Collecting old sets #3
Posted by Huw,
At the end of last week's article about old sets, I asked if anyone else would like to contribute to them. This week Daniel, The LEGO Chronicler, has done just that:
For the last decade or so when LEGO has released a boat set, it is always under the banner of an existing sub theme such as police, fire or cargo. This was, however, not always the case. Through the 80's and early 90's, a sub-section of sets known simply as 'Boats' or 'Floating Boats' was released and in that line-up are some truly fabulous old sets.
Instead of being grouped by function, these classic boats were categorized together by two common factors. The first was that all of them 'actually floated', this was a major selling point and was usually splashed in large letters across their packaging and in catalogs. The second was that their hulls consisted of from 1 to 3 molded pieces designed to be watertight as opposed to being brick-built. Some of the later classic boats also featured weighted bricks which added stability in the water and allowed them to be built taller without tipping.
One of the great things about the classic LEGO boats is that despite their age (one of the sets featured here is from 1982, four times older than the LEGO target demographic! Now I feel old...), they do not look out of place next to their more modern counterparts. Many sets, and especially Town sets from the 80's and early 90's, look crude in comparison to recent renditions of the same source material (just look at some of the old police stations!). This is, however, not the case with these classic boats. The classic boats you should have in your collection are:
4005 Tug Boat
Hailing along with 4015 and 4025 from the original line of floating boats released in 1982, this little gem is a must have for any serious LEGO Harbor scene. It baffles me that LEGO has not released more of these, but as of today, this is the only minifig scale tug boat set ever released.
Tug boats in the real world are small compared to the ships they nudge and direct into port and the scale of 4005 is such that it looks just right next to larger LEGO ships.
All the little details a tug boat should have are captured in the set including a small stack, working winch and a cabin. Whether for display, play, or the satisfaction of having a super rare set, this should be on the wanted list of any LEGO ship aficionado.
There's just the one used lot on eBay right now, for just $7, but with missing pieces by the looks of things.
4011 Cabin Cruiser
Within the Town/City genre, LEGO has a history of lavishing certain sub-groups such as fire and police with new sets on a seemingly continuous basis while starving others, sometimes with decades between installments. The most prominent examples of this phenomenon are banks and hospitals. Logically it would seem that a metropolis which required so many police and had so many fires would have more places to to rob and send burn victims. But I digress.
A third entrant in this under-loved company is pleasure craft (just who are all those coast guard sets supposed to be saving?). To date we have had only three yacht sets 1721, 4642 and 4011. In this exclusive company, the Cabin Cruiser from 1991 is the prize worth having.
Built on the mid size molded hull, this set features an accessible furnished cabin, a visually appealing color scheme, and a variety of play features. For display purposes, it breaks up a harbor scene which might otherwise be full of only commercial and emergency service boats. It is also fabulous for play as attested to by my own well worn copy. Being a a civilian craft, its crew can be rescued by the Coast Guard, head out to find an old shipwreck, get taken hostage by pirates, and more.
There are quite a few used examples on eBay at the moment, from about $20.
4031 Fire Fighter
Starting in the mid 2000's, LEGO began experimenting with bringing back a long extinct entrant in the emergency service sector of sets: the fire boat. I can only assume that these models struck a chord with the target demographic because we have a had a steady stream of fire boats ever since.
However, the reality is that if you want a fire boat you shouldn't be looking at your local store, you should be looking on eBay for the largely unknown but greatest version of them all: the Fire Fighter set 4031 from 1991.
Built on what was the largest molded hull piece ever produced until 7994 City Harbor, this set dwarfs all of the modern fire boats. Detailed interior rooms including a control center and an equipment storage hold, huge decks and a gorgeous color scheme not to mention an on-board helicopter make this set the definitive fire boat.
Boxed examples of this set can be had for around $100 on eBay which seems reasonable given the size of the set and its age.
4030 Cargo Carrier
I have saved the best for last. In 1987 LEGO released a boat that, though surpassed in size by some of the boats in recent harbor sets, has yet to be equaled in terms of quality or detail. That set is 4030 Cargo Carrier.
The first feature of this set worth noting is that it contains both cargo containers and a covered hold accessed via hatches. The recent cargo ships found in 7994 and 4645 have one or the other but not both.
The holds for this set are made using hatches and a unique molded piece that can only be found on this and one other set. The bridge features protruding decks on either side just like real freighters and the color scheme is both accurate to real world ships and appealing to the eye.
Unlike the ship included with 7994 which is so big that it seems to swallow the few containers included with the set, the number and size of the containers included with the Cargo Carrier is enough to make it feel like the ship is fully loaded.
