Would you buy vintage sets if Lego re-released them?

clundsberg

I know some of the newer castle sets are very similar to the older designs, but that aside, if they offered an old space set or castle (hey even city, why not?) Do you think that there would be a demand?

TalasAntares

Yes. Classic Space and I'd go broke, get a 2nd mortgage, sell a kidney, etc.

wagnerml2

The original Yellow Castle would be awesome!

brickmatic

I might, depends on the set.

jake9

I know I would definitely buy 'em.

Willhorner

I definitely would. of course I pretty much buy anything with the word LEGO on the box. Its a sickness really.

I just hope they dont figure me out and try to take advantage by giving their design department a vacation and releasing a new "Abstract" LEGO series that just a bunch of bricks stuck together in weird shapes that represent feeling and negative space and such..... caused I would by those also.

clundsberg

I didn't start collecting them until 82 or 83 so there's at least 5 years of great sets I missed out on. HEY! for fun they should give us the vintage price too :)
Even the sets from mid-late 80s are insane with the instructions - a lot more small pieces to do the job of newer bigger molds and thus more intricate.
Would love some of those crater platforms to build on too!

Stormsworder

I think they should make new sets to add to old Space ranges, like Futuron, Blacktron 1, Space Police 1 etc.

There are some sets I'd certainly buy if they were re-issued, like that early Castle Knights Tournament.

Crackseed

Any Space set being re-released would see me crawling over the bodies of fellow AFOLs to reach the shelf first...

...seriously >.>

Though, I'd also pounce Dino Attack and the amazing old Ninja sets too if ever re-released.

madforLEGO

If they ever did the series 1 (all black) Blacktron that would be sweet....But seeing as I have most of the 80's-90's lego sets for City, City would be 'meh' for me.
this would be a cool set to see again: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=9364-1

Si_UKNZ

^ I'd prefer to see new and better versions, especially of 9364. Devalues the collectors investment otherwise and doesnt bring in design advances like modular building.

wander099

^^^ I too would love some of those old ninja sets, there were so many good ones and I only have a couple of the small sets.

Cam_n_Stu

^^ I like that idea too, I suspect all of the series had never released designs that they could go back re-develop! So new sets of old series, a collector edition, if you like.

paul88

DEFINITELY. Classic space reissues would be the best ever... only one request though; bring back the OLD HELMETS. These were the ones that were not oblong, and did not have defined visor indentations. Anyone who knows classic space knows what I'm talking about here. I believe on the classic space reissue minifigs they all use newer style helmets, not the old style.

madforLEGO

^^^^ Well I have a 9364 already.. got it out of a lot, actually peices were missing or yellowed.. so what mattered most to me were the instructions and Dacta crate with cover were in it and I spend about a month on BL getting all the parts missing (merifcully only the Blue windows were hard to track down and I did not need many)
I think like someone else said a Mod Post office, or a mod Hospital, would be great!

clundsberg

I was looking at those Dacta sets - what were they exactly? re-issues? they look very old school for early 90's What does Dacta mean?

legoDad

Definitely would depending on the set though.
Classic Space, castle and Ninja sets and if they reissued the original LEGO toy duck in brick form with a texture simulating wood.

Stormsworder

That Dacta set is great. Never seen that before.

I think maybe they could add sets to certain Castle and Pirate ranges as well. It's a shame that the 1990s Forestmen and the Spanish Armada ranges were never really properly developed.

madforLEGO

I'm sure someone has a better explanation than I but DACTA was part of the Lego Educational branch so most 'Dacta' city sets were sold to schools, although I believe the Dacta hospital was sold to Hospitals for kids to play with in their activity rooms.. just a guess though...
Also DACTA had a Castle set in the late 90's I believe.. Dacta sets are usually collections of existing Lego sets, OR enough ricks to build store fronts or small vehicles..

legomatt

As much as i have a soft spot for some of my older castle sets, I think i'd probably not buy re-releases of very much of the old stuff - unless it was stuff i missed first time around. It was great in its day, but I think i'd innevitably compare them to available modern designs, which have generally always showed improvements over the years, and so i'd be buying the newer stuff still. BUT saying that, never say never, as i didn't think i'd ever buy a lego train... yet just did.

bluemoose

LEGO did try this ~10 years ago, under a 'LEGO Legends' branding ...
#10000 - Guarded Inn
#10001 - Metroliner
#10002 - Club Car
#10021 - USS Constellation
#10036 - Pizza to Go
#10037 - Breezeway Cafe
#10039 - Black Falcon's Fortress
#10040 - Black Seas Barracuda
#10041 - Main Street
#10151 - Hot Rod
#10159 - City Airport
#10176 - King's Castle

Most were pretty faithful to the original sets, although there were a few part & colour substitutions (where the original part or colour wasn't available any more). They even ran a public vote at one point (2002) to select the next Legend (Black Seas Barracuda (BSB) won; IIRC the Blacktron Battrax (which I voted for) came second).

