LEGO confirms cancellation of 60278 Crook's Hideout Raid

Brickset.com

60278 Crook's Hideout Raid appeared in the instruction manuals for 41444 Heartlake City Organic Cafe during January, hence its release was expected this month.

However, noticeably little information followed afterwards and the cancellation of this set has now been officially confirmed in the following statement:

"With LEGO City, we always aim to represent the reality of the world in a way that is fun, positive and appropriate for kids. With this in mind, we have decided not to launch this product as we no longer feel it is in keeping with the values of the LEGO City brand."

This decision seems interesting because LEGO has produced several City sets focused upon criminals before, including 60009 Helicopter Arrest and 60068 Crook's Hideout. The policy has presumably changed recently.

Why do you believe LEGO cancelled this product and are you disappointed? Let us know in the comments.

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Source: https://brickset.com/article/58542

SumoLego

Well, this is silly.

Yellowcastle

If there had only been a big ACME sign..

CCC

Yes, although that could be coming in the CMF!

oldtodd33

Since I'm not European and I don't know the general mindset of a European I'd say it's the bomb sticker on the front of the building. Probably 1 person on a social media platform complained and ruined a really cool sticker for the rest of us. 

On the other hand, if Lego is going to start cancel culture on criminals maybe my 1400 criminal minifigures will be worth something some day. 

CCC

Yeah, maybe they'll go up to a whole dollar!

I don't really understand what the issue was. It is a cartoon style set. Do dynamite factories really have large sticks of dynamite signs on the roof, especially if they are hide-outs. A completely silly set that some kids would love.

I wouldn't have bought it so it doesn't matter too much to me, but it does make them look a bit silly. Probably more than just not releasing it.

j013

Yeah that just seems silly to cancel it. The City theme needs all the buildings it can get! 

What bothers me the most is now I'm gonna have to wait for some other set to release 1x3x3 window frames in black. I wanted those for a moc...

daewoo

When feelings become paramount, decisions like this one are made.  Sad, but that's where we apparently are.

SumoLego

oldtodd33 said:

On the other hand, if Lego is going to start cancel culture on criminals maybe my 1400 criminal minifigures will be worth something some day. 

Start hoarding your pirates, vikings and western LEGO!

SumoLego

CCC said:

...Do dynamite factories really have large sticks of dynamite signs on the roof...

How else would you know where to steal the dynamite?  

Banks have giant coins, Car Dealerships have enormous cars, Adult Bookstores have giant...

lowlead

*yawn*

This again.

Only the purest Karen With a Clipboard would get all bent out of shape seeing this set on a shelf.  Angry mob wins again, I guess.  Grow some bawlz already LEGO...or stop wasting resources letting sets like this get so far into the production phase.     

Gibbo1959

SumoLego said:

CCC said:

...Do dynamite factories really have large sticks of dynamite signs on the roof...

How else would you know where to steal the dynamite?  

Banks have giant coins, Car Dealerships have enormous cars, Adult Bookstores have giant...

Sausages! Maybe they could re-purpose it as a sausage factory? Or is that something entirely different?

oldtodd33

Gibbo1959 said:

SumoLego said:

CCC said:

...Do dynamite factories really have large sticks of dynamite signs on the roof...

How else would you know where to steal the dynamite?  

Banks have giant coins, Car Dealerships have enormous cars, Adult Bookstores have giant...

Sausages! Maybe they could re-purpose it as a sausage factory? Or is that something entirely different?

   I want to see what a giant  sausage sticker with a smile on it's face and one eye would look like in print.

oldtodd33

SumoLego said:

oldtodd33 said:

On the other hand, if Lego is going to start cancel culture on criminals maybe my 1400 criminal minifigures will be worth something some day. 

Start hoarding your pirates, vikings and western LEGO!

   I have hoarded the Western minifigures and they are pretty valuable so here's to hoping. 

Blockwork_Orange

Hmmm..... At first glance I would have thought it was an innocent fireworks factory. 

CCC

oldtodd33 said:

On the other hand, if Lego is going to start cancel culture on criminals maybe my 1400 criminal minifigures will be worth something some day. 

