I'm seeing double, because i'm not seeing double.

Double excavating seems a bit extravagant.

In the 90s I wasn't even aware you could connect those buckets to the 2x4 hinge plates.

It was very fascinating to see both were developped in conjunction. Also strange the only survivor of this hinge "family" is the 1x2 rocking hinge brick (and the 2 matching top parts).

Oh and the pivot/pin thingy on the pre-assembled hinge changed colors with the bucket arm over the years.

My pareidolia’s kicking in; the glimpses of the rear arm refracting through the transparent pieces look like an assortment of weird twisty faces

I had this when I was 3. Absolutely loved it!

@Maxbricks14 said:
"I'm seeing double, because i'm not seeing double."

If the bucket were facing inwards so that it pulls "back" towards the vehicle, it would be a fairly standard loader-backhoe (frequently just referred to as a backhoe in the US). With the bucket facing outwards in shovel configuration, the bucket end would just be a "hoe", but I don't know if "loader-hoe" is an actual term.

Anyways, I'm guessing it got called that because they didn't know any of the proper terminology, and didn't have an internet that made looking stuff up easy.

@CliveyB said:
"I had this when I was 3. Absolutely loved it!"

So you say you 'dig it'?

Do you double dig it?

Or maybe you're like the set number of 642 and you triple digit?

@PurpleDave said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"I'm seeing double, because i'm not seeing double."

If the bucket were facing inwards so that it pulls "back" towards the vehicle, it would be a fairly standard loader-backhoe (frequently just referred to as a backhoe in the US). With the bucket facing outwards in shovel configuration, the bucket end would just be a "hoe", but I don't know if "loader-hoe" is an actual term.

Anyways, I'm guessing it got called that because they didn't know any of the proper terminology, and didn't have an internet that made looking stuff up easy."

I had this when I was Young , I always built it with the rear bucket facing inwards as outwards just seemed wrong to me. in those days any real life vehicle like that in the UK regardless of brand or colour would be called a JCB

@LegoStevieG said:
"in those days any real life vehicle like that in the UK regardless of brand or colour would be called a JCB"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGkseGFQLh4

@Binnekamp said:
" @CliveyB said:
"I had this when I was 3. Absolutely loved it!"

So you say you 'dig it'?

Do you double dig it?

Or maybe you're like the set number of 642 and you triple digit?"

I TRIPLE DOG DIG IT!

(Apologies for bringing up Christmas things before it's Halloween, never mind Thanksgiving...)

@LegoStevieG said:
"I had this when I was Young , I always built it with the rear bucket facing inwards as outwards just seemed wrong to me. in those days any real life vehicle like that in the UK regardless of brand or colour would be called a JCB"

Excavators and backhoes have the bucket facing inwards. Steam shovels and power shovels have them facing outwards. Some backhoes have buckets that can be mounted in reverse, which may or may not then be referred to as a "hoe". I'm not entirely clear on that one.

The first commercial backhoe was a removable attachment that mounted to the back of a farm tractor, and was sold in the US by the Wain-Roy Corporation in 1948. The first prototype of a dedicated backhoe was completed by JCB in the UK in 1953, but it was being developed in parallel in the US, so J.I. Case was the first to market in 1957. I can see why the term JCB stuck in the UK, but international trade being what it was at that time, I suspect they would have been so late to market in the US (if they were ever even sold here) that everyone would have just assumed they copied the design. I know there are foreign manufacturers of construction equipment that sell in the US, but the only ones I know off the top of my head are Japanese, and I've never heard of JCB before.

Loved this set, even though it was a miniwheels set with no miniwheels. Also a classic set that fits in the box fully built!

@ @LegoStevieG said:"I had this when I was Young , I always built it with the rear bucket facing inwards as outwards just seemed wrong to me. in those days any real life vehicle like that in the UK regardless of brand or colour would be called a JCB""

Sort of like how you call a cacuum cleaner a "Hoover," then?

@TheOtherMike said:
"@ @LegoStevieG said:"I had this when I was Young , I always built it with the rear bucket facing inwards as outwards just seemed wrong to me. in those days any real life vehicle like that in the UK regardless of brand or colour would be called a JCB""

Sort of like how you call a cacuum cleaner a "Hoover," then?"

Yes exactly the same