LEGO Classic Space 40581 Blacktron Spaceship rumoured for 2023

The LEGO Group is rumoured to be keeping the Classic Space love flowing in 2023, with a gift-with-purchase vaguely titled 40581 Blacktron Spaceship.

Instagram user brick_clicker reports that the LEGO Group will be heading back into the vault at least one more time early next year, for a promotional follow-up to this summer’s 10497 Galaxy Explorer. Details beyond the set’s name are few and far between at the minute, but that alone should be enough to whet the appetites of Classic Space fans.

That’s because Blacktron was one of the theme’s original factions, first landing on shelves in 1987. A total of eight Blacktron sets arrived by 1991, including 6894 Invader, which 1414falconfan suggests will be the specific inspiration for 40581 Blacktron Spaceship. That 1987 model came in at 164 pieces, which would theoretically be right in the ballpark for a one-to-one remake as a gift-with-purchase.

Given the difference between 497 Galaxy Explorer and 10497 Galaxy Explorer, though – some 916 pieces – it seems more likely that any update to 6894 Invader would involve substantially more bricks, to better reflect modern-day design techniques. To keep things within the purview of a gift-with-purchase, 40581 Blacktron Spaceship might therefore only take loose inspiration from its ancestor.

Or it might not. For now, this information is all just rumours, so take it with a pinch of salt until we get official confirmation from the LEGO Group. If 40581 Blacktron Spaceship does exist, though, it could be one of multiple retro gifts-with-purchase arriving in 2023, alongside BIONICLE’s rumoured 40580 Buildable Tahu.

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Chris Wharfe

I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

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