Just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities here, addressing some of the most common questions & misconceptions about compatibility. Like I say in the video, there's a ton more that can be done, so search & browse around and also experiment! Keep in mind that *nearly all* Creator 3-in-1, City, Friends, and other buildings have been on plates *since 2013* and thus out-of-sync with modulars. It's the old baseplates that are out of system, not the new plates. This changeover has been a long time coming.
Can you try and integrate railroad tracks into them. Maybe the crosswalk sized plate could fit in-between the rails? I'd just like to see that. Thx for posting this!
Hey jang, i've been building a lego star wars base and i've been running low on plates and tiles to fill in the ground of my hangar area, could these roadplates be effectively used for that?
with this system it would be very cool if they took the chance to make a set with two 45 degree angled roads rather than a full 90 degree one. imagine how awesome that would be?
Jang, can I just thank you for being such a calm voice. When something new comes along that concerns the LEGO world, you keep showing us that our hobby still goes on despite or because of it, without strongly picking a side. You definitely play a considerable role in keeping this community such a relaxing one. Thanks.
Yes. Much better than saying “this sucks”. However Lego themselves should have laid out all these new possibilities and there would have been a lot less backlash.
Honestly, this was so comprehensive and well thought out. Plus I've always thought his voice is very pleasant too, especially for relaxing in the evening. One of the best channels on RUclips.
What LEGO really, really needs to do is start selling 16x32 and 32x32 baseplates that are the thickness of a plate, and offer them for sale individually so that people who want to can replace their old system-incompatible baseplates on their modulars etc. with something that works with everything. Or just switch away from the old baseplates altogether and sell those on LEGO's online shop as a sort of legacy item for those not wanting to switch to the new stuff. I can understand those who are heavily invested into the old baseplates being disgruntled, but the new road system is so much better in every single way, just like this video highlights. The old baseplates really don't offer any advantage other than "It's what I'm used to and it's too much work to switch".
Baseplates that are the thickness of a plate, so you mean plates? Yes they should have made plates in these sizes long ago! It just doesn't help if you call them baseplate when the term baseplate is allready used for the thin stuff. Sorry if i sound nittpicky, but clarity is important in this subject in my eyes.
Curves. They offer curves. How do I build curves with the new system :< there are no cities looking like a chess board here in europe. And if I have to improvise myself I don't buy that system at all and scramble up everything.🤨
The new road system is almost perfect and better then the old one... but not quite.. the only thing that's letting down these new ones, is the odd 90 degree turns... if that was to ever be fixed and made into it's own specialized corner piece, then I'd have to 100% agree that the new version is that much better!
This demonstrates really well how the newer style plates are just more "Lego" in nature. It's great that - because they are in system - people can create roads of varying width within their city layouts (I mean, that's far more realistic of a city, to have some grand, wide boulevards, multi-lane orbital routes and much more intimate side roads and alleys). For storytelling, you can also use additional plates and tiles to build in unfinished road surfaces, geological faults, or changes from an asphalt to a cobbled road, mid-street. Additionally, I think Lego generally phasing out baseplates (and incorporating a pavement/sidewalk into the model) means that if you don't have a massive budget to buy tons of plates for your road system, you can just use the tabletop surface for your road/river/whatever, with a natural "kerb" drop - whereas using green baseplates would always leave a little strip of green when you could see it at the edge. Any changes that Lego make to allow more customisation and buildable options gets my vote.
With Lego once again progressing to faze out baseplates, I wonder when modular buildings will finally switch to plates which may further lead to the retirement of baseplates as a whole. Lego gradually started fazed out raised baseplates and non-road printed baseplates in the mid 2000s, however, there were some odd exceptions like the pharaoh’s quest pyramid so I may be underestimating the staying-power of them.
I've been wondering for a while now whenever Lego is slowly fazing out baseplates. Lego seems to get rid of bricks with limited use. Also, if I remember correctly Pharaoh quest wasn't exactly a success, so even though Lego used baseplate in biggest set, that might've just quicken the decision to get rid of baseplates.
they cannot switch modulars to baseplates, the whole thing about modulars is that they are modular, meaning they can connect together seemlessly with the sidewalks at same height
If I remember correctly, the last use of those big moulded baseplates (the one in the big pharaohs quest set) was in 2006 with the hospital and police station sets from that city wave. Which means, unless I’m wrong, it was 5 years between uses. That could mean they may never truly retire the baseplates but save them for very specific situations. maybe really big sets such as the Ninjago cities.
I actually build all my modulars (and Ninjago/Ghostbusters HQ) on a sandwich of 16 x 16 plates with some large technic bricks inside and regular bricks around the perimeter, Makes them super sturdy to move around.
The plates are much more expensive and smaller. Old and bigger vehicles do not fit and cannot drive next to each other. No curves. Plates do not naturally fit with Lego city products. At this rate I would buy my baseplates from alternative enterprises... cheaper, bigger, and better.
New speed champions + doubled road looks actually realy good and more like "city 2.0" with more details. Maybe a nice thing for a racing display scene with a few cars in rows etc.
8 wides is really a cool thing and gives more space for details and such. But. Two of them are not able to pass on the new roads. Including their mirrors, they are well beyond the lanes of the new roads. They are simply too tiny. Fare well left mirror!
To be honest if this road system was introduced first, everyone would love it, Maybe even more than old one. But since this is new area, it's only normal that not everyone will be immediately on board. To be honest I hope Lego will introduce elevated roads to maybe make bridges or roads going up hill. Or maybe more complicated intersections... I just wish those roads were cheaper
These roads just... look more LEGO, the have customisable capabilities, while they’re certainly flawed (as most things are) but they just feel more proportional, once we get corner prints, it’s all good to go
@@adwind.homealone.fandesigner I assume one will be coming. As lego has started realizing, with all these upgrades to the roads, the modular line becoming independent, it seems they are starting to realize “Hey, these people are adults and build our sets, we should keep them interested” so they would probably think “hey, baseplates are suddenly obsolete but most serious lego cities are built solely on baseplates. We should fix that.” Now enough of my rant.
