The LEGO Group shone a special focus on space in 2024, hitting a wide range of themes and sets – but how well did the collection work as a whole?
The last 12 months have seen an impressive variety of space-themed LEGO sets hit shelves, ranging from child-friendly LEGO Friends sets sending mini-dolls to research centres on other plants to creative takes on spaceships from LEGO City and DREAMZzz. It's part of an ambitious new experiment from the LEGO Group bringing multiple themes together under one collection banner.
With so much coming out under the unified LEGO Space branding, the end of the year seems like a good time to look back at what worked, what didn't, and what this could mean for future LEGO collections.
Hits for every age, price, and interest
Attempting to incorporate so many varied themes under one topic in 2024 was certainly a bold move for the LEGO group. In theory, it sounded like a fantastic concept, but it’s an approach that could very easily have ended up as a fragmented mess of sets that failed to take advantage of the overarching Space approach.
Instead, we were presented with LEGO Art, City, Classic, Creator, DUPLO, DREAMZzz, Friends, Icons, Ideas, Technic and even a dedicated out-of-this-world CMF, with each theme and model appealing to a different demographic. The result was a cohesive whole that allowed the concept of each theme to shine through, delivering effective end products for each relevant target audience and providing a unique take on the subject of Space.
The good news is that the approach didn’t end up feeling like a gimmick at all. Instead, consumers were able to cherry-pick exactly the LEGO Space-based sets that they wanted to buy, mixing and matching themes however they liked in order to assemble the exact collection they were looking for.
That method of delivering Space as an overarching subject matter for the year meant that each theme was able to play to its particular strengths. Whether that was the planetary exploration of LEGO City, models reflecting real-world concepts from Icons, Creator and Technic, or recreating our very own solar system with the beautiful and stunning 31212 Milky Way Galaxy.
It also allowed LEGO Friends to stretch itself beyond its Earth-based roots. From 42602 Space Research Rover, right through to 42605 Mars Space Base and Rocket, fans were presented with all manner of creative concepts, which took the theme’s cast of mini-doll characters to places they’d never been to before. Alternatively, those wanting to keep their feet on the ground and look up at the stars could always pick up 42603 Stargazing Camping Vehicle and avoid interstellar travel altogether.
One of many impressive LEGO models released under the Space banner in 2024 was 31152 Space Astronaut, a Creator 3-in-1 set that allowed builders to construct three different themed items. The first was the Space Astronaut itself, complete with a hidden area behind its gold helmet visor for a minifigure to be placed inside, plus alternate builds of a space dog and space jet.
Again, this approach allowed the LEGO Creator theme do what it does best, opting to give fans a fairly realistic approach to the topic of Space, while still offering up a pair of more fantastical models that didn’t rely so much on technical accuracy, but were still impressive models in their own right.
On the flipside, the LEGO Group also delivered 42179 Planet Earth and the Moon in Orbit. The 526-piece LEGO Technic build is the kind of model that would look equally as impressive at home as it would in the classroom, presenting a fun way to understand how the solar system works in brick-built form.
42179 Planet Earth and the Moon in Orbit took an educational concept and turned it into a unique and interactive Technic build. It was one that showcased numerous Space-related knowledge in an entertaining and effective model and yet again showed each LEGO theme’s approach to an overarching topic in its own signature way.
If one LEGO product dug deeper into Space in 2024 than any other, it was a certain Collectible Minifigures series. 71046 Series 26 Space launched on May 1 and brought with it a must-have selection of 12 unique characters, with not a dud in sight. When it came to blasts from the past, the LEGO Minifigures series delighted fans with the likes of the M-Tron Powerlifter, Ice Planet Explorer and Blacktron Mutant, plus other minifigures guaranteed to bring a smile to your face such as the Alien Tourist, Imposter and Flying Saucer Costume Fan.
71046 Series 26 Space also went one step further by offering display stands that tied into this year’s Space theme, with simple stars against a black background proving to be the icing on the cake on what was yet another very satisfying LEGO CMF.
A number of LEGO Space sets in 2024 came with a special element that allowed models to be connected and expanded in all manner of creative ways. The item in question was an orange airlock that could be attached to vehicles, locations and other builds, enabling all manner of sets to be combined and ncorporated.
That meant it was possible to fix a LEGO City set to a Friends build, a Technic model to a DREAMZzz creation and many more options. The good news is that the same concept will be continuing in 2025 with the arrival of 60446 Modular Galactic Spaceship, a 717-piece LEGO City release that also comes with an airlock element that’s sure to open up even more opportunities for connectibility.
With 31212 Milky Way Galaxy, LEGO Art tried something entirely new this year, which resulted in a brick-built version of our solar system instead of a recreation of an iconic painting, a sculpture of an image. The result was a unique and wholly original approach to LEGO building, presenting a surprising new direction for the theme.
A fascinating experiment, 31212 Milky Way Galaxy presented a perfectly balanced 3D collage that had real weight and depth to it. The set looks stunning when displayed on a shelf or wall, packing in multiple blue, pink, magenta, coral, bright white and iridescent pieces to extraordinary effect. If one model represented the true possibilities of a unified Space theme for 2025, then this LEGO Art set was definitely it.
