My brother owned 6086, so I had at least a taste of what raised baseplates were like. I never got a chance to own any of my own sets with a raised baseplate, and 4990 and 6098 remain respectively my number 1 and 3 most wanted sets of all time.

I think the baseplates used in the mentioned sets are great and help a lot to give the builds the impressive look they got.
We got the Sphinx set from 1998 as kids, an now as an AFOL I own the pyramid, still need to build it, but i think both sets look great and benefit from the use of the raised baseplate.

I can see why builders think it's a simple (too simple) way to raise your build but I don't think we should hate them. They were great and like someone mentioned above, they got these matching colours to give the set their distinctive look. I love the raised plates and i think they should come back in some way, like some renaissance, maybe in complete other forms? However, as stated in the article, LEGO won't bring it back i guess. But they were a major and lovable part in LEGO-history.

I never owned any Lego CRAPP, but I had a few MegaBloks ones as a kid.

While they add a lot to a good model, they stifle creativity long after.

That all being said, some of these Minecraft sets really need one.

Fantastic article! I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for raised baseplates despite them being pretty useless, so it’s great to look back on their history like this!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe 7892 itself recycled its raised plate from 7237 the year prior?

Most of the raised base plates served their purpose quite well. The Pirates theme of the ‘90s in particular, had some of the best sets that made use of this polarizing LEGO element.

I personally liked the one from the Enchanted Island. It provided an added splash of colour (and elevation) to an otherwise monotonous landscape. I truly wish they revive a couple of them in future sets.

Both baseplates in 6278: Enchanted Island were amazing, the raised one even moreso, also the added rope bridge part would go between the little island all the time in play.

I even miss the Scala and Belville basplates in his article. Ok, they were from GIRLS' sets, but they still deserve being mentioned ;)
As I noticed the nostalgia while skimming through the coments I thought: There's a demand for the raised baseplates to come back, but whe neither get proper road baseplates or sets containing ANY baseplate! Think about it!

I loved them for MoCing, like most of the comments here, but there were a number of sets where designers seemed to use them instead of a build, rather than complementing them.

All of the examples pictured in the article show the best use- either quick and substantial terrain to add more scenery, or to build up a substantial castle build even further. A few of the castles in the 90s used them instead of walls, leaving knights to defend a wall one brick high! When I have them assembled these days they’re manned by dwarves, who don’t want to deal with heights.

As an AFOL now, I don’t like them and don’t use them. As a kid, when they were done right (i.e. Black Knights Castle, Kings Mountain Fortress, El Dorado Fortress, Royal Knights Castle, Sphinx) they were great. But even as a kid when they were done poorly (i.e. nearly anything space) they felt like they were just thrown in and were really bad. No matter what, however, I always hate the 4 mountain one, like the Ogel ice base.

I tend to LOVE sets with raised baseplates because they allowed larger castles, fortresses, outposts, and islands without jacking the price and part count to the moon. I suppose if all someone does is part out sets then they may dislike them.

Ironic how there seems to be overall disdain for them in the AFOL community (tho not in these comments overall, perhaps surprisingly) while that same AFOL community complains about the disjoined buildings that we get in CITY and Friends that are haphazardly strewn about due to no baseplates to organize them..........

I love the article but after reading it I realized that I own not one of these raised base plates.
Somehow I missed out on all of them?!
But I really like articles like this so keep them coming.

I have one raised baseplate and that is from temple of the crystal skull

I LOVE raised baseplates!…. Bought one tonight in a bulk buy, in fact! ??
Wish The Lego Group would bring them back.
Don’t understand the hate.
Maybe people just bitter they cracked them and no can’t find or afford a replacement?…

There are also Duplo raised baseplates, which are interesting. They include gaps, like for doorways and windows (or so). These are more recent, and have thicker plastic and so are more sturdy than the old raised base plates. I have a dark tan one, from the zoo set I think. It seems laden with intriguing potential... and is also plain. If I had a nitpick with the old raised plates, it would have to be the incompatibility of the colored printing with anything that could be built around it. To me, equivalent to enormous stickers. But that's just me.

@Huw said:
"My gripe with them is that they are difficult and bulky to store!"

Agreed! That’s maybe why I have most of my sets with them built and on display. After all, they are great looking sets!

I feel like raised baseplates were reasonably useful for their time, but that time has largely passed. Back in those days larger BURPs and slopes were rarer and less varied, as were large plates (other than baseplates). This meant that raised scenery was a lot harder to do, at least without having to build up the landscaping with regular bricks (a lot costlier than one vacuum-molded baseplate would be).