The biggest detractors are the increased cost per area and the loss of curved roads. The versatility and compatibility most like makes them worth it though, so long as Lego commits to the same style for many years.
@@snfriedm I have to agree with that. They switched to plates for almost all buildings back in 2013. Modulars are the out-of-system outliers and can't transition to plates suddenly as every AFOL would revolt and burn their cities 😂 A simple pad piece of the correct thickness should be offered as at least an official fix for the modular problem.
I've got a feeling that Lego may introduce separate plates in sizes of baseplates for people to buy. That may not be the best idea, but I can see Lego doing that.
The only thing keeping me from being 100% on board with the new road system is the glossy finish. The satin finish of the old road base plates just feels more "right" to me. I know it would probably introduce different printing and compatibility issues with the insert plates, but I wish they could have given them and the main roads the rough matte texture they used on old slope pieces.
Those are the first sensible and workable solutions for Lego-city-builders that I've seen so far. For every other solution I saw on youtube, you had to invest a huge amount of money and and make substantial modifications to the buildings. Thank you for being the voice of reason here.
I hated the new road plate design until I heard you go through all the possibilities. You are so thorough and it’s super inspiring to hear and see all the thing you can do with them!
I think these new road plates are great for building stuff like parking houses or viaducts. Just need some curves/angles and ramps. But for the ground level I still prefer big plates. I'm not that much of a fan of base plates, though, simply because they are not a full plate in height. If Lego switched to the plate-high base plates from the competition, and then integrated the new roads for raised stuff or bridges even, now that'd be something fancy.
When I first saw these plates I was like "there is no way I'm getting any of these" but now while I will be keeping the older ones for my city I am now interested in using these for bridges and stuff. I love how you showed how to integrate them!
I originally did not like the new roads, but after watching this video and seeing the customization that can be done it, I changed my mind. I’m glad to see that Lego is not forcing you to think one way but rather be creative
Finally a large creator gives this some attention. After buying the new road plates I made a video about it but obviously this is going to be a lot more useful to a lot more people. Thank you so much for talking about this 😄
I like the look how you’ve integrated the new with the old system. It gives the Lego city an organic look, much like real life cities that dont have perfectly uniform roads
Yes, the cut-outs do look make the new system look very fussy. And obviously the more we put together the fussier the whole thing looks. I have tried to visually justify it by thinking in terms of the variant textures a-top of a road surface, but obvioulsy that doesn't really work, since the more we put together the more artificial and contrived the uniform pattern of the cut-outs appear.
I get why they did this, but I hope they also add ‘cleaner’ options without the patches in the future. I am also looking forward to an official solution for use with modulars, because to be honest, I like the basic idea of the new system beter than the old roadplates.
Jang, you are so balanced and impartial towards both systems in this video, I respect you incredibly and think you are incredibly balanced as a person!
I just like how you don’t follow the mob and nope about how the new plates suck, but instead end up showing everyone how awesome their potential actually is. Really enjoy your videos and watch them even when they are about a set I‘m not Interested in.
Great analysis of these new road plates. I'm really starting to like them now that you've pointed out all the neat stuff you can do with them. Good video Jang!
Thank you for this video. I was excited to see these new plates because they seem so useful and expandable. I really hope Lego sticks with these and maybe they could even provide an official product to line baseplates up. I feel like if they ever want to fully stop using baseplates they need that solution to help things like modular collections not become split.
Lego fans with big cities in their basements will be quite happy for these tips on how to adapt those new road plates to their existing cities, now any Lego car can ride on these roads if you adapt them properly, very nice advice, Jang!
My system is to build the modular builds on plates instead of the included baseplate. I have the plates raised with duplo to give the city depth. You don't have to use duplo though. You can raise you city up by one brick and build buildings on plates. Then place the new roads directly on the bricks and it all lines up perfectly if the sidewalk is tiled! Really loving this new road system!
These actually look really cool, but it is a MASSIVE pain to convert everything over. For that reason, I'm probably going to use the new road plates to build bridges and raised highways and stick to the old roads in the central "core" of my city. However, the pieces themselves are of huge value now that I consider them. They can be used as cheap, easy roofs for large custom modulars, which is huge. They can be used for parking lots like Jang said, which is crazily huge. Before, you'd have to fill up an entire 32x32 baseplate with JUST dark grey tiles, and that gets expensive FAST.
Yeah, the only problem is the only shades darker are straight black-which would be too dark- a colored option (navy blue, dark green), or a metallic color (gunmetal). None of those are quite right either, but I get it.
I agree... I know it's easier said than done, but a charcoal grey would have been nice for roads :) Who knows, maybe standard dark grey has more build options, as Jang pointed out at the end of the video.
The point about the older baseplates changing color just made 'em sound MORE real-world accurate to me... I've never seen two stretches of road in my life that weren't all a patchwork of different colors.
I think the main benefit we're getting from these new road plates is flexibility and options. Previously, we would be stuck with the road size and lane width. All city builds that used the road plates looked the same. You did a great job demonstrating things you could do with these new roads. I think phasing out base plates are a good idea as they have the nonuniform height issue but also they're basically specialized pieces that only have one purpose. These road plates could definitely be used for other purposes and I'm excited to see how MOC builders and Lego use them.
Finally found the video I needed! Getting back into lego in my 30s and trying to learn all the new systems. Getting some modulars and want to start a small city with the new road plates. Every other video I see people recommending mils plates but that would cost so much as I have no extra parts so the foam board to raise up the height of modulars is perfect for me! Thank you
Because I want the road to be flush with rail track I've been experimenting and have raised the track by one plate. The road by two plates and the pavement by a brick and plate than flat tile. I probably just transfer modular buildings on to 4 16x16 plate.
