Do you think current Lego city is not as good as those legoland 90s?

[ks6349]

Looks like in the past Lego used less bricks but the overall impression is it's bigger. I had 6380 in my childhood which is still impressive today in my opinion, I was so attracted to those buildings in those time. But now, the different police stations and fire stations today do not attractive to me so much, I'd rather use the budget for the Expert building. Do you have the same feeling? 

[Peppermint_M]

It is hard to reply objectively. The 90s was my childhood and everything positive of the past is highly coloured by nostalgia. I enjoy some sets that people cite as the worst kind of "juniorisation", but they are my favourites as they were part of my small LEGO collection from childhood.

Sets that today would look quite poor on the shelves were the best available at the time, or judged through young eyes to be the best. I have to say, the current City and Friends sets are a whole lot more appealing to me now then Town sets ever were when I was young. But when I was a child, I loved the Aquazone, Adventurers and Castle sets, Rock Raiders and Racers. The few cit sets I chose were small planes and boats and a single police set for the motorcycle. There were also themes that are now under the City banner, like the Space Port and Diving sets. But when I had the diver and a few small space port sets, they were not branded as Town or City.

So I suppose that actually, I think the modern sets in the City theme are a lot better than those offered us in the 90s.

[MAB]

For me, modern City beats old Town.

[The Brick Boss]

I wouldn't necessarily say its better. Just different. City and Classic Town were aimed at two different types of children from two different generations. 

Classic Town/Legoland (from the 80s to late 90s) seemed to be geared towards children who want to build a town. Looking at  the different generations is important. Town modeling an extremely popular hobby back then. So if you had a child who loved town modeling and legos at the same time, there is a market for that. 

Modern day City sets are mainly targeted towards THIS generation where action and vehicles; particularly ones centered around policing, rescuing, civilian transport, air travel and discovery. But a building wouldn't really interest a child unless its playable. That's probably why they are built a certain way. 

So....I wouldn't say either is better than the other. Lego is just going along with the times. 

Edited September 20, 2019 by pooda

[The Brick Boss]

This sounds like Aanchir and Lyichir's type type of discussion. 

Edited September 11, 2019 by pooda

[TeriXeri]

Legoland Town in the 80s and 90s managed to get a lot of varied builds with far less parts then now.

While current builds obviously often have a lot more detail because of the parts, the size/scale increased as a result.

A Town display could be very compact, and the parts used were more basic, overall you ended up with more bricks/plates, instead of nowadays a lot more parts, but less of each part.

Also old sets had less colors, things looked more cohesive, while nowadays there is more choice, but you get less of each color. (especially comparing something like the BASIC theme with current CLASSIC boxes)

Still, I don't think one is "better" automaticly, styles have changed over time, and nostalgia could play some role for people as well.

Overall, I think both have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Late 90s Town.jr also doesn't compare to either City or most of the other Town/System sets, but are closer to Juniors or 4+ age targets.

For Town/City I am just speaking of the minifig vehicles/buildings here and not the smaller builds that could not even fit a figure (which wasn't just seen in early Town, modern examples are some Creator, Racers, Classic and other Microscale sets)

For me personally, I keep my old pre 2000s sets seperate from my post-dark age (2016+) sets.

Edited September 11, 2019 by TeriXeri

[Lyichir]

Haha, thanks for the tip, @pooda.

Having grown up in the '90s, alongside those sorts of sets... I don't think there's much to miss, especially in the town/City range. Vehicles were almost universally a step down, typically being much smaller and less detailed. As for buildings, I can't think of many that outclassed modern ones either—the closest that comes to mind is 2150 Train Station but that's mostly because train stations in the City theme tend to be smaller, more modern types instead of that sort of stately architecture. Even then, the build is definitely quite dated compared to most modern buildings.

Did you see last year's City Hospital (60204)? I think you'll find that it offers much of the same sort of subject matter as the set you mention and then some. The main thing it lacks is the driveway and baseplate, which many people do prefer (though I tend to prefer a smaller more compact base that you can then integrate into a larger layout if you so choose).

