LEGO Space

## Unreleased LEGO Space Sets

Side-by-side shots of the Seatron alien minifigure; translucent and finalized

## Collectible Information

### Status

Lost (a majority of the sets in this article)Found (the mockup box for Space Radar Buggy, a green Futuron astronaut, the prototype for Seatron alien, the instructions for the 2011 satellite, and Alien Conquest Series 2)

### Location

The space buggy packaging and Alien Conquest Series 2 are in the LEGO archives while the Seatron alien prototype is owned by a collector

## Product Information

### Franchise

Classic SpaceBlacktron, M: Tron, Grey: TronSpace Police IIIMars MissionLEGO CityAlien Conquest

### Year(s)

1986-2012

LEGO Space was a line that featured astronauts, spaceships and extraterrestrial life; and is one of the three original themes first made by the company.

## **Summary:**

Before the first series officially began, at least three space-styled LEGO sets were released between 1964 and 1974; limited by color selection and more specialized pieces had yet to be developed. It wasn't until 1978 when things really got cooking as LEGO released their first set of "Classic" Space products which used blue, grey, white, and transparent yellow for the ship bricks. Gray and transparent green were used for ground crafts. Designs began using more stacked plates instead of stacked bricks in order to make sleeker spaceship profiles. Space sets at first consisted of only ships and basic-wheeled vehicles, though the line would grow to include ground-buggies, walking robots, and space bases. With the limited parts selection at the time, sets were still fairly simplistic with designs including: minifigure pilots steering their spacecraft with steering wheels, rocket engines could be simple transparent cones affixed to fence pieces, and visor-less helmets and often no in-flight pilot protection other than a spacesuit. The first minifigures released in this theme in 1978 wore either a red or white spacesuit with yellow spacemen debuting a year later. By the mid-1980s, the color palette had shifted to predominantly white with a transparent blue theme, later used extensively in the Futuron theme, and two new colors of spacemen were introduced in blue and black uniforms. The first helmets had thin chinstraps that would break with normal use. Then in 1983, the helmet with thicker chinstraps appeared, though it still would break.

By 1987, LEGO made drastic changes to the Space toyline by introducing "factions." The subtheme was now named Futuron and kept the original logo aesthetic, but heavily redesigned the figures which now came in four colours (red, blue, yellow and black) and had a zipper running across the torso; plus a newly designed helmet with a transparent blue visor. The large spaceship was nixed in favour of the Monorail Transport System which featured a battery-powered train system and 20 linear ft of track; the most expensive LEGO set at the time. One of the first unified subthemes for Space was Blacktron which used a black & yellow color scheme with transparent yellow windscreens and transparent red highlights for the set designs. The minifigures wore black jumpsuits and it featured a large spacecraft; the "Renegade," that set the tone for all future big ships by splitting into a large number of smaller modules that could be recombined; along with other vehicles from the line. This would become a recurring staple for LEGO Space until 2001

Looking to capitalize on the success of their police and robber sets from the LEGO Town theme, LEGO furthered its Space storyline with the introduction of Space Police to weed out the evil Blacktron faction. The sets had a black, blue with red transparent colour scheme while the minifigures shared the torso design with the black Futurons; only with a red visor. Each set used a modular system and featured a jail cell that came with a Blacktron prisoner. In 1990, LEGO designed its next theme around magnets known as "M:Tron": a rescue and repair faction similar to a fire brigade. However, the American market had them depicted as a mining and exploration faction. Vehicles from this era are distinctive for their red hulls, gray and black trim and transparent neon green canopies. They often featured crane-like attachments with magnets for picking up small cargo and tool boxes. figures wore white trousers, a red shirt with an "M" logo in the middle, and a black helmet with transparent neon green visor. This theme also extensively used brick-built robot figures ("droids") to assist the M:Tron spacemen. These were the last sets produced under the "LEGOLAND" banner before LEGO began branding their sets as LEGO System.

