Random set of the day: Santa Fe Super Chief (limited edition version)
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 10020 Santa Fe Super Chief (limited edition version), released during 2002. It's one of 11 Trains sets produced that year. It contains 435 pieces and 2 minifigs, and its retail price was US$40 / £26.99, which equates to about US$67 / £48 in today's money.
It's owned by 125 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at Brick Owl, BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $650.00, or eBay.
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39 comments on this article
That mustache face will always remind me of Lego Loco. I loved that game. Building Lego cities and making funny postcards was all the kid me needed.
£48 in today's money.... if only!
Well, I didn't get the limited-edition version, but the Sante Fe was *still* one of the best trains that Lego ever did. Ever.
So apparently there are 9999 of these things out there with a special numbered tile. Anyone here get any of them and know that's what happened? There's at least 125 members on Brickset that claim to own it, so are any of those people also commenters on Random Sets of the Day?
Big Red, standing by
A really special set, even without the limited release thing of this version. IMHO it was ahead of its time in how it was built and it was overall remarkably designed. The fig heads and model team horns were also unusual to see back then.
I originally thought this was from 2004 because I have a 2005 Shop @ Home catalog that has it and the BNSF featured. But surprisingly, this was from 2002! I do recall seeing it on postcard from around that time that came with a larger set though. One of those 'join the lego club' ones.
So that makes the holdout parts not their last appearance... but it does make it even more ahead of its time!
EDIT:
Having looked through the instructions, the build is less advanced than it looked. But it still uses SNOT and the nose uses curves in a way not really seen often by 2002, especially this well. In general it does have a lot of curved edges, even an upside-down assembly on the underside!
But on the other hand it has STAMPs and the triangular yellow end of those yellow lines is just plates in an outdated method (it reminds me of how AFOLs of the time did lettering though). On this image the frontmost minifig is partially blocking that detail. You can see it behind him if you look closely.
The presentation of the instructions is so much more inviting and colorful compared to today's adult-focussed fare. There's even a little comic of some kind in the back!
Literally hanging on. I have 60052 which does a more reasonable impression of the gangway around the engine for the drivers and is also motorised. One of those grey whales, with some rare parts inflating price, like horns, circular printed windows, grey boogies etc., although the main build is nearly all system parts so easy to approximately replicate.
I'm not a train guy but this is one they should remake. for a reasonable price.
@8lackmagic said:
"£48 in today's money.... if only!"
Yeah. They'd find an excuse to make it at least $150. Or $200 if it had a black tiled base.
@Arnoldos said:
"That mustache face will always remind me of Lego Loco. I loved that game. Building Lego cities and making funny postcards was all the kid me needed."
He's still Biggs Darklighter to me.
Dude with sunglasses is like, damn, that chrome is bright as.
Those guys must have muscles of steel, holding on like that.
Considering the delay you'd almost think it's a DB train....
But hey, late but Great!
@MCLegoboy said:
"So apparently there are 9999 of these things out there with a special numbered tile. Anyone here get any of them and know that's what happened? There's at least 125 members on Brickset that claim to own it, so are any of those people also commenters on Random Sets of the Day?"
There was a list at NGLTC (as referenced by brick wiki)
https://brickwiki.org/wiki/Santa_Fe_Super_Chief_(10020)
But it doesn't seem to be there any longer ??
Some people have recorded their numbers at: https://guide.lugnet.com/set/mdata.cgi?q=10020_1&v=n
That is one beautiful engine. This came right in the middle of my dark age. I wasn't collecting trains but I'ld make an exception for Sante Fe Super Chief...
@MCLegoboy said:
"So apparently there are 9999 of these things out there with a special numbered tile. Anyone here get any of them and know that's what happened? There's at least 125 members on Brickset that claim to own it, so are any of those people also commenters on Random Sets of the Day?"
I have one of them, registered here on Brickset too, and can confirm that it has a unique tile with a number on it that goes where the "301" tile goes on the side of the train. The other side has a little "Lego" logo printed on a 2x1 tile.
Spain livery.
Such a nice set! I have the normal version.
A great set, especially being able to buy the carriages separately.
If this came out today, everybody would be whining how it should come with a loop of tracks, and how it’s 200 Euros until it’s motorised.
@Gamlebilrokker said:
"If this came out today, everybody would be whining how it should come with a loop of tracks, and how it’s 200 Euros until it’s motorised. "
Maybe. Maybe not. We'll never know.
What we do know right now is that there is someone whining about how people might be whining in some imaginary scenario. Isn't that even more sad?
That's a beautiful set.
can someone tell me why it's super expensive nowadays? considering other train alternatives or even building your own, I still don't get the price.
@Denmark_Dragon said:
"can someone tell me why it's super expensive nowadays? considering other train alternatives or even building your own, I still don't get the price."
as @MCLegoboy commented followed by @Boergeiam reply. They're limited and each one seems numbered unlike other sets where 10's of 1000's are made and are identical
While I've never really been a "train guy," as a kid this one left me impressed every time I saw it in the magazine and catalogue.
And it still does!
My dad bought five of these limited edition ones back in the day. Two for him to be motorized and lit up, and three unmotorized ones for us kids. (me at age ~7 and my two brothers aged ~5) The ones we were given never made it into our adulthood, and I regret doing that to mine to this day. He has never let us live that down to this day, even though he never gave us the number tiles... last I heard, he was still trying to piece them back together for his own use. (He never let us have any of our childhood LEGO when we grew up, so I'll never get my train back.)
