Random set of the day: Twin Rotor Cargo
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4618 Twin Rotor Cargo, released in 2002. It's one of 14 Jack Stone sets produced that year. It contains 41 pieces and 2 minifigs, and its retail price was US$20/£14.99.
It's owned by 253 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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65 comments on this article
Can do
WILL DO!
Ah nothing like a quality set with quality figures to end your day.
Sadly I do not have that tonight...
Yikes that looks like a box with propellers on the top. I bet the rope would get caught in the wheel and be useless...
That is amazing!
No, wait. Not amazing. Sorry. I meant “horrible.” Simple typo.
Wow, I haven’t payed much attention to Jack Stone sets in a long time. I still have a bunch of the figures from them, and some of the plane pieces. I remember how frustrated I got trying to mix and match body parts from the figures. Those were definitely unique...
Now I can’t decide weather they’re nostalgic, or just traumatizing!
Typical Huwbot, goes from a beloved theme to a "what the kuku birds?" theme.
Malnourished Helicopter right there.
"Jack Stone sets should have used regular bricks instead of so many juniorized pieces."
*back of the helicopter is unsightly stacks of 2x4s*
"No not like that."
@MCLegoboy
DONE!!!
What in the??!! Jack Stone, even from the perspective of someone who had a few of the sets, had some weird designs. This barely looks like a Chinook-type aircraft.
I have to admit, the female was one of my favorite Jack Stone figures. I have a version of her in police gear from another set.
You know, Huwbot -- for all his quirks -- generally doesn't give us much in the way of Jack Stone sets.
Hear that, Jack Stone? Even Huwbot doesn't like you.
Aerodynamics take a holiday here. OK, there are plenty of reasons why one might be critical of the design of this set from its absurdly blocky execution to its simplistic accommodation for realistic proportions and/or functions. But, what bothers me most, is how many beautiful and elegant sets immediately preceded and followed this set. Please spare me the caveat about LEGO losing its way at some point, this is just bad design.
For anyone who is a fan of this set or Jack Stone in general, please pardon any insult here, real or perceived,
.
MY EYES!
I'm just glad that this set was chosen as the RSotD so I could be reminded of that glorious Jack Stone mantra thanks to @MCLegoboy and @Norikins! I haven't thought of that phrase since 2002, and now I'll remember until the day I die.
Hey, now that's an idea for a tombstone! "Lego Lord Mayorca, 1988 - 20XX -- 'Can do, will do, done!'"
Well, you win some, you lose seme. Today is certainly a loss.
Ooh, clone-brand minifigs!
Jack Stone....
Well, these kind of sets make me feel... You know... Stoned!
Another black page in Lego's history...
An error to not repeat!
not great.
haven't seen an orange crate before, though.
Jack is back!
Lepin: “ let’s skip this one”
Ah, the set that brought me back from my dark ages....
I had completely forgotten about this theme. There must be a reason why…
Truly dreadful. It almost looks like something a child has designed with bits from various themes. 253 people own one, wonder how many they made? At least its gets us all commenting.....
I was actually starting to enjoy this because it wasn’t a poly bag and I’d seen a helicopter. Then I zoomed in and saw the “quality” of the set (!!!!). Then, I saw the minifigs. I might stop looking at RSotD now.
Goodness me.
Who is Jack Stone?
The most disturbing thing is that this is not even the worst Jack Stone set!
4614 and 4615 are crackers.
Kind of liked some of the figures from the theme though.
It didn't help to get my creative juices flowing, but I liked it for what it was.
I don't know if anybody's looked at the instructions, but it's literally 2 steps. Not figuratively, literally, (1) and (2). Oy.
Pretty sure I have this one. I'm sure I can find a use for them in a MOC.
Finally - proper sized stickers to cover my eyes!
It’s no Galidor, that’s for sure.
Oh Jack! Beautiful Jack!
