Futuron 260 and etc.

When I went to college one of my very first actions after class was to open up an obscure little website called Lugnet and peruse every Lego Space set ever made. 

The Lego company had accidentally printed the lugnet website domain in one of the Mania Magazine comics, and I took note of its presence when Lego issued a statement in the back stating that Lugnet was not officially recognized or endorsed by the company...(see kids, it pays to read the fine print.)

Note the Computer

Following issue

And accompanying legalese...this is what led me to Lugnet, and the AFOL community.

For many years prior to Lugnet and the Internet at large I had subsisted on fanciful visions of what Lego Space could be from scraps of instructions and random brochures.  I never threw out anything I didn't have a copy of somewhere else, so when my 4 year old brother shredded my ancient 1988 catalog I kept it...except for the part he ate...

Exhibit A

Beautiful aren't they?  Even Classic Space was getting in on the Futuron color scheme.  I was carrying around old Lego brochures on car rides through High School. Eventually the Internet made their daily use obsolete; so now I just keep them for nostalgia value.

Before I received that pamphlet the Lego Idea book 260 was, in particular, my go to guide for Golden era Space sets through much of the 90s and early 2000s.  I conjectured about getting the sets some day but didn't really have a solution for the how of it all.  Ebay was just starting and Bricklink wasn't a thing, and I didn't know anything about either of them.  

Due to the obscurity of information for all things old the 260 Idea book was a childhood favorite of mine.  I received it from my best friend for a birthday in the distant yester-years.  There were many things hidden away in the book like Pirates, Town, Basic, Castle, Space. All the usual themes.  Given the era I was born in these are still 'the' themes that come to mind when Lego is mentioned.  Wild West, Time Cruisers and Aquazone felt like wild departures, but they were only what seemed to me to be the beginnings of a new wave of ideas from the Lego company.  Pirates was new at the time I got into Lego, but I wouldn't discover that reality until much later.

So for many years this was the source for what I knew about the Futuron theme, the Black-tron theme, and the Space Police theme.  M-tron was during my time; I loved M-tron and knew all the set names; but that was as far back as my paltry knowledge really went.

Futuron managed to hold out through M-tron's 1990 arrival via a constant three year stream of new sets, and a persistent presence of 6990.  I think part of Futuron's appeal is just the sheer size and diversity of the theme.  Black-Tron only had six sets, as did Space Police, and M-tron only managed eight.  None of that is obvious in the 260 idea book.

The undiluted Futuron aesthetic in 260 inspired me in the absence of the real thing.  I cannot begin to count the number of iterations of that front buggy I made in my youth.  I just loved the concept of a suspension no matter how basic it was.  I'm pretty sure I even built the Radar buggy at least once.

The back truck's SNOT design mystified me until recently when my grown up self had an aha! moment and assembled this blue version two or so months ago.  I had always just assumed the section below the driver's arm was one piece, and it was only when I realized what specific parts were used that I could finally complete the design in my head.  (Read: I realized no such mystery piece exists!)  Eventually I want to build the true color scheme.

Here's a spaceship that seems kind of like a flying saucer.  The downward pointing engines and lack of wings were intriguing in a time when the sets themselves sported consistently straightforward construction techniques.  SNOT (Studs Not On Top) wasn't really talked about back in those days.

Within the Space section lay some wonderful ideas that would inspire a generation of Space Lego enthusiasts...some of us anyway. Looking back on it now I can see that the models don't hold too much appeal for crazy skilled builders, but for casual enthusiasts, and archivists, this is a classic tome.

Below you can see a bustling Futuron spaceport with a base, news anchor, trucks, spaceships, and the radar tower from the front spread.  This was, aside from 6990, everything I knew about Futuron for much of my childhood; with the aforementioned old catalog filling in some information for me in late junior high.

Oh yeah, and instructions.  This is the Space sections largest alternate, though compared to some of the other sections, like Castle and Pirates it seems small.

Hey, wait a minute, who put those sticker borders there???!

RAWR!... sadly, that was probably my fault.

This Base is unfortunately obscured, but there's enough visible structure that the imagination can go wild with it.

Some Spacecraft, Radar, and a Space police Guy...but you know, a Black Futuron Spaceman doesn't appear in this book.  Interestingly, they use more Futuron red spacemen than were actually released in sets, giving a false sense of their presence in the product line.

News Anchor...in case you doubted me.  You can see some M-Tron bits and even a few Classic Space pieces in this image.  

But let's get back to those instructions.  

You'll need three pieces that aren't in any of the Futuron sets.  

2 of these in black from Space Police.

1 of these hinges in black: This is a tricky piece, from the era in question your best bet is the last Classic Space Station Polaris 1 Spacelab, otherwise go for the '93 set Ice-Sat V.  

