Deconstructing Lego is a blog that analyzes Lego sets under a variety of lenses, sometimes comparing similar sets from different years or creating a story based around a set or analyzing the implicit message that a set creates.
The 1x1 Crystal with 5 points has been a cornerstone of many LEGO sets since 1995. While some more recent sets use the piece as a generic valuable rock, when it was first introduced it was often used as a source of power.
The Crystal first appeared in Aquazone subtheme Aquanauts sets as a chrome colored piece. Today the crystal is available in thirteen colors, the most common being chrome, trans-neon green, and gold (both pearl and metallic).
The Aquanauts mined and collected the crystals for survival. They used submarines and other vehicles to collect the crystals (and fight off opposing Aquasharks) and bring them back to their base, the Neptune Discovery Lab.
It is unclear if the crystals were used to power their vehicles, or if they were used for trade. Later Aquazone subthemes like the Hydronauts and Stingrays has similar motives. Later themes, like Rock Raiders, have much more detailed mythology and background story that give us further insight regarding the purpose of the crystals.
For the Rock Raiders, based on the video game and promotional materials, the crystals represented the only source of power for the stranded crew. The crew crash landed on the mysterious planet, and they had to collect crystals to power and repair their vehicles to eventually make their escape.
The Rock Raiders, and later the Power Miners, battled native rock monsters to obtain the necessary crystals. According to Power Miners mythos they were sent down to investigate the source of recent earthquakes. They discovered that the rock monsters were creating the earthquakes, and that the rock monsters consumed the power crystals as a source of energy. The obvious solution was to take away their source of food, causing the rock monsters to starve and die off.
In more recent Town, Lone Ranger, and Superheroes sets the pearl gold and silver crystal appears as a source of valuable wealth, basically gold.
The recent announcement of a new Arctic theme provided us with a few images of the new sets, which include crystals in the blocks of ice. At this point it is unknown if the crystals have value, are a source of power, or are merely ice.
Agents is coming back as "Ultra Agents" in 2014. Let's take a look back at this 2008-2009 series, focusing specifically on the inspiration for the sets. These sets take a lot of inspiration from the James Bond series, along with other spy movies and parodies.
8633: Speedboat Rescue features a number of spy movie tropes. There's damsel in distress dangling from a chain, being rescued by the main protagonist, and of course those sharks. Sharks with laserbeams. Sharks with frickin laserbeams on their heads.
There is 8632: Swamp Raid featuring a villain with a metal jaw, and obvious nod to the Bond villain Jaws.
Lastly we have 8967: Gold Tooth's Getaway. The gold gun looks exactly like the one held by Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun, and the gold obsession is similar to the main villain Goldmember in the third Austin Powers.
There are other pop culture references and tropes found in this theme, but these were the most interesting and obvious that I found. If you've noticed others, talk about them in the comments.
The 1977 set Cowboys features two cowboys, one with a pistol, and the other with a rope.
The set features one of the earlier versions of the minifig, half traditional bricks and half minifigesque parts. More advanced than the first attempts, but still much different and much larger than the modern minifigure.
The rope held by the first cowboy appears to be a lasso at first glance, a common tool used by many cowboys to round up farm animals. However, I believe that it is actually a noose.
Lassos have a large loop by design, the large loop is necessary for creating the circling motion, and so that the lasso is large enough to fit over the desired target. Lastly, having a large loop allows for less accurate cowboys to hit their target.
A noose, on the other hand, has a very small loop, and is generally pointed downwards, just like in the original LEGO artwork. Cowboys are generally associated with the Southern United States, particularly Texas and the Prairie states. And nooses too are heavily associated with the lynching of thousands of Black individuals. Is there a connection here?
Was this an intentional move made by The LEGO Group? It's no secret that many Danes areblatantlyracist, but it would definitely be surprising to see such a blatantly racist image in a toy. One cowboy with a gun, the other armed with a noose. A small lynch mob chasing after a Black man.
There is no conclusive evidence, of course, but it is interesting. There are many toys that at one point seemed perfectly harmless, but under a modern lens becomes blatantly racist.
There are two major seasons for LEGO fans. The first few months of the year, with many toy fairs, and late summer/early autumn. Both bring rumors of new sets, clandestine photos of new sets, and lists of set names acquired from retailer catalogs. A number of new rumors have emerged for the upcoming year. Compared to previous years a lot of these rumors are a lot more outlandish and surprising. Only time will tell.
The newest action theme is "Legends of Chima". At this point the new series is pretty well confirmed, and grainy photos can be found. The series appears to have human-animal hybrids and a game component. Not much is known. But what is known is that it will replace the incredibly successful Ninjago line, which I find very surprising. Ninjago was the sort of theme that most AFOLs avoided, but was loved by 8-12 year old boys. 100% confirmed.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Apparently Playmates Toys approached LEGO regarding the creation of TMNT LEGO. This seems reasonable considering the creation of MegaBloks TMNT sets only a few years ago. This is a rumor that I initially found absurd, but I am now starting to believe. 40% confirmed.
