Blacktron 260

I was looking at a Facebook post by Blacktron War and smacked my head... 260... I always do an Idea Book 260 post after wrapping up each theme and Blacktron's the last one to do... and guess what.

That's right, you got me... I totally forgot about it.  Here's a Space train from the Space Police page... there was some... ahem, arrested development in the doing of things for a while and I got off pattern.
I feel great though, how're y'all.

And Here, we, GO!

Wait, wait, wait... Those aren't really Blacktron!

I mean... but they are, kinda?  Blacktron got weird for 260... unlike the other 3 themes the book didn't make any attempt to keep these designs on pattern with the produced sets and instead added whites, transparent blues... and then drastically reduced the yellow and nearly erased the existence of transparent yellow.

The color decision aside, I really like the big Blacktron Trike, and the 260 idea instruction  model behind it is also small and attractive... it could've paired well with, or instead of, Meteor Monitor as a Blacktron 1.5 multipack release model between the original Blacktron and Blacktron: Next Generation; which did use white as a main color.

But then we have that toothy robot, and the little black robot.  (See that Small Robot on a black bottom Rocket stage... non Blacktron parts... at the time the best source for 3 of those parts would have been Classic Space: Polaris One Spacelab)  The robots look fun, if off color, and maybe the designs are better than what could have been done on theme... it could also be that the yellow and black would have been hard for kids to see and were thusly and rightly set aside in favor of achievable copying.

The only reason I like the tower is because I'm partial to some of the parts used on it, like a lot of them.

As for the spaceships... the triple tri-force ship is mediocre looking and my few attempts at it have been abandoned.  the rear spaceship seems like a halfway decent vehicle, but seems kinda stuck; not sure if it's Futuron or something else... and neither have Blacktron men...

Point is, Blacktron's representation in this book is slapped in there without any concern for the source material... and some of the times it works out.

The Idea Book build reappears here among the color faithful M:Tron vehicles... They seem to be on friendly terms... kinda sorta.

But of course with Blacktron, they'll spy on you even if you are their 'friends'.

The build for The Blacktron Speeder is simple and sweet... of all the Blacktron things they could have had us build this is the coolest looking one among the options.



The Model features 11 obvious white Futuron parts.  I think there was a shape they wanted to go for, and with no available yellow parts to do it, they switched over to white and didn't look back, or try a different design.  Who knows what might've been?
















To Build it from the existing sets I suggest getting
1 Strategic Pursuer... wha! This is not Blacktron?

1 Invader... I made it big because Blacktron rules.

1 Space Patroller, and this is not Blacktron.

1 Interplanetary Rover... How dare... also not Blacktron.

"It's cute and bug eyed... like a tree frog with no legs... Fancy some rockets little treefrog?"  To be serious, this is the one Blacktron model in the book to use trans yellow... these are exclusive to Invader and very nice.  I might be slightly biased about how nice they are because they are a rarity.  What's with the frog?

Our most Serious assessment continues: It's the smallest Model of Blacktron to feature the trident nose, and the arrows seem to indicate a feature is present.

"That feature is rotating froggy eye..." they don't clear enough room for a door, and the ground gets in the way of what could be construed as the 'view'.  On a more serious note.  They look like blaster cannons on doors that don't actually give enough room for ingress/egress.  It's totally a Lamborghini!

Propulsion appears to be via that black console brick... quite an odd choice, I don't think I've seen that method used elsewhere.  "Maybe it hops in short bursts, as legless tree frogs do."

"Great plagues of Bison, that's a lot of frogs! Hey, dudes, we got a frogidemic erupting in our seriously cool Blacktron post about us."

"The froggy eyes can look around independently... more like a chameleon..." but then again... they may actually just be dangerous laser cannons for ripping apart air molecules on unsuspecting moons.  

"Of course this sweet lil treefrog is actually a real treefrog and really, they aren't legless at all... Did you know, that Frog legs are leg-"

"Oi, that Futuron dweeb's ruining the awesomeness-iss-nes... we're a serious dangerous organization... and he's comparing us to... Base, come in... we got a problem of serious coolness de-Nile!"

All in all, a fine little model from 260. 