But apart from their often samey-feeling shapes, raised baseplates also had other disadvantages. For starters, they were big and oddly shaped, and necessitated boxes to be bigger to fit both those and all of the other parts. This might seem like a minor concern but box size has a lot of impact on not just the environmental impact of Lego sets but also their cost, since sets with bigger boxes can't be packed and shipped as efficiently (meaning a smaller number of large sets have to bear the same overall logistical costs as an equally-sized container or palette of many more smaller sets). That meant that sets with raised baseplates often had a VERY weak price per piece, with the baseplate itself making up much more of the set's bulk than bases in modern sets that can be constructed out of multiple smaller parts.

As somebody who recognizes the flaws in these older parts but is still nostalgic for some of the sets that used them, I've seen some great MOC redesigns of some of those older sets using modern parts to create similar bases with more texture and more interesting building techniques.

Great overview! Thanks for including this article.

@Kynareth :
I believe a wall 1-2 bricks high on this raised baseplate was roughly equivalent in height to castle walls using the panel pieces.

While I agree that some of the best LEGO sets had raised baseplates, their use did coincide somewhat with increasing juniorization and skimping of other pieces (and minifigs) in sets (especially starting in the mid-90s), leading to some loss of detail and decreased rebuildability. This is what I assume many AFOLs hated, with the raised baseplate simply providing a convenient target as it happened to be the largest piece in the set. Some of these baseplates also seemed to encourage set designs that were a bit more spread out (e.g., to make use of the canyon in the canyon baseplate) that often led to generally less impressive-looking structures. Since their discontinuation, however, I feel they now tend to be looked back upon with fondness for bygone times and themes.

I've always been a fan of the raised baseplates when they're used right. Eldorado Fortress was a set always treasured as a kid and even today I can really appreciate what the baseplate adds to the set as a whole.

I agree with some of the other comments about how well these were used in the 2 pirate sets in particular. I've got El Dorado sitting on my bookshelf and it looks amazing even compared to more recent sets. Especially when you consider 500 pieces now would be like 2 speed champions cars.

Reaching to conclusions there that are ambiguous the least. I, too, love raised baseplates from classic sets despite their obvious difficulty in storing and the occasional breaking/rapturing.
So vive les 32x32 castle/pirates 6276 , 6086 raised baseplates and the 7047 one (for using in pirate mocs)!

raised base plates can be fun! my lug did a series of microscale builds on them.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgpZ6njQbh/?utm_medium=copy_link

I always liked 6024 Canyon corner baseplate, especially if you were lucky enough to have 4 to make an enclosed lake and then build all your bridges/buildings across the space. I still not 100% sure about the raised castle/pirate fort baseplates, as preferred the original wall panels as these allowed sets to be combined when expanding your castle/fort designs, but understand that on their own they do look impressive.

Wait, AFOLs hate raised baseplates?

I think they are neat and made sense for the time period.

I only have one raised baseplate and its the space crater one. Would love to have more and would also love to see the creation of a more complex one - maybe mars canyon type of terrain.

As far as the other types, I would say the one with a ramp would be the most useful as this type of geometry (and smoothness for vehicle) was quite difficult to achieve as a child with limited parts. Now AFOL can built whatever they want as their budget is significantly greater but a child has only so many parts and raised baseplate were a great way to have an 'organic' terrain that was useful and reasonably good looking. To me the one thing missing was studs at the bottom of the pits - it was difficult to build a stable structure located inside those pits (space plate included).

The main problem with any baseplate is if your creation goes outside the baseplate, you have a height differential that is very hard to correct.

I also sorely miss the platforms and ramps that were prevalent in harbours and train stations during that time. Although no real reason not to produce them anymore...

I'd forgotten some of the great raised baseplate sets there were. I never had many as a kid 'cause they were generally in big expensive sets. But I like them, they're a nice starting point for a build, and allow you to get some scale without spending a fortune on the bricks you'd need to get to that starting point.

I went out of my way to get the baseplate from the Rock Raiders HQ set, even though I never had the actual set. Still in my collection along with some of the crater-corner ones.

I grew up in the golden age of raised baseplates, starting with the craters and going as far as the ramps, so my nostalgia for them runs deep. While I understand that many advanced MOC builders want to avoid them in favour of more detailed builds, I just don’t get the animosity towards them (as well as towards BURPs and LURPs) - they each have their time and place, just like any other part, especially if you simply don’t have buckets of spare parts handy to build up terrain with.

