40 replies to this topic

[snefroe]

Nobody ever talks about Paradisa. Maybe it's because it was created for girls and most of us are guys...  :-$ Or maybe the theme is too soft, not enough action...  :'-(

I don't know if it ever sold pretty well, still it survived several years, so i guess it made somebody happy... that would be me :-$  Paradisa sets aren't town sets but they come very close. the general theme could be described as "one day away from the office", it's about having fun at the beach, enjoying life, being spoiled by drinks, food and surf boys...
In fact, some of the sets are very compatible with older town sets. take this one, for instance, or this.
and compare that with this:




6419 isn't even the best set of the theme, but is GREAT quality!

First of all, it's quite large:

it has 3 minifigs (of which two female), 3 horses (of which one rare brown), two very nice buildings, a truck and the yellow cart, not to mention a palm tree!! :-$  X-D


the lime green baseplate is extremely nice as well. this one comes in two sections: one 32x32 plate with printing on it, and a smaller 16x32. that's really great, because it allows you build a larger house on both without having to use other, classic green, plates



the fences are the downsite of the set. They look nice, sure, but i would have preferred the bricks and plates of the past. The colours of buildings on the other hand are excellent! the grey, white, pink parts are a great combination! :-$





i love these large slopes on top of the buildings. they're printed parts and go nicely withe the baseplate printing









i also love these old style boxes! 8-�  :-$  you could open the front cover of the box and an entirely new and exciting world just appeared in front of your eyes... :-$ In this case, the set has several other great alternative models, some large, some small, but always great quality!





there's also a poster in the box, showing just how much fun the life of a minifig can be...

Again, there are better sets in the paradisa theme than this one. i'd easily give this set 8/10


brickshelf

bricklink

lugnet

[gylman]

Paradisa is really one of the underappreciated Lego gems, although bricklink prices make it clear that enough people do appreciate these sets.   Considering that this theme was out only a decade ago, it may actually be the most collectable Lego theme at present. I don't think so many copies were released, and even small sets with 100 parts or less will sell MISB on bricklink for 50$.

I think the Lighthouse (6414) is my favourite, although the country club (6418)probably is a better set (I just can't get my hands on that one for a reasonable price, or even a somewhat unreasoanble price).

[snefroe]

gylman, on Jun 15 2007, 08:56 PM, said:

Paradisa is really one of the underappreciated Lego gems, although bricklink prices make it clear that enough people do appreciate these sets.

I think the Lighthouse (6414) is my favourite, although the country club (6418)probably is a better set (I just can't get my hands on that one for a reasonable price, or even a somewhat unreasoanble price).

both sets you mention are brilliant! 8-°  :-$ i don't have them just yet, i guess i'll have to put some money asside for those two... :-X

[gylman]

I think that this theme emerged from the Lego Town theme after the success of Breezeway Cafe 6376).

It's like tracking down the evolution of a species - the 1990 Breezeway begat the 1992 Sand Dollar Cafe 6411 and Poolside Paradise 6416, the line evolved, and reached its peak in the 1996 Country Club 6418.

There were a couple of weak sets in 1997, and that was the end of Paradisa. 6 great years.

[Bonaparte]

I think paradisa was a GREAT theme *wub* !
Really, it so nice to see a review of this old set Snefroe  *y* ! Thanks!!!
This theme really makes me feel happy. I call this the happy city theme.
A life without worries, living near the beach...

Edited by bonaparte, 15 June 2007 - 09:34 PM.

[Brick Miner]

thanks for the review sne...  it is nice to see a wildcard post/review once in a while.

the best thing that came out of this theme is the pony  *wub*
this is definitely a parts-pack theme for me.  though the sets are nice to look at because of all those rarer/unusual elements.

its really too bad there isn't a market to support this type of theme anymore  :'-)

- BrickMiner

Edited by Brick Miner, 15 June 2007 - 10:40 PM.

[gylman]

For those who are interested, this french seller has a few of these for sale (no boxes, though, so I'm out).


Here's the country club, which is quite rare!
http://cgi.ebay.com/...bayphotohosting

[Mr Hobbles]

I always loved the look of the Paradisa sets.  They always struck me as the "proper" down...with cafes, beaches, houses, fun fairs, horses and stables, lighthouses etc.

Unfortunately I never owned any of the sets.  I feel it is time to rectify this.  ;-)

[Dark Brick]

snefroe1,
    
              Thank you for bringing to light one of the most underappreciated town sub-themes. Paradisa was LEGO's way of trying to get the female gender involved more with building or was it thier way of introducing pink properly?!

I can honestly say that I own a few of the sets from the Paradisa line, including the one you have in your retro review. Now I know most of the males here find pink a little embarrassing, but I assure you that it adds life to your town.

I have been buying them mostly to add females to the rather large gender gap that is my mini-fig collection. But as soon as I was doing so, I realized that these sets can be implemented in the town and/or country environment if placed in ideal locations. Let me give you an example.

With the new Creator Homes, you can set up a very affluent nieghborhood, by adding in some of the Paradisa sets to compliment a seemingly large lakefront property area, think of it as Chicago's Gold Coast. It may not seem all that interesting, but if done right it can have a massive effect on the way a town is set up and can still be action oriented outside the normal scope of what LEGO conveys as "Action" sets.

