What old themes should lego bring back?

[Trekkie99]

What's your favorite Classic Lego theme? Share your thoughts on what Classic Lego theme you would like to see Lego bring back, and what you would like to see for it! Multiple choice is an option.

Shout out to @danth and @x105Black who should find this topic interesting. 

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[Digger of Bricks]

Hey LMF, great topic! 

While any I would love to see any classic theme make a comeback in any form, as you know, Space is my preferred theme of choice.

[Aanchir]

I mean, all three of them at some point. Maybe not urgently or all at the same time, though. Modern themes like Ninjago, Nexo Knights, and Elves are very very good and I largely prefer them to the classic stuff, but I think these classics should all be brought back in some capacity every now and then, if only to see how the current generation responds to them and how they can be improved with modern parts and building techniques.

[badgerboy]

I voted Space and Castle. Would love to see a whole "Legoland" yellow banner revival.

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, badgerboy said:

Would love to see a whole "Legoland" yellow banner revival.

We NEED Creator to become that theme. It really is the most ideal theme to reintroduce those classics. 

[Trekkie99]

20 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

We NEED Creator to become that theme. It really is the most ideal theme to reintroduce those classics. 

This!

[danth]

On 8/27/2017 at 8:38 AM, badgerboy said:

I voted Space and Castle. Would love to see a whole "Legoland" yellow banner revival.

 

On 8/27/2017 at 8:45 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

We NEED Creator to become that theme. It really is the most ideal theme to reintroduce those classics. 

 

10 hours ago, LegoMonorailFan said:

This!

In total agreement! If I saw that yellow Legoland banner on a new set I would probably faint!

[dr_spock]

Classic town?

[Trekkie99]

25 minutes ago, dr_spock said:

Classic town?

Unless your talking about four wide cars, we have City. But then again City is mostly cops and robbers while Town had so much more much more often! I'll add it just for the heck of it. 

 

Edited August 29, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[Hart New Bob]

I would like to see the Pirates theme return with......GREENCOATS!!!!  Or Blackcoats.......

[x105Black]

On 8/27/2017 at 11:45 AM, Digger of Bricks said:

We NEED Creator to become that theme. It really is the most ideal theme to reintroduce those classics. 

Creator Expert, sure.  Creator is all blocky and brick-built, and that's a turn-off for me.

[Lyichir]

34 minutes ago, x105Black said:

Creator Expert, sure.  Creator is all blocky and brick-built, and that's a turn-off for me.

Counterpoint—not only were those classic sets generally blocky and brick-built as well (perhaps moreso than modern Creator sets given the greater variety of basic bricks available today), but a theme like Creator could presumably sustain a greater quantity of those sorts of sets per year (as opposed to Creator Expert, which generally only features one set per year in any given "series".

[x105Black]

4 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Counterpoint—not only were those classic sets generally blocky and brick-built as well (perhaps moreso than modern Creator sets given the greater variety of basic bricks available today), but a theme like Creator could presumably sustain a greater quantity of those sorts of sets per year (as opposed to Creator Expert, which generally only features one set per year in any given "series".

Fair enough, but I would personally prefer sets that were done to a modern standard (and for an age range at least as high as Big Bang themes), which would mean smaller parts, animal molds instead of brick-built animals, and other specialty molds like plants.  Just look at the dog in the Modular Modern Home (31068), Modular Family Villa (30169), or Park Street Townhouse (31065).  Or look at the bear and trees in Vacation Getaways (31052).  There are dog, bear, and tree mold that could (should) have been used here.  Other examples abound.  There are birds that could use the Parrot or Seagull mold, or create a new mold for smaller birds.  There is a moose.  I'd love to see a molded moose or deer that looked good standing next to the new style of horse, and I'd love to see it in, say, a Forestmen's Hideout set or something similar.

And as far as Expert goes, I'd love one large Expert Castle themed set each year, with a decent assortment of minifigures.  I may complain if the set for that particular year is not to my liking, and that I will have to wait another year to see the next, but I still think that's better than blocky, brick-built sets with rehashed minifigures and little to no unique features.

