LEGO's 90th Anniversary Theme: Hopes and Speculations

MinifigInSpace

Everything related to LEGO's amazing 90th anniversary fan vote. Long live LEGO classics!

"To celebrate the 90th Anniversary of The LEGO Group, help us choose a classic theme to be reimagined as a single new product for the 2022 LEGO Adult Portfolio. We have created a list of our 30 favorite classic LEGO themes for you to choose from." 

Here are some ideas to kick off discussions...

• Which ones are you choosing, and why?

• Which ones will probably make it to the top three?

• Which one will probably win?

Rails

I voted for Classc Space, Model Team and Trains just because they are my favourite of the ones on offer. I would expect Classic Space to make the top three and maybe even win overall.

While I want Trains to win as it's my all time favourite theme I am not holding out much hope but hey you never know!

MinifigInSpace

These are are the ones I would buy in a heartbeat: Classic Space, Space Police, Rock Raiders, Ice Planet, Spyrus, Exploriens, Blacktron, M-Tron, Black Falcon, Forestmen, Dragon Knights, Aquazone, and Adventurers. 

Bionicle, Time Cruisers, Alpha Team, Trains, and Studios could be fun too. But it's up in the air if I would buy any of those. It depends on how the set turns out.

...So it looks like I have about 1/3 to 1/2 of a chance at getting something I would want to buy. I'm pretty optimistic about the potential outcomes!

I'm probably a little biased in this regard, but I think it's time for Space to get reimagined. We have both Pirates of Barracuda Bay and the upcoming Medieval Blacksmith (amazing remakes!) that I can be content with. Exo Suit... as much as I love it, wasn't quite a remake of Classic Space (in my opinion). 

There are too many options. I immediately decided that Classic Space is my first option, but that leaves two more to go... 

Fauch

Not that easy to choose 3, went with Ice Planet, Imperials and Aquazone (Aquasharks) Also considered Dragon Knights and Adventurers, but I think it may overlap a bit with Ninjago.

drdavewatford

I agree that it was very hard to choose. I suspect that Classic Space will win, although I'd be just as happy with Blacktron or M-Tron. That having been said, I actually voted for Trains as the Santa Fe Super Chief, its coaches and the BNSF are some of my favourite sets of all time and I'd love to see another 'genuine' locomotive rather than the generic fare we get these days.

CCC

MinifigInSpace said:

I'm probably a little biased in this regard, but I think it's time for Space to get reimagined. We have both Pirates of Barracuda Bay and the upcoming Medieval Blacksmith (amazing remakes!) that I can be content with. Exo Suit... as much as I love it, wasn't quite a remake of Classic Space (in my opinion). 

If POBB and the Blacksmith are remakes of Pirates and Castle, then spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP is a remake of Classic Space.

Brickchap

Adventurers, Trains and Imperials. Not sure why Medieval was spread out amongst the subthemes. Adventurers should win! It was such a creative and unique theme! I voted for Egypt and Orient Expedition as subthemes. I also want more naval stuff for pirates.

Trains would be good, especially if they did some old ones. (not old sets but old trains even if they are rereleases like the Santa Fe Super Chief). I want a Flying Scotsman and Mallard, plus one of those big 1930s German engines pulling cargo.

CCC

It's funny, a 90th anniversary yet every theme they've chosen as worthy of representing their history is half of that or less. Was there anything before the age of the minifig?

MinifigInSpace

CCC said:

If POBB and the Blacksmith are remakes of Pirates and Castle, then spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP is a remake of Classic Space.

If this is the case, then I suppose Nexo Knights is a remake of Castle  ;)

The set from the LEGO Movie was not bad, but since it was part of the LEGO Movie it doesn't seem like a true remake to me. It also wasn't Adult Themed like POBB (which is close enough to the Adult category), Blacksmith, or even the Crocodile Locomotive. I guess my point was that they were both remakes and very well designed. 

Imagine a UCS Space set other than Star Wars...

Russell844

I voted Trains, Town, and Paradisa.

Fizyx

CCC said:

It's funny, a 90th anniversary yet every theme they've chosen as worthy of representing their history is half of that or less. Was there anything before the age of the minifig?