I think you have made a very good case for the new road plates, thank you for showing some simple work around and some possibilities. In my LUG we have a heavy discussion about the new road plates, this video may provide some new inputs to the discussion. Thank you.
Originally, I was quite unimpressed when I saw these as I’ve got a moderately sized Lego city and I thought that these would get in the way of that. On top of that, they have made the actual sets cost a lot more for what you get in terms of buildings / vehicles. However, after seeing this... I’ll admit, they’ve grown on me.
I've been a long term fan and always loved what you've done Jang. I think your suggestions are perfectly reasonable and practical for all Lego fans! Love your continued perspective of looking at things objectively and rationally, especially something new we haven't seen before. I always look forward to hearing your thoughts on different things. Thanks for all the quality videos!
I can understand the backlash to the new roads, to a degree. For one, lots of people dislike change. Also, currently the new road pieces are very expensive. But the new ones are fantastically open to creativity - something that should be actively encoraged in LEGO building in general
Medieval and StarWars guy here, never had any interest in starting a city but these road plates really make me want to give it a shot. It just seems so simple, painless, and like you said its all in system. I might just buy a pack or two for the heck of it and create a little highway or town scene against a shelf!
I hope that in the near-ish future we get an expansion of this new system, with angles and curves and maybe even roundabouts! Also, of course, is the issue of price. It doesn't seem very likely that they'll ever get cheaper but one can hope!
Jang - thank you for making this. Super useful. The only possible disadvantage is that the roads are much more narrow. But that would also create more space for buildings.
This is by the far the most useful and in depth video regarding the new road plate system. Personally I already like this system better due to the ability to completely customize it.
Invaluable and helpful research Jang. Thank you for buying some and doing the leg work and research to help people like me work out how to use them before I have to spend money on them. I’ve now bought some to experiment with myself. Many thanks.
3/16 inch is exactly 4.7625 mm, while 1.5 Lego plate height is exactly 4.8 mm - which is why those work. The 0.0375 mm (or less than 1/500th of an inch) of difference you simply don't notice, and it's well within the manufacturing tolerance of those parts anyway. If the plates were "metric" 5 mm instead, you would notice those modular buildings being slightly higher. But just by 0.2 mm.
You can actually connect 1x1 tiles with bar to the bottom of a baseplate, and it is much cheaper and doesn’t slide around. It increases the height to exactly 1 stud curb.
Exactly what I was thinking. And for those that light up their modulars, raising them will help hide the wires. Btw. Jang how about raising a modular by just using another baseplate under it?
Adding just a baseplate underneath would not bring it up enough to fit the rest of the system. You'd get the modular up enough for it to have a small curb to the road, but it wouldn't fit the system. For that you need to put one plate under the baseplate just as Jang showed (if you want it level with the road you'd need a plate under the new roadplate as well).
He used regular plates, so a baseplate would be too low. Unless you don't mind streets and adjacent buildings to be unconnected and a hair out of sync in the system. Then i guess it is totally viable and won't even show the hairline coloured stripes Jang mentiones in the video.
One point worth noting: while you cannot attach to the bottom of baseplates, if you sit a baseplate on top of studs, the height does match a standard plate :)
Looking at the underside of the road plates, I can already see someone using them as a roof instead. The little indentations can be used to install HVAC units or rooftop doors. 🙂
Rebuilding the modular buildings on 4 16x16 plates instead of regular baseplates would solve EVERYTHING. Great to see the different build variations @15:00+
I started to use those Strictly's Plates when lego said they were changing road plates. And Strictly's road plates as well as Block Tec plates and all work really good
Don't know why these new road plates got so much hate from folks on the web, I personally like them more than the old ones BUT the only thing I'm really confused with is that difference in heights...and that's not necessarily these road plates issue, it's a system's issue in general (at least for me).
Yeah baseplates have always been 1/2 plate in thickness, a dimension that's actually possible to work with thanks to headlight bricks, brackets, etc., but generally a pain. It's one of the reasons LEGO started transitioning most buildings to plates all the way back in 2013. Hopefully this video helps with some of the stragglers.
@@JANGBRiCKS right, generally nowadays it's only a problem when trying to embed modulars into new system, so I think moving modulars to plates in future will be the right move from LEGO. Swapping BP to plates on old modulars shouldn't be a big problem for folks either
Foamboards. How practical. This also helps level surfaces, like connecting tables or even wood frames that are imperfect. Great pointers! Love your display!
I wasn't sold on the new system, until you showed the motorway/multi-lane idea, and now i am so excited for what can be done wioth these new road plates!
Thank you for this perspective on the versatility of the new system. Regardless of which you prefer, this video speaks to the strengths and weaknesses of both. I would recommend it to anyone debating which system to use
I went another plate up and was able to make a proper drain. Like anything else, you just need to have the pieces in front of you and see what works for your particular application. The extra cutouts in the new road plates make a great spot for pot holes, not to mention speed bumps.
When I was a kid and just started playing with bricks I used to build sets from Enlighten. Even if it was just a knockoff I loved them, they were not acutally bad at all and I remember that bigger sets like a house or a police station came with a big baseplate that actually was in system, no 1/2 of a plate or things like that.. just a big plate where you could basically build whatever you wanted.
While I've used baseplates on occasion, I never put much stock into them personally as they weren't particularly efficient when compared to the rest of the Lego system. I.E. Intersections would forever be intersections (unless you had the pieces to cover one of the exits) and curves would be curves, etc. I really like the new system for roads because it corrects that previous issue, and you no longer have to buy a specific plate for a specific section of road. Legacy aside, I wholly consider the new standard a major improvement.
I think the new road plates fit WAY better into the look of a LEGO city just because they have the same material finish to them. The matte flat plastic of the old roads make them look fake. I mean, it's all fake, but the new roads make them look like they were actually made in the LEGO world.
