StJimmy90

Like I said before, I'm completely aware that city theme is targeted towards young kids. My issue is drastic simplification of sets, both city and creator for no obvious reason. And I can't just stand here, clap my hands and say good job lego while my favourite themes are getting destroyed and turned in to Duplo-ish type of sets. I just saw the new X-wing, and I dare anybody here to convince me that we are not witnessing major simplification and dumbing down of lego sets throughout themes.

Lego designers are completely unaware of the fact that firetowers in firestations served two purposes. In the age before telephones, they were lookout towers. Highest building in town and served as early warning system. Nowdays they serve the other purpose that they kept from past. A training facility for aerial firefighting, aerial rescue. Extraction and self extraction using ropes or ladders and so on and so on. Possibilities for play are unlimited. Best they can do is to put unrealistic yellow pole outside of station.

With lego fire sets, it's always mix and match of realistic stuff and unrealistic stuff. Fire trucks, or how we call them in my country aerial platforms, from sets 7945 and 60110 are 100 percent accurate. Problem is with this standalone trucks. They are always mix of a couple of different fire trucks or have unrealistic features. To this day, we haven't got a single 100 percent accurate engine truck. European styled or american. But the biggest issue is how empty firestations are. It's like they never seen how firestation looks inside and what to put inside. I was always jealous how police stations look better then firestations.

Like I said in previous reply, 60216 has wrong ladder placement and doesn't have rear axle steering wheel which is ironic because the other set that you mentioned, 6340 has everything correct. Just look closer. Of course, it's all lego and you can simply swap couple of parts, add a little more and you are good to go. As for 60231, it's great. Problem is, it's bigger than most of my fire engines.

As firefighter I can tell you immediately that those vehicels don't exist. Firefighting helicopters exist but they don't shoot water from cannons, but rather carry a bucket on a long line. They collect water from rivers or sea and then fly over the fire and release the water. Lego had only one set of that type. All others are unrealistic rubbish. When it comes to a tractor drawn aerial, it doesn't exist in that form but rather like the ones in sets 60216 and 60112 which are also unrealistic because ladder should hinge in the front part of trailer, not back. Back of a trailer is reserved for cabin that accommodates driver that steers the rear wheels on a trailer. When I was a kid, I used to watch planes, ships and trucks and then replicate them with my lego bricks. This just teaches kids wrong things.

After ten years of reading this forum, and ten years since I came out of my "dark age", I decided to write my first post here because i can't belive how awful lego sets are in last two years. To the point I didn't buy a single one in last two years. Compared to early '10s, this is just awful. First, they destroyed my favourite line, creator, by ditching biger, fully enclosed houses and buildings in favour of small, simplified openback buildings, constructed with big pieces. Now they completely <insert that tiresome argument>; City sets. Entire fire line is <insert that tiresome argument>;. There is not single real fire vehicle in this entire line. The new road system is just raising the price of sets and is taking away the piece count from buildings. Since my city layout is not built with modular buildings but only creator and city buildings, this is the last nail in coffin of my city. This is late '90s all over again.