Section8

Nope, that's not a City set, it's a Lego Exclusive, on par with the sculpture sets. Besides, if everything we want Lego to make in this thread ends up made as a gargantuan set costing over $100 each, I'd rather they not be made at all. I only buy Town/City sets, not CC-style buildings. Now that I think of it, it would have been pretty easy to make the City Corner set with a hotel instead of a pizza place. Maybe next time.

Eh, I'm sure a hotel has been mentioned before, but this topic is too huge to read through fully. Hotels/motels are among the most ubiquitous real-life structures, yet Lego only attempted it once (and half-assedly at that I might add) in Main Street. Not saying that set is bad, but a single-building hotel would be better. Considering my profession, I like your suggestion of an oil rig and oil port, K-D, but I think Lego is veering away from things like that considering they've stopped all licensing agreements with oil companies and started one with Vestas, a renewable energy company (I'll ignore the fact that many of the top producers of renewable energy in each catagory are 'oil' companies). I first thought a solar plant would be neat, but further review made me realize it could be kind of boring. The only other energy related set I could see them making is a fuel station that has signage for different types of fuel, like biodiesel, hydrogen, etc. It wouldn't be much different than the last gas station though. I think I brought this up in another topic too. I'd like a nuclear power plant but that could be boring as well. It wouldn't be hard to make though, using some of the large domed parts Lego has made. I would really like to see some system skyscrapers. The tallest ever made was 6398 Central Precinct HQ if my research is correct, and that retailed for ~$75 USD. If they cut back on the vehicles, Lego could make two 4-5 story towers in the same style as one set for ~$90 or so. One residental, or even a hotel, and one commercial, like a bank or something. That could knock off several of my desired sets in one swoop. I wouldn't mind seeing the return of Town space sets. Now that the US will be going back to the capsule-style launchers instead of the space shuttle, those could look neat. Especially considering the large curved panel and cone parts they have made for other lines. Wow, that's a big post. I'll try to keep up with this topic from now on.

I love it! Nice and small with a modern feel; the few banks Lego made previously were similar. I like the maximal use of the 8 x 16 plate and the color scheme. Where is that ATM piece from? It seems too big for a minifig. I believe this style is called 'Classic Town' or 'System Town' or even just 'City'. I hate how the proliferation of CC-style buildings is distorting the definition of Town.

I've made swimming pools that had water in them. I contained it by making a plastic wrap liner. I wanted to make a waterfall but I lacked a pump. I also always wondered if the pneumatic system would work if filled with water, but I never had any of those parts to try it out. Just get yourself a gallon of distilled water, it won't have any calcium or dirt in it. Also, I don't think you will run your pump long enough to see any physical erosion of the bricks by moving water. That could take years of continuous running at the least.

Yes, printed parts with those designs are fairly common. However, I was referring to the actual sign part with the translucent front and not just the printed design itself. The light-up bricks with these designs are not found anywhere else, as those sets you mentioned are not L&S. The two light-up bricks in 6481 are the exact same pieces because it is a L&S set. Thanks! I found that a nearly dark room (left my computer monitor on) worked so long as the camera was a decent distance from the light up parts. The pictures of the signs were cropped down from 1024 x 768, that's how far away the camera was from the bricks. It also helps that the light from them is somewhat diffuse. Compare the shot of the translucent bricks to the the ones of the signs. Thanks!