To be fair, I'm not really sure that any themes really existed before Classic Castle, at least not in the modern sense.  Sure there was Homemaker and Legoland and such, but personally I never felt like they were really a modern theme so much.  Maybe that's just me drawing arbitrary lines, but it felt like that was the first time they were almost like "okay, we're going to split off and do this specific product line with this specific, connected content in all the sets that are part of it, and it's going to be distinct from our other offerings that way."  Looking at older sets, prior to Classic Castle things felt very much more disjointed to me.  Again, I could definitely be crazy though.

As for what I chose... I had to do space themes, they just have too much nostalgia embedded in them for me to skip.  Blacktron, Space Police, Ice Planet... guess that must age me pretty well for when I first started playing with LEGO :P  I had a hard time not doing Model though, I feel like those were some of the very first sets really oriented towards older, more mature builders, and they feel like the very beginning of the AFOL targeted explosion of sets we are seeing today. :)

BrickBelt

They really just should add nostalgia based sets to their direct to consumer lineup. One or two a year would be good and it would keep interest in older themes high.

sweetness34

Wolfpack. That is all. 

Brickchap

@BrickBelt I suggested that myself a little while ago and the idea was rudely 'shot down' by others.

As I said in the other comment, I doubt there is much interest for the Modular Buildings, WV, Ninjago City buildings etc. outside AFOLs so I really dont see why Lego cant release a NEW (NOTICE THE WORD NEW PEOPLE) classic themed set like POBB and Blacksmith each year. Once a year would be enough (obviously more would be better).

I emphasise NEW because whenever I suggest a return of classic themes people always assume I mean an exact re-release of Yellow Castle or Caribbean Clipper etc. Obviously that wouldnt sell but I really cant see many arguments against say a new design for a Soldiers Fort or forest base for the Forestmen or a whole new adventure for Johnny Thunder and co.!

Brickchap

Legends didnt work very well because it was still quite close to the release date of the original sets and they were exact copies. We've also had a Taj Mahal twice and Vestas windturbine so why not classic themes?

samiam391

Where are the wooden toys?

Fizyx

samiam391 said:

Where are the wooden toys?

They've already shown they can make a pretty nice recreation of them out of LEGO too, the LEGO House duck set is pretty good.

CCC

Fizyx said:

samiam391 said:

Where are the wooden toys?

They've already shown they can make a pretty nice recreation of them out of LEGO too, the LEGO House duck set is pretty good.

Exactly, the wooden elephant could be a good pre minifig era set. 

Or, a set of old style town plan buildings with text bricks. Imagine a vintage set with loads of 1x6 store name bricks.

For a one off adult aimed set, I find it a little sad they don't do something a little more off the wall.

CCC

BrickBelt said:

They really just should add nostalgia based sets to their direct to consumer lineup. One or two a year would be good and it would keep interest in older themes high.

Why would lego want to keep interest high in old themes that they no longer sell? They want interest in stuff they sell now. If they think there is interest in old themes, then they should do modern versions of the themes not just one off sets.

CCC

I also find splitting up the factions a little weird. Wolfpack had three sets in total. Add up all the parts in those three sets and it is below 400 parts, so not even equivalent to a mid range set these days. 

Brickchap

Id love a new Town Plan set (the 2008 one, I missed out sadly) GIVE ME MORE OLD CARS! (and buildings)

andhe

As much as I love a lot of the theme options it would feel weird to have a paradisa or extreme team or studios or whatever set as a 90th anniversary thing.

Feels like it has to be space, castle or town really. As people have mentioned in various places it feels like space has got lot of love recently. Castle is getting a couple of sets this year (which might increase its chances of production if lego already have new printed parts). And I'm not sure how you update town without it just being city or modular-ish.

That said, would love something forestmen, or wolfpack. But just as a thing, not necessarily a 90th anniversary thing at the expense of everything else! 

Redbullgivesuwind

I would like Adventurers, any of the pirates, or castle themes to win. As those are the most nostalgic sets for me.  

I think if it is just AFOL fans that vote it will be space that wins easily. 

What will win will be whatever the Lego Youtubers get their mindless hoards to vote for.

