Hey folks! Bit of a "hidden thesis" with this one. 😉 I recorded some new music on the weekend specifically for this video - you can check it out here: rrslugger.bandcamp.com/album/fabulous-fabuland Remember, Bandcamp has a limit on how many people can download an album for free - if you go to the site and it won't let you download it for free, you'll have to wait until next month. Sorry for the inconvenience there! Also, if you want to learn more about my creative process in recreating this song, please check out this video on my second channel: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/psiEZrpitrmzqqs.html

He is a bit confused but he got the spirit

It's really great to see Fabuland turning a New Leaf and heading towards New Horizons !

+ What's your name? -- Animal Crossing + Im gonna call you Fabuland Jr.

"recently gentrified neighborhoods" 😭😭 "some sort of idol" GOOD GUY OMFG

You kept the bit going way longer than I expected

The gaps between the rounded plates make sense if you consider the name of this Fabuland subtheme, "Animal Crossing" clearly means the animals crossing the gaps.

I can't believe that Lego has been making fabuland games behind our backs for all these years!

5:15 The R.R. Slugger/K.K. Slider crossover we never knew we needed.

They're treating the title "Animal Crossing" like its some sort of stand alone license, its like they want you to forget that these are fabuland sets!

Slugger, you're getting cheekier and cheekier! Love that you kept up the joke all the way to the end, great commitment! But what I find even more impressive is your collection of Fabuland, because it does NOT seem like it'd be up your alley!

Slugger woke up and chose violence I love it

The boxes have a Nintendo seal on the bottom corner, which can only mean one thing.... They bought the rights to Fabuland and have finally been willing to work with Lego to revive the theme, good for them!

Fabuland was the first story driven character focused theme made by Lego. It follows the trope of cute animals doing human things you would see in children`s story books and animated shows at the time. Animal Crossing just continues that trope, but in this case with a Nintendo licensed theme.

This is the kind of brickposting I’ve come to expect of Slugger

Fun fact the fabuland axe actually makes an appearance in the lego movie and therefore was represented by a "normal" axe in one of the lego sets

This video is the definition of "Remember Alf? He's back, in pog form."

Lego clearly has a lot of faith in this this new Fabuland wave, it even has a bunch of tie in games about the sets.

Jang might be the best reviewer on YT, but I don't think anyone can top Slugger's dedication to the craft and production quality.

The background music slaps harder than the Fabuland characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate, nice one!

this is SUCH a good bit

The old Fabuland sets so incredibly charming and lovely. I used to play with them while staying at my grandmas house as a child and they are so nostalgic for me

I wasn't expecting you to carry the bit through the whole video, but I'm happy that you did. I'm even happier at the cover arrangement of the Edward and Friends show, everything here is such a treat! Happy to support!

Ah, Slugger has made a video on LEGO Animal Crossing! Oh, is that a minecraft s- HOLY CRAP IT'S LEGO BIONICLE 6934: GOOD GUY

Oh my gosh the Zam Wesell and Chief head swaps had me ROLLING 😂

I love the stop motion you did to illustrate the figures' articulation. I'm sure it was a good bit of work for that detail, but it was charming.

The kap'n guy is my favorite of the new fabuland characters ❤

The framing of this video was too funny! Such a brilliant observation

What an excellent twist! I really enjoyed this.

that peggle 2 announcment clip was something i feel like a key few people will appreciate very very much

When I saw these sets in the LEGO store I said this to a younger friend, who looked very confused haha. I'm happy to see more people made the connection!

this is the first theme im considering collecting all the sets for

As a big Animal Crossing fan it's always funny to me to hear people who see the theme as a continuation of Fabuland. Also I'm loving this new music a lot, can't wait to hear it again in a new video

I was gonna skip out on these new Fabuland sets because as a long time fan of the theme, they didn't feel in the spirit of the original to me... but once again you have convinced me to give these newer sets a second look! I'll definitely be picking some of these Fabuland 2 sets if I can get them on sale! Incredible work as always, a real classic Slugger vid 🌳🐱🐶🐮

It’s been a while, but I can’t believe “Summer of Slug” is a thing again! So much time has flown by! Congradulations on the growth of your channel and seeing you make more content! Take my obligatory comment and like for support!

