A guide to Lego Space sub-themes.

The space theme started life in 1979 and lasted for twenty years until about 1998. No new space sets have been produced since 1999 because one of the requirements of the license agreement to produce Star Wars Lego was that Lego discontinue its space theme, or so the rumour goes.

Classic Lego space was what started off the whole theme way back in 1979. Although there are "periods" in this sub-theme, the whole sub-theme was held together very well by the classic space minifigs.

The transition to Futuron in 1987 was a subtle one, as these sets were release at the same time that classic sets were still being released. Of course, the concept of a sub-theme was unknown then and for a few years, Futuron and Classic Space sub-themes co-existed side by side. Futuron is only differentiated from the Classic Space sub-theme by the minifigs in the sets, the Futuron minifigs being a variation of the Classic Space minifigs and by the fact that Futuron vehicles and bases were predominately white.

The next sub-theme to make an appearance was Blacktron in 1988. This all black with yellow and trans-red highlight sub-theme is intriguing and signal the new direction that Lego was going to take with future space sub-themes. The vehicles look mediocre at first, until you dissect them and rebuild them and play with them. Of course, the sheer value of the attractiveness of the combination of the three colours didn't hurt.

The first Space Police sub-theme was a return to Futuron (year of release 1989). The design of the minifigs were the same, the only difference being in the colours that were used. Each Space Police set, except the smallest, also had a Blacktron figure. This Blacktron figure was shown to be the antagonists for the Space Police. Again the Space Police sets were nicely tied into all the previous sub-themes - the minifigures were a direct connection to Futuron, and from there to Classic Space, while their antagonist were the Blacktron.

M:tron hit the scenes at the turn of the decade in 1990. This was the first set to use the trans fluorescent yellow, sometimes also called antifreeze yellow. It was a bizarre colour - one either loved it or hated it and at the time, there were few who straddled the fence. The main star of this sub-theme was the magnets that were included in almost all the larger sets as an "action feature".

I guess Blacktron must have been very successful because Lego decided to bring back Blacktron in 1991 (or Blacktron: The New Generation in the US). Only this time they were white with fluorescent yellow. The were thus dubbed Blacktron II. The ingredients that made the original Blacktron unique - almost 90-95% black, cool yellow and trans-red highlights, an all black figure, were all ignored in this new sub-theme. The sets were above average, but public dislike probably gave it less than stellar sales.

Following in the footsteps of the redesigned Blacktron, came the redesigned Space Police in 1992, or Space Police II as they are more commonly known. Again, some of these sets were great in design, the colours - grey and black with red and trans-green highlights were excellent. It kept a lot of the ingredients that made the original line famous, including modularised cells that were attachable to vehicles, and a Blacktron II figure in each of the larger set.

If the past 5 years were any indication, an M:tron II theme would complete the pattern for 1993. Well, sort of. Ice Planet 2002 was released in 2002 based on vehicles and a huge base for an ice planet. It had trans-fluorescent orange canopies and a blue and white colour scheme. Magnets were still there in the larger sets although this was not played up too much. Instead, the main focus of this sub-theme were the trans-fluorescent orange skis and ice chainsaws.

The bad guy - good guy - tech guy cycle continued with the Blacktron III sub-theme in 1994. Only this time, Lego learnt the lesson from the last Blacktron fiasco and decided to call this sub-theme Spyrius. The red-black-trans-blue sub-theme is above average lookwise. The sets include one of the tallest robot and a very cool looking UFO-like space ship.

1995 was a bad year for Lego Space outside the US. For the first time since the theme started in 1979, there were no new Lego Space sets, except in the US. Three new Unitron sets were released in the US and this, together with the second Lego Space Monorail formed the Unitron sub-theme. The three US sets were almost leftover pieces and parts, but all three were well designed.

The largest Lego Space spaceship made waves in 1996. This ship was part of the Exploriens line that was suppose to be huge fossile hunters with huge telescopes. Remember bad guy - good guy - tech guy rotation? This is the end of the third round and Exploriens clearly fit in the sequence.

1997 was a weird year. This was the year that two different sub-themes were introduced.

UFO made a huge appearance in 1997, with the new large saucer-shaped piece and heat-sensitive stickers. The vehicles were interesting, although not some of the best. The colours played off well light grey with red, black and trans-fluorescent yellow, but the minifigs without a helmet of any sort was a letdown.

The second 1997 sub-theme was another US only sub-theme, although these were later made available to the UK market (in 2001) on mail order. Robo Force was the name of this sub-theme.  These sets were well designed and there were two different colour schemes - the first Lego Space sub-theme to do so.

Insectoids was an inspired sub-theme with each vehicle shaped as a creepy crawly. Besides, some set incorporated light and sound elements, that really brought the insects to live. The black/blue/light and dark grey with trans-blue and trans-fluorescent yellow hightlights were interesting. And Insectoids sang the last (bug) swan-song for the Lego Space theme.

Since then there have been two sub-themes that might have been camouflaged Space sub-themes.

We had Rock Raiders in 1999, complete with a battery powered laser. The disparate minifigs that were included in these sets were weird, yet there is almost a "spacey" feel to most of these underground sets - almost a Ice Planet fused with Blacktron feel.

Life on Mars was the 2001 line that had really weird, but modular vehicles and transforming mecha. Transforming mecha reminds me of another hugely popular toyline that is making a comeback. These sets aren't exactly "spacey" in feel, but the scope of the theme are.

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