2022 is a monumental year for LEGO – everyone’s favourite toy brand turns 90 (!) next year and to celebrate its decades of heritage, LEGO is giving its fans unprecedented power – the ability to vote for one of 30 Classic Themes to be reimagined as a single new product for the 2022 Lego Adult Portfolio.
And yes, that means exactly what it reads. If you want Classic Space (or Castle, or Bionicles) to get the Pirates of Barracuda Bay treatment – this is your opportunity to make your voice heard.
Check out the LEGO Ideas blog for more and cast your vote!
The 30 Themes
- Trains
- Town
- Classic Space
- Classic Castle
- Lion Knights
- Black Falcons
- Model Team
- Forestmen
- Blacktron
- Black Knights
- Pirates
- Imperials
- Space Police
- M-Tron
- Wolfpack
- Paradisa
- Dragon Knights
- Ice Planet
- Aquazone
- Spyrius
- Exploriens
- Time Cruisers
- Divers
- Adventurers
- Xtreme Team
- Rock Raiders
- Studios
- Bionicle
- Arctic
- Alpha Team
Here’s a gallery of all eligible themes!
How will voting work?
There will be 2 rounds – the first round, where LEGO fans will be able to pick from one of 30 Classic Themes that LEGO have handpicked. Voting runs from 17 – 25 January 2021, and the results will be completely transparent.
The top three themes from this fan vote will then go into the Round 2, where LEGO fans will vote again on 3 February 2021.
The exact wording of how the winning set will be determined is pretty tricky, and nebulous:
We will run this fan vote of all 30 themes from today the 17th of January 2021, to the 25th of January 2021. Then on February 3rd 2021, we will launch a second fan vote of the top three themes from this fan vote which will run until February 10th 2021. One of these three themes will be what the 90th Anniversary Set will be based on, but we still want to know what the most popular of the final three is!
It’s pretty strange, but the way I’m reading it is that the Top 3 themes voted will be considered, but it will ultimately be LEGO’s prerogative on which theme actually becomes the 90th Anniversary set.
Unfortunately, this vote will not be transparent, so it’s still a little bit of a secret. Also, for extra secrecy, the winner of the 2nd round vote will be kept secret, until the reveal of the set in 2022.
All voting will occur on the LEGO Ideas website
Now, fans will be a little disappointed that the second (and most important round’s) vote results will be kept secret, but I have a great reason why.
It’s not going to be a secret because ICE PLANET is going to embarrass every other theme in the final round.
Seriously, if you consider yourself a Jay’s Brick Blog reader you better vote for Ice Planet above all else, even Classic Space and Castle.
In all honesty, taking predictions for the Top 3 themes – I think we’ll see Classic Space, Castle and maybe even a darkhorse candidate like Bionicle.
Bonus prediction – I think Bionicle will end up trouncing Classic Space in the finals BUT because of the opaque nature of the final decision, I have a hunch that Classic Space has already been decided as the eventual winner.
It’ll be interesting to see the fandoms duke it out!
Let me know in the comments what you’re voting for!
My favourite lego sets are town. Paradisa. Classic Space.Classic Castle.Pirates.Studios. Adventurers. and the I would like to see the old road Bass plates
More medieval castles. Star wars. Architecture fuller size and w/o region theme.
Black-Knights castle 6086 is still unbeaten
there are no words to describe how touched i’m because of 6086
Hmm, now I see that the top image features Galidor, Clikits and Western as well as two Monorail sets unlikely to ever be remade. Could Jay be pulling off a minifig leg?
Haha, I made that image before the Top 30 themes were revealed (we weren’t told beforehand), so those were tongue-in-cheek inclusions! Still a bummer Western wasn’t included in the vote though.
There’s a theory that Western was excluded, due to the Native American issue having become so sensitive.
Although I don’t think the Western theme ever was marketed as “Cowboys Vs. Indians” to begin with. Cowboys and Indians were two different subthemes. The Indians subtheme featured a lot of pop cultural misconceptions of cultural traditions stemming from tribes living very far apart, such as mixing teepees and totem poles, but they never included any white frontiersmen for play conflict.
I think alpha team is the best due to the fact that it is accessible everyone(just in case the kids want to participate as well). 😉
I think alpha team is the best due to the fact that it is accessible to all ages (just in case the kids want to participate as well). 😉
I personally think that Alpha Team is the work for all ages so I choose Alpha Team.
There are no wrong answers here, and who’s to argue with how much fun Alpha Team was 🙂
For me it has to be Classic space or Classic Castle.
I have the original Yellow Lego Castle 375, with only 3 missing pieces after all this time (excluding the shields for the knights – some of those have broken through being trodden on). As one of the three original themes/environments that Lego created, I think it makes sense that the anniversary set is one of those themes.
Which is also why I’d love a Classic Space set as well… Space is the theme that I played with the most. I’ve always loved Sci-Fi and Lego Space was the way that I could play out the adventures in those stories.
My space collection hasn’t fared as well over the years, but I still have most of Beta 1 Command Base, although many of the pieces have teeth marks or are warped through the hours I played with them.
