Reduce Traffic Jams In Your Lego City With The Cross Road Base Plate
Written: Apr 20 '06
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Pros: Nice detail, 6x6 pegged area, two plates per package.
Cons: The 6x6 pegged corners don't allow for a lot of base support for buildings.
The Bottom Line: Let your imagination be your guide when you add the Lego Cross Road Plate to your city or town!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Cross Road Plates - LEGO |
No matter what size Lego City you are building, one thing is for sure, you need base plates to build on. The larger it grows, the more stability you need and base plates are designed to not only offer than but if you opt to purchase the road plates, it gives it a more realistic look. You can buy plain or detailed ones although the colors are limited. You can get around this by spray painting them to whatever color you like however if you plan on entering any type of building competition you will have to prove that the base plate is indeed a Lego product. There are more than a few road plates that you can buy and initially I didn’t think that the boys would really want to have the Cross Road one because of the limited pegged area on each corner. When I ordered a package I was fully prepared for them to get used once and put aside but they found a lot of great uses for them over the years. These are really nice accessory pieces that you normally can’t get in sets, you can purchase most of these through the Lego World Shop year round. they can be found in the accessory section of the site under the “Shop” tab.
Lego Cross Road Plates
Almost all of the road plates that are made for the Lego building system measure ten inches square. The amount of building surface [the pegged area] differs on each of them depending on the shape of the road. This one has four 6 x 6 square pegged areas on the corners, the white striped areas run along the edges and the center is free of any type of design. Normally this is used as a crosswalk for busy intersections but the boys used it for a helicopter landing pad, parking for emergency vehicles and was included in their plans when they were attempting to build a replica of The Mall of America. Since they couldn’t get accurate photographs of the outside of the building from a variety of angles they ditched the idea until they could go there in person and take the shots that they need. This plate can be used with any standard Lego brick or other base plates; to anchor them securely you will have to make sure that you use pieces to attach this into a scene or corner of a building which isn’t all that easy because you only have the 6 x 6 pegged area to work with.
One of the downsides to this plate is that you can’t use it with the curved or straight road plates, you can if you want to but it looks pretty messy with the white and black stripes running right into the road lane. The T Junction plate is a good cross over piece to have because one side of it has the white and black stripes that you can use for a merge lane. This might all sound like I am being obsessive about something as simple as a building plate but if you are going to invest the time and money into building a mega city, you might as well do it right. If you’ve owned any other plate plates you will know the thickness and strength of them; this one is no exception. The black top area resists most scratches so it will look great no matter what you are using it for and it is a lot easier to clean than the regular base plates that are made up of a completely pegged surface.
These aren’t all that common to come across at retail stores but you can order them from the website or catalog when they are available. You get two ten inch square plates per package [same design] and the average cost is about $6.99. If you only need one of them you can check online places like Baylit [Bricks As You Like Them] to see if there are any in stock. You can catch them from time to time at online auctions and your best bet to finding them quickly is to use the Lego set number [4111] in your search string. To me they were a long shot with the boys, I wasn’t sure if they would use them for anything but as it turns out, they’ve come up with some great uses for them. $6.99 might sound like a lot to pay for a piece of plastic but they are well made and will add a lot of detail to a city or town scene.
The Bottom Line
This is one of the most detailed road plates that Lego offers and it can add a lot of realism to a city or town. It increases the replay value of the basic pieces and can be used with the regular Lego sets as well as Jack Stone and Metropolis. From time to time you can get these on sale if you shop at the website or receive the free Lego Magazine. They are great things to give the Lego lover in your life and don’t forget, it’s never too early to start shopping for the holidays. This one won’t do much to anchor large buildings or provide a tremendous amount of base support but the detail of it more than makes up for it.
The Stats
Set Name: Cross Road Plate
Family Set: : Lego Town
Lego Set: 4111
Number of Pieces: 2
Age Recommendation: 6 and older
Cost: $ 6.99
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2006 Freak369
Related reviews ...
Straight Road Plates
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Duplo Building Plates
Brick Separator
Accessory sets ...
Life on Mars,
Castle, Space Port and
Belville Fairy Tale
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): see review
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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