What else to buy with a purchase?
The LEGO® System is a very extensive, flexible and powerful one. One of the most amazing features about it is that any set you buy lets you build much more than just the one model pictured. Even with just that set you can build a lot of alternate creations, within the theme of the set, or outside it. But even more amazingly, if you add just a few more parts, the possibilities expand greatly. The number of things you can build with two different sets is way more than double the number of things you can build with just one.
Many current LEGO sets are part of a theme, or subtheme. Themes include perennial favorites such as Town, Trains, Castle, Space, and their many subthemes, as well as licensed themes such as Star Wars®, Harry Potter® and others.
So it often makes a lot of sense when shopping for a gift, to buy not just one set, but rather get more than one. But which set or sets to add to the gift? That depends on what you want to foster. Because sets contain a mixture of common parts and theme specific parts, sets lend themselves to use in other themes. So buying a set from two different themes can enable better and larger creations in BOTH themes, with few or no "wasted parts".
This page discusses some of the main themes, what sorts of parts they contain, and what sorts of creations can be made with them. Much of this information is taken from various resources on the net, as well as my own extensive experience as a LEGO hobbyist.
A Theme Overview
What follows is a brief guide to SOME of the themes. For far more extensive information, consult the resources available on the net, including those described on my page For More Information on LEGO such as LUGNET, BrickSet and Peeron, or other resources such as:
Theme - Model Team (1986–1999)
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Model Team is a theme targeted at older, more experienced builders who like to build realistic creations. The models tend to be large scale (larger than Minifig scale) and complex. Sets tend to have a high piece count. Model Team sets are prized as collectible and thus often are not necessarily really suitable for collection augmentation themselves. But two different Model Team sets together can be used to make impressively large creations.
Good augmentor themes: Technic for motion, basic bricks to expand the model size, other Model Team sets.
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Theme - Technic (1977–present)
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Technic is a theme targeted at older, more experienced builders who like to build engineering marvels, things that move and have actions. The models vary in size from very small to quite large, and the model complexity varies with size as well. There is a line of larger figs that can be used in some but not all models. The models tend to be open framed, with structure, gears, and motors exposed. Sometimes panels or fairings will be included. Older Technic sets can be highly prized collectibles but newer ones can be had for reasonable prices. Technic sets can be used to give motion or activity to just about any other theme
Good augmentor themes: Other Technic sets for more complex creations, any other theme to make skinned models.
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Theme - Town (1977–present)
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Town is arguably the very first theme, since many early LEGO sets (as early as the famed "Town Plan" set) were town themed, even before LEGO started using themes. Creations tend to be slice of life models (stores, houses, police and fire stations, hospitals, and the like) and are almost always Minifig scale. The models vary in size from very small (a figure and a very small vehicle, for example) to quite large (such as the pictured set, Main Street). Models often have open backs to augment play value. Older Town can be highly prized collectibles but newer ones can be had for reasonable prices. Town models can get arbitrarily large
Good augmentor themes: Technic sets for motion, Basic sets for parts, Soccer sets for cheap parts and figures, licensed theme sets to get a greater variety of parts or different structures (Spiderman, Batman and Harry Potter structures are all basically town variants).
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More themes will be added as time permits.
Conclusion
Armed with this information you can make a better buying decision. AND, you may decide to get more active in the community as well!
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As a reminder: All my listings include the set number to as well as the theme, in the listing title. For example, a listing title might be
LEGO Model Team 5533 MISB Red Fury new legos
The set number in this case is 5533.
I also give the set number in the listing text, at the very top, just under "Item Description":
5533 Red Fury - 1999, Model Team, 390 pieces, no minifigs, MSRP 50.00 USD
I also give the theme (in this case Model Team) and the year and how much it originally cost, if known.
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All narrative and descriptive text in this writeup is the personal creative work of Larry Pieniazek and is Copyright © 2001-2007, by Larry Pieniazek. eBay takes a dim view of stealing listing text and if you're caught you may lose your eBay listing privileges as I do followup on copyright violations. If you want to make use of my work and are willing to grant proper credit, please contact me for permission, as I often give it.
Note: Reward given for letting me know about other sellers using this text, or images that I host.
Thanks for reading to the bottom.
 Check out the other great items in my eBay Store!
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