Of the three themes, Classic Castle proper felt kinda underdeveloped, though, with its blocky horses and rubber tires. And excluding international variants, it only contained three sets and three minifigure packs, in all.
The later Castle sets, released between 1984 and 1997 feel a lot more like ‘proper’ Castle sets to me.
Early Town was also a bit underdeveloped, with many sets feeling as if the designers just slabbed a minifig onto a predesigned vehicle without them actually being compatible, but the theme picked up steam quite quickly, without any feeling that the theme was ever completely rebooted as Castle was in 1984.
I’m with you on Classic Space, though. It felt as the most developed theme of the three, already from the beginning.
Oh that’s so nice – I really think that Classic Space is predestined to win, judging by how the rules are set up 🙂
It’s really about time we get an updated base – we have already had the pleasure of Benny’s Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship, so now all we need is a proper moon base!
I have my doubts about Bionicle, since Lego doesn’t seem to have produced a single CCBS-based set since 2018, and the molds have possibly been scrapped. All the other themes seem to be primarily System-based and wouldn’t require a lot of new molds for a passable hommage set.
That said, I voted for Blacktron, Exploriens and Forestmen, with Futuron as an additional personal request…
I am certain we’ll get some sort of Bionicle homage set soon. The last reboot wasn’t that long ago, so I assume that a lot of moulds are still around, and this certainly seems to be a way to “test the market” and appetite for Bionicle.
Between this and LEGO granting permission to the Quest for Mata Nui fan-made game… and their increased focus on 18+ / vintage sets, I could see them releasing a 18+ Bionicle set. Certainly not as a 90th Anniversary celebration, as you’d expect a System set to represent LEGO’s heritage better, but yeah, this sends a really strong signal to LEGO that people want Bionicle to return in some form.
Great picks! I’m still deciding on my 3rd vote, after Ice Planet and Classic Space!
Now I also realize that the exclusion of Futuron, and the inclusion of the arguably less classic Exploriens and Spyrius (Please don’t bite me…) probably is most likely due to the Monorail. It’s the most classic set in the theme, and it’s hard to do a Futuron tribute without a monorail, but Lego has stated repeatedly that the Monorail was just too expensive to produce.
But I just had in mind the slick white-trans blue color scheme and a ship and a base with red, orange and purple Futuron staff. (The gold on the newer Green Futuron and Space Police I minifigs is less shiny, though. Not sure if it was too expensive to produce, or if it was likely to fade, such as early Classic Space and Lion Knight torsos.)
why hate Lego 18+, is really bad
I’m just not a fan of the bland box designs.
Classic Town and Legoland sets with 4studs wide vehicles! The only ones that fit in Lego road plates!
Ciassic Road Plates, or those newer ones 👀
Ice planet is by far the one. I had the complete set as a child and would love to have a revamped one as an adult. Lego is very therapeutical and a new and improved Ice Planet would be amazing.
Thank you! There are dozens of us!
Train
A very popular choice. I sure hope we get some awesome trains this year as part of the 18+ theme.
LEGO system model team 5571 trailer truck.
Always loved admiring it in the LEGO catalogues I had!
Not enough love here for Paradisa – the first real crossover into “girl” Lego and the theme that laid the foundations for what has become Friends, an absolute powerhouse in the current product range.
That said, you can never have too many trains or enough Classic Space. Or Castle. And how do I vote for a monorail??
Decisions, decisions ;).
Count me in as a Paradisa fan! Thankfully, like you said, the theme’s spiritual successor is Friends. I would love to see iconic sets like Poolside Paradise and Sand Dollar cafe revived via Friends!
Unfortunately, three of Paradisa’s core colors have now been replaced; Paradisa Pink, Light Green and Medium Green.
Paradisa Pink’s been replaced with current (Light) Pink, which is possibly a better-looking color, brighter and less yellowish, but the other two are more tricky. Possibly Light Green could be replaced with Spring Yellowish Green and Medium Green with Lime as passable substitutes…
(At the time, it unfortunately had the side effect of nicheing Paradisa even further into its own corner, with most baseplates being very difficult to combine with the classic Green colors in the main Town theme, without abrupt color transitions…)
Oh good point. Who knows with LEGO though – there are a lot of millennial LEGO designers who are undoubtedly fuelled by nostalgia, so I hope we might get to see some of these colours back.
I think having Paradisa in its own corner is a good thing as it really maintains its uniqueness, and identity that’s not easily replicated with today’s colour palette.
Even when in practical use, Light and Medium Green came in few basic parts, so it’s pretty hard using plates and tiles to create natural gradients between the different greens as well. Bright Green has a more decent selection.
But yeah, I’d be happy to see at least Medium Green return, and I’m also interested in some proper Reddish Orange, as it seems to be the only tertiary color left behind currently.
You can add Monorail in the additional subthemes requet panel after the vote. Just keep in mind that the chances would be slimmer than a Giacometti MOC…
Lego city ,lego speed champion un lego technic
Es dievinu lego
Seems like “Es dievinu lego” is Latvian for “I adore/ love Lego”.
Bionicle pls I love them as a kid I still do I’ve been building since I was about 4 now I’m 18 and I love them even more
Bionicle is going to surprise everyone. I would love to see a really massive 18+ Bionicle set – the fans deserve it.
