2013 City Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[PsyKater]

Er, if that's girl.....she needs a shave big time !

The image of the fire fighter with the axe....to break a glass door ....has a 5 o'clock shadow on it's face.

Edit - oh, I see the box art.....a saw going no where and who's to say that barrel isn't going to go boom !

The real pity is no females in the new police sets !

I am confused. What image(s) do you refer to?

[Aanchir]

I am confused. What image(s) do you refer to?

My original post where I said the female firefighter was wielding an axe was misleading. I should have specified that I was referring to this image and not this one. That was the reason for lightningtiger's confusion.

[-Bob]

^{I really like 60002 - the small aerial ladder set. It reminds me of a modern version of the old hook and ladder set that I liked so much (not the Town Jr. one tho). I know these are mostly European style vehicles which is cool, but I sure would enjoy at least one US Seagraves quint type engine or a 100 foot 3 axle aerial or tower truck.}

[LEGO-MANIA]

I'm very disappointed in most of sets.. Lego tends to make the sets smaller and more expensive..the museum is so small, it couldn't be a even a post office by size... also it is stupid that they keep changing the uniform and the colours of firefighters, so it makes it harder to add them to previous sets... except the fire helicopter, which really looks cool, I'm disapointed in most of other fire and police sets... Are they so cheap that they now even print the police vest instead of making a descent one...lego seems to only want to get the maximum money by offering less and less quality...a very sad developments... lego sets between 2006-2011 were the best

[Lyichir]

I'm very disappointed in most of sets.. Lego tends to make the sets smaller and more expensive..the museum is so small, it couldn't be a even a post office by size... also it is stupid that they keep changing the uniform and the colours of firefighters, so it makes it harder to add them to previous sets... except the fire helicopter, which really looks cool, I'm disapointed in most of other fire and police sets... Are they so cheap that they now even print the police vest instead of making a descent one...lego seems to only want to get the maximum money by offering less and less quality...a very sad developments... lego sets between 2006-2011 were the best

What's wrong with printing one? A tactical vest doesn't sit any farther off the chest than a firefighter's jacket. Should those be a new piece, too? Besides, it's not a matter of cheapness: after all, they already have body armor from the Agents and Power Miners themes which they could have used. But those screw with a minifigure's proportions due to raising up their head without obscuring how low their shoulders are, and I wouldn't be surprised if focus testing showed that kids preferred the printed version.

As for the price of the museum set, keep in mind it includes not just the museum, but three vehicles. You can certainly complain about the overabundance of vehicles in City (although that, again, probably has more to do with kids' preferences), but I'm sure that set has a value appropriate to its size.

Your quality argument has nothing to do with anything we've seen in these pictures, so its ridiculous to even bring it up.

Personally, I'm quite fond of the City sets for next year. For one thing, they seem to be much more situation-based than those of previous years. The cops have a greater variety of crimes to stop! The firemen have to deal with a range of issues, from cats stuck in trees to full-on house fires! In terms of quality I don't find them particularly superior to the sets of previous years, but in terms of presentation they far surpass what has gone before.

[meyerc13]

also it is stupid that they keep changing the uniform and the colours of firefighters, so it makes it harder to add them to previous sets

Actually, I bet a lot of LEGO Fire fans will actually like the new uniforms and new helmets. I've seen some elaborate departments created where certain colored helmets mean a certain thing. Now we have a nice supply of the dark red, and more gold helmets to go with the more recent white and silver helmets, I bet a lot of fans love what you hate.

[andythenorth]

lego seems to only want to get the maximum money by offering less and less quality...a very sad developments... lego sets between 2006-2011 were the best

You're right. This a very sad development, and effectively renders my entire lego collection worthless. I don’t know what to do about this, but I’ll certainly be buying less of the product in future.

Edited October 12, 2012 by andythenorth

[Lyichir]

You're right. This a very sad development, and effectively renders my entire lego collection worthless. I don’t know what to do about this, but I’ll certainly be buying less of the product in future.

Is that sarcasm? Your existing collection is worth exactly as much as it was before these sets were revealed.

[Jargo]

Well I'll definitely be buying the firefighters and police minifigures. I love them. They match up with this years forest fire and police in that the emblems on their torsos are the same design. To my mind it just signifies that as in the real world, things get changed and modernised.

