ThrowbackThursday: 1991

One of my favourites! I spent the whole summer browsing this catalogue, hoping that one day I will be able to build such a beautiful Lego City. It took more that 25 years, but I am very close to it now!

The Street sweeper on the cover is my all-time favorite!

Early 90s were such a good times for Lego... :)

One of my favourites, thank you you reviewing it.

It's the first catalogue I've ever had. Should I say more? :)
I agree about Allied Avenger which is a true classic. It can't be said about all of Blacktron 2 though.

The canopies were first used for futeron in trans blue weren't they?

Blacktron 2 is one of my top tier themes for sure!

I always wanted to get into the trains, thanks to this catalog, but I never got a single set. Quite tragic.

Fairly sure the octagonal canopy piece first used in Futuron and late classic space from 1987, including in trans dark blue?

^Oops, should have read the comments first!

1991: The beginning of my dark age. Secondary school beckoned and all of a sudden I was too mature for Lego. Looking at the catalogue, I'm surprised how strong the line up was. I remember furtively checked out the Lego aisle a few years later and wondering what happened to their designs.

I still drool over that station. It's gorgeous. And you're absolutely right- trains were so much more of a thing back then. They even had sets for train fans on a budget. Today you have to shell out over £100 for the only train thing available - and it isn't nearly as good as these were. Come on Lego Group. Bring back some of those wagons.

For me the early 1990's were the peak of LEGO; before the eventual comeback. By the middle of the decade, I think the product lines began to advance/dilute at very different rates and that made it difficult to keep sets compatible with one another. I seem to recall that Town went through several rebrands and was, seemingly, juniorised randomly. Everything was just a bit all over the place.

Huw - I agree with your sentiments on the 9V trains. Though we shouldn't forget that this system was significantly more expensive to manufacture than present (The track pieces were assembled in Italy, and everything else was outsourced), I feel City needs to balance locos for both younger and older children, or at least different interests.

Everyone should remember the best set from 1991: the Load and Haul Railroad! http://brickset.com/sets/4563-1/Load-and-Haul-Railroad

I think the 90's were the best years for lego by far.

the additions to the pirate lego this year were awesome,but im still disappointed lego never added more models to the space police1 and mtron. they would of sold like hot cakes too. a brillant period of lego,thanks for the review!

The 9V train launched in the US at the tail end of 1991. I remember it well! I was so thrilled that finally we were getting trains. The entire 12V line was unavailable in the US. We only had the 4.5V battery trains available, and only via Shop at Home. So, here in late December 1991, Toys R Us now had a fully-stocked range of trains! It was very exciting. There was, however, two huge drawbacks that would continue to dog the system throughout its lifetime: the lack of interesting track geometry and electronics that were previously available in the 12V system, such as electric points, crossing lights, and any sounds. Still, I am 9V complete and continue to enjoy those trains!

I think the first few years of the 9V era was the pinnacle for Lego trains. No unsightly 12V power connections! Metal rails! Metal wheels! Everything looked so clean.

This was also the year in which I got my first Technic set, the 8840 buggy, followed a short time later by the 8815 Go Kart which, believe it or not, I spotted still assembled in a drawer at my parent's house last weekend!

Huw, I just noticed you have an RRP of $120 for 4563. I just checked the box I have and the Toys R Us price tag is still on there. $99.99. Not sure where you got your data from, but I still have many of these 9V train boxes if you're interested in actual data. In those days TRU always sold based on RRP. I also have saved many LEGO.com catalogs from that period.

1991 was the year of my twin children's birth and for the year prior I had been collecting Lego Pirates and Castles. Then came along the 9 volt railway theme and I began collecting that. When my children were four they began to build with Lego having used Duplo prior to this age. I set up the railway though and took it apart after each careful play.

I began collecting it for myself just the railway and I have quite a collection to date. My children have grown up but my grandchildren love to come and play with Lego at Papa's house. Lego a brilliant concept!