How about making an nhl areana series.
Well, don’t forget LEGO’s collab with Adidas – hopefully this means more sports-themed sets!
I’m surprised we haven’t seen a CMF or City basketballer yet. I’ve figured basketball is pretty much a Top 5 team sport in every single country in Lego’s core markets in North America and Europe.
And that the rugby ball part yet hasn’t seen a recolor as an American football. The popularity of A football in Europe is pretty negligible, but so i basically even rugby outside of the UK and France, and I’d say A football is more iconic, due to American pop culture.
Ice planet all the way! Nothing to do with your prompting, it’s my favorite childhood theme besides Pirates and we got an awesome Pirates set this year.
Thanks for voting Ice Planet!
Trains and Model Team. My first ever set was Model Team and I just love trains!
Oh, I could never afford those Model Team sets, but I always remember how good they looked in the catalogues!
It wasn’t until just now that I realized Ninjago is not Bionicle.
Bionicle pls I love them as a kid I still do I’ve been building since I was about 4 now I’m 18 and I love them even more
That’s the quickest way to offend two of LEGO’s most vocal fanbases. Impressive!
Classic space! Throw in SPACE FORCE dreams of this kid generation and it will be a sure winner.
Classic Space set with a rainbow unit of Astronauts is the stuff of dreams.
The Mono rail tram
You’re a man of exceptional taste.
6080. Somehow in all my moves i have misplaced the entire set. It astarted my love of study of middle ages writings and the icelandic sagas as well as an Arthurian study.
Such a classic! Also loved how generous they were with the minifigures!
I vote pirates only because the ship was my very first set when I was 10..23 years ago!! Would love a redo ..I still have my original set too!
But to tell you the truth id like any lol..I also have the castle one and indiana Jones one from when I was 10/11 or 12 lol
You can never go wrong voting Pirates!
I am choosing trains because my nephew LOVES trains. Fingers crossed!
Hopefully with last year’s Crocodile Locomotive, this means we’ll see a new Creator Expert train each year 🙂
Bionicle
I wouldn’t be surprised if Bionicle wins. The fanbase are one of LEGO’s most passionate, and are all internet-savvy.
Bionicle
Really excited about this as a lot of these came out during my dark ages or when I was young and my parents couldn’t really afford to get me lego. I voted for:
Castle: never had a castle set before and I really really want an adult epic one
Adventurers: it looks so unique and unlike anything we currently have available, plus the animal and plant selection is bound to be good
Dragon knights: One word, dragon.
Same here! I’ve been busy “making up” for my younger years by accumulating all the sets that my parents couldn’t afford as a kid.
All your picks were great! I loved the Dragon Knights and it’s my dream to see them bring the mould back!
The Forestmen sets were some of my favorites as a kid. They were some of the first sets I sought out for my collection when I started again as an adult.
hi
Same, such an underrated theme that I’d love LEGO to bring back!
I’ve got ur back Jay….ICE PLANET it is!
THANK YOU SIR
If castle/forestmen doesn’t win, I’m going to riot
Hope you have your torches and pitchforks ready…
There are so many popular space themes (Classic, M-Tron, Blacktron, Exploriens, Ice Planet, etc) that I bet the vote will be very split up and harm the chances of any of them winning. Same as when a film has two or three actors nominated for a single Academy Awards category and they all cancel each other out. Bionicle has the advantage of being a standalone theme. Hopefully LEGO will take that into consideration.
Yeah, but I think we can take solace that MOST fans, will at least include Classic Space in their picks.
Same as the Castle votes which were split up according to faction. I think it’s on purpose.
I’ve gone for
Classic Space – one of my favourite themes from when I was about 5 years old, several of the sets I had but foolishly gave away I’ve started eBaying recently.
Classic Castle – a tiny bit before my time, but the older brother of a friend at school when I was about 6 must have had it, and those yellow pieces and arches and the little soldiers grabbed by imagination. I was given the Knight’s Castle for my eighth birthday in 1985, which I adored, but I still hankered after the yellow castle, until eventually buying a complete set on eBay about 4 years ago (I had to download the instructions so still look for those sometimes).
Forestmen – I was in the big school by the time these arrived, so through peer and parental pressure felt too old to be playing with Lego (and had no money anyway) so missed out. I’ve voted here to rectify that.
I would have voted for the Pirates theme, for the same reason as I voted Forestmen, but we’ve just had the massive Pirates of Barracuda Bay set, so it feels like that’s a past winner and so we should give another theme a chance.
All great picks – Forestmen especially is such an underrated Vintage theme! But yeah, Pirates has had a shot, although, I will say we need some sort of fort as a companion to Barracuda Bay for the sides to be balanced 🙂
My shortlist of the most nostalgic themes from my childhood were
-Dragon Knights
-Ice Planet
-Aquazone
-Spyrius
-Adventurers
-Arctic
While Ice Planet and Spyrius had the strongest nostalgia factor, ultimately I felt something egyption, arctic or underwater would make the best display pieces
All great picks! I too have a special place in my heart for Aquazone, but boy, this has been so difficult to choose!