Interesting, foam core could solve a lot of problems I've encountered, others have suggested cardboard but that's too cheap in appearance, I just don't like the new road plates, their not wide enough and the need for so many tiles and parts to get them to behave, so infuriating. They can't even do curves, I loved the old curves. But mils have to happen so I can pick-up the buildings. Your right at the end I do see potential of the new road pieces, just would need a lot more of them in a set to make them work properly.
If only they weren't so cramped! Not being able to have two trucks passing each other is a shame, and since they're already so expensive, you shouldn't have to buy extra pieces.
If they where standard wider, you couldn't customize your road as much as you can now. Everything (allmost) is possible now, with drains, sidestripes coloured lines, as far as imagination can go. Wider pieces would ruin that. But yes, for the prize they could include more tiles, or drop the prize, or give voucher for the pick a brick wall.
What an amazing video. The hero we need. Thank you Jang. Love your analysis, your positivity, your creativity and the way your love of this hobby shines through everything. You are truly inspirational.
I feel like this new road plate is awesome! i just barely watched this video after disagreeing with the new road plates but it did inspire me with your reasoning and got me thinking : if people really do believe the road plates are eating up the piece budget and they arnt getting enough building (like the school for example) I thought why cant lego just build side walk with the road plates, and have little sections so that, if you got a set like the school and it didn't contain a road plate and had more school, you could easily just click it onto the side walk and BOOM amazing, the fans are happy as they're getting more for what they are paying for and the road plate system adds another W to its board. It's just a silly thought tho but I really think it can make a difference!
I can finally make a multi lane motorway with a small space in-between the different directions! Thank you for showing us some of the different possible combinations with this new system.
something that I want to mention is that where I live, the roads are sloped towards the side slightly, so all you would need to do to get that to work would be to have slopes lining the roads so that it lowers to the level of the sidewalk and gives a slight curb.
The new road system remembered me of the 80’s and 90’s Lego seaport sets. Like the police harbour and the seaport. It looks a little bit like that but that ones are more raised.
I loved this video! THANK YOU! I was never skeptical about the new road plates, I had just always thought about widening in multiples of 16. I will definitely be using these new road plate if/when I begin my own city!
One other thing I haven't see anyone mention about these road plates is that you can use black pieces to represent road repairs or trans blue pieces to represent water. You can use grill pieces and round plates to represent manholes. Basically, you can customize the road itself and it is a happy-medium between the road plates and a mils system
Thanks JANG! best review of these new road plates! You and @Brickinit have shown me this will be the best for my city as it gives more creative freedom! Keep up the great content for our awesome community!
Great video Jang. Some new ideas I hadnt seen or thought of in here. Love the median idea and also turning them sideways to accommodate the 8 wide speed champions.
I always felt that old system of roads didn't fit into the LEGO world. You really showed it well how to implement it and how to extend it into all the possible designs. It will really diversify the look of the LEGO city: you can have narrow roads, main four lane road, etc.
Honestly I thought I would hate the height difference between a modular on a baseplate and the new road plates. But when you say that there will be a 1/6th of a brick height difference that actually sounds pretty appropriate for a curb, and I think that would look okay!
I'm honestly really glad I didn't get personally invested in the old road system. I think going into it now, I'll have a lot more customizeability from the road system.
I very much enjoy these new pieces. The original road plates were so limited in their function, and that seems very counter to LEGO's whole thing. The amount of customization that's possible with these new roadplates is fantastic. You can make straights, curves, t-junctions, crosswalks, median islands, and more so easily. Not to mention you can elevate them. I could see using these for something like a parking lot too and it'd work well.
Very nice ideas for making the new road plate system more integratable. What I don't like are the gaps between the tiles and the molded pieces. They are much bigger than the gaps between two tiles.
If you go for the baseplate to plate conversion, you can actually connect the street plates to the curb if you use two of those 2 by 2 half-plate, half tile pieces.
Just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities here, addressing some of the most common questions & misconceptions about compatibility. Like I say in the video, there's a ton more that can be done, so search & browse around and also experiment!
Keep in mind that *nearly all* Creator 3-in-1, City, Friends, and other buildings have been on plates *since 2013* and thus out-of-sync with modulars. It's the old baseplates that are out of system, not the new plates. This changeover has been a long time coming.
When we gonna get a new mega video?
Panit the red plates gray also your videos are amazing
Can you try and integrate railroad tracks into them. Maybe the crosswalk sized plate could fit in-between the rails? I'd just like to see that. Thx for posting this!
Hey jang, i've been building a lego star wars base and i've been running low on plates and tiles to fill in the ground of my hangar area, could these roadplates be effectively used for that?
You did good Jang.
with this system it would be very cool if they took the chance to make a set with two 45 degree angled roads rather than a full 90 degree one. imagine how awesome that would be?
👍🔨😤 Smashing thumbs up
Great idea. I hope the brick gnomes in Denmark are listening 👂😀
@@JANGBRiCKS I got the new road plates
Jang, can I just thank you for being such a calm voice. When something new comes along that concerns the LEGO world, you keep showing us that our hobby still goes on despite or because of it, without strongly picking a side. You definitely play a considerable role in keeping this community such a relaxing one. Thanks.
Our hobby still goes despise the new lego designers not knowing a lot about Lego. They are just good at computer design! 😢😢😢
Well said man...
Hey Jang, this is why people subscribe to your channel. This is such a thorough study of the possibilities with the new system. Thank you!
He’s the best, honestly
Yes. Much better than saying “this sucks”. However Lego themselves should have laid out all these new possibilities and there would have been a lot less backlash.
Agreed, very helpful
Honestly, this was so comprehensive and well thought out. Plus I've always thought his voice is very pleasant too, especially for relaxing in the evening. One of the best channels on RUclips.
I’d like to see a bridge made from these
Yes
I hadn’t thought of that but now you’ve said it I want that to.
SOlbrick has one.
That's a good idea.
