A Million Little Bricks

by Sarah Herman

  By the following year TLG had had a change of heart and decided to remarket Racers to appeal to an older age group—while the first year of Racers had been selling for four-to nine-year-olds, these Drome Racers were mainly for 7+. Extra detailing appeared not only in the use of minifigures as drivers, but also in the design of the various vehicles which now featured pull-back motors. Small cars increased in size from nine parts to nearly fifty, and there were much larger sets that pitted two vehicles against each other, e.g., Duel Racers (4587) and Zero Hurricane & Red Blizzard (4593). With story-led themes dominating the LEGO Group’s output, even these race car sets had a context. Set in a futuristic 2015, the racing drivers (both heroes and villains) vied for the title of champion in a dangerous arena—the Drome run by Dromulus and his pet robot monkey. In 2002 nearly thirty Racers sets were released, and among these were remote-controlled cars Nitro Flash (4589) and, for slightly older children, the driver-less Race Buggy (8475), made almost completely from Technic parts. These remote-controlled cars could be transformed into more than one design, and the wheels were interchangeable with different Racers. The RC unit allowed three different channels so three people could play with their cars together without interference.

  The first Racers tracks were available in 2002 and consisted of an “off-road” track (4588) and a stunt track with a jump at the end onto a safety net (4589). Both sets relied on the pull-back motors of the cars, and did not allow for actual “racing” as both tracks were only one car wide. It wasn’t until 2003 that the Multi-Challenge Race Track (8364) provided a complete electric race course that accommodated two cars. To fit minifigures into Racers cars, a new torso was created without any legs but with a steering wheel. Regular minifigure heads and helmets were then connected on to it. Technic pieces became an integral part of the Racers system, although smaller, more traditional racing cars were still being produced, such as Pro Stunt (8350) and Track Racer (8360).

  Williams F1 (2002–2003), Ferrari F1 (2004–2010), and Lamborghini (2009–2011)

  Before Ferrari designs became a staple on the LEGO racetrack, a Williams F1 car with BMW engine and Michelin tires was the first realistic F1 race car model TLG had produced (excluding Technic models). Known as the Williams F1 Team Racer (8461), this non-minifigure scale chassis was constructed from a base of LEGO bricks with a large number of Technic axles and connections to give it its streamlined and realistic appearance. For younger fans the Team Racer 1:27 (8374) with minifigure race driver was released in 2003.

  In 2004 Ferrari replaced Williams as the licensed racing face of LEGO toys, and superstar driver Michael Schumacher became one of the first Formula One drivers (alongside teammate Rubens Barrichello) to be immortalized as a LEGO minifigure. The set (8398) featured the two drivers, who finished first and second in the 2004 Drivers’ Championship, a podium with Ferrari flags, and a trophy for Schumacher to receive. Other Racers sets released that year focused heavily on the Ferrari brand, with a minifigure scale car (8362), pit stop set (8375), and a 1:10 scale car (8386). DUPLO also got in on the Ferrari action with two sets—an F1 race car and a pit-stop set (4693 and 4694). The LEGO Group followed these up in 2005 with the Scuderia Ferrari Truck (8654)—an impressive transportation lorry with six minifigures and all the parts needed to put together the F1 car—and two Enzo Ferrari models in different scales. The LEGO Group continued its relationship with the car manufacturer and the development of the Racers Ferrari system. More recent additions include a finish line (8673), new pit stop set Ferrari F1 Team (8144), and a fleet of various scale cars modeled on real Ferrari cars such as the Ferrari 430 Spider, Ferrari 248 F1, Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, and the Ferrari FXX.

  Ferrari had a long-standing relationship with the LEGO Group throughout the 2000s. This Ferrari 248 F1 was just one of the models available. © Owen J. Weber

  In 2009 TLG released the first Racers Lamborghini set—the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (8169) in the signature yellow. The 1:17 scale model set had a retractable top that could be folded into the back, and could be reconstructed to build either a coupe Gallardo or a spyder Gallardo. This was followed by the bright blue Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Polizia (8214)—an authentic replica of the Gallardo police cars used by the Italian state police force during highway emergencies.

