Back in Space
Posted by Mr_Cross,
During lockdown, I’ve been spending a lot of time in space, LEGO Space to be precise. It’s a welcoming fantasy of worlds, where it seems just about everyone is pleased to see you.
In my recent review of 31107 Space Rover Explorer, I had wanted to include an extra section that compared the astronaut in the set with the Classic LEGO Spacemen.
However, after beginning to photograph them, I realised it was a bit too much of a digression, and that it would take away from the focus and purpose of the review.
So in this, the first of two articles, I'll be taking a look at some of the Classic Space minifigures that have boldly gone before him.
I think my inclination towards comparing the new astronaut who I had dubbed “Sam” to the other Classic Spacemen was a fondness for the original minifigures. The simplicity of the design, the cleanness of the logo that evokes so much with so little. It’s more than that though, these are characters, companions from childhood, old friends even.
For me, much of the appeal of Space LEGO over the last forty years or so has been these little coloured men, women and aliens. They have piloted ships, driven rovers, manned remote outposts, explored inhospitable planets and generally launched themselves (at our behest) into unfamiliar planets and strange galaxies.
In my case it was usually in ‘The Beehynde Worlds of the Sofar System’, if you’ll forgive the reworking if a TLM2 joke.
As a child, the anticipation of each new set was definitely heightened by the inclusion of a differently coloured spaceman.
In a discussion on Reddit from 2014, Mark Stafford discussed some thoughts that the late, great, father of Classic Space, Jens Nygaard Knudsen had related to him about each colour of spaceman:
“I've met and talked to Jens Nygaard Knudsen, creator of the Mini-figure and all of the original classic space sets (from day one all the way to Spyrius). According to him the Red and White spacemen started as Cosmonauts and Astronauts. Later they became red pilots and white explorers, yellow were introduced as scientists, blue as security/soldiers, black as spies.”
Mark Stafford, circa July 2014.
I never attributed jobs to my differently coloured spacemen, I think I recall considering whether they were a different rank, Private White, Lieutenant Redding, Major Blue, Admiral Black? I think mostly though, they were just different members of a crew, sometimes red was the science officer and blue was the doctor, at other times red was a captain and yellow was the navigator. More colours just represented more possibilities. So, I’m looking forward to having the upcoming “Orange” be the onboard human resources manager or the health & safety rep. ;-)
The inclusion of a new or perhaps more accurately “neo” classic space minifigure (Sam) in 31107 is intriguing to me. I’d like to think there is more to this new-look astronaut than simply this one set but I’m hesitant to expect anything else. For now though, I’m just pleased to see LEGO’s continued commitment to the theme (in a representative way at least).
This isn’t intended to be an exhaustive article by any means as there are a few gaps in my collection… please consider it more of a casual sort of recap, juxtaposition and exploration of our interstellar adventurers in relation to the new kid on the crater plate.
My primary qualifying condition had been the presence of the Classic Space Moon logo (as originally designed by Hjalmar Knielsen) printed on the torso of an astronaut minifigure.
I have recreated the original logo here from a 3939p91 6x3 slope.
To begin with, specifically, I was looking for the moon's appearance on a white figure or white background, to most closely compare with our new astronaut, Sam, as found in 31107 Space Rover). I think he looks great lined up with his “classic” space brethren.
The original white spaceman SP006 was in service between 1979 and 1987 (I’m ignoring and simultaneously including all special editions, before anyone mentions vintage collections, polybags, magnets, TRU exclusives and GWPs that use the motorcycle helmet - partly because I don't own them).
SP052a with the thick chin strap, surprisingly, only came in one set, 6952 Solar Power Transporter in 1985 and together with that thick chin strap he comes with a funky blue jetpack! Curiously, Bricklink shows the thin chinstrap helmet in its inventory for the set and minifigure, but in its photo, there is the thick chinstrap. I have two copies of the set, one with each example of the helmet. So, I assume that it is a classic case of alternative parts being used up by LEGO.
Twenty five years passed before The Collectible Minifigure Series 1 in 2010 brought us something different in the shape of 8683-13 aka COL013. This guy represents a serious update with complex printing on the torso and legs. He’s missing some white air tanks (an easy fix) but he does have a snazzy new helmet.