This is my favorite year 9v trains and harbor sets

Once again thanks for the memories Huw! Sadly I missed out on all of the new sets released in '91, as it was the beginning of my Lego Dark Ages. I think my fellow middle school friends were starting to convince me that I'd outgrown Lego. Plus I was afraid that if I ever did manage to get a girl to my bedroom she'd be horrified by the Lego sprawl lol. If these trains had been introduced a few years earlier, maybe I would have caught on to train collecting. So many great sets that year, in all themes. Oh if I could turn back time... and hit the lotto :)

Ah, those wonderful catalogue dioramas.. In hindsight they're actually not that great, but still, they woke the modeler/model railroader in me, and in many others I would guess.

How about the "Electric system" advertised on town page 26? What ever became of that?

While I had some LEGO before this period ('90/'91) it was a gift of my Great Grandmother (set 6257 - Raft) which really spurred on my desire for larger LEGO collection and expanding into new themes; most notably Pirates, as that was my first pirate set. I went on to collect quite a few of the pirate sets present in this catalog, as well as many more for the next few years. This opened up the gates for themes beyond City for me, eventually including Castle most prominently. My father was into HO scale trains, however, so LEGO trains were too childish and not 'allowed.' Ah, well, that's for today I suppose. ; ) Great memories on these pages!!!

I'm always puzzled that 9/10-year-old me didn't take more of an interest in the pirates - I picked up Governor Broadside's Prison quickly, but it looks to me as if the appeal was that it was so Castle-y. I do remember being obsessed with the Europort Coastal Patrol boat and saving up for it. Finally getting that from the shop was a big day...

Aah, the early 90s :-)

After 25 years, I'm an Adult with lots of money to spend as I want. Therefore, I finally got myself 4558, called "City Express" here in Sweden. The first LEGO train set I've ever owned.

The catalogs of this era are so beautiful with nice dioramas. I love how the train dioramas where always shot in twilight.
Also gotta love the Space platforms in the '91 catalog.

This is golden age! I also spent hours browsing this catalogue and imagining that I have all the remarkable sets ... finally I came close to this wonderful feeling. Just one word: Metroliner. The new 9v Train system is stunning although it lacks the special electric functions of the 12v era. On the other hand trains and rails are more realistic than before and TLG released this year the best looking train station ever. For me the major Town sets (including new harbour) represent the pinnacle of this theme. Airport shuttle is still available and this is the set I would give someone to make him/her a LEGO enthusiast. Technic had a strong lineup as well but mostly from previous years. Model Team paradise. Thank you for great review. Wish I could go back in time.

The octagonal canopies had been used before Blacktron Next Generation, but the idea of sandwiching a 3-sided canopy between 2 octagonal ones was pure genius.
There's a Flickr group dedicated to using that cockpit configuration in MOCs, called VOAT (Variation On A Theme).
https://www.flickr.com/groups/922992 @N21/
There's some seriously nifty ships in there!

Now that I se this I realize how useful the train plates (of the engines not the ones from the tracks) are for making spaceships in MOC's if there is a cheap Train set in the future I will definitely get one.

I was lucky enough to complete the entire Nautica theme during my childhood in the 90's. I can't tell you how many times those cranes and trucks were loaded and unloaded! The Pier Police set was my first non-basic set and it was a Christmas gift in 1991. Looking through those catalogues and circling every set on my wanted happened every time I was given a new set. Good memories!

The 9V trains were amazing. Years later, I own just about everything there (but I never did get that train station, alas). Growing up, and exploring the internet, I never really understood the appeal of the Metroliner ... until I bought it in the mid 2000s. Then I was like, "Yep, I get it." One of the most beautiful passenger trains they've ever put out. But the freight engine 4563 was my first ever train, and I still love it.

I also loved the castle and harbour sets, and the boats (there next to the trains in the catalogue) were also fantastic. I know I'm biased and I know some people don't think so, but for me, Lego in the early 90s was everything it should've been, and gosh, I miss it.

@Kimmil That electric system lasted for several years and was fantastic. Essentially you had a 9V battery box with electric stud connectors on top. You could connect flashing lights and/or a siren brick to these either directly or via 2x4 or 2x6 electric plates. The airport fire truck on a subsequent page shows how you can fit the whole package nicely into a vehicle. It was marketed as "Light & Sound" in the USA at some point and can also be found in some space sets of the era. It was all replaced by today's Power Functions system. You can still purchase a connector cable on shop.lego.com that will bridge the two system's connectors, which are otherwise incompatible.

