LEGO City Town Center

LEGO is a line of construction toys manufactured by The Lego Group. Lego is one of the world’s largest toy companies, producing interlocking plastic bricks that children can use to construct various scenes, objects, and more. Accompanying these bricks are an array of gears and Minifigures, which you can use to build entire sets. 

With Lego, you can construct and deconstruct your scenes and change things around to make something completely new each time. 

LEGO brings to life a bustling city in its LEGO community with the 60292 City Town Center. This set is a part of LEGO’s latest LEGO CITY wave, which showcases various roads and a budding town.

Background

The Lego Group has released thousands of sets with different themes. You can find Lego sets based on space, pirates, dinosaurs, undersea exploration, robots, etc. There are also classic themes like Lego City. 

The Lego Company introduced the Lego City line in 1973, depicting city life. One of the sets under Lego City is the Lego City Town Center. The set looks like a mini town center at first glance, and you will be able to identify various stores, shops, and characters. 

The entire set has 790 plastic pieces, which are extremely fun and easy to put together. The set measures 9.5 inches high, 17.5 inches deep, and 6 inches wide. The Lego City Town Center combines characters from the TV show LEGO City Adventures and their brand new road plate system. The result is one of the largest road plate sets that Lego has named Town Center. 

All the pieces are pretty purposeful, and you will be able to identify a pizzeria, a carwash, a park, a dojo, and even a fire and police station. The set also includes characters that you may recognize from previous City Sets. However, none of them connect to the TV show on which the set is based. 

One of the most popular characters in the set is Duke DeTain, who is one of the most featured characters in the Lego City sets. Other familiar characters include Sam Grizzled and Rookey Partner, who are policemen. There are two firefighters called Freya McCloud and Clemmons. A few criminals are also included: Daisy Kaboom, Snake Rattler, and Clara, the Criminal. You can also find a handyman called Harl Hubbs.

What is included in the Playset?

The Playset contains various Lego Minifigures and accessories that aid you in building this set. A total of 783 parts are included, along with 35 spares, and these parts are in 35 colors and 38-part categories. In total, this set has 348 unique pieces and color combinations. 

The prominent colors in the set include white, black, and dark bluish-gray. There are a total of 45 unique white parts and 106 total pieces. The set also includes 98 total black pieces, with 43 special parts. The Lego City Town Center set also contains 31 unique dark bluish-gray parts, totaling 120 parts for this color. 

The main category of parts includes plates, plates special, and bricks. There are a total of 92 plates with 48 unique pieces. There are 73 plate specials in total, and 33 of them are unique. There are also 98 bricks with 33 unique parts. 

The Lego City Town Center also contains 9 Minifigures.

The Build

The Build

The set has five instruction booklets to help you build the Lego City Town Center. These booklets explain everything step by step, leading you through the building process. This process involves selecting vehicles, the electric charging point, Minifigures, and connecting the road plates. 

The car is the highlight of the first booklet as it is designed to accommodate a single mini figurine inside it. The front of the vehicle also includes a charging connection at the front, so you can charge it at the charging station when its battery runs out of charge. 

Another exciting build you will encounter in the first few bags is a blue mountain bike meant for police officers, and the firefighters have a matching red one. 

The next build that the instructions include is the carwash. The Lego City Town Center’s car wash is an essential and spacious building. It has almost everything you would find at a regular car wash, including rolling bristles. These bristles also move when you push the car through them. 

The colors of the car wash are similar to what they are in real life, and the combination of green, white and red will be pretty familiar to most builders. A few extra details are also included to add a realistic touch to the car wash. These included lighting, water falling from above, and instructions for using the carwash.

The instructions then instruct you to build the recycling truck with its driver Shirley Keeper, one of the mini figures. The truck included for Shirley Keeper is a six-wheeled flatbed with a lifting arm that can lift the recycling bins onto the back of the truck. To operate the lifting arm, Shirley holds a remote control. The truck is an exciting and unique piece in the set as it also has a part usage that you can use to create the grille on the front of the fire truck.

