Aanchir

Oh! I stand corrected!

I'd say so, at least by LEGO City standards. After all, the contents are roughly similar in size/substance/complexity to a combination of 60050 (priced at $65) and 7936 (priced at $20), plus a huge bus which I think is easily worth $15. The piece count is also similar to or higher than the piece counts of most other $100 City sets.

Yeah, the main functions of the Boost hub (or "Move Hub") that a standard Powered Up hub lacks are its tilt sensor and position motors, which give a little more control than linear motors, and can also be used as rotation sensors. So its main advantages would be for automating stuff that requires specific angular movement is needed. Besides the examples you mentioned, turntables for railway roundhouses are another area where motors like that could be useful for a train layout. I know that in the past I've seen people use LEGO Mindstorms for that sort of thing. But even then, you can do that same sort of stuff with pretty much any other Powered Up hub and motor besides the train motor and medium linear motor, which are currently the only two motors available from LEGO shop that lack absolute positioning.

That's definitely a good thought. There are definitely a few different approaches you could take there that would have great crossover appeal for LEGO train fans, not just for the possibility of freight wagons but also for other sorts of train layout features that LEGO has long been lacking in. One thing I think I brought up in either this thread or one of the Town forum threads a while back is how exciting a tunnel construction set could be — e.g. a rock face with break-away sections in the center, a tunnel boring machine or excavator to clear through those break-away sections, a cherry picker truck or the like for a minifigure to spray concrete and install lighting, and some bricks to install a nice stone or concrete arch at the tunnel's mouth. For price reasons, I think a set like that would probably make the most sense if it only included one tunnel mouth (with the option of connecting two of them back to back to create a full tunnel). But Duplo has had pre-molded train tunnels for years, and I think a System tunnel construction set like this would be a great complement to either train models or the new road system. A bridge construction set with a crane is another possibility I've thought about that could be compatible with roads and train tracks alike. As a kid, I remember reading a whole lot about architecture (inspired in no small part by my love of building toys like LEGO and K'nex), and bridges received plenty of attention in a lot of that reading material. Yet bridges have never gotten a whole lot of attention in LEGO themes like Town, Trains, or City themes. I think that with the advent of the new road system (which is much more conducive to changes in grade/elevation than baseplates were due to having attachment points on both the top and bottom), I feel like there's never been a better time for LEGO City to finally take that step! That could definitely work, but how well it would appeal to LEGO train enthusiasts would probably depend heavily on how easily it could be converted back to working condition! Come to think of it, that could also be an interesting subject for one of the models in a 3-in-1 set, since the train bits needed to convert it back or rebuild it into other types of train model could be repurposed in other parts of the build (something I feel Creator 3-in-1 designers often excel at). Anyway, yesterday I managed to more or less finish reverse-engineering the 60335 Train Station on stud.io. I'd already recreated the foundation in order to brainstorm train layout ideas, and as I was looking at the pictures, I found myself increasingly tempted to figure out how rest of the structure goes together and what its proportions were like. Here is a download link to the .io file for anybody interested in seeing the build in more detail, planning mods for it, or exploring how they want to integrate it into their own layouts! Fair warning: I can't guarantee this model's accuracy, though I did my best to compare every detail I could with the official images and videos (including the 360-degree turnaround) The main part I'm uncertain about is how the accessibility ramp in the back is attached — I used traditional 1x2 rocker hinge bricks, but it might just as easily be attached with clips like the one from the Passenger Train set. I'm also not 100% certain about what sort of plates (or how many) are used to support the middle of the level crossing. There is one placeholder part in my model — the windscreen used as a pastry display case on the cafe counter should be the new 2x4 curved windscreen that debuted in the 4+ Spidey and his Amazing Friends sets earlier this year, but since that part is not available on stud.io yet I used a traditional 2x4x2 sloped windscreen in its place. I also haven't bothered to build any of the vehicles, since those weren't what I was most curious about on a personal level. The cleverness on the designer was definitely on display with some parts of the build, most obviously with the SNOTted roof and skylights, which I know have already garnered quite a bit of attention. There's something very satisfying about how seamlessly and securely it all fits together, even with the center control tower set one stud forward from the rest of the build. And the resulting studless design of the roof ends up looking remarkably clean and consistent. The still semi-recent bracket piece 41682 plays a big part in making this possible, but this set's designer also deserves a lot of credit for making this bold choice instead of defaulting to a traditional studs-up roof made up of standard