It's literally just two Italian guys on a winner's podium. Who the hell thought this would be a fun set?

@PurpleDave: Weeeell...(:D): R should be working with D; to produce the stuff that Q designs, along side P (or is that A? John Cleese was never given an official title before his acclimation of the title of his predecessor...). As for M and undercover work...better that than hiding in a safe-house...that'll get ya' killed...:)

I remember this one from the 2004 catalog and later seeing it in the store. Weird little set, as the rest of Racers wasn't with fleshies yet.

Come to think of it, this might be the earliest set with light nougat fleshies. In 2003 the Basketball collectible sets had fleshies, but only in 2004 did this color see more use. But even Spider-Man 2 (Harry Potter and SW were even later) only get released throughout the year while I can swear this one was from january.

I'll have to look this up when I have time.

Stickered torsos in 2004? Strange...

@Ridgeheart said:
" @gunther_schnitzel said:
"Only 2 finishers for that race…"

No one specified what race this was. If it was Mario Kart, I can only assume these aren't so much "finishers", rather, "survivors", and that all other racers ended up exploded, shot and/or eaten by giant bullets, electried, getting their skulls caved in by colour-coded turtle-shells, or pushed off of rainbow-bridges into the cold and uncaring void of space.

And I think that's beautiful."

If that were the case, Lakitu would've gottem.

guess i know what i'm watching over this extended Singapore break!

"Barachello" XDDDDDD
You had one job...

@TotalMaddness said:
"I think these were the very first minifigures outside of Sports to be depictions of real people. Pretty cool!"

Isn't racing considered a sport? Do you mean 'Sport' the Lego theme?

@Ridgeheart said:
" @gunther_schnitzel said:
"Only 2 finishers for that race…"

No one specified what race this was. If it was Mario Kart, I can only assume these aren't so much "finishers", rather, "survivors", and that all other racers ended up exploded, shot and/or eaten by giant bullets, electried, getting their skulls caved in by colour-coded turtle-shells, or pushed off of rainbow-bridges into the cold and uncaring void of space.

And I think that's beautiful."

Or if it was 24 Hours of Le Mans, pretty much the same outcome.

@Miyakan said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"It's literally just two Italian guys on a winner's podium. Who the hell thought this would be a fun set?"

It doesn't have to be fun all on it's own. It's a great addition for any racing diorama. See some of the sets in the early 2000's soccer range. They have a light stand. No fun on it's own, but great for expanding your football stadium."

My friend had the light stand as a kid and boy did we make all sorts of silly stuff with it. I'd forgotten about that set, great memories. Thank you!

@thor96 said:
"Such a small set and lego still managed to make an error in Barrichello's name on the front. And it's even next to his readable autograph. Shame on you lego!"

Said autograph reads as "Barchello," though.

@kdu2814 said:
" @TotalMaddness said:
"I think these were the very first minifigures outside of Sports to be depictions of real people. Pretty cool!"

Isn't racing considered a sport? Do you mean 'Sport' the Lego theme?"

Yeah, Lego Sports. Basketball specifically but also Zidane from 3401-2

@Stevutz said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"It's literally just two Italian guys on a winner's podium. Who the hell thought this would be a fun set?"

Neither of these two are Italian."
I bet many Italians would have loved to "adopt" Schumi back in the day when Ferrari and he dominated F1 :-)

Very Shiny Chrome Trophy Piece!

@Stevutz said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"It's literally just two Italian guys on a winner's podium. Who the hell thought this would be a fun set?"

Neither of these two are Italian."

Their names sound kinda Italian and Ferrari is an Italian company so that's probably why I got confused

@myth said:
"Funny to see this now as the random set of the day, after the recent announcement of Formula 1 cooperation. Perhaps Huwbot is more sentient than we realise? :-)"

Although if he picks a set with skis in it tomorrow, he is a sick little b******.

@johnnytifosi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"

Then again, I guess the commenter isn't really into motorsports if he doesn't know the most famous German Formula 1 driver of all time, and one of the most famous in general. Granted, Rubens Barrichello might not be quite as famous since he wasn't as successful, but he's still a very well known and respected driver of the sport."