I would like to see a star wars hangar using these
What LEGO really, really needs to do is start selling 16x32 and 32x32 baseplates that are the thickness of a plate, and offer them for sale individually so that people who want to can replace their old system-incompatible baseplates on their modulars etc. with something that works with everything. Or just switch away from the old baseplates altogether and sell those on LEGO's online shop as a sort of legacy item for those not wanting to switch to the new stuff.
I can understand those who are heavily invested into the old baseplates being disgruntled, but the new road system is so much better in every single way, just like this video highlights. The old baseplates really don't offer any advantage other than "It's what I'm used to and it's too much work to switch".
Baseplates that are the thickness of a plate, so you mean plates? Yes they should have made plates in these sizes long ago!
It just doesn't help if you call them baseplate when the term baseplate is allready used for the thin stuff.
Sorry if i sound nittpicky, but clarity is important in this subject in my eyes.
Curves. They offer curves. How do I build curves with the new system :< there are no cities looking like a chess board here in europe. And if I have to improvise myself I don't buy that system at all and scramble up everything.🤨
The new road system is almost perfect and better then the old one... but not quite.. the only thing that's letting down these new ones, is the odd 90 degree turns... if that was to ever be fixed and made into it's own specialized corner piece, then I'd have to 100% agree that the new version is that much better!
This demonstrates really well how the newer style plates are just more "Lego" in nature. It's great that - because they are in system - people can create roads of varying width within their city layouts (I mean, that's far more realistic of a city, to have some grand, wide boulevards, multi-lane orbital routes and much more intimate side roads and alleys). For storytelling, you can also use additional plates and tiles to build in unfinished road surfaces, geological faults, or changes from an asphalt to a cobbled road, mid-street.
Additionally, I think Lego generally phasing out baseplates (and incorporating a pavement/sidewalk into the model) means that if you don't have a massive budget to buy tons of plates for your road system, you can just use the tabletop surface for your road/river/whatever, with a natural "kerb" drop - whereas using green baseplates would always leave a little strip of green when you could see it at the edge.
Any changes that Lego make to allow more customisation and buildable options gets my vote.
With Lego once again progressing to faze out baseplates, I wonder when modular buildings will finally switch to plates which may further lead to the retirement of baseplates as a whole. Lego gradually started fazed out raised baseplates and non-road printed baseplates in the mid 2000s, however, there were some odd exceptions like the pharaoh’s quest pyramid so I may be underestimating the staying-power of them.
I've been wondering for a while now whenever Lego is slowly fazing out baseplates. Lego seems to get rid of bricks with limited use.
Also, if I remember correctly Pharaoh quest wasn't exactly a success, so even though Lego used baseplate in biggest set, that might've just quicken the decision to get rid of baseplates.
they cannot switch modulars to baseplates, the whole thing about modulars is that they are modular, meaning they can connect together seemlessly with the sidewalks at same height
If I remember correctly, the last use of those big moulded baseplates (the one in the big pharaohs quest set) was in 2006 with the hospital and police station sets from that city wave. Which means, unless I’m wrong, it was 5 years between uses. That could mean they may never truly retire the baseplates but save them for very specific situations. maybe really big sets such as the Ninjago cities.
I actually build all my modulars (and Ninjago/Ghostbusters HQ) on a sandwich of 16 x 16 plates with some large technic bricks inside and regular bricks around the perimeter, Makes them super sturdy to move around.
The plates are much more expensive and smaller. Old and bigger vehicles do not fit and cannot drive next to each other.
No curves.
Plates do not naturally fit with Lego city products.
At this rate I would buy my baseplates from alternative enterprises... cheaper, bigger, and better.
New speed champions + doubled road looks actually realy good and more like "city 2.0" with more details. Maybe a nice thing for a racing display scene with a few cars in rows etc.
heck yeah! That’s definitely the route I’m going with my city. The 8-wides are just so much better!
8 wides is really a cool thing and gives more space for details and such. But. Two of them are not able to pass on the new roads. Including their mirrors, they are well beyond the lanes of the new roads. They are simply too tiny. Fare well left mirror!
To be honest if this road system was introduced first, everyone would love it, Maybe even more than old one. But since this is new area, it's only normal that not everyone will be immediately on board.
To be honest I hope Lego will introduce elevated roads to maybe make bridges or roads going up hill. Or maybe more complicated intersections...
I just wish those roads were cheaper
When something new comes up to replace the old, it will definitely take time for everyone to adapt to it.
if it's any consolation, these will probably come down in price significantly the more are produced.
I'm hoping Lego releases an updated set of Blacktron road plates
@@bt1234567892010 Just like the old road plates did... oh wait.
No
These roads just... look more LEGO, the have customisable capabilities, while they’re certainly flawed (as most things are) but they just feel more proportional, once we get corner prints, it’s all good to go
same here, I wish there was an official solutions from Lego to fix the height difference issue though
@@adwind.homealone.fandesigner I assume one will be coming. As lego has started realizing, with all these upgrades to the roads, the modular line becoming independent, it seems they are starting to realize “Hey, these people are adults and build our sets, we should keep them interested” so they would probably think “hey, baseplates are suddenly obsolete but most serious lego cities are built solely on baseplates. We should fix that.” Now enough of my rant.
The biggest detractors are the increased cost per area and the loss of curved roads. The versatility and compatibility most like makes them worth it though, so long as Lego commits to the same style for many years.
@@snfriedm I have to agree with that. They switched to plates for almost all buildings back in 2013. Modulars are the out-of-system outliers and can't transition to plates suddenly as every AFOL would revolt and burn their cities 😂 A simple pad piece of the correct thickness should be offered as at least an official fix for the modular problem.
I've got a feeling that Lego may introduce separate plates in sizes of baseplates for people to buy.
That may not be the best idea, but I can see Lego doing that.
That was a great description of what you can do with the new plates, kinda understand them now, it works, shame it’s expensive
finally a video by someone not throwing shade at the new roadplates and giving good solutions and system integrations - great work Jang keep it up
Yeah showing how to fix problems that Lego created instead of telling them whats wrong
you could build a multi-storey parking garage or a bridge with the new streets
You can also do that with regular plates and tiles. And that would be cheaper.