plates. It's certainly a much less conventional approach than I'm used to seeing in a theme like City, which generally tends to favor more basic and traditional building techniques. I expect that this will be many kids' first time seeing a roof built in this manner — which is sure to expand their thinking about the sort of things that can be achieved using LEGO bricks! I remain very impressed by the 4x8 mosaic wall. Even though it's a simple, non-structural part of the model, it's a very fun decorative detail. And given how rare and limited in color those 2x2 triangular tiles felt in 2018 when they were first introduced, there's something very fun and exciting about getting eight different colors of them in this one set! It's not quite as customization-friendly as the Dots mosaics from the LEGO Friends art school, of course, but I could certainly see some builders making changes to suit their tastes, such as arranging the colors in a starburst/pinwheel pattern, or flipping the right side vertically so the red begins at the top on both the left and right. The plantlife in the set, likewise, adds some great decoration on the sides of the building and above the entrance ramp, and helps the whole building to feel a little less sterile. It's nice that the tree on the left side of the platform closely resembles the one on attached to the station platform from the Passenger Train set — the trees mirror each other nicely if you decide to combine the two platforms into one (though I don't feel as keen on that myself that now that I realize that both platforms already have accessibility ramps), and also helps to give the passenger rail facilities a consistent visual identity. Another interesting thing I learned while working on this is that in spite of all the concerns I've read about the size of the station building itself, it's actually slightly larger than the one from the previous City train station, set 60050. That set's station building was more or less a 6x24x8 box, minus around 12 studs total in the front where the front doors and some of the exterior walls are recessed backwards by one stud. By comparison, 60335's station building has around a 6x8x8 upper floor and a 6x16x8 ground floor, plus about ten studs where the front window extends forward from the rest of the building. Mind you, this is still a considerably smaller interior than the first City train station, set 7997, or any of the station buildings of the 9V era — all of which had a 6x24 footprint or wider, plus a second floor! But again, that has more to do with this set being modeled on more average/intermediate sized train stations (larger than a halt/whistle stop/flag stop, but smaller than a passenger terminal/grand terminus). And while the vehicles don't seem to have forced LEGO to cut any corners with the station's size compared to previous City stations, they ARE undoubtedly a big part of why its price is so much higher than those earlier train stations. The total piece count for the "static" parts of the model (station, tracks, road, level crossing, etc) comes to only around 478 parts, or a little more than half the set's overall piece count — meaning the minifigures and vehicle parts account for 428 pieces altogether (assuming a single sticker sheet to round out the set's 907 pieces). Honestly, I'm not too worried about the price point making a big dent in the set's sales or discouraging LEGO from making other sets like this in the future. After all, City seems to have had a pretty good track record as of late with other high-priced playsets that devote substantial portions of their piece count to both buildings and vehicles — even ones like 60258 Tuning Workshop or 60203 Ski Resort that deviate from the more predictable "bestsellers" like fire or police stations. But I also know that even that reassurance won't negate the sting of that extra hit to many buyers' wallets, especially those who aren't interested at all in the side builds from this set and would rather pay less for just the station if given the option. My own main gripe about this model after building it on stud.io is the lack of any sort of caution markings towards the front of the station platform. As a semi-frequent train traveler, I feel like nearly every station I've been to has SOME sort of indicator of where you are safe to stand as a train is approaching (e.g. "Please stand behind the yellow line"). It doesn't seem like it would have cost too much for the designers to add a narrow row of yellow plates/tiles near the edge of the platform, or even just some brightly-colored 1x1 indicator lights like in 60050. Of course, that's not a hard thing for a builder to add after the fact — it just strikes me as a surprising omission, considering the standard of detail on display throughout the rest of the model. I also sort of wish that instead of Tr. Light Blue 1x2 plates for the floodlights on the front of the station (the same color as the window glass), the set had used the White Glow 1x2 plates introduced last year in sets 60304 and 60306. Again, this is a simple modification, but it just strikes me as a missed opportunity. That said, I recognize that the designer probably didn't want to risk kids mixing up those parts with the standard white 1x2 plates used for other parts of the station building. But overall, I'm very impressed. It's a pleasant departure from the look of the stations we've had before. The colors and building techniques alike feel very fresh, and definitely feels like a station I'd be happy to travel through on a daily or weekly commute. Hopefully it sells well enough for LEGO to release more City train sets (perhaps sooner than the usual 4-year cycle, even) so we can see more and more of this sort of innovation and ingenuity.