Your refusal to acknowledge AC as a licensed property had me grinning the whole video, bravo

I'm losing my mind! I think we all forgot how unhinged Slugger can be when he wants to be! Who could forget "Go read it. Go read it now-" But this video is a new step up! That was really funny, that got me. Thanks, Slugger!

please consider recency bias but man I think this might be one of the best slugger scripts. the seamless combination of an actually great set review and some sarcastic commentary on lego replacing their in-house themes with licensed equivalents was really entertaining, especially as a (admittedly casual) fan of both fabuland and animal crossing

I haven't checked the dates, but I'm almost sure that animal crossing exists thanks to fabuland, let's think about it, it makes sense, big-headed animals and the possibility of putting together your house, going around, growing crops, etc. It cannot be a coincidence, the similarities HAVE to be on purpose, they knew and now we know 😶 XD

Wow I love lego fabuland !!!! Im so glad we’re getting fabuland two so many years later. I think the anthropomorphic animal designs of this lego theme are so charming and really set it apart from other themes. I think you should pick up the set with Bunnie cause she is my new favorite fabuland character. I toootally had no idea it was based on a game and I totally have never heard of it or ever played that game before…

I'm really excited to give the smaller sets as a gift to my friends who love the animal crossing games

Some people are going to be very confused watching this. 😂

He really is our strongest soldier. He's just inviting abuse with this level of trolling. Truly admirable!

I absolutely love the cosy atmosphere of this video.

I absolutely love the Animal Crossing sets. I have a whole village on one of my display shelves.

Fabuland is truly the best lego theme ever. Can’t believe nintendo time travelled to the present to make a game based on fabuland 2

Omg before even watching i wanna say how happy i am. I found a decent deal for the set from the thumbnail and did some research into fabuland and was looking for extractly this video 2 days ago. I got home after picking up the set and the perfect video just appeard to go along. Choo choo. Super intrested to hear thoughts and compare them to mine since i spend a lot in the last few days on the set and the theme. Edit: i had somewhat of a dicussuion with a person i live with about the colour of the door and how it ties into the aestetics of the rest of the house. The person just couldnt understand my excitment about the door. Having that visual representation of past and present definitly would have helped. i also thought about the neckarticulation but came to theconclusion that even tho the charm is undeniable i prefer the modern fabuland figures and its a sacrifice worth to be more in line with the rest of my collection. i wish the reveal wasnt included but i can understand that such an integer slug would include it just to be safe. reasons i got this set for my collection is bc i collect popculture, castle, things i deem significat in lego history and cool stuff i like. yes ninjas are just asian knights so all ninjas(including ninjago) are castle to me. this set ticks the popcultrue since the ip blew up during the pandemic and covertet many people into gamers but also the "historic" significance since its part of a recent trend of taking stuff appart, reconfiguring it and adding to it in contrast to the modells that get more and more complex and detailed. its a broken down version of the essence of play that makes lego such a special toy. yes lego allways had that but in the last decade the focus heavily shifted towards licensed models that shift perception more towards model kits and less to the endless possibilities. the popculture part of my collectors heart enjoys that but lego is much more. im happy that lego brings back rebuilding/alternate builds as a selling point more prominent as also seen with mario and dreamzzz aswell. creator 3in1 was never gone but i think its a good idea to encourage builders of any age to take appart sets and be more creative in all fields of lego. for most kids and moc builders its very natural to be very creative. by shifting the focus away from creativity you might be able to generate more profits but lose part of the core identity. thats why i think the fabuland reboot is a significant part in lego history. it overlaps with another trend of nostalgia bait driven products that stand out on their own bc they partialy inherit those core qualities of Lego but also are "state of the art" when it come to techniques within the confinements of companystandarts. a setting(the house), some characters and some context in form of furniture and nature is such a fundamantal of toys and play in the past century and even beyond. toys and play are an insane tool for development of humans and other creatures that can think. thats why i like the set even tho i feel like it somewhat lacks innovation. PS i really wanna highlight part 6214px2 ! i had such a hard time finding it online but i have this part in my collection. its the only real innovation i see in this set. i can remember that as a kid i had a dream of picking those apples and then thought about how to make it real. came up with 1x2 brick with pinhole as solution and to make the tree even better there was a hidden compartment too! i wanted it to be hinged tho. the hidden compartment was also inspired by LEGO Town: Telekom Race Cyclists And Service Crew (1198) bananas. i mean you could grow almost any fruit on that tree. i cant believe that my idea was implemented in a set even tho i think i never talked about it. the tree is by far the highlight of this set to me

I would never have guessed that this was "in-house" music you whipped up yourself! It's so awesome! And the little pictures and animations you give in your review are so charming. You are one of the most insanely cool LEGO content creators I have seen from a review side of things.