In 1991, Blacktron was revived as Blacktron (II) Future Generation with an all-black set design featuring white trim and transparent neon green canopies. The minifigures were redesigned with new uniforms and logo. It also replaced the creative but haphazard interchangeability of Blacktron I with mostly-uniform cockpit globes, which could be switched unimpeded between ships in other sets within the theme. However, only four sets of eleven featured them (the Alpha Centauri Outpost, Spectral Starguider, Aerial Intruder, and the Allied Avenger). The following year, Space Police was revived to oppose the new Blacktron and their set designs were black & grey with transparent green canopies nad red trim. The standardized jail cells from the original were retained, though only three vehicles could accept them; and it was the first Space theme to replace the standard smiley face minifigure head with a more complex print (ie. the face augmented by a fringe of hair and an ear-mounted microphone). However, many of the vehicles were extremely under-armed. In 1993, Ice Planet 2002 took over the civilian role from M:Tron and was based on the expedition of an icy planet. Sets were often designed in a blue-white colour scheme with neon orange canopies & chainsaws. A majority of the vehicles were ground-based, sported satellite dishes, and often came with skis. It was the first Space theme to have a named character (Command Cold) and a female minifigure. In 1994, Unitron took over the "good guy" role from Space Police II and revolved around a 9V battery monorail system with a blue-grey design featuring transparent blue canopies & neon-green highlights. The theme was underdeveloped and except for the monorail, the theme only saw wide release in Canada and the US. That same year, Spyrius replaced Blacktron as the "bad faction" with an infiltration motif as they stole from Unitron. The sets were designed red and black with transparent blue canopies. Most spaceships in this theme were designed like flying saucers while the ground vehicles resembled giant robots. Spanning nine sets total, this theme was the first to feature robot minifigures. In 1996, LEGO returned to their white and transparent blue canopies with the Exploriens theme; which centered on fossil archaeology. Best known for their large, rickety structures and special image elements, it was the first theme to feature a female robot and their insignia was a spin on the Starfleet's from *Star Trek*. Taking over the "hero" job in 1997 was Roboforce: a faction of large robots in varying colour schemes that were powered by "robo disks" (were actually shaped like rectangles) and only saw release in North America. Introduced in 1997, UFO is the first LEGO Space theme to feature none-human looking aliens and two wholly robot characters. While it featured the smallest proportion of wheeled ground vehicles, it was the first theme to heavily rely on large pieces meant to provide effects (such as curvature) that would be difficult to achieve with traditional LEGO pieces; something that became common for the next decade. The second alien-looking race named the Insectoids were introduced in 1998 which were insectoid cyborgs; especially interested in "energy orbs" which included magnetic stickers so that magnets attached to cranes could lift them. Insectoids is usually considered to be the last of the Classic Space subthemes as the introduction of LEGO Star Wars became a main staple for the toy company since 1999. Though there were at least a few more LEGO Space subthemes made over the years.

The first original space theme in a while, LEGO's Life on Mars was released in 2001 during a time of increased curiosity about the red planet and revolved around the concept of lifeforms that could possibly exist on Mars. The sets denote peaceful coexistence between the two species (astronauts and Martians) on the planet Mars. The Life on Mars theme pioneered several unique aspects in that it was the first to use a pneumatic pump system capable of sending Martian minifigures through tubes in the 7317 Aero Tube Hangar set. The theme also introduced several new muted colors to the LEGO palette including sand green, sand blue, sand red, and sand purple. The Martians were each named after real-life stars and constellations like Altair, Centauri, Cassiopeia, and Mizar. A sequel to the theme named Mars Mission ran from 2007 to 2008, which did away with the optimistic nature from the first series and instead pitted the two series at war with each other. In 2009, Space Police III continued the trend of humans vs. aliens; the latter of which featured much more unique designs and enemy ships. The storyline for this series involved on the Police at war with the Black Hole gang who are unaffiliated with Blacktron, though Rench from 5981 Raid VPR sports a uniform with a logo similar to the Blacktron Future Generation's; hinting a shared continuity between both versions of Space Police. Released in May 2011 as a subtheme of LEGO City was Alien Conquest; a homage to 1950's sci-fi films by Mark Stafford where a wave of aliens in their flying saucers invade Earth while the Alien Defense Unit fight back for mankind. The last original space theme to be made by LEGO was in 2013 with Galaxy Squad; centering on a team of intergalactic heroes and robot sidekicks trying to defeat an alien race of humanoid bugs intent on "cocooning" the galaxy with special 2-piece cocoons that can each enclose a minifigure. The hero vehicles featured a notable "split function" ability, which allows them to split into different models.

As part of LEGO's 2003 Discovery theme, six sets were made to represent past and present NASA efforts including the Apollo Program, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and the Mars Exploration Rover mission. LEGO has produced four subthemes with space-related content for its Town and City themes: Launch Command, Space Port, City Space 2011, and City Space 2015. Each of them involve a realistic, Earth-based approach to space exploration. In 2018, LEGO released several new sets in the City theme with a focus on Mars. LEGO Ideas, a program that allows users to submit their own ideas for commercial sets, has produced multiple sets related to real-life space efforts. They include the *Hayabusa* created by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, the *Curiosity* Mars Rover, the NASA Saturn V rocket from the Apollo 11 mission, a minifigure pack based on four NASA women (Sally Ride, Margaret Hamilton, Mae Jemison, and Nancy Grace Roman), and an exo-suit mech based on the Classic Space line. The aforementioned theme is heavily referenced in 2014's *The LEGO Movie* with its supporting character Benny; a lbue spaceman voiced by Charlie Day with several signs of wear and tear, including a faded torso print and broken chin-strap. Halfway throughout the movie, he builds a spaceship using the same blue and grey colour scheme from the 1970's-80's and was made into a tie-in set. Benny returned for *The LEGO Movie 2* which saw a tie-in set that released Benny with a robotic arm, plus more vintage astronauts in yellow and white; plus one that came in a brand new pink scheme. In October 2020, an orange version of a Classic Space astronaut was released with the book *LEGO Minifigure: A Visual History*.

