Favorite Airport

[Hobbes]

After establishing the architectural designs for EB's city emergency centers it's time to discuss and vote for infrastructure facilities. First off is the airport.

As with hospitals we didn't get that many airports, either. Then again, it's not a fair comparison since they serve different needs.

So, which one is your favorite? Vote here and share your thoughts about the set(s) :-)

Here are the candidates

(Click thumbs for bigger pictures)

1. 6392 Airport

The first minifig era airport came in 1985. Its size reminded more of a small town airfield

with a main building but that was the general town design at the time. With 8 minifigs,

among them two females, it came with a good assortment of accessories for its size.

Notice the political correctness by using a female air traffic controller?

2. 6396 International Jetport

Five years later, with booming tourism, a restoration of the airport was needed. The old

one was destroyed and a new one in a more touristic place was set up to also accomodate

tourist attractions, like helicopter tours. The main building was re-designed to welcome the

passengers in a friendly, vacation-like atmosphere. Personnell stayed the same.

Thanks to hinckley39 for pointing out this set which I missed.

3. 6597 Century Skyway/10159 LEGO City Airport

Almost 10 years after the first airport LEGO City has grown and needed an upgrade of

its air traffic facility. The architects came up with 6597, a very nice (re)design, blending

in perfectly with the town designs of the time. The structure of the main building stayed

more or less the same, but it was expanded. So was the tarmac, and the tower was

separated from the main building. With the ever growing trade and transport needs it

now featured space for a transport helicopter. Also, 12 minifigs accompanied the set -

which is a heck of a lot of 'em. The redesign also prompted TLC to rename this set to

something catchy like "Century Skyway", a truly fitting name.

People were so pleased with this design that when restauration and maintenance were

needed another 10 years later no new design was developed but the old design re-

newed. The set was renamed to City Airport and had a few more pieces because old

molds had to be substituted by newer pieces.

4. 7894 Airport

In the meantime LEGO town grew into a bustling city. The airport needed another upgrade

to serve bigger planes "comin' to town". So, only two years after the last maintenance job

a new airport was built, its design adapted to the overall city look. As with everything new

today costs had to be cut and personnell had to be laid-off, hence the latest airport comes

with less minifigs, no tarmac, and looks like a modern re-design of the very first one. Also,

the helicopter was cut because tour bookings were declining...

Well, which one is it?

I will pin this poll for the voters' convenience and (try to) declare a winner in two weeks time, September 21. After that I'll unpin it again and you can find it via the City Index and still discuss and vote if you haven't already.

Vote on!

[gads]

I like very much of 6392!

Maybe, because it's the only one I have :-P

Speaking more serious, I like all. Each one have their special features.

The 7892 have the better plane, and the 6597 have the better helicopter (and problably the better building).

But I like the classic style, so I choose the 6392 :)

[Jipay]

after some moments of hesitations between numer 2 (global equilibrium) and number 4 (cool plane), I decided that an airport should be judged on the overall thing, which made me go for number 2 : a cool plane, some accessories and a nice set.

[xwingyoda]

I really chose nostalgia over modernity ;-)

I voted for 6392 because I had this as a kid and I remember the countless hours of fun I had with this set ;-)

The building like you said really looked as a small town airfield which is nice !! Also I really liked those females MFs and the fact that you had one plane and a cool looking copter !!

For once, I think that TLC did a great job on all the versions they produced !! However, the newer one (7892) suffers from a severe case of scaling problem *wacko* WTF those planes are that big, its just insane !!

Fly On !!

*yoda*

[Kikuichimonji]

6597. I don't think there's a set I wanted more as a kid (but never got...). Still, I'm not into town enough to justify buying the Legend reissue.

[Hobbes]

Well, I've never owned any of these sets, so I can only go by looks. Nostalgia, though, always is a factor for me, too. In this case I basically chose between 6392 and 6597.

I really like the old, small one, but the bigger 6597 with all the accessories and the many minifigs let me vote for it. An airport does need some space and this one comes with all that's necessary. I've never really appreciated it after I first saw it. Probably because I never liked the old plane design. Now we have new ones but we don't like them, either, because they're too big - hard job for TLC to please us ;-)

Nevertheless, 6597 got my vote, also because it has the nicest product picture of all, I think. I like this "Tropical Island setups", it reminds me of the airport at Pleasance in Mauritius where I've spent my most relaxing vacation so far.