Edited September 12, 2019 by Lyichir

[The Brick Boss]

4 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

Did you see last year's City Hospital (60204)? I think you'll find that it offers much of the same sort of subject matter as the set you mention and then some. The main thing it lacks is the driveway and baseplate, which many people do prefer (though I tend to prefer a smaller more compact base that you can then integrate into a larger layout if you so choose).

That's one of those buildings you'd have to mod. So far, the 4429 hospital is the only hospital that has gotten a 100% from me. That one felt more thought out. The 60204 is too cuttawayish. They should've done a front instead of the corner. Fronts are much easier to play with in my opinion and you know how Lego values playability. As for 7892....not a fan of the grey elevated baseplate. 

Let's just say...the corner over front system is kinda what turned me off about the 60141 Police Station. I liked 60047 better. 

Edited September 12, 2019 by pooda

[Pdaitabird]

24 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

train stations in the City theme tend to be smaller, more modern types 

Yes, that's a big turn-off about the train stations that have been offered lately. Unfortunately, most of the trains are more modern types too. The recent Disney D2C gives us hope on both fronts - a proper steam engine and a good-looking station! Hopefully City can get on board with a similar style (pun intended).

[ks6349]

Isn't Modern train better?

[Pdaitabird]

9 hours ago, ks6349 said:

Isn't Modern train better?

Modern parts and building techniques, sure. Modern-day locomotives, not my cup of tea. Although I get that City generally focuses on a present-day setting.

[The Brick Boss]

1 hour ago, Pdaitabird said:

Modern parts and building techniques, sure. Modern-day locomotives, not my cup of tea. Although I get that City generally focuses on a present-day setting.

I actually like the modern day trains. They get better and better every year. 

[Still Raindrop]

16 hours ago, Lyichir said:

Vehicles were almost universally a step down, typically being much smaller and less detailed. As for buildings, I can't think of many that outclassed modern ones either[. . . .]

Did you see last year's City Hospital (60204)? I think you'll find that it offers much of the same sort of subject matter as the set you mention and then some. The main thing it lacks is the driveway and baseplate, which many people do prefer (though I tend to prefer a smaller more compact base that you can then integrate into a larger layout if you so choose).

As far as vehicles go, I think it's a mixed bag. Larger vehicles like garbage trucks, fire trucks, semis, etc., are all undoubtedly better in the modern era. But I prefer passenger cars from Town (before the late 1990s). While the shaping isn't as elegant, I find that the scale is better. Even 4-wide City cars are huge, with a sedan being notably taller than a minifigure (and, while this is true of Town sedans, as well, it's an easier fix. The bodies are small, with comically oversized windshields. For more accurate size, those windshields can be replaced with 1x2x2 slopes. City vehicles have larger bodies and tend to be better-scaled to themselves, so scaling them more accurately to minifigures is difficult).

As far as buildings go, I agree with you. In addition to the City buildings, Creator and Friends have also offered amazing buildings on the same City scale. This scale isn't too far off from the classic Town scale, which is nice (the doors are only one brick taller, which doesn't look that noticeable). It's this scale that I'm actually using for the town I'm building, and it works great.

Edited September 12, 2019 by Still Raindrop

[The Brick Boss]

36 minutes ago, Still Raindrop said:

As far as buildings go, I agree with you. In addition to the City buildings, Creator and Friends have also offered amazing buildings on the same City scale. This scale isn't too far off from the classic Town scale, which is nice (the doors are only one brick taller, which doesn't look that noticeable). It's this scale that I'm actually using for the town I'm building, and it works great.

I had once recommended that Lego redirects the 3in1 buildings and modulars from Creator to City. Then allow Creator to only focus on wacky sets like the monster burger truck and the dinosaur. 

Edited September 12, 2019 by pooda

[The Brick Boss]

Oh yes. In addition to my statement about City going along with the times. 

While Lego was going through a hard time back then, Town didn't suffer surprisingly.