Other than that, Futuron can supply all the parts.

If you have 6990 you practically have 75% of the model already...subtle advertising much???

Well I should hope we've got most of the model from the flagship set.  Okay, here we go.

After the three Black parts listed further up you can see we've got a pile from Monorail Transport System, three bits from Strategic Pursuer, four parts and a Blue spaceman from Orion II Hyperspace, four parts from Star Defender 200, one slope and two dots from Laser Ranger, and two window frames with the Red Spaceman from Cosmic Laser Launcher.  In this way the Lego designers spread the part selection out to encourage kids to buy more sets.  From this we can determine that Marketing has never been a parent's best friend.

Here is the Inventory
1

4

4

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

2


1

1

1

1

2

1

4

4

4

4

4

2

1

2

1

2

2

1

2

2

1

1

1

1

2

2

1

1

1

1


On the positive side, this model uses lots of common parts, so Bricklinking it won't break the bank.

And here we have the finished product, a small rocket ship on a launch pad.  I've always liked this design, but I never thought I would ever build it...until it occurred to me recently that all the roadblocks were gone.  

It's actually kind of nice, I'd say it's more attractive than half the Futuron line.

And that closes this post, but we haven't seen the last of this mythic archive.

Classic Space Shenanigans

Here's a curiousity for ya.  This is a Danish catalog from 1983.

I was on Dave's Lego Space Collection when I saw this little gem.
(Clicking through Dave's site I found nothing but broken links.  I don't know why this was still available.)


Holy smokes...6843...6873...What and how?  What do the small asterisks mean?

Raketskib is Danish for Rocket Ship, and Mineral fartøj is Danish for Mineral Vessel.

I consider myself to be well read in the topic of old Lego Space sets...I know all of them...  I even know about this unreleased model; 1526.

If you frequent Brickset, I assume you may have seen it as well.

So I did some investigating...because if these exist...

After snooping around I found this Eurobricks forum post and came to the disappointing realization that I had dug up a decade and some years old Lugnet Prank.

Still; well played Dave.

I'm pretty sure that Classic Space Sets from 1982 and 83 will complete the Mystery models in that fake pamphlet.  To that end I've compiled a small list for my guess as to where those pieces came from.
If you want to try building Dave's Classic Space deception, I suggest starting with these three models.

Cosmic Cruiser


Galaxy Commander


Supply Station


So...that was a pleasant diversion, I hope you enjoyed not sifting through the internets looking for things that don't exist.  That's all for now folks.

6990 Alternate: Lunar Scooter Dock'n'go

My favorite feature of the Futuron line is the little cars and scooters that hide in the big ships.  Given the fondness I have for this feature I built a station for docking scooters that can be transported by a little Monorail train. 

I designed two scooters for the train to carry as an added play feature.  In addition, I added a small robot and its own personal holding cell. 

The back of the train is the particle wave reactor, or in layman's terms it's an engine.

The Monorail secures its scooters in a pocket behind the driver.  The driver himself has tools at easy arms reach.

The robot rides in the back and services the Particle wave reactor.

The doors drop down for unloading the robot. 

 

I used the dome windows on the station.  They're massive as Lego pieces go.  I love this piece, and the idea of this piece...but I find implementation of the part to be restrictive with 6990's available part selection.  I went for the most basic use of the parts to save on frustration.  The result is an attractive half dome rising up above the lunar surface.

The dome is surrounded by a catwalk and I've added a stairway for my astronauts to get up into the control center.  

Overall I'm satisfied with the construction options offered by 6990.  Like previous Futuron sets it is over encumbered with plates as this is the theme's primary weakness.  Fortunately the selection of bricks is better than average, and the number of funky transparent, printed, and spacey bricks makes for a wide spread of options.

This now ends the segment for Futuron set alternatives.  Future models will be some combination of parts from the entire theme. 

Until next time.

Lego AAT Microfighter

Recently the Lego company has added a new range of products to their perennial Star Wars line up...

I speak of the Microfighters.

Here's their chibi interpretation of the AAT.

A lot more information goes on the front of the box now, and sadly, the packaging is full of licensing mumbo jumbo for Lucasfilm, Google, Apple, websites, choking hazards, and stuff...yeesh.  I won't be taking pictures...just pick up a box of Lego off the store shelves and you'll find that the sides are plastered with crap that's about as child friendly as a law school textbook. 

Lego has changed quite a bit from 1987 through to 2014.  Criminy...I've been talking about toys that are 27 years old!

I've taken this moment to revisit an old Lego box.  You can see the package has a message to the new owner inspiring them to build and create...additionally, the name and part count are shifted to the side for inquiring minds to search the box for extra information, which keeps the front image from appearing cluttered.  The other areas of the box are focused on showing off different reference points for the model.