All jokes aside, the moment I saw the Animal Crossing sets revealed I knew the Fabuland fans were going to be happy lol. It’s quite amazing how well these two interconnect in a way, though I suppose Cute Animal Community as a concept is pretty universal lol. Now we just need someone to make a Busy World of Richard Scarry MOC for the ultimate of crossovers.

For as much as Slugger trying to make us think that the Animal Crossing sets are just Fabuland 2… he’s absolutely right. This, like The LEGO Batman Movie sets, feels like LEGO making a licensed theme their own rather than just making a wave of sets that seek to recreate basic scenes from the source material. LEGO recognized the parallels between their own Fabuland and Nintendo’s Animal Crossing and decided to kill two birds with one stone- even slipping in tiny Fabuland homages, as you’ve noted! Might pick up the Isabelle’s House Visit and Kappn’s Island Boat Tour sets. Emphasis on might; Jedi Bob’s Starfighter and the BTAS Batmobile are calling my name!

:) Fabuland 2 is the exact same direction my mind went with these Animal Crossing sets, even though I was aware of the existence of the game already. I really wish The LEGO Group would tap into their own rich resources in themes and ideas more often instead of so often requiring a licensed connection...

As someone who didn't grow up during the days of fabuland, its a welcome but unexpected return (even with a rebrand)😂

"somehow, fabuland returned"

I wonder if fabuland was one of the inspirations behind animal crossing’s visuals. The timing definitely adds up; fabuland was made in the 80s and a lot of 20-40 somethings developed animal crossing in the late 90s, so i imagine at least one person had familiarity with fabuland sets. Would be a nice way of coming full circle

This was my exact thoughts too when I saw it announced. I like the games alright, not a super fan, but will be picking up some sets since it's the closest thing we'll ever get to lego fabuland again.

They did AMAZING job with sets. Cant wait for more.

I've rarely ever seen the original Fabuland theme covered in itself, even as it was discontinued eight years before I was born. The 8x8x2/3 rounded plates w/reduced knobs have been in use for four years first appearing in the Super Mario theme in July of 2020. This part was actually exclusive to that theme for the first three and a half years since then, before the Animal Crossing wave was launched, even though the only colors this part still appears in are "leaf green", "medium lilac" and lime green which is presently exclusive to a different set (77046) from this theme. This set also marks the debut of medium minifigure legs in dark orange, and "cool yellow". A shade which has historically been a fairly rare (but not theme-exclusive) color in itself.

Now this is high concept, I wasn't prepared

I don't know what it is about it, but the summer of slug song crossed with the costume you've made for your slug avatar always makes me chuckle. Maybe it's because I own almost that exact shirt haha

i think this is one of your best yet lmao

Lol you had me like "does he know it's a nintendo thing...?

I’m glad somebody else finally said it. I still feel like it’s missing some charm, but I love the updated minifigure style.

I remember Nick on Plannet Ripple's video a while back also bringing up Fabuland and how Chima was a pseudo-successor in a way. Definitely Animal Crossing shares a lot more DNA with Fabuland. I like the genre of "various animals living together in a cozy neighborhood" fiction. Busy Town is one of my favorites.

The Fabuland figs look so nice with the Fabuland 2 sets

Oh you cheeky bugger Mr Slugger, just because I can't make my Animal Crossing video without my critcism costing me my job, doesn't mean you have to pip me to the post! ;)

This is actually making me more interested in the lego animal crossing sets tbh

Slugger has never seen a nintendo, and he's living a happier life without it

Honestly though you might have found some inner inspiration on the Lego designers part realizing they can do a bit of fabuland homage within this Animal Crossing set. Great musical piece for this video, it reminded me very much of Disney's Toontown online style of music, especially the slower themes.

