With the unveiling of the new LEGO House exclusive set, 40506 A Fabuland Tribute, Blocks is listing some other beloved classic themes that deserve to be revisited with the modern parts palette.
Love of the LEGO hobby can last a lifetime, and whether it’s a trip on 497 Galaxy Explorer or a rosette at 3942 Heartlake Dog Show, it all starts somewhere. Every fan has that one set, theme or minifigure that caught their heart and made a fan for life.
Nostalgia for retired themes has resulted in designers including Bionicle-print torsos, Fabuland posters and Exo-Force mechs in modern sets. Classic characters have returned, from Ultra Agents’ Toxikita to the ultimate gent, Johnny Thunder in City. Full-scale reimaginings such as 10305 Lion Knights’ Castle have brought classic themes to a new audience.
Castle and Space sets have enjoyed a more extensive revival in recent years, but now LEGO House is launching 40506 A Fabuland Tribute and there are many other themes that could do with a revivial. After all, the LEGO hobby is more than stars and anvils – every fan has their own favourite theme.
Here are five LEGO themes that are due for a tribute set…
LEGO Western
Running from 1996 to 1998, Western – also known as Wild West – might seem anachronistic to modern eyes. While the intervening years have brought us regular deconstructions of the Old West, revivals and spiritual descendants including Firefly and Red Dead Redemption, at the time, the classic Western genre has largely been out of favour.
While licensed sets based on Toy Story (2010) and The Lone Ranger (2013) play off their own nostalgia, the most recent attempts at revisiting Western come from the fan-sourced Bricklink Designer Program, with 910031 General Store (2024) and the upcoming 910044 Wild West Train. These sets stay close to the Saturday matinée serial format that inspired the original theme, offering detailed display sets with spot-on design. However, the crowdfunded nature of the Bricklink Designer Program limits the sets to short production runs, with narrow windows of availability.
A more formal LEGO tribute would offer fans the chance to buy sets in a modern style on a longer schedule, with the added benefit of being created and rigorously tested by professional LEGO designers.
An updated version of 6755 Sheriff’s Lock-Up might be a good place to start, with its outdoor hoosegow integrated into the main building (while retaining the bust-out play feature). Alternatives might involve a street scene with raised buildings (along the lines of 6765 Gold City Junction), a mine controlled by a robber baron or a homestead targeted by cattle rustlers, evoking classic Western television shows such as the earnest Rifleman or the light-hearted Hopalong Cassidy, the latter of which would give us the Gabby Hayes minifigure fans have long needed (Stinky Pete does not count).
LEGO Legends of Chima
This fantasy theme starring anthropomorphic animals ran from 2013 to 2015, with a dynamic eco-spiritual story of coexisting animal tribes that deepened with each wave. The detailed minifigures wore expressive faces under unique moulded headgear. Vehicle builds and playsets with evocative, easily to decode designs stood alongside brick-built animals and mechs, plus buildable figures based on the Character and Creature Building System (CCBS).
A tribute or revival set would need to capture the idiosyncrasy of Chima, realising and updating the essential design details of each tribe. NINJAGO, Monkie Kid and DREAMZzz each provide a template for mechs, beasts and lively brick-built characters that blend mechanical detail with organic shapes. Inspiration might be drawn from 71478 The Never Witch’s Midnight Raven, 80043 Yellow Tusk Elephant or 71458 Crocodile Car to recreate builds from 70221 Flinx’s Ultimate Phoenix, 70227 King Crominus’ Rescue or 70145 Maula’s Ice Mammoth Stomper.
The minifigures might prove trickier – while many armour and accessory pieces either remain in production or have been upgraded since 2015, the bespoke heads representing the characters would certainly be too expensive to reproduce. Standard minifigure heads, while characterful, would risk disappointing old-school fans. However, The LEGO Group currently has a strong selection of both headgear accessories and fully moulded heads across both licensed and unlicensed themes. Dungeons & Dragons’ Aarakocra Ranger would make an excellent Eagle Tribesman, Monkie Kid’s Yellow Tusk offers a trunk piece for Maula, while NINJAGO’s Lord Ras and his Wolf Mask Warriors could provide intimidating Tiger and Wolf heads.
