Set Review ➟ 60097 CITY Square
We have never had a set like this! I should start with this sentence after building the most complete LEGO CITY set ever. Buildings, cars, a tramway, 14 minifigs…
The set has no more and no less than 16 different numbered bags and 10 instruction booklets. This time I decided to start in a different order. Let me explain the reason. There are plenty of nice things inside this set, but there’s one thing (well, there are really two) which made me start by them: a LEGO Store and a LEGO truck. How could I resist starting by them?
It’s the second LEGO store in a regular CITY set. There was one integrated in last year’s train station. But this is the first time that we have a LEGO Store in a singular building.
And it’s great! Two floors building where we can find all the things present in a LEGO Store. There is the front desk, the pick-a-brick section, a lot of LEGO sets, a maxi-fig (this could be an alarm-clock or a lantern), a huge brick in the shop window and two “giant” minifigs, one astronaut and one medieval soldier. Outside the building there is a panel 1x4x3 with a sticker with the LEGO logo. In the ledge there is a tile with “1932”
There are some interesting parts in this shop. A white microfig (the microfig that appeared in the LEGO Games), three different new tiles printed with LEGO CITY box arts and, in my opinion, the most interesting part: a bran new LEGO Employee torso.
In the front it has a board to put the name, and a pocket with a pen. In the rear side it has the LEGO logo. For me this is the most interesting part of the whole set.
The LEGO truck is the best complement for the shop. In this case there have been some LEGO trucks along the history of LEGO. This one, compared with the last one that appeared in the LEGO CITY range, has the right scale. The design of the truck is not new, but it doesn’t mean that it is not cool. Anyone who has visited Billund will recognize this kind of truck. It has another minifig with the new torso, and more printed tiles with LEGO art boxes.
After these iconic sub-models, let’s continue by talking about the other fantastic models inside the set.
There is a small first bag with the first citizens and some cool accessories. We can find a hotdog stand with a salesman, a girl with a bretzel, a husky dog (it comes from the Artic sets) and a pizza delivery-man with a scooter. The torso of the delivery-man is new and looks very nice, because combined with green legs, it reproduces the Italian flag.
The second building is a mixture of something known and something new. After tons of bike shops, I am pleased to see an authorised dealer with a service centre. There is a two-floor exhibition building with sliding doors to allow the cars in exhibition be retired from the exhibition room.
Besides the “main building”, there is a small office and a small elevator to repair the cars. There are also two cars, one red sport cabrio and one black family car with lime stripes.
I have to admit that I like this building. When I first saw it I was a little sceptic, but after building it, it has convinced me, and although it is not the best building I ever seen, it’s something good enough and something new in our cities.
To complete the service centre, in the next step I built a tow truck and a 4WD car. The tow truck is a mixture between the previous tow truck (the part of the platform) and the OCTAN tanker truck (the crane). It looks nice, but in this case I didn’t found the “wow” effect. The 4WD is another variation (and we count...) of the car based in the same platform. It’s really nice to see how the designers “squeeze” their brains to always offer new variations of the car.
Another great small model consists of a coffee kiosk and a newspaper box. The kiosk is 8 studs wide but it has the necessary things to deliver a good coffee and other drinks. The logo used is the same used in the LEGO movie, and the torso and legs of the sales-woman is also the same of the LEGO movie CMF. The coffee machine is wonderful. It has a brown round brick 1x1 inside. It seems that there is coffee inside. There is also a table outside with an umbrella, a bicycle and a parking for it outside the kiosk. Unfortunately there is no coffee glass like the one in the LEGO Movie. It would have been a great addition.
Is it enough for a great set? The answer is NO! There are still some cool things to build here. And the next one is a tramway. It is the second tram after the one appeared in the set 8404 – public transport station. And it is completely different! The colour is orange and black based and the design is more modern, compared to the prior one.
Like in the previous version, this tram has two cars and one small link module in the center. In this case, this center part is used to transport bicycles. In each car there are 4 seats and the driver cabin. The design is “rounded” and there are a lot of “glass” parts. The main structure is hidden inside and it makes the design very smooth.
The only rare thing is there are no doors, so it makes somehow difficult to think about how the minifigs can go inside. Practically, you can open each side, which is separated in two parts, by pushing up the glasses. It’s useful to play but I can not imagine how it could work in a tram station, which is the next part to build.
The tram station is a tiny model, very functional. It has ticket machines, a clock, two seats with a place to leave the suitcase, a shelter, a trash bin and a tree. The size is small, compared with the tramway, but it’s not really difficult to enlarge it with a small MOC.
In my opinion, the last model does not fit with the other ones. It is a TV helicopter. Yes, it’s a nice and small helicopter and it is not juniorized. I should admit that this helicopter has a new design, different from what we have seen before. It has a camera to record what’s happening. But it is a helicopter at all, and I don’t see the meaning of it in the “story” of the set.
There are three sticker sheets! In a set of that size it is something you could expect. The set will never be the same without stickers but three sheets it’s perhaps too much. Anyway the set looks great with all stickers applied.
For me it’s the best CITY set ever, because of the variety and interest of the models. There are a lot of interesting parts, accessories, minifigs and colours. Of course the price is in accordance of that size and variety of models. It’s an expensive set but the price is justified with its content.
Thanks to the CEE Team for providing the set.
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