  Power Racers (2005–2010), Tiny Turbos (2005–2011), and RC Racers (2004–2009)

  With the exception of some Ferrari sets, the majority of LEGO Racers from 2005 onward were minifigure-less. Focusing more on the design and construction of the vehicles than the people racing them has enabled designers to alter the scale of Racers to suite children’s play behaviour, and to build stable and robust remote-controlled vehicles as well as smaller mini-cars.

  While the LEGO Group was never a likely manufacturer to corner the market on remote-controlled cars, its combination of construction first, drive second gave its simple RC vehicles more playing power than other prefabricated brands. Between 2004 and 2006 they released a few “outdoor RC” vehicles including Outdoor Challenger (8675), which was marketed as capable of racing in mud, rain, and on grass. More recently, Track Turbo RC (8183) became the first Racers car to include the LEGO Power Functions system.

  In 2005 the company released the first Power Racers cars—these souped-up, pull-back, or slammer release cars such as Nitro Menace (8649), Buzz Saw (8648), and glow-in-the-dark Night Racer (8647) were the natural descendants of the Drome Racers, and were accompanied by new racing bikes with slammer-launch mechanisms, which when hit would release the bikes at high speed. TLG also unleashed its pod format on Racers (used to market small sets of Technic, BIONICLE and Knights’ Kingdom sets) and began selling kits to build small vehicles (under sixty pieces) in plastic capsules with tire-style lids. These were sold alongside the larger pull-back motored Racers that had developed into less “sleek racing car,” more “chunky-tired bumper car”—the word “CRASH” screamed out from the front of each box. Most sets were single-vehicle sets, and toward the end of the decade many came with launcher mechanisms to catapult them forward, as in Desert Hammer (8496), where two cars with pull-back motors and launchers took turns to leap through a ring with a swinging pendulum in a test of propulsion and timing, and the more recent Air Blasters that used compressed air and a pump to shoot the small cars across the room.

  This 2010 Power Racers car (7971) included an Air Stomper to propel the car, and is one of the more recent Racers developments. © Christopher Doyle

  A constructed 2010 Tiny Turbo (Blue Bullet, 8193), next to its included stickers and a few one-stud bricks that illustrate how small this car really is. © Christopher Doyle

  Even smaller cars, referred to as Tiny Turbos, were released from 2005 onward, some as small as twenty-four pieces. They were basic vehicles such as Yellow Sports Car (4947) and Blue Buggy (4949) that had more similarities with Matchbox cars than minifigure scale vehicles. In 2010 LEGO launched four sets with fold-out plastic boxes that transformed into sections of road, revealing different “race” scenarios that could all be connected together. Ramp Crash (8198) included a red pick-up truck heading straight for a crash with a cargo lorry, while Chopper Jump (8196) included a speeding gangster race car and a police helicopter.

  World Racers (2010–present)

  One of the latest themes to emerge from Billund’s best designing brains is an attempt to re-bridge the gap between extreme racing and minifigures. World Racers was a story-based theme that saw two teams compete in a race around the world. Each team was made up or three members: the X-Treme Devils (Rex-Treme and his two brothers, Dex-Treme and Max-Treme) and the Backyard Blasters (Bart, Billy Bob, and Bubba). The competitors had different vehicles to complete the race by land or sea, and sets typically included one vehicle for each team, such as Blizzard’s Peak (8863) with its ice-terrain vehicles and helicopter, Gator Swamp (8899) with boats, and Wreckage Road (8898) with more traditional race cars. Most vehicles had mounted weapons, to help the teams cause problems for each other along the way, and s
ets typically included a checkered flag and trophy to be rewarded to the winning team of that leg of the race.

  In one of the smaller World Racers sets, Bart Blaster and Rex-Treme ride their bikes in Snake Canyon to determine who will take the trophy. © Ruben Saldana

  LEGO Sports (2000–2007)

  Part of TLG’s diversification strategy of the late 1990s and early 2000s was the introduction of sports-themed toys, with an initial emphasis on football. Table football sets, football game Subbuteo, and even pricey team strips had long been popular presents for young sports fans, but it wasn’t until 2000 that the LEGO Group decided to take a slice of the market with the introduction of LEGO Sports.