Besides... the crater plates (and my old Blacktron 2 landing pad plates) make excellent display stands for my Star Wars builds and loose minifigs...!

@Thunbear said:
"What an embarassing acronym."

It’s deliberate.

I am a crusty old AFOL who is kind of ambivalent on raised baseplates: they can work to create verticality in a display but they can also be kind of lame and hide flaws in models. I have actually never heard the CRAPP acronym before despite being in Lego from 91-98 and 2009-present. There are other great acronyms like POOP (piece of other pieces) like how part 49311 is just 3x 3010 fused to one another.

That Pharaoh's Quest pyramid was my childhood. Dozens, maybe hundreds of hours spent playing with all the PQ sets on the floor. I always thought the raised plate was the coolest thing. It was a pre-fabricated landscape all on its own.

I've always thought of these as just a specific type of part/piece to be used as you see fit. I never could understand the level of hate towards these plates.

Crater base plates forever! I still remember from beyond childhood memory the vague idea of setting 2x2 cones in the small crater on the rim and 4x4 booster cones in the larger crater on the rim. I love that Lego made those two details sized to the stud standard instead of just random sizes. I couldn't have been more than 4 years old when I got Alpha-1 Rocket base.

Still own the Paradisa baseplate with the pool. A set I wanted when I was a kid but never got because of the gender implications. My favorite set was El Dorado Fortress and I used that baseplate later in a MOC of a church.

Do not know a single AFOL,me included who dislikes raised baseplates

I don’t understand the hatred for 3D baseplate. I think they are excellent.
The absence the last years is a mistake in my opinion.
I think they quite litterarly are a excellent base for any build, and the imagination of children.

Since the raised baseplates were around when I was a child and the point of LEGO at that time for me was playing and they helped greatly in that regard, I have very fond memories of them and I miss them. I have the 6276 Eldorado Fortress set and it still looks brilliant with that plate. My kids play a lot with some baseplate from a police set as it gives a lot of volume so I guess not that much has changed over the years :-)

This turned into an expensive article for me. I really like the crater base plates from Classic Space, and so went off and BrickLink'd some more!
Was into my dark ages before much of the rest were released and I can't see much attraction in them now.

Nice, another Throwback Thursday article!

I just think they're neat. In fact I would prefer seeing them again over every set now being built out of plates, tiny parts and SNOT brackets. Sure, they are more versatile. But sometimes you just need that extra verticality and baseplates could provide that to give extra atmosphere.

7419 Dragon Fortress (one of my top favourites) wouldn't have been possible without the baseplate. The set is large enough to build plenty of satisfying stuff on top of the baseplate. And you actually build a frame to hold the building right into the baseplate. But with the baseplate you get that epic height difference with dramatic stairs. And the room that holds the golden dragon is super roomy because of this. The set feels like it spared no expense even WITH the baseplate. Because it's used well!

Compare that to 7985 City of Atlantis, which I also own. That set has a similar layout with the stairs. But the staircase has to be lower and the section underneath the temple is too low to be usable. There is also barely any studded floorspace under there because they used 2x10 plates to form a frame linking the bases of the pillars. They used stacks of 2x2 collumn bricks and still ran out of budget to actually leave any use for that space. A real shame.
Sure, the price and overall design for these two sets are different. It just shows how baseplates can elevate a set when used well. Pun inteded ;)

@sjr60 said:
" @CopperTablet said:
"I have actually never heard the CRAPP acronym before"
Probably because it's only just been made up. Along with all AFOLs hating raised baseplates. Got to love a bit of click bait!..."

No, the terms CRAPP and BURP (Big Ugly Rock Piece) have been around for... wow, at this point I can say decades. Go put either term into LUGNET's search. You'll find plenty of hits.

Add my vote to the "not all AFOLs" clamour!

Two of my most beloved sets as a child were 6081 and 6090. The two I most WANTED, but never got were 6086 and 6277. I've literally never met a raised baseplate I didn't like--though I'll grant you the KK1/KK2 one is the weakest of the lot and left the most recent major impression.

I love ALL those raised baseplates. Brings different textures, height and layouts to any diorama.

I love all the baseplates, raised one's and flat ones. Not only I have a fond connection to them as an integral part of my lego parts back in my childhood, but also they make for a neat 'playarea' today when building mocs, they can be easily moved.

