2555: Belville Swing Set

The Belville Swing Set was a promotional set released in 1998, available only at Shell gas stations.  Like any Belville set, it features a number of rare parts, such as the apples, basket, chrome piece on top of the swings, and two cats.

First, note the suggested age.  5-12 is nothing surprising, but the addition of the caricature of a small girl not only indicates that the set is for girls, but rather that it should only be bought for girls.  Later Belville sets, such as those released in 2008 dropped this, indicating only the suggested age (as all Lego sets do).

Additionally, note the inclusion of hearts.  Hearts are generally seen as being something that young girls like, but it is interesting that the two girls in the set also have a heart around them.  Are they in love?  Or are they in love with their cats?  Will they one day grow old as cat ladies?

Most interesting however is the fact that this is a Shell gasoline promotion.  Though Shell has not experienced any oil spills that were extensively covered in the media, such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill or the 2010 BP Gulf Coast oil spill, Shell has a history of spills in Nigeria (note that these spills, according to some estimate, have been much larger than any other in history SOURCE).  

So, even if Shell has not been targeted in the media for causing any oil spills, it doesn't hurt to be proactive, right?  Which is exactly why a gasoline company would sponsor a Lego toy that feature clean crisp water and a beautiful white dolphin.  Oil spills are often associated with images of sea animals covered in crude oil, which is why the set comes with a completely white dolphin, instead of the more common grey dolphin that Lego more regularly produces.  

Take a step back and examine this set further.  It is a swing set, there is no mention of a coast or water or anything of the sort.  All that it took to turn this set into a seaside swing set was the inclusion of a dolphin, four pieces for the dock, and new cover art.  Shell is clearly associating themselves with clean water and untainted sea life so that younger generations will choose them when going to the pump.  This is a genius piece of marketing.

The Evolution of the Castle: Early Beginnings

The Castle theme is one of the most popular and longest running themes that The Lego Group has produced.  Stretching back from the late 1970s all the way up to the present, it's a theme that many remember fondly.  Castle construction itself has evolved over the years, from simple fortresses to mountainous strongholds.  Today's castles have come full circle, imitating the infamous "Yellow Castle" released in 1978 with a similarly square and baseplate-less design.  I will now take a look at how the castle has changed throughout the years in a multi-part series.

375:  Castle

The first Lego castle, dubbed the "Yellow Castle" by many, serves as the prototype for many of the castels that The Lego Group produced over the years.  Note the inclusion of horses (though most sets come with one, maybe two) and a bevy of soldiers (but no archers, which is interesting).

Moving onto the castle itself, we see a number of features.  A drawbridge with a winch that can pull it up (some castles use this technique, but there are several other methods of drawbridge operation), towers, a back door, and ramparts along the top of the walls.  While the castle clearly belongs to the Crowns faction (which made a surprising reappearance in 2009), note the inclusion of several other factions, all of which seem to be allies, which is a stark contrast to modern "battle in a box" sets.  Thought unseen, the set has hinges which allow it to open up, another feature seen in many other sets.  Lastly, the set includes a large, flat baseplate which becomes uncommon in later years.

6073:  Knight's Castle

Released in 1984, this small Black Falcon outpost resembles the "Yellow Castle," along with other castles to be released later, in several ways.  Both feature the basic design of a square fortress with a drawbridge (and raised Gatehouse) along with battlements on the walls.  Additionally, we again see a large back door and the ability to open up the castle as both a play feature and as a method to expand the size of the castle.

Although the design is similar, there are two major improvements.  First, the castle is grey and even has some parts with stone details.  This makes the castle not look absurd.  Secondly, the horses are now molded pieces, as opposed to constructed ones.  These look a lot better, and are the same molds used today.  Unfortunately, there are much fewer minifigures in this set.

6080:  King's Castle

Another set from 1984.  This set features the Lions faction.  The mid-1980s had two major factions, the Black Falcons and the Lions.  The Black Falcons would eventually die out and be replaced by other factions, most of them evil.  The Lions, however, have appeared in several different iterations, the most recent being the 2010 Castle theme.  The 'good' faction generally gets the big castle, while the 'bad' faction gets the small one, so it can be surmised that the Black Falcons are enemies.

Regardless, here we have another large, grey castle with a drawbridge, square design, and the ability to 'open up.'  One key addition, however, is the introduction of the portcullis (the large grate-like structure which can be lowered and raised vertically) which will appear in later sets (but as a specialized piece).

Ultimately, this is the largest castle up to this point, with twelve minifigures, four horses, and nearly 700 pieces.  Both of these 1984 sets also introduced archers to joins the ranks of soldiers with swords, axes, and spears.

This concludes the first in a series of posts examining the evolution of the Lego Castle.

9348: Community Minifigure Set

A new Lego education set was recently released, featuring members of the community.  Unlike most sets, it actually has an even number of men and women.

So this set is marketed as an educational product, displaying different roles that people play in the community.  Really glad that they included such an equal distribution of men and women.

