The 10 Awesomest Lego Sets (You) Ever Made
Posted at 5:02 AM Sep 03, 2008
By Brian Heiler
Scientists say atoms are the building blocks of life. But ask any 8-year-old, and he'll tell you the truth—Legos are the building blocks of life. There's hardly a child on the planet that hasn't played with these multi-colored, Danish-made hunks of plastic, and very few parents that haven't screamed profanity when they step on an unseen brick in the middle of the night. Even before Lego started grabbing the license to kid-friendly properties like Star Wars, Batman and Harry Potter, kids were happy enough to build cities, medieval kingdoms, pirate coves and more—or just make badass cars, ram them into each other as hard as possible, and watch them explode. Today, we celebrate the 10 greatest Lego sets ever made (just watch where you step).
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10) Hogwart’s Castle
Four words: Lego stained glass windows. Even if you aren't a Potter-phile, this massive castle playset has four levels and a ton of series-authentic rooms, including the clock tower, the Gryffindor tower, Dumbledore’s office and the greenhouse—which wasn’t even in the movie. Plus, the set came with two Lego Dementors, to teach children what Lego fear was.
9) Barracuda Pirate Ship
Long before Johnny Depp captured our attention (and our hearts, swoon!) as Captain Jack Sparrow, Lego knew pirates were totally awesome. The Danish company has been making killer pirate-themed Lego set for decades, but none more majestic than the Barracuda. Along with a killer design, this set had a multitude of great pieces including working cannons, a sexy girl pirate (as far as Lego People go) and a monkey!
8) Ninja Flying Fortress
Four words: Ninjas with hang gliders. It’s hard to improve upon the perfection of the ninja, but Lego did the impossible by giving them the power of flight in this set. The fortress itself has a lot going for it, including an army of men for the ninjas to kill silently in the dark, flip walls, a trap door, and even a jail.
7) Indiana Jones and the Lost Tomb
This summer’s Indiana Jones film may not have made everybody happy, but seeing Indiana Jones—complete with whip—in Lego form brings a smile to even the most bitter nerd's face. This great set feature Indy and Marion as they try to get the chest while avoiding the poisonous Lego snakes that fall from the ceiling! Lego Indy has to bring down the Anubis statue to reveal a hidden passage, complete with skeleton. Hell, it's already more exciting than Crystal Skull.
6) Forestman’s River Fortress
Robin Hood doesn’t have the popularity it once enjoyed 40 years ago, but that didn’t stop Lego from hitting it out of the park with sets like this River Fortress. Despite its lack of an interior (which I guess you could just build yourself) this set is smack dab in the middle of a river (hence the blue base). It has a jail, a working drawbridge and portcullis, plenty of branches for Robin and his merry men to gad about on or fire arrows from, and a barrel raft.
5) Shark’s Crystal Cave
Two words: shark submarine. It's kind of amazing no other toy company thought of this sooner, but Lego had a license to print money with this Aqua Zone submersible which could be used in the tub or the pool. Hell, this thing is so bad-ass it should come with a Lego version of James Bond to pilot it.
4) Black Monarch’s Castle
Very few companies do castle better than Lego, and this evil fortress is absolutely the pinnacle. Simple, austere, it doesn't get any more iconic than this set, with its jet black exterior, three towers, arched windows, guards, knights, archers and more. It's 20 years old this year—time for Lego to give this bad boy a re-release.
3) Batcave
The Batcave is always a fun toy concept, but Lego went nuts with this set. The four areas include Batman's computer, a chamber which transforms Bruce Wayne into Batman, a jail (with a secret entrance), a launching pad with the Batwing, areas to hod the Batboat and Batmobile (sold separately), a rocket launcher, a net, and more. That's not even counting the figures, including Batman, Robin, Bruce, an adorable Alfred, and two villains, including Mr. Freeze and the Penguin. The Penguin even comes with his own submarine and three rocket-powered attack penguins. You know what? Four words: rocket powered attack penguins.
