At no point in LEGO's history prior to 1996 did it produce such an elegant and well-designed town as it did with Gold City Junction. This little treat does everything it advertises, and with the addition of the Sheriff's Lock-Up set, the town shines as a light to all other LEGO themes. But what makes this set so special, read on...

Innovations: Just like the Bandit's Hide-Out set, this set uses many of the same "explosion" mechanisms that became central to the 1996 Western theme. In this case, though, LEGO put the detonation spots in two different locations: in the bank and on the carriage. The bank's explosion opens up the vault, catapulting a money chest into the road. The wagon's sweet spot is under one of its $ sign logos and explodes the back of the wagon off, sending another chest of money flying. Most of the set's action ends there, which is why this set doesn't get a 10/10 review, but there are other innovative parts, such as the raised floors off of the beige baseplates, and the excellently-done false fronts on the buildings. Even the roof of the General Store is done well, though later developments could have made it look much smoother.

Lack of Inspiration: This set exudes inspiration, but it still lacks in some specific areas. For one, it is a simple set. It takes up a lot of space, but is relatively simple with only a few gimmicks. Another thing to note is that almost all the people are copies of previous sets except for the general store owner and the banker. The addition of these two figures is significant, but it is unfortunate that no female figures were included in the 1996 line at all. Finally, I feel this set really needs a third building. For its price point, $49.99, it was a bit expensive and a third building such as a post office or a saloon, would have gone a long way to making this set perfect.

What It Got Right: Still, the set got a lot right. There is money galore in this set, from bursting bank vaults to golden coins. It also included a canon and a sign that reads "LEGOREDO" suggesting that this town is beside Fort Legoredo, and also that this town may not actually be called Gold City. The inclusion of stickers for the signs and windows is extremely nice thematically, although printed bricks is always preferred. The instructions even included an insert that corrects a problem with the building of the wagon, which remains the only set I own that has a correction in it. Overall, the visual style of this set is amazing, even if the set is a bit expensive for what it includes.

Possible Improvements: With time comes improvements. The Western Town CUUSO set that has been proposed will basically be a masterfully enlarged version of this, with realism that wasn't even possible in 1996. If price were not an issue, this set could really use an additional building: the saloon. A western town without a saloon is lacking in authenticity. Additionally, the buildings could all use expansions and better inventories, and a stage coach would be very welcome. More varied minifigures would take the cake. And, of course, a real firing cannon since the US did not import firing cannon until 2008.

Minifigure: This set included six minifigures, only one of which was a bad guy. He was Bandit #1, the leader of the pack, the all-black, brown-hatted man with a black bandana over his mouth. A good choice for the set, though a crony would have been nice to have on hand. To fight the bad guy, the set came with a single cavalry soldier with his blue kepi cat and uniform and white bandana. His face is the same as that used by Pirates seven years earlier. The sheriff is also included, keeping the peace in his dark gray shirt and black pants and a grey hat with a star on it. His face, too, has been used since the Pirate days. The fourth regular is our generic cowboy friend, wearing his leather vest over a red shirt and blue jeans, and wearing a white hat over his white hair. Nothing especially special about him since he was included in almost all of the 1996 Western sets. Now we meet our two new friends. First off we have the cowboy in a dark leather vest and blue shirt with brown slacks and a grey hat. His face is gruff because he means business, but he ain't a bad guy. Second up we have the banker, who is finely detailed with gold-rimmed glasses, a pencil over his right ear, a black vest with money in a pocket, and a pocket watch. His dark gray pants seem out of place in this otherwise finely detailed figure. As said earlier, a woman would have been nice in this set, as would another bad guy, but those will have to wait for a reboot of the series.

How it Compares: Until another western-themed town comes out, this will have to be it. It is a wonderful set that gave me hours of playtime even if it was simple in many of its gimmicks. Combined with the other 1996 sets, it fits perfectly as the town center of a small boom town in the Wild West. I'd recommend this set to anyone interested in the theme, although I wouldn't pay a fortune for it. I feel like it will be replaced sometime before long...

QUALITY SCORE: 9/10