Lone Ranger. Disney is rebooting this series. Rumor is that there will be one big set, three medium, and two small sets. Would be nice to have some new Western sets. I think there is a really good possibility that this will happen. Pirates of the Caribbean and Prince of Persia have proven that LEGO and Disney will work together to make sets of moderately successful movies. 70% confirmed.
City - more fire and police. Nothing new really. But there should be a "museum robbery" set which would be very interesting.
So, those are my thoughts. We will have to wait and see. But I have a good feeling about all of these.
Although most LEGO sets show little if any mythological influence a few from recent years clearly have. The most obvious recent example is the 2010-2011 Atlantis theme, especially sets like 7985: City of Atlantis, which features the mythical city.
The Atlantis theme has some loose connections to mythology, unlike the 2005-2006 Vikings theme which uses a lot of specific references to Viking lore. Each set includes one Norse mythological creature, including
Fenrir
Wyvern
Nidhogg
Midgard
Fafnir
So why did LEGO use Norse mythology in their Vikings sets? It represents a drastic change as the vast majority of sets lack any historical context. My guess would be that it may have been a geographical decision. Denmark was a huge bastion of Viking activity centuries ago, and this still influences their culture today. If anything it is surprising that LEGO did not create Viking sets earlier.
LEGO has decided to venture into the realm of comic book licenses once again (despite the failure of Spiderman and Batman sets from several years ago) by tying the sets more directly to movies. A pretty smart move.
One thing that excited me about this is that, in the past, LEGO has caught some flack because the majority (excluding Mace Windu and Lando) of PoC in the licensed sets have been villains. And this is not necessarily the fault of LEGO, but rather the licenses that they have produced sets for. Regardless, the Avengers poster made it obvious that this would be a great opportunity for LEGO to create not only a strong Black figure, but also a strong female figure.
I'm talking about Nick Fury and Maria Hill, of course. LEGO even made their own version of this now iconic poster, seen below:
How awesome! Except that EVERY SET HAS JUST WHITE DUDES. There are currently five Avengers sets that feature Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Hulk (yes, he is green, but Dr. Banner is a White dude), Hawkeye, Loki, Loki Henchmen (IDK what they are...robots?), Deadpool, Wolverine (who is an Avenger...not sure why he wasn't in the movie), and Magneto.
So, the issue I have is that LEGO had this great opportunity to incorporate a positive Black character and a strong female character into their sets, two major characters, but decided not to for whatever reason. I am guessing that they will in future sets, assuming that The Avengers gets another wave of sets. I am disappointed, but we will just have to wait and see.
In this post I will focus primarily on the 2011 set 4642: Fishing Boat, touching on the gender roles exhibited by this set (and other LEGO sets and advertisements), along with how this set compares to previous offerings.
This was a set that I instantly wanted to own as soon as I saw it. I love sets with boats that actually float, like this one. That may be due to the fact that two of the first sets that I ever owned are floating boats that were very similar to this model. The first is the 1989 DUPLO set 2643: Fishing Boat.
A simple but adorable set. Similar to the 2011 set in that there are two people fishing (note the fish in the dinghy). But 4642: Fishing Boatis incredibly similar to a set released two decades earlier, 4011: Cabin Cruiser in 1991.
Still one of my favorite sets. Note the fishing pole, shark, and design of the boat in each set. There are only minor differences. Upon closer examination, both contain a small cabin (note the windshield on the deck of each.
As we have seen with many LEGO sets there are sometimes only a few small differences between sets released decades apart. What I really want to focus on, however, is the father-son relationship we see in all three sets.
With the 1991 set it could be suggested that these are simply two men. However, due to the common trope of a father and son fishing together, I argue that there is definitely a father and son. Just look at the attire of the two.
One is dressed like a captain, with the appropriate shirt and hat, while the other is wearing a cap and a striped shirt, much like any young person. In the 2011 set it is even more obvious due to the inclusion of the 'short legs' that were originally released with Harry Potter sets for the Gringotts goblins.
Note the short blue legs and cap. Both sets include imagery of the two fishing together, father and son.
What is really interesting is that this father-son bonding ties directly into recent LEGO marketing. Take a look at this ad from late 2010.
LEGO is very clearly marketing towards fathers that want a toy that they can build with their son, or at least, a toy that establishes a father-son relationship. They may not be able to take their son fishing, but they can give their son a LEGO set that emulates that experience somewhat explicitly. Which I guess brings up the issue of why LEGO never produces sets that includes only females, or a mother-daughter duo.