If i have any beef at all about fire minifigures it's that the helmets seem somewhat old fashioned. I haven't seen a helmet like that on a real fireman in years. Now they have more compact rounder helmets with visors. I'd like to see Lego give firemen those helmets in future. Their current one has been in use since at least 1978. Probably time to retire it. It's not like there aren't billions of them floating around already if anyone should want some. It's time to update and reflect what kids see on real firemen.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Jargo

[Galaxy Explorer]

All of these sets look very good! My dilemma is the fact that if I buy into this new wave, I will have every fire station produced since 1979 (excluding Town Jr.) At what point do I say enough is enough and enjoy what I have. CITY is by far my favorite theme, and I look forward to every new wave year round, and usually end up purchasing most of the sets. My storage space is limited, however, and the boxes are stacking up.

I think this is one of the stronger Fire themed offerings. I really like that there are actual things on fire! It's cute that LEGO made sure the house was abandoned and boarded up before burning it down- had I been in charge there would be a family being rescued. The Fire Station looks like an updated version of the 1994 Station, which is a good thing. It's nice to see a full building and three vehicles in one set!

A Police theme three years in a row does seem frustrating, but at least they are all variations on the theme itself (City, Forest, Night Patrol) You can add on without too much repetition, although I'm fully prepared for a new Police Station next year.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

also it is stupid that they keep changing the uniform and the colours of firefighters, so it makes it harder to add them to previous sets.

While I don't see it as stupid, it does bother me a bit that uniforms change. On the one hand, mixing uniforms looks off to me, but I have done that since my first sets from the '90s. On the other hand, I love how the 'suits' get more more and realistic

All of these sets look very good! My dilemma is the fact that if I buy into this new wave, I will have every fire station produced since 1979 (excluding Town Jr.) At what point do I say enough is enough and enjoy what I have. CITY is by far my favorite theme, and I look forward to every new wave year round, and usually end up purchasing most of the sets. My storage space is limited, however, and the boxes are stacking up.

I think this is one of the stronger Fire themed offerings. I really like that there are actual things on fire! It's cute that LEGO made sure the house was abandoned and boarded up before burning it down- had I been in charge there would be a family being rescued. The Fire Station looks like an updated version of the 1994 Station, which is a good thing. It's nice to see a full building and three vehicles in one set!

My sentiment exactly; when is enough, enough? My growing problem are Police sets, but Fire is catching up! I am just wandering the basis of this burning building. I figure when abandoned buildings (this one being boarded up) go up, it's more likely arson, but I'm no Fire Investigator. I think a building with occupants, that catches fire, something "accidental", (cooking accident or something) would be better. Give the Fire Chief something to do besides getting a cat out of a tree. But then again I don't really care, I'm just glad the only reason to get a fire truck out is just to save a cat, even though we also get one

[meyerc13]

I think the reason they didn't have a house with a family is that they didn't want to scare the kids.

I'll definitely be picking up the two new police sets. The swat team look is awesome, I'm a sucker for the exclusive minifig, and the museum is a good start on one for my LEGO City.

As for the fire sets, I'll probably stick with the smaller sets since I already have three LEGO fire stations. I really like the new Fire Cheif's car, it is a great new design. The firebike is also interesting, I may buy that just to have another color of motorcyle in my LEGO City. The stand-alone engine set will be a great parts pack if nothing else. The house on fire is an interesting concept so I'll probably pick it up and tear apart the fire truck for parts. The boat looks great, that's a keeper. The helicopter is a maybe. The station... only if it's on sale for 40-50% off. I like the chief and dalmation, but can't justify buying another fire station just for them.

[Aanchir]

Well I'll definitely be buying the firefighters and police minifigures. I love them. They match up with this years forest fire and police in that the emblems on their torsos are the same design. To my mind it just signifies that as in the real world, things get changed and modernised.

If i have any beef at all about fire minifigures it's that the helmets seem somewhat old fashioned. I haven't seen a helmet like that on a real fireman in years. Now they have more compact rounder helmets with visors. I'd like to see Lego give firemen those helmets in future. Their current one has been in use since 1980. Probably time to retire it. It's not like there aren't billions of them floating around already if anyone should want some. It's time to update and reflect what kids see on real firemen.

Well, part of the reason the LEGO fire helmet looks so old-fashioned is because that's the way that kids are going to perceive them. It has to be remembered that LEGO City isn't strictly based on real life, but also based on kids' perceptions of real life. And a lot of things aimed at kids featuring firefighters go for a "retro" look to the helmets. Just look at Billy Blazes.

It's the same way fire stations are always red and white (except, of course, for the more adult-oriented Fire Brigade) and robbers in LEGO City always wear prison stripes. It's what kids expect, and as such it's what kids demand. I hear that during play testing kids will sometimes even cry if a model presented to them clashes with the way they perceive the subject matter.