You hoard the criminals and I'll hoard the police. Then one day, when both of us feel the time us right, we can start the world's biggest car / helicopter / motorcycle / boat chase. Probably around a giant lighthouse with a lair underneath.

madforLEGO

I think the most disappointing thing here is LEGO. Look, if you think someone will complain then that are what research groups are for, round up the usual suspects and run the sets by them. Anyone that protests fine don't make the set.

But how does the world's largest toymaker go through development, design and marketing stages with no whiff of a concern, and then watch them cancel it at the last minute?!

Sloppy by LEGO. Yeah yeah you can complain about 'cancel culture' but LEGO deciding after a set that was designed, vetted, put into some sort of production (enough to be put into a catalog somewhere) because the 'no longer feel' that it meets their values? It just strikes me that LEGO does this stuff on purpose to drive chatter on the web.

SumoLego

^ If the standard changes every five minutes, it's tough to anticipate what will catch the woke mob's attention.

Did anyone really think a search and rescue Osprey was offensive or inappropriate?

Somebody really ought not let the complainers/outragers know that LEGO produces 62 variants of helicopters on an annual basis...

GIR3691

Man there's a lotta butthurt going on in here.

Yes, it's cartoony and absurd, but it's also centered around violent imagery and would logically encourage violent play. That's fine in a fantasy context, but in their main City line? I can see why they'd look at it and think "maybe we should dial it back just a smidge." 

But sure, clutch those pearls over a mediocre set and an okay sticker.

gmonkey76

Guess what when I was a kid I played army, cowboys and indains, watched the The Three Stooges, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry.... and not once did I kill or get violent with anyone besides a few fights with my siblings (but what kid didn't?) If kids today can't handle it it's the parents fault and not a company/TV show. If you don't like something fine don't buy or watch it. It's that simple. This woke/PC culture needs to stop. end of rant.

1265

GIR3691 said:

Man there's a lotta butthurt going on in here.

Yes, it's cartoony and absurd, but it's also centered around violent imagery and would logically encourage violent play. That's fine in a fantasy context, but in their main City line? I can see why they'd look at it and think "maybe we should dial it back just a smidge." 

But sure, clutch those pearls over a mediocre set and an okay sticker.

Butthurt....you have something to confess?  That's okay if that's a fantasy of yours. :)

I'm fine with giving folks an option to what to purchase.  If you don't like it, don't buy it.  But to dismiss the set because of your personal views as being too violent to your liking, doesn't represent those who think differently.

Bumblepants

Theory: This all stems from Lego not standing up to that dumb claim about Jabbas Palace being a plot against religion or whatever. If they had just said "eff off it's Star Wars and you are stupid" in a slightly more polite way I think less people would be so eager to use Lego as a target for their activism. 

Yellowcastle

...complainers were just trying to protect the aftermarket value of their palaces... lol

SumoLego

gmonkey76 said:

...Tom and Jerry.... and not once did I kill or get violent with anyone besides a few fights...

I can't tell you how often I chased people around with axes.

My years of playing GTA games in my late youth really honed my automobile thieving skills.

msanders

It's interesting that they are taking certain stances but it's not consistent. What about boycotting and not developing your business within a country with very questionable human (and childrens) rights? For example, we see in the news at the moment about the cotton industry in China. By the token of removing this product, shouldn't they stop selling in China and sets associated with Chinese culture?

By the way, I'm not saying they should, I'm saying if you're going to get political be consistent. In the end, I see a Lego toy and for play, not politics. Yes, there will be places they shouldn't go as a product but cops and robbers?! I mean, that's just silly.....

lowlead

Bumblepants said:

Theory: This all stems from Lego not standing up to that dumb claim about Jabbas Palace being a plot against religion or whatever. If they had just said "eff off it's Star Wars and you are stupid" in a slightly more polite way I think less people would be so eager to use Lego as a target for their activism. 

I believe your theory is spot on.  LEGO gives an inch, activists take a mile.  You blinked, LEGO.  Now it's too late.
ANYway....  

veyniac

Does anyone actually want an updated Jabba's Palace? I don't currently have any major projects, and putting one together for Rebrickable could be fun if there is a demand.

Ayliffe

msanders said:

For example, we see in the news at the moment about the cotton industry in China. By the token of removing this product, shouldn't they stop selling in China and sets associated with Chinese culture?

