Review: 4000022 LEGO Truck Show
Posted by Branko,
"The world's largest and most beautiful LEGO truck drove across Europe from 1996-2004. The unique project was conceived to showcase the LEGO Group's products throughout Europe in a new and different way."
Attendees to this years LEGO Inside Tour received a rendition of this iconic truck as a LEGO set with a photo of their Inside Tour group on the back of the box.
Daniel and Oriel Tsou have created a great speed build and video review located here: https://youtu.be/U0c8n7W-vZM
I will share my thoughts below, forgive the quality of my photographs.
The set was designed by Steen Sig Andersen (same as last year's Inside Tour Set) and instructions were created by Michael Madsen (great instructions), both of whom presented the design process to the group. Most of the attendees decided to get the box signed on the spot, I think I was the only one in my group to immediately rip into the box to get the instructions signed, after all the instruction designer was there! The instructions look and feel exactly like the instructions of any other new set; a lot of attention has gone into it. Also present were the designer of the original actual truck, Johnny Pinholt Torsen, and one of the drivers of the truck, Jens Conrad Hansen, hence four signatures on the box.
Parts
The contents of this set are not so much relevant as a parts pack but it will be important for anyone wishing to recreate this set. When opening the first bags it immediately becomes clear this is a brand new design because of several pieces new to 2016 such as 2x2 yellow wedge plates (http://brickset.com/parts/6132201 and http://brickset.com/parts/6132609) which so far come only in one set (75870 Corvette http://brickset.com/sets/75870-1/Chevrolet-Corvette-Z06), the Sand Green Minifigure Trophy (http://brickset.com/parts/6138781) from 21028 New York City (http://brickset.com/sets/21028-1/New-York-City) and the Warm Gold Minifigure Trophy (http://brickset.com/parts/6138682) only found in 21027 Berlin (http://brickset.com/sets/21027-1/Berlin).
The LEGO employee shirts (http://brickset.com/parts/6120210) have only shown up in one set; 60097 City Square from 2015 (http://brickset.com/sets/60097-1/City-Square).
There is also a link to the past with the yellow doors (element 6166884 and 6166885) that have not been seen in sets in that colour since 2010 (as element 4594664 and 4594669).
In total the set contains about 816-pieces, 8 minifigs, loads of stickers, and two sets of bags.
The Build
The box is heavy, and when opened it becomes clear why: the box is very full (nearly 100% filled, which according to Steen is rare) with two sets of bags, one for the tractor and one for the trailer. The first set of bags contain all the minifigures which results in a nice line-up of visitors before ready to visit the truck.
The tractor shows off interesting build patterns with the truck width varying between 7 studs to 6 studs and 4 studs through some neat usage of jumper plates. Unfortunately not visible on the photos; the colour consistency between all the yellows was not stellar, but given that I could not capture it with my camera I chalked it up as to my eyes; it's a lot better than the variation in greys and reds I have seen in the Ghostbusters HQ.
Studs 7,6 and 4 wide
The shape of the truck greatly resembles the real Volvo truck with a signature number plate with the designer's initials. Also note the printed silver tile on the top of the air filters. The roof of the cabin opens up to reveal space to store the flags while in transit, a play feature that reminded me of the fairground mixer so I had to grab that for comparison. As you can see the mixer tractor is a bit bigger and bulkier and, in my opinion, lacks a bit of the subtlety of the LEGO truck but the mixer does win on details.
Number plate Steen Andersen 2016.
This brings us to the second set of bags for the trailer, this is where the show happened.
The inner part of the trailer consists of a Technic frame that will hold the construction together. Both sides of the trailer contain displays representing the actual LEGO show inside the truck. The construction is made so the trailer can expand when set up, just like the real thing which results in a slightly wobbly construction on one side. The opened truck allows minifigures to be placed inside to visit.
Conclusion
The set is dense; if feels heavy and despite the fact that the box was already tightly packed with pieces, the actual truck actually seems smaller than the pile of bricks. Most LEGO sets tend to be bigger when built but this set is absolutely packed with details. As a consequence, the truck also feels sturdy and while playing with it, my kids have not been able to destroy it. Even on display the expanded truck is a nice display piece, it allows for enough of a peek inside to see the displays and it conjures memories of seeing LEGO displays at shows.
This set reminded me several times of the Fairground Mixer which, as you can see, is a significantly larger but far less compact set.
This set is fantastic. I don't think anyone who received this set can provide a truly unbiased opinion, but in my best attempt to be objective, I think this is a great addition to the inside tour line-up. This set deserves to be built and played with so I sincerely hope LEGO will release more of this set to a wider audience as they have done with the set in prior years. At the very least I hope LEGO is willing to share the instructions so that many people will be able to assemble their own version.