## **Cancelled Products:**

Given its very long history, it should be no surprise that several aspects of LEGO Space never made it onto store shelves. From cancelled prototypes to rejected concepts, and even earlier versions of sets that got released; these are the Captain's Logs on their arrested development:

One cancelled set from the Classic Space theme was 1526 Space Radar Buggy which featured a build of the aforementioned vehicle and would've come with a yellow astronaut. It was to be a Classic Space Value Pack exclusive, but was never released. A mock-up of the set's box art is said to be located in the Denmark LEGO warehouse as it was spotted by a visitor during a private tour there.  There was also an unreleased space rover set from 1987 that would've included a blue spaceman with remote control lights.

There are at least several prototypes and unused concepts from the "-Tron" subthemes that never made it past the mock-up stage. They include a red, black and green rover with a very early alien minifigure, a 1988-89 Blacktron command base set with additional walker and space fighter builds, 1990-91 M-Tron sets with a space rover, mech walkers and excavation vehicles.  Several unused concept models include a command center base for a scrapped theme known as Grey: Tron, a set of white & green vehicles that look akin to SPII, some sort of red, green & black spacefighter, and a spaceship with some gliders that would have come in all new purple colour scheme.  Out of all the astronauts LEGO made in their lifetime, the one colour scheme they never made it in for their official Space themes was green. Several were made for the 2014 Ideas exo-suit and one with a Futuron style zipper was included in the mini LEGO Store part of the 2015 City Square set.  Though on January 6th 2020, a rare unreleased Futuron green astronaut from the 1980's was uncovered and showed up for sale on Bricklink. It was intended to be released in one of the line's sets, though was cancelled after poor sales.

One of the more interesting subthemes from the 1990's that came close to being realized was Seatron, which would've taken place in an aquatic planet with underwater astronauts. Among the new colours and monorail parts that would've been made for this wave was a green alien minifigure that would've had not just a specially molded head, but a revolutionized body with ridged scales from the torso to legs; along with pairs on the feet and back to resemble webbed flippers & fins respectively. It would've been released around the same time as Futuron which is the reason why Seatron never became a full on theme as Futuron's monorail failed to make money. Though on November 27th 2019, Flickr user Fabian BL managed to nag a translucent green prototype of the Seatron alien  and posted it onto Reddit where he revealed that he got it from a collector in Denmark.  Additional comments by him revealed that there two complete aliens with one in parts, and that they were also made in blue; most likely stored in the LEGO vault.

An unreleased set from the 1999 "Space Port" Town subtheme was 6460 Space Port Set which would've featured a small radar station with an engineer in a white baseball cap positioned at the chair; holding a walkie talkie in his hands. An unreleased City Space set from 2011 included 30016 Space Satellite which would have included a small satellite with positionable solar panels, antenna & lights and an astronaut wielding a wrench. The instructions for it are still online and if you can acquire the pieces listed in it via somewhere Bricklink, it is possible to recreate the set.

Two unreleased sets from the 2007 Mars Mission line include 7728 Jet Pack and 7729 Alien Flyer. The respective sets would've each featured an astronaut with a jet pack on and a Martian flying in a green-black hovercraft.

Before Space Police III was released, the original working title for the revamped license was "Galaxy Patrol" and a majority of the sets that were released had key differences for their original designs. For example, the police vehicle from 5969 Squidman Escape resembled more of a police motorcycle compared to the boat-like shape of the final product. The police transporter from 5971 Gold Heist, as designed by Niels Milan Pedersen, had a pair of black hover-fans at the end that are nowhere to be seen in the finished model. The main vehicle for 5983 Undercover Cruiser had cylindrical engines at the back and more cannons on the front with a very generic enemy glider for the alien minifigure. The main vehicle from 5972 Space Truck Getaway was originally supposed to carry a large cargo crate until it was split in half for the final product and lacked the spikes on the front grill. While the hovercar for 5973 Skull Twin Chase had slight differences in design, there would've also been a blue-white version for the Space Police crew to drive. The original vehicle from 5979 Max Security Transport had different-shaped wheels and a rounder windshield. The prototype for 5981 Raid VPR had a much different design with dual fins near both sides of the backend. Some of the unrealized prototypes include a four-winged police hoverpod with wing-mounted turrets and a vertical canopy cockpit, a heavy-revved hovercycle, and a generic fightercraft.  Many of the prototypes, along with a poster featuring the series' original name, was shown during LEGOWorld Zwolle 2010 in the Netherlands where they were last seen.  Shown at the event was a mysterious six-legged mech walker for the Space Police that was never realized into a set. And finally, there exists concept of the alien minifigures of Space Police III that features different versions of the pre-existing minifigures like the Skull Twin having white stripes on his black body, Kranxx's right arm being a tentacle, and Squidman having two tentacles around both sides of his cape. Among many of the newer alien designs included were a female cyclops creature with a right-armed tentacle. a gang member in a brown spikey-armoured torso with a visor helmet, a post-apocalyptic sunglass-wearing gang member missing his left arm, a generic biker dude with a kerchief, a three laser-dot eyed robot with a right hand claw, an alien with two heads, and a fanged robotic creature in a straightjacket.

