Robot World is one of the more intriguing sets in the August (USA)/June (rest of the world) LEGO® City range. On the outside, it appears to be a rollercoaster/amusement arcade built around a Gundam-type statue. I might not have thought such a thing to be probable until I recently found a giant Gundam Statue outside a shopping mall in Tokyo. But, in reality, this set calls back to many aspects of LEGO History, hitting the nostalgic cues for people of a certain age. These people are probably younger than me!

Let’s take a closer look.

The Figures

Before we dive in too far, let’s take a quick look at the minifigures. There are 8 figures in total. Two explicitly link to the animated series LEGO City No Limits, the spiritual successor to LEGO City Adventures, but with less focus on the emergency services: No Face and Bytz. The other torsos and faces have all been used previously around LEGO City, Ninjago City, and random creator and LEGOLAND park sets in recent years.

There are two exclusive torsos in this set… The first is No Face: the grey hoodie with bright purple, medium stone grey and black markings, along with a slightly scary digital smiling face on the back. The other belongs to the the woman with the awkward grin, and nougat pony tail. Her torso has the same markings on her shirt as appear on the Mech’s wings – but more on this later.

Bytz, the one with bright green hair, has previously appeared in the 60380 City Center, but his name was not apparent to me at the time. I love the details on his torso – the open jacket, the shirt underneath and the number 27 on the back.

The Slushy Seller’s torso is also a repeat of the one seen in last year’s Slushy Van – It has also appeared in Build-A-Mini stations in LEGO Stores in recent weeks. He features a hearing aid over his left ear.

The young girl has a denim jacket over a t-shirt with a record print on it. She has a surprised look on one face, and a cheesy grin on the other. The young boy is wearing glasses and has a slight gap in his teeth. He has a smile on one side, and a grumpy frown on the other. He has probably been told that he is too short to ride on the roller coaster. He has the checked shirt over a black shirt featuring a picture of a banana.

Not everyone enjoys rides, and the character in the bright purple hoody looks like they may have been a little too confident with their ability to handle the roller coaster on top of a couple of sugar rich slushies. Finally, the woman in the dark green hoody over a t-shirt featuring a sound gauge. She has a big smile on one side, and a peaceful sleepy face one the other. The details in these relatively new torsos really impress me, particularly the ‘streetwear’ – while the work uniforms don’t have quite the same trim level.

The Callbacks – In order of Appearance.

#1 Exoforce

The first call back we encounter during construction is probably one of the most obvious: Exo-force. This human pilot/mech vs evil robot army-centred theme from the mid-noughties was inspired by manga and anime works from Japan and saw the debut of the Galidor/Technic click-joint in minifigure scaled sets. This represented the first time that articulated Mechs containing minifigures were widespread throughout a theme, something we now almost take for granted, even where they don’t canonically belong. Yes, I’m looking at you LEGO Star Wars!

The callback here is to the 7700 Stealth Hunter. With 164 pieces, and one mini figure, this set measured 19cm tall, and featured 8 of the click joints to achieve its articulation. This generation of LEGO Mechs included articulated knees, something we should never take for granted, as this is something we have rarely seen in the intervening decades. It is a little scary to consider that kids who played with these sets (aimed at ages 7-14) may be turning 30 (23- 32) years old this year! As such, they might already be starting to think about the sets they want to get their own kids…

The new model relies on many elements that did not exist when this set was on the market: in particular, the smaller ball-in-socket joints initially released with Mixels in 2014, before taking a detour via Elves dragons and becoming the mainstay of the Star Wars and Marvel Mech series, along with the smaller Ninjago Mechs and Dragons.

The Knees of the new mech are flexed and fixed using the angle plate introduced in 2022 as part of the revamped System Character and Creature Building System (SCBBS) described by designer Nick van Slagmaat (@toothdominoes) on Twitter around the time of its introduction.