Name - Lighting Bricks Theme - Basic Year - 1992 Pieces - 37 Price - $18.00 USD Here is my first review, set #846 Lighting Bricks. I picked this up MISB a few years ago for more than twice its original price, if I remember correctly. It is technically in the Basic theme, not System Town, but since the unique pieces are largely of interest to Town fans, I am posting the review here. This set was basically an accessory pack for the L&S system and did not come with any generic bricks or even a battery box. Since this was released in 1992, during the heyday of the 9V L&S system, battery boxes were not in short supply and could be found in Basic, Town, Space, Train and Technic sets. Box and Instructions Front of Box A nice layout of the parts, with the old 9V logo and Basic logos. Back of Box A few basic style models along with a disclaimer in many languages stating the bricks to build these models are not included. Side of Box Since this is a supplemental/Basic set, the part inventory is printed on the side of the box. Note: you actually get three of each colored globe except yellow, which you get seven. The bricks are all transparent and the plates are all the electric conductive plates with their ingenious design (you could never short-circuit the system no matter which way you attached them). Inner Flap I don't recall seeing this set in stores ever in the United States, so I find the inclusion of a flap and display tray odd. Perhaps those in other countries can verify whether it was available in stores there? I only remember seeing it in S@H catalogues. Nevertheless, it contains more information about the 9V system, stating that a battery and battery box is required to use this set, and shows how to assemble the bricks. The tray also shows off some of the more unique bricks, including the eight signs. Instructions The set comes with a single double-sided page of 'instructions'. One side has a very Basic-esque town in the dark to show the bricks in use; the other side has close-ups of the bricks in the set and diagrams showing how to assemble them and change from steady to flashing lights. (Both images from Peeron) The set also came with the ad flyer from 1992. Peeron says the set is 1993, other sources say 1992, I'm going with the flyer, which highlights the sets new in 1992. Parts The pieces were listed above so you have a general idea of what's in the set. Most of the parts are transparent bricks to cover the lights. The real gems of the set are the eight printed sign bricks. They are all town themed and, except for the construction and arrow signs, available only in this set. Those two signs are found in the 6481 Construction Crew set. The light bars are also in 6481 as well as three other sets. They consist of a white brick with a clear, inseparable insert that transmits light to the three studs on the front. The signs are composed of two parts, a standard-white back and a translucent-white front with the sign printed on it. The base of the signs, as well as the 1x8 light bar, have multiple holes to allow for placement over both the 1x2 brick with single light and the 1x4 brick with two lights, as shown below. Action Shots Now for the fun part! Auto Repair and Octan signs Arrow and Construction signs (same two found in 6481) Fire and Police station signs Do Not Enter and Parking signs Trans-Red and Trans-Blue 1x2 bricks on bulbs, these give off a lot of light! Light bar with globes, you can see it gets dimmer the further from the bulb the globe is. You could mitigate this by adding a second light at the other end, but I'd rather use it for a whole other light bar Conclusion I obviously liked this set enough to buy it on the secondary market; the Octan sign was what basically sold me on it. The other signs are useful to me, except the Fire station ones (my town currently lacks a fire station set). I look forward to picking up a few older sets that would go well with them (Metro Park and Service Tower for the Parking one, for instance). The light bars have many uses including in non-town sets as their appearance in some space sets show. They give off a more diffuse light while uncovered, making them good for interior lighting. The trans-bricks are a bit harder to use than the globes for giving off colored light, but they are welcome additions to the set. There was definitely room for improvement. A 1x4 brick with 2 bulbs would have been welcome, and a siren would have increased its usefulness to space fans. I would have liked to see some signs for the space theme. A light up M-Tron or Blacktron II logo would have been great, especially since L&S was used in the latter theme. Overall score 4/5 EDIT: rebuilt review with pictures hosted on MOCpages; minor revisions.

Thanks for pointing that out! I'm a purist, but not so much that I can't sub in another official part if it looks better! I still have the sticker on the tile, it's just that it fell off a few times and is dirty. I think I glued it on to the tile too.

Great review! I like the multi-vehicle sets Lego used to make like this. You instantly had more to play with than a single vehicle. This one is pretty good with land, sea, and air vehicles. They are all pretty standard for this era of sets, which means they are very good compared to most that came before or after. I like the box with the alternate models, especially the checkpoint model (does the truck in the upper left look front-heavy to anyone else?). I wouldn't mind picking up this set at some point in the future.

I got this set when I was still rather young and it came as a complete surprise one Christmas morning. Here in the States I hadn't seen it in any catalogue and it wasn't available from any store. It was and still is one of my favorite sets. I even printed up custom menus for it on my parents' computer by shrinking down a greeting card to minifig size! The 1x3x5 bricks were the only ones I had for a loooooong time and I thought they were unique to this set until that magical day after my dark ages when my lego hobby met my internet hobby. Unfortunately I was young and played with my sets rough as well as mixed them into a big tub, so the windows are pretty scratched up. I also tried gluing down the terrace pieces because they would frequently fall apart when bumped. I'll either try to find replacement windows, which could be hard with the stickers intact, or a copy of the legend version. The glue didn't hold well and didn't damage the parts too bad, so I'm less concerned. 6376 is an example of the heyday of Lego set design. The set is fairly large but it is the small things that count. The lights under the archway are a nice touch and as far as I know unreplicated in any other set. The leaves inside the upper floor, the entrance with lights, etc; all great little details I don't see too much nowadays (not to mention sets as 'boring' as a restaurant ). The five figures are great and quite a lot for the price. The only baffling thing about the set is how a palm tree grew to full size on the second story of a restaurant...

O scale (1:48) is much closer to LEGO size than HO. Many pre-made landscape elements for O scale would work fine with LEGO trains.

