Most excellent display.

I'm a 90s kid, but I actually don't have much of a soft spot for a lot of late 90s space themes. Part of this is that I have so many 90s space parts that rarely seem worth the trouble of finding new uses for. Exploriens, UFO, Insectoids, and Rock Raiders had loads of large, specialized parts, not to mention bunches of parts printed with extremely theme-specific decorations.

UFO is my least favorite of these themes. While its subject matter (flying saucers and other weird alien vessels) was new to LEGO, I am not super-fond of the theme's color scheme, and I find a lot of the printed parts from that theme hideous, with fine and chaotic details that don't suit the simplified, slightly cartoony look I like to see in LEGO decorations. It doesn't help that a set that was on my personal wish list for two years as a child, 6975 Alien Avenger, ended up being a real letdown when I finally got it.

I do have nostalgia for some themes of my childhood, though — particularly the robots and flying saucers of Spyrius, the realistic space shuttles of Launch Command, and the colorful submarines of Aquazone. Some of the parts in these themes were moving towards the bulky specialization that leaves a sour taste in my mouth when looking back at themes of the late 90s, but they were a big part of my childhood, and one that for whatever reason I don't feel embarrassed by years later.

Anyway, these MOCs are pretty good. I especially like that in the case of the UFO, Insectoids, and Roboforce models, they pay earnest tribute to the the actual defining motifs and design standards of those themes, rather than just being generic spacecraft painted in the colors and emblems of a retired theme, like a number of "throwback" models sometimes tend to be. The Exploriens SHIP is nice, as SHIPs go. However, other than the colors and logos, it doesn't totally call to mind Exploriens for me. I feel like the Exploriens line was mostly characterized by flared shapes, lattices, bulky lasers/signal transmitters, and reflective satellite dishes. Of course, that's just my opinion. Perhaps a vessel as massive as this one would not adhere to the same design constraints of the smaller vehicles.

Anyway, these MOCs are pretty good. I especially like that in the case of the UFO, Insectoids, and Roboforce models, they pay earnest tribute to the the actual defining motifs and design standards of those themes, rather than just being generic spacecraft painted in the colors and emblems of a retired theme, like a number of "throwback" models sometimes tend to be. The Exploriens SHIP is nice, as SHIPs go. However, other than the colors and logos, it doesn't totally call to mind Exploriens for me. I feel like the Exploriens line was mostly characterized by flared shapes, lattices, bulky lasers/signal transmitters, and reflective satellite dishes. Of course, that's just my opinion. Perhaps a vessel as massive as this one would not adhere to the same design constraints of the smaller vehicles.

I agree it doesn't have the exact feel of the Exploriens sets, but I think part of the spirit of the revamping a theme so it is "Neo" is to break away from the mere plate-as-wings and openness that a lot of 90s Space ships and Classic Space had and use some new techniques and shapes available now.

It would be interesting to have a more in depth discussion about this with fans of Neo-MOCs. (I'd suggest the Neo 90s-Space Flickr group, but I can't seem to post pictures there....)

-CF

I think that that SHIP is a very grand evolution of the Exploriens line. The one thing that I would have done a little different is put a three wing cockpit on it, instead of the singular viewport. The design very much reminds me of the SHIP in the opening cinematic for the old PC Rock Raiders game. Any chance of it being at BFVA?

Thanks!

This will definitely return to BFVA for its 4th year!

-CF