Is Ninjago Dragons Rising Updating Designs From Classic Space?

I’ve just finished watching the first wave of episodes of Dragons Rising, and something struck my mind: Rapton, Lord Ras, and the Imperium Claw soldiers all fly the same type of small craft- a so called Chariot – which carries one rider and deploys a flotilla of drones to aid the hunters in their hunt for Dragons. That said, in the sets related to the series, the chariots are all a bit different to each other. At the same time they seem just a little bit familiar. And then there are the droids in the Dragon Power Spinzitzu sets…

And it got me thinking. Are these sets revisiting Classic Space, with a contemporary aesthetic?

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Giving LEGO® Star Wars™ a Boost [75253]

Convergence. Twenty years ago, we saw the release of the first LEGO® Star Wars™ sets. LEGO Mindstorms was launched the year before. Later in 1999, the Droid Developer Kit 9748 was released, followed up the following year with the Dark Side Developer Kit 9754. These sets were equipped with the Micro Scout CPU – it came with a number of pre programmed responses, including behaviours that could be influenced by ambient light. The programming might have been limited, but who wouldn’t want to be able to build their own R2-D2?

Fast Forward 20 years, and LEGO Robotics system have obtained an unprecedented level of power through the EV-3 system, and the new Powered Up paradigm is starting to take hold. With the LEGO Boost Creative Tool Kit now almost 2 years old, it seems reasonable for it to be upgraded, and what better way this year, than to make it a LEGO Star Wars set.

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