The model is smaller than its predecessor but retains the overall look and feel. The stickers have even been redesigned for the new model. The new model uses 151 pieces in the mech – only a few shy of the original.

While I may not actually have much in the way of original Exoforce sets around the house at present, I have found a few figures at our local market over the last year or so, and they actually look quite at home in the pilot’s seat of the mech.

The emblem on the mech’s left wing was unique to the Stealth Hunter and its pilot, but we see this emblem also appears on the torso of the roller coaster attendant. Perhaps if she had slightly crazier hair…

Could she be part of the next generation of Exo-Force Pilots?

I am now tempted to produce reduced-scale versions of the 7701 Red Titan and 7712 Supernova using this figure as a template. Then, there is the temptation to bring the robot’s craft to a similar scale. That said, a Titan Mech in Ninjago has tended to be on the larger build size, with many such sets in Ninjago measuring close to a foot tall over the last few years. And such a beast might just be outside of my level of expertise. For Now.

Let’s not forget that the robots from Exoforce saw a new brick-built version appear in the Ninjago City Gardens a couple of years ago. How long before we start hearing fans call for a renewal of this line, as we frequently have with Classic Castle and Classic Spaces over the last few decades?

#2 LEGO City Slushy Van (2023)

The 60384 LEGO City Slushy Van from 2023 was one of the first sets released designed by Aaron Newman the designer behind Robot World. That set brought us a design for the slushy dispenser, as well as recognisable branding for the employees. The chief slushy maker at Robot World is fortunate not to be spending his professional life wearing a mascot’s costume while driving an eyecatching truck around town. The slushy maker design has been adapted for use in the relatively permanent location, while a smaller, red slushy cup hangs on the wall outside the building.

The Video Arcade

#3 Alien Conquest

One of the few Earth-bound space themes outside of the LEGO City Spaceport sets, this theme consisted of ten sets and included a new species of aliens with a 1980s aesthetic. This theme saw Earth’s Aliend Defence Units pitted against the lime green, black and crimson aliens. The ADU Vehicles were coloured blue and transparent yellow – a special favour by the designers to Classic Space fans every where, while the aliens were travelling in grey ships featuring lime and violet trim.

This game features graphics on the side of the machine featuring the Alien Villainess, a CMF callback to the theme that was released as part of CMF Series 8 in 2012. Was this a minifigure that had been designed, featuring new element moulds, but was not released because the theme had run its course prematurely? Or a preplanned add-on? Time will tell.

The machine has a central joystick, while the screen display shows the advancing alien ship against the starscape. But is this depicting a fantasy scenario from the fictional invasion, or is this a historical game, depicting a previous invasion of LEGO City?

#4 Ultra Agents

Released in 2014 and 2015, Ultra Agents took a Sci-fi/Spy-fi approach where in the futuristic Astor City, the Ultra Agents, with their flashy high-tech vehicles, would take on the forces of Antimatter as he attempts to open a portal to goodness knows where. This videogame is a driving simulator and features the 70162 Inferno Interception set. In this set, the interceptor- looking more than a little bit similar to a spinner from Blade Runner – is piloted by Solomon Blaze, a veteran from the Galaxy Squad campaign against the Alien Buggoids. This is a great example of a set that can be readily recognised due to some distinct shapes in its form.

In fact, I wonder if this is intended to be an arcade version of the game related to this set in the Ultra Agents App. I never played it back in the day (was it really a decade ago?), but the level involved the car in hover mode chasing Infearno between obstacles, flying above the traffic in a crowded street. Perhaps it is something else. What do you think?

#5&6 Robot Dance Battle

I remember days when dancing like a robot seemed to be a style preferred by early breakdancers, performed by street performers to the tune of Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit’. And so when I saw the two screen-based avatars on the screen were cybernetic in origin, this tune sprang to mind. There are two robot minifigures leading the players’ dance moves here on screen: one is the CMF Clockwork robot from 8827 Series 6 in 2012.