IIRC, the line started out selling quite well, but the sets after the BSB came out didn't sell too well & the 'Legends' line died off. There was a lot of interest from the fan community in seeing some classic space sets rereleased; we never got a good answer as to why LEGO avoided them, but I think it was likely that they just didn't have the required moulds in use at the time. The rumour that they didn't want to compete with the SW line has been denied loads of times.

It would be great to bring the idea back :-)

Si_UKNZ

Not surprised they dropped off after barracuda - why on earth did they choose main street? And the helicopter in the airport looks very poor these days.

Otherwise, what a great list - I had no idea they'd re-released the metroliner, what a great idea, they should do that again definitely - looks much better than the current passenger train (not difficult)!

Also interseting that the pizzas go back so far, I thought they were a new thing for city corner/ toy story pizza truck.

drdavewatford

There have been other re-issues too, notably the recent reappearance of Set 10152 Maersk Sealand as 10155 Maersk Container ship. I even blogged about it :

http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2011/01/back-to-future.html

bluemoose

The vote they ran allowed you to chose between
- Black Seas Barracuda (the eventual winner)
- Black Falcon's Castle (released anyway)
- The original 'yellow' castle
- Blacktron Battrax
- Main Street (released anyway)

Three out of the five were eventually released as 'Legends'. Officially, only the winner was identified, I don't think they ever ranked the rest of them publically. An insider told me the Battrax had come second, but he was probably just being kind to me ;-)

drdavewatford

I clearly don't have my finger on the pulse as I'd have voted for the yellow castle and Main Street !

bluemoose

^^^ There have been lots of other rereleases, such as Fort Legoredo, Command Post Central, more Technic sets than I care to remember, Gas'n'Wash Express, Enchanted Island, Armada Flagship, Red Beard Runner, etc. ...
... but not so many in recent years.

drdavewatford

^ Some of the most flagrant examples are in the Star Wars theme. Such as set 7140 X-Wing being re-released as the identical (apart from the number of the front of the box) 7142 3 years later. Then there's Sets 7150, 7152 and 7162 - all basically the same set (TIE Fighter and Y-Wing) but with different box art released in 2000, 2002 and 2004....

Istokg

Here's a 1980 USA DACTA catalog back when it was still called EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM...

clundsberg

wow how did I mis the rereleases? I think I would have noticed the blacktron back on the shelves. That's really neat about dacta. It sounds almost like Lego corporation charity. Thanks everyoen for your input. I expected most would be for it, but I also value opinions like legomatt who has been there done that so to speak. This is such a fun community - much like the lil lego figures live in :)

AETerry

I missed the rereleases Legends. The Guarded Inn I would have gotten. If they'd do it again, it would depend greatly upon what sets they put out and what I picked up.

Lego_Lord_Mayorca

Yeah, this one is a no-brainer for me as well. Anything Lego made during the years 1987 to 1994 is like a "Golden Era" for me, and I would love to see many sets come back from this time period. Let us hope that although the official Legends line ended, something akin to it will be started within the next decade.

bluemoose

In many ways, it would be relatively easy for them to do something like 'Legends' through Factory/DesignByMe ...

Matthew

^ Not with the current palette - they would have to include more bricks, and while at it, why not add them to PAB?

jtr

I would definably buy the classic space sets again . . . but as said earlier it would devalue the original sets, so they would have to make them slightly different in some way to keep the value of the original sets and minifigures

bluemoose

^ LEGO have no interest in the reseller market, so wouldn't care about that. The colour issue (old grey.vs.bley) would be an unavoidable change. Also, there are a few older elements which no longer have productive moulds ... LEGO could chose to produce new moulds for these elements (and make the elements available through Factory/DesignByMe ;-) ), but it would be hellishly expensive for them. That's one of the reasons for Monorail not coming back; as well as an issue over availability of some of the components from other manufacturers, they don't have usable moulds for any of the track or other monorail-specific parts :-(

drdavewatford

^ Shame - I think the market's ripe for a new monorail set.....

bluemoose

We were told that they can't get the parts for the original monorail motor from the 3rd party manufacturer ... so what, I say, design a new 'Power Functions' monorail motor from scratch :-)

Si_UKNZ

^ Not being able to get the old monoril motor is a lame excuse - a quieter and more powerful motor would be a good idea as well as the option for PF lighting.
I'd also agree that the market is ripe for a monorail since I just bought all 3 of them in the last few weeks. I'd Looooove to see a new one.

