2013 City Sets - Rumours and Discussion

[SheepEater]

I also share the similar disappointments regarding the town square, already cited by other members. The crane & bus are OK, but the buildings are very disappointing.

I would have loved to see this crane as a standalone set.

IMHO this set doesn't even begin to touch this one from only 3 years ago, in terms of originality and content:

Edited April 19, 2013 by SheepEater

[scottwb2010]

Some great sets coming up mid year. Looks like the control tower in set 60022 is going to be busy as someone at TLG is flooding the skies with Planes and Helicopters this year. lol

For me more than likely the Coastguard sets will be a must but will pass on the Grand Prix truck. And at least one of the town square sets and maybe get parts to build another bike shop to join them together like in the lego display we saw a few months back.

[jonwil]

I have no interest in the Coast Guard sets (I bought enough Coast Guard stuff last time).

Definitely interested in that race truck and the tilt-rotor cargo copter.

Interested in the town square but it depends on price (its likely to be big and expensive, even more so if its a retailer exclusive)

And yes I agree the public transit set is a GREAT set (Pitty that it was a TRU exclusive which limited the opportunity to snag one on the cheap)

[lightningtiger]

I have more an issue with the crane being so big than any issue with the buildings in the town square set.......but a serious WTF is that odd looking green tractor and there's no cricket pitch in sight !

[larsyuipo]

i love it!

[Aanchir]

I have more an issue with the crane being so big than any issue with the buildings in the town square set.......but a serious WTF is that odd looking green tractor and there's no cricket pitch in sight !

Really, I don't think the crane is terribly oversized. Maybe larger than it needs to be to lift the bike shop sign or statue, but definitely at a fairly reasonable scale for this variety of crane truck, which like most construction vehicles can get fairly large depending on the size of load they have to lift. The only thing I really find lacking about it is that it should probably have an operator's cab on the base of the boom, much like the beautiful but dreadfully out-of-scale XXL Mobile Crane from the debut year of LEGO City, or like most LEGO Technic crane trucks of this sort.

[rriggs]

I have no interest in the Coast Guard sets (I bought enough Coast Guard stuff last time).

I missed out on coast guard completely last time round so really good news for me!

Cheers

Rog

[lightningtiger]

Really, I don't think the crane is terribly oversized. Maybe larger than it needs to be to lift the bike shop sign or statue, but definitely at a fairly reasonable scale for this variety of crane truck, which like most construction vehicles can get fairly large depending on the size of load they have to lift. The only thing I really find lacking about it is that it should probably have an operator's cab on the base of the boom, much like the beautiful but dreadfully out-of-scale XXL Mobile Crane from the debut year of LEGO City, or like most LEGO Technic crane trucks of this sort.

True, but with the title 'town square' what comes to your mind.....a huge crane ?

How does the sign and statue reach the town square ?

A more compact crane but with still the reach on it plus a flat bed truck would have been better.....plus an extra construction worker......one crane operator and one other worker.......not very real life.....you need another 5 standing around with their shovels !

[Mrlegoninja]

Seeing this...

Reminds me a lot of this...

[wooootles]

Some of you guys are too harsh on the 60026, and I don't understand... I still think it's one of the best CITY sets to have been released in a while, granted we've gotten a lot more fire and police lately. Maybe because it was first thought to be the second coming of 10184 or something...

[sneff]

I really love the Town Square set. IMO I think the crane is an appropriate size and I think its great to get away from all the police and fire sets that have been rammed down our throats for years. I think you guys are way to critical of these sets. If the crane was smaller you guys would complain that it needs to be a bit bigger. Just my .02 cents

[ChrisW]

The only naff thing about Town Square is that little street sweeper. Apart from that it looks like a fantastic set. Cool looking statue, nice bus (and I don't yet own a bus), couple of shops, and a decent sized crane that isn't too big or too small. Nice selection of minifigs too. Can't wait to get it! Any idea of a release date?

[larsyuipo]

love it!

[Faefrost]

I like the Town Square. I'm not crazy about the crane, I think it feels a little off in terms of size and color palette from the rest of be set. But it's a nice crane and will be well at home in any City. The buildings are nice, distinctive, and amazingly, we are finally getting city buildings again. I mean besides the Fire station and Police stations.

[lightningtiger]

Interesting to see people saying the crane is not too small......it's 8 wide....though I wonder what's it length is compared to the 2009 crane in the construction site set ?