@ChicoCheco I still have that street sweeper! Well I am missing 2 yellow wheels but the rest is all there.

Maybe it has already been said before, but I do wish Lego would include elements from Classic Castle / Space / Blacktron or Pirates in the current Creator line-up. Great Article, as always. Thanks.

Thanks for the write-up - a fun read!

Sets had a longer shelf life back, being in production for several years. I bought 6034 Haunted Tower in 1993, two years after the catalogue was published. It was one of my first sets as an AFOL. I still have it though only the minifigures are on display.

An excellent year! Had plenty of sets that year, and still in my teens. Somewhere, I have the US catalogue at my parents' house.

Loved reading this. Looking at the full catalogue I see quite a few sets we had, mainly the smaller and medium ones.

I noticed there are the yellow Duplo buckets. My sister obviously got one of these a couple of years later (the one with the rabbit head) and now my own son has that very same bucket and Duplo and you can barely tell it's going on for 25 years old!

From the pirate sets I had Treasure Island and Bo'sun Will and Spinoza and I think Governor Broadside's boat.

I think we had the haunted tower from the castle sets and I think the fire station I had was the emergency fire and rescue centre in this catalogue. I also remember buying the (futuristic looking...to me any way) city car.

I remember getting the Swiss chalet for Christmas one year and bought the Italian Bistro a few years after this and somewhere along the way got the road sign pack (they never really felt like lego though, to me).

I'm pretty sure we had at least one of the smaller Blacktron sets, but don't recall which - maybe the Blacktron Cruncher. But it might not have been available this year.

And I'd forgotten I'd had it, but this catalogue also features the one and one Technic set I had, the universal motor set, which lets you create the red car and other vehicles.

Can't believe I actually had so many that were all available at the same time - must have got them all over several years. Will have to look up exactly what I had when I next go to my parents house...really want to try and bring all the Lego back with me next time I visit.

Excellent, thanks @Huw.. Sadly I was officially in my dark ages as a LEGO fan, but I noticed when I got back into it, around 99-00, that 1990 and 1991 had an awful lot of good sets for all themes (which is rare nowadays). Somewhat of LEGO's last hurrah of the classic age IMO as things started to take a downturn as a whole shortly afterwards with 'juniorization' for many of the lines right around the corner.

The train stuff was amazing and LEGO really came out with 9v with a bang. Glad I was not into it as those sets would have cost me a lot of money.But those, combined with the Harbor sets, and do I see the 6399 hiding in the background in one of those displays, along with the Breezeway Cafe... Definitely was one of LEGOs better years and shows the true nature of what I call LEGO scale. Not necessarily true to real life obviously, but really its own scale and worked fine IMO.

Those were the days! I always wanted to have the harbour sets 6540-6542 and the station. Luckily some years ago I got them all for me - and the harbourscene with 6540-6542 is sitting on the shelf right now in front of me in my livingroom...
@ Huw: Thanks again for another great ThrowbackThursday!
@ all: Thanks again for all Your little stories! It´s a pleasure to read them after having a small glimpse into the catalog.

The days of extra locomotives/coaches/wagons and accessories like the road-railer. I miss that range. :(

I like the stories about 6034, the Haunted Tower. I actually picked up this set in 1995, after finding it in a Toys R Us. It was my first ever ghost minifig, and I loved it.

I'm going to drop my unpopular opinion here; Backtron 2 > Blacktron

These are great! Recently two of my brothers and I were going through what we had of our old lego boxes, brochures, and instructions. A few of the above sets and themes are what we had reminisced over. :)

Wow I didn't know that the 2x2 rounded bottom plate originated in '91. Very interesting!

I clearly remember getting this catalogue and my shock and disappointment that Lego were replacing my beloved 12v trains with an inferior system :( The three year service program was cold comfort, and I still can't look at pictures of the 'Euro Express' without getting angry.

OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, but 9 year old me was not happy when this catalogue came out....

1991 was a great LEGO-year! That was also the problem, there was too much. I couldn't decide, so I owned a bit of everything.