The only thing keeping me from being 100% on board with the new road system is the glossy finish. The satin finish of the old road base plates just feels more "right" to me. I know it would probably introduce different printing and compatibility issues with the insert plates, but I wish they could have given them and the main roads the rough matte texture they used on old slope pieces.
I think they used glossy mostly so that the shiny tiles used in conjonction look better?
Duude! The two lane and green middle... That looks amazing! Now I can really see the possibility with this system.
Those are the first sensible and workable solutions for Lego-city-builders that I've seen so far. For every other solution I saw on youtube, you had to invest a huge amount of money and and make substantial modifications to the buildings. Thank you for being the voice of reason here.
For all the complaints about the new road parts, they sure do sell out fast. Nice video to show how to use the new pieces.
I hope everyone starts selling their baseplates to replace with these so the prices go down and then I can buy them cheap
I hated the new road plate design until I heard you go through all the possibilities. You are so thorough and it’s super inspiring to hear and see all the thing you can do with them!
I think these new road plates are great for building stuff like parking houses or viaducts. Just need some curves/angles and ramps. But for the ground level I still prefer big plates. I'm not that much of a fan of base plates, though, simply because they are not a full plate in height. If Lego switched to the plate-high base plates from the competition, and then integrated the new roads for raised stuff or bridges even, now that'd be something fancy.
When I first saw these plates I was like "there is no way I'm getting any of these" but now while I will be keeping the older ones for my city I am now interested in using these for bridges and stuff. I love how you showed how to integrate them!
That was very thorough, he covered all the bases.
I originally did not like the new roads, but after watching this video and seeing the customization that can be done it, I changed my mind. I’m glad to see that Lego is not forcing you to think one way but rather be creative
Finally a large creator gives this some attention. After buying the new road plates I made a video about it but obviously this is going to be a lot more useful to a lot more people. Thank you so much for talking about this 😄
I like the look how you’ve integrated the new with the old system. It gives the Lego city an organic look, much like real life cities that dont have perfectly uniform roads
I just don’t like the open “parts” of the new roads. I don’t like how it’s not one thing, so to speak.
But I DO like the modularity…
Yes, the cut-outs do look make the new system look very fussy. And obviously the more we put together the fussier the whole thing looks. I have tried to visually justify it by thinking in terms of the variant textures a-top of a road surface, but obvioulsy that doesn't really work, since the more we put together the more artificial and contrived the uniform pattern of the cut-outs appear.
I get why they did this, but I hope they also add ‘cleaner’ options without the patches in the future. I am also looking forward to an official solution for use with modulars, because to be honest, I like the basic idea of the new system beter than the old roadplates.
Real roads have many openings and crevices too, man... The new one is more realistic from a point of view...
These dont lok as bad when you get them as they look on pictures or videos.
The new speed champions are clearly not for Lego city scale.
Jang, you are so balanced and impartial towards both systems in this video, I respect you incredibly and think you are incredibly balanced as a person!
I just like how you don’t follow the mob and nope about how the new plates suck, but instead end up showing everyone how awesome their potential actually is. Really enjoy your videos and watch them even when they are about a set I‘m not Interested in.
Great analysis of these new road plates. I'm really starting to like them now that you've pointed out all the neat stuff you can do with them. Good video Jang!
Thank you for this video. I was excited to see these new plates because they seem so useful and expandable. I really hope Lego sticks with these and maybe they could even provide an official product to line baseplates up. I feel like if they ever want to fully stop using baseplates they need that solution to help things like modular collections not become split.
Lego fans with big cities in their basements will be quite happy for these tips on how to adapt those new road plates to their existing cities, now any Lego car can ride on these roads if you adapt them properly, very nice advice, Jang!
My system is to build the modular builds on plates instead of the included baseplate. I have the plates raised with duplo to give the city depth. You don't have to use duplo though. You can raise you city up by one brick and build buildings on plates. Then place the new roads directly on the bricks and it all lines up perfectly if the sidewalk is tiled! Really loving this new road system!
I still don't like this new system. Just look at all that gaps between the parts. They are maybe more functional, but they're also way uglier.
I agree. I personally still like the old ones, or the old style at least. Integrated into the baseplate.
These actually look really cool, but it is a MASSIVE pain to convert everything over. For that reason, I'm probably going to use the new road plates to build bridges and raised highways and stick to the old roads in the central "core" of my city.
However, the pieces themselves are of huge value now that I consider them. They can be used as cheap, easy roofs for large custom modulars, which is huge. They can be used for parking lots like Jang said, which is crazily huge. Before, you'd have to fill up an entire 32x32 baseplate with JUST dark grey tiles, and that gets expensive FAST.
And way too expensive...
Really cool, cheap, easy and creative solutions. I like it! Thanks for taking the time to come up with these Jang 😁
I just wish they were a shade darker. They look too similar to the modular buildings' sidewalks, and I feel they should be darker to denote tarmac.
Yeah, the only problem is the only shades darker are straight black-which would be too dark- a colored option (navy blue, dark green), or a metallic color (gunmetal). None of those are quite right either, but I get it.
I agree... I know it's easier said than done, but a charcoal grey would have been nice for roads :)
Who knows, maybe standard dark grey has more build options, as Jang pointed out at the end of the video.
The point about the older baseplates changing color just made 'em sound MORE real-world accurate to me... I've never seen two stretches of road in my life that weren't all a patchwork of different colors.
I think the main benefit we're getting from these new road plates is flexibility and options. Previously, we would be stuck with the road size and lane width. All city builds that used the road plates looked the same. You did a great job demonstrating things you could do with these new roads. I think phasing out base plates are a good idea as they have the nonuniform height issue but also they're basically specialized pieces that only have one purpose. These road plates could definitely be used for other purposes and I'm excited to see how MOC builders and Lego use them.
