The Lack of a Flagship/Exclusive Space set

Steve_J_OM · December 2012

I've been gorging on a good bit of Sci-Fi literature lately, and it has gotten me in the mood for the Space theme (looking forward to Galaxy Squad in earnest now).

However, it dawned on me that I couldn't think of any real 'flagship' space sets. A number of other themes have or have had exlusives over the years. Castle has MMV and Joust; Pirates had the IF; Town obviously has the modulars; and there have been several exclusive trains. With Space being another classic LEGO theme, it surprises me that there isn't an exclusive, or that there never has been. I did a search on Brickset, and seemingly the biggest Space set by pieces is 7066 Earth Defense HQ.

Can anyone speculate as to why this is, or the likelihood of an exclusive Space set in the future? Maybe we'll get one with Galaxy Squad, though there don't appear to have been any rumours that I've heard.

graphite · December 2012

My guess would be that Space is really one of the themes they have that isn't really its own "theme" like the others since it has so many sub themes that aren't really all that similar. Space police I/II/III, Blacktron etc. They all differ enough in coloring and design that it would be hard to have a "flagship" that fit them all. City, Pirates and Castle/Kingdoms are all long term themes with pretty consistent design. Space is more of a collection of small short term sub themes and it would be hard to do a flagship for each or to choose which would get it.

prof1515 · December 2012

See Also: Star Wars

mathew · December 2012

I agree with you. Space has been neglected in favor of Star Wars and minor-sub themes like Space Police and Alien Conquest. I've actually been on a space kick lately and wound up purchasing the AC HQ and UFO Abduction sets (not much interest in the mothership). They are neat, but I know what you're talking about... we need a big, exclusive 101x, 2000+ pcs. type set. Maybe something like the old Blacktron 6987-1: Message Intercept Base but with modern building techniques.

Steve_J_OM · December 2012

prof1515 said:
See Also: Star Wars

I did think about Star Wars, but the Space theme continues to co-exist with the theme so I'm not sure why it would preclude an exclusive Space set.

prof1515 · December 2012

It would detract from sales of large sets competing for big-dollar purchases. Tossing off <$100 is easier than committing to a large set when there are other space-related sets available to choose from.

mathew · December 2012

prof1515 said:
It would detract from sales of large sets competing for big-dollar purchases. Tossing off <$100 is easier than committing to a large set when there are other space-related sets available to choose from.</p>

You didn't exactly comprehend the original post. He's wondering why none of the space themes are getting 101x type sets like Pirates, Castle, Kingdoms, Monster Fighters etc. I'm sure it has to do with Star Wars, but that's a sad excuse.

prof1515 · December 2012

mathew said:

prof1515 said:
It would detract from sales of large sets competing for big-dollar purchases. Tossing off <$100 is easier than committing to a large set when there are other space-related sets available to choose from.</p>
You didn't exactly comprehend the original post. He's wondering why none of the space themes are getting 101x type sets like Pirates, Castle, Kingdoms, Monster Fighters etc. I'm sure it has to do with Star Wars, but that's a sad excuse.

I understood the question perfectly. You didn't understand my response. The lack of big sets for the space themes is because large-dollar purchases are made more discriminatory than smaller size sets. People will shell out $20, $50 or even $100 but over that amount they begin to weigh their purchass more cautiously. Given the general lack of a reliable fan base for these one-and-done themes and competition for such purchases split between other themes with proven fan bases (Star Wars, Pirates, Castle, etc), Lego likely doesn't think it makes sense to commit to such an offering. Even a one-and-done like Monster Fighters is drawing upon recognizable symbolism (haunted houses, classic monster films, etc) whereas their patchwork space theme has always lacked any real sense of familiarity and recognition. Put another way, somone is bound to recognize and/or relate to the Death Star, Diagon Alley or even a medieval market but who looks at the mish-mash of parts that Lego calls its space theme and say "Oh yeah, I remember that" or "That reminds me of...."

Oldfan · December 2012

Maybe TLG is still reeling from the Star Justice/Space Skulls experience, and that based on buyer feedback against those sets ( #10191 and #10192 ) and the need to deeply discount the sets to move, that Lego fans are not interested in exclusive Space sets.

Which would be a shame, IMO. As best I know, the Factory deal with SJ/SS did not allow the (excellent) AFOL designers the same type of freedom to design their sets as would be allowed a "regular" Lego designer (i.e. limited parts in limited colors, etc., based on what existed in Factory at the time), and the end results showed. While I personally love those sets for what they are, I read many a review from AFOL's blasting the designs online; maybe TLG was listening?

I would love to see a 10xxx-level set depicting the "base" of the Galaxy Squad (think #5985 but 4x bigger). I'm sure many more would agree with me. But does Lego think we'll buy it? And, will we buy it even if it's not "perfect" according to our expectations? This is not about quality control (no leniency there!); this is about buying an exclusive Space theme set when it's released, and showing TLG that we're interested in such things, thereby building some momentum so that more such sets will be avaialble in the future. If you won't buy a 10xxx Space-theme set because "I don't like bugs; give me an updated Galaxy Explorer and then I'll buy it", then it's unlikely that TLG will ever make more, because they didn't sell what they first made. If you really like Space and want to see more, TLG needs to hear you, and the best way to make yourself heard is to buy the products.

I'm a Classic Space fan, and I'll buy anything that TLG produces in that line. But, I'm not enough for them to make more sets. Are there enough of us to provide that incentive?

(BTW, I would LOVE to have an updated #497 -style ship!!!)

Bumblepants · December 2012

They did have the huge space monorail retailing for $180 back in the early '90s when that was a lot more money than it is now. Many of the older lines had their big ship or base too.

mathew · December 2012

prof1515 said:
...mish-mash of parts that Lego calls its space theme and say "Oh yeah, I remember that" or "That reminds me of...."

I assume that this is kind of a dig at the sometimes amorphous classic space sets that didn't have a recognizable design. To be fair, you have a good point. However, part of the appeal of those old classic space bases is that they were amorphous, almost like modern art. Unfortunately, with the space program being put on the back burner and the lack of a good liscensed space theme (aside from Star Wars) we probably won't see a large scale, AFOL oriented set.

duilim · December 2012

Hmmm..... does 10231-1 Shuttle Expedition count? It is a 10*** exclusive set, and it does belong to the space theme......

Penkid11 · December 2012

^It is more of a town set.

If there is any set from space that would qualify as a "flagship" set would be #6991 Monorail Transport Base only because of its size. Other than that, I wish they would have made a Rock Raiders LMS Explorer. It would have been unbelievably expensive set, but I would have loved it!

The Lack of a Flagship/Exclusive Space set

Comments

Shopping at LEGO.com or Amazon?

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

Categories