Crackseed

Ahh the Futuron and Unitron monorails. 2 sets I couldn't get :( Haha.

madforLEGO

^--As I understand it Lego deems anything that takes manual labor to create (put together) or an item that requires outside manufacturing to be very expensive and thus not worth it. I think this is one of the reasons, I believe, that the 9v train items were phased out.. at least the train track

Si_UKNZ

^ Couldnt they just use the existing PF motor (the normal one not the train one) and stick a cog on the end of it (possibly a metal one)? In fact, this could be something that anyone could do, just need to go to an engineering shop and get the right type of cog fabricated.
(wanders off muttering and hatching plans)

madforLEGO

^Well I don't think Lego make metal pieces at their factories. So I think that is considered an outside cost.
Just a guess though.. Someone that works for Lego, or possibly an ambassador would need to answer (if they would)

otter

^^^ I agree - It wouldn't be profitable and wouldn't be the best decision for a company to make.

Speaking of old sets, I'd love to see King's Castle and Black Seas Barracuda. The former was my very first-and pretty much the only-set I played with, and the latter was my neighbour's and we played together sometimes. Both have tremendous sentimental value to me!

Si_UKNZ

^ I'm sure that if you worked for a company in China and told the boss that it wasnt possible to outsource a small metal part and remain profitable, they'd laugh you out of the building.

PS ... those 2 have great memories for me too :)

madforLEGO

^---Lego is determined to save money. the cost of outsourcing one part is fine.. what happens when you need to outsource 100, 10000, 100000, to make one part, then cost per part adds up...I'm just repeating what I think I heard from Lego justifying going to RF trains instead of 9 Volt.. that the 9 volt track was expensive for them to make as they had to make the part, send it out to get the metal rails installed and then send back to Lego for packaging... at least that is what I think they were saying.. again maybe someone in the know can clarify that...

georgebjones

@madforlegos - I think they were talking about the motors, at least according to the press release.

"The LEGO Group has considered the future of the 9v at length, and has come to the conclusion that there is not sufficient demand for the product line to be profitable and competitive. The existing machines need to be replaced and minimum order quantities at external suppliers for motors and speed regulators are so high that the investment The LEGO Group would have to put in, would not be rational or reasonable compared to sales figures of the existing 9V system."

I don't know if there was other information you were referring to, but the point is still the same, they didn't think it was worth it to continue with the 9v train system. Initially, it had me quite puzzled, but since they already invested in the PF line, it made more sense to expand that to include trains than to maintain 2 parallel motor lines.

vengecore

I would love to repurchase re released sets. it would probably be cheaper than buying vintage sets on Ebay, Amazon or BL.

technicaltactics2

The original Yellow Castle would be awesome!

The windows on the yellow castle wouldn't quite work out though. Lego stopped making windows with fixed glass because their gluing machine broke down. Very dissapointing, as those windows were great for moccing.

Istokg

For a remake of the Yellow Castle, they could do what they did with the remake of the 398 U.S.S. Constellation (which had 16 1x1x1 yellow windows)... they could use the backside of the 1x1 headlight bricks.

clundsberg

@ Si_Dorking_Surrey_UK and @ madforlegos - I'm pretty sure that creating a single metal piece like a cog wouldn't be too task heavy (after all, isn't every wheel axle they make a lil metal pin?) however, I get why they'd stop with entire motors especially if they operated sub-par. I'm sure someone out there has gone to a hooby shop and rigged a more efficient motor for the trains. I've never owned Lego trains - do they stay on the tracks pretty well?

davee123

The original thread for the vote:

http://news.lugnet.com/lego/direct/?n=4328

Officially, only the winner was identified, I don't think they ever ranked the rest of them publically. An insider told me the Battrax had come second, but he was probably just being kind to me ;-)

We were told that the classic yellow castle came in dead last (by Brad Justus I think, at BrickFest 2002). I remember that explicitly because Brad (I'm almost positive it was Brad and not Jake) said that he loved the classic yellow castle as a kid, and it was precisely what he wanted to win, but much to his dismay, it got last place.

For some reason, I remember being told that Black Falcon's Fortress came in second, which was why it came out later that year, but I could be misremembering. By the time that Main Street came out in 2003, I can remember drawing the conclusion that Battrax came in 4th place in the vote, by process of elimination, assuming that the top 3 were the ones to actually get re-released.

But I'm admittedly fuzzy on whether or not we were officially told that BFF or Main Street actually *did* come in 2nd and 3rd-- it may have just been fan speculation due to their being released.

[edit]
Oh! Found it! BFF *did* come in 2nd place:

http://news.lugnet.com/lego/direct/?n=5237
[/edit]

DaveE