This was because town sets are just that Lego theme that adjusts according to the times. The reason they had a bigger variety of buildings was because that was during the time when children and innocence went hand and hand. They could play pretend in a positive way while learning about everyday life in a town like post offices, bus stations, hospitals and even small restaurants. They had one police station and that was all they needed to survive back then. 

Today, we live in a society where children unfortunately cannot play pretend unless there is conflict or danger. Thus why police, rescue and explorers sets basically run the City theme. 

I am less cavalier. Though I don't agree with the system TLG uses for the City theme (ahem police ahem), you can't deny that the City theme makes its living off of sets centered practically around danger and conflict. I personally  think there could be better ways to make a profit. I guess the reason why people defend the system on Eurobricks is because the way they're doing it now is probably the only safe way to do it. 

I hope that clears things up. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by pooda

[MAB]

On 9/12/2019 at 6:35 PM, pooda said:

I had once recommended that Lego redirects the 3in1 buildings and modulars from Creator to City. Then allow Creator to only focus on wacky sets like the monster burger truck and the dinosaur. 

The modulars are Creator Expert, not Creator. Of course, it is just a badge, but I imagine it is reasonably important here. If they were to start rebadging the modulars as City, then it implies they are part of the child's range. Part of the reason they introduced the 'expert' part of Creator was to distinguish these sets from the regular child-targetted Creator sets. Making modulars part of City would be a step backwards. Modulars are so different in technique and style (and age range and cost) to City builds, that I think it is good to distinguish them from City.

 

[The Brick Boss]

14 minutes ago, MAB said:

The modulars are Creator Expert, not Creator. Of course, it is just a badge, but I imagine it is reasonably important here. If they were to start rebadging the modulars as City, then it implies they are part of the child's range. Part of the reason they introduced the 'expert' part of Creator was to distinguish these sets from the regular child-targetted Creator sets. Making modulars part of City would be a step backwards. Modulars are so different in technique and style (and age range and cost) to City builds, that I think it is good to distinguish them from City.

 

Fyi, I said I had once recommended it. Not that I do recommend. That doesn't always mean I'm still holding on to that. 

But I do hold on to them shifting 3in1 buildings to City. Like this one. 

Considering that recent City sets have become 7+ sets, I see fit for a merger. They'll probably have to add a robbery scene or something to it, if they were to release a grocery store under City though. 

Edited September 23, 2019 by pooda

[Ron Dayes]

Yes, Classic Town was better and more realistic

Why?

Just look at the amount of Jobs they portrayed back in those days. Anyone remember those Harbour Scenes, Cargo Ships etc?
And everything came in colours and parts you could reuse easily for other builds.
Also imo it was more Minifig scaled.
Now everything is really bloated, huge and expensive. TLG releases a lot of parts, yet not many in the "standard" colours.
A lot of vehicles included in sets dont look like real life counterparts or are super made up/dont exist.
And do we really need a new Police station like every year? ugh...

maybe kids need it these days like that - i mean they do the research.
But as an Afol, Classic Town offered much more, diverse areas and fields of play...
 

 

[The Brick Boss]

3 hours ago, Ron Dayes said:

And do we really need a new Police station like every year? ugh...

maybe kids need it these days like that - i mean they do the research.

I agree with everything you said. 

Unfortunately, TLG doesn't. Its not really playability that was the secret ingredient as 20th Century City sets were pretty playable for it's time. That was when children knew how to play pretend without conflict. Today, it's the exact opposite. That's kinda why TLG does what they do. 

Though I would like to see a year where City sticks to only vital civilian infrastructure such as post offices, hospitals, grocery stores, restaurants, bus terminals, taxi stations, garages, etc. Then again, I guess police stations would be considered vital civilian infrastructure. But I wanna see just one year without anything rescue or explorers oriented. 

Edited September 28, 2019 by pooda

[KotZ]

1 hour ago, pooda said:

Unfortunately, TLG doesn't. Its not really playability that was the secret ingredient as 20th Century City sets were pretty playable for it's time. That was when children knew how to play pretend without conflict. Today, it's the exact opposite. That's kinda why TLG does what they do. 