But the overall lack of women in LEGO sets is another topic for another day. For now, it's interesting to note how LEGO is directly going after this father-son demographic.
A new year! Time to take a look at some more contemporary sets. Now that 2011 is over I'm going to take a look at a few of the sets from last year for the next few posts (or maybe not via I am not very consistent).
A relic of a somewhat bygone era, the Telephone Booth used to be seen on every street corner. Today they're found mostly in airports and bars, the rest being replaced by cell phones. This 1986 set features a somewhat fancy setup, with a roof and seating.
I really like the design of the bench, very unique to use the inverted slopes as a base for the chair pieces. Something I want to use in my own creations.
Maybe the dude is a bike messenger, getting a new assignment. Probably a hipster on a fucking fixie.
The phone booth is yellow which is kinda weird, but I was thinking that maybe phone booths in Denmark are yellow. I did a bit of research (via Google image search) and it would appear that Danish phone booths are Green.
Ted: Frank! Frank, what the hell are you doing!
Frank: Recovering motorcycles. There was a huge flood so I figured I'd grab a motorcycle. The kid has been nagging that he wants one for his birthday.
Ted: Frank we are supposed to be saving people, not recovering motorcycles so that you can get back at your ex.
Frank: I just feel like this is the only way he'll ever respect me, if I show up one evening on a black three-wheeled motorcycle, and we ride off into the sunset. I don't care if his mother has him every weekend, I'm going to take my son on a motorcycle ride!
Ted: Frank, you need to let go. He'll come around. A few more years and you'll be able to go to the bar with him, talk about girls and watch some goddam baseball.
Frank: I guess you're right. I'll bring the chopper down so we can grab that scuba diver. Fucking tourists.
Ted: Fuckin' tourists.
Seriously can anyone explain why they are trying to save a motorcycle instead of flood victims???
The 1987 set 4030: Cargo Carrier is easily one of the most meta Lego sets that exists. Here we have a cargo ship with the primary cargo being Lego. A Lego set that is full of more Lego! So meta.
I really enjoy Lego sets that contain references to the product. This is probably one of my favorite ones though since a lot of Lego has to be shipped overseas. The scale of the set isn't too bad, obviously the boat would have to be a lot larger to actually be at a minifigure scale, but it works pretty well regardless.
One has to wonder what the cargo is. Perhaps boxed Lego sets, or maybe just parts that still need to be sorted and boxed up before sold. Or perhaps the men onboard are the actual cargo, and they've escaped! Either way, it's a very nice looking set and one that I would love to own.
Thoreau ventured into the woods near Concord Massachusetts and built a small log cabin, desiring to live under the guide of transcendentalist philosophy and to objectively view society from afar. In his own words, he
"went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion."
The Lego Creator set 5766: Log Cabin can be interpreted as a set based on Thoreau's unique experiment. There is a small patch of water in the set, perhaps meant to represent Walden Pond. Thoreau's cabin was 15'x10', which does not quite fit the dimensions of the set shown here but it is certainly close.
Thoreau spent much of his time at Walden Pond living simply, writing about life and government, and relaxing in the woods of New England. While this set can easily be seen as any ordinary woodland cabin, I like to think of the possibility that on some level Thoreau was thought of when this set was designed.
The above photo is a replica of Thoreau's cabin, and looks quite similar to the Lego set. The door it located on a different side, the but roof and placement of the chimney are remarkably the same.
I hope this post helps you to take time to think about the cultural influences that may or may not go into the design of each Lego set.
There was a gap of over a decade until the next fire fighter boat was released by Lego in 2004, set 7046: Fire Command Craft.
Unlike other sets, this one contains both a regular boat and a smaller Zodiac style fire fighting vessel. Additionally, the glass for the control room is now facing to the aft, instead of forwards. It's definitely a smaller boat compared to past offereings, and is somewhat boring in general.
In 2007 7906: Fireboat was released with a style much different from past offerings.
Again we see a cockpit with the glass slated to the back, but more importantly the set itself looks more like a speed boat than a fire fighting vessel. While the inclusion of a motor at the bottom is an awesome feature, the boat itself looks sloppy. It's missing the green and red lights (used for navigation so that other boats can tell where and in which direction another boat is moving in the dark) that any boat should have, and does not even have a roof for the captain. This set also has a small craft that can be detached, another nice feature, but it doesn't make up for the other flaws of this set. While I enjoy the design of it overall, it just doesn't work as a fire fighting vessel.
Finally, in 2010 Lego released 7207: Fire Boat (note that the previous set was called 'Fireboat'. The difference in the naming between the sets is a single space!). This is a set that really does it right, that really captures that aesthetic of what a fireboat is and harkens back to the sets released in the 1980s.
