Futuron, Blacktron, and Factions
Up to this point, Lego’s Space theme didn’t have a narrative of its own. The point was for kids themselves to imagine scenarios, but Lego presented the sets as loosely themed around the idea of exploration—although clearly science fictional rather than rooted in then-contemporary space exploration ideas, these vehicles weren’t conflict-driven, but research and exploration-focused. That changed in 1987, when Lego debuted the first factions in the Space line: its evolution into two dueling space themes: Futuron and Blacktron.
Futuron retained much of the original mission of latter days of Classic Space, including its white and blue color scheme for its vehicles. Blacktron, meanwhile, as the name implies, went for predominantly black designs with yellow accents, and featured vehicles and bases that looked and felt more aggressive. Blacktron is one of the first explicitly villainous factions Lego ever introduced, and set the stage for the definition of what Lego Space would become throughout the 1990s.