I never owned any of these as a kid. Never even knew they existed. However, when I learned about the crater plates a few years ago I just had to have one. It’s really a shame that I had to pay so much for such a universally hated plate, but I found one in good shape for an almost reasonable price so I got it. I just wish that sellers on Bricklink would realize how awful these crater plates are and lower their prices. As it is I only own one because I hate to have to pay so much for them. Hopefully this article will go a long way in lowering their prices. I actually think that the author may be a closet raised baseplate fan who is simply sick of the high prices.

Totally not pieces of CRAPP.

I love them. As a child they were very useful. I only had a few but most of my Mocs were placed upon them. As an adult collector they look a little tacky on my shelf’s and do not have a place in modern Moc design. For someone to hate them I’d say they just never got the chance to enjoy the 90s.

I loved these early 90s space base sets.

Still got my 6991 Monorail Transport Base, with box.

Awesome article; thank-you! I have a couple of lunar landscape space raised base plates and the Pharaoh's quest Pyramid! I consider both of them to be included in the "pride of my collection" category. I'd love a few more space ones so I could make the "super crater"! That would be so cool! Bring back Classic Space I say!

I thought all AFOLs loved baseplates and wanted them to come back. Just like we want the original monorail to come back. This is news to me! Some baseplates were ugly, sure. But overall they're awesome!!

Pirates line also had one of those 'corner' raised base plates in 6281 Pirates Perilous pitfall

Don’t forget the raised baseplate in the 2006 Lego hospital 7892

I think the blue ice baseplate in 6973 Ice Station Odyssey makes that set the coolest Space base ever (pun not intended :)
I do agree there are some sets with raised baseplates that aren't that great (7237 police station springs to mind although I still want that set for my police station collection) but there are sets (like the aforementioned Ice Station Odyssey and 6195 Neptune Discovery Lab) that use raised baseplates to great effect.

Well, this is the first I heard of these baseplates being CRAPP, although I guess there are some valid points for that reason.

I didn't realize there was hate for raised baseplates until I read this article. Whenever I've been able, I've purchased them. I've actually always viewed them as being a signature piece for the iconic builds of my childhood - and thus for MOCs, too.

Question, why is part 53532 (from set 3569) the Lego Sport Base not considered a base plate? I only recently discovered this part during a bulk purchase, and to me it is an amazing baseplate to MOC with. A bit of a challenge, but creates a micro-zone for building within.

Baseplates; in general, are great...and if TLG keeps going in the direction they're going: They will be missed (and I'm glad I got a red one when I did, and just got some road-plate...the GOOD ones last weekend at the closest TRU)...That said...

Raised baseplates are a somewhat different beast from their flat 'family'; but from the 'raised' come one my faves: the Crater-Plates from 'Classic Space'...which I never got one until a couple years ago, but still:D.

Done correct, raised-plates can be good; it just seems sometimes that TLG...forget 'the build is the thing', or 'the journey IS the destination', and put in a lot of 'shortcuts'. Imagine building even a small hillside for one of those castles, or houses (say one or brick high from the 'ground'). I mean that Apollo set was great for those 'build-a-craters'...

I have Eldorado fortress, still complete and built, on display, and three moon / crater base plates too. I love them. As a kid, they were so useful for creations. And today, Eldorado Fortress is still a beautiful set to look at and play with. Crater ones are used for some of my SW dioramas.

Raised baseplates made sets feel bigger & they created a definable play space.
Without them, "big" sets feel more like a collection of 3 or 4 small sets. (looking as you, UCS Hoth Battle)

Ah, Knights Kingdom, how do I love thee. Let me count the ways.

I loved the 6081: King's Mountain Fortress. I bought a second-hand one (built) and didn't even realise it was haunted until I walked into the lounge in the dark and saw the glow from the upper window! My first minifig ghost!

I love printed baseplates (roads rivers etc)
and DEFINITELY love raised baseplates.

All time favourite is the underwater version of the classic space crater plate:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3947bpx1

I've bought several to make the undersea part of my Lego city!

@Elberik said:
"Raised baseplates made sets feel bigger & they created a definable play space.
Without them, "big" sets feel more like a collection of 3 or 4 small sets. (looking as you, UCS Hoth Battle)"

Part of the problem was that the use of these raised baseplates often did lead to the set design of larger sets to resemble a collection of several smaller sets instead of a single grand structure in order to make use of the play space. For example, compared 6079 with the earlier 6077 (granted, 6079 still works since it is in a forest).

Don't forget the city thema base plates. Have 1 have them all. Police and fire department and hospital.