What is there not to love about this set? The hull is very similar to those released in the 1980s, being somewhat short and very tall. It has a full functioning cabin with a windshield that leans forward, just as many real fireboats are designed. Like the older sets, it also has an elevated fire fighting crane device, but also manages to include the small inflatable boat that appears in the newer sets, ultimately combining new and old beautifully. And it includes four figures, a rare sight today. One last homage to the older sets is the inclusion of a water line on the side of the hull, indicating how low in the water the vessel is riding. Whoever designed this set clearly had an affinity for the older models, and was able to recreate that aesthetic while adding new elements and ideas.
Those are the major fire boats released from 1982 to 2010, nearly two decades of fire fighting vessels. If you enjoyed this sort of post, please check out my series on The Evolution of the Lego Castle.
Since the early 1980s The Lego Group has released several fire fighting boats of various sizes. Prior to 1982 Lego released a few sets that were not minifigure scale, however I will only be focusing on the sets that are to scale.
4025: Fire Boat is easily the smallest of the bunch, which makes sense considering it was the first one. It has a fairly basic design but also includes an elevator device that moves up and down which can be seen in around half the sets. One interesting tidbit about the first three sets is that they are all under the Boats subtheme, rather than the Fire subtheme.
Next is the 1987 release 4020: Fire Fighter. Like all the other sets a plastic hull that actually floats is included and is one of the main appeals. Compared to later sets it is definitely less sophisticated and has fewer parts and features, but is still an interesting set. The forward leaning glass is consistent for the majority of these sets, as is the inclusion of a water gun station. Although the set is of a better scale than 4025, it's not nearly as interesting looking and has fewer play features.
This last set that I'll be looking at today was one of the first sets I owned, and is definitely my favorite fire fighter boat. The 1991 set 4031: Firefighter features a well-made cabin, four minifigures, elevated fire hose, and a helicopter. The hull itself is longer than previous boats and overall feels like a more complete set. The cabin itself is of the same style as the previous two boats, but this trend will change in the 2000s when the next boat is released. The fire fighter sets have never been as popular as police sets which is probably why there was over a decade gap between this fire fighter boat and the next.
In the next post I will discuss the final three fire fighter boats.
I've been on this wagon for years now, wandering the countryside, searching for my meaning in life. Every few miles stopping to fix a burnt out light or mend some twisted track. This small 6x16 platform is all I know, with a few ladders and tools and a small balcony that swivels around. I sometimes like to pretend that I'm gazing upon a seaside village from this yellow balcony, watching the waves crash in as the fishermen head out early in the morning.
Instead, I know that this small cart will be my lot in life. My partner, identical to myself, spending the best years of our lives wandering the abyss of train track.
The weird thing is that he looks just like me, identical in every way. I sometimes wonder if he is merely a figment of my imagination. Does he really exist? Has the toil of fixing tracks and lights along this expanse of railway warped my mind, much like the warped tracks I fix daily?
Classic Space was one of the first major themes to appear in the late 1970s, and continued for over a decade after that, eventually evolving into other space themes. It featured no enemy, but rather astronauts in different uniforms who generally worked together. The focus was exploration, not fighting or resource collecting, which is a significant difference from some of the space sets of today. It seems in many ways to bridge the gap between the City and Town space sets (focusing on shuttles and training on earth) and the more fanciful space sets (Space Police, Mars sets, etc.)
An interesting looking set! It features the moveable claw that is seen in other space sets, as well as the neon transparents screens that appeared in many space sets over the years. While it looks like a base, the legs actually move (though I'm not exactly sure how) making it more of a large exploratory base, perhaps scientific in origin. As I mentioned earlier, we see a blue and red space man (there are also yellow and white (more common) and the rare black) working together. Not sure why they have different colors to be honest.
There are also rockets in the middle of the ship, which would fire upwards. While many Classic Space ships feature weaponry, it's never really explained why they even need it. Perhaps there is conflict, but further investigation will be required.
6 is an evil number, and 6666 is a super evil number, so why was this set, an ambulance, given such a number?
Interesting torso they chose for the woman, one of the more revealing outfits that she has. Perhaps she is a young college student who got alcohol poisoning after using her fake ID to get into the bar? Something of note are the incredibly small wheels on this vehicle, not something you see very much today. Additionally, this set marks a shift in how medical sets were designed. If you look at the 1981 ambulance...
...a red cross is used instead of the Star of Life. The Star of Life was designed in the United States 1970s, after the Red Cross organization complained that the current United States medical symbol was too similar to theirs. 6666 was only released in the United States, while 6680 was an international release. So, we can see that by the 1990s The Lego Group was changing their models or at least designing models specifically for certain countries, rather than using the ubiquitous and universal Red Cross symbol.
It's also interesting to look at the designs of these two ambulances. Both are very similar in many ways, both in terms of construction and how they can be interacted with. The main difference is how the back opens, as you can see in the photos.
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