A Look Back: 1992 LEGO Magazine (Featuring Town!)

Back in 1992, LEGO didn't have the CITY theme that we know today.  Instead, LEGO had the Town theme (with one of the big differences between the two themes being the scale).  Most CITY vehicles are at least six studs wide while most Town vehicles were only four studs wide.  Even so, with a little modification you can make the old Town sets work fine within today's modern CITY layout.

Of course, back in 1992 we didn't know about LEGO's future plans.  Instead, all we had to go off of was their super sweet magazine showing off the sets that were currently available for sale.

Like the first few pages of the magazine, LEGO introduces the theme with a short little blurb (in this case, basically laying out the various subthemes for the year including Nautica, RSQ911, Flight, and Race).

As a kid, I remember looking longingly at the Launch & Load Seaport.  I always loved boats and I though that set looked awesome.  I also was interested in the Pier Police set a lot since I owned the Coastal Cutter (which was another police boat).  It's strange to think that the only "bad guys" set here is the Dark Shark - a far cry from today's CITY line-up which features tons of cops and robbers!

On the next page, we get some of the "regular" town sets including the Suf 'N Sail Camper set which my brother owned when we were kids.  When I flipped to this page as I was preparing this post, it was amazing that I still remember looking at that image of the Octan trucker heading up the pine-tree-lined hill.  A cool image for sure - and probably a big reason why I love LEGO trees so much today!

The next page of the magazine features Flight and RSQ 911.

On the flight side, the biggest, baddest set there is the Airport Shuttle.  I imagine every LEGO fan that's ever been alive has wanted that set at some point in their lifetime.  I know I sure did!  I also wanted the International Airport set - so many base plates in that one!   The only set on this page that I actually did own (and still own to this day) is the Space Shuttle set.  That set was always a favorite of mine - one of the true treasures of my childhood (and the set design looks just as good today as it did 25 years ago if you ask me).  My brother owned both the little Rescue Runabout (I think?) and the Flame Chaser helicopter.  I am also fairly certain that we both thought the color scheme of the Trauma Team set was hideous (it's one of the few sets in the magazine that I distinctly remember not wanting).

Finally, we end with the Race subtheme.

I didn't own any of these sets (though I did almost buy the Checkered Flag 500 set off of eBay a few months ago...kind of sorry I didn't now that I see the images again)!  My brother had both the Mag Racer and the Mud Runner - but if I had my choice of the smaller vehicles I would have gone with the overly patriotic Screaming Patriot set for sure!

That's it for the Town subtheme, though the next page of the magazine features sets that I consider going with Town (Boats and Trains to be precise).  If you enjoyed this look back, I encourage you to also check out the Castle section of the magazine and the Space/Pirates section.

Comments

  1. Wow, that takes me back. I had (well, have) several of these including that fire station and the airport. The fire station was a Christmas present when I was about 7 or 8, and the airport was a gift out of nowhere from my dad. I can't recall any special occasion that prompted it.

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  2. I'm jealous of the airport for sure - it's one of those sets that I'd love to track down someday for my own collection. Very cool indeed.

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