I am absolutely LOVING the recent reveal of 31130 Sunken Treasure Misson, as is my wife, who also loves sea creatures! Octopuses have always been one of my favorite sea creatures, and manta rays are one of hers. All three of the big animal builds are very strong designs with a good level of articulation and plenty of authentic details. Mind you, there is one particular inaccuracy that stood out to me as I was looking at the 360-degree spin on LEGO.com — the octopus has a siphon on both sides of its mantle when in real life it should have just one. But honestly, from what I've seen, previous LEGO octopuses (brick-built and molded alike) have often not included a siphon at all, nor do many of the stylized cartoon portrayals of octopuses that I've seen (aside from in Japanese media like the Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon games, which tend to treat it as a tube-like or cannon-like "mouth"). In spite of that inaccuracy, the symmetrical siphons are still visually appealing, as with the rest of the model's details. The octopus's curved mantle seems to have a real heft to it, and the tentacles with tiny pink suckers along their length have a great balance of articulation and detail. The variegated reddish hues instantly call to mind the real-world giant Pacific octopus, a star attraction at many zoos and aquariums I've visited to on account of its size, beauty, and eerie intelligence. I have less personal affection for lobsters than the other creatures portrayed in this set, but the lobster from this set's B-model brings up nostalgic memories of my early years as a Bionicle fan, in which I often spent a lot of time trying to come up with original Rahi beast designs using parts from my collection. Lobsters and other arthropods were particularly well-suited to these efforts due to the spindly, angular limb pieces and round, beady eyes that were the norm for Bionicle creatures in those early years. Back then, of course, Bionicle was pretty much the only kid-friendly theme that allowed for highly-articulated creatures of that sort, as long as you didn't mind the stylized mechanical look (which I didn't —after all, I was just as big a fan of robots as I was of sea creatures). Today, sets like this one exemplify how much the LEGO System has evolved with regard too these sorts of streamlined, articulated creature builds. The manta ray build is unfortunately the least articulated of the three models, and I can't help but wish its fins allowed for a bit more of the graceful flapping movement movement that helps make these majestic sea pancakes so endearing! But its streamlined body shape and wide, oval-shaped mouth still give it an outstandingly lifelike appearance that balances out those limitations on its movement. The submarines do not excite me as much as the sea creatures and underwater scenery, but I am somewhat fond of them for nostalgic reasons — Aquazone and Divers were both among my favorite themes of my early (pre-Bionicle) KFOL years, and the submarine from the B-model is particularly reminiscent of the cute, compact design of the Aquanauts' Sea Sprint 9. The A-model's submarine doesn't awaken quite so much childhood nostalgia in me, but it does demonstrate some brilliant creativity and parts use, such as with the downward-tilted dome window in the front and access hatch in the back (both sealed up neatly at the top with a 1x6 wheel arch). My biggest gripe about this submarine design is its heavy use of grey, but the B- and C-models amply justify that choice by repurposing many of those bricks for the cave and coral reef scenery. On that note, the coral reef itself beautifully demonstrates not only the rainbow of different colors this set offers, but also how even bricks in a disparate assortment of colors like that can come together to form a coherent whole. I think AFOLs like us can often underestimate the potential of polychromatic builds like this, especially since many of us associate them with the "rainbow warriors" we've seen constructed by beginner builders. And even as a lover of brightly-colored themes like Friends and Elves, I sometimes have to fight the urge to default to simple color schemes with just two or three main colors in my own MOCs. But here, parts that were used for entirely separate builds in the A-model (or even hidden away inside those builds) are brought together to create a scene where the multifarious shapes and hues of the natural world are on full display. And honestly, that variety ends up feeling far more natural than a scene like this would be if it were populated with a more repetitive selection of flora and fauna. I've rambled enough about this one set, I feel — but suffice to say, it's a thrilling set design that I fully expect to seek out either for myself or as a gift for my wife once it's released! I hope whoever designed it will continue to stun us with other amazing 3-in-1 animal models and nature scenes in the future!

The Vibrant Coral frog is also in the City Wildlife Rescue Mission set, but yeah, neat to get two new frog colors! Eye-catching colors like these could be especially useful for exotic poisonous frogs.

People in real life have been dying their hair for longer than any of us have been alive. And loads of people dye their hair in "unnatural" colors — even I did for a while, though it faded over the course of the pandemic and I haven't been out to a salon yet to get it dyed again. So why is it a bad thing for the LEGO world reflect that? Even if women with those careers are rare (particularly in your neck of the woods), they DO exist in real life, just as female knights and pirates did historically. It's natural that some kids (especially girls) would want to be able to play with characters that they find cool, relatable, or aspirational on that level, no matter how "rare" or "exceptional" they are in real life. So it's common sense for LEGO to keep those sorts of gender-diverse figures readily available. "Over-representing" particular categories is vastly preferable to not representing them at all!

Sort of a tangent, but one thing I do like about the new level crossing is that it uses generic pieces that would be easy to obtain in quantity for building additional level crossings or expanding the width of this one — no rare prints, molds, or recolors necessary. Naturally it'd be even easier to get multiples for use in train layouts if it were sold as its own set, of course — but in lieu of that, a design as generic and easily duplicated as this is the next best thing in my book! On the subject of the road system, I noticed while looking over pics of the other sets again that the 8x16 road plates appear in Bright Orange and Bright Yellowish Green in the new Stuntz sets. Can't think of too many uses for them in ordinary road layouts, except perhaps as color-coding for bus lanes or other special-use lanes. But I could also imagine the orange ones working well as lava floes, similar to how the Dark Azur ones were used in the Wildlife Rescue sets as bodies of water and Sand Yellow ones were used as mudflats.