The helmet was actually designed for the Space Police III theme that debuted the previous year and that brings me to SP103. Another figure I sadly don’t own, but might not have included here anyway as it is a statue, not a jobbing space explorer!
Next up, from Collectible Minifigure Series 15 is 71011-2 aka COL229 in 2016 and this guy features arm printing, an addition that I know whets the appetite of many minifigure collectors. I really, really like the level of detail on this figure, the criticism I have is probably unfair, I want a larger emblem, but it’s possibly a fairly realistic size of badge for a spacesuit.
I’m skipping over some other appearances of the moon logo as they didn’t quite fit some part of the initial criteria I had for only including predominantly white Classic Spaceman.
Most recently from 2019’s Benny’s Space Squad 70841, we have Jenny aka TLM110, who, with the exception of a dimple in the crown of her helmet (some other minor moulding variations) and a subtly different gold colour on the moon of her logo, is virtually indistinguishable from the original 1979 figure.
Finally, we have Sam from 31107, who doesn’t have an identifying inventory code at Bricklink yet. He’s a great little addition to the gang. Good quality printing and it’s nice that he’s in the flat silver, I did wonder whether the astronaut helmets from the last city theme might make a nice addition instead of the regular white helmet we have here. The black and white dual moulded piece shown far right below would have enhanced the Mark Watney comparisons.
The changing shape of intergalactic cranial protection (from left to right): original thin chinstrap 193a2, thick chinstrap 193b2, new “classic” 50665, motorcycle 30124, space helmet 87781 and dual moulded 49663.
In the first batch above I was ignoring the classic space logo on the Futuron minifigures because there is not one in all white, or light grey, although having now written that, I really, really want this figure even though it doesn’t exist!
This image is, of course, “Photoshopped”.
We can (with the exception of white and pink) compare colour for colour with ‘Classic Space’ and ‘Futuron’ astronauts.
There is very little to say about the original figures, that isn’t pretty much immediately obvious. These three primary colours and black have a very simple correlation with their Futuron counterparts. I’m still inclined to say I prefer the plain and simple single colour versions from the earlier sets.
Inclusion of the (now very familiar) motorcycle helmet addressed the cracked chinstrap issue and at the time, I remember this being a big deal for me.
Each Futuron figure has a cool blue visor and their spacesuits have the diagonal zip which I think could be paying homage to NASA’s mercury program suit as worn by Alan Shepherd (the first American in space).
The diagonal zip has also been used to create a triangular section of colour which I think reflects the bold colours and strong geometric style which was such a flavour of mid-eighties fashions. Perhaps this was another reason for the re-style?
Pete & Yve, our Green astronauts (IDEA007 & IDEA008 respectively) from the ideas/Cuusoo 21109 exo-suit in 2014 were the first new colour in thirty years. Just under a year later, their opposite number CTY0582 appeared as a LEGO store “statue” in 60097 City Square. He has slightly more detail on his updated torso but the black keyline around the logo unfortunately feels like a break in the consistency.
Last in the line-up of the usual suspects is the pink variant, “Lenny” from The Lego Movie 2, TLM108.
As there isn’t a pink Futuron to include as the comparison, I’ve included a SP001 Blacktron spaceman who doesn’t really qualify for this comparison at all, but is (supposedly) from the opposing force to Futuron, I never ever considered these guys to be baddies. Blacktron just looked cool to me.
A subtle variant of the Futuron figure was used for the first Space Police theme in ‘89. I was a teenager by then though, and my wildest dreams involved other things, like music and girls, consequently I own none of these sets, much to my chagrin.
In the second part of this article, I’ll cover other figures released since the turn of the millennium.
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31 comments on this article
Cool overview!
Besides the creative and imagination-provoking ship designs of Space, the minifigures really brought life to the theme. Although they were in a strange and futuristic world, they were still people.
Although I like the original classic space design, I actually like the later designs more. The originals were iconic and simplistic, but the later factions from the 90s felt more like small parts of a bigger, comprehenisive universe. Due to the sequential nature of those subthemes, you can imagine everything from the early eighties all the way to the late 90s as being part of one big galactic community, with classic space as happening first.
One of the best showcases of this is Space! The Comic at the Drunk Duck or the site with the same name. I would highly recommend it!
Thanks for the article. Spacemen are definitely the classic and the most favourite minifigure characters for everyone of AFOLs.