The_Rancor

I’m usually first to complain when there’s a vote with Classic Space as an option but there’s probably no need to in this case as plenty of other people have already done that.

I think it’s mega important to remember that the winning theme will be DECIDED BY TLG - so although the top 3 will definitely (there’s no ‘ifs’) include Classic Space, it might not be decided to be the overall ‘winner’ in their eyes. The whole activity is more of the covert way to also discover what themes are important which could shape other future theme development, at least slightly. TLG won’t bring back Bionicle as a full theme but a ton of votes for certain types of Space or Castle might have an effect - they might also consider more Trains in the City and 18+ themes if that gains a good amount of votes.

I haven’t actually cast my vote yet, but will be voting for Adventurers (IMO one of the best ever System themes and full of variety - plus Johnny Thunder and his crew are iconic), Alpha Team (Way better than Agents and more stylish, plus a villain called Ogel) and Aquazone (Still TLG’s best underwater theme particularly in the early Aquanauts and Aquasharks waves). Only the first three themes in TLG’s list were necessary! Really hope Adventurers makes their shortlist at least.

Also, I would’ve voted for Western if that was there. If they brought it back they could easily make it so the narrative was on the side of the natives (such as Comanche) protecting themselves against the ‘evil’ soldiers, or keep it like some of the early parts of theme and just have sheriffs/bandits.

Bumblepants

I am guessing this is probably just market research thinly disguised as a contest. For me just getting the updated Spyrius droid in the $10 Creator set this year or the Ice Planet ice cream shop in Ninjago City is great. If this helps them decide where to add more of those cool. If they make a few reimagined sets even better.

piratemania7

^same thoughts - I think it’s a great way for TLG to get some free and raw data from some of their biggest fans to see what tops the charts.  They might take even the top 5 or 10 (just spitballing) choices and run with them somehow in the future; you could see other sets outside of this reimagined which would be nice.

I of course mindlessly voted for Pirates but then added in Forestmen and the original Divers theme - truly nostalgic tone for me.

CCC

Look at these pictures of Castle Mini-figures ...

I see Black Falcons, Forestmen, and Lion Knights in a single pack (6103).

Yet now we are told these are three separate themes. What is going on ...?

JudgeChuck

Are TLG splitting the Classic Space and Classic Castle vote, so that something else sneaks though?! ;-)

The_Rancor

JudgeChuck said:

Are TLG splitting the Classic Space and Classic Castle vote, so that something else sneaks though?! ;-)

Hopefully, though Classic Space is well established in its own right whereas Classic Castle seemingly just means the yellow castle - so I’d imagine Forestmen or Black Falcons will get more votes than simply ‘Classic Castle’. In contrast, Blacktron or Space Police might struggle to get as many votes as ‘Classic Space’.

Time Twisters is weird but ’Town’ takes the biscuit for weirdest longlist choice! I’m guessing they just put the option in as it’s an evergreen theme and the others are all cited.

Fizyx

CCC said:

Fizyx said:

samiam391 said:

Where are the wooden toys?

They've already shown they can make a pretty nice recreation of them out of LEGO too, the LEGO House duck set is pretty good.

Exactly, the wooden elephant could be a good pre minifig era set. 

Or, a set of old style town plan buildings with text bricks. Imagine a vintage set with loads of 1x6 store name bricks.

For a one off adult aimed set, I find it a little sad they don't do something a little more off the wall.

I'm wondering if they might have been a little turned off on more vintage sets by what appears to be anemic (at best) aftermarket response to the severely limited Walmart exclusive 60 years of the Brick sets #4000028, #4000029, and #4000030.  While they initially sold out very quickly and there seemed to be a rush in the aftermarket at first, recent activity has seen those sets selling around or even well below RRP.  I could definitely see them seeing that as a negative for the desirability of older vintage Town style builds.  (Although it should probably be seen more as a rejection of those individual over-priced, lackluster sets themselves and not vintage builds as a whole.)

CCC

Fizyx said:

CCC said:

Fizyx said:

samiam391 said:

Where are the wooden toys?

They've already shown they can make a pretty nice recreation of them out of LEGO too, the LEGO House duck set is pretty good.