Every time I see comments along this line of logic (and it happens every time a China-related set announcement happens, without fail) I always end up rolling my eyes so hard they end up drilling a hole straight through the other side of my head - buying sets based off chinese culture doesn't equal supporting their government's current actions or policies, c'mon this is obvious stuff. It'd be like if someone tried saying that buying that London Bus set from a few years back is directly supporting the actions of tories currently in power - they'd be laughed out of the room, but it's the exact same logic being used.

Back on the topic of this set though, the reactions all feel very overblown to be honest? We didn't even get a proper reveal for it (the only pic we have is from the back of an instruction booklet), which indicates to me it was canned much earlier and whoever was doing the BIs just slipped up and put in the wrong layout image in the back pages.

It's not even that good of a set either, just the usual 1x6x5 panel bonanza you'd expect from a City set of this ilk - only bit that really makes it stand out is that big stick of dynamite on the roof, and even then it looks like its made up of existing parts so shouldn't be too hard to recreate (wouldn't be surprised if that aspect's what caused the cancellation too - kids could pop it off and wave it around as a perfectly child-sized toy stick of dynamite, which I reckon would've been a bridge too far for TLG).

oldtodd33

Ayliffe said:

msanders said:

For example, we see in the news at the moment about the cotton industry in China. By the token of removing this product, shouldn't they stop selling in China and sets associated with Chinese culture?

Every time I see comments along this line of logic (and it happens every time a China-related set announcement happens, without fail) I always end up rolling my eyes so hard they end up drilling a hole straight through the other side of my head - buying sets based off chinese culture doesn't equal supporting their government's current actions or policies, c'mon this is obvious stuff. It'd be like if someone tried saying that buying that London Bus set from a few years back is directly supporting the actions of tories currently in power - they'd be laughed out of the room, but it's the exact same logic being used.

   In this instance you are incorrect. EVERYTHING in China eventually goes back to the CCP government since their political system is communist, See Jack Ma.  Lego produces bricks in China which ultimately supports their communist regime financially. Many global companies are getting out of China for their deplorable human rights abuses. I've heard many times about the holocaust of WW II and people vow "never again" but it has been proven that China is slaughtering Uighur Muslims for their organs and the world sits on their hands and does nothing. 

SumoLego

^ Ah, yes.  The great hypocrisy.  I don't suppose we prefer the days before Nixon normalized relations with China.  

Or that failing to support the democratic movement in post-WWII China would have such long-term repercussions, but it is easy to pick and chose what outrages we focus energy on, and which ones get turned a blind eye.

I'd like to think I avoid supporting companies that pander to China (NBA, Apple, Disney), but I have a Disney+ account.  And travel to Disney World on an annual basis.  There is no solution to be found in absolutionism, but we should be generally resistant to supporting regimes that are blatant in how they abuse their people.  

I look at the Uighur issue as precisely what the U.N. is in existence to address, but since the offender has a seat at the table, I'm not surprised there is a complete nothing-burger response...

oldtodd33

^ Yes, I prefer the days before Nixon normalized relations. I would have been 6 or 7, prime Lego age. 

If I know my history, we did support post-WWII  democracy. Unfortunately Mao was ruthless in getting rid of his enemies. And now we see the contrast between Taiwan and China. 

I am not trying to cancel Lego, I'm just pointing out their hypocrisy. They will have to make their own decisions. 

The thing that bothers me most about the Uighurs is that not even or especially other Muslim country's don't say anything either. Iran is even good buddies with them. But if the U.S. was accused of the same thing we would have suicide bombers coming for us. 

SumoLego

^ Well, there are a few key differences.  Iran is genuinely afraid of China, and is a regime happy to trade lives (or convienently believe 'the re-education' garbage) in exchange for economic concessions.  And China is fairly close proximity.

I'll avoid making comparisons to similar geopolitical machinations in the Middle East, but there is similar relativity-based decision-making that pervades diplomacy.  It's also important to note that Countries that are predominately Muslim have varying and competing interests.  One cannot mush together or presume there is multilateral coordination amongst Muslim Countries.

I meant that has the US (or NATO, or a confederation of democracies) banded together and supported the democratic movement in China, at worst we would have avoided the Korean Conflict and most definitely the Vietnam War.  It amazes me the level of strategic blundering was made in the immediate post-war period.  If even for the security of Japan and the remainder of southeast Asia and Hong Kong, more on-the-ground effort should have been made...

Please excuse the dissertation!