I have this set. It was never my favorite but it's still a well designed set. The only problems with it I encountered was the sticker on the 1 x 2 tile on the small boat; the piece was a bit too small for a sticker and should have been printed. I also wonder why it comes with police minifigs when the previously released 6387 Coastal Rescue Base had different, non-police uniforms.

I'm glad you posted this. I noticed this display very briefly while rushing through O'Hare Airport in Chicago early this summer. I went looking for it again during my last, more leisurely visit there but it had moved. Your pictures are very good, and I like the city exhibit very much as well. The poles for the wind turbines are not Lego bricks, are they?

I have similar recurring dreams, where either I find a bunch of old sets for cheap in a store, or new sets that are incredible. So you're not the only one having this kind of dream. The last ones I had involved finding a bunch of old Space Police I sets complete with a huge custom in-store display base (odd since I'm not much of a space fan) and another where I come across 'next year's' line of amazing sets. They are on par with or better than most of what LEGO has made in the last 30 years, and included an oil rig, a beach hotel, a new airport and what could be described as a wilderness/log cabin lodge. I am usually pretty angry that it was just a dream when I wake up; I know I don't have such good luck in reality But the one dream helped flesh out a bit the oil rig MOC I've been kicking around in my mind for some time. I'll probably start designing it in LDraw later this fall.

I'd like to see Thrawn, Darth Malak, and Jerec made into figs. But of the ones I own, the printed leg Boba Fett it is. One of the best looking figs ever made.

I currently envision a "core" consisting of 4 32 x 32 baseplates with skyscrapers on them. They would all be custom built and have a few residental towers and a few commercial towers (likely a bank and an Octan office). Around them would be shorter structures, like the parking garage from 6394 (possibly detached from the gas station), 7892 Hospital (modified and off that goofy baseplate), and the Terminal from 10159, which I want to turn into a TV studio. Also would be custom 2-track monorail station. Around that will be most of the other system town buildings like Town Plan and others. My airport will be in it's own location with some other buildings (small gas station, hotel, maybe another parking garage), almost like it's own town. Between them will be residential buildings.

As for worst set, I'm going with the Twilight. It's big, ugly, and above all expensive. A close second is the Mos Eisley Cantina. That could have been a great set, with several aliens and such, but instead most of the set is wasted on a speeder and dewback and the only redeeming feature is Greedo. Pet peeves of mine that don't necessarily make them bad sets are the minis (no interest in them) and the blue TIEs (glad to see that has changed). For figs, aside from the freakishly designed CW human/humanoid faces, it's the brick-built figs that would have benefited more from a new mold, like Gasgano, etc. And I have way too many Jedi Lukes for being a very passive and selective collector.

I really like this little set. There weren't too many TV-themed sets, but they were all good. While the next one was more complete with the news helicopter, it in no way detracts from this set. Great review!

Anyone else confused by the use of old-school parts in these promos? The fireman's car has the old fenders for the 4-wide vehicles, the doctor's car uses the old 4-wide car base and the police boat has the fence piece in the back. We haven't seen these parts in forever. I wonder why they are using them again.

Great work! I've been waiting to see this finished ever since you posted pictures of it being built.

A decent enough set. It gets the job done, but is not as elaborate other buildings built on the same size plate (Pizza to Go for one). Nevertheless, I still bought it a few years ago, as it is still worth owning.

Wow, that is a big improvement over the actual set. I never liked the mostly-opened design of it. I like the gas station and your two shop interiors are especially nice. Keep up the good work!

(No particular order) 1. Cloud City by Kaitan -Masterfully done, I hope he attempts the carbon freezing chamber 2. Classic Space A-Wing MOD by Hewman -I like when people classic-ize new themes and vice versa 3. Illum Victory by Darth Yoda -I'm a sucker for L&S usage. A simple but well-done vig too. 4. Emperor's Arrival by Morten Sonne -A hanger isn't too hard to make. A collection of 189 SW Imperial figs is. 5. UCS TIE Defender by cavegod -Simply awesome. Props to building an EU ship too.

Old grey 7-stud plates for me. The green ones have their uses, like runways or lined with green-based houses, but for a downtown area, I like grey.

A good set for its time period. They definitely got better at making semis later on, especially in regards to the hitch. The big stickers are a negative point, though, and I believe STAMPs were quite rare at this time. I will definitely get this set at some point in the future; with some updating to the wheels, it'll fit right into my town.

Ah, so you were making a coroner, who would be a doctor, rather than a scientist. The doctor torso makes more sense here than my suggestions.