In my scholarly Blacktron dood self's personal-est opinion... this is the most wickedly neat instruction option for all of 260 Space.  I do wish they'd made our idea bigger though.  

"It's soo cute and tiny and adorable.  

So cute like a tree frog, oh yes you are."            

"Sic em dudes and dudettes, , we'll not let this fiendish effrontery sully our amazing badassedness-nes-nes... oi, a mouthful... Get them!!!"

"Anyways, it's cool, we got the little bug zappers and put em back in their place.  All's well that ends dastardly-ish."

And then it hits us like a danish brick; We Blacktron didn't get a spread of our own in 260!

Blacktron is the most mature-est and pretentious-est of the 4 awesome-est Space themes.  

*The sets may not have done super amazing because parents don't like cool bad guys, and so as not to disappoint too many kids with a 260 book in their hands the primary elements from Invader were maybe only made prominent since they accidentally made soo many of our wonderful spaceship.  The existence of Renegade (U.S. exclusive), and Message Intercept Base were neglected... pheh!  Battrax got some small parts representation on that trike, oh yeah!  And who knows if Alienator mattered in the overall scheme, it likely didn't, we apparently alienated too many concerned mothers.  But it was for a good... er... badass cause.  

*Futuron of My Youth makes no promises that any of this hearsay has any bearing on reality.

Our cause is coolness!

But in the long term... We kids liked Blacktron soo much...

We still talk about it in vast corners of the netisphere!

That's it from me... I'll be back with Blacktron's brick contributions in a few weeks. 

Sincerely, The Cure-all Pill

Re-Imagine SeaTron part 5

If this is your first time at Futuron of My Youth I'd like to invite you to see the full post history for this Seatron MOC.

Re-imagine seatron part 1

Re-imagining seatron part 2

Re-imagined seatron part 3

Re-imagine seatron part 4

For what is the final post regarding the Re-Imagine SeaTron Moc I'm introducing an additional build.

Dun dun dunk splash sink sink sink... It's a Diving Bell Underwater Space Station... don't ask how we got it there ;)
















A bit of backstory on the development.
Initially I envisioned a modular station delivered in parts by the epic Seatron spaceship.  The Submarine's cargo pod happened to be the first and last part of my stab at getting it done.  As it so happens, there just is not a lot of yellow in Blacktron and I had trouble mentally conceiving a design at all, let alone a good design. in the yellow and black color scheme, especially as I wanted yellow to be a dominant color.  So I diverted and the diving bell was constructed while the wall became a cargo container.  It's perhaps less yellow than I would have liked.

The Diving Bell dome contains a lab which is twin to my SeaTron Spaceship's lab  Nothing says theme like too much repetition... Blacktron II, Space Police II, . yeah... Yeah they overdid some things.  I feel that there could have been more detail on this front window area, but the lack of mount points and my goal of a clean design prevented me from attempting much more.  I added a 1x2 printed piece once I'd fully disassembled Battrax.  The red rocket tips were also a late addition, they serve as part of the air refresh system hiding underneath.  Spoiler alert... the aerator is just 4 Honeycomb bricks.  Once again a slushy tides over my scientist's insatiable thirst.
                                                                                       

It all folds over like a nautilus shell, and the half stud offset crane legs worked well with the classic hinges to bring everything together for a polished fit and finish that would please the younger set as they beat on this... er... play with this toy.

The classic 2 and 3 finger hinges wrap these large straight space dome windows over each other.  There are some big gaps, but the darker colors help to give a good sense of enclosure.  And the arrows indicate an active play feature.  If you want to play inside just raise the enclosure.

You'll notice that I went Bricklinking for a few pieces, so right away I'll indicate what I did not get from Futuron, Blacktron, Space Police, or M-Tron... all of which I've reviewed here on my blog.

Via Peeron

Since I've become a grownup there have been a lot of pieces I wanted badly as a kid which came and went.  6541 Intercoastal Seaport's crane legs are one such instance.  Seeing as I am superficially speaking... grown up.  I've had to decide what Lego toys to actually put money on, and otherwise, go Bricklink spelunking for those other dearly beloved old bricks.  So no, I don't have Intercoastal Seaport... but it is one of the grand old toys that makes me clutch my crinkly catalogs and be like... The toys back then were so awesome!  I really wanted the Nautica sets when I was little... but all I got was a Firestation... I guess they thought... the crane is red, and this fire station is red... Aha, we've figured out what our little boy has really asked for is the color red.
via Bricklink


I did like that Firestation too though.