Eh, conflict is integral for play, be it violent like acting out cops and robbers (or cowboys and indians if you're older), pretending you're rescuing people from burning buildings, or pretending to cook food and not have the ingredients. Look at all the cool toys from the 80s that have become nostalgia things: Transformers, superheroes, TMNT, the list goes on and on. We can argue kids of today have less imagination, or use it less, or use it in different ways (the latter option is my opinion), but conflict has to happen in anything. It's an integral part of storytelling and playing.

[The Brick Boss]

1 hour ago, KotZ said:

Eh, conflict is integral for play,

When I say conflict, I mean between two people. Like cops and robbers or any type of violence. Not the type of conflict of what you'd do in a bad situation. 

1 hour ago, KotZ said:

Look at all the cool toys from the 80s that have become nostalgia things: Transformers, superheroes, TMNT, the list goes on and on. 

Ok.....we're talking about realistic conflict in a civil situation and how it draws kids to town and city sets. Any thing about those superheroes you just mentioned aren't even relevant in this case. 

1 hour ago, KotZ said:

We can argue kids of today have less imagination, or use it less, or use it in different ways (the latter option is my opinion), but conflict has to happen in anything. It's an integral part of storytelling and playing.

Conflict does not have to happen in anything. Storytelling, yes. But not play. A child can play with a bus and there doesn't have to be a single piece of conflict. 

Now there are children who can use their imagination in different ways. But there is always room for improvement and we see fit to bring it to the table. 

Edited September 29, 2019 by pooda

[The Brick Boss]

3 hours ago, Ron Dayes said:

Yes, Classic Town was better and more realistic

Why?

Just look at the amount of Jobs they portrayed back in those days.

I definitely agree there. Classic Town had waaaaayyyyyy more jobs than today's City does. 

If there are any other jobs in today's City other than a rescuer, explorer, or criminal - I won't believe those jobs exists until I see subthemes. I mean subthemes that are still on the shelves today and in the future. Not from the past. 

Edited September 28, 2019 by pooda

[KotZ]

4 hours ago, pooda said:

When I say conflict, I mean between two people. Like cops and robbers or any type of violence. Not the type of conflict of what you'd do in a bad situation. 

 

Even still, it is a form of conflict. It's just how humans work. Problem goes to finding solution, no matter what it is. It can be as simple as driving a toy car across a road and delivering mail in a pretend game or as complex as creating entire worlds.

Quote

Ok.....we're talking about realistic conflict in a civil situation and how it draws kids to town and city sets. Any thing about those superheroes you just mentioned aren't even relevant in this case. 

I'd say they are relevant to your earlier point of children knowing how to play pretend without conflict. They could watch a show and act out a storyline or make up new ones (same as kids do now). In regards to your mention of 20th Century City sets. Randomly, I went to 1989 on brickset for Town/City sets. Just a few are Rescue Helicopter, Utility repair lift, Coastal Rescue base, and Mobile Car Crane. Also are sets that can present conflict and issues for kids when using their imagination. Superheroes or not are irrelevant.

Quote

Conflict does not have to happen in anything. Storytelling, yes. But not play. A child can play with a bus and there doesn't have to be a single piece of conflict. 

In child's play it's extremely important, though. Using your example for a bus, kids can just drive it along on the ground. Simple, right? They can make a decision of coming into a blanket of terrain and drive around, over, or back. Conflict in a simple way. The type of conflict is irrelevant. It has to happen, allowing the child to make thinking skills.

[The Brick Boss]

Well I didn't care for your smarty pants approach. You were like "eh..yes it is". I don't deal with that.

Like I said before...I meant conflict as in conflict between two people, smarty. As in fueds, hate, animosity. 

Edited September 29, 2019 by pooda

[KotZ]

5 minutes ago, pooda said:

Well I didn't care for your smarty pants approach. You were like "eh..yes it is". I don't deal with that.

Like I said before...I meant conflict as in conflict between two people, smarty. As in fueds, hate, animosity. 

Ok. Then in the case of 2019 City sets, of the 50 for this year (not including the 2 multi-packs), only 6 have actual conflict between two or more people.