On another note: I eventually made a blue version of the set with a B-unit in 2019 for myself.
Tried buying the full Santa Fe set but it went OOS by the time I went to buy them. Actually ordered them from the Lego website and they cancelled the order without explanation. I had to buy the whole set on the aftermarket and they cost me $50 each for four engines and ten cars. I kept half of them and sold the other sealed sets. That train still has never been run on train tracks, just sits looking pretty as a display. I didn't worry about getting the limited edition though.
Wanted this so badly when I was a kid.
@MCLegoboy said:
"So apparently there are 9999 of these things out there with a special numbered tile. Anyone here get any of them and know that's what happened? There's at least 125 members on Brickset that claim to own it, so are any of those people also commenters on Random Sets of the Day?"
I own number 3282!
@Vladtheb said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"So apparently there are 9999 of these things out there with a special numbered tile. Anyone here get any of them and know that's what happened? There's at least 125 members on Brickset that claim to own it, so are any of those people also commenters on Random Sets of the Day?"
I own number 3282!"
I wonder if there's any logic to the number one has.
i have 9575, so very much near the end of the line, but i have no idea if the numbers were randomly distributed around the world, of it X numbers were regional, etc
@johleth said:
"A great set, especially being able to buy the carriages separately. "
If I remember right there were two carriage sets.
One with 2 versions, one with three.
I only got one of each- it didn't seem right buying five.
Absolute classic. Gave up on it long ago, but sure would be great to see it get a re-make--wouldn't even have to change much.
@MCLegoboy said:
"So apparently there are 9999 of these things out there with a special numbered tile. Anyone here get any of them and know that's what happened? There's at least 125 members on Brickset that claim to own it, so are any of those people also commenters on Random Sets of the Day?"
Sure! I have A6243! This thing was something really special when it came out. One of the first sets designed with adult fans in mind.
Mario
I've got the regular version! It was my father's actually, lol. He's passed on though, and I recently got the pieces to complete the set. Not sure if I want to part with it or not.
@Binnekamp:
BNSF came out around the time this was set to retire, I believe.
@Maxbricks14:
Close, but the color scheme and general design draws pretty heavily from the culture of the American Southwest. The red/yellow color scheme may well have originated with Spain, since they once owned a solid chunk of that region, including California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
@Denmark_Dragon:
It’s expensive for a lot of reasons. It’s a limited serial-numbered edition. It has unique prints and elements. It uses a lot of old-light-grey, and not all of those elements were released in light-bley. It’s also just one of the most popular train engines they’ve ever released. The lowest numbers (I think 1-10?) were auctioned off for ridiculous amounts of money.
@VaultDweller_197:
There’s also a standard release of this set, where you always get the same engine ID numbers as everyone else.
@Murdoch17:
If you weren’t even allowed to take your childhood collection with you, then what does it matter to you whether it ever gets put back together or not? That’s kind of a sketchy move regardless, essentially just loaning your kids their Christmas and birthday presents.
@Boergeiam:
If you bought one of the auctioned engines, they set aside the lowest numbers. Otherwise I think they just dumped all the special numbered tiles into a hopper and drew them at random for the limited release, while the unlimited release would have been running a slightly different inventory.
@Pongo:
Yes, three sets, six total builds, and a lot of people probably bought seven total. Two engines, two of the 2-in-1 car, and three of the 3-in-1 car.
@Boergeiam said:
" @Vladtheb said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"So apparently there are 9999 of these things out there with a special numbered tile. Anyone here get any of them and know that's what happened? There's at least 125 members on Brickset that claim to own it, so are any of those people also commenters on Random Sets of the Day?"
I own number 3282!"
I wonder if there's any logic to the number one has.
i have 9575, so very much near the end of the line, but i have no idea if the numbers were randomly distributed around the world, of it X numbers were regional, etc"
I have tile numbers A6117 and A6293, plus I have two of the unlimited edition. Great sets!
@PurpleDave said:
" @Murdoch17 :
If you weren’t even allowed to take your childhood collection with you, then what does it matter to you whether it ever gets put back together or not? That’s kind of a sketchy move regardless, essentially just loaning your kids their Christmas and birthday presents.
"
I'll get it back someday, as I don't think I'm written out of his will as of yet. (That's why I care about this specific train) And yes, he is a very sketchy man... anything that came over to his house was considered 'his'. In his own words, said since I was very young: 'if it passes the threshold of my front door, it is my property'. My first personal train MOC was supposed to be given back to me at 18 for my own use per his promise from when I built it with his help at age 9 / 10. He held it over my head until I was 21 or so, but I did eventually get it!
I own two of these, and at least one of the non-limited edition.
@Arnoldos said:
"That mustache face will always remind me of Lego Loco. I loved that game. Building Lego cities and making funny postcards was all the kid me needed."
YES! LEGO Loco was what actually first got me into LEGO as a kid, because I loved trains first and a relative saw that it was a train game and bought it for me, and the rest is history...
The late 90's and early 00's LEGO games were my childhood... such good times and I love them all so much. (Someone remade Rock Raiders a few years ago... check out "Manic Miners," and please no one tell TLG for IP reasons... haha)
Chief got all Chaos Emeralds