Also unique to this set is the inclusion of an on-board crane system. That last feature contributes to what I consider this set's greatest asset: versatility. This boat can serve as a freighter, a research vessel (I combined the subs from the Divers theme with this boat later on and the crane was great to have for unloading equipment), a ship for recovering solid rocket boosters from your Space Shuttle set, a smugglers ship and so much more. It is also gorgeous as part of a harbor display.
It's no surprise then, that such an excellent set commands a high price on the secondary market. There's a MISB example on eBay at the moment, accepting bids over $300.
There are some other great classic boats but these are the ones I consider the best. Which one was your 'must have' as a kid?
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Thanks Daniel for an excellent article. We'll have more like it from him in the future.
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38 comments on this article
I got the Tug Boat and the Cabin cruiser. And I love them a lot! Actually the Cabin Cruiser is one of the few civil boats out there. Nowadays it is just a Police or Fire.
Excellent trip down memory lane. When I first came out of the dark ages the first set I got back again was 4015 - Frieghter, the bigger brother to the Tugboat (which I got recently). Yes as a child I played with them in the bath and wondered what to do with the weights when not in use first time round...actually second time round still wondering what to do with the weights!
Great article! I had 4015, and for years the hull pieces were floating (boom boom!) around the house as the only Lego pieces we had. I had always thought I got it as a birthday present, but given that it was released the year I was born, it seems unlikely...
Also, the first set link under the Tug boat section is wrong, I think it should be 4014, not 4014....
Love these articles, please keep 'em coming.
4015 was actually my first Lego set! I wish I still had it...
These articles are fantastic, I can't get enough! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Daniel that was a very enjoyable and educational read!
I bet that if Brickset is still up in 30 years someone will run a column about collecting old sets and have some of the sets from today...
Well i'm still a kid, so... My dad used to have an old box full of Lego from the 70's and such, it included an old boat aswell. Not sure what one. It's red-white if anyone needs to know.
I'd like to see an article on planes. There's various ones of them, small and big, jets and microlights, etc. That would be really cool.
I always liked boats. I never had many of them, but I had two of the police boats (4012 and 4021) and really loved them.
The first and only boat I ever owned was http://brickset.com/sets/709-1/Police-Boat. It's also the oldest set in my entire collection. It used a special keel weight piece ( http://rebrickable.com/parts/x149 ) to keep it oriented upright, which was the only thing I didn't love about it. Had to fill the bathtub extra deep to use it!
As mentioned by some folks before, you refer to 4014, but this should be 4015 (which I received as a small kid as a present ages ago).
Cool article! I had always come close to buying floating boats, but never did. Anyway, I read this line "To date we have had only three yacht sets" and couldn't believe that last year's Dolphin Cruiser was overlooked. It doesn't float, but easily blows away all other pleasure craft.
I had the tug boat when I was a kid, but always wanted the cargo ship. I also had the hulls from a red fireship, that my mother found at a thrift-store.
I had the cabin cruiser. It was a lot of fun as a kid. I noticed they came out with a similar looking boat within the last few years, but I don't know if it floated. I love those boat weights, but trying to pay for shipping on them wouldn't be ideal.
I totally agree with your assessment of 4005. This was the only boat I had as a child and still consider it one of the best made.
I have the 4005 - it was my first Lego boat. That initial wave also included a freighter and fire boat, IIRC. Their "floatability" made them great for the pool.
Great article!
The tug boat 4005 brings back memories about my childhood. I remember having a floating boat (not thins one) in 1974 or1975 when I was about 13. My younger sister and I played with it in the attic, using different tubs filled with water. Our parents really did not like it while my sister and I were mainly worried about the effects water could have on Lego. ;-)
One thing I should mention: in all articles about collecting old sets there are only links to eBay. Most of these sets are however easily available on Bricklink and for a far better price than on eBay. Why don't you mention Bricklink as a source for purchasing these old sets?
i LOVED that tug boat. and i kept all my childhood lego. i've rebuilt this set and my two kids have loved having it in the tub. we added a Playmobil motor to the bottom of the boat weight (this one: http://www.playmobil.us/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/Product-Show?pid=7350 ) and it fits perfectly.
There were floating boats at least four years before 4005. When I was a kid I had a Fire Fighter 775. That was in 1978. The Hull was made from the same type of parts but there were two giant keels that attached to the bottom to keep it weighted down.
Floating boats have been around a while longer than many realise. I've got sets 312 & 315 which date from 1973 & 1976 respectively. Like 775 they had a keel weight to keep it upright. 312-3 may be the set that dutchlegofan50 had.
Funny - this article's main photo is the scan I did of the instructions for 4005 back when Huw was enlisting help to get better photos of the sets in the database, and it's the one actual set that I can't seem to find from my childhood in my parents' home! I obviously have the instructions still but can't find the boat anywhere. My parents probably sold it long ago since I kept it separate from the rest of my Lego collection (I recall I kept it with my tub toys instead, since it floated!).