Wow, those original Fabuland instructions remind me A LOT of the Danish children's comic book "Rasmus Klump Bygger Skib" (Rasmus Klump builds a boat). The comic book predates Fabuland, so I will be damned if there isn't a connection between the two!

I would much like to see you do an animal crossing series

I think it'd be cool if lego did a CMF series with Animal Crossing parts to make Fabuland figs or a new Fabuland set series

I'd say, this is Fabuland 3. 2 was a darker chapter, the drug wars (aka Chima).

summer of slug is so hype 😭

5:57 That stump seems to be intended as spaceship thrusters. I'm sure they already have a spaceship or rocket in their plans which will use this part.

i like how the picture of the cartridge you look at at the end isnt even a real copy of the game

I want a Slugger video about the red Technic 2-long axel now. Like really bad

It's so great to see the new Fabuland sets. I have to check this game, should be awesome!

I've never been a huge fan of Animal Crossing (or any similar life sim really, too directionless for me) but I AM a big fan of the aesthetic and characters, this series is easily the most likely to grab my attention if I were looking for any kind of licensed set as an impulse buy (the piranha plant is a close second, but even it's a bit rich for my blood atm)

Chief Isabelle goes pretty hard

Mixing Fabuland & Animal Crossing characters is really cute, and kinda makes me want to pick up a couple 😅

Yes! I've thought for a long time they should bring Fabuland back. The animal characters are unique, and the cozy small town setting has grown very different from the modern City theme. Animal Crossing is basically the same thing, so its a perfect fit. A little disappointing they went with the licensed theme instead of their original property, but oh well. If Nintendo ever pulls the license, LEGO will be able to very easily pivot the molds and designs into a real Fabuland 2!

I gotta admit it was strange that Lego let their original game series ‘Animal Crossing’ go on for so long without getting any sets, glad to see that’s finally been rectified!

If moreFabuland will make you make more great tracks like this one, then I'm all for it.

It’s really good to see, at least for Fabuland, the Population Growing in this Wild World where you can finally converse with the City Folk about LEGO turning over a New Leaf and riding into New Horizons

I mean I want to be mad, but you're not wrong. I need to go think for a minute.

Throughout the entire video I knew 6:58 was coming, I just wasn't sure when

I've already been buying the AC sets, but this video may well have just increased my interest.. I was only going to buy the houses but with my Fabuland figures in mind I may well buy some of the more terrain-based sets..

i really hope this line continues with more sets, the second wave this year was pretty meagre and i hope that’s not saying this is going the way of the angry birds theme. there are so many more characters to explore and styles of house to work with, it would be a shame if they were just doing some lovely little sets like these and dipping out just as fast as they arrived. also, i would like a brown door, please, the red one on fauna’s house feels incongruous and i need a brown one to complete the vibe i want, thank you.

As soon as I saw Animal Crossing Lego was announced a while back I knew you’d make something like this 😂

Man I’m so glad that I’m not the only one seeing the clear resemblance between both themes. I was fortunate enough to get to play with LEGO Fabuland as a kid, and seeing these new Animal Crossing sets triggers some of that sweet nostalgia. Great video as always!

Fabulous video Slugger! 🌳

I was waiting to see if you were going to do a bit being like "wait, this is a Nintendo thing?" at some point. You did not disappoint

I hope the Animal Crossing sets get popular enough to warrant years more of new releases, just like the Fabuland of olde.

Love how i discovered ur channel through solarsands2 vid from a year ago getting in my for u page

i hope you cover fabuland and fabuland 2 more in the future! jokes aside, you found some clear homages to fabuland in there that i’m sure will only become more common over time

Already summer of slug again 😂 time flies. But this is such a unique concept where many themes are outright replaced with licenced counterparts.

Phenomenal Video! When you said “Recently Gentrified Neighborhoods,” I laughed so hard! It’s one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a KZfaq Video ever!

Not gonna lie, he got me for the first few minutes

This video is clearly intended as a tongue and cheek joke. But yes, the Animal Crossing sets do share glaring simularities to the Fabuland sets of the 1980s.

It’s amazing how many Fabuland pieces were carried over to Pirates and Harry Potter, but I thought they debuted with those themes. I have a black cauldron piece from a HP set I got in the early 2000s-it actually has the Fabuland logo stamped on the bottom.