Lego Creator Expert
| File:Lego Creator Expert Logo.jpg The current rendition of the Creator Expert logo, tagged including the Lego Creator logo. | |
| Sub‑themes | Aircraft, sculptures, world buildings, trains, Modular Buildings, vehicles, fairground, Winter Village, space |
|---|---|
| Subject | Advanced models |
| Availability | 2000–Present |
| Total sets | 69[1] |
| Official website | |
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Lego Creator Expert (also referred to as Lego Expert or Creator Expert) is a series of Lego construction toys aimed at a demographic of adolescents and adults. Beginning in 2000 without an established logo or icon, Creator Expert features models such as aircraft, sculptures, and world buildings, selling as exclusives with numerous specialized elements and complex building techniques. Creator Expert is considered a challenge to both the target audience and Lego designers. All Creator Expert sets are classified into specified sub-themes, however the entirety of Creator Expert is classified as a sub-theme of Lego Creator.
History[edit]
Background[edit]
Advanced Lego models began being featured in the mid-1980s under the subtheme of "Lego Model Team" (a subtheme of Lego System) and were discontinued in 1999 (with the exception of a re-release in 2004).[2] Future advanced models received packaging without a logo and sold as Lego exclusives, beginning with set 3450: Statue of Liberty in 2000.[1][3] In this timeframe, multiple subthemes were released, such as Modular Buildings, a series of resident, retail, and restaurant buildings introduced in 2007;[4] and Winter Village, a series of winter-holiday themed models, sometimes delving into deep fiction (such as set 10267: Gingerbread house).[5]
Creation[edit]
In 2013, advanced models were officially classified as under "Lego Creator Expert," a subtheme of Lego Creator, and received their own logo (which was updated multiple times in the future), beginning with set 10232: Palace Cinema.[6] This established theme of advanced models was considered to help shape Creator Expert's reputation for unorthodox techniques and distant design from typical models, with old exclusives receiving updated packaging and being merged into the newly created subtheme.[7][8]
Sub-themes[edit]
It should be noted that most sub-themes aren't official and are rather classified by the majority of the Lego community. Some, such as Modular Buildings, are officially classified and recognized by the Lego company.
Aircraft and sculptures[edit]
In the early 2000s (decade), Lego created various uncategorized exclusive sets relating to aircraft and sculptures, beginning with sets 3450: Statue of Liberty and 3451: Sopwith Camel, which eventually evolved into sub-themes themselves.[1] These sets featured large-scale sculptures and planes based on real-world aircraft, such a model based off the real-life Wright Flyer (set 10124).[9]
While the sculptures sub-theme ended shortly one year after its debut, the aircraft sub-theme continued; with three consecutive sets from 2001—2003 and two sets in 2006 and 2012, where the subtheme officially ended with an overhaul of the original Sopwith Camal (set 10226).[10][11]
World buildings[edit]
In the early-to-mid-2000s, more sub-themes were created. World buildings, a sub-theme centered on recreating famous landmarks (similar to Lego Architecture) began with sets depicting the Eiffel Tower (set 10181) and Statue of Liberty (also apart of the sculptures subtheme).[12]
Modular Buildings[edit]
In 2007, Lego released a set named 10182: Cafe Corner. The set depicted a near 2,000 piece, three-story structure that gave the builder the option to remove individual floors to access the interior (which was empty) accompanied by minifigures and semi-complex building techniques.[4] In the following time, one set was released consecutively each year mirroring the original design of the Cafe Corner, creating an official sub-theme and rapidly gaining popularity amongst its target audience of adults and teenagers with its assortment of retail, real estate, eatery, office, and other buildings, becoming one of the most renowned Creator Expert subthemes.[13]
Vehicles[edit]
In 2008, an exclusive model was released depicting a Volkswagen Beetle (set 10187) 1960 'Charlotte' model.[14] In following years, numerous large-scale sets mimicking real-life motor vehicles were released, and, beginning in 2014, one set was released consecutively each year, beginning an organized sub-theme. There was also a re-release of the 2008 Volkswagen Beetle set in 2016 (set 10252).[15] The sub-theme has continued on, with releases such as set 10265: Ford Mustang, a recreaton of the 1967 automobile.[16]
Winter Village[edit]
In 2009, a sub-theme named Winter Village was released, focusing on winter-holiday themed sets beginning in 2009 and has since consecutively released one set each year.[17]
Other sub-themes include trains (sets depicting various types of trains), fairground (sets depicting amusement park attractions), and space (a small amount of sets revolving around spacecraft, also including real-life models).[1][18]