Exactly, the wooden elephant could be a good pre minifig era set. 

Or, a set of old style town plan buildings with text bricks. Imagine a vintage set with loads of 1x6 store name bricks.

For a one off adult aimed set, I find it a little sad they don't do something a little more off the wall.

I'm wondering if they might have been a little turned off on more vintage sets by what appears to be anemic (at best) aftermarket response to the severely limited Walmart exclusive 60 years of the Brick sets #4000028, #4000029, and #4000030.  While they initially sold out very quickly and there seemed to be a rush in the aftermarket at first, recent activity has seen those sets selling around or even well below RRP.  I could definitely see them seeing that as a negative for the desirability of older vintage Town style builds.  (Although it should probably be seen more as a rejection of those individual over-priced, lackluster sets themselves and not vintage builds as a whole.)

That is a very good point, I hadn't thought of those. They were so limited, they did not make it here. The cost did seem high for nothing much special aside from packaging. That is why if they did modern equivalents of the 1x6 and 1x8 bricks with store names on - something we are unlikely to ever see again in modern sets - it would give something out of the ordinary.

Whatever we get I hope it is something that we wouldn't normally expect. Given POBB and Pirates, Blacksmith and Castle, I hope we don't get a modern Classic Space type set - just because we are likely to get something that looks like that through Ideas anyway if enough people vote for it.

lkliment2

Disappointed we didn’t get to see Western on there

pxchris

There are so many good possibilities here... I would be happy with Classic Space (or one of the many sub-themes such as M-Tron or Spyrius), Pirates, Forestmen, Wolfpack, even classic Town... honestly it was a hard decision but I ended up placing my votes on themes other than classic space just so the small guy's voice is heard a bit too.

MaffyD

So, I've voted (Classic Space, Blacktron, Space Police) and I think Classic Space has a really good chance of being in the top 3 (much like Classic Castle and either Train or Town) but we might be underestimating the fandom that is Bionicle. It almost single-handedly resurrected Lego and there's no split (unlike Castle which is divided into umpteen options, and nearly so for Space).

So it will be interesting to see what makes the final three. As to which one Lego will choose... I have no idea.

And as for those who say we've had a new Classic Space set in Benny's ...ship - I would agree, but if you asked me if we had a grown-up, Neo-Classic Space, all the bells and whistles, quality tested new Classic Space set I would say 'No'.

Bits fall off #70816 - I am the unhappy when this occurs.

SirBen

I think Town was included for the subtheme Monorail

mr_benn

(whispers) I find Classic Space a bit boring.  Give me the Futuron/Blacktron era any day....

I'm sure that all of the themes have their own advocates within TLG, so hopefully whatever gets chosen will do it justice, but also hold appeal for those who may not be necessarily so fond of that particular theme.  

What I really don't want to see is lots of people who end up voting for one particular theme due to nostalgia, but then don't follow it up with their interest in the product - or worse still, whine about what they've got....

Also, WHERE ON EARTH IS FABULAND?

Speedman29

I voted Trains, Town and Classic Space, I love a good train and would be interested in a modern build of the Santa Fe or BNSF. The other two themes are the stalwarts of my childhood LEGO sets and the ones closest to my heart.

Bumblepants

MaffyD said:

Bits fall off #70816 - I am the unhappy when this occurs.

Ok but let's be real, what classic space set didn't have bits that fell off?

MinifigInSpace

Here's what I've got narrowed down so far:

1. Rock Raiders
2. Classic Space
3. Space Police, Ice Planet, Blacktron, Adventurers, Black Falcon...

The third option is tough! My impulse is to select Space Police, as this theme (along with Power Miners) got me into LEGOs in the first place. However, Ice Planet has never got a remake to my knowledge and would make an epic display. Blacktron could be easily combined with Space Police and make a nice duel-theme return. Adventurers was such a great theme and would make an epic set too. I'm just getting into LEGO Castle themes as well, and I love Black Falcon, so that's a great option.

