Toy Fair 2014: City & Minifigures

[Hapori Tohu]

What would LEGO be without City? A bestseller year after year, in 2014 LEGO goes north into the Arctic. There's plenty of all-season sets to have fun with too though, including some collectible minifigures! So read on to see what City sets were on display at Toy Fair 2014!

 

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[Gatanui]

This is like LEGO Arctic all over again! And I loved that theme.

 

The price increase for the minifigures is a shame, though.

 

-Gata

[Toa of the Blazing Inferno]

It would seem they're going to keep using the CMF Santa for advent calendars, which I like, because I think that's the best Santa they've ever made. It does, however, give me a reason not to get the City calendar this year, since I already have a CMF Santa from last year's calendar.

[Aanchir]

The Arctic models are fantastic. A bit detached from what you'd see in a city, but so were the Forest Police and Farm sets, which were fantastic extensions of the brand regardless. The LEGO City brand name is not really as broad as it should be, since the theme covers most minifig scale, entry level, LEGO models that are grounded in the modern day. But since it has been one of the LEGO Group's two most successful brands for many years now, there's no sense in changing it.

 

The Great Vehicles subtheme continues to be a fantastic way to diversify the range of LEGO City vehicles beyond those that could support a full subtheme of their own in a single year. It's nice that the Great Vehicles now come in a range of sizes. Of the smaller $10 ones, the Race Car is my favorite, using some of the fantastic new wheels and tires introduced last year. They are reversible, like the larger Technic wheels and tires, and are about the same size as some of the less realistic classic wheels and tires that have been around for decades.

 

Of the larger $20 ones, the Camper Van, Tow Truck, Airport Fire Truck, and Logging Truck are all beautiful. For the record, the logs ARE from the same type of trees as the smaller ones in that set, but from older ones. The smaller trees in the set are saplings that the loggers are planting to replace the trees they cut down. Hooray for sustainable forestry! On a side note, I saw a tow truck JUST LIKE the new LEGO one on the road as I was on my way to see the LEGO Movie last Saturday. No joke! The Auto Transporter is not quite as realistic and elegant as I'd like to see, but it is still cleverly constructed, and it's been far too long since there was a double-decker auto transporter as a LEGO set.

 

This year's police sets are quite nice, and I love seeing more buildings in the sets. I especially like the new Police Station (very modern-looking). Kind of a shame Police Dog Unit wasn't on display, as I love the little shack in that set which includes a working periscope. I suppose it's exclusive to a certain retailer here in the States, hence why it was omitted from such a big trade show.

 

The train stuff is cool, and I love the new station, but it's a little bit of a letdown in some regards. For one thing, I'd love to see another BIG train station like 2150 or 4554. For another, I'm disappointed by the incredibly specialized nose on the passenger train. If we are going to get a new part for the nose, I'd have preferred if it were more versatile, so it could be used for other types of models. I know we can't expect anything on par with the Horizon Express in a LEGO City set, but it's still a shame to see a new part that will probably never be used for anything other than a passenger train. The new Cargo Train is the one set that knocks the ball out of the park. I love the spools of cable, the cattle car, the flatbed car, and the crane. Obviously both trains are quite expensive, but that's a necessary evil when you factor in full Power Functions capability. It's definitely cheap when you consider that the Power Functions elements account for a $100+ discrepancy between the Horizon Express and the larger Horizon Express Kit.