Review : LEGO CITY 60304 Road Plates

Today we are quickly interested in the new LEGO road system offered in particular in the CITY set. 60304 Road Plates (19.99 €), a small box of 112 pieces which will be available from January 1, 2021. The announcement of this significant change to the system in place had also been greeted with more or less enthusiasm depending on the profile of the fans concerned .

Some of those who have spent large sums on classic roadplates take a dim view of the arrival of this new system while others are delighted to see that LEGO is finally trying something a little bit. bolder than simple pad-printed plastic plates to offer something that really looks like a construction toy.

This new system revolves around 16x16 molded plates with a thickness of two studs which will logically have a little trouble accommodating your Speed ​​Champions cars in 8 studs but which will allow the circulation of classic vehicles in 6 studs wide. It will eventually be possible to widen the roadway with flat covered with tiles but it will be necessary to go back to the cash register to afford the necessary elements or to invest heavily in this small box to afford a highway.

These modules can be linked together via tiles and LEGO has planned a relative modularity that allows many combinations. Ramps allow vehicles to access the road and the set 60304 Road Plates provides enough to assemble a large crossing with four 16x16 modules and an 8x16 pedestrian crossing lined with speed bumps, all accompanied by some signage elements, two lampposts and a little vegetation. You will have to pay € 19.99 to afford this set and multiply the sum to change the entire street coating of your dioramas.

LEGO has chosen to offer smooth and shiny pavement elements, I would have preferred a mat and a little more granular coating to obtain a real "road" effect and guarantee minimum grip for vehicles in circulation. The proposed version should not withstand the assaults of the youngest for very long and quickly accumulate scratches.

We cannot really say that the result obtained is of perfect visual continuity, the different locations planned to accommodate the pad-printed floor marking or the parts which fill the holes in the roadway remain clearly visible. This is undoubtedly the price to pay to obtain a product that offers sufficient modularity and let users' creativity express itself.

LEGO also did not force the quality of the pad printing of the floor marking, the white bands are not all correctly centered on the parts concerned. It will not be necessary to go with a cutter or a knife to remove the tiles placed on the roadway, LEGO has provided a hole under each location to push with a rod and eject the part.

If you are considering a hybrid solution that allows you to reuse your old road plates and combine them with this new system, you are going to have to be very creative. Almost nothing sticks together. The plates supplied are narrower than the pavement of conventional plates, the white bands are not the same size and it is impossible to perfectly compensate for the thickness of the new plates hoping to obtain a perfect alignment.

The least worse of the solutions will consist in raising the sidewalk which borders your constructions installed on road plates of the thickness of a plate. Those who align Modulars and install a road just in front of their series of buildings can still place a few flat under the baseplate of the different sets to achieve the same raised sidewalk effect without affecting the finish of the model itself.

While conventional road plates made it possible to move an entire block of ancillary constructions or road signs, this new solution will prove to be significantly more fragile during handling. LEGO will also have to make an effort to come up with a solution that allows you to assemble turns that really look like curves. The traditional plates did that very well, the new system is much less efficient on this point, and that is saying little.

Anecdote: the street lights are powered by solar panels identical to those provided in the LEGO Ideas set 21321 International Space Station and they are both equipped with a phosphorescent piece.

In short, the arrival of this new concept is therefore a small revolution which will undoubtedly not do everyone's business but which should appeal to the youngest. The set presented here is in fact only a simple extension intended to complete a diorama gathering other boxes marketed under the label Connect your City which already provide many elements allowing to assemble these new routes: the references 60290 Skate Park (€ 29.99), 60291 Modern Family House (49.99 €) and 60292 Town Center (99.99 €).

If you prefer to stay on the old system, be aware that the references 60236 Straight & T-Junction et 60237 Curve & Crossroad sold at the public price of 9.99 € are still listed at LEGO even if they are currently out of stock. We do not know how long the two concepts will live together, stock up.

Note: The set presented here, supplied by LEGO, is as usual in play. Deadline fixed at December 28, 2020 next at 23pm. "The" I try, I participate "are automatically deleted, make an effort.

Update : The winner was drawn and was notified by email, his nickname is indicated below. Without a response from him to my request for contact details within 5 days, a new winner will be drawn.