Ultimately, we really just need the themes themselves to return.  Creator would be a weak excuse for the theme in my opinion, but a full line of Castle sets would likely have me spending hundreds of dollars even if I don't buy every set.

Edited September 13, 2017 by x105Black

[Vindicare]

I said both Space & Castle, as they both hold fond memories. I'd love to see reimagined M-Tron, Blacktron, and the like. And Wolfpack on the Castle side. 

[Digger of Bricks]

8 hours ago, x105Black said:

Creator Expert, sure.  Creator is all blocky and brick-built, and that's a turn-off for me.

I think that the non-Expert Creator theme can be a proving ground for testing of those themes success in the current market, since their price range would be more equivalent to that of an actual theme than an Expert Series set would. Also, regarding the nature of their builds, I think that may eventually change and evolve over time. For instance, looking at preliminaries of next year's sets for the theme, there does seem to be more of an overall shift towards minifigure centric sets, which shows it's eventually evolving towards something more accommodating for classic themed type sets.

7 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Counterpoint—not only were those classic sets generally blocky and brick-built as well (perhaps moreso than modern Creator sets given the greater variety of basic bricks available today), but a theme like Creator could presumably sustain a greater quantity of those sorts of sets per year (as opposed to Creator Expert, which generally only features one set per year in any given "series".

^This Too^ 

[x105Black]

4 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I think that the non-Expert Creator theme can be a proving ground for testing of those themes success in the current market, since their price range would be more equivalent to that of an actual theme than an Expert Series set would. Also, regarding the nature of their builds, I think that may eventually change and evolve over time. For instance, looking at preliminaries of next year's sets for the theme, there does seem to be more of an overall shift towards minifigure centric sets, which shows it's eventually evolving towards something more accommodating for classic themed type sets.

^This Too^ 

I see where you're coming from.  I can see Creator being a great place to get Space sets.  Space doesn't usually have things like animals (although I'd love to see recolored animals as aliens) or plants in the same way that Castle does.  So I'm all for the Creator approach to Space.  But I just don't think it works well for Castle.  I think it dumbs it down too much.  Some people might say I want junior-iz-ation by wanting molded parts instead of brick-built, but what I really want is modern, advanced, updated builds using the best molds for the job.  I don't think Creator can offer that at the moment.  When it can, I'll definitely join in.

[Trekkie99]

11 hours ago, Vindicare said:

I said both Space & Castle, as they both hold fond memories. I'd love to see reimagined M-Tron, Blacktron, and the like. And Wolfpack on the Castle side. 

^This!^  I'd love to see Mtron and Blacktron return as well! As for castle? I'd like to see the Falcons return! 

17 hours ago, x105Black said:

Creator Expert, sure.  Creator is all blocky and brick-built, and that's a turn-off for me.

You sure? I mean just look how beautiful this set is! 

 

[Digger of Bricks]

17 hours ago, x105Black said:

I see where you're coming from.  I can see Creator being a great place to get Space sets.  Space doesn't usually have things like animals (although I'd love to see recolored animals as aliens) or plants in the same way that Castle does.  So I'm all for the Creator approach to Space.  But I just don't think it works well for Castle.  I think it dumbs it down too much.  Some people might say I want junior-iz-ation by wanting molded parts instead of brick-built, but what I really want is modern, advanced, updated builds using the best molds for the job.  I don't think Creator can offer that at the moment.  When it can, I'll definitely join in.

That's true, also considering that Castle may be a better candidate for the Expert theme as opposed to Classic Space since its source material would be a lot more familiar to general consumers. What's a Blue/Grey/Trans-yellow spaceship to most people outside of AFOLs and those that grew up with the sets? As a normal three in one Creator set though, it's just to kids a cool, colorful spacecraft that has some alternate rebuilds that parents may find cool themselves even if they aren't familiar with its inspirations.

Castle, on the other hand, would probably be attractive to those general consumers that would be interested in the Expert modular series or other highly detailed architectural D2C sets. Unlike Star Wars and other licensed UCS sets, the Creator Expert Modular series is made up of original designs with real life inspirations, something Castle based D2Cs would have in common with the line.