To be sure, when I get the chance and space I need, I will reveal as to what the above may look like when it has been done justice, without looking awkward or overly complex.



DB

[Sinner]

I inherited a few semi-complete Paradisa sets from a friend. I think they were a excellent line, but at the time I wasn't buying any Lego. The catalogs always had great displays with them too.

[iamded]

It's pretty cool, and I think if you made the pink pieces on the building blue, and the pink pieces on the vehicle, say, red, it would be more appealing to guys as well. I'd buy it then. Also, I never knew the brown horse was rare. I have one of them from a Castle set. :-)

[Asuka]

A very interesting review, thanks!  *y*
There´re some very nice sets in that line, I hope we´ll see something like that
joining the current City line soon....   *sweet*

[iamded]

Only with a colour scheme that appeals to both genders. :-P

[captaintau]

iamded, on Jun 16 2007, 04:27 AM, said:

Only with a colour scheme that appeals to both genders. :-P

What's wrong with a bit of pink in a man's life?

[Lego Amaryl]

Paradisa was a great set. My sister received few sets (mainly the restaurant and the beach) and I used to incorporate them in my city.
Don't forget that many pieces that now are very common were first introduced with Paradisa!

[zeki]

Paradisa is greta theme! I will get some of them one day and do some mocing for a creation of tourist district!

[Greatdane]

i have a few of these sets, and their not realy as girly as some people may think, one of my favorties is the house 6416, love them windows!

[oo7]

Ah, a good, peaceful set with a lovely environment. Thanks for the review, Count Sneffy. *y*

The set is built well, but the most beneficial part of the set for me by far is the rinding jacket of the equestrian.

'Why', you might ask?



X-D

[Bonaparte]

oo7, on Jun 16 2007, 12:39 PM, said:

The set is built well, but the most beneficial part of the set for me by far is the rinding jacket of the equestrian.

'Why', you might ask?

You're right, with that jacket you can make an excellent Lord Wellington  ;-)

[Klaus-Dieter]

I like the Paradisa theme very much although I don't have one of these sets. These sets are very well created. The sets I like the most are the villa, lighthouse and the café.
It's a pity that Lego doesn't produce new Paradisa sets in the style of the old ones. A yacht would be great, for example. But perhaps one day TLC will release some new Paradisa sets?

[Wout]

Paradisa was a very good add-on theme for city , also for masculine hetrosexual men  :-D
It had different buildings for civilians who were not very much earlier released with exception of the horse stables (between 1986 en 1988).
At first, I was not happy about the pink pieces, but there are female minifigs in the set who would like pink pieces in their buildings.
The buildings had also something like the rich and famous life of Beverly Hills 90210 which was in that time a populair television show.
I have only 1 paradisa set from 1992 and after my middle ages I could bought some very small sets somewhere, although they were already 5 years old.
Maybe they can make a new paradisa in stead of Clickits, better for town. :-)

[alex54]

Thanks for the review Sne. Can I ask you to take some pics of the beck of the set seeing what is it in the boxes? Tahnks in advance!
I've got those sets: Sea side cabana jumping course and my best Sand Dollar Café (maybe a review in few weeks...)
This line was a nice addition to the city sets, with a lot of females and some very nice accessories and touch of real life, like icecream, plates with foods, horses, and foals  *wub* (I've got two of them, sending by TLC when they sold some pieces after asking them, good time for me...)
And for the colour scheme, it's very girly but it's not a matter for me, it adds a touch of fun for fun places like the beach.

Pink on!

[captaintau]

I had one Paradisa set, not initially realising it was meant for girls. Never mind. Had a surfboard and pedalo-type thing. Nice set.

I vaguely recall having it when Baywatch was big and so had various water-themed sets that I used to make Baywatch-esque play scenes. This fitted really well.

[oo7]

bonaparte, on Jun 16 2007, 11:37 AM, said:

You're right, with that jacket you can make an excellent Lord Wellington  ;-)

Tell me about it! You should really try that out yourself sometime, Lord Bonaparte. *y*

captaintau, on Jun 16 2007, 08:37 PM, said:

I vaguely recall having it when Baywatch was big and so had various water-themed sets that I used to make Baywatch-esque play scenes.

Oh no!  X-O Lego....Baywatch!!!! Uh oh.........

It's brilliant really, who would have thought!! :-D

[snefroe]

alex54, on Jun 16 2007, 09:43 PM, said:

Thanks for the review Sne. Can I ask you to take some pics of the beck of the set seeing what is it in the boxes? Tahnks in advance!
I've got those sets: Sea side cabana jumping course and my best Sand Dollar Café (maybe a review in few weeks...)
This line was a nice addition to the city sets, with a lot of females and some very nice accessories and touch of real life, like icecream, plates with foods, horses, and foals  *wub* (I've got two of them, sending by TLC when they sold some pieces after asking them, good time for me...)
And for the colour scheme, it's very girly but it's not a matter for me, it adds a touch of fun for fun places like the beach.

Pink on!

you wanna have a look inside? well there isn't much inside, really. They're stables, so there's hardly any interior. i only built the set to check if it was complete, so i can't take new pictures :'-( , however, these two show quite enough of it: