Mail

The Lego city government relinquished control of the mail system, opting to sell the rights to a small mail delivery service.  From humble beginnings, this small time bike courier service would one day grow into the large delivery organization we see today.

6420-1 Mail Carrier started it all.  Just a boy and his bike, and the will to deliver.

But this would not suffice for long.  Lego city has a lot of mail that needs to be delivered, and with that came 7731 - Mail Van.  A sleek hybrid vehicle, the proprietor of LEGO CITY MAIL LTD. had grown, now sporting facial hair, and wearing glasses, a result of the millions of letters he read throughout his career.

Things quickly went down from here though.  Mail delivery had once been his calling, but now with all the revenue he started getting into hard drugs and hiring Lego prostitutes.  When his dealer was detained by the Lego City Police, he knew he needed his own supplier.  Using funds from the now expanding courier service, our delivery boy bought his own delivery plane.

7732-1 - Air Mail was just a front to support his cocaine habit.  No borders, not security checks, just weekly deliveries of pure Colombian powder.  How depressing.

Lego City, The ultimate Police State?

There are currently approximately 140 LEGO Police sets, from 1977 all the way up to the present.  Nearly every year featured a plethora of these sets.  Lego city houses nearly a dozen different police stations of various sizes and capabilities.  But why the need for such a large police force?

A common theme to these police stations is the inclusion of a helipad on the roof.  We see it time and time again, from this 1986 set up to the current 2011 police station below (note that this set may be missing a helicopter, but it does still include a helipad).

Why the need for so many helicopters?  The answer is that Lego City is a police state, with helicopters constantly flying around, monitoring the citizens, and instilling fear into their very acrylonitrile butadiene styrene bodies.  There are around as many helicopter sets as there are police station sets.  Is crime such an issue in Lego city that there needs to be such a large police force?

When will the oppression and fear-mongering in Lego city end?  Or will it just continue to deteriorate as the Lego police force becomes more invasive, setting up mobil monitoring stations and wiretapping innocent civilians?

The future, too, seems bleak, as the police move into space to further their oppression...

8403-1 - City House

The city house.  A very different set from the general city line.  We have the standard small building with no back, which we find it many city sets ranging from fire to police.  Of note, there are solar panels on the roof and a green (presumably for recycling) which evokes an image of modernity, contrasted with the tree fort on the left and a grill, 1950s holdovers.

Clearly, a recently gentrified neighborhood.  The solar panels were purchased because of the tax break that Obama provided.  Where else would you see a treehouse in a city?  Not to mention a yard.  Obviously a vacant lot next door to their rowhome/townhouse which they appropriated on the cheap.

But let us examine the family itself.

An average white family, mom, dad, and a son.  Mom is clearly a fit and good looking woman, able to wear a tank top and drink wine.  I would say 28 years old.  The dad, a young 33 year old yuppie, is for some reason using a wrench to cook hot dogs.  He yearns for that father he never had, that father which would teach him how to grill, how to be a man.  He keeps his facial hair stubbly to appear young, but we all know he is past his prime.  The shirt, clearly some sk8r brand shirt, a futile attempt to reclaim his youth.

And the son...a red headed stepchild.  How else could such an abomination be created?  Wearing his Hollister hoodie, he doesn't realize the truth behind his existence...that swingers party when both mom and dad began going through their midlife crisis, and 'Ted' lied about his vasectomy.

The family seems so happy, always smiling.  As soon as the son enrolls at the state university though, a divorce is assured.

The only question that remains is, who will get the dog?

6446 - Crane Truck

The lowly crane truck.  Coming around to tow your precious vehicle.  Maybe you drove your lego car into a castle and it exploded, or a dinosaur ate half of it.  Inevitably, everyone needs to deal with the tow truck.

Interesting name, crane truck.  Feel like proper nomenclature would be tow truck.  Wonder what the significance of the socket wrench on the truck and on his shirt is.  Maybe they wanted a generic tool for their logo in order to convey an idea of mechanical skills.  The blue cap represents the blue collar work that this man is involved in, towing trucks and possibly repairing them.

Let's look at the vehicle itself.  Red is a pretty common color for tow truck (white being second most in my opinion) and the yellow lights on the top are also commonly found on such vehicles.  But there is something missing - a roof.  Why was this vehicle designed with no roof?  It's a small set at only twenty-six pieces, but I feel like a roof is an essential part of car construction.  This set was released in 1999, one of the worst years for Lego sets in terms of both sales and design quality.  Crane Truck was released during Lego's dark ages, and it shows.  Compared to the 1986 set Super Tow Truck it pales in comparison.  Just look at the two sets, Crane Truck hardly even resembles a vehicle when compared.  No headlights, smoke stacks, fenders, or any other small details that make a truck look like a truck.

Looking at the 2009 set Tow Truck we get probably the best example of a lego tow truck set.  It looks and feels like a real truck;  thick and wide, with real truck details.  I suppose it's important to keep in mind that these sets all had different piece counts and prices, but the modern set is just great and really exemplifies the sorts of sets that The Lego Group can produce.