Product Idea |

Lego (Sub-Saharan) Africa Minibus and Container Bar

12 comments

Introduction

Why not jump on a passing mini-bus - there's always room for one more person (and box of chickens) - and see more of the city. Just try to resist parching your thirst at "The Place" - a bar made from a recycled shipping container sharing cool drinks, snacks and booming Afro-beats to its patrons and passers-by.

This is the third set in my proposed theme. I am in the process of creating a Lego Sub-Saharan African City theme aimed at expanding the Lego Universe beyond the confines of developed countries to include developing countries. The motivation for this is twofold: to the children living in the West I hope to promote a better understanding of the world through exposure to lifestyles and cultures beyond their usual frame of reference, and by doing so challenge misconceptions, and; to the children living in or connected to Sub-Saharan Africa I hope my sets offer some familiar places and faces to their own Lego play.
 
I appreciate that currently Lego's policy is to use only yellow minifigures to represent a universal skin type but in the light of shifting popular attitudes and other Lego themes,  such as Star Wars, Friends, Pirates of the Caribbean, Basketball and others, it is my dearest hope that this policy could be updated.
 
The minibus features a working sliding-door and a fuller-than-full roof-rack including a crate of chickens. The container bar has plenty of seating and tables, three giant (one gigantic) speakers and a secure serving hatch. I wonder if anyone can tell me how I made the walls of the container - it took me a few variations to get it right (although I realise that the latest Lego City sets now have shipping containers!).  

Opens in a new window