S@H Austria has the Legend re-release at

[snefroe]

*wacko* ah... hm... difficult, this one...

the 1985 version was brilliant... for 1985. a friend of mine had this one and those airplanes... wow! they looked fantastic!! ... in 1985. I think it was the first time that Lego tried to create a minifig plane model of only 4 studs wide. great design, cool cockpit! the rest was rather traditionel...

6396 is just a newer version of the first. Nice scenery, sure, better than the first in all, but not as groundbreaking...

6597... now that's a busy airport! unfortunately, i feel that the lego designers focused on quantity, not quality. the yellow choppers don't look all that nice, the cars are really boring and the building... hm... looks like a white and larger version of the first ...

the 2006 airport... hm... it looks exactly like a very busy airport of today, not style, but efficiency rules here. there's no soul in this one... the scaling, as yoda said, is way off..., even though i think the plane has great potentiel, just replace the wings, the engines and the landing gear, but still too BIG.

ok... so what's it gonna be?

i guess i'll just go for nostalgia and pick the first one...

[Section8]

6396, hands down. The first airport I got (although I got it right after 6397 came out, a lucky TRU find back then). The gates, baggage and metal scanners, and the large windowed waiting room are all really nice features, as is the attached ATC tower. It reminds me of a breezy tropical airport, rather than the bustling megacity airport that is 6397 (of which I own the reissue). I also remember the mini catalogs and flyers from when I was young; 6396 was in many scenes, with the complementary 6399 monorail being the only thing more ubiquitous. 6397 didn't get as much exposure. I liked how Lego kept the logo between 6392 and 6396, and added on to that airline with 6399 and several other sets. The change of logos between 6396 and 6397 remains my biggest annoyance with 6397 and one of the reasons I like it less. The cargo helicopter is also impractical and of an inferior design to lego's other two rotor chopper, 6482.

[alex54]

6597 without esitation!

I've got the legend version and I didn't regreted this purchase. It has all the ingredients to make a good set: a plane, a small coptre, a bigger cargo one, small cars for luggage and oil, boxes to put the luggage on, a policeman for the security, a telephone, some seats with tables for a quick lunch between two planes, a lot of minifigs (with a woman with a man haircut, sweet!) and a very good global look with all the elements needed!

I find it has a very good quality design, bigger than the old ones but it has a minifig scale.

But I prefer the other olds than the latest, even if it has a modern design. But without runway, how the planes could land? And those duplo planes for minifigs are so :-X !

Also, 12 minifigs accompanied the set -

which is a heck of a lot of 'em.

why those words are in italic? Dunno... :-D

If you are interested just in the big crappy plane of the latest airport, I will be interested by the structure...

Bref, I really like the 6597 (there is a reason if it became a legend set...), and I think that everybody understand I voted for this set!

[highlandcattle]

I've also voted for the century skyway, if only for the very cool name. Biggest and coolest looking set!

[Hobbes]

Also, 12 minifigs accompanied the set -

which is a heck of a lot of 'em.

why those words are in italic? Dunno... :-D

Hmm... must have accidentally clicked the I button...

;-)

[Asuka]

I

[captaintau]

6392. The only one I've got and for YEARS my biggest set. I had hours of fun with this.

[Zarkan]

I guess I'm taking a risky move here by saying 7892. It just feels more like a real airport, and looks more realistic. Plus, I wasn't into legos when the other three were out because I was so young! (try 3 years old)

By the way, it bother me that several people think 7892 is out of scale. Real jets and airports are that big in real life, so I wouldn't say they are out of scale at all. *wacko*

[xwingyoda]

By the way, it bother me that several people think 7892 is out of scale. Real jets and airports are that big in real life, so I wouldn't say they are out of scale at all. *wacko*

For me its out of scale compared to the original Lego scale and NOT real life ;-) Its cool for kids that play around with few sets but problematic for AFOLs trying to build a real city :-P

And like you I really like the looks of the airport: classy modern look !!