I reckon the whole Jack Stone theme was created by the Work Experience kids from the local school. It was a way of filtering out those who could follow in their parents footsteps to work at Lego and those who would have to leave Billund without a backward glance. Ooh I think I have just invented the latest teen dystopian novel. I'm gonna title it "The Jack Project". 12 teens from Billund High are excited to be chosen for The Jack Project unaware of the real truth behind it. Who will survive. Who will be forced out of Billund forever.
Oh and the sequel will be called "The Scala Secret"
Er, yes, well, some things get better with age.
But this isn't one of them.
Leaving out the hull might have made this a nice set.l
Wish Lego would have made Snoke the size of these figures. Random thought I know.
Jack stone was NOT Town or City !
(Town Ended after 2000)
Despite being so juniorized, Jack Stone still had some pretty darn useful parts. So yeah, love it or hate it, you still have to give it credit for that.
It looks like someone made a penis out of Lego then whacked some propellers on it.
I’m surprised it contains as many as 41 pieces, Jack Stone sets were some of the worse for having massive specialised pieces
Jack stone, yes!
Now let's see the comments.
I mean, we had to get one of these eventually, ever since they were added back into the algorithm xD
I was mostly indifferent to Jack Stone. It... happened, but I never paid it much mind. At the time, I remember slightly resenting the fact that it took up the second comic strip of several issues of the UK Lego Adventures magazine, comic strips that could have been used for themes I was actually interested in; but I think that was the extent of my feelings towards it.
Thanks, Huwbot.
I’d nearly scrubbed this abomination from my mind. Now it’ll be stuck there. Again.
@jlskywalker said:
"Jack Stone....
Well, these kind of sets make me feel... You know... Stoned!
Another black page in Lego's history...
An error to not repeat!"
Unfortunately, they are, with 4+ While it does have standard minifigs, there are still a lot of big parts with limited use. And now, it's in every main LEGO theme.
@Brainslugged said:
"It looks like someone made a penis out of Lego then whacked some propellers on it."
Exactly what I was thinking. I can imagine the design process went something like this:
Lego designer 1 "I want to design a set that will evoke fond memories years from now"
Lego designer 2 "How about a helicopter?"
Lego designer 3 "Nah, we've done that"
Lego janitor passing by "Sounds like you folks have a hard problem on your hands"
Lego designer 2 "I got this..."
There was a LEGO designer named Jack Stoned. I think he put this one together.
Help Jack Stone has fallen into a river in Lego City! HEY! Throw in the helicopter after him! Make sure they all drown... nO sUrVivORs!
How... how do they get through the doors on the side?
My first thought upon seeing this today: What the bleep is that?!
My second thought: Oh, it's a helicopter.
My third thought: AAAAAUGH!! MY EYES!!
*AFOLs witnessing the creative process behind this set*
GOOD LORD WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THERE?!
@greenhorn said:
"Who is Jack Stone?"
Well, if you can't deal with a crisis, you shout "Can do, will do!," and Jack Stone will come out of the sky and transform the already bizarre vehicles of his world into even sillier creations that save the day, though never in a plausible manner.
The engine nacelles are still used today. I don't know if any other pieces designed for the Jack Stone range lasted as long. One of Stone's most bizarre fixes was in the alternate instructions/comic book for a trijet aircraft. In it, he blew away a tornado, simply by turning one engine sideways. It was that unrealistic.
"WARNING: Choking Hazard"
Not because of the small pieces, but because the sheer ugliness will trigger your gag reflex
Well, you gotta give credit where credit is due: this set has chromed parts!
The winch is probably useful - even if only for greebling. The canopy can also probably be used somewhere else.
And besides, this is just not an ordinary helicopter. According to the instructions, this is an helicopter that morphs into a submarine - how about that for creative juice flowing?
