Doom2099

What trains could be rereleased if Lego goes the Legends route?

Recommended Posts

I am so excited with Lego's news about their reselling the Taj Mahal, because there's always the possibility that this is just the start of something big, and we could be getting an affordable chance to buy classic sets that we missed out on, or don't want to pay the current online prices.

I remember with the arrival of the internet how cool it was to go to places like Lugnet, and then to Ebay, and being shocked at how much trains had gone up in price, even just from 1980 to 2000. Then after everyone complained online about how they missed out on the Metroliner, it suddenly reappeared like a legendary phoenix. With the Club Car in tow! At the time, it made perfect sense bringing back the first 9v train while 9v was still going strong. 10 years seems to be the magic number for rereleases with Lego, as seen with the Legends line, and now Taj Mahal.

So I was wondering, what if any trains do you think Lego could/should rerelease? Could they take old 12v and 9v sets and swap in Power Functions? What about the Train Shed, or Santa Fe Super Chief? Emerald Night? Are there any regular retail trains sold after 9v that people are clamoring for a return of, as we saw with the Metroliner almost 20 years ago? Is a train related rerelease even feasible with Lego today?

I would love to hear what others think is possible / desired. Personally I wish I could buy more Santa Fe cars for regular retail price!

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Emerald Knight and Santa fe obviously, but trains like the Maersk, and Horizon Express are fairly recent. 

Another great rerelease would be the Metroliner.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think that probably the most likely is the Santa Fe, but the full train with five carriages, as they seem to have stopped the single carriage purchase thing when they stopped making the Santa Fe and BNSF trains.

I've seen the Santa Fe Super Chief converted to modern PF on Google Images, so it is definitely possible.

Edited by Vilhelm22

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The Emerald Night? Definitely! :sweet:

But as I mentioned in another topic, it would be cool to see the set recolored from Earth Green to either Earth Blue or Dark Red, with wheels that match the color scheme of the locomotive.

As for the Santa Fe, that's a train set I think should be completely remade with all new pieces to better achieve its streamlined look.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I would like to see set 7898, Cargo Train deluxe, 4558 Metroliner, 4553, train wash and 4563, Load and Haul Railroad. And yes, Emerald night.

Edited by Steamdemon

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

While I am not holding my breath, it would be fantastic if they did re-release some of the classic trains. Our community always benefits from having a good gateway set for the AFOL train fanatic. The perennial problem is that trains are a niche market, but there are a couple of sets that seem to have overcome the regional tastes of train heads (or crossed over to non-train heads). Super Chief, Maersk and EN are the obvious candidates. If they do the Super Chief, I bet it would be a one engine + two car set with instructions to build all five cars... or even better, include the lost dome too, and ideally an extra 4 gray porthole windows so that one could build a B-unit out of the box. If they re-release the EN, I too hope it would be in a different color scheme (sand red would ensure high sales for parting out even if it isn't prototypical, grin). For any of these an update to modern parts could be a good (the EN can benefit from several 1x2 curved slopes)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Before re-releasing these classics, I'd rather have a tan+dark red InterCity train - a heavily modernized version of 7740 like Horizon Express was for 7745...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm with zephyr1934, bring back sand red!

 

Realistically, I could only see them bringing back the Emerald Night. As far as I know, it sold well in all markets and the parts are all essentially still available. While the Maersk train also sold well, it's a licenced product (Maersk) and the colour isn't in production anymore.

 

But that said, I'd rather them bring out a new product, so that those who do have the original will still want to buy one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
10 hours ago, Vilhelm22 said:

I think that probably the most likely is the Santa Fe, but the full train with five carriages, as they seem to have stopped the single carriage purchase thing when they stopped making the Santa Fe and BNSF trains.

 

The Santa Fe is the only classic train on my wish list that I haven't bought yet. The reason being that to really do it justice you need two engines and 3+ carriages which is just ridiculously expensive on the resale market (about £1k last time I looked).

 

I would *love* for TLG to re-release it as an engine + 2 carriages. I'd buy two of those in a heartbeat

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If they were to re-release the Santa Fe, I'd like to see it reworked to be more in line with the more recent trains. I've seen it in person, and it's actually quite huge. I've also never really been a fan of how they attempted the nose on it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't see any "real" 9v trains being re-released if only because they would have to make 9v motors and 9v track again, which I'm pretty sure LEGO doesn't want to do.

I could see unpowered sets like the Santa Fe from that era being re-released, but most likely it would be something like the Emerald Night.

You might say it's too recent, but the re-released Metroliner was only nine years out from the original, and we are creeping on nine years from the Emerald Night.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think the Emerald Night would be a great candidate as it is quiet old now for a PF-affiliated set and it seems that a lot of people missed out on it's original run (or only got back into Lego in the last few years).

Another good reason to re-release it would be to update the build so it takes into account a lot of the "bugs" that have been found with it over the years. Much like they re-released that space shuttle set (10213 vs. 10231) to correct issues that were found with it after release.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
7 hours ago, Younge said:

I think the Emerald Night would be a great candidate as it is quiet old now for a PF-affiliated set and it seems that a lot of people missed out on it's original run (or only got back into Lego in the last few years).

Another good reason to re-release it would be to update the build so it takes into account a lot of the "bugs" that have been found with it over the years. Much like they re-released that space shuttle set (10213 vs. 10231) to correct issues that were found with it after release.