I desperately want Rock Raiders remade as it's both a mining and space theme with a cool storyline. I really want to see the Rock Raider character's updated too. I never grew up with Classic Space, but I still love it for some weird reason (lol). Trust me, with the advent of new color shades since 1978, there are plenty of ways to make Classic Space look more interesting   ;)

CommanderRaab

Imperials, Space Police, Black Falcons - my childhood right there

BrickBelt

CCC said:

BrickBelt said:

They really just should add nostalgia based sets to their direct to consumer lineup. One or two a year would be good and it would keep interest in older themes high.

Why would lego want to keep interest high in old themes that they no longer sell? They want interest in stuff they sell now. If they think there is interest in old themes, then they should do modern versions of the themes not just one off sets.

Why do entire themes when they could sell well with just a single set that pays tribute to an old theme? They brought back pirates years ago and it wasn't particularly successful even though the actual sets were really far better than what was released in the past. On the other hand, Pirates of Barracuda Bay, which pays direct tribute to an old theme, seems to be incredibly popular. They brought back Bionicle and it didn't last particularly long, but you can bet if they released a one off Bionicle set that paid tribute to the classic sets it would be popular as well. Nostalgia is a hell of a beast and it would be good for Lego to foster it.

karrit

I have issues with them breaking down Castle & Space into multiple subthemes.  I want Castle & Adventurers the most but there are also many I already have from the 80's & 90's that a rehash of those specifically doesn't really impress me much.  Barracuda Bay kind of gave me most of what I was looking for in a Pirate reboot other than the Imperial troops.  I only have one or two Forestmen sets but never got into the later Castle oriented stuff.  I didn't get any of the later space themes because Star Wars came along so I originally was buying many of those.  Rock Raiders had interesting stuff but the gigundo drill pieces don't appeal to me. 

As for the 60th Anniversary sets that were exclusive to Walmart here, they were way overpriced for what was in them.  I did manage to get one but never was able to get the others I wanted.  And they really weren't worth the price compared to other sets that were available at the same time.

MinifigInSpace

I didn't realize that LEGO was going to actually show the votes: https://ideas.lego.com/activities/94a92b7c-d134-4218-a5fb-6dbc5061e133?query=&sort=most_recent

Woah, 45K and counting.

Has anyone started going through the data?

Redbullgivesuwind

Having clicked on a random sample of 20, Bionicle is very very popular. Everything else seems spread out amongst the other themes. 

The_Rancor

Yeah I’d say Bionicle is in definitely over half of the votes I looked at, and Classic Space much the same but almost never in the same person’s vote so the fandoms don’t overlap.

So... no surprises there then. Probably only the third theme that gets into the shortlist will be a surprise, on a quick glance Adventurers and Classic Castle seem to get a lot of attention.

As we suspected, there aren’t actually that many supporters for specific space subthemes in what I can see - certainly not enough to get 3rd highest votes.

CCC

BrickBelt said:

CCC said:

BrickBelt said:

They really just should add nostalgia based sets to their direct to consumer lineup. One or two a year would be good and it would keep interest in older themes high.

Why would lego want to keep interest high in old themes that they no longer sell? They want interest in stuff they sell now. If they think there is interest in old themes, then they should do modern versions of the themes not just one off sets.

Why do entire themes when they could sell well with just a single set that pays tribute to an old theme? They brought back pirates years ago and it wasn't particularly successful even though the actual sets were really far better than what was released in the past. On the other hand, Pirates of Barracuda Bay, which pays direct tribute to an old theme, seems to be incredibly popular. They brought back Bionicle and it didn't last particularly long, but you can bet if they released a one off Bionicle set that paid tribute to the classic sets it would be popular as well. Nostalgia is a hell of a beast and it would be good for Lego to foster it.

Any decent adult style (big) set is going to sell well currently. Is POBB popular because it is paying homage to the Pirates theme or just because it is a good, big set? If small kid aimed Pirates sets (a couple of figs and 100-200 parts) were released now, would they sell as well as Ninjago and City? If not, is it nostalgia selling POBB? I don't think it matters that Pirates used to exist, POBB would have sold well anyway because of what it is and not because of what LEGO used to produce. The Fishing Shack sold well and is highly respected in the fan community, yet that has no nostalgic theme to link back to.