Ah, interesting! Thank you for clarifying. I pay less attention to licensed sets than non-licensed ones so I must have missed that Khan had introduced a new mane style.

Yeah, I definitely get how being able to pick and choose or buy multiples of specific wagons/coaches was a lot more collector-friendly than the current approach. At the same time, I also understand WHY that sales model didn't work out as well for LEGO as this one does. Most LEGO sets these days are designed to ensure that even if they're a builder's very first set, they'll offer an experience that feels complete and rewarding enough on its own to convince that builder that LEGO is a toy for them. After all, if a kid purchases a LEGO set or receives one as a gift, only to learn that they can't really have much fun with it unless they spend a lot of money on additional sets, that can leave them with a negative first impression of the LEGO brand and hobby as a whole. Unlike the current train sets, coaches and wagons individually don't really offer too much appeal as a play experience or even as a display piece — and their appeal as "expansion sets" is pretty much limited to people who already have either one large train set or several smaller ones. It's sort of like why LEGO doesn't sell the middle floors of the Modular Buildings as separate expansion kits. As much as it would be appreciated by some buyers looking to grow their modular layouts, a set like that would have little appeal for anybody who didn't already have the sets they'd need to incorporate them into a more complete building. The main ways that I could see LEGO successfully bringing back individual wagons outside the context of full trains these days would be either as part of a set depicting a particular railway scene (for instance, a set similar to 7838 or 4555, where the play value in the context of the surrounding scene helps balance out the lack of a locomotive), or as a 3-in-1 set that can build either freight wagons, coaches, or locomotives (sort of like 10183, or like a full-size version of 4837 or 31015). Alternatively, freight wagons, railway buildings/structures, train tracks, etc. could perhaps be incorporated into sets from other subthemes that would introduce other sorts of play scenarios — for example, a police set with crooks hiding out in or robbing a freight yard, or a firefighting set with firefighters responding to a tanker car spill, or a container crane set with a flatbed car for the crane to load containers onto. In short, I don't have high hopes for LEGO bringing back sets that ONLY contain individual train wagons/coaches… but I can still envision other potential ways that LEGO could introduce new coaches and wagons outside the context of full-length trains, especially now that so many City sets are depicting more varied types of locations and scenery than just police/fire/coast guard stations, construction sites, etc.

Opinions are subjective by definition — treating your opinions as "objective" and insulting anybody who disagrees is just making a fool of yourself. I think they could certainly do a modern version of 4554 if they wanted to — it's just not the style they chose to opt for this time around. Instead, this one's more like a modern version of 7824. I have loads of nostalgia for 4554 — as a 90s kid, it was maybe the most iconic train station set of my childhood — and I'm sure we can both agree that MOC you linked to looks magnificent! Although it'd maybe be more of an 8+ set (Like the Friends Art School and Theater School) than a 7+ set like this new station. Even so, I don't think it makes sense treat that sort of fancy neoclassical station like the only kind worth releasing. In this case, I think a modernist building with clean, studless cornices, vivid bands of color, and large windows and skylights to brighten the interior was a beautiful choice in its own right. It looks to me as though the man in the green apron runs both the ticket counter and café from the area behind the center window, which has a 2x4 countertop on either side. There unfortunately aren't any good images of this "behind the counter" area, but from the front we can see what appears to be a coffee machine in the center and a glass display case for pastries on the café counter. Additionally, the one interior pic shows a number pad on the ticket counter (probably a credit card reader). Unfortunately, we might not get a clearer look at these interior details until either instructions, reviews, or a 360-degree spin show up online. But it's definitely not completely empty in there — in fact it's LESS empty than the ticket booth and snack bar from old-school train station sets like 4554! On a side note, looking over the pictures again, I just realized that there IS a ramp to the station platform after all — it's underneath the archway between the sheltered waiting area and the station building. So that resolves one of my lingering misgivings about the set!

The farm set looks very nice! It seems like it's where Marcel (Mia and Ava's grandfather) lives. I love it any time family members of established characters show up in sets, so I'm very happy to see him appearing in another set — in cool new work clothes, at that! The color palette looks rustic, but still warm and inviting, and the loose roof shingles testify to both the farm's age and the amount of work that goes into maintaining it. There are plenty of potential play scenarios for both around-the-farm chores and leisure activities like picnics or horseback riding. I look forward to seeing more pics of the interior! The horse trailer and SUV are also great designs — perhaps a bit oversized for some people's tastes, but personally I'm a big fan of these sorts of big vehicles with super detailed interiors! Savannah's new outfit is very cool-looking, but still practical. I also just realized while looking over the pictures that the bay dun horse (medium nougat body/black mane and tail) in the Horse Show Trailer set has a new style of mane!