The next task that the instructions take you through is the recycling center and a small park. The recycling center includes bins with stickers to distinguish between glass and paper. Both bins have a ring at the back, which enables the truck to lift the dustbin onto its back. The small park includes a little ride for a baby Minifigure and a bench, and the ride also rocks back and forth. 

The Town Center also includes a pizzeria and a dojo, which are the highlight of this set. When completed, both buildings look well-designed as they include many small details that add a touch of authenticity to the structures. The Dojo comes with signage and a roof terrace, and it also has various plants and a single cherry tree on the terrace, which adds color and aesthetics to the building. 

The Dojo is not the largest structure in the set. However, it still includes many pieces of Kendo equipment and sand green windows for authenticity and an added touch of color.

The pizzeria is compact but has a lot of detail that the builders have to get right. It has almost everything you may see at a regular pizzeria, including a pizza oven and a cash register.  

Once all the different parts are constructed, they connect via road plates. The entire town center is supposed to be in a T formation that brings to life the buildings and the town center as a whole. The playability of some buildings, including the car wash, park, and recycling center, add to the excitement of this set.

It will roughly take 75 minutes to build all these different parts and assemble them together.

The Characters

The Characters

This set includes a variety of mini figures that allow you to engage with the set and properly play with it. The characters include firefighters, pizza shop workers, and even criminals who can be chased through the town center by police officers. The latter are fully decked out with helmets and motorbikes.

There is Madison, a Kendo student with kendo armor printed on her torso. Her outfit matches that of her teacher, a bearded, gray-haired man. This Minifigure has printed legs. Another prominent Minifigure is Shirley Keeper. She is distinct as she has orange hair and wears a hi-vis vest over her blue overalls. These overalls are printed on both sides of her torso.

The pizzeria also has its own chef included in the set. This Minifigure has a chef’s hat and a paddle, which completes his outfit.

To populate the fire station, the set includes a female firefighter who comes with a helmet to protect her. The park also has a few characters, including a mother and a baby Minifigure. They work well in the park setting and increase the area’s playability. 

The Lego City Town Center set also includes a partially sighted Minifigure. This is the first time Lego has included a differently-abled character in their Minifigure set. The male Minifigure wears dark glasses and has his own guide dog wearing a harness.

What We Liked About The Lego City Town Center

Authenticity

The best catcher of this LEGO playset is how it tried to resemble an actual town center where shops and establishments are within the toy character’s reach. Each building also features unique details that look cute and decent, even for adults. The leading establishments you notice in this construction are the pizza shop with the dojo center on top and the car wash. 

Versatile

The fantastic thing about LEGO sets is that they can be built further, allowing for more creative opportunities for the kids. You can expand the construction using Road Plates and create a megacity after you have finished assembling your town. Many other sets are available in the local and online shops, and if you think building LEGOs is worth the fun, you should go for it.  You can also pair it with the Lego City Passenger Train as well.

What We Didn’t Like About The Lego City Town Center

What We Didn’t Like About The Lego City Town Center

Cost

Several owners of the set agree that one of the downers for this set is that it is a bit more expensive, and they feel as if there is not much that comes with the box for almost a hundred bucks. You can also notice that there are only a few people (characters) in the set, despite being a town center. 

Only two main buildings exist in the town; some find it a little plain and barren. From others’ points of view, the company puts too much price on sloppy work, which might be harsh, but it’s somebody’s opinion. You can buy individual pieces online if you find the LEGO set lacking something. Perhaps, this toy LEGO Ice Cream truck might cheer up your town more!

Concept and details

Some details in the set were a bit off, according to some owners of this set. For example, some of the colors are a bit straightforward and don’t have depth on them. The printed details look sloppy as well. Other accessories are also way too plain, even for a LEGO. 

Conclusion

Building Legos is an excellent hobby, and 60292 Town Center is the perfect Lego set to get you started. It allows you a lot of playability and hours of fun. The various assemblies can be easily integrated into a single scene with the help of new road plates, which connect in a T-formation. 

There are also a variety of different Minifigures that are included, which allow you a lot of options for creative play. You have criminals who can create mischief, police officers to chase the criminals, firefighters to put out a fire, etc. There are also more than enough vehicles to make the town center feel like a busy city.