Themes
Once, it was Town. LEGO Town was the ‘everyday life’ theme, that supplied children with a world of police stations, fire trucks, ambulances, boats, houses, service stations, and more besides. It launched in its recognizable form in 1978 with the advent of the Minifigure and continued for 20 years until wrapping up in 2000.
LEGO World City arrived in 2003 and continued in 2004 in an attempt to offer what it was perceived children wanted – simplified set designs and a disturbingly macho aspect. Those misconceptions made the replacement for Town an unappealing mess, although the train sets were mainly undisturbed by the shift in direction.
In 2005, the LEGO Group finally got serious about making things work after a brush with bankruptcy. A new theme had been developed – LEGO City – that was a return to form. Learning from what had worked with the classic Town theme, City started things off with the basic areas that children would love – Police, Fire, and Construction – then gradually expanded from there.
Now, City has gone far beyond those initial releases, with basic life type sets building museums, service stations, multi-story car parks, and diving boats among plenty of others. The quality of the builds also improves over time, with 7744 Police Headquarters a much better set than 7237 Police Station, which was released just three years prior.
While the sets that include pizza restaurants and bus stops offer opportunities for building a table-top town, children also want action and adventure. Sub-themes such as
Coastguard Rescue, Volcano Explorer, and the Arctic provide this, while Space and Harbour keep things a little more grounded in reality.
From its fresh start in 2005 that saw the LEGO Group show real confidence in the company’s core theme, City has expanded far beyond its central emergency services focus to become a sprawling collection that can cover an eclectic mix of subject matter. As long as it continues to steer clear of the mistakes made in the early 2000s, it will continue to hold a special place in the heart of LEGO fans.