Back to the construction themed sets! And honestly given yesterday’s RSotD had such a focus on building I’d consider it an honorary construction set so the trend has been unabated

Well my prediction was wrong.

soo much charm in this one!

I don’t think he understands how to operate that thing.

Hinged roof elements were available since 1980, so where's your excuse, LEGO? Oherwise, neat basic city builder.

One of my earliest sets from childhood.
Pretty sure it wasn't called a crane though, at least not in our catalogue. Will have to look it up one day. Unfortunately my collection of childhood LEGO catalogues is still at my parents' house.

I had this set for my 6th birthday, loved it:-) Actually, I still have it... (I don't think the kids have found it yet). The round ball at the top of the bucket broke off a long time ago, so I looked for another - I managed to find another complete set on eBay for not much (yes, this was years ago), but the spring was missing. I hadn't thought of using a small rubber band, @Binnekamp, I must try that. And I agree, that bucket was so much fun to play with. Another set from the time when TLG prioritised simple playable builds from mostly standard parts, over looks.

I miss the inclusion of the space-gun part in sets. It could be so many things! In this set it was used for digger controls and stabilizers. Such a great part.

The clear brick, hinges, modified plate with coupling and bucket remind me of vintage Lego. Always liked the way you pressed the plastic pieces at 90 degrees and it would open, didn't realise large enough to swallow a seated mini-fig. Just unsure of Pneumatic name as sounds like a Technic set, and what happened to the fake baseplate?

@Binnekamp said:
"Hey, it's this one!
I gor this set twice. The first time was from the lot I originally got some Classic Space sets from. It was quite chewed up. It was missing the spring in the bucket. So I got it off bricklink for what was an okay deal at the time. Now I got it again later... again missing the spring. I have a rubber band in there for now as I keep putting off spending 5 euro in a piece of metal.
The spring is attached on hooks inside the assembly, so it was easily lost by previous owners.

Anyway, this is a fun one. The set is very tactile because of the swiveling base and the multiple joints in the arm, including a ball joint at the end that allows the bucket to hang down. And the bucket clamps shut via spring (or in my copy, rubber band).

A standout from the 80s in terms of playability in my opinion!"

I had a similar issue with a missing spring from an old forklift element and didn’t want to pay the exorbitant price for one on Bricklink. I realized that the spring that is used in many click pens is the same size as the official LEGO element and used that instead. It works like a charm!

I seemed to have quite a few of the late 70s / early 80s Legoland sets but this one passed me by - I did have the springy bucket / grabber thing though in a really early set of mine from the mid 70s I guess - I still have it but the spring has gone somewhere into oblivion...

My aunt got this for me, waaay back in the 80's. I remember playing with it. I managed to build it years later. I was lucky that I still had the bucket. Still with us, so happy...

@Librarian1976 said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"Hey, it's this one!
I gor this set twice. The first time was from the lot I originally got some Classic Space sets from. It was quite chewed up. It was missing the spring in the bucket. So I got it off bricklink for what was an okay deal at the time. Now I got it again later... again missing the spring. I have a rubber band in there for now as I keep putting off spending 5 euro in a piece of metal.
The spring is attached on hooks inside the assembly, so it was easily lost by previous owners.

Anyway, this is a fun one. The set is very tactile because of the swiveling base and the multiple joints in the arm, including a ball joint at the end that allows the bucket to hang down. And the bucket clamps shut via spring (or in my copy, rubber band).

A standout from the 80s in terms of playability in my opinion!"

I had a similar issue with a missing spring from an old forklift element and didn’t want to pay the exorbitant price for one on Bricklink. I realized that the spring that is used in many click pens is the same size as the official LEGO element and used that instead. It works like a charm!"

I believe we had to do the same thing with my brother’s 780. Then when I ended up working for a boat builder during high school, I definitely fixed an early model screw gun try at he was about to chuck in the trash because the trigger stopped working. It was just a busted spring, and it was almost exactly the same size as a standard pen spring.

@Crux said:
"Fun fact: that claw-bucket would remain in use all the way up to 2015, when it was finally retired.

Honestly, might as well bring it back. It uses the "Mixel-balljoint-before-it-was-called-the-Mixel-balljoint"-balljoint, and as such it's still firmly in system."

I second the motion.

Back when NPU was required due to the lack of diversity. This is such a great example of minimal parts, creative use of pieces, for good play design.

@Crux said:
"Fun fact: that claw-bucket would remain in use all the way up to 2015, when it was finally retired.

Honestly, might as well bring it back. It uses the "Mixel-balljoint-before-it-was-called-the-Mixel-balljoint"-balljoint, and as such it's still firmly in system."

Towballs are older than minifigs, having been used for maxifig hands in the Homemaker sets.

@PurpleDave said:
" @Crux said:
"Fun fact: that claw-bucket would remain in use all the way up to 2015, when it was finally retired.

Honestly, might as well bring it back. It uses the "Mixel-balljoint-before-it-was-called-the-Mixel-balljoint"-balljoint, and as such it's still firmly in system."

Towballs are older than minifigs, having been used for maxifig hands in the Homemaker sets."

I see nothing here that contradicts my statement, but thanks for checking in.

@Crux said:
"Fun fact: that claw-bucket would remain in use all the way up to 2015, when it was finally retired.

Honestly, might as well bring it back. It uses the "Mixel-balljoint-before-it-was-called-the-Mixel-balljoint"-balljoint, and as such it's still firmly in system."
My favorite use of the piece was in 6195 where it came in trans-dark-blue.