In terms of gender roles, this is actually a really great set.  We have a female police officer and a female fire fighter, two roles that are generally seen as being male-dominated (fireman and policeman).  Even more interesting, the sole construction worker is also a woman.  Moving onto the hospital workers, the woman has a stethoscope and white scrubs, while the man does not.  Is the man a nurse, and the woman a doctor?  Again, defying gender roles.

So as you can see, this is a really great set if only because of the strides that the Lego Group made to defy gender roles.  A huge difference from the Paradisa and Belville sets of the 90s.

However, one interesting thing that I noticed (and this is probably due to the fact that female hair pieces block the other side of minifigure heads) is that every woman has an angry scowl on the reverse.

This is the only fault of the set, that it enforces the stereotype of women being upset and making such a face.  But I digress, this is one of the most progressive sets that the Lego Group has ever released.

8277-1: Giant Model Set

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

A robot sent from the future to enslave earth.  This giant beast can also transform into both a helicopter and a cat thing.

Its red eyes glare at you, inspiring fear in your very bones.  The long, jagged arms reach out to grab you, squeezing you with two giant pincers.  The claw slowly opens up, and then snaps shut around you via the power of rubber bands.  It then tosses you away to your death.

A very interesting set for a number of reasons.  Each of the three models has the same 'core' which means that when you want to build a new model you don't really have to take it all the way apart.  This is a nice time saver, but also very odd as I've never experienced another set that does this.  Additionally, aside from the helicopter, the constructions are very abstract.  Why does the robot have ears?  What exactly is that cat thing?  I believe the cat thing may move a bit, but it's hard to tell from the cover art.  It certainly has wheels, which is also an interesting choice.

There appears to be a chair in the head of the robot, so I would imagine it could be controlled by a technic-scale figure.  I can't see any chairs in the cat thing though, but obviously the helicopter has two.

Regardless, it's a really nice introductory Technic set, with lots of gears and SNOT techniques.

4519-1: Rail Crossing

A small service pack set, providing the builder with another piece of railway.  This is an interesting piece though because it is a criss cross.

Feel like I would be pretty worried that two trains would crash into each other.  Also feel like the most basic design for train tracks is the oval or circle, but this allows the builder to create the figure-8, which is another popular track layout.  However, the cross pieces generally don't make right angles, but rather are slightly askew, if that makes sense.  It's an interesting choice, but I'm not sure if it's something that I would use in any of my layouts.

The Heart of Darkness

He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision - he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath - "The horror!  The horror!"

5976-1:  River Expedition is clearly The LEGO Group's take on the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness.  Johnny Thunder takes on the role of Charles Marlow, captaining the ship down the Congo river, delivering ivory to his Belgian employers.

Kurtz is the man with the mask atop the temple wielding snakes of course.  Really interesting that one could easily view it as a Heart of Darkness inspired set.

I guess it does bring up the issue of why Johnny Thunder and Dr. Charles Lightning are exploring this dense, dark river.  The obvious answer is some sort of National Geographic expedition, with cameras to record their findings.  But I wonder if there is more to it.  Are they seeking to appropriate the riches of the jungle for themselves, stealing from the natives?

Probably not.  Throughout many of the adventurers series there are three groups.  Thunder and his companions, the natives, and a third group of villains.  The villains generally change depending on the subtheme (Jungle subtheme introduced Senor Palomar, for example) and are usually trying to steal the treasure for themselves.  So it would appear that Johnny Thunder has no ill intentions, but rather is a genuine explorer, seeking knowledge.

However, the newest Adventurers subtheme, Pharaoh's Quest, does not feature any video equipment nor any villains.  In fact, the main protagonists are the ones raiding the tomb (below).  An interesting development that should be investigated further.

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...

5984-1 - Lunar Limo

Can we just start by saying...wow.  Look at this thing.  It's a space police set but...look how sleek and unblocky it is.

Alright so, we have a limo, the ultimate symbol of the Western Bourgeoisie, but in space, and piloted by a criminal.  In the space future, are criminal the bourgeoisie?  Or is this a commentary on the modern bourgeois, white collar criminals, bankers and wall street barons?

The limo itself is pretty blinged out, with gold all over.  And the main criminal, Brick Daddy (my god, what a name) has some absurd gun/vehicle, so it's safe to assume that he isn't a white collar criminal.  But what is his motivation for busting Jawson out of jail (an assumption based on his orange jumpsuit). 

But why break him out of jail?  It's hard to say.  He he has room for Jawson in his limo, so my guess would be they work together.  Interesting that the space police only pursue aliens (will probably discuss this issue later...xenophobia etc.) but that the aliens are generally able to work together.  Are the aliens being oppressed?  Do they turn to a life of crime because they are unable to find jobs in lego city, and are forced to reside in the cold confines of space?  A topic that deserves further discussion I think.

Ahh but let us examine Brick Daddy himself.  The obvious conclusion is that he is a pimp.  The purple suit, tricked out ride, hat that matches the rest of his outfit.  It's really the only conclusion.  So, assuming that Brick Daddy is a pimp...is Jawson...his bitch/prostitute?

Well, he is interesting looking...large mouth...not really sure what to say.  But I think this is a fair hypothesis of the situation.

Overall, and odd crime vehicle...unless if he is a pimp, in which case it all makes sense.

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?