2012 City sets

[Mirandir]

I think the tan element he's talking about is the new 1X2 Brick with moulded brick wall details that is apparently appearing in the new Ninjago sets, not the new wheelbarrow.

Then again, we've had a red crowbar, and while you do get red crowbars in real life, it's certainly not the most common crowbar hue...

But yeah, I'm pretty sure the tan element he's referring to in not the wheelbarrow.

Yes it's the molded brickwall pieces that are tan. The wheelbarrow is red.

[---Vertea---]

Yes it's the molded brickwall pieces that are tan. The wheelbarrow is red.

Are the molded bricks really small, or is it a larger stone brick texture?

[Mirandir]

I'm stoked for the beehive. If it's a new piece, then cool, if it's brick-built then I'm eager to see what clever mechanic is employed to convey it. Do we get bees, I wonder?

The bee hive is more or less just a yellow 2x2 round brick. And nope there are no bees from what I've seen.

Are the molded bricks really small, or is it a larger stone brick texture?

It's this sort of brick wall

[Jargo]

Aaaaah, I see. Red. Hmmmm.... Well it's a start.

[David Thomsen]

To assume they're going to do that is to assume that the female audience is the only reason they kept those "civilian" buildings around at all, which frankly makes no sense. Paradisa and Belville didn't stop there from being "civilian" sets during those themes' lifespans.

And furthermore, I don't think "Friends" will have any impact on City at all. The only reason people make a connection between them is because early info (before we had a name or even the faintest idea of what the sets would be like) suggested that when the foretold girls' theme did occur, it would be an offshoot of City. No information since then has even hinted at this.

There are some City sets that girls are somewhat more likely to enjoy, like the 4WD and Horse Trailer. But boys are still the main audience for those sets. Girls also like the Harry Potter theme a lot, and nobody's suggesting that it will end because of "Friends".

I never said anything about the presumed gender of the target demographic for 'City' or 'Friends'. I am saying the sets have been divided by 'civilian' and 'emergency', not 'girls' and 'boys'.

The 'City 2012' theme so far has a police station and a crooks' hideout. The 'Friends' theme has a beauty salon and a design studio and a bunch of other things. Until the City theme gets a café or a motel or a motorcycle shop, I see no reason to doubt that all of the potential civilian buildings have been flushed into the 'Friends' theme.

Time may prove me wrong, but even by City standards, there aren't normally two new Police buildings in two consecutive years.

[Aanchir]

I never said anything about the presumed gender of the target demographic for 'City' or 'Friends'. I am saying the sets have been divided by 'civilian' and 'emergency', not 'girls' and 'boys'.

The 'City 2012' theme so far has a police station and a crooks' hideout. The 'Friends' theme has a beauty salon and a design studio and a bunch of other things. Until the City theme gets a café or a motel or a motorcycle shop, I see no reason to doubt that all of the potential civilian buildings have been flushed into the 'Friends' theme.

Time may prove me wrong, but even by City standards, there aren't normally two new Police buildings in two consecutive years.

I think the re-structuring of the City theme is a change entirely independent of the Friends theme, kind of like how Star Wars battle packs are now going to include two factions each. Similarly, City seems to be abandoning the "two subthemes per wave" format in favor of an arguably more traditional lineup with vehicles and buildings from assorted subthemes. Consider that not only are there police vehicles next year, we've heard of construction vehicles and an ambulance. I don't think even a reduction of civilian sets would be enough to cause such a radical change, and thus I don't think the change can be ascribed to more civilian sets in the Friends theme.

Regarding two police buildings in consecutive years, I think that's just a coincidence in that we happened to have a police wave in the last year before this shift. If this new theme setup had been implemented in 2011, then people would be criticizing two consecutive waves with fire engines in them.

Now, what remains to be seen is how TLG maintains variety with so many different subthemes every wave. I expect that if this sort of lineup proves successful, we will see Police, Fire, and Construction every year in some form or another. But, as an example, there might be a dump truck one year and a bulldozer the next. So arguably this sort of theme setup might be able to cause fewer repeats than the old format, where just this year we had several different styles of police car.

[That_Guy]

I found this over at all about bricks, looks like were getting some sort of mining subtheme set in or around the same forest as the others almost like a quarry.

The second wave of 2012 City releases will be based around a construction-esque gold mining sub-theme, and the following five sets are expected:

4200 Test Drilling

4201 Mini Excavator

4202 Dump Truck

4203 Excavator Transport

4204 The Mine

Sounds pretty cool, can't wait till pictures. On the other hand we haven't even seen fire or police pictures yet so I will just have to wait. As for the wheel burrow, I'd say about darn time.

Edited September 12, 2011 by That_Guy

[lightningtiger]

Interesting, a flow on from the forest theme, a mine in the hills eh ?

