Whatever happened to baseplates? Posted by Huw, 19 Feb 2016 10:30

Assault on Hoth ©2016 LEGO Group

75098 Assault on Hoth has not been well received by the community, as I'm sure you will have noticed. One reason for this is that it's pretty much just a '4-in-1 pack' of sub-assemblies that have been available before.

For me, one of its major flaws is that it's a very poor display set consisting of an unconnected sprawl of separate models. Just think how much better it would look if it included a couple of white 32x32 baseplates to mount everything on and tie it all together.

Baseplates are now a rarity in sets and, unless I'm mistaken, the only 2016 sets that contain them are the Brick Bank and Firehouse Headquarters.

So, whatever happened to them?

Before answering that, let's take a look at a few sets to compare those with and those without them.

Back in the 1990s and 2000s baseplates were commonplace and almost every large building (or other structure) came with one.

One of my favorites that uses them to great effect is 6195 Neptune Discovery Lab from 1995:

Here we have a crystal processing unit, control dome, submarine landing pad and some other subassembly at the front. Everything included in the set fits on the two baseplates so it looks neat and tidy when displayed, and the topography of the plates has been used to great effect.

Raised baseplates were often criticised as being 'lazy' on the part of set designers, and one was even given a derogatory nickname: part 2552, CRAPP (cra??y ramp and pit plate). However they were a relatively cheap and very effective at 'bulking out' sets and tying their component parts together.

The last set to include one was 7327 Scorpion Pyramid, in 2011:

That particular baseplate was first used in 2005 and was, I believe, the last new design to be produced, if we exclude those that do not have studs.

In 2011 normal City sets contained baseplates too, with enough area to house the entire set:

There's a place for everything and as a result it's neat and tidy and, despite being a police station, would look good on display on a shelf.

Let's compare these to a recent set, one that my daughter has just built: 41101 Heartlake Grand Hotel:

The building has a very impressive facade and interior and overall it's a very cool set. But it annoys me that there are bits and pieces sprawled all over the place: sub-assemblies that should be inside the building and others that belong outside. If two 32x32 baseplates had been provided the whole thing could have been tied together neatly with everything in its place where it should be. Not only would it look better but I'm sure it would also help prevent bits of it being lost in a play environment.

So, what did happen to baseplates? It seems that since 2011 they have only been used where it's absolutely essential, as the foundations for large complex models. 16x16 and smaller baseplates have been replaced by 8x16 and 16x16 plates entirely which are very nice but must be expensive so are used sparingly, usually to the detriment of the set.

I don't suppose we'll ever know the reason why but it could be that vacuum forming baseplates is something that's becoming impractical, or more expensive, for LEGO to do.

I will leave you with a picture of the sprawling mess that is Assault On Hoth:

Now imagine what that would look like on a couple of white baseplates...

Of course including them would increase the price of the set or result in a reduction in the part count but I think that's a price I'm prepared to pay for something that looks whole.

What do you think? Do you miss baseplates? Would you like to see the return of the CRAPP and its relatives?