But I find it's curious your thoughts over Green Futuron prototype minifigure popped up recently. What do you think and know about it?
Awesome, @Mr_Cross. Great photography. I love the headline shot. And the article was cool too.
Loved the article! @Mr_Cross , if you have not seen this yet I wanted to share my website https://www.1980somethingspace.com all about LEGO Space sets from the 80s/90s.
If I was a Classic spaceman, I’d want to be a pink one. No idea why, just because.
One thing’s for certain, though. I would never want to be a red guy, especially not in Star Trek:The Original Series!
I never knew there was an official "intent" for what the colors stood for. When I was a kid, I always imagined the darker the color, the higher the rank. So the black suit was the captain of my Cosmic Fleet Voyager, red was his second, and yellow and white were in the back section doing engineering or whatever.
I think we're primed for a new "classic space"--the original theme was really just a near-future theme back when it was made. It was mostly shuttles, transports, explorers--it's pretty much the same that we're looking forward to today as near-future. Only thing they got wrong was near-complete loss of interest in anything space after we'd gotten to the moon. But now with Mars... maybe... sort of on the horizon... maybe now's the time for a new old theme at long last.
Where'd the grey suit with yellow visor come from in your collection there?
Thanks for the positive comments everyone!
@legoman_russia said:
"But I find it's curious your thoughts over Green Futuron prototype minifigure popped up recently. What do you think and know about it?"
This one?:
https://minifigpriceguide.com/wordpress/rare-vintage-lego-80s-or-90s-futuron-space-green-minifigure-unreleased/
I don't know tbh. There are things that make me think it's probably real, but there are also things I don't think look quite right either.
Faking photographs of other colours is pretty easy...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50009910481_510947a555_w.jpg
Faking a physical thing would be more difficult, but there are some pretty good customs out there. Sadly that would make me always question this without proper provenance.
@diegobaca said:
"Loved the article! @Mr_Cross, if you have not seen this yet I wanted to share my website..."
Really cool website! Thanks for sharing. Always nice to see the classic sets, looks like you've got them all there!
@omnium said:
"Awesome, @Mr_Cross. Great photography. I love the headline shot. And the article was cool too."
Thanks :-) Staging that shot was tricky! Filters are hiding a multitude of sins!
@ra226 said:
Where'd the grey suit with yellow visor come from in your collection there?"
You can make him from 'Rocket Boy' CMF... tune into the next article for more details ;-)
I actually built https://www.1980somethingspace.com/6971 just over the last weekend. Boy, was it such a fun build :)
Not a particular fan of space but this is an interesting article.
^ What a cool site, love the presentation (and they have lots of background images for download, too!). Reminds me of the way older https://www.lugnet.com/fibblesnork/lego/guide/space/ (my go-to for Space in the late 90's).
This article makes me smile. Here's hoping for Pinktron in 2021. I never gave certain duties to certain colors either. I felt like the different colors of suits were to tell one another part. When I had multiples, I would mix and match colored oxygen tanks. So if you're floating around on a planet, you can easily see even from behind, who you're speaking to.
@Mr_Cross thank you for an amazing article! We can always use more space, especially when it includes Futuron :-)
While recounting Futuron minifigures you forgot two “funky” ones from 9355 Dacta Futuron: red-green-black sp056 and black-yellow sp057 ;)
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=9355-1&viewItemType=M
Can’t wait for your next article!
Great write up and comparison shots of helmets!
Love the 1980soaceaomwthing website posted in comments.
The graphic of classic space and Futuron figs had me check my little display to see if I arranged the figs the same way!
Close but not exact order.
If they rereleased the old classic sets I had as a kid, I would buy doubles!!!! :)
So white/light grey Futuron supposed to be fake one? I forgot to ask about the picture you shared. It's good looking though
Great article. 493 Space Command Center is the earliest set I remember owning. I left it with my cousins back in 1987 when I relocated for work, got it back from them in 2018, and it now is back on display in my living room.
For whatever it's worth, old LEGOLAND Space/Futuron print ads named the black classic astronaut "Captain Black", and a white Futuron astronaut "Major White". Although, it seems that Major White doesn't have an exact match in any official sets!