[Zarkan]

The thing that upsets me most about this wave is not that it is fire and police again, but that by and large these sets show almost no innovation whatsoever. The fire trucks are literally a cut and paste from the 2010 Fire wave, and the new fire station is pretty much an upscaled (and arguably worse) version of the previous one. And worse, the only geniuinely new concepts (flaming structures for firemen to put out, a museum robbery) have been completely squandered with undersized, unappealing designs. This latest wave is, simply put, not up to present TLG standards at all, including the standards set by the highly original City 2012 offerings.

[sneff]

Does anyone know what the knob on the side of the burning house does? Maybe make the flames move around??

[Aanchir]

Does anyone know what the knob on the side of the burning house does? Maybe make the flames move around??

Looks like it, yes.

[muscleman]

a new dog!! :D I like too much the new fire object! And I liek the new police too, but for the set with exclusive minifigure i prefere a car different, it's too big for me!

[andythenorth]

Is that sarcasm?

Yes. Link below is to a slightly-famous post for AFOLs, it should be stickied on Eurobricks IMHO

Traumatic events in the life of a Lego fan http://news.lugnet.c...eneral/?n=43860

Couple other things.

1. The new fire and police sets look great. My two kids will love them (both boys). The older one really likes sets with stories in them, so adding cats, trees, burning buildings etc will go down really well. For example, the forest hideaway set has two cars, a trike, a hiding place, postbox and a bear. So he loves this. He really doesn't care that the building is small, has walls missing on two sides or isn't a hard build. Same will apply to the new sets this year.

2. But really, yet more fire and police stuff? I just bought a load this year. Across the age of both kids, there are about another 10 years when they'll be interested in City sets. How many fire engines will be in our lego cupboard? I'm talking as a parent making a buying decision about toys for children, not as a slightly retentive, slightly obsessive AFOL.

3. So for kids, where's the small, vehicle-sized mobile crane (older kid loves cranes)? Where's the post office set + post van set, and postman on bike set (he loves posting tiles into the postboxes in the forest sets)? Where's the updated version of light and sound (when I was 9, everybody wanted those sets)?

4. Mining has gone down well in our house, finding things trapped inside the rocks is very popular; next up, logging?

Edited October 13, 2012 by andythenorth

[PsyKater]

My original post where I said the female firefighter was wielding an axe was misleading. I should have specified that I was referring to this image and not this one. That was the reason for lightningtiger's confusion.

Would be great if one could find all these images without searching long (looked here, at flickr, brickset...). Could anyone add them to the first post please?

[Aanchir]

Would be great if one could find all these images without searching long (looked here, at flickr, brickset...). Could anyone add them to the first post please?

Adding them to the first post would be great, but in the meantime Bricker.ru tends to be fairly comprehensive in this regard... they have all pics but the front-of-box pics.

By the way, looking at that image, what are people's thoughts on the new helicopter windscreen? I've got mixed feelings-- the angles on it feel even sharper than on the classic helicopter windscreen, but at the same time it seems a sight better in some applications than the 4x7 Atlantis cockpit bubble that's been used so frequently on small helicopters in the past couple years.

[meyerc13]

There sure are a lot of helicopters this year, for a minute I thought you were talking about the big one, but now realized you are talking about the smaller one. Looking at that picture, I don't like it. The bubble cockpit used in recent years is closer in shape to a Bell 47 (MASH helicopter), an MD500 (Civilian version of the Little Bird), or even something like the newer Robinson models that are popular due to their low cost. The thing they all have in common is a rounded front end, not the angles that the new LEGO models seem to have. Does anyone know of a real world helicopter with such sharp angles (outside of a military Apache)?

[Scorpion]

By the way, looking at that image, what are people's thoughts on the new helicopter windscreen? I've got mixed feelings-- the angles on it feel even sharper than on the classic helicopter windscreen, but at the same time it seems a sight better in some applications than the 4x7 Atlantis cockpit bubble that's been used so frequently on small helicopters in the past couple years.

I reserve my opinion to when I see them in more detail, but so far, I'm loving them! For me LEGO = angles, and the Atlantis bubble just wasn't doing it for me...

[LEGO-MANIA]

What's wrong with printing one? A tactical vest doesn't sit any farther off the chest than a firefighter's jacket. Should those be a new piece, too? Besides, it's not a matter of cheapness: after all, they already have body armor from the Agents and Power Miners themes which they could have used. But those screw with a minifigure's proportions due to raising up their head without obscuring how low their shoulders are, and I wouldn't be surprised if focus testing showed that kids preferred the printed version.