  Football (2000–2007)

  The sports toys were branded and marketed differently from the majority of LEGO ranges, with French footballer Zinedine Zidane adorning the boxes of most of the 2000 football sets (the Real Madrid alumni player was the face of LEGO Sports for a while, and was immortalized as a LEGO minifigure wearing his blue Adidas France strip, available in set 3401). The majority of the range focused on the action of football and the players rather than building and therefore contained only a small number of pieces. To keep keen LEGO builders happy, there were mid-size sets such as Football Team Coaches (3404, 3405, 3406, 3407) that included a small vehicle for the team, and set 3408—a pitch entranceway for the players to run out onto the field. The sets that brought the themes to life, such as Championship Challenge (3409), involved using specially designed kicking devices that minifigures could be mounted onto in order to kick the ball to each other and aim for the goal. These were also used in Point Shooting (3412) and Precision Shooting (3414) where a mini figure player aimed for a spinning football target while two rival players defend the goal nervously. In 2001 TLG released Women’s Team (3416), with six female minifigure players—the most female minifigures released in one set at that time. The pitches and players came with sticker sheets including sponsorship “banners” for Adidas, LEGOLAND, LEGO Arctic, MINDSTORMS, Technic, and LEGO Media, as well as country flag stickers and shirt numbers for the players.

  This 2002 Target Practice set (3424) was one of a number of LEGO football toys released to coincide with the 2002 World Cup. © Kent Quon

  To coincide with the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan, a large number of promotional sets were available through Kabaya Sweets and Coca-Cola in Japan. The new international releases included an updated Championship Challenge set (3420) and a three-aside version (3421). There was also the comical-looking new Shoot-n-Save (3422) that included a ball dispenser for the shooter and a motorized goalie with giant yellow hands to help him deflect the ball.

  Between 2003 and 2005, LEGO Sports turned to NBA basketball and NHL Hockey as well as new skateboarding and snowboarding toys. But football reappeared with three new toys in 2006 when the World Cup was hosted in Germany, one of which was a new stadium (3569) with floodlights, seats for supporters, scoreboards, and new defensive players that could move from left to right.

  Basketball (2003–2004)

  Following the success of the Football line, TLG joined forces with North America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) to produce a similar line of toys themed around the sport. Similar to the use of Zidane for football, boxes featured photographs of real NBA players in action (3433) and the sets’ basketballs, hoops, and courts were decorated with the NBA and ball manufacturer Spalding’s logos. Using spring mechanisms, this time in the legs of the players, minifigures were able to throw the ball to each other and aim for the basket. Slam-dunking was also made possible by another contraption that minifigures could be attached to and catapulted into the space by the net, as can be seen in NBA Slam Dunk (3427) and Ultimate Defence (3429). The largest set to showcase the NBA range was Ultimate NBA Arena (3433) with its curved end walls to stop the ball rolling out of court, and fan bleachers. The famous players on the court hailed from a number of real teams, and each came with their own recognizable basketball vest and a personalized face to reflect their own facial features, hair and skin tone—the first time non-yellow mini figures had appeared; the LEGO Group continued to use more realistic skin tones for some other themes, including Harry Potter and Indiana Jones sets. Some of the popular players to play in miniature with LEGO faces were Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, and Steve Nash. In the vein of popular American sports, TLG also produced eight collectible sets, each of which contained three NBA minifigures with a set of basketball cards and specially designed tiles to display the cards and minifigures together, as well as a set of five yellow minifigures with white jerseys and a sticker set featuring team names and numbers for all the NBA teams.