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=394675
@diegobaca said:
"Loved the article! @Mr_Cross , if you have not seen this yet I wanted to share my website https://www.1980somethingspace.com all about LEGO Space sets from the 80s/90s. "
Thank you for sharing this website! I absolutely love it!
Wouldn’t the Mars Mission astronauts count, seeing as they wore white outfits with the Classic Space logo on them?
There was an addendum to that list of colors/specialties. The only time I've seen that list come up was in an interview about the Exo-Suit, where it was suggested that green could be for mech pilots. The problem with that is that there have been several mechs (albeit less complex) over the course of the original Classic Space run, and they were piloted by minifigs wearing pretty much all five of the Mondrian colors. My alternate suggestion, therefore, is that green should represent salvage operations. This is something we never saw represented in the old sets, so there's no clear conflict. Now, in addition to orange, we just need a specialty for pink.
@Monopoly:
Mars Mission had a different logo. The spaceship was more triangular like the Ep2 Jedi Starfighters, rather than the early NASA capsules. But for that matter, "Sam" has a different logo, too. The capsule hasn't quite cleared the planet.
On the other hand, CMF S6 Intergalactic Girl _does_ have the correct logo (even if the color scheme is different).
Growing up, I started with the original Classic Space sets (Alpha-1 Rocket Base!) that had just red and white guys. Eventually, we started to get Yellow. At that point, my brother and I decided that the red guys were in charge (a nice bold color), then yellow, then white. (I guess because yellow was "new", we favored them.) Later, blue and black spacemen were introduced and since they were the new hotness and more rare in our collection, they were in charge. Black spacemen were the leaders and blue were their second-in-command. We had never seen Star Trek by this point, so having the colors represent jobs never occurred to us...until later. We realized we had more yellow guys than any other color, so it was appropriate that they were low ranking...but we had fewer white spacemen than red or yellow. Rather than promote them all (sorry guys), we took them out of the ranking and made them "base security" and gave them a security gate at our base (located right next to our city) and a little security vehicle with a green light to drive around in.
I entered my First Great Dark Age right as Futuron and Blacktron came out, so I only had 2 Futuron sets (with blue and black spacemen...who were promoted to leaders of everything) and 1 Blacktron guy (who was "the bad guy".)
Eventually, after college, I moved out on my own started collecting again with early-90s sets...but except for a couple draftees, those guys never met up with the original spacemen of the 80s which were stored at my parents' house. When they moved, I took all my stuff with me, but didn't have space to set anything up. They moved across the country with me...twice....in boxes. Now, my wife, son, and I have a house with a basement and the sets are beginning to see the light once more and I'll finally have the large space base that I've always wanted with ALL my forces "assembled" (like the Avengers). My son is still in his Duplo phase, but when he's old enough I plan to take him down into the basement and surprise him. I plan to explain the colors to him as well so he can carry on the tradition.
...but, yeah... TL;DR: White = security, and then Yellow, Red, Blue, Black, Futuron Blue second in command, and then Futuron Black in command.
Thanks for an entertaining read!
For collectors of these spacepeople, let us embrace the different helmet styles as markers of their eras:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsdrSmylJnj/
(I am ridiculously excited for orange...)
Excellent article; thanks. The photo of the helmets on poles reminds me of a certain scene from 'The Walking Dead'.
I also have a vague memory that I wanted a yellow spaceman so badly, I painted a white one I had - with disastrous results!
I had first Space Police minifig, set 6831, don't know where they end up :( "Lost in Space".
"Blacktron just looked cool to me." That first Blacktron was/is awesome to me, but never had one :'(
Edit: You forget to mention spaceman minifigs "battle pack" sets 6703 & 6074
Love the article.
My favorite of the modern iterations of "Classic Spacemen" would be COL229.
Yes, the logo is tiny, but overall such great detail and so realistic looking.
My first ‘big’ set was a classic space set in 1980, so I have a soft spot for these guys. I feel sorry for your classic blue space man though, with his chewed up backpack neck piece. Did the dog get a hold of this at some point? Or a younger sibling?
My brother and I grew up with space police, mars mission, and a bit of alien conquest. He liked the aliens while I liked the astronauts. Many arguments ensued.
Oooo, I can't wait for part 2!
What an interesting article. Looks like you put a lot of time into it.
Health and safety rep, that's good!