Random set of the day: Max Goes Flying
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4174 Max Goes Flying, released in 2001. It's one of 22 Creator sets produced that year. It contains 172 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$15/£11.99.
It's owned by 112 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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Jack Stone meets Creator
Vehicles using slopes with Exploriens logos from 1996.
Overall a bit of a weird time for LEGO.
Wow, what a nice parts pack! Those two printed Space slopes, hoses, fronds, wings, landing gear and--all sorts of CHROMED PARTS!
Didn't know about this one as well! Very nice parts pack!
Jack Stone meets leftovers Lego needs to get rid of!
They did make for nice parts pack, yes, but it was a strange time to be a Lego collector.
They did make for nice parts pack, yes, but it was a strange time to be a Lego collector.
That bird just looks so very angry/annoyed.
One heck of a cursed set.
I'm kinda bummed I missed out on the Max and Tina sets, but I think at the time I decided that the Jack Stone style figures weren't for me. I ended up getting 4119-1 and 7832-1 containing nothing but basic bricks, plates and slopes, which unfortunately didn't keep me occupied for long (which is odd since I'm STILL building with 70825-1 since getting and reviewing that back in January).
I should have gotten these sets. Well, not this specific set, but 4172-1, 4173-1 and 4117-1.
Idea book? As in the buyer builder had to fend for themselves after buying it too?
Which one is Max?
@ArielHairRaph: Idea Books included instructions for some builds, and any other models depicted inside counted as "ideas". Kinda like the alternate builds they used to include with either sparse or no instructions back in the 90s and very early 00s, except dozens (up to more than a hundred) more.
@namekuji: The male figure. The bird with the really creepy Creator eyes is Nana Bird.
Max Goes Flying...Straight into the Spare Parts Bin.
Apparently the bird hasn't flown a whole lot since there are plants growing on him.
Wow, surreal... Now looking at these sets, I don't think Lego explored the full potential of these Max size figures. Same as Technic figures.
Why did Lego ever think anyone wanted a brick with the weary eyes of a middle aged alcoholic printed on it?
Why did Lego ever think anyone wanted a brick with the weary eyes of a middle aged alcoholic printed on it?
^ Isn't that what AFOLs become...with Lego printed on them?
wait.... Creator started with Jack Stone? ... Dang.. every day I learn new sutff about LEGO
It started with this ;)
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Lego_Creator_(video_game)
It's kind of funny how even though Brickset categorizes "Creator" as one theme (well, two if you count Creator Expert), the way LEGO categorizes those sets has been far from consistent. In 2001 and 2002, the Creator theme was less analogous to the current Creator 3-in-1 line than to the "Basic" and "FreeStyle" themes that preceded them, or the "Bricks & More" and "Classic" lines that followed.
From 2003 to 2005, sets started appearing that are closer to what we think of today as "Creator", with instructions for multiple builds and less emphasis on free-building with a more jumbled assortment of parts. But contrary to Brickset's categorization, they weren't actually considered Creator sets at the time! The Designer Sets (https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Creator/subtheme-Designer-Set), Inventor Sets (https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Creator/subtheme-Inventor-Set), and the first two years of X-Pods (https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Creator/subtheme-X-Pod) were treated as separate themes within an overarching category called "Make and Create".
Believe it or not, from 2003 to 2006, even Technic was considered a part of the "Make and Create" category — that's why the boxes and instruction manuals of Technic sets in 2003 were branded with the same yellow border and perspective grid backgrounds! You can view an archived version of the Make and Create site here: https://web.archive.org/web/20040903193014/http://www.lego.com:80/eng/create/ And from 2005 to 2006 even Mindstorms was absorbed into this parent category in the LEGO.com site layout, although neither it nor Technic were using Make & Create branding for the sets themselves at this point.
In 2006, there were big changes in this branding hierarchy, as can be seen here: https://web.archive.org/web/20060831185026/http://www.lego.com/eng/create/ What were previously branded as "Designer Sets" and "Advanced Designer Sets" became known as "Creator", with X-Pods becoming a subtheme of Creator. The bulk brick assortments were renamed "LEGO Creative Building" — however, Brickset has oddly enough chosen to refer to this theme as "Make and Create" (https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Make-and-Create), which was still the name of the parent category encompassing all these themes.
The "Bricks and More" parent category was dissolved in 2007, and the themes under it were no longer lumped together on the consumer-facing side. "Creative Building" remained the official name for basic assorted brick sets through 2008, before being changed to "Bricks & More" in 2009. And incidentally, the 2007 Mosaic sets (https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Creator/subtheme-Mosaic) were officially a subtheme of LEGO Creative Building, NOT LEGO Creator.
Anyway, that's the end of that ramble. Just some historical insights I personally found interesting! I'd love if Brickset would reorganize or rename at least some of its categories to reflect this official theme hierarchy — in the very least, renaming "Make & Create" to "Creative Building" and moving the Mosaic subtheme from Creator to Creative Building.
@Aanchir: Having grown up with FreeStyle, 2002 Creator, 2003 Make and Create (Designer Sets and X-Pods), I can confirm everything you said to be true. I've never understood Brickset's categorization of these themes. At the very least we can probably count on Creator's current identity remaining consistent for the foreseeable future, namely Creator 3-in-1 and (the more baffling) Creator Expert.
Me:* sees the bird*
Me: what the cock is that?!
Also me: *sees the vehicles*
Me: okay...
Wow. Awesome.