Misses
The year of LEGO Space may have been impressively diverse and representative, but that doesn’t mean it was without its misses. While 31212 The Milky Way Galaxy is undoubtedly a unique LEGO Art set with a varied array of parts that makes for a powerful display, that doesn’t stop it from being inescapably repetitive.
What's more, the LEGO Art space set is expensive at £169.99 / $199.99 / €199.99 considering the volume of the final build and the size of most of the 3,091 elements. Admittedly, the latter issue is a problem present throughout LEGO Art but it’s not a great price compared to the likes of 31203 World Map’s 11,695 pieces for £214.99 / $249.99 / €249.99.
Beyond 31212 The Milky Way Galaxy, there are other issues with specific LEGO Space 2024 sets including 10341 NASA Artemis Space Launch System. The massive LEGO Icons space set launched in May 2024 with 3,601 pieces for £219.99 / $259.99 / €259.99 and it appears to have passed by without much buzz online.
As SuperNova419 on Reddit points out, the constant delays of the actual mission the set is based on have it battling with relevancy compared to the many other LEGO Space 2024 sets. Should it stay on shelves long enough for the mission to be held (April 2026 at the time of writing), it will have a fantastic opportunity to sell but that is not a guarantee.
Other comments regarding 10341 NASA Artemis Space Launch System note the repetitive nature of the launch tower – which doesn’t time well with the
repetitive build in 31212 The Milky Way Galaxy. It’s also not at the same scale as the popular LEGO Ideas 21309 and 92176 NASA Apollo Saturn V.
All these problems appear to have combined to become a clear hurdle for the LEGO Icons entry.
Looking at the wider Space portfolio, it missed the mark in LEGO DREAMZzz especially. 71475 Mr. Oz's Space Car combines a car with a realistic space shuttle to create a typical futuristic vehicle, but the rebuilds lean into more traditional takes on those individual vehicles instead of making something notably different as LEGO DREAMZzz has become known for.
It’s also odd and slightly disappointing to see that the LEGO Space 2024 range didn’t include Star Wars in some way too, though this is easier to explain and understand since LEGO Star Wars has been celebrating its 25th anniversary all year. As much as Star Wars isn’t a realistic depiction of space, fictional space tales that inspired real-world accomplishments still could have formed an important part of the 2024 range.
Looking beyond Star Wars to the first Dune model and the biggest Marvel Milano set so far, we’re surprised to see that the LEGO Group didn’t include any licenses or partners beyond NASA (the obvious choice) in the 2024 Space collection, which could have taken the LEGO Space collection to an exciting new level.
Blasting into the future
Thankfully, the LEGO Space collection isn’t limited to 2024 and those areas we just mentioned still leave room where the LEGO Group could – and should – explore in the future. As much as the LEGO Space 2024 range had a few misses, the collection is still a remarkable accomplishment.
After all, there are at least two 2025 LEGO sets – 31164 Space Robot and 60446 Modular Galactic Spaceship – that will release next year with the same space branding. That means there's still room for the LEGO Group to plug some of these gaps – and the designers might even already have plans for them.
With LEGO Formula 1 now on the horizon for 2025, it's clear that the LEGO Group is making these inter-theme collections an annual tradition. Now that LEGO Space in 2024 has come to a close, there are certainly pros and cons to such year-long focuses.
As noted above, the LEGO Space collection has led to some truly creative sets that we might never have otherwise seen. The deep cuts to Classic Space in 71046 Series 26 Space and other sets combined with fresh ideas have given new life to a beloved part of LEGO lore. It sparks ideas for what other areas the LEGO Group could dig into.
Could other classic themes get revived, like Castle? Does this open the door for more and more ambitious partnerships, like the collaboration with Formula 1 in 2025? The versatile nature of LEGO Space, with how many different types of sets it offers and how many different people it caters for, builds a great foundation for future collections.
Indeed, LEGO Space has arguably been so impressive that it sets a high bar for Formula 1 in 2025. From what we know so far about the collaboration, there's not quite as much diversity in store. So far, the LEGO x Formula 1 collab has stuck to fairly predictable territory, with LEGO City, Speed Champions, and Technic sets at the fore.
Some of the biggest hits of LEGO Space were the most surprising ones: the unique, artistic approach to 31212 Milky Way Galaxy; the diversity offered in the LEGO Friends Space sets; and the creative use of the airlock element to tie multiple sets together. There are few such surprises in the LEGO Formula 1 range (so far at least), preferring instead to deliver admittedly impressive but predictable brick-built recreations of Formula 1 cars.
There's not much we haven't seen before, so we're hoping there's still room in the collection for LEGO Formula 1 to push the boundaries like LEGO Space did. Where are the LEGO Art sets based on Formula 1 tracks? Where are some display-focused Formula 1 helmets? There are plenty of ways for LEGO Formula 1 to do something different and if it wants to match up to LEGO Space, it's going to need to.
Excitingly at least, the fact that LEGO Space is set to continue into 2025 means that next year hopefully won't be the end of the LEGO Group's partnership with Formula 1. We've already theorised that the LEGO Group might have plans for more Speed Champions sets, so fingers crossed for a bright future for LEGO Space, LEGO Formula 1, and further year-long LEGO collections.
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