Good morning, Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year 2018!!! It’s another edition of Memory Lane, a column on space-themed toys that have or in process of inspiring the love of space and the science and development of the Space Industry!
Today’s article covers Legos, and The Great Space Chase that it has so influentially inspired.
For many that are involved in the space industry, Lego’s have played an integral part in their fascination and desire to know more about space.
The Lego company was formed in Denmark back in 1949. It started out with very basic products with very basic blocks that could be assembled and put together to form everything from animals, vehicles, even biological life such as dogs, cats, and even trees. As time went on, Lego designers began to think of other ways to market Lego products.
They begin to think about building pre-designed kits to market to the public. The end result was an extremely popular business move! Now Lego was selling kits with various themes such as houses, pre-made vehicles, and other items that were only dreamed of by only the most dedicated Lego enthusiasts.
By the early 1980s, the Lego company finally begin to look into building sets that coddled to those that were interested in space. For yours truly (a.k.a. Ben Faltinowski), a very memorable Lego kit that my grandmother got for me back at Christmas in 1986. It was of a space-based robotic vehicle. It certainly wasn’t advanced as the Lego sets that we have today, yet it still inspired a tremendous amount of imagination.
The same could be said for many other young children that love space. Everything from intergalactic command bases, spacecraft, rockets, and so forth began to captivate the hearts and minds of future generations of space engineers, scientists, and space explorers.
Eventually the Lego space sets began to become even more ambitious than this. Lego actually began to purchase licenses from well-known movie franchises.
Most popular of course was Star Wars. Pretty much every single vehicle or setting known from Episodes 1 through 6 (and now 7, 8, and soon to be 9).
The following are some highlighted space-based kits and models.
Lego Space Explorer Set (1980’s)
In the 1980s, there was the aforementioned space explorer sets. Extremely basic compare the ones they have now, nevertheless extremely fun for Young enthusiasts and even grownups to might I add.
Later kits expanded into actual space vehicles such as space shuttles, space stations, etc.
Lego – Alien Conquest
This alien invasion set was extremely popular, coddling to those that watch movies such as Independence Day, War of The Worlds, and other similar ones.
The stars of the series of course were the alien flying saucers and land vehicles such as this stereotypical tripod walkers. It also had Earth ground forces that were fighting the alien invasion too for dramatic effect.
Lego Galaxy Squad
Another set was the Galaxy Squad, namely a group of early explorers that were fighting deep space alien threats.
The spacecrafts are very elaborate because they combine both ground vehicles and space flying vehicles, and also include alien based ones (and creatures) as well.
Some of the fighters seen here are owned (and built) by yours truly. They are on display in my office.
Each set ends with a large, master kit. For the Galaxy Squad, it’s the Galactic Titan which combines a heavy star cruiser and a heavy ground tank.
Star Wars Lego Sets
Perhaps the most popular set of course would be the entire Star Wars series. Reproductions of all the major vehicles in Star Wars are in the process of being created.
Darth Vader’s advanced Tie Fighter, the X-Wing, conventional Tie Fighter, A-Wing, Luke’s Speeder, and even the Imperial Star Destroyers make up for perhaps the largest Lego theme collection.
But the largest, most detailed of the Star Wars sets is the dreaded Imperial Death Star. All the major cut scenes were built into various sections of the model.
Along with this, Legos are now taking a deeper, more educational approach with inspiring a new generation of engineers, scientists, and space explorers.
Lego Technic series is meant for serious engineering and science minded builders. Everything from working vehicles and mechanical functionality make for a highly educational slant on Lego building.
Lego has even started building kits of the various space program vehicles from NASA, including the NASA planetary rovers such as Curiosity and Pathfinder.
Also rocket programs such as the Space Shuttle, Saturn V, and Delta II and IV rockets (NOTE: Yours truly worked on the real Delta counterparts) are covered.
Even the non-“space themed” Lego City series include a Rocket Launch Pad as well as some Space Shuttle and Rocket models.
This particular one now sits on my desk. The tremendous detail and creative thought put into these has helped build and inspire the education of many engineers, scientists, astronauts, and other space enthusiasts.
Finally, for the most practical user based Lego sets are the Lego Mind Storms. These are more than just models, they are available to serve as a baseline for rudimentary robotic vehicles and tools.
Recently I did some work for a Lego Mind Storm instructor from Aspen, Colorado who is teaching STEM science to a new generation of future Space industrialists.
The only downside of the Lego mind storms said is that they start anywhere between $350-$500. However if you consider the educational and fun aspects it’s well worth the price.
The other stats are substantially less except for Darth Vader’s Imperial Star Destroyer ($300.00) and the Death Star ($450.00), both of which can take several days to fully assembled
All in all, Legos are very fun in a hands-on way to get in touch with both the space industry, space science, and space exploration. To learn more info on space-themed Lego kits please visit www.lego.com for starters, visit your local toy stores, and even look on Amazon.com or eBay.
For The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, I’m Gimmick Commander Ben Faltinowski! ? ?
© Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick, 2018, authorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Ben Faltinowski and The Great Galactic Space Gimmick with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
DISCLAIMER: The information for these stories came from numerous sources across the internet, and this info was compiled into an original reporting of these events. Also, the featured products come from Lego, and this article is meant to advertise all Space-themed products of theirs. It is believed this article constitutes fair use, as it was written in positive support of Lego products and the info used to compile this article came from publicly available information and material.