I guess the Power Miners theme inspired the city designers ?

There was a whisper last week about a huge tipper truck, I guess that's 4202.....sounds like there are catalogues everywhere - tons of information, but still as yet no images.

Quick edit - can it be assumed it's for an open cut mine ?

Edited September 12, 2011 by lightningtiger

[Alywin]

At least, TLC has tried to add some new elements and so throw in some less "daily life" designs to the old Police, Fire and Construction themes.

For the mining sets, I guess some parts from Power Miners could probably be reused, in less sci-fi colour. Or maybe the storyline is, Power Miners team members got scared away by the crystal monsters / have just been laid off, and they have to go back to normal mining companies to find a job...

[kris kelvin]

And new bear looks something like this my friends:

Bear

[jonwil]

I heard an old rumor that the "construction" sets (which I guess are these mining sets) will have yellow construction helmets instead of the usual red helmets we got in the past.

Or maybe we will see TLG build a new helmet style with a lamp on the front.

[lightningtiger]

Thank you 'Kris Kelvin', saved it already.....oh, I can't wait for the 5 minute cartoon to come out with the three hapless crooks - gold hiding under a tree.....means 2 half sets will continue the story eh ?

The bear looks great, might twist my arm to buy.

[Haltiamieli]

And new bear looks something like this my friends:

Bear

Wow, that looks great! The front legs do not seem to be movable, but even just the hind legs give the bear some nice posability. And a big-ish(?) tree and rocks - I may become a temporary City collector next year! Just have to sell all the accompanying policemen and criminals to some kiddo.

[Tamamono]

And new bear looks something like this my friends:

Hey, thanks for the picture, kris kelvin! That bear looks amazing! The dark brown shading on his head and shoulders, and the studs on his back so he can have a minifig rider... Possibly the most interesting thing about it is that it can rear up on its hind legs like a real bear.

I also see a little 'cave' for the criminals to hide their stolen money with a removable slab of rock and the base of a tree on top of that 'cave' that looks quite a bit thicker than some of the other brick-built trees we've had in past sets.

Can't wait for more pictures!

[Matn]

Thanks for the photo. The bear looks amazing. I'm not a big fan of the shading though, it makes the bear look less like LEGO. But it still looks very nice. The 2012 City sets look very promising, even with only the names and one photo released.

[LEGOMAN132]

That bear looks great. With the crime rate in Lego city is a gold mine the best idea . The mine does sound great though as a kid I always wanted one maybe we will get a mining train at some point to transport the miners.

[Aanchir]

What are people talking about, saying the bear has shading? I see dark patches, but if anything they make it look like a sloppily-painted prototype, or just a bad photo, not like genuine blending or shading.

I expect if the final one has any printing, it will have printed eyes. Since this one doesn't have molded eyes I think that's a given. Which is a good thing, in my book-- I always prefer LEGO animals with printed eyes when possible.

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

LOOK OUT IT's A FREAKIN BEAR IN LEGO CITY!!!! YAAAAAHHHH!!

Looks great-- scale is huge in comparison to the figs! Striking fear into the crooks and cops alike, I'm sure. Really interested to see what they do with the mine.... could be feast or famine, but I love that they're trying something fresh and unique. VERY EXCITING!!!

[ryanfitton]

That bear does look good, I really want it! And I really want to see these pics, I know euro bricks are not allowed to post these leaked images but I would love to see them.

[Haltiamieli]

Looks great-- scale is huge in comparison to the figs!

I think it looks to be quite well in scale with the minifigs, bears are bloody big, after all. It may look a bit large compared to Lego horses, though. It's probably nearly as tall (at withers) when walking on four legs.

[Cwetqo]

I ca confirm that this is really next years lego bear. It's surace looks weird because its not final mold, but just prototype from 3d printer. The picture is the same as in dealers catalogue, so I guess we should get some other pics in short time.

[Rocketbilly]

The bear does look good indeed, and I imagine we'll be seeing pictures of the whole of the 2012 City theme very soon, too. Unless whoever took this picture just took a picture of the bear....

It looks good, anyway, for what it is. I can see a similar thing happening to the horse soon - a similar mould to the original, with added rear-leg articulation. I can see that happening, anyway. Glad to see the crooks are still armed with their trusty red crowbars, too.

Edited September 13, 2011 by Rocketbilly

[Rato]

Someone put in Brickshelf one foto of city fire set's.

Brickshelf

Rato

[damian]

try links with end numbers from

itp_062.jpg

itp_063.jpg

...

[pacc]

Thanks, I liked the café (66) in the girly theme.

They also seem to use some 'creator' built robots and lawnmovers

and build a boombox instead of using the collectible series one.