I would even say he is THE Formula 1 driver. You would have to be living under a rock to read his name for the first time in 2024.

"

I thought Senna was considered to be "THE Formula 1 driver"? Or am I just stupid?

@b2_O said:
" @johnnytifosi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"

Then again, I guess the commenter isn't really into motorsports if he doesn't know the most famous German Formula 1 driver of all time, and one of the most famous in general. Granted, Rubens Barrichello might not be quite as famous since he wasn't as successful, but he's still a very well known and respected driver of the sport."

I would even say he is THE Formula 1 driver. You would have to be living under a rock to read his name for the first time in 2024.

"

I thought Senna was considered to be "THE Formula 1 driver"? Or am I just stupid?"
That's why I only said "one of the most famous" ;-)

@AustinPowers said:
" @b2_O said:
" @johnnytifosi said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"

Then again, I guess the commenter isn't really into motorsports if he doesn't know the most famous German Formula 1 driver of all time, and one of the most famous in general. Granted, Rubens Barrichello might not be quite as famous since he wasn't as successful, but he's still a very well known and respected driver of the sport."

I would even say he is THE Formula 1 driver. You would have to be living under a rock to read his name for the first time in 2024.

"

I thought Senna was considered to be "THE Formula 1 driver"? Or am I just stupid?"
That's why I only said "one of the most famous" ;-) "

Very sorry, but i was responding to the response of your post.

@Ridgeheart said:
" @AustinPowers said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"Yeah... given all the drama I'm causing with European racing fans, I'm just gonna leave. Hope you enjoy the two German guys on a podium, or something"
Come on now, no need to be miffed, Brickset commenters are a tough crowd.
But generally we are very nice. Honestly.
Even yours truly, the famous "grumpy German" ;-)

The only thing we love more than European racing drivers (like Rubens Barrichello...) is Clikits... "

Oh. I thought you were Italian. I was confused by the pineapple-pizza, you understand."

Ah that pizza, italian, but added pineapple and ham by a greek, in canada, and then named to the american state of hawaii

@TeriXeri said:
"Ah that pizza, italian, but added pineapple and ham by a greek, in canada, and then named to the american state of hawaii"

I don’t know why. Everyone knows they wouldn’t put ham on a pizza. They’d use SPAM.

Beautiful

@AustinPowers said:
" @WolfpackBricksOfficial said:
"Their names sound kinda Italian and Ferrari is an Italian company so that's probably why I got confused "
Yeah, Michael Schumacher definitely sounds Italian, doesn't it?"

To be fair, I'd say Michael Schumacher sounds about as Italian as Günther Steiner does...

But hey, considering the deal between Lego and F1, we might still get a Logan Sargeant minifig! I bet Wolfie would be ecstatic about that! U-S-A! U-S-A!

This is certainly the set of all time. Truly it must have sold copies.

Schumacher? Joel?

Ah, yes... the two guys who I have definitely heard of.

@Trigger_ said:
"Schumacher? Joel?"
Ah yes, the famous Italian director!

(We'll just forget about his disastrous Batman flicks....)

@WizardOfOss said:
" @Trigger_ said:
"Schumacher? Joel?"
Ah yes, the famous Italian director!

(We'll just forget about his disastrous Batman flicks....)"

Batman Forever wasn't that bad yet. Although he made much better films such as Falling Down and A Time to Kill.

@Ridgeheart said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @Trigger_ said:
"Schumacher? Joel?"
Ah yes, the famous Italian director!

(We'll just forget about his disastrous Batman flicks....)"

I mean, we have gotten famous directors and producers as minifigs before - we've got Disney, Spielberg, a one-off of Lucas, even Kevin Feige has his own minifig. Pharrell probably counts.

But in the Venn-diagram of [famous directors] and [irate Germans], there is one shining soul above all, one so worthy of getting his own minifig, and yet, one so tragically without. And that is of course Uwe Boll, the "only genius in ze entire fah-rnicating business".