They don't need to keep high interest in Classic Castle or Space or Pirates, Ice Planet or Aqua Zone or anything else to sell one off adult sets based on those themes. They only need to keep a continued interest in those themes if they are intending to sell the theme again. Increasing the interest in Pirates as a theme makes sense if they want to sell small pirates sets again. If they aren't going to sell small sets, it doesn't really matter if POBB is a Pirates set or not. And if they had wanted to increase the interest in the Pirates theme, I think they would have stuck a big old Pirates logo right on the front of the POBB box.

The_Rancor

I’m interested enough that I might take a small sample of the votes later and do a more statistical analysis as things stand, ahead of the 25th when the votes close off. It won’t necessarily represent the over 45k votes(!) that make the final top 3 result, but could be a good way of generally seeing a few trends in more detail.

MinifigInSpace

I'm also conducting some samples. Last night I spent about 15 minutes scrolling every couple hundred votes, and am now checking out the list here and there throughout the day.

These were my observations so far (in no particular order):

Adventurers, Classic Space, Black Falcon, Bionicle, Forestmen, Ice Planet, Rock Raiders, and Studios popped up a lot. Wolfpack, Space Police, Pirates, Model Team, and Imperials seemed to be not far behind in popularity.

Brickchap

I really hope Adventurers wins, its the most unique theme out of the lot.

Like I love Castle, Pirates/Imperials and all that but they are at the end of the day just a Lego castle or 18th century ship, or with forestmen for example an unofficial robin hood.

Yes, Adventurers was likely inspired by Indiana Jones but all the other characters, locations and vehicles were amazing and unique. Everyone knows Johnny Thunder and Baron Von Barron.

I really hope Bionicle doesnt win. I really believe a System set should win. Bionicle isnt even proper Lego really, its a weird offspring of Technic.

If adventurers did win, what subtheme/set would people like to see? Id probably go for something along the lines of the set pictured. Id also love to see that RE.8 plane (Desert Camp or something like that the sets called I think) or that blimp set! Orient Expedition was awesome, but to pick one set would be difficult as Id hate it to be limited to one specific Oriental area, be it India, China or Nepal. I think the whole explorers in the desert vs evil German/Englishmen is more classic.

Fun fact: I used to wonder why all the adventurers desert theme cars were 'hot rods'. I hate hot rods and thought Lego was only doing it to make young kids approve of the old cars. However, I was watching a show on the Long Range Desert Patrol in WW2 the other day and it explained how the chap who came up with the idea for the LRDP had been an explorer in the desert in the 1930s where they used to take the front fenders and cover off the cars to save weight.

BrickBelt

Brickchap said:

I really hope Adventurers wins, its the most unique theme out of the lot.

Like I love Castle, Pirates/Imperials and all that but they are at the end of the day just a Lego castle or 18th century ship, or with forestmen for example an unofficial robin hood.

Yes, Adventurers was likely inspired by Indiana Jones but all the other characters, locations and vehicles were amazing and unique. Everyone knows Johnny Thunder and Baron Von Barron.

I really hope Bionicle doesnt win. I really believe a System set should win. Bionicle isnt even proper Lego really, its a weird offspring of Technic.

If adventurers did win, what subtheme/set would people like to see? Id probably go for something along the lines of the set pictured. Id also love to see that RE.8 plane (Desert Camp or something like that the sets called I think) or that blimp set! Orient Expedition was awesome, but to pick one set would be difficult as Id hate it to be limited to one specific Oriental area, be it India, China or Nepal. I think the whole explorers in the desert vs evil German/Englishmen is more classic.

Fun fact: I used to wonder why all the adventurers desert theme cars were 'hot rods'. I hate hot rods and thought Lego was only doing it to make young kids approve of the old cars. However, I was watching a show on the Long Range Desert Patrol in WW2 the other day and it explained how the chap who came up with the idea for the LRDP had been an explorer in the desert in the 1930s where they used to take the front fenders and cover off the cars to save weight.

Adventurers would be perfect for a single set that's a globe trotting adventure. If the set was like $200 then it could include decent areas for Desert, Jungle, Dino Island, and Orient Express. You could probably mix dino Island and jungle, and maybe split orient express into China and India and include something from the Himalayas.

pxchris

Adventures Desert is my fave, but Jungle would be fun too.