Edited September 15, 2017 by Digger of Bricks

[Legochaek]

I said Pirates, Space and Castle. I think City+ creator together are a better substitute for Town, but I think they could have got a lot more big ships and castles from Pirates and Castle. 

Think hero factory/bionicle count as a classic theme ?

Edited November 17, 2017 by Lego-fire

[koalayummies]

Castle, Pirate and... Model Team! 

Edit, unless that last one isn't really classic. Its not classic is it. Darn.

Edited November 17, 2017 by koalayummies

[Trekkie99]

2 hours ago, Lego-fire said:

I said Pirates, Space and Castle. I think City+ creator together are a better substitute for Town, but I think they could have got a lot more big ships and castles from Pirates and Castle. 

Think hero factory/bionicle count as a classic theme ?

Well Town had some things that City lacks. But Creator does have a "Town" feel about it.

As for Bionicle, they did bring it back, but it flopped.  Fine with me because I never personally liked that form of building system.

I actually like to call Bionicle a "Bandaid"  

 

Edited November 17, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[AmperZand]

On 14/09/2017 at 12:26 AM, x105Black said:

Fair enough, but I would personally prefer sets that were done to a modern standard... which would mean smaller parts, animal molds instead of brick-built animals, and other specialty molds like plants.

I was thinking the same thing. LEGO has already done it, albeit to a limited degree and only for a few sets.

For example, this set from 1986:

...became this set in 2016:

 

I would like LEGO to take that even further with new Castle and Space sets that make use of currently available pieces and the latest building techniques (plus maybe innovative pieces/techniques) but true to the flavour of the Classic ranges. In other words, sets that appeal at once to nostalgic AFOLs like me as well as to kids. Commercially, it makes sense: a parent/grandparent will be more inclined to buy a set - or a more expensive set - that kid/grandkid wants if the set also appeals to the grown-up's sense of reminiscence. The question then becomes whether there is sufficient overlap between the tastes of the two demographic segments (older and younger generations) to make it worth LEGO's while.

( @LegoMonorailFan  my icon picture finds yours intriguing. It's only logical.)

[Trekkie99]

17 minutes ago, AmperZand said:

( @LegoMonorailFan  my icon picture finds yours intriguing. It's only logical.)

[x105Black]

1 hour ago, AmperZand said:

I was thinking the same thing. LEGO has already done it, albeit to a limited degree and only for a few sets.

...

I would like LEGO to take that even further with new Castle and Space sets that make use of currently available pieces and the latest building techniques (plus maybe innovative pieces/techniques) but true to the flavour of the Classic ranges. In other words, sets that appeal at once to nostalgic AFOLs like me as well as to kids. Commercially, it makes sense: a parent/grandparent will be more inclined to buy a set - or a more expensive set - that kid/grandkid wants if the set also appeals to the grown-up's sense of reminiscence. The question then becomes whether there is sufficient overlap between the tastes of the two demographic segments (older and younger generations) to make it worth LEGO's while.

Exactly.  That set was a promo, but I could see it working as an independent set, or even as part of a wave.  They could take a Castle set from each price point, redesign and update them, and that could make a good wave.

Although, I should say that there may be some criticism about not thinking outside the box on the set designs and just rehashing old content.  Unfortunately, when LEGO thinks outside the box, they think about something other than boxes entirely and we end up with Nexo Knights.

[Lyichir]

2 hours ago, x105Black said:

Exactly.  That set was a promo, but I could see it working as an independent set, or even as part of a wave.  They could take a Castle set from each price point, redesign and update them, and that could make a good wave.

Although, I should say that there may be some criticism about not thinking outside the box on the set designs and just rehashing old content.  Unfortunately, when LEGO thinks outside the box, they think about something other than boxes entirely and we end up with Nexo Knights.

Hey, Nexo Knights still has boxes! You want real thinking outside the box, look at Bionicle—they have canisters.