The train station is a very strong design IMO! It feels very authentic to real-world train stations I've traveled through, albeit more modern and well-maintained than some of those have been! And it has most of the sorts of features we've come to expect from City train stations (a cafe/snack bar, a ticket desk, a waiting area, a bike rack, a control room/main office, a railway map, and even an automated ticket kiosk). The mosaic tile wall and tree are both charming details that make the setting feel bright and lively, and the grocery store advertisement on the bench feels like a very realistic detail for a modern-day urban setting like this. I do think there's some room for improvement. As nicely as the set incorporates the new road system, I can't help but wish it included a pedestrian crossing to make it easier for people to get to the station on foot! A bike lane could also be a nice addition to complement the bicycle and bike rack. The bus is a lovely design that makes great use of the new double doors, just as the passenger train does. Of course, unlike the passenger train, this bus isn't really wheelchair accessible unless you add your own bus stop builds with integrated ramps or wheelchair lifts to your layout. On that note, the station platform doesn't have a wheelchair ramp or lift either, though it would not be too hard to add a ramp similar to the one in the passenger train set (especially if you're one of the folks who plans to buy two of that set to add a second locomotive to the back of the train). As much as I'd love to see a new train station with the sort of grandeur as 4554, I think it's wildly unfair to call this station a "miserable shed" for not being that same monumental, ornate style of big-city passenger terminal. After all, this station building seems at LEAST as substantial, comfortable, and inviting as the ones in 7822 and 7824 from the 12-volt era, which had similar outdoor waiting areas. And in real life, most metropolitan areas with magnificent station terminals like 4554 ALSO have plenty of smaller train stations like this one.

The animals in the set are brick built, not molded.

It's similar to 10233 on some levels, but I think the shape of this new train's nose more closely resembles a Shinkansen locomotive than a TGV locomotive. And yeah, this one's main color is Bright Yellowish Green instead of Bright Orange — so while the brightness is similar, this train is more of a "cool" color here instead of a "warm" one. It's nice to see that other folks have a positive first impression of this set also. I'm not much of a train enthusiast so I'm used to my perspectives not lining up neatly with the perspectives of folks with a stronger knowledge of trains and passion for model railroading. Of course, I'm sure there will probably be some people who are more bothered by how vibrant the color is (Vivid colors like Bright Yellowish Green can be pretty divisive, as I learned back in the days of LEGO Power Miners), or concerned with faults or inaccuracies I'm not even aware of! But it's good to know that the features of the set that impressed me like the wheelchair-accessible doors and working lights aren't just bad taste on my part.

Roller Disco Arcade is wonderful! All the neon colors are a delight, as is the streamlined exterior. The arcade games (a traditional arcade machine with joystick, a DDR-style dance pad game, and an air hockey board) are wonderfully varied. The bowling alley feels very authentic, right down to the removable ramp for wheelchair users like Jackson! And while the roller rink itself is small, the gear function looks like it will really bring the model to life. There are even lockers for people to stash their belongings while out on the rink. Not to mention a phone stand so you can play music to really give it that authentic roller rink feel. The art school is gorgeous, and I love how varied the different studios/classrooms are. Looks like there's a photo studio, a ceramics studio, a fashion design studio, a 3D modelling studio (with 3D printers), and a plein air painting class. The beaux-arts architecture is really amplified by the set's gentle color scheme, and I love that signage with the giant pencil and paintbrush! LEGO has definitely gotten really good with brick-built signage in recent years across all sorts of themes. It's also neat that there are customizable mosaics on the left wall so kids playing with the set can create and display artworks of their own! The recycling truck has a great function, and the various trash can colors we've seen in other sets this year make a lot more sense after seeing them used here for sorting purposes. I love Emma and River's high-visibility work vests too! The Friends theme has a great track record with boat sets, and the new Sailing Adventure set is no exception. Despite being a much smaller boat than the Dolphin Cruiser or Sunshine Catamaran, it's still got an impressive amount of detail inside the cabin, and a fantastic custom hull design. It seems to have all the essential details a sailboat needs (even a rudder, which previous Friends boat sets have often gone without) and of course the color scheme is utterly gorgeous. I wasn't sure what to expect from Mia's Animal Rescue Mission, but I sure wasn't expecting a zebra and giraffe! The color scheme definitely suits the sunny African savannah setting, and the new characters Dr. Makena and Joaquim are quite charming. The features of the rescue center itself are nothing all that different from any other veterinary clinic set, but the animals and scenery definitely deliver a very fresh sense of adventure. There are plenty more sets I haven't commented on but in general there is SO MUCH to be excited for in this wave that I'd wear myself out trying to address all of it right now! Super excited to see the LEGO Friends continue to expand their horizons!