According to Mark Stafford, there was going to be a second series of Alien Conquest products set to be released by the summer of 2012. However, they were cancelled due to LEGO introducing way too many different set themes. In an interview taken of the private LEGO headquarters by Fast Company, which has since been removed; a photograph taken of the designer's offices revealed a boxed batch of Alien Conquest Series 2 sets. Some of the more intriguing examples are a helicopter for the Alien Defense Unit and a mech walker piloted by the new female Alien Leader. While unconfirmed, its possible that the Alien Villainess from Minifigures Series 8 was a repurposed version of this concept. As for prototypes, the ADU Jet-Copter from 7067 originally had two blades instead of four, the vehicle from 7066 Earth Defense HQ was originally going to be an orange treadmill tank, early concept art for the series featured ADU soldiers wearing a brim-capped helmet, and the alien minifigures had a plethora of different faces along with a blue translucent brain headpiece.

## **Final Verdict:**

With a majority of these sets being made in the 1970's-2000's and their set inventory being unknown, a majority of these sets will remain: **LOST.** However, several other aspects of LEGO Space like the green Futuron astronaut, the 1986 buggy box mock-up, and the Seatron alien prototypes; along with the instructions for the 2011 satellite, have been found. Some fans have also made custom MOCs based off the cancelled Grey: Tron line and a fan project based off Seatron was submitted for a LEGO Ideas set, though was never approved.

## **Gallery:**

A Blacktron command base with excavator and mech walker buildsA black, red and green alien fighter; possibly from the earlier Space Police lines1526 Space Buggy from 1986Several white and green vehicles from the M: Tron seriesA black and red command base playset from the cancelled Grey; Tron themeA green-black space buggy with an early alien minifigureAn unreleased alien spaceship with purple highlightsSome of the aquatic alien vehicles that were proposed for SeatronA mini Space Port set from the 1999 City subthemeJetpack from Mars MissionMars Mission Alien FlyerSeveral of the Space Police III prototypes; back from when the line was originally called “Galaxy Patrol”An unreleased Space Police pod-chopperAn unreleased Space Police III hovercycleAn unreleased Space Police III fighterAn earlier version of the police vehicle from Squidman’s EscapeAn earlier version of the police transporter from Gold HeistAn earlier version of the Max Transport VehicleThe original prototypes for Undercover Cruiser (notice the alien minifigure is using the head of Mr. Krabs from LEGO’s SpongeBob SquarePants line)The final and original versions of Space Truck GetawayThe prototype for Smash N’ GrabConcept art of earlier designs for the Space Police III aliens, along with characters that were made into full-on minifiguresConcept art for Alien Conquest that shows the ADU Soldier wearing a different helmetAn earlier version of the Alien Conquest ADU helicopterAn earlier version of the ADU mobile tank from 7066 Earth Defense HQPrototypes of the Alien Conquest martians with different faces and an exclusive blue brain headpieceLEGO City satellite polybag with astronaut minifigure
## **References:**

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego\_Space
2. ↑ https://en.brickimedia.org/wiki/Unreleased\_Items
3. ↑ https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1809/list-of-prototype-or-unreleased-themes
4. ↑ https://youtu.be/AIPMS3UMP2Y?t=390
5. ↑ https://www.lego.com/en-ca/product/city-square-60097
6. ↑ https://minifigpriceguide.com/wordpress/rare-vintage-lego-80s-or-90s-futuron-space-green-minifigure-unreleased/
7. ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/fabianbl/49131809753/in/photolist-2hRDSU1-2hRBnja-2hN6Nwx-2jXut2T/
8. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/e2fqa1/the\_seatron\_prototype\_minifigures\_came\_today\_lego/
9. ↑ https://en.brickimedia.org/wiki/30016\_Space\_Satellite
10. ↑ https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Space\_Police\_III#Prototypes\_for\_Space\_Police\_III
11. ↑ https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/47938-galaxy-patrol/
12. ↑ http://www.tilesorstuds.com/2017/05/greytron-mobile-uplink-rover.html
13. ↑ https://ideas.lego.com/projects/f838d572-6d91-4a91-ada2-65b1b812014f