On Rebrickable it's just "Booster", which is boring.

Unique: None

Rare: None

The designs for these little Kabaya Insectoids ships are pretty cool-looking for so few parts. I always liked the color scheme for this theme, too.

What an interesting set!

Weird. I originally though that it built two ships, because you see two ships. Then I noticed they weren't even the same ship. And then I noticed that they _were_ all the same parts, so they basically presented two alternate models in a single image. I don't think I've ever seen that done before (Creator 3-in-1 always uses insets for the alternate builds so you can clearly tell that you can't build all three at the same time).

After the true Classic Space era, it was hard for me to get used to themes like these. I was thankful that SW came to be. Otherwise it was farewell to space sets for me.

The image is misleading, it looks like you get 2 ships and minifigures.
Love the colors though.

If you count the numbers: 3 + 0 + 7 + 3 = 13. Thank goodness Friday was yesterday.

@GSR_MataNui said:
"Here's your lore!!!

One of the most impressive and dominating factions in the LEGO Galaxy was without a doubt the Zotaxians. An intensely militaristic race with an obsession on body modifications and cybernetic enhancements. The violent fleet was spearheaded by their tyrannical king, Alpha Draconis, who had dreams of conquering the universe!

But Draconis reign did not go off without a hitch. His cruel and demanding demeanor drew ire from his followers, and soon the valiant Queen Gypsy Moth betrayed her liege, amassing a ragtag group of Zotaxian rebels to escape the dictator's fleet.

This rebel band soon found refuge on the remote world of Holox. The desolate world was harsh and unforgiving, with a craggy desert surface and frequent intense lightning storms. It was a terrible place to live, but a great place to hide.

Just when supplies started to dwindle and hope seemed lost, the rebels made a fantastic discovery. A cave on the surface lead them down to a secret underground world. The planet Holox was actually hollow, with a massive "inner-sun" providing energy and light to a lush and vibrant underground jungle.

But the rebels weren't alone in this world. The jungle was home to several giant and terrifying arthropods known as the Bilgen Bugs. The massive beasts were highly territorial and preyed on their alien arrivals, but the Zotaxians had a plan. Using scrap metal and broken ships they modified all their vessels with fake legs, bug like wings, massive glass eyes, and glowing antenna. They turned their ships into giant bug puppets! And thus, the Insectoids were born.

Using these disguised craft the Insectoids would take batteries shaped like Bilgen Bug eggs down to the inner sun to collect energy, and once full bring them back to their hideouts on the harsh surface. Here we can see either Gypsy Moth herself or the ace pilot Navigator Sharp (the figures were identical, regional names and positions) driving a small speeder across Holox's surface. "

Aren’t there like 50 different backstories for the Insectoids? Ranging from this to being enemies to the Rock Raiders. Only thing any of them seem to have in common is they’re on a planet with energy rich ores and giant bugs

@LegoDavid said:
"
But come to think about it, Star Wars is the thing that killed original LEGO Space themes. Ever wondered why original Space themes have been declining since the late 90's? Its because of Star Wars."

I partially agree with you. But themes like Exo-Force and Space Police III are proof that Lego is still able to create amazing Space/Sci-fi themes along SW. Even NinjaGo has many awesome Mechs and Aircrafts that can easily pose as space crafts.

I'll always choose Classic Space-like sets to SW, but in absence of light darkness prevails...

@GSR_MataNui said:
"Here's your lore!!!"

Was it ever canonically stated that Insectoids and UFO aliens were two halves of the same theme? I always thought that was Fanon, since none of the (admittedly minimal) Insectoids material I'd seen made direct mention to the preceding theme... I'd be interested to know where that information came from :o

@Brickalili - I don't know about the rest of the Insectoids backstories, but I'm fairly certain they never crossed over with Rock Raiders in official canon; in every piece of story media I've seen - and I've seen more for Rock Raiders than I ever did for Insectoids! - RR was an entirely self-contained theme.