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28 comments on this article
This set looks like a lot of fun! I would love if Lego would release this as a set to the public but I imagine they would never do that as are not these sets exclusive? Looks awesome! I would love one!
Hasn't this been done before as a commercial set?
3221-1
3221, really? :D Totally different sets.
Wow, I really want that set... Instructions please, TLG!
That is freakin sweet! What an awesome set! Thanks for providing the review so we could get a good look at it and become insanely jealous! ;-)
Certainly similar at first glance to 3321. But in terms of the build and features, this one is more along the lines of "Creator" than "City".
Congratulations on the set.
3221 seems like more of a delivery truck, but 2148 looks a lot like it may have been modeled on the same tour truck as this set, especially considering it came out in 1997, while the truck was on the road and fairly new.
2148 was sold/given away on the truck show tours back in the day, IIRC.
I am going to legoland billiund, but because of the stupid EU my money is worthless
Yellow skin with yellow torso wasn't a great choice I think haha
Looks like a great set! One thing that I like about the LIT sets (at least based on this one and last year's, which I have displayed in my living room), is that no special parts are used for them (except for the plate that says "LEGO Inside Tour 2015) so if you got hold of the instructions or parts pages, you can recreate the build on your own. Though the stickers might be a bit more problematic....
Like you, I would hope that LEGO would release the LIT for wider release, as I loved the concept of last year's set and thought it could make be part of a great series. Which I suppose it is!
Nice review!
@Pereki : That 2148 also was released as 10156 in 2004, the last year for the truck mentioned.
@James"Bucky"Barnes You know you've got that backwards, right?
Thank you very much for sharing this review! Is it possible to get higher resolution photos of the instruction parts list pages? Many thanks!
I love the LEGO torsos but I wish they wouldn't do yellow on yellow.
I like the set fine, but as was pointed out it's just a revamped older yellow LEGO truck.
^^ Click on them to view higher res ones on flickr.
Branko, can you clarify on the parts count? Going off of the two parts lists posted, I count 810 total parts. The article (and video) state 816.
I've assembled an LDD file with all of the parts and am hoping to use the timelapse video to put it together...if you'd like I can provide that and you could double check with the parts list in the instructions. I'm guessing there might be an 8 that I'm seeing as a 6 in a few places?
just back from the LIT with my beautiful set in hand.
894 pieces - 1 unique new piece as shown on the top of the box on the 1:1 scale - door to truck.
previously the truck has been released as a volvo truck but never with the true tour trailer.
nicest touch was seeing our photo on the back. makes it priceless for me.
^ Rockmaninoff, I only counted it once quickly so I wouldn't be surprised if I counted a piece double. Sorry about that.
If you make an LDD file I would love to get my hands on it :)
Hi
Has anyone done a scan of the sticker sheet ?
I think, I'm interested in *smile*
Lexa
Hey Branko (and any others who might be interested), here's the LDD file: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=136460&entry2596250
Overall I like it BUT
- for a set based on such specific source material (there's even a photo on the back of the box), I'm really missing headlights! Strangly, the designer seems to have been inspired by the nose of the newer Volvo LEGO truck (http://www.lcc.builders/2016/06/24/the-lego-inside-tour-set-reveal/), although this truck (obviously) also has headlights.
- the entrance of the truck trailer looks too narrow. It may be proportional to the width of the truck but it does not look as if a MF is supposed to go in there: they can only fit sideways, barely... Maybe the designer should have used the center entrance of the later version of the trailer mentioned above. This would also have given the trailer a more open look.
- should the designer have used the later version of the truck, he could have added a window to the sleeping cabin; this would've added some contrast to the biiiiig yellow side surface of the truck/trailer combination.
- yellow on yellow MF's don't look great.
^I reckon the headlights are meant to be implied by the holes in the wedge plates on the front. They're not colored in, but the shape is there. LEGO did the same thing with http://brickset.com/sets/41107-1/Pop-Star-Limousine, which was a bit confusing to me at the time, but seeing the same sort of technique here on a set more obviously based on a specific real-world vehicle, I get the impression that LEGO was making a conscious effort to suggest a smaller, thinner headlight than full-size plates would allow.
I remember when the LEGO truck came to my hometown in 1996. It contained some really cool dioramas, including a large spaceship. I would love to see it again.
I think I'd be a bit disappointed in this if I was given it as an exclusive. I can see it's all an original design, but it looks an awful lot like the yellow trucks and tractor-cabs that LEGO have done over and over again as sets.
@Aanchir: I suppose you're right about the intention to make the holes imply headlights. I don't like that solution in general but in this specific case I also don't understand: looking at the source material pictured on the back of the box, the headlights are very prominent.
For those interested I have included the full resolution photos of the parts list on my Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/92490820 @N08/albums/72157670008150691