Edit - I've just noticed something about 60026......it's a huge accessory pack where the vehicles and buildings are the accessories. Let me explain......look carefully at what you get in the set. A statue....stand alone, bus stop sign.....stand alone, pizza bar....stand alone.....see the direction this is going - they are can be connected or not. there are no base plates involved. In city corner, the bus stop, pizza bar and bike shop were linked in a way involving base plates....the good old 8x16's, but this set there are none. It means you have to buy base plates to build your town square up....also means that the bank and TRU shop would have to transferred to normal thickness plates so they'll fit the new style of city building.

Edited April 21, 2013 by lightningtiger

[polarscribe]

In real life, cranes are generally significantly wider than average cars, trucks and other light/medium-duty vehicles. It would look weird if the crane wasn't wider than the bus.

Edited April 21, 2013 by polarscribe

[lightningtiger]

In real life, cranes are generally significantly wider than average cars, trucks and other light/medium-duty vehicles. It would look weird if the crane wasn't wider than the bus.

Perhaps the bus isn't wide enough eh ?

[Aanchir]

Interesting to see people saying the crane is not too small......it's 8 wide....though I wonder what's it length is compared to the 2009 crane in the construction site set ?

Edit - I've just noticed something about 60026......it's a huge accessory pack where the vehicles and buildings are the accessories. Let me explain......look carefully at what you get in the set. A statue....stand alone, bus stop sign.....stand alone, pizza bar....stand alone.....see the direction this is going - they are can be connected or not. there are no base plates involved. In city corner, the bus stop, pizza bar and bike shop were linked in a way involving base plates....the good old 8x16's, but this set there are none. It means you have to buy base plates to build your town square up....also means that the bank and TRU shop would have to transferred to normal thickness plates so they'll fit the new style of city building.

NOT SO! It is very easy to get models built on classic baseplates and on regular plates "in system" with one another.

Just set the baseplates the buildings are built on onto a "foundation" of other baseplates and road plates. The top surface of a baseplate sitting on top of studs will be almost perfectly aligned with a regular plate attached to the same studs. Try it yourself! The main disadvantage is that you'll go through a lot more baseplates this way.

Now, the only way this won't really work out is if the baseplates of your City buildings are supposed to go straight to the curb of your road plates. This would leave a conspicuous gap. But the bank, City Corner, TRU would not leave much sidewalk in that case, so better to make a one or two rows of tiles to act as the curb (much like on the Modular Buildings) and place any buildings within the perimeter created by that curb. Besides, if you want your buildings right up to the curb, you'd have to transplant them anyway.

Incidentally, I've long wished for TLG to do away with road plates altogether and introduce a new system of more customizable roads based on parts like this one, printed or stickered with road markings. Imagine being able to place a crosswalk at any point along a road, for instance, or place a modular building right up to the curb without transplanting it from its baseplate. I'm still planning to customize some parts and possibly make a LEGO Cuusoo proposal based on this idea, but I'm not sure it'd get much support, since many AFOLs are VERY attached to the idea of road plates (and the rest typically make custom roads with SNOT techniques that would still be more versatile than my idea).

[lightningtiger]

Well the humble base plate is half thickness......so double up......er, I guess it's cheaper to use 8x16 full thickness plates instead.....makes life easier that way, but you have your city your own way.

[Dat Lego]

In my opinion the crane is too small, cranes are generall wider than cars but this is Lego, sometimes things are meant to be off-scale

[rriggs]

I think that the crane is just a reboot af the crane in 7633 and that it doesn't fit in with the town square. I like the rest of the town square so can live with having the crane but I do think it's an odd choice. For the cost of the parts in the crane we could have had so much better!

Cheers

Rog

[lightningtiger]

In a way we would preferred another shop or structure over a large crane.......maybe it should have been a two part set.......one part construction and the other part general day=to-day living.....shopping, eating out and catching a bus.

Though I do think the new crane is not as long body wise as the 2009 one.

[Aanchir]

I think that the crane is just a reboot af the crane in 7633 and that it doesn't fit in with the town square. I like the rest of the town square so can live with having the crane but I do think it's an odd choice. For the cost of the parts in the crane we could have had so much better!

Cheers

Rog

Well, I have to say, looking at the one in 7633, I definitely believe a reboot was much needed at this point in time. Granted, the one in 7633 had an operator's cab (one thing bizarrely missing from the new one), but note also that it lacks functional pistons and just feels way blockier than the new one. The new crane also seems smaller, which isn't strictly necessary in terms of realism but helps it fit better in a City layout.

I'm largely of the belief that the crane was added to give kids another way to interact with the town square. Thanks to the crane, the statue and bike shop sign which are otherwise just static display elements become play features in their own right.

[lightningtiger]

Perhaps a better crane would have been one like this.....

[LegoSjaak]

Would love to see a crane like this in any 2013 City-set....