These were a joy to get in sets. Only thing is that sometimes they can easily break.

i have never heard of someone who dislikes raised baseplates. why are they that expensive if no one likes them? i would like if everyone hates them because i would be able to get em cheap. many of them cost between 25 and 50 euros a plate. thats a fortune for one baseplate i reckon. does anyone have some on sale who doesnt like them? huw maybe? :)

As a kid I loved baseplates, including the raised ones. 6079 and 6273 were my favorite raised baseplates as I could use them for Town, Pirates, Castle, and even Space play.

Difficult to manage from a storage perspective, a bit tough to build off of stability wise (but not impossible for sure)…these baseplates tickle my nostalgia bone. And we all know how enjoyable THAT can be, am I right? :D

Oh…and for some reasons I could never apply stickers straight on these…and I…mean…NEVER!!! :)

i still use them for castles, and you can greeble over them to hide the plate anyway. you can be creative in how you use them too, they're just a base! (although I only have the ones from king's mountain fortress and black knights castle.)

In the article, I noticed the set number for the Scorpion Pyramid is off, 7237 is a police station, 7327 is the Scorpion Pyramid.

I’m pretty sure any statement of the, “I think we can all agree...” variety will be met instantly with piles of disagreement. I actually built a Moonbase module around one of the quarter-circle canyon baseplates, which I turned into a microscale reef-like community that connects with a regular minifig-scale module. However, the only one I actually have strong feelings for is the crater plate. The rest are just components of their respective sets.

I’m currently using the Enchanted Island raised and printed baseplates as my setting for Jurassic World MOCs. They fit the theme quite nicely. :)

I am proud to own a 1978 lunar surface raised baseplate from set https://brickset.com/sets/483-1/Alpha-1-Rocket-Base I found most of the pieces for that set in a bin from a yard sale.

@Lego_mini_fan said:
"I have one raised baseplate and that is from temple of the crystal skull"

That’s the only one I still have. Sold or gave away the rest. After reading this article, I really miss them. I know there’s a lot of hate on Assault on Hoth 75098 but that set would have benefitted from a raised baseplate. Or some other Hoth set.

Remember when the large sets would come in those boxes with the extra flap on the front, like for the ESB Falcon (4504 ?). And the first SW sets with the comics in the instructions? Fun times.

I like the raised baseplates.

This is probably the least likely element that lego would ever bring back.

Always loved them, they add loads of opportunities to them a set and theme. I saw one sat alone in a charity shop and bought it instantly for an MOC

If we are discussing raised baseplates, let's not forget the hard to find undented, crystal baseplate from set 1728!

I loved reading this and seeing the history behind some of the iconic sets mainly released during my Dark Age. However @huw I feel I should point out that the article could have had a bit more proofreading before release. I only point them out because they don't reflect Brickset's usual impeccable production standards:

Typo:
Alpha Team’ssetnn: 6776 Ogel Control Center? - also missing a hyper/hoverlink

Sets that don't exist:
66292
66079
66584
66199

Wrong set:
7237

Typo:
disgressing?

Apart from these minor issues it was a great read! Thank you Wouter Adriaensen

Great article!
First, as an AFOL, I must say, I LOVE classic baseplates! They're perfect for my Star Wars dioramas!
I think it's a shame they haven't continued with them, including them in sets or creating new ones. I get the expense part of it, but I think they can add lots of fun to sets and it just adds an extra something to those large sets.. I remember as a kid how mesmerised I was about them.
Loved the article and going through the comments above, I love the fact that there's lots more AFOL's that like them too.

@EvilTwin said:
"I like them. Maybe that means I'm not a proper AFOL (but then I've never really liked that term either).
There's no such thing as a Lego piece that can't be reused in some original and creative way. I bet there are clever builders in the world that have used every one of these plates in their own buildings that are completely different from the original sets."

Ugh ... I know what you mean. Applying the term "AFOL" to myself makes it seem creepy; like I am not supposed to enjoy LEGO, but society has accepted my "mental illness".

I've always wanted one of the larger raised base plate sets when I was a kid but didn't get any. The ones that I liked most are:
- 5986: Amazon Ancient Ruins - The raised plate + bridge over the river is a match made in heaven.
- 5978: Sphinx Secret Surprise - The back stairs and hidden compartment in the pit are so cool.
- 6195: Neptune Discovery Lab - The curved pathway through the valley is great for moving vehicles through or setting up ambushes. Only now do I realize that it was achieves with 2 plates.