Finally found the video I needed! Getting back into lego in my 30s and trying to learn all the new systems. Getting some modulars and want to start a small city with the new road plates. Every other video I see people recommending mils plates but that would cost so much as I have no extra parts so the foam board to raise up the height of modulars is perfect for me! Thank you
Because I want the road to be flush with rail track I've been experimenting and have raised the track by one plate. The road by two plates and the pavement by a brick and plate than flat tile. I probably just transfer modular buildings on to 4 16x16 plate.
I think you have made a very good case for the new road plates, thank you for showing some simple work around and some possibilities. In my LUG we have a heavy discussion about the new road plates, this video may provide some new inputs to the discussion. Thank you.
Originally, I was quite unimpressed when I saw these as I’ve got a moderately sized Lego city and I thought that these would get in the way of that. On top of that, they have made the actual sets cost a lot more for what you get in terms of buildings / vehicles. However, after seeing this... I’ll admit, they’ve grown on me.
I've been a long term fan and always loved what you've done Jang. I think your suggestions are perfectly reasonable and practical for all Lego fans! Love your continued perspective of looking at things objectively and rationally, especially something new we haven't seen before. I always look forward to hearing your thoughts on different things. Thanks for all the quality videos!
Thanks for showing all these options!
I have been building my modulars on plates for years now, so I'm good there.
Fantastic!
I can understand the backlash to the new roads, to a degree. For one, lots of people dislike change. Also, currently the new road pieces are very expensive. But the new ones are fantastically open to creativity - something that should be actively encoraged in LEGO building in general
New road plates have endless possibilities than old flimsy thin ones... great video!
Medieval and StarWars guy here, never had any interest in starting a city but these road plates really make me want to give it a shot. It just seems so simple, painless, and like you said its all in system. I might just buy a pack or two for the heck of it and create a little highway or town scene against a shelf!
Pretty great recommendation from RUclips since I just got a bunch of the road plate expansion pack sets on clearance for $12 each. Great ideas!
Strictly Bricks also does 1-plate-high roadplates. They even have curves and are wide enough to fit vehicles!
This is the best baseplate/modular street explanation video I have seen, well done!!!
Thank you. Finally a clear video about the new road plates connecting with old system. Keep up the good work. All the best.
I hope that in the near-ish future we get an expansion of this new system, with angles and curves and maybe even roundabouts! Also, of course, is the issue of price. It doesn't seem very likely that they'll ever get cheaper but one can hope!
Jang - thank you for making this. Super useful. The only possible disadvantage is that the roads are much more narrow. But that would also create more space for buildings.
I haven't started with my city yet. I think I am going to go with the new in system roads, but include them in a MILS style plate system.
This is by the far the most useful and in depth video regarding the new road plate system. Personally I already like this system better due to the ability to completely customize it.
Invaluable and helpful research Jang.
Thank you for buying some and doing the leg work and research to help people like me work out how to use them before I have to spend money on them.
I’ve now bought some to experiment with myself.
Many thanks.
3/16 inch is exactly 4.7625 mm, while 1.5 Lego plate height is exactly 4.8 mm - which is why those work. The 0.0375 mm (or less than 1/500th of an inch) of difference you simply don't notice, and it's well within the manufacturing tolerance of those parts anyway.
If the plates were "metric" 5 mm instead, you would notice those modular buildings being slightly higher. But just by 0.2 mm.
I think these new roadplates would work great for a elevated highway and things like that
You can actually connect 1x1 tiles with bar to the bottom of a baseplate, and it is much cheaper and doesn’t slide around. It increases the height to exactly 1 stud curb.
Exactly what I was thinking. And for those that light up their modulars, raising them will help hide the wires. Btw. Jang how about raising a modular by just using another baseplate under it?
Adding just a baseplate underneath would not bring it up enough to fit the rest of the system. You'd get the modular up enough for it to have a small curb to the road, but it wouldn't fit the system. For that you need to put one plate under the baseplate just as Jang showed (if you want it level with the road you'd need a plate under the new roadplate as well).
He used regular plates, so a baseplate would be too low. Unless you don't mind streets and adjacent buildings to be unconnected and a hair out of sync in the system. Then i guess it is totally viable and won't even show the hairline coloured stripes Jang mentiones in the video.
One point worth noting: while you cannot attach to the bottom of baseplates, if you sit a baseplate on top of studs, the height does match a standard plate :)
Looking at the underside of the road plates, I can already see someone using them as a roof instead. The little indentations can be used to install HVAC units or rooftop doors. 🙂
Rebuilding the modular buildings on 4 16x16 plates instead of regular baseplates would solve EVERYTHING.
Great to see the different build variations @15:00+
This gives me new hope for the new road plates.
I started to use those Strictly's Plates when lego said they were changing road plates. And Strictly's road plates as well as Block Tec plates and all work really good
Jang, Thank you for such a clear and comprehensive guide on these new road plates! I can now see the full potential in this new system.
Don't know why these new road plates got so much hate from folks on the web, I personally like them more than the old ones BUT the only thing I'm really confused with is that difference in heights...and that's not necessarily these road plates issue, it's a system's issue in general (at least for me).
Yeah baseplates have always been 1/2 plate in thickness, a dimension that's actually possible to work with thanks to headlight bricks, brackets, etc., but generally a pain. It's one of the reasons LEGO started transitioning most buildings to plates all the way back in 2013. Hopefully this video helps with some of the stragglers.
@@JANGBRiCKS right, generally nowadays it's only a problem when trying to embed modulars into new system, so I think moving modulars to plates in future will be the right move from LEGO. Swapping BP to plates on old modulars shouldn't be a big problem for folks either
Foamboards. How practical. This also helps level surfaces, like connecting tables or even wood frames that are imperfect. Great pointers! Love your display!
I wasn't sold on the new system, until you showed the motorway/multi-lane idea, and now i am so excited for what can be done wioth these new road plates!
