already been discontinued for '96. It's too bad, because Zenon is a decent set, although it could've used another mini-fig and the small space ship should've included pieces which would've allowed it to dock with the Star Hawk II.

For 1996, Lego introduces another new sub-theme: The Exploriens. These space-bound information gatherers also bring with them some new elements, such as new antennae, a new android mini-fig, new wing pieces and more.

U.F.O. is probably the most radical sub-theme Space has ever had. Big, 1/4-saucer sections (in different sizes) allow you to build real flying saucers! The helmets for the U.F.O. figs are decorated with a hideous creature's head. There's even a Fiber Optics System ship!

RoboForce features mechs...two are sort of "humanoid" while the other two are more animalesque. These sets incorporate many hinges and some Technic elements to make them more action-oriented...

The introduction of U.F.O. in 1997 only hinted at the hideous race of Insectoids to invade LEGOLand in 1998! These creepy aliens have bulbous helmets and craft shaped like all sorts of nasty crawling and flying critters.

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