Passenger train pictures are out! https://zusammengebaut.com/lego-city-60337-personenzug-vorgestellt-147448/ I love the use of the double-doors on the coaches, especially since they allow for wheelchair access from the station platform! Sliding doors might be a little more accurate, but that would be harder to pull off without a specialized piece. As such, I can live with that inaccuracy, just as I can with the lack of accordion-fold doors on LEGO buses. I'm not a huge fan of the windscreen choice on the front, since its contours don't feel very continuous with the side slopes. But it is a nice change of pace to have a brick-built front, and the bullet train style nose seems very authentic. I also like that lights are included, since I can't remember how long it's been since those were last included in a passenger train set by default instead of sold separately. The color scheme is fantastic and really stands out from previous LEGO trains. I also think it's neat how triangular tiles were used to create an arrow/chevron pattern on the locomotive, instead of relying on prints or stickers to create that sort of pattern. The use of facet bricks between cars to minimize gaps is something I don't remember seeing in official sets, and I quite like it, even if it means the corridors between coaches are still just as narrow as they have been in previous train sets. The onboard bike rack seems to be integrated very efficiently, and I also love the cleverness of the brick-built "saddlebags" on the bike itself! Very eager to see the interiors in more detail once additional pics and/or reviews start showing up. Overall it's not a perfect train in my book, but it does manage to impress me quite a bit with its sheer novelty. After seeing all this originality, I'm even more eager to see what the train station will be like!

The farm sets look quite nice! I am somewhat disappointed with the barn, since I was hoping the sides of the barn would be made of panels (perhaps even printed ones) and not empty door/window frames, but I do prefer it over the 2009 version. Adding actual doors to both the ground floor and hayloft does a lot to make it feel more "finished" and less like just an attic on stilts. The animals in that set are all a delight. The new baby animals (calf, piglet, and lamb) add a lot of heartwarming charm by allowing System sets and MOCs to depict whole animal families, just like Duplo farm sets have been doing for so many years. And I greatly appreciate the cow both as a new recolor and a return for an animal mold that we haven't seen in sets for quite some time. The only animal that feels a bit superfluous to me is the squirrel — while it's believable that a squirrel might seek warmth and shelter in a hayloft, I don't think it really adds as much to this set's play value as it did in previous sets. I'm also pleased that the set also goes out of its way to include plenty of accessories for farm animal care play scenarios: a brush, hose, and washtub for bathing the animals; a shovel for cleaning up animal manure (which I suppose can then be used as fertilizer in the greenhouse); and a detachable wool piece and pair of shears for shearing the sheep. On that note, I saw a funny comment on Brickset asking if LEGO might make a wolf piece that can wear the sheep's clothing, and now I can't stop thinking about how charming that would be for the wordplay alone! The chicken coop and vegetable delivery truck are nice sets that seem to offer a pretty good value for money, at least in euros (not sure what the prices will be in other currencies, since City sets can be a little unpredictable in that regard). The chicken coop is a nice vignette-sized build that nicely matches the design language and color scheme of the barn at a smaller scale, and the chickens themselves are a great new recolor that closely resembles the chickens my aunt and uncle keep in their backyard! Farms are probably the setting where I'm most used to seeing quad bikes in real life (the John Deere "Gator" is a model that I remember seeing a lot on childhood trips to berry farms, pumpkin patches, etc), and the one in the chicken coop set looks exactly how it should. I also think this is maybe the best use of the tilt-steering function that I've seen, since even in a non-conflict-driven set, it presents a nice bit of danger — if the driver isn't careful when turning, the eggs could very easily end up flying out of their crate and scattering on the ground! And that helps expand the number of stories you can tell even with a set this small. The farmer's market truck also feels very authentic to my hometown farmer's market that I'd go to so often as a child, and the new plant pieces we previously saw in the cargo train set are put to great use (although I am a little surprised not to see any use of the similar beanstalk piece from the Super Mario sets). I'd already admired sets' use of viking horns as chili peppers or ice cream scoops as clusters of grapes as inspired ways of creating new sorts of fruit and veggies using existing parts. And it's nice to get more sets that show how fruits and veggies like this look before they're harvested. The corn cob piece is a nice new accessory too. Previously i'd had to resort to stacks of flower pieces to represent corn cobs, but this feels a lot more authentic next to these other, more accurately textured veggies. That said, it does sometimes feel awkward to still see the oversized Belville carrots being used with standard minifigures! For my part, I prefer the carrot build that we've seen in some Disney Frozen sets (an orange unicorn horn with a flower on the top to represent the leaves). On one final note, the female character in the truck set is yet another minifig whose fashion sense I can't help but envy! I miss both having bright-colored hair (haven't had much opportunity to get it dyed since before the pandemic), as well as having a vibrant orange coat I could wear when it's cold and gloomy, both for keeping warm and bringing a bit of brightness and sunshine into my day!