Thank you for this perspective on the versatility of the new system. Regardless of which you prefer, this video speaks to the strengths and weaknesses of both. I would recommend it to anyone debating which system to use
I went another plate up and was able to make a proper drain. Like anything else, you just need to have the pieces in front of you and see what works for your particular application. The extra cutouts in the new road plates make a great spot for pot holes, not to mention speed bumps.
When I was a kid and just started playing with bricks I used to build sets from Enlighten. Even if it was just a knockoff I loved them, they were not acutally bad at all and I remember that bigger sets like a house or a police station came with a big baseplate that actually was in system, no 1/2 of a plate or things like that.. just a big plate where you could basically build whatever you wanted.
While I've used baseplates on occasion, I never put much stock into them personally as they weren't particularly efficient when compared to the rest of the Lego system. I.E. Intersections would forever be intersections (unless you had the pieces to cover one of the exits) and curves would be curves, etc.
I really like the new system for roads because it corrects that previous issue, and you no longer have to buy a specific plate for a specific section of road. Legacy aside, I wholly consider the new standard a major improvement.
I think the new road plates fit WAY better into the look of a LEGO city just because they have the same material finish to them. The matte flat plastic of the old roads make them look fake. I mean, it's all fake, but the new roads make them look like they were actually made in the LEGO world.
Interesting, foam core could solve a lot of problems I've encountered, others have suggested cardboard but that's too cheap in appearance, I just don't like the new road plates, their not wide enough and the need for so many tiles and parts to get them to behave, so infuriating. They can't even do curves, I loved the old curves. But mils have to happen so I can pick-up the buildings.
Your right at the end I do see potential of the new road pieces, just would need a lot more of them in a set to make them work properly.
If only they weren't so cramped! Not being able to have two trucks passing each other is a shame, and since they're already so expensive, you shouldn't have to buy extra pieces.
I mean, in this video you can see two trucks passing each other on this system. It was in Jang's last video on these plates too
If they where standard wider, you couldn't customize your road as much as you can now. Everything (allmost) is possible now, with drains, sidestripes coloured lines, as far as imagination can go.
Wider pieces would ruin that.
But yes, for the prize they could include more tiles, or drop the prize, or give voucher for the pick a brick wall.
What an amazing video. The hero we need. Thank you Jang. Love your analysis, your positivity, your creativity and the way your love of this hobby shines through everything. You are truly inspirational.
Wouldn’t the foamcore get squished and lose height due to the weight of the building above?
I don’t think a lot
I feel like this new road plate is awesome! i just barely watched this video after disagreeing with the new road plates but it did inspire me with your reasoning and got me thinking : if people really do believe the road plates are eating up the piece budget and they arnt getting enough building (like the school for example) I thought why cant lego just build side walk with the road plates, and have little sections so that, if you got a set like the school and it didn't contain a road plate and had more school, you could easily just click it onto the side walk and BOOM amazing, the fans are happy as they're getting more for what they are paying for and the road plate system adds another W to its board. It's just a silly thought tho but I really think it can make a difference!
I can finally make a multi lane motorway with a small space in-between the different directions! Thank you for showing us some of the different possible combinations with this new system.
something that I want to mention is that where I live, the roads are sloped towards the side slightly, so all you would need to do to get that to work would be to have slopes lining the roads so that it lowers to the level of the sidewalk and gives a slight curb.
The new road system remembered me of the 80’s and 90’s Lego seaport sets. Like the police harbour and the seaport. It looks a little bit like that but that ones are more raised.
I loved this video! THANK YOU! I was never skeptical about the new road plates, I had just always thought about widening in multiples of 16. I will definitely be using these new road plate if/when I begin my own city!
This video was needed within the Lego world, though only a few possibilities it's a very good synopsis. Thanks Jang!
One other thing I haven't see anyone mention about these road plates is that you can use black pieces to represent road repairs or trans blue pieces to represent water. You can use grill pieces and round plates to represent manholes. Basically, you can customize the road itself and it is a happy-medium between the road plates and a mils system
Thanks JANG! best review of these new road plates! You and @Brickinit have shown me this will be the best for my city as it gives more creative freedom! Keep up the great content for our awesome community!
Fantastic video. Really good explanation and examples. Really shows how incredibly flexible these new road plates are.
Great video Jang. Some new ideas I hadnt seen or thought of in here. Love the median idea and also turning them sideways to accommodate the 8 wide speed champions.
I always felt that old system of roads didn't fit into the LEGO world. You really showed it well how to implement it and how to extend it into all the possible designs. It will really diversify the look of the LEGO city: you can have narrow roads, main four lane road, etc.
Honestly I thought I would hate the height difference between a modular on a baseplate and the new road plates. But when you say that there will be a 1/6th of a brick height difference that actually sounds pretty appropriate for a curb, and I think that would look okay!
This style of plates seem like the System the LEGO professionals might use... Jangs Video won me over! .. now Back to work!!!
Strictly Bricks rescueing LEGOs's Baseplate system...
Thanks Jang for the Tutorial;)
jang, thank you for bringing me onto those third party plates, they're AMAZING
I'm honestly really glad I didn't get personally invested in the old road system. I think going into it now, I'll have a lot more customizeability from the road system.
I very much enjoy these new pieces. The original road plates were so limited in their function, and that seems very counter to LEGO's whole thing. The amount of customization that's possible with these new roadplates is fantastic. You can make straights, curves, t-junctions, crosswalks, median islands, and more so easily. Not to mention you can elevate them. I could see using these for something like a parking lot too and it'd work well.
that center greenstrip is an awesome idea
Very nice ideas for making the new road plate system more integratable. What I don't like are the gaps between the tiles and the molded pieces. They are much bigger than the gaps between two tiles.
And real roads are VERY diverse, so multiple Lego road plates even add some realism!
I'm super stoked for these new roads, now I just need the space for them!
If you go for the baseplate to plate conversion, you can actually connect the street plates to the curb if you use two of those 2 by 2 half-plate, half tile pieces.