2) Galaxy Explorer
While Lego's Star Wars products are swell, it's a shame the company has given up making its own space-themed sets, because their awesome "Space Lego" series ruled the late '70s and early '80s. When the space-faring yellow bastards wanted to cruise, they hopped in their Galaxy Explorer. This massive ship came with a separate moon base and a tiny moon buggy, which could drive right into the ship. It very much sums up a time when we could look to the future with hope instead of general dread.
1) Death Star
Four words: best Death Star ever. Seriously—no Kenner or Hasbro toy has more rooms from the movies. And at 16 inches tall, it's got more play value than most other Lego sets combined. At five levels and two sides, the set includes the trash compactor, hangar, Emperor's throne room, detention block, conference room, and firing superlaser. Plus, it has 24—two frickin' dozen—figures, including Grand Moff Tarkin. Admittedly, this set isn't available until September 16th, but we're very confident it's earned its rank.
Comments
So happy we got to see that guy's back yard.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 06:50:59 AM2) Galaxy Explorer is funny
Posted 09/03/2008 at 06:59:13 AMGalaxy Explorer FTW! Best lego set ever, and one of the first "modern" sets that featured pieces that weren't just square blocks and brought some semblance of aerodynamics to the lego universe. It even had hinges (swoon!) for the buggy bay doors and ramp.A true classic.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 07:13:17 AMI actually had the Galaxy Explorer, it was a lot of fun. Cool that it made it onto your list.
And I sooooo much want the Bat Cave lego set.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 07:51:36 AMEverybody's going to have their own favorites, but you did a good job picking ten sets from the past 30 years and from across Lego's many different themes. Some people will probably argue with you that Town has been unjustly omitted, but we all know that theme had the most boring sets. Yay, I'm getting my car washed. zzzzzz
And I like that you didn't just go with the sets that people love more out of nostalgia, like the Big Yellow Castle. That was a great set, but later castles like Black Monarch's were improvements on the idea. The current King's Castle Siege is a return to form and worth looking at, too. The Lego Knights are now fighting skeletons, which is Jason and the Argonuats awesome.
Props for including the Galaxy Explorer! I'm trying to keep the legacy of Classic Space alive with the photo-comic I do: http://www.drunkduck.com/Lego_Space
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:01:40 AMAs a kid that grew up in the early 90's, I absolutely loved Black Tron, Space Police, Ice Planet, Spyrius, and of course Pirates.
Thus, the big lego pirate ship I had was not the 1989 Black Seas Barracuda, pictured here, but the 1993 Skulls Eye Schooner, which had four cannons and black & white striped sails.
http://www.brickset.com/detail.aspx?Set=6286-1
But my absolute favorite set of all time was the Deep Freeze Defender.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:09:32 AMhttp://www.brickset.com/detail.aspx?Set=6973-1
But yeah, I was a more fan of "vehicle" sets, I never had any of the "bases", as they were more expensive.
also, in ice planet, they had ORANGE TRANSLUCENT CHAINSAWS!!!!
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:15:21 AMI had that pirate ship, it was brilliant.
Actually me and my brother had one each, I think his was the Barracuda, mine was the next step down so wasn't quite as cool.
And he wouldn't let me play with his so we didn't have any awesome ship battles either >_>
Posted 09/03/2008 at 10:23:18 AMNo, no, no, no and fucking no.
seriously, LEGO sets suck ass, you can make a grand total of one thing... woopity fucking doo... I honestly, hated these and always ended up getting the giant sets of generics. You could build what ever you want, you know, imagination and all that shit.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 01:12:05 PMThe Blacktron Base
Pirate Treasure Monkey Island
The Bigger Pirate Ship
Dragon Wizards Castle
The Town Airport
None of those are probably the real names, but anyone who grew up in the late 80s/early 90s will know what I'm sayin. Despite the product tie ins of the modern lego era, they just can't compare to the glory days. Old space, old pirates, old knights > Star Wars, New pirates/castle and batman.
captcha: The Force In
Posted 09/03/2008 at 03:30:57 PM(thats what she said)
i still want that god damn forestmans river fortress. still.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 07:55:06 PMI don't have the pieces anymore - was passed down to younger siblings - but I have my own legos now - but growing up I had the Galaxy Explorer - Black Monarch's Castle - and Forestman’s River Fortress.