Junior and 4+ should be abolished. If there are skills that you want children to develop, they are: patience/perseverance, attention to detail and ability to accurately follow a plan. Juniors and 4+ deprive kids of those important skill sets. My first ever set was Lego 358 and I don't think I was even 4 (I guess not, I just checked the release year of the set - I was 3) never had a problem building it - maybe I did but I managed! (still have it - minus the antennas - and still think it's a fantastic set)
@Zordboy said:
"I don't know if anybody's looked at the instructions, but it's literally 2 steps. Not figuratively, literally, (1) and (2). Oy. "
I looked at the instructions. I wish I hadn't. Some things are better left unseen.
Right now, Jamie Berard is on national TV earning the big bucks because he single-handedly saved one of the most widely recognized and beloved toy brands from total extinction at the hands of the gluesniffers who shipped this dismal failure of a product to Toys R Us (they didn't want it either). We'd have no choice but to be building Mega Bloks these days if it weren't for him.
Thanks, Jamie.
@Zordboy said:
"I don't know if anybody's looked at the instructions, but it's literally 2 steps. Not figuratively, literally, (1) and (2). Oy. "
I feel like if your instructions have only two steps, you don’t really need instructions. Water bottles do not come with labels that say:
1. Open cap
2. Pour contents into face.
Some things are unnecessary, like this set. But two-step instruction for this set are even more unnecessary.
@Bornin1980something said:
" @greenhorn said:
"Who is Jack Stone?"
Well, if you can't deal with a crisis, you shout "Can do, will do!," and Jack Stone will come out of the sky and transform the already bizarre vehicles of his world into even sillier creations that save the day, though never in a plausible manner.
The engine nacelles are still used today. I don't know if any other pieces designed for the Jack Stone range lasted as long. One of Stone's most bizarre fixes was in the alternate instructions/comic book for a trijet aircraft. In it, he blew away a tornado, simply by turning one engine sideways. It was that unrealistic. "
Why are we talking about Lego and realism?
Step 3. Regret your purchase
I have several Jack Stone sets, and my grandson likes playing with them more than most sets because they are very easy to crash and rebuild. And it gets past my wife's aversion to Duplo, which she thinks of as "baby Lego".
I can see the lack of appeal to AFOLs, but that's not the target audience for these. Some kids have a harder time than others getting started with Lego, and sets like this let them build stuff they can play with quickly so they can get on with playing.
Just four comments and Jack Stone tops 1 in the RSotD rankings from a few days ago!
Gotta love the chrome silver turbines.
There's actually an old flash game where you fly this helicopter and pick up things with the winch. It's really bad with cheesy cutscenes.
Wait a minute, did I accidentally design this?
@Cody6268 : I mean, Juniors/4+ is an intermediate category for kids just graduating from Duplo to System, so it's kind of expected for it to include its share of big "starter bricks". Back in the 80s, Fabuland was the same way, but it's beloved by a lot nostalgic AFOLs in spite of that.
Today's 4+ stuff is generally WAY less reliant of huge, over-specialized, theme-specific (colloquially, "juniorized") parts than either Fabuland OR Jack Stone. In fact, most of the parts in current "4+" sets other than the baseplates, wall panels, and vehicle bases are standard parts like you'd find in any other System theme: standard bricks, plates, brackets, slopes, wheels, windscreens, and so on.
Since Juniors launched over six years ago, over 80 Juniors/4+ sets have been released, but with less than 50 new molds (including molds for Cars, Toy Story, and Incredibles characters). By comparison, even excluding figures, Jack Stone and Fabuland each introduced more new molds over their lifetimes than they had sets!
@HOBBES : Intermediate/"easy building" sets like Juniors, 4+, Jack Stone, and Fabuland might not have benefited you as a kid, but that's not to say they haven't helped make LEGO a more welcoming experience to other people.
And sets like that have been around for nearly as long as the minifigure, so I doubt your LEGO experiences as a kid were somehow deterred by the existence of sets for kids who weren't as skilled at building just yet. So why would any kid be better off without the existence of sets like these today? It's not as though kids who start with themes like these are kept from pursuing more challenging builds later on, after they've mastered the basics.
Junk
And there is the record!