The weight brick was useful as a counterweight for use in a DIY Lego crane!
A nice article. My first ship was 616 'Cargo Ship'. It didn't float, but got pushed round the blue carpet lots of times!
Another great highlight of an often forgotten category of sets. I never had a floating boat as a kid...if I recall, they weren't sold via most regular retail channels. At least they didn't have them at Walmart Target or Kmart, that I'm aware of. But I do remember seeing them in the catalogs and wishing I could get one, especially the Cargo Carrier.
Oh, the Cabin Cruiser. At the time, IIRC, that was the most expensive set I'd ever bought with my own money. (Well, I was 11 when it came out, after all.) One thing I always found interesting was the notch on the bottom of the hull. Apparently, this was there to allow the attachment of non-LEGO hobby boat engines. To this day, I'd like to have one of those engines...
TheOtherMike...oh I wondered what that notch was for on the police boat! I wonder if many people used it?
I've only owned about three Lego boats, the small RIB from the Off road fire truck and fireboat, the small steamboat from the Adventurers set in the '90s, and the small RIB from the Fire Engine.
I'd like to start collecting some old sets, but my main issue would be keeping them together.
Great article! I have 4005 Tug, one of the few sets from my childhood that stayed permanently assembled. 'My' fireboat was 4020 - personally I prefer it to the one above as the colour scheme is a little less overwhelmingly red, though the helicopter on the latter is pretty nifty... 4010 rounded out my floating boat collection, but isn't quite as interesting as the other two. I always wanted to fit a motor too, but it was beyond the wit of my 6 year old self. Maybe a project for the near future... :)
Awesome article and great comments. I was never a town fan, but I really loved 6541 and 6542 (which made me purchase 7994 later in life). they had so much action going on and so many excellent pieces (especially 6542). I always dreamed of turning them into great castle or pirate boats...
All, thanks for the feedback and comments! Wanted to follow up and answer of few of the questions/comments:
Thanks for the catch on 4014, as many pointed out it should be 4015
@ lippidp. Argh I can't breve I missed the Dolphin Cruiser! My girls even have that set, definitely an oversight on my part, good catch!
@ donutboy: You are correct that there were floating boats before this, the initial wave I mention is the first one that was classified as its own distinct group but the hulls that were used were all recycled from the earlier sets you mention. I could have been more clear on that. Good catch!
@ PeteM: 4020 is another awesome set! Thanks for mentioning it!
And for those of you who like these stay tuned for more...
@TheLegoChronicler - Great article!
I am really enjoying these "blasts from the past". We had a cargo container ship, a fire boat, and a police ship - now the fire boat went to my nephews a few years ago, but the other two are still enjoyed by my son (30? years after we got them).
I had lots of fun with my 316 Fire Fighter ship. This came in five sections so ships could be made 3, 4 or 5 sections long. There were two weights which enabled the boats to float in water (otherwise they would capsize) and you could also get a submersible electric motor which clipped onto the weight under the bulb. The motor was not from Lego.
Unknown to me at the time, the Fire Fighter had technical parts to make up the water canons and navigation mast. Later when I got into Technic Lego, these parts were indispensable. The water canons were mounted on small turntables which helped when building brick style steering in my hot rods.
I also used the ship sections and the three big wheels from my 857 Motor Cycle Side Car to build off shore oil drill platforms. The big wheels also floated.
Another excellent article in this series! Please keep posting more, because I'm loving them all :-)
I never owned a complete boat set, but I always had 3 red moulded hull sections (with no rear piece) and a weight. I have no idea where it came from, we just always had it. Many a time I created a toy to take to the bath with me. Happy days!
As mentioned by others on this thread, I have fond memories of the 4015 set. I bought this with my saved up pocket money when we had a family holiday to Denmark in 1983 and it was purchased from the Lego shop at the park. Happy days. I also recall having 4025 which was the smaller brother of 4031 mentioned here and lacked the helicopter pad. Thanks for article...
Ah, what fun. Since reading and commenting, I keep coming back to this :-)
I've worked out that I must have had the left-overs of a 316 Fire Fighter ship from 1978. I also have one of the 48064c02 motors (minus rudder) that came in a box of assorted Lego from fleebay. Must check if it works some time...
What about the 310, 311 and 312 sets (already quote by dutchlegofan50 and ajm390).
Respectively, a tugboat, a ferry and a cargo ship : 3 sets released in june 1973.
And i think there are some mistakes on the number of pieces of each box in the data base.
Many thanks to huw who bring me back in time : 41 years ago.