  Hockey (2003–2004)

  The year 2003 also saw the release of a range of ice hockey sets to widen the appeal of LEGO Sports. The hockey sets were endorsed by the National Hockey League and the NHL Players’ Association, but unlike football and basketball, the first hockey sets did not include any minifigures. Instead, designers had created new armored figures with hockey sticks made largely from Technic and BIONICLE pieces. The style of the figures varied between sets—the two players available with Game Set (3544) had vaguely humanoid faces and sticks that could be used to move the puck, whereas smaller sets 3557 and 3558 featured much simpler “players” that used their “legs” to maneuver the puck into the goal. Uniquely, four one-figure sets were packaged in water bottles and each was capable of performing a different shot with the puck, but in general the sets were criticized for not providing much play, considering the majority only came with one player. In 2004 TLG improved on these previous sets with the four-aside NHL Championship Challenge (3578) and two-player NHL Street Hockey (3579), two sets that featured minifigures mounted onto discs with poles that meant the puck could be moved around the ice (or road in 3579), similar to in a game of table football. The minifigures, while not based on famous players like those in the NBA sets, wore NHL shoulder and torso pads, and helmets with visors.

  Snowboarding/Skating (2003–2004)

  Bringing a bit of the extreme world of sports to LEGO toys were the various skate and snowboarding sets also released in 2003 under the “Gravity Games” logo—an extreme sport competition featuring an array of different summer and winter activities that ran from 1999–2006. The first sets included a snowboard jump ramp (3536), a skate ramp (3537), and a snowboarding mountain race (3538) complete with mini figure skaters and snowboarders and their brightly decorated boards. Some of the sets’ boxes featured photographs of professionals alongside their signature, adding credibility and kudos to the new sets. Unlike the other Sports sets, these featured fewer mechanisms and Technic parts and focused more on creative play than sporting competition.

  Train

  Some of the most animated LEGO convention displays of LEGO towns built by fans are based around spectacular train builds. LEGO Train fans even have their own events to display their latest work. After years of producing more simplified train sets, the LEGO Group finally responded to these fans who were demanding the return of more realistic models, with the release of the 9 volt Santa Fe Super Chief (10020) followed by the Santa Fe Cars Set (10022) both in 2002, and the well-loved Burlington Northern Santa Fe Locomotive (10133) in 2005. The fact that they were targeted at the 10+ age range rather than 7+ (the age recommendation for 2004 High Speed Train sets 10157 and 10158) may have dramatically reduced their sales potential and pushed TLG to evaluate the future of Train a few years later. Fans were given the opportunity to stretch their design models with the “My Own Train” website, which let them create and order their own customized steam locomotive from a variety of sizes and colors.

  By 2007 the company had discontinued the 9 volt trains, but not before replacing them with an entirely new system. LEGO Train sets were expensive, especially with the additional costs of extra track, carriages, and electronic components. In an effort to bring a new audience to LEGO Train and to make them more affordable, an infrared remote-controlled, battery-powered sys
tem was introduced under the “City” theme as mentioned earlier. Targeting ages five through twelve and six through twelve, these new trains, such as 2006’s Passenger Train (7897), were more child-friendly in both their design and operation—especially when compared to the attention to detail of the 2007 adult fan-created Hobby Train Set (10183). The remote-controlled system allowed more than one person to control trains independently from each other, something that was not possible with the 9 volt trains, but the infrared system was not as reliable as radio control, and the 1.5 volt AA batteries required made the trains less powerful than the 9 or 12 volt motors, which can cause problems for trains going up steep inclines.

  Although the remote-controlled train sets are still available, since 2009 there has been a shift toward the incorporation of LEGO Power Functions components to motorize trains. Power Functions, also used in Creator and Technic themes, is a cross-theme system that included a rechargeable lithium polymer battery box, an infrared receiver and remote control that allowed you to operate four different models simultaneously, and different sized motors to power your creations. These, combined with new plastic flexible train tracks that gave builders more control over the shape of their layout, made up the new Train system. The first Train set available that accommodated this technology was the Emerald Night (10194), released in 2009. Returning to where LEGO Train started with a steam engine, this was also the first train, and the first LEGO model, to incorporate large piston-powered wheels—the design was developed with input from some of the theme’s biggest fans. The look and feel of the Emerald Night is in keeping with the realistic-looking trains from the late 1980s and ‘90s, but the cost, unfortunately, of the Power Functions system was significantly higher.