Good list.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:27:36 PMmy favorite one is the death star. either that or the working lego guillotine i made when i was a kid.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dfault312/Clips#5242004718975255874
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:36:55 PMdude i had ever lego kit on that list wow i feel really spoiled now
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:41:33 PMdude... you forgot the exploreans! I had everything from the scorpion detector to the mothership..
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:46:20 PMfour words: four words four times.
four words: stop saying four words.
four words: it's annoying as hell.
four words: and it's very repetitive.
Oh, I'm sorry. You used "two words" once, too.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:52:12 PMI had that pirate ship! It's actually sitting in my closet right now in pieces. I wonder if I can reassemble it now without instructions?
Posted 09/03/2008 at 08:58:34 PMDude, you completely forgot to mention that the Monarch Castle EXPANDS!!!!! That's what was truly badass about it, is that you could take the castle and open out the walls to make it longer out and place it against a wall to create a moordoor-type behemoth.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:01:37 PMGalaxy Explorer, FTW, seconded!
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:18:24 PMOK... that is a solid list and I have a few things from that.... but you TOTALLY forgot the Lego Train sets. I had some of that with the town and then out of random pieces I made a harbor for it all... like it was badass and owned my basement for a solid number of years.
The shark sub thing was cool, but there was a better and bigger underwater submarine research facility that was way cooler and harder to build.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:19:10 PMPlastwood's magnetic toys are better. They're much harder to build things with.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:22:30 PMi had the large pirate ship that took me 8 straight hours to build. years later it was in my moms garage while i was away at college and my step-dad bumped into the ship and it fell to the ground and busted it into a million pieces. i still havent forgiven him. i also had the electric train...super cool. as an adult i have been buying and building the lego robots, but my goal is to get the death star. at almost 300 bones its pretty pricey and my girlfriend refuses to buy it for me. but it will be mine one day...oh yes...it will be mine!
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:36:07 PMwhere is the airport? the airport should definitely be included.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:38:23 PMMan! Where is the monorail! That was the best kit ever!!!!
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:40:38 PMNo Techinic sets...WTF...so many fond memories of sticking the motor into my sisters hair.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:49:04 PMAlso this space set was one of my favorites... http://www.brickset.com/detail.aspx?Set=6783-1
I had #4, #6, and #9. Oh, the care free days of legos...
Posted 09/03/2008 at 09:56:04 PMThere never was, is, or will be another Lego piece that can beat the four-armed (and mini-fig hand equipped) monkey that was complete with a tail that could curl around swords or paddles.
Never.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 10:17:07 PMWow, I remember Galaxy Explorer to this day. Everything that Erichansa said in the comments brought back those suppressed memories. Man, I'm getting old!
Posted 09/03/2008 at 10:17:26 PMHell Yeah! Some of the best Lego set-ups indeed! The Ninja Flying Fortress, the Bat Cave, the Death Star, need say no more....
Posted 09/03/2008 at 11:22:19 PMI had a smaller version of the Lego shark submarine played with it for days then I dropped it.....fucking yes now I get to build it again.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 11:29:10 PMI'm lots older than most of the sets on this list. I'm not such a fan of the large, specialised pieces.
My fave growing up was the moon base. It was blue and had sort of tripod legs.
But of all sets ever, it has to be the large Star Wars X-Wing; took me evenings for a week to build it when I bought it about 5 years ago. Fantastic model.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 11:35:52 PMIf only they had a hybrid LEGO passenger vehicle set....
