Vintage set of the week: Rescue Helicopter
Posted by Huwbot,
This week's vintage set is 691 Rescue Helicopter, released during 1974. It's one of 13 LEGOLAND sets produced that year. It contains 62 pieces.
It's owned by 598 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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18 comments on this article
Not much to work with here on this one.
I guess it's just a rescue HELI-KHOPTER HELI-KHOPTER!
Looks kinda shy, hiding its cockpit like that.
Interesting that the main rotor is built off of the same piece used for the tail rotor.
@MCLegoboy said:
"Not much to work with here on this one."
A man has fallen into the river in LEGOLAND!
Start the OLD rescue helicopter!
Hey!
Can’t even fit the whole set on the box, or the main image. That was left to the US to clean up. It actually kind of looks like it’s in the sky, so that’s neat. Also, great source of Light Grey parts pre-classic space!
@PurpleDave said:
"Looks kinda shy, hiding its cockpit like that."
That's actually really funny!
Very nice shaping for the year!
A quarter of the number of parts in the December GWP shows how meaningless is the price per piece metric so beloved of fans. I think taking into account the number of studs on the footprint of each part would give a clearer indication of scale and perceived value. Really good to see sets like this make an appearance in the VSotW. Some of us are just old enough to remember them in the shops!
@TheOtherMike said:
"Interesting that the main rotor is built off of the same piece used for the tail rotor."
Imagine if they accidentally switched the two.......you'd be in for a ride! A short one probably, but still....
I assume this rescue helicopter wasn't based on some military design? Never to late to cancel a good thing...
Given they only had blocks to work with, not any of the modern curved pieces Lego likes using in helicopters these days, that’s not bad
Considering Lego's policy of not depicting modern military vehicles, this looks suspiciously like a Wessex ;)
@WizardOfOss said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"Interesting that the main rotor is built off of the same piece used for the tail rotor."
Imagine if they accidentally switched the two.......you'd be in for a ride! A short one probably, but still....
I assume this rescue helicopter wasn't based on some military design? Never to late to cancel a good thing..."
I don't think designs back then were based on a specific real world design, but more just a generic mishmash of design elements.
Looks like a nicely detailed vintage Creator set. I'll check if I can clone a modern version of it. I did it to 1549-2 and looks nice.
The curved windscreen part was only used in one other set.
Two if you count the US renumbered version of this one as a separate set.
I remember Bricks n Pieces (and later a few other club magazines) published this set's instructions around the early till late 90s - still showing a couple of pieces long out of production. The page stated that you should be creative in replacing those, if you don't have them.
A bit reminiscent of the spirit of the ideas books :D
@Atuin said:
"I remember Bricks n Pieces (and later a few other club magazines) published this set's instructions around the early till late 90s - still showing a couple of pieces long out of production. The page stated that you should be creative in replacing those, if you don't have them.
A bit reminiscent of the spirit of the ideas books :D"
I remember building it myself back in 2001! I used the wheels from the shuttle in 6456 for the landing gear.
@CCC said:
" @WizardOfOss said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"Interesting that the main rotor is built off of the same piece used for the tail rotor."
Imagine if they accidentally switched the two.......you'd be in for a ride! A short one probably, but still....
I assume this rescue helicopter wasn't based on some military design? Never to late to cancel a good thing..."
I don't think designs back then were based on a specific real world design, but more just a generic mishmash of design elements. "
Yeah, they sure took design clues from actual designs, but gave it their own twist. If only they did the same with the Osprey....
@Atuin said:
"I remember Bricks n Pieces (and later a few other club magazines) published this set's instructions around the early till late 90s - still showing a couple of pieces long out of production. The page stated that you should be creative in replacing those, if you don't have them.
A bit reminiscent of the spirit of the ideas books :D"
That’s what LEGO is about in my opinion. Creativity!
I built this set with my younger brother, fond memories.