Even if you don't like this set, it seems extremely unfair and inaccurate to blame that on "laziness". After all, it seems to me like quite a lot of effort was put into coming up with stuff like the custom cab design, the autorack build, the the cargo handler, and the EV charging station — as opposed to simply reusing "tried and true" subject matter and building techniques that we've seen more often in other train sets over the years. Calling them "lazy" just because the designer didn't focus their efforts on satisfying your personal expectations is a disservice to the work they do. I definitely do enjoy seeing trackside builds like that which make the railway feel more like a fully realized setting. But on the plus side, I feel like LEGO has been making a LOT more sets focused on structures and scenery in recent years than they had been previously. Perhaps in the years to come they might get back into making builds like freight depots sets of their own (perhaps even a sea/road/rail cargo transfer hub — wouldn't THAT be neat to see!) instead of builds that you can only get in a larger cargo train set. After all, compared to individual wagons/carriages, which offer very little play value unless you have a locomotive to pair them with, settings like train stations and cargo depots can offer more varied play experiences and storytelling scenarios on their own, while also nicely complementing other train sets.

I suspect part of LEGO's motivation may be that they expect barns and farm animals to have a whole lot of appeal with younger City fans (probably a safe bet, considering the popularity of farm animal sets among Duplo-age kids). Whereas sets more focused on other stuff like produce farming might not hit that same sweet spot with the youngest kids. Honestly, I could see this decision working out pretty well, given the type of set we're dealing with. For starters, including a large number of molded, printed animals would likely eat up quite a bit of the budget for a set this size, resulting in a less substantial building experience than you'd likely expect from a similarly priced 5+ or 6+ set anyhow. Moreover, barns themselves tend to be fairly simple, boxy structures that would be very conducive to a simple, panel-based build, rather than a more intricate design like you might hope to see for other sorts of farm-related builds. I can easily imagine a 4+ barn made up of large panels still looking much more attractive and authentic than the barn/hayloft design from 7637!

Yeah, definitely interesting to think about what it might mean for the future of minifigs in 3-in-1 sets. I'm also curious what future sets we might see these new torso prints reused in. After all, we've seen some other minifigure parts introduced for Creator 3-in-1 (like the space torso or stunt show torso) continue to show up in subsequent sets as well. LEGO's willingness to introduce TWO new torso prints for this one set may be an indication that they expect to get more use out of them in future years — meaning more historical/fantasy sets to look forward to!

I don't know any comprehensive resource on this topic, but I can tell you that the skin tones in 9171 include 18 Nougat, 38 Dark Orange, and 25 Earth Orange (classic brown). These were the extent of the "real-world" skin tones appearing in Duplo sets of the 90s. 18 Nougat had been in use for years, although it was not used for standard minifigures or basic System bricks until many years later. Some of its earliest appearances were for the skin of Duplo and Fabuland pigs beginning in 1979. Duplo sets first began using it as a skin tone for human characters in 1983, and it was subsequently also used as a skin tone in themes like Belville and Scala. 25 Earth Orange (classic brown) had of course been in use for System and Duplo hair and accessories long before either category began using it as a skin tone. 38 Dark Orange was first introduced around 1994 as a Duplo hair color and a fur color for Duplo and Belville animals. It began appearing as a Duplo skin color in 1995. Although the introduction of these darker Duplo skin tones in the 90s was a big step forward from a diversity standpoint, they unfortunately weren't really used as such in "standard" Duplo/Explore sets until the early 2000s — instead, they were mostly limited to figure packs sold through LEGO Shop at Home and LEGO Education. Current Duplo figure skin tones (i.e. appearing in 2021 and 2022 sets) include 283 Light Nougat, 18 Nougat, 312 Medium Nougat, 38 Dark Orange, 370 Medium Brown, and 192 Reddish Brown. 192 Reddish Brown replaced 25 Earth Orange in 2004 as part of the wave of color changes around that time, but otherwise the skin tones of the new "LEGO Ville" style Duplo figures remained the same as their 90s predecessors. There were also non-standard Duplo figures in the Dora the Explorer theme that year, but I'm not really sure what skin tones they used. 283 Light Nougat, which was introduced for licensed System minifigures in 2004, did not appear as a Duplo skin tone until 2012. Even then, Duplo only used it for licensed Disney, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics characters until 2020, when it joined the palette of non-licensed Duplo figure skin tones. 312 Medium Nougat likewise first appeared as a Duplo skin tone in the 2015–2016 Doc McStuffins sets, and did not appear as a skin tone for non-licensed Duplo figures until 2019. As such, 2022 is the first year that a new color — 370 Medium Brown — has debuted for Duplo figures, System minifigures, and System mini-dolls alike. Hope this helps!