Via Peeron  Incidentally this piece appeared in 1991 in the color Yellow, and 1998 in the color Grey.
The Grey part was from a Soccer set, one of my personal favorite themes to kick while its down, I was not looking for Soccer Lego in Highschool... but them's the bricks.  Sidenote; I would absolutely like to get the grey variant of these stands for some Unitron/Space Police II/Classic Space MOCs.

Via Peeron

8230 Coastal Cop Buggy.  This Technic car from 1996 was the first set to get the round 2x2 transparent blue cylinder brick.   In the selection of all the sets to peruse I can't really point to any of them as toys I would want to collect... but the 4553 train wash was something I thought about trying to get for its space pieces... I wasn't about to collect train sets... As a Highschooler, I was just trying to figure out where the pieces I wanted were going to come from.  Praise be to Bricklink... the future turned out better than expected.

The blue bit on top is the steering nob.  I have one spare from Bricklink ordering and thought it would be a nice touch on my diving bell's primary play feature.  Currently the earliest this space station could have been built, as is, was '96.  I've never been one for Technic... so that's why this set wasn't sought out.  It is kinda Futuron colored... So I coulda made it work.

Viking Voyager from Castle 1987 contains the Plate 1x4 offset in Yellow.

The part would not show up again until 1998 for 1 Adventurer set, and one Hydronaut set.  Despite it's poor distribution this part would have been available to get the space Station made in the expected timeframe 1987-96 as it were.

Back to the MOC

I've already mentioned the Insectoid Eyestalk in Trans blue previously... this part would have us building no earlier than 2004.  I'll pretend that's unimportant to the conversation so let's move along.
Those arrows are even more indicator arrows... that means I've built an action feature.













I load the submarine like this and turn the round brick, Because anyone who bought Lego toys in the 80's and and early 90's knows, round bricks mean something amazing will happen.  Did you See that Red crane earlier in the post with the grey round brick on it's side?  I'm using the same parts to build this!














Submarine Elevator!  Up up and it's gone folks.  The only thing left to see is Honey comb bricks!



































The Submarine window can open fully while inside the dome.  I've removed the flip up portion to better show how thing's fit inside.  I would have liked to mount my yellow rack at the bottom and the top... but It actually holds, and I didn't design the top to accept a mount point with period appropriate pieces in a way I could figure out.  However... I don't think it would hold up to significant play by enthusiastic kids... I can do it... but I operate it with a gentle steady twist like I'm playing Operation.




































Now for some fun with the existing spaceship.  Deliveries can be made from the spaceship's landed lab to the underwater lab's larger facility.  Robot helps.













Submarine enroute.  Sadly the magnet's grip is not strong enough to hold the sub by either front or back... a kid would need to hold both to get things where they're going.














Delivery inbound!





































The elevator can take the cargo while our yellow submarine departs.













Meanwhile inside the lab some repairs are being made to a rocket module.  The Lab can perform delicate repairs or upgrades in the lab's artificially controlled atmosphere.

For more deliveries the spaceship carries the cargo in yet another modular reconfiguration.  The refurbished rockets are ready to rumble.

The Pilots and lab technician prepare to offload their latest haul.  Robot got lazy and wandered off.

Green stuff is the cargo apparently...













OMG it's soo much Slushies mix! every lab has a slushy, my astronauts and underwater spacemen love them dearly.  And how do you get Slushies mix... it's very hard to find.  They had to bring it all the way from earth in an ice cold container cuz it's super cool and delicious.

At this point I suppose it's apparent that if I keep looking for modular re-configurations I'm going to find something I missed... Rocket Booster modules will fit here in a pair.  I think this configuration looks nice... It's a mild adjustment of a design I showed in one of the first posts.

This is Seatron as I've reimagined it.  It's the Swiss Army of MOCs.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing it as much as I enjoyed sharing it.

Sincerely, the Cure-all Pill