While the effort needed to bring it back, even for a single set, might make the LEGO Group blanche, the unique design sensibility makes Legends of Chima a rich and exciting theme to contemplate (then track down on the aftermarket).
Upgrade your LEGO hobby! If you take out a subscription to Blocks, the monthly LEGO magazine, you’ll get each issue first and at a discount, plus other perks including a free digital subscription and the chance to win LEGO prizes every month.
LEGO Rock Raiders
Rock Raiders (1999 – 2002) tells a tale of working-class heroes struggling against hostile entities in dangerous extraterrestrial environments. When examining the sets, what stands out most is the compatibility. Each character has a vehicle, each vehicle does a job. Together, they find the rocks, raid the rocks and return to base relatively unscathed. Their teamwork offers the kind of play that rewards sharing, not just between characters, but between builders – siblings, friends, parents and children.
A tribute set, adapting 4980 The Tunnel Transport for example, would benefit from retaining that core modular design. The recent 10335 Blacktron Renegade would make a strong touchstone, offering as it does both utility, with an elegant press-fit pick-up/drop-off feature, and configurability. Taking advantage of modern parts to add bulk and mechanical detail, a Rock Raiders set designed along modular lines could incorporate a larger version of 4940 The Granite Grinder alongside detachable versions of 4910 The Hover Scout and 4950 The Loader-Dozer. It would be impossible to adapt the whole theme into a single playset, but including a scaled-up brick-built Rock Monster or making it compatible with the Technic pin junction panel (element 49699) used by modern Space would make up for that.
Rock Raiders makes a logical extension to the revived Space theme. For a LEGO theme set in space, it’s refreshingly down-to-earth. As an action-driven story, grungy but not grim and avoiding the trickier environmental questions raised by its 2009 successor Power Miners, Rock Raiders easily dovetails with Space in an enriching way. By making the galaxy feel built on sustained effort, the LEGO Space future would seem more within reach and less abstract. Star Trek did it – why not LEGO sets?
LEGO Studios
Another short-lived theme, but one forever ready for its close up, LEGO Studios ran from 2002 to 2003, smashing the fourth wall by inspiring builders to make their own LEGO brick films with popular characters Johnny Thunder and Pippin Reed, classic Hollywood horror monsters, characters from Jurassic Park and characters from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Sets utilised a mix of buildable and printed backdrops, while 1349 Steven Spielberg Moviemaker Set even came with a System-compatible digital camera to film your magnum opus.
A modern homage to this inspiring theme might be expected to incorporate a digital component, ala the discontinued 70820 LEGO Movie Maker. The maintenance that would incur, not to mention any copyright-baiting content uploaded to social media, may not be seen as worth it. Existing apps, such as Aardman Animator, pick up where the LEGO Group’s efforts left off.
Brick-built facades and accessory packs, simplified for versatility and efficient part usage, could seek to evoke classic LEGO themes or be incorporated with your collection. An array of minifigure parts and props would allow for the creation of a custom troupe, so builders could cast themselves as, for example, Jenni Thunder and Clutch Parminder.
Obviously a dedicated camera isn’t needed anymore as you can use your phone, so a brick-and-Technic-built phone stand could be included, as in 853702 Movie Maker Set.
LEGO Elves
While LEGO Friends is full of fun times and fantastic builds, the majority of sets are concerned with real-life routine – school, work, play. Before Wicked, Wednesday and Disney, Elves delivered a story-driven fantasy world with beautiful models in an array of colours.
At first glance, the 2015 – 2018 theme bears a striking resemblance to DREAMZzz and NINJAGO. There are location builds, brick-built dragons, flying horses and villages full of magical creatures to befriend. There’s even a giant catapault for Castle fans! The Jones sisters are less fantastical than Mateo and his friends, but the resemblance is uncanny. The rich graphic design and elaborate decoration make Elves a wonderfully storybook theme, and it’s a shame it didn’t last longer.
A tribute set should definitely offer a detailed, intricate building with a mythical beast to sit alongside it. Both aspects of the theme are essential, so it wouldn’t be complete without both.