140 people own this set? Yeah right. Maybe half do, maybe. Most have just assembled the pieces and claim ownership.

I thought they were rare, but I just checked Bricklink and I did not realize how many sets had the light gray air tanks....

What’s that floating monochrome rainbow doing there?

Cody6268 - Yeah, the good old days when they knew how to combine protection with style. Modern (especially European) fire helmets and hard hats looks just awful, and I doubt they makes that much difference from the old ones in practice. Health and safety has became a scam to introduce ever more rules and regulations, things like hi-vis vests seems like just another thing to force people to wear. In addition we have the "quasi-functional anti-esthetics", this trend of making things ugly on purpose to make them *look* practical and efficient - for me modernism can't die soon enough.

This set came to me as a gift when I was a kid. I didn't want it, and I didn't need it. But somehow, after some 35+ years, it turns out I needed them. When it comes to Lego every piece counts.

It's been 20 years since the last sets with black fireman helmets...

@MCLegoboy: that was genius! I loved it.

Those firemen have some on point choreography, look at how well synchronised they are

That set name of 'FireMEN' is decidedly cringeworthy.

Thankfully, times have changed (though, when it comes to equality, they haven't changed enough).

To add a further butterfly's wingbeat to the calm, how is that I'm the intervening decades, LEGO has become MORE gender-specific?

@MCLegoboy said:
"They look like a boy band.

Station Nation

Their debut album included ten great hits:
Melting Point
Extinguished Love
Hosed Down
Ax to My Heart
(Don't Got) One Minute to Spare
In Need of Respiration
Siren Song
Pulse On a Pole
(Turning Me) Engine Red
One Ember's All It Takes"

Digital Re-Release Bonus: Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)

Rare cover version from the early days...

@TheRightP_art said:
"What’s that floating monochrome rainbow doing there?"

You're joking, right?

A good Battle Pack, only minifigs, no side builds

Is this a Beatles reference?

@MCLegoboy said: "Station Nation

Their debut album included ten great hits:
Melting Point
Extinguished Love
Hosed Down
Ax to My Heart
(Don't Got) One Minute to Spare
In Need of Respiration
Siren Song
Pulse On a Pole
(Turning Me) Engine Red
One Ember's All It Takes"

You win. Shut the thread. We can all go home.

I second @LusiferSam . I own this set and I am Kind of proud having the paperflip and the blisterbox.
@oldfan it was a Blister, I bought some of those Blisters some years ago from an Australian seller as far as I remember but missing the paper for other sets :-(.

It’s like a village people tribute band where they got to choose which one they wanted to be and...

I saw this when I turned on my phone and thought, Lego made a Beatles set!?!?

@Jackthenipper said:
"It’s like a village people tribute band where they got to choose which one they wanted to be and..."

You stole my Village People thunder Jack! I was just going to comment on how they're a few members short of a true tribe.

? That's *our* name ?

@MCLegoboy said:
"They look like a boy band.

Station Nation

Their debut album included ten great hits:
Melting Point
Extinguished Love
Hosed Down
Ax to My Heart
(Don't Got) One Minute to Spare
In Need of Respiration
Siren Song
Pulse On a Pole
(Turning Me) Engine Red
One Ember's All It Takes"

That was the first thing I thought of too, like it was a scene from a music video or an album cover! By the way, great job on the track list. Very believable.

@LusiferSam said:
"140 people own this set? Yeah right. Maybe half do, maybe. Most have just assembled the pieces and claim ownership."

If anything I think that number is way low. Looking at ownership numbers for other sets from that year, I expect the actual number (of brickset users who track these things) who own this is probably closer to 2,000. I'm sure I had this as a kid (maybe even multiple copies), but I don't have it added to my list even though I know I still have all the parts.

@LusiferSam said:
"140 people own this set? Yeah right. Maybe half do, maybe. Most have just assembled the pieces and claim ownership."

So that’s not owning a set? It’s also not rare, stuff like this is common

*Clones by Alice Cooper plays*

@LusiferSam said:
"140 people own this set? Yeah right. Maybe half do, maybe. Most have just assembled the pieces and claim ownership."

Would you believe that it is more likely that 0.0006% of the lego enthusiasts who actively visit a lego website dedicated to tracking their collection have the set? 140 is not that unrealistic. Seems low to me.

@MCLegoboy said:
"They look like a boy band..."

This is the most established comment I have ever seen here.

I am a Brickset member who, according to the Brickset database, has 0 sets and has never had any...

In fact, I have hundreds of sets (many of them CMFs, but still) and have been an AFOL since the early ‘90s. The idea that 140 members own this set may be an underestimate because of members like me who don’t record their sets (not that I have this set, mind you) or don’t record them all. I suspect under-reporting is pretty common.

Monkyby87 - I have no doubt modern helmets scores better in lab tests, but it doesn't help that they protects your skull from harder impacts if your neck still snaps. Its also a question of comfort - higher impact resistance usually translates to more space below the shell, which makes modern hard hats wobble on top of your head making them a bloody nuisance. IMO distracting and uncomfortable safety equipment may contribute to as many accidents/injuries as it prevents, its like the military saying "If you worry about messing up your uniform, you will mess up your job".

@axeleng, nothing you just said makes sense.

@axeleng said:
"Monkyby87 - I have no doubt modern helmets scores better in lab tests, but it doesn't help that they protects your skull from harder impacts if your neck still snaps. Its also a question of comfort - higher impact resistance usually translates to more space below the shell, which makes modern hard hats wobble on top of your head making them a bloody nuisance. IMO distracting and uncomfortable safety equipment may contribute to as many accidents/injuries as it prevents, its like the military saying "If you worry about messing up your uniform, you will mess up your job"."

What absolute nonsense. As who’s worn both types I can confidently say that.
These guys put it much better though
https://www.firehouse.com/safety-health/ppe/helmets/article/21080087/traditional-vs-european-helmets

@MonsterFighter, thanks for the article. I used to be a firefighter here in the US, so I’m very familiar with those helmets as well.

@cody6268 said:
"US (and especially) European helmets have changed a lot in the 40 years since LEGO introduced this helmet design. Yet, we're still using that old "MSA Topgard" design from the '70s, which hasn't met safety specifications set by OSHA and the NFPA since the 1990s. And we're still using the dive tanks/Space jet pack to represent single-tank SCBAs, albeit since the 1990s with a piece that clips onto it and a visor representing the facepiece and regulator. You'd think we'd have a newer fire helmet design, as well as a new SCBA piece.

I think these figures look pretty great. While simple compared to the fine details of today's firefighters, they are period correct for the era in Europe. "

Interesting that these simple firemen are actually more authentic (for their time) than present day Lego firefighters. Maybe the modern helmets could be better represented by one of TLGs other helmets, like the sky police helmet. At least we got to see the old helmet in red, though never in yellow (like in the uk). I would love to have the black helmets too. I once tried using a white one with a (deliberately) bent rear guard as a British bobby's helmet, long before the first CMFs.

The only really strange thing about this set is having tanks, but no masks. I guess many components still had to be imagined back then!