Get on this, TLG. And keep in mind, I don't want a BloodRayne-set, I don't care about BloodRayne. I very specifically want "Uwe Boll's BloodRayne". Give us ecstacy! Give us release! Give us... Der Uwe!"
Oh yes, Lego, we NEED a Raging Boll set!

@Ridgeheart:
No, they've replicated Uwe Boll perfectly in LEGO form already:

https://brickset.com/parts/6275030/1x1-decoration-top-no-2

This whole comment section is just Americans discovering other countries exist, Lego is a Danish company and their core market is Germany. As one of their CEOs once said "If I can't sell something to a 7 year old German child I shouldn't be making it".

And it's obviously hilarious to half the world that the commentators actually think Michael Schumacher is some obscure figure rather than one of the most famous sportsmen of all time. He's so famous he actually makes Rubens Barrichello seem slightly obscure by comparison. Both of them are big deals in Europe, particularly in Germany where Schumacher is a national hero (And Barrichello is the same in his native Brazil) see also the special German national team CMF set Lego made or why so many of their trains bore "DR".

And neither is Italian...

@SkeletonDance08 said:
"... or why so many of their trains bore "DR"."
Completely agree with your post, but as Brickset's resident know-it-all I have to correct you on that last one. It was "DB" as in "Deutsche Bundesbahn", our then German national rail. Not to be confused with today's "DB", as in "Deutsche Bahn AG", our current - privatized - German national rail.
The difference being?
Well, back in the day our railways were a symbol of national pride, renowned worldwide for their punctuality, service and quality.
Nowadays? Let's not even start talking about it, since the company has become a laughing stock the world over - and unfortunately rightly so.

@SkeletonDance08 said:
"This whole comment section is just Americans discovering other countries exist, Lego is a Danish company and their core market is Germany."

Typical NW Afro-Eurasian, seeing precisely 1.0 American having trouble with the nationalities, and ascribing that to the other 331,449,280 of us without even noticing that most of the comments here are from their part of the world.

Also, Germany has not been the core market for the last 25 years. These days, it's not even the core market in the EU.

@SkeletonDance08 said:
"This whole comment section is just Americans discovering other countries exist, Lego is a Danish company and their core market is Germany. As one of their CEOs once said "If I can't sell something to a 7 year old German child I shouldn't be making it".

And it's obviously hilarious to half the world that the commentators actually think Michael Schumacher is some obscure figure rather than one of the most famous sportsmen of all time. He's so famous he actually makes Rubens Barrichello seem slightly obscure by comparison. Both of them are big deals in Europe, particularly in Germany where Schumacher is a national hero (And Barrichello is the same in his native Brazil) see also the special German national team CMF set Lego made or why so many of their trains bore "DR".

And neither is Italian..."

I thought DR was from the Nazi days? Deutsche Reichsbahn or something like that? (or am, I misremembering my history class?) Also, Germany hasn't been LEGO's primary market since 1999 when America took over right around the time Star Wars came out. China is in second place now, I believe.

@Murdoch17 said:
"I thought DR was from the Nazi days? Deutsche Reichsbahn or something like that? (or am, I misremembering my history class?)."

Depends. In the 20s, just after WW1, all the big state railways were merged into the DRG, Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, which only later under nazi rule was changed into the DR (Deutsche Reichsbahn indeed), which lasted until the end of the war.

But that's not quite it yet, since after the war, while West Germany got the DB, East Germany stuck with the DR naming until it all merged into the DB AG.

@Murdoch17 said:
"Also, Germany hasn't been LEGO's primary market since 1999 when America took over right around the time Star Wars came out. China is in second place now, I believe."

I don’t know if China is there yet. They’re definitely the fastest growing market, but that usually comes with being a small startup market. They have the potential to overtake the US, if TLG can continue to cater to their tastes. So far all they’ve managed is CNY/CTF (net yield of maybe 1% of all new sets in a year), Monkie Kid (eventually they’re going to run out of material to adapt), and two out of an expected four Botanicals sets. Unless they can find other ways to tap Chinese culture, they’re going to reach a point where the main things that will appeal to the Chinese market are sets based on American films that did well in the Chinese box office. And those films have always performed several times better in the US market.