Ooh, I like the auto carrier car and unloading ramp! The open wagon also looks great in spite of its simplicity, and makes fantastic use of those hinge plates introduced in the Vidiyo theme. It's also neat to see such a modern-looking electric locomotive build that isn't reliant on any specialized cab pieces. Even the container handler is a very different design than the cranes and telehandlers we often see in the City theme. By comparison, the container car feels a little more "run of the mill" to me, but the cargo inside those containers certainly piques my interest. It appears to tie in with the upcoming LEGO City Farm sets, and gives us our first look at a new plant piece (similar connections to the candle piece or the beanstalk piece from the upcoming wave of Super Mario sets, but with a branch off to the side). While that's not the main point of interest for this thread, I could see that being a very useful piece for a whole lot of different themes in the future! Hopefully it won't be long before we see pics of the passenger train and station!

There are more pictures here as well! Some details that caught my eye: The front of the building features a cylindrical marquee, plus posters for three plays — one of which features Noctura from LEGO Elves! There are street signs for "Brickadilly Circus" and "Builder's Place" on either side of the building. The front sidewalk/pavement features a red carpet, a lamppost, and a nifty cylindrical postbox. The stage includes a trapdoor for dramatic exits. Backstage areas include: Prop and costume storage rooms, where the various 2x2 and 2x4 side builds from the first image we saw can be attached when the building is closed. A utility closet with accessories like a broom, umbrella, and fire extinguisher. A dressing room with a mirror, brush, and lipstick. A bathroom There are two interchangeable backdrops provided: a nighttime cityscape and a daytime castle scene. The castle's yellow and red color scheme is a clear callback to the classic "Yellow Castle". The names of the three new characters are Prof. Adrian, Freya, and Ollie.

I definitely understand how important this is to people who do large, unified train layouts, but honestly I don't think LEGO has ever been quite so concerned with how well sets sets line up on a rectangular grid unless they actually provide instructions to do so. A lot of 1980s LEGO Castle sets with hinges and pin connections (like 6080 and 6061) would deviate from a unified grid layout if you joined them together, and the bases wouldn't even be perfectly flush due to some of them using baseplates and others using full-thickness plates! Many more recent sets like 41430 and 60110 are likewise built at fixed angles (using parts like hinge bricks and 45-degree angle plates) that force them "off-grid". If anything, LEGO train tracks are a good example of a classic part that practically ENCOURAGES "off-grid" building — although builders with large layouts (as well as LUGs and LTCs that display collaborative builds) understandably prefer to keep their track layouts "on-grid" whenever possible to ensure that all the structures in the layout line up neatly and the "ground" between structures can be kept fairly seamless. I'm still hoping to see a full-size train in the actual LEGO Friends theme at some point! Besides the theme's fun and creative color schemes, I'd be really interested in seeing what a train built according to that theme's design philosophy might look like — something with the same emphasis on playable interiors that LEGO Friends cabin cruisers, camper vans, and airliners often excel at compared to their City counterparts. I've traveled a lot by train over the course of my life, whether on Amtrak trains for interstate travel or light rail/metro trains for local errands. And one of the reasons I love train travel so much is the sense of comfort. On a typical Amtrak train you have nice, cushy seats, no requirement for seatbelts, plenty of freedom to walk around and stretch your legs, nice big windows to enjoy the scenery, and amenities like restrooms, a cafe car, and wi-fi that you typically don't get when traveling by road. And I recognize that these days, Amtrak pales in comparison to railway companies in many other countries which boast more high-speed train lines, more passenger stations, and better track maintenance (allowing for a smoother ride). It's often hard to really capture the comfort and luxury of that sort of passenger experience in a LEGO train set, particularly due to their scale. The fixed six-stud width of most LEGO trains means they have fewer seats and narrower aisles than you'd expect in a real passenger train car. Even so, I think the Friends theme could manage some things that City trains couldn't. For example, it's easier to build chairs with arm rests for mini-dolls than minifigures, since their hips and waists are narrower. Plus, it's not unheard of for LEGO train sets like the Emerald Night and Disney Train to be expanded to around eight studs wide in other themes for the sake of additional exterior detail. And LEGO Friends has already demonstrated in various sets how much interior detail it can fit into an eight-stud-wide vehicle!