*yoda*

[snefroe]

By the way, it bother me that several people think 7892 is out of scale. Real jets and airports are that big in real life, so I wouldn't say they are out of scale at all. *wacko*

as yoda said, compared to the rest of the city, these planes are huuuge... but not just to the rest of the city, to the actual airport as well, because if we're going to compare this set with real scale, then i'm afraid this airport is just a little bit too small. Lego has always accepted certain margins for their sets; all sets were compatible for a minifig city, these planes are not... in fact, the XXL crane isn't either, but hey, that is XXL, the airport planes aren't even jumbos

[alex54]

By the way, it bother me that several people think 7892 is out of scale. Real jets and airports are that big in real life, so I wouldn't say they are out of scale at all. *wacko*

It's interested to see the vision of scale of the younger people (cfol, c for child). But I totaly agree with Yoda and Snefroe1 (I'm from the old school scale!).

[L'Exocet]

I cho-cho-choose the classic 6392.

It's a matter of pure nostalgia, though... I still recall that cloudy day in December, I just had turned ten a fortnight ago, and going to supermarket I crabbed the new '85 catalog in anticipation what great thingies TLC had come up with that year... And leafing through the colourful pages, I hit the town section, and there it was... Oh, my imagination just took of, and I stared and stared at the picture of that set for weeks. It was the time when my love for little yellow men grew from sparks to bonfire.

Unfortunately, I never actually got the set, but one day I will moc it up... I too like the small-town feel that the early and mid-80's sets had, this Big City thing isn't really for me (I still like to give all my MF's a name and personal history...) These small-scale sets seem more closer to my idea of Lego's main idea, imitation of the day-to-day life of ordinary people.

[phoinix]

6597 was my choice as well.I beilive it has most of the fuctions of a real airport and looks bigger than all the rest.

The first airport is sweet and we all love it cause the child inside of us loves it but if lego was to make smth like that today im not so sure we would like it as much.

The airport of 2006 is deffinetly out of scale the way i look at it..Sure the old planes were to small maby and they could only carry about 6 minifigs but thats how legoland is..!! The reason the new airport dosent have a runway is because they would need about 6 baseplates to fit that huge plane!..so its all about cost...I wonder how is the new airport selling to kids..Do we have any info about that?

[Hobbes]

And leafing through the colourful pages, I hit the town section, and there it was... Oh, my imagination just took of, and I stared and stared at the picture of that set for weeks.

That's exactly what I always felt when browsing the catalog(s). I didn't have many sets, but just imagining if I had them was almost as much fun :-)

[alex54]

And leafing through the colourful pages, I hit the town section, and there it was... Oh, my imagination just took of, and I stared and stared at the picture of that set for weeks.

That's exactly what I always felt when browsing the catalog(s). I didn't have many sets, but just imagining if I had them was almost as much fun :-)

Me too! I spent hours and hours lookin them, and try to see how the sets were built, and try to learn how for the sets I wanted...

[sasbury]

By the way, it bother me that several people think 7892 is out of scale. Real jets and airports are that big in real life, so I wouldn't say they are out of scale at all. *wacko*

Yeah, the 4-wide planes just looked silly next to any 6-wide vehicle. :-| I use both planes - the smaller ones as private jets and the larger ones as commercial airlines.

I just wish the newer planes weren't quite so <insert that tiresome argument>... Not that it needs to be like 10177, but it would be nice if the nose wasn't just one big piece.

-Steven

[dillthepill]

I voted for the Century Skyline because I choose looks since I don't own any. All of them are cool,though. *y*

[Bonaparte]

It hard to decide between #1 and #2.

After some consideration I voted for #1.

How does a person get into the control towers of #3 and #4?

Or is it just because of my lack of imagination :-)

The old airports just look more "cosy". (Is that a correct sentence?)

[alex54]

How does a person get into the control towers of #3 and #4?

Or is it just because of my lack of imagination :-)

I think it is your lake of imagination! ;-)

It is not the first time that the minifigs can't go to the uper level, just look the new hospital! And how do they do to enter in cars without doors, and...

It is that the lego spirit, not preftect but so sweet!