This is the bottom of the old Lego box...which has minimal legalese, and production info hidden under the message "Use this box for storage."  So minimalist...things were much simpler back then.

So I guess there's this promotion going on whereby you can use a smartphone or tablet and play a Star Wars Microfighters game.  It sounds like a fun idea, and as you can see below there's a small selection of toys to choose from.  The primary image shows off the droid figure and a firing function that's been around for a bit.  And there's a link for the main Lego website.  It's got some good marketing coverage for a small box, but I miss the old alternates images on the back.  I don't see a push to inspire creativity.  Everything here is focused on something else that I'm supposed to want.
Even worse: The AAT is always posed the same way...what if I want to see more of the parts?

Take this early Landspeeder from the original Star Wars product line, there's an image of the model being built up, and a small vehicle that you can build with it.  As a means of showing off parts and possibilities this was a great layout; whether the alternate is worth its space is debatable.  The box takes an opportunity to show off more of what's inside the box and it aims to excite children with the further possibilities the set can add to their existing collection.  I also happen to be fond of the original Lego Star Wars logo.  Hey remember that time when there weren't Lego Stormtroopers?  


Functions have been appearing on the backs of Lego sets for a while now; here the Exploriens' Scorpion Detector's alien detection equipment is demonstrated at the top right corner.  There's all kinds of fun ideas on the back of the box, and nary a marketing tie-in to be seen. 


One improvement the new box has is the inclusion of a scale minifigure from the set shown on top.  Apparently this battle droid is new but it actually first appeared in 7929, Battle of Naboo, which came out in 2011.  I think they mean the tiny handgun it carries makes it a new figure...I call shenanigans.

Anyways, that's my review of the box...oh wait...you wanted to see a review of the set?  Well, I've got that too.  But I've added a twist.

Bam!  Futuron!  with a Futuron robot to boot.  Is this a Futuron review?  No; I tried something new.  I kept the Futuron theme's quintessential front mandibles in my 1980's Futuron purist rebuild of AAT.

The quarter round bricks were substituted out for castle corners and corner roof slopes.  This is an area where Lego has improved our options for sleek design.  Love those curves.  Incidentally, they're why I picked up this particular Micro Fighter.  I have plans...big plans...muahaha!!

The firing missiles had to be abandoned in favor of a brick built gun.  I'm not sure mine is better...too much white.  Say; wouldn't it be great if we could get transparent firing pins?

Adjustments had to be made for part limitations and on Futuron you can see the rocket boosters I used to fill some gaps.  I only used available parts from Futuron sets and didn't allow for parts outside the range...which did force me to keep track of my options...when you only have two of a piece things can get dicey.

The newer Lego sets frequently get flick fire pins.  The technic grip in this model doesn't let them go very easily.  I had to shift the pin forward to give it a chance of breaking free.  These have shown up in so many sets that if you don't already have some...you've probably just forgotten where they shot off too. 

A lot has changed in the past 27 years.  Parts have come and gone, some for better, and some for worse.  You can mostly still make a droid like the old days, but now you can also have the droid you're looking for. 

The quarter dome brick comes in a brand new color which is currently unique to this set. 

As unique color bricks go this isn't bad.  I bought the set specifically for these...and then decided to blog about the AAT for fun.

Back in Futuron's heyday, and for many years after the Lego company molded the individual parts from specific colors of plastic granule.  One of these 2x2 plates was molded in the old manner.  The newer parts are molded from an opaque granule which has the color added later in the process.  The Lego company has at times struggled with color variation problems since the new method began, and the tan plate below has a milkier color compared to the older example.  Additionally I noted that light was visible through the newer plate, but totally blocked out by the older one.  For photography purposes there's not a big enough difference to care.  Can you tell which one is the older plate?

Alternates
Gun emplacement.

Small Mech.  I like this result. 

Overall the Microfighter AAT proves to be a solid toy with a strong selection of parts and especially curved bricks.  As a Star Wars set it is a bit different, opting to miniaturize a recognizeable vehicle.  It is nice to have small Star Wars set options.  I know the pain of not being able to buy big Lego sets and this will fit the bill for those with small pockets.   You get an uncommon Battle Droid and a unique color of sloped brick.  Buyers who favor more challenging construction might do well to consider this parts pack for its potential uses; such as facial sculpts.

If tan is not a favorite color of yours, this set won't hold much appeal.  In fact, if you're not getting this for the tan bricks, I'd spend the money on something else as the rest of the parts are very ordinary.

Final Grade: B
Pros: Lots of good Curved tan bricks, uncommon Battledroid, good part variety, great price point, nice concept.
Cons: Tan is the important color, mostly ordinary parts, movie accurate it ain't, box is an advertisement.

No Vintage Lego pieces were harmed in the making of this review.