Posted 09/03/2008 at 11:54:14 PMTHE PLURAL OF 'LEGO' IS 'LEGO' FFS!! If I read the word 'Legos' one more time on the internet I will scream.
Posted 09/03/2008 at 11:57:48 PMI reallllly wanted that galaxy explorer one,
more than wanting to stay up late...
and thats saying a lot.
never got it though....
i think its high time i dug out my box of lego from the attic.....
Posted 09/04/2008 at 01:45:06 AMThat death star looks like a beast of a lego set. Also, as a kid I had the galaxy explorer. Man, I loved legos growing up.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 02:53:41 AMWhat about the 600€ Lego Millenium Falcon?
Posted 09/04/2008 at 03:31:42 AMGalaxy Explorer LL-928!! I STILL have this set in a big bag with all my old lego sets.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 09:14:08 AMOMG!!! THANK GOD FOR THIS LIST! except you missed a couple..THE MONORAIL AND THE 6 WHEELED SPACE VEHICLE WITH THE SEE-THRU GLOBE COCKPIT, AND THE TOWN AIRPORT.
Does anyone remember the name of the company in the "town" set?.."Octa" something?
Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:11:49 AMi love the hogwarts set!
Posted 09/04/2008 at 11:24:58 AMwow! I totally had the Galaxy Cruiser! Awesome article, brings back repressed memories... I also had the moonbase from the same series. Do a follow-up, please!
Posted 09/04/2008 at 12:35:31 PMActually, LEGO does still make their own space themed sets, and I've gotten several of them for my son. They are called Mars Mission. We just built one that has two mini ships that detach from the front, and has a rover that lowers from the bottom in a little retractable platform. We've also built a Mars Mission base that pretty awesome.
Another good set from present day that's GREAT for getting "special pieces" from is the Aqua Raiders underwater base.
I had a LOT of the original 70's/80's Space ones (including the Galaxy Explorer), and got my son a couple of good ones off of Ebay last year for Christmas. Overall, I still think they were the best that LEGO ever made... there was just something so PERFECT about them, from the logos to the color schemes to the shapes of the parts.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 03:41:17 PMYet another thanks for posting the Galaxy Cruiser. You just re-hooked some neurons that hadn't been used for about 25 years. A great set. I also ended up with about 3 other moon sets - I had quite a track of that grey plastic moon floor.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 06:31:33 PMBack in the old days (the 1970's) when Lego mostly made collections of pieces, rather than kits, one of their early kits was an old locomotive, the Thatcher Perkins. It was a very good challenge at the time.
Posted 09/04/2008 at 10:40:38 PMHow about any of the Space Police (either version), Blacktron, and Ice Planet sets? Or M-Tron? All the Space sets mix well together, as evidenced by a massive Space Police HQ I created and built years ago. Won $100 for it in a contest!
Posted 09/05/2008 at 06:29:14 AMSorry, but the Cosmic Fleet Voyager had the Galaxy Explorer beat hands-down.
And what about M-Tron? I had that enormous 6-wheeled beast (I think it was called the Mega Core Magnetizer).
Good times in late 80's/early 90's.
Posted 09/05/2008 at 08:17:42 AMMe and my friends, ages 8 or 9, had more fun with our Lego sets than anything else. It wa a game, a very involved and complex one. Each of us, or sometimes teams of two, would begin with an equal (sometimes drafted) share of base pieces and with them construct our rival civilizations, bartering and battling over many hours, sometimes days, until one culture emerged victorious in wealth or empire.
Over the course of a game, orders and patterns emerged spontaneously, just as they would in the real world - technologies, cultures, laws, systems of barter. Convoluted rules or dice rolling would have been unnecessary.
Parents, if you only give your son or daughter one thing, make it a Lego set.
Posted 09/16/2008 at 01:55:29 AMwow
Posted 06/23/2009 at 08:29:41 PM