As for the price of the museum set, keep in mind it includes not just the museum, but three vehicles. You can certainly complain about the overabundance of vehicles in City (although that, again, probably has more to do with kids' preferences), but I'm sure that set has a value appropriate to its size.

Your quality argument has nothing to do with anything we've seen in these pictures, so its ridiculous to even bring it up.

Personally, I'm quite fond of the City sets for next year. For one thing, they seem to be much more situation-based than those of previous years. The cops have a greater variety of crimes to stop! The firemen have to deal with a range of issues, from cats stuck in trees to full-on house fires! In terms of quality I don't find them particularly superior to the sets of previous years, but in terms of presentation they far surpass what has gone before.

it wouldn't be expensive to just put 2-3 tactical vests in sets...Lego sets are shrinking and getting smaller while the prices are even higher than before..so I think adding two or three vest to a set wouldn't kill lego...BRICKWARRIOR or BRICKFORGE both offer vests...for lego would be lot easier and cheaper to produce few vests instead of painting...

in therm of new sets, I am disappointed, since Lego is making the sets more and more expensive while the number of pieces get smaller...just compare the hospital from 2006 with the new hospital...it is almost 30%-40% smaller.... museum is so small now that you almost could use it as a kiosk or coffee shop!!! maybe a little kid who'sbetween 5 to 7 wouldn't realize such things...but there are also lot of older kids or adults which buy lego for displaying or to create city dioramas or brick movies ...and believe me if lego will continue this policy they will soon or later start to loose costumers....

Edited October 13, 2012 by LEGO-MANIA

[lightningtiger]

it wouldn't be expensive to just put 2-3 tactical vests in sets...Lego sets are shrinking and getting smaller while the prices are even higher than before..so I think adding two or three vest to a set wouldn't kill lego...BRICKWARRIOR or BRICKFORGE both offer vests...for lego would be lot easier and cheaper to produce few vests instead of painting...

in therm of new sets, I am disappointed, since Lego is making the sets more and more expensive while the number of pieces get smaller...just compare the hospital from 2006 with the new hospital...it is almost 30%-40% smaller.... museum is so small now that you almost could use it as a kiosk or coffee shop!!! maybe a little kid who'sbetween 5 to 7 wouldn't realize such things...but there are also lot of older kids or adults which buy lego for displaying or to create city dioramas or brick movies ...and believe me if lego will continue this policy they will soon or later start to loose costumers....

You must not forget those two words....PRICE POINT.

Parents and grand-parents watch the cash that they splash out on toys, etc.,.

Also the size of the set is to do with it fitting in with other sets....within reason of course.......and saying the 2006 hospital was better....well that's your opinion (off-topic swtich off).

I'm a little puzzled, that images of the great vehicles haven't popped up or shouldn't I.....the original place where the images were found have pulled them.

[Lyichir]

it wouldn't be expensive to just put 2-3 tactical vests in sets...Lego sets are shrinking and getting smaller while the prices are even higher than before..so I think adding two or three vest to a set wouldn't kill lego...BRICKWARRIOR or BRICKFORGE both offer vests...for lego would be lot easier and cheaper to produce few vests instead of painting...

in therm of new sets, I am disappointed, since Lego is making the sets more and more expensive while the number of pieces get smaller...just compare the hospital from 2006 with the new hospital...it is almost 30%-40% smaller.... museum is so small now that you almost could use it as a kiosk or coffee shop!!! maybe a little kid who'sbetween 5 to 7 wouldn't realize such things...but there are also lot of older kids or adults which buy lego for displaying or to create city dioramas or brick movies ...and believe me if lego will continue this policy they will soon or later start to loose costumers....

Where in my post did I say using tactical vest pieces would be expensive? I only a) pointed out that they don't need to make a new piece for it, since a suitable piece exists, and b) explained how they probably had good reasons not to include such pieces, unrelated to price. Personally, I'm glad the vest is printed, since I think the way the vest piece raises up the head without covering the shoulders looks fairly ugly, and doesn't work well without at least a large helmet like the Power Miners had in their second year.

Regarding price, I think the museum set will be a good value for its cost. We don't know the prices of any of these sets yet, but the set seems to feature a lot for what doesn't look more expensive than $80. A museum facade, two decent-sized vans, and a helicopter? I'm on board for that. Yeah, the museum building itself is small, but it's Lego, and as such it looks like it'd be easy to mod to make it bigger.