SumoLego

^ I did want to note - the baddies have a water barrel to put out any potential fires.

Brickchap

^Maybe thats what the set wasnt released. The crooks had their own water to put out any fires that may have occurred therefore the fire department isnt needed and you couldnt possibly have a City set without police, fire and crooks now could you?

*thats sarcasm btw...

SumoLego

Safety First!

iwybs

Question for anybody who has seen anything of the Lego City Adventures TV show: is this supposed to be the hideout of all the named baddies in the show? If it is, are they going to change the episode this would otherwise air in, or just let it be scenery that no longer is planned to appear as a retail set?

KingAlanI

pulled because it's yet another police related set?

Brickchap

If we put politics to the side (Im not aiming this comment at anyone) and (hypothetically) agree Lego was right to pull the set due to the bomb/IEDs references, terrorism and so forth, what I cant understand is why Lego didnt just take the dynamite stick off the roof, remove the haha face bomb sticker and release the set as a regular crooks warehouse hideout.

I am stating this under the (what I believe to be reasonable) assumption that Lego would not have had any actual 'bomb making equipment' inside as this would be way out of line and City sets usually dont have that much detail anyway.

My main reason for reaching the conclusion that there wouldnt have been much interior detail is the fact that one of the main play features is clearly the police vehicle ramming its way through the ground floor wall.

Given that the wall will fall 'inwards' and the truck will drive through makes it very likely there wouldnt have been any detail behind that wall as otherwise it would obstruct the path of the truck. (yes a chair and table or whatever could get knocked out of the way as well but Lego usually secures such details to the floor in some sort of way) Therefore, the only interior details would be stolen goods perhaps and what appears to be a table and chair?? in the upper floor.

There may have been some sticks of dynamite in crates but my overall point is the only 'bomb' references, apart from any dynamite pieces included which have been in countless sets prior to this, were that 3D sign and sticker.

Hence, Lego could've easily removed those two details and still released the set. The box art would of course have to be changed and all that but since time and money was undoubtedly spent creating this product then it would have been a better option to modify it rather then outright cancel it.

I was really looking forward to this set as the building wouldve looked great next to the Tuning Garage (which I made into a warehouse). The helicopter and vehicles were very 'meh' to be personally but I wouldnt say they were terrible. And I did like the idea of being able to get another building with road plates included.

Alas such is life. True, theres bricklink but would anyone seriously want to bricklink a City set?? It just makes it easier (and sometimes works out cheaper) to buy a set rather then try part it out. Plus Id have gotten another road plate.

The Tuning Workshop was great as it was relatively simple to build and didnt use too many parts but looked really good, especially the side with the window, and the colour scheme was fairly realistic. (compared to a lot of other City buildings)

CCC

Maybe they will release it later without the bomb (if that is the problem), but as a different set and number. Although police raiding suspects' premises by ramming down walls seems somewhat worse than a cartoon style bomb sign on a roof.

Bumblepants

CCC said:

Maybe they will release it later without the bomb (if that is the problem), but as a different set and number. Although police raiding suspects' premises by ramming down walls seems somewhat worse than a cartoon style bomb sign on a roof.

Yeah I think the police raid aspect is the culprit here more than anything.

Shib

I’ve seen a lot of “why not just remove the dynamite” type comments which I think miss the point that of LEGO are doing that it’s basically the same amount of work as making a completely new set...so it’s probably actually easier to just cancel it and start work on a new crooks hideout set.

It’s nice to see there is some sensible conversation here about what might be the big issue beyond just the obvious bomb factory terrorist issue. Personally I think the fact there weren’t any complaints about the set prior to the cancellation as far as I can tell makes me think there probably is a play feature that could have been an issue. Like others have said maybe the police ram raid, might be an exploding wall too close to an obvious minifigures placement or maybe they put in a “hide in the water tower” feature that someone thought might be mistaken for some kind of water boarding situation or something.

Blockwork_Orange

@iwybs I happened to catch the end of an episode of LEGO city adventures this morning where the dynamite factory figured prominently in the story line.  The criminal character (I forget her name) was moving her operation into the old factory. 

SumoLego

Well, thankfully, we can MOC our own explosion-laden buildings.

And apparently, water-boarding play features.

-Insert Tony Stark Rolling Eyes Meme/Gif-