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Let’s Just Admit, We All Love A Good Villain
After nearly four decades the LEGO Blacktron Renegade is back, and fans have never been happier to see the bad guys on the shelves. Including yours truly…
The year was 1987 and LEGO decided to release the Blacktron sub-theme. It was meant to spice up the Space theme, and it did exactly that. Because here’s the thing: without villains, the good guys are not much fun. You don’t believe me? Think of any Marvel or DC comic. Think of any James Bond movie. Or Star Wars. Battlestar Galactica. Harry Potter. Even childhood classics like The Addams Family or Snow White. Good versus evil has been a core storytelling device for hundreds and thousands of years, going back as far as Cain and Abel. The bad guys make the good guys look good. In LEGO Space, the Blacktron Renegade helps the Galaxy Explorer tell the story. Because without the Blacktron villains, there would be no story. Just a Galaxy Explorer wondering around Space.
In 2022, the Danish toymaker finally realised that LEGO nostalgia sells. I say “finally” because for decades, adult LEGO fans — often also dubbed as AFOLS — have been complaining about LEGO not being the same as it was back in the 70s and 80s. That’s partly true, there are more types of pieces, some highly specialised, but in…