The other is the pilot of the 31111 Creator 3in1 Cyberdrone, in itself a contemporary twist on the cybernetic characters of the mid-90s, which began with Major Kartofski, the android in Spyrius. The Cyberdrones pilot’s head was designed by Graphic Designer Mather James Parson, who also contributed to the graphic design of this set. The Cyberdrone pilot also appears to be riding the roller coaster on the sticker, showing the photos taken on the roller coaster ride.

#7 Bionicle PvP Esports.

There is another big screen on the arcade wall, linked to two computers on the desk and separated by a golden trophy. On the big screen, we see Bionicle Tahu, from 2001, being pursued by Gahlok. On the two desk-bound computer screens, we see Tahu from Gahlok’s point of view, and on the other, the situations are reversed.

Is this the game Friends’ Nova and Zac play in 41755 Nova’s Room? Are the graphic designers hinting at something great to come? Time will tell. One thing is for sure: there will be a generation of 18 to 35-year-olds ready to play it!

On the other hand… it probably just reflects the fact that Many current LEGO Designers grew up with Bionicle as one of their childhood touchstones.

#8 No Face

And one more thing: the Minifigure debut of No Face – the principal antagonist of LEGO City No Limits. To me, it feels like they are taking on the role of a DJ in this set – with their elevated base of operations, being able to see all that Bytz and his friends are up to. I love the DJ’s Mixing desk, as well as No face’s reversible head.

In conclusion

Now, I wonder, which of these is ‘Real Life’ from the perspective of a character in LEGO City, and what is fiction to them? I wonder if the residents of LEGO City were thrilled with the adventures of Exo-Force as we did in comics and with the tales of Bionicle as they rolled out through movies, comics and video games. I expect Ultra Agents is also from ‘Out of Universe’ given its future setting, while the Alien Conquest game has been uncertain: Is this a historical reenactment, revisiting mankind’s greatest triumphs? Or pure speculation?

I have not dwelled on the construction or playability of the roller coaster, the ingenious way that it winds around the central entertainment complex or the elegant way the Mech suit is mounted in the middle of the roller coaster track. Or the clever way that the large game controller is mounted to the wall, or the excessive number of transparent purple windows. Suffice it to say, these things all do as expected. The set is fun and certainly would stand on its own merits if not being so referential to sets of the past.

If nothing else, this set reminds me of the passage of time. I expect nostalgic callbacks to sets from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. There is no doubt that those years are firmly in the past. But now we are seeing major callbacks and reimaginings of sets from the early years of the century. Indeed, involving themes my kids played with. All of these themes have had a variable role in their impact in the history of the LEGO Group this century. Some of these are relatively deep cuts – long forgotten, or even barely noticed in the first place: solitary collectible minifigures, long discontinued; others have had a profound impact on the company – Bionicle with its years of continuous production, multimedia storytelling, and elements in the parts palette still carry the legacy every day. Others sit in between. Some are still in the catalog while others might have faded away, the storytelling vanishing with the discontinuation of aged Apps.

Personally, I feel inspired to try rebuilding the remaining Exo-force Mechs using the contemporary elements explored in this set and to then put the robots to work on the dancefloor. Others might be inspired to be creative in other ways: be it to add an alien invasion to their city layout, explore the sets of Ultra Agents, or pull out their childhood Bionicle sets while their kids navigate Robot World. Others might just motorise the roller coaster, Suffice it to say, Aaron Newman, along with other members of the LEGO City team, has produced a fitting tribute to the sets he grew up with. Indeed, the graphic designers have taken advantage of the canvas to fill in details that fit in a certain period in history.

Robot World is on sale now in most of the world but will go on sale on August 1, 2024, in North America. The set has 986 parts and a recommended retail price of AUD149.99/USD99.99/ €99.99/£89.99.

Will this become part of your collection? Do any of the aspects of this set appeal to you? Leave your comments below.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!

This set was provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. All opinions are my own.