LEGO Series 26 designer secrets: Robot Butler and Spacewalking Astronaut

Discover how the LEGO Group conjured up a unique take on a modern astronaut for Series 26 in our latest LEGO Minifigures designer walkthrough.

Ahead of 71046 Series 26 Space’s release this month, Brick Fanatics caught up with LEGO Minifigures Creative Lead Esa Petteri Nousiainen and LEGO graphic designer Tore Magelund Harmark-Alexandersen to unlock the secrets behind the new series. Next on the list are two characters that sit at opposite ends of the timeline: one very retro, and the other super-modern.

From a couple of prints you might have missed to the unintentional patterns in others, here’s everything you need to know about the Robot Butler and Spacewalking Astronaut.

Robot Butler

Core to 71046 Series 26 Space is the notion of classic sci-fi archetypes, from a mutant to an android. Inspired first and foremost by retro serials and movies, the Robot Butler ticks off another of those archetypes – in this case, a robot rolling on wheels.

“The tricky part here was we didn’t want to just do a robot,” Esa says. “I think we’ve done some robots in the past, like the yellow one [from Series 22] that had a hammer and a little mechanic robot. So we said, ‘Okay, where did you see these [robots on wheels]?’ And they usually were in the living quarters of the retro astronauts, helping out, rolling in with a tray of food or something.”

The Robot Butler specifically carries a pot of cream and a whisk, which Esa says was ‘just a fun addition’ – but which Tore says ‘also underlines the happy scenario’ that runs throughout Series 26, a collection of characters bound together by their positive and optimistic approach to space travel and science fiction.

“It could have a hidden agenda, but no, its only hidden agenda is to whip cream the best way possible,” Tore says.”

While the new wheeled legs element and trans-green dome piece will have pulled focus for this minifigure at first, the torso also sports a couple of very cool prints that you’ll need to look a little closer to spot. The first of those is a clever way to reinforce the purpose of the character, effortlessly marrying form and function.

“I love the little detail that Tore came up with when we came up with the profession for this guy,” Esa says. “The little grill under the head is shaped like a bow tie, so you can really underline the fact that it’s a butler, it’s helping you out.”

“That actually came after we gave him whipped cream,” Tore chimes in, before revealing a second print only the most eagle-eyed fans would have spotted on the back of the robot. “Something else we try to do if it doesn’t pollute the picture is to take old classic decorations, like the tape that was on a 1×2 tile back in the day, and reuse it in a new context.

“It’s still the best way of conveying a story, which here is always cool technology.”

Spacewalking Astronaut

A space-themed Collectible Minifigures series wouldn’t be complete without a modern astronaut, but this is a concept the LEGO Group has already covered in previous Collectible Minifigures series. The challenge here was finding a new way to approach familiar ground in a way that would justify taking up a coveted slot in this 12-strong series – but there was never any alternative.

“Space needs some very clear icons that everybody recognises immediately,” Esa says. “As we’ve done the modern astronaut many times in the early series, we were like, ‘So what have we not done?’ We were looking into pictures of astronauts, and they usually have a huge backpack with an engine inside, and these arms that have little joysticks that they can use to manoeuvre the thrusters.

“That was the point that we said, ‘Okay, let’s recreate that.’ We tried some building options, and we actually got pretty close by building, but the challenge is that then you would have way too many parts for a Collectible Minifigure. Then we decided that this one could use a new part. And obviously, that’s a nice backpack, where you can build whatever.”

The large backpack piece features multiple connection points, on to which studs are pressed and bars are clipped in the final minifigure (which still includes quite a lot of pieces for a single character). And the careful approach to its shaping opened up multiple firsts for LEGO astronaut minifigures.

“As far as I remember, we haven’t had those mics that they have in their suits placed right next to their mouth,” Tore says. “I don’t recall that at least. And I thought that was something that really made it feel like this modern NASA astronaut.” Hooked on to each of those pieces is a 1×1 round tile – one in trans-yellow to represent a torch, and one printed to represent a microphone. At least, that was the intention.

“My youngest, he saw this character at one point, and he said, ‘Oh, I think it’s pretty cool that in the black circle there’s a little highlight of blue that goes in like a moon. It’s cool that there’s the moon and the sun, like in space,’” Tore continues. “I was like, ‘Okay, that was not intentional.’ But when interacting with kids, having their reflections on these things, that’s sometimes where you almost come off more brilliant than you were because they see so many layers and so many cool things.”

Check out the rest of our LEGO Series 26 walkthroughs so far using the links below.

• Alien Tourist and Blacktron Mutant
• Alien Beetlezoid and Imposter
• Ice Planet Explorer and Orion
• Nurse Android and Retro Space Heroine

71046 Series 26 Space is available now. You can pick out a complete set – or just your favourite characters – using the Brick Search app’s minifigure scanner.

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