On a different note; I have the Navigator Sharp minifigure ^^ Traded for her with a friend at school when I was in Year 6... I got a bit carried away with minifigure trading back then, I will admit; but this was one that I never regretted. He wanted to keep her, but only because he liked her armour and helmet, he didn't truly care which minifigure he had wearing those parts; and I was interested in her for her appearance in Lego Racers, where she conveniently *didn't* wear the armour or helmet (I can only guess that was because the graphics they used at the time wouldn't have allowed the helmet to be transparent) - so we reached an agreement where he kept her accessories, and I got her in exchange for another minifigure who could wear them for him instead! :D

I was pleased as anything to get another of the Racers Hosting Champions... most satisfying minifigure trade I ever made, for sure!

@ThatBionicleGuy :

One source that calls the Insectoids 'Zotaxians' would be the 1998 catalogue ( https://worldbricks.com/en/catalog-year/1990/catalogs-1998/1998-lego-catalog-12-de.html ). Although they don't mention the UFO aliens being Zotaxians...
UFO being called Zotaxians originates mostly from an advertisement booklet found in various kids magazines in late 1997 (this booklet also mentions 'Chamon' as the name for the red UFO alien and shows the fictional alphabet of the Zotaxians). Since both factions are called the same, it is generally believed they are the same (how it works is still a bit mysterious, given that the Insectoids look very closely like humans except for their 'Borg' implants and blue/gray skin; whilst the UFO aliens look drastically non-human with fangs, reptilian eyes and whats not)

The Rock Raiders connection is more or less 'non-canon' if you will call it like this - the idea was revealed in behind-the-scenes interviews for the Rock Raiders theme. Originally Rock Raiders was planned as the 1999 Space theme (implying that Space was about to continue even further). But since Space was cancelled in favor of Star Wars, this whole idea was dropped. Concept art also shows the Rock Raiders working alongside some alien minifigures that looked similar to the Insectoids.

What's even more confusing is Gypsy Moth's role as 'leader' seems to only be a thing in NA. Both the UK and continental European catalogues favor Webb (from 6977) as the leader.

In terms of LEGO Racers you are right that they could not (or did not want to) display transparent elements, the same problem exists with Commander Cold/Bear's Helmet Visor and Ann Droid's and Alpha Draconis' Head. Given that the Insectoid helmet looks awkward if non-transparent, they simply left it out. I'm also kind of glad that weird angry facial expression of hers from the Racers box art never made it to figure form - yikes!

@ThatBionicleGuy said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
"Here's your lore!!!"

Was it ever canonically stated that Insectoids and UFO aliens were two halves of the same theme? I always thought that was Fanon, since none of the (admittedly minimal) Insectoids material I'd seen made direct mention to the preceding theme... I'd be interested to know where that information came from :o"

While I filled in the gaps of Alpha Draconis being the tyrannical big bad of Insectoids everyone I've met has agreed the UFO aliens are Zotaxians as well: https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/File:UFO_Advertising_3.jpg

@Brickalili said:
"

Aren’t there like 50 different backstories for the Insectoids? Ranging from this to being enemies to the Rock Raiders. Only thing any of them seem to have in common is they’re on a planet with energy rich ores and giant bugs"

As far as I know there are three different stories:

The European story is the one I described, The American story is mostly the same except the Insectoids run out of energy on Holox and decide to invade Earth for more power. LEGO Legacy Heroes Unboxed implies that (at least in Locust's case) the Insectoids were a subdivision of UFO that recently allied with Blacktron.

Personally in my headcanon I've always seen Insectoids as loose cannons. They aren't exactly evil, opposing the harsh dictatorship of UFO, but they aren't exactly good, ignoring the laws and regulations of the Space Police. Making them a force of heroism that clashes with other forces of heroism seems the best way to merge regional stories in my opinion, but I don't have any kind of writing authority at LEGO to implement that at all.

@GSR_MataNui said:
"Here's your lore!!!

*snip* "

You single-handedly made me want to collect Insectoids.

The name 'Zotax' even seems to vary heavily.

In the US the UFO's homeworld was the planet Humorless, whilst in the UK they were from two different worlds called Xizos and Xeebo.

The Insectoid world (where they mine the voltstones, not their homeworld) is called Holox in the UK and Ameron in Germany. In the US a name for that planet is not mentioned at all.

Zotax seems to appear primarily in Danish and German sources as far as I can tell.