Even aesthetically, the set could be updated with newer parts. One particular part of the locomotive that could be updated would be the engine's front smoke guards, where the lower six cheese slopes could be replaced by three double-wide cheese slopes, and the two upper rear cheese slopes and 1×2 tile would be replaced by a single double wide version of the 1×2 "baby bow".

brickpicker_set_10194_1.jpg

That's just one particular new part update of the set I could think of, does anyone have any other ideas?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

With many of the 9v trains from the 1990s, wouldn't a smaller power functions battery box be required?i

Edited by Vilhelm22

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My number one want would be the Santa Fe Train and the 5 train cars that go with it. Maybe update the model some? It would also be one of the easiest trains to make a Power Functions train as well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
6 hours ago, M_slug357 said:

I wouldn't mind a modern take on a few 12V era sets......!

Agreed ;)

An updated 7740 has been mentioned a few times... - the problem with the smaller engines (the small steam trains, 7735, and the superlative 7760) would be getting all PF gubbins in such a small space...

Emerald Night seems the most likely, hopefully with some tweaks to the design and colour for the engine, but bringing back the train window frame used in the carriage (and preferably in tan!)

Edited by PeteM

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think that IF LEGO would decide to rerelease a set as a legend series, it could be the sante fe or even the bnsf.

 

Why?

- including PF wouldn't be to troublesome
- engine cars are available (santa fe and ttx)
- they would make a good 120USD set which is about the pricerange of the previous creator train sets (engine + 2 cars, w/o powerfunctions or track)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, *thomas* said:

I think that IF LEGO would decide to rerelease a set as a legend series, it could be the sante fe or even the bnsf.

The Maersk was essentially a re-release of the BNSF + container car. That doesn't preclude anything since there are some things that Lego revisits again and again. The Super Chief transcends national boundaries in the same way the TGV or Flying Scottsman do, they are iconic classics. The BNSF is regional within one country. Even in the US, if you live in the southeast you are not likely that interested in BNSF (it is nowhere nearby) but you could live anywhere in the US and go "Maersk can run on my local lines". But the Maersk brand has the added benefit of not being tied quite so closely to one country (especially given the two variants for the containers- stacked or end to end), and having a much easier licensing agreement for lego. What would be really nice is if they came up with two different builds for the locomotive too so that instead of JUST looking N. American it could also be modified to look more European (under the assumption that most of the rest of the world tends to fall somewhere between the two styles... at least to the levels that are realized in a lego set)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A lot of people have replied with wishful thinking but I'd like to look at what actually could be rereleased.

A while ago Lego released a few Legends sets after many fans were saying how much they would like to see certain sets again. What they learned at the time were two things:

- A rerelease does not have the same sentimental value as the original, especially when parts had to be changed to suit the available parts like happened with the Constellation.

- Sales were disappointing.

They seem to have changed their mind a bit. The Winter Village Toy Shop was rereleased almost unchanged. Then came the rerelease of the Death Star which was slightly updated, then the fully updated Millennium Falcon. And now there's Taj Mahal which according to the press release has also been modified to make it modular and transportable.

Rereleasing a train set as a Legend, meaning staying as close as possible to the original, is going to be impossible for all but the Power Function trains. As has been said above, any train before Emerald Night would need modifications to adapt it to Power Functions.

I think there are only two trains that could be rereleased virtually unchanged:

- Emeral Night. It would have to include fixes for some of the known issues but could otherwise remain unchanged.

- Horizon Express. Possible but unlikely as it seems to be the least popular of the Expert trains.

The Maersk train could be rereleased but the problem is that Maersk blue is no longer produced so the new version would have to be in medium azure, like the Triple E container ship. Would that put people off? Hard to tell.

 

If you want to rerelease trains like BNSF or Santa Fe you would have to make some changes to adapt them to PF. BNSF would be difficult because it just doesn't have space for PF components. If you want to change the design to make room for the battery box you're going to end up with colour variant of the Maersk loco. Santa Fe Super Chief could be done but the front would also have to change because of the new buffer beams.

Bringing back 12V trains from the 1980's is highly unlikely. They would either look crude compared to current sets or would not look like the original.

So if they are going down the rerelease route I would think Santa Fe or Emerald Night would be the most likely candidates, closely followed by the Maersk container train. One reason for rereleasing the Maersk train could be the Lepin knock-off. If Maersk don't want to play along they could do a colour variant of the same design but it wouldn't have the same appeal.

Personally I hope none of these scenarios are going to play out. I would prefer to see a new model released as a Creator Expert train, or maybe a completely new design based on the same prototype, as was done with the Sopwith Camel.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well one problem with rereleasing the Metroliner (which already once was) or the Santa Fe is that their prices on the market are really high and many people have invested into them. Releasing the same exact set might lower the values of old versions, which of course collectors would welcome. If I count the winter holiday train as a creator expert train, then the next one could be a diesel, probably Santa Fe.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If Lego really did re-release a Santa Fe, I'd be the first in line. Although, admittedly, I would dislike a redesign of the train. I own the original Santa Fe engine and a redesign would look strange, if I had two different looking Santa Fe engines on the same train, imo :D 

Would totally buy one though :D 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.