Design[edit]
Challenges[edit]
Creator Expert designer Jamie Berard has commented multiple times on the challenges of set design. Set 10234: Sydney Opera House was mentioned as one of the most difficult sets to design, and past attempts had always resulted in failure.[19]
Prior to that, Jamie Berard also mentioned set 10185: Green Grocer was a difficult model to design, and became one of his favorites due to the set's result.[20]
Set 10182: Cafe Corner was also commented as a difficult model to design due to piece limitation. The designer (Jamie Berard) wanted to add a bicycle piece into the set but the machine was temporarily broken, and he also had to work with instruction designers to implement set techniques onto the instructions since most were different from regular set design.[21]
Reception[edit]
Fairly high reception has been provided to Creator Expert. Newsweek praised set 10256: Taj Mahal, due to its design, construction, and high piece count.[22] Reviewer Joe Meno points out set 10185: Green Grocer has clear instructions and "so many fun surprises and tricks used in the model."[23]
Controversy[edit]
There has been controversy in the Lego community amongst which sets are considered a part of Creator Expert, and, if so, which sub-theme.
In the Winter Village sub-theme, there has been a dispute whether set 10173: Holiday Train is a part of the sub-theme. Some of the Lego community argues it lacks being in consecutive order with the sets from 2009–2019, while the rest of the community argues it still sparks a holiday atmosphere and, therefore, should be included in the subtheme.[24]
In the Modular Buildings sub-theme, there was a long-term debate with set 10190: Market Street. The debate was whether it was a part of the sub-theme, matching all of the characteristics of a modular building, yet being targeted toward lower age, lower piece count and is categorized as "Factory" as it was designed by a fan.[25] However, the debate has thought to come to an end after Lego announced Market Street as part of their modular building line in their 10-year anniversary celebration.[13]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Brickset Creator Expert Sets". Brickset. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Brickset Model Team Sets". Brickset. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Win the LEGO® Statue of Liberty from Guinness World Records 2019". Guinness World Records. October 29, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lego 10182-1: Cafe Corner (Set Information)". Brickpicker. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ Fahey, Mike (September 12, 2019). "Lego's Gingerbread House Holds Disturbing Secrets". Kotaku. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ↑ "10232 Palace Cinema". Brickset. December 27, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Lego Creator Expert Official Website". Lego. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
- ↑ "Tower Bridge Product Listing". Lego. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ Whiston, Nadia (10 December 2018). "Win the LEGO® Wright Flyer from Guinness World Records 2019". Guinness World Records. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ↑ "Brickset Creator Expert Aircraft Datatable". Brickset. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
- ↑ "Sopwith Camel Product Description". Lego. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ "Creator Expert World Buildings Datatable". Brickset. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Lego Creator Expert turns 10!". YouTube. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ "Brickset Lego Volkswagen Beetle". Brickset. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
- ↑ "Brickset Creator Expert Vehicles Datatable". Brickset. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ↑ Holmes, Jake (February 22, 2019). "Lego's 1967 Ford Mustang kit challenges builders with 1,500 pieces". Cnet. Roadshow. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ↑ "Brickset Creator Expert Winter Village Datatable". Brickset. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ↑ Pearlman, Robert (May 30, 2019). "The Lego 'Eagle' Has Landed: NASA Apollo 11 Lunar Lander Revealed". Space. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ↑ "Lego Sydney Opera House Designer Video". YouTube. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ↑ "Lego Tower Bridge Designer Video". YouTube. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- ↑ Krutzfeldt, Melody (2007). "Checking Out the Corner (first review)". Brick Journal. 1 (7): 33–35.
- ↑ "Lego; Celebrating the World's Favorite Toy." New York Newsweek. Retrieved December 12th, 2019. Pages 22-23.
- ↑ Meno, Joe (March 8, 2008). "A Review of the Green Grocer; Going Green". Brick Journal. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
- ↑ "A Home for the Holidays". The Lego Brick Guy. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ↑ "Brickset Market Street". Brickset. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
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