Featured set of the day: Fuel Refinery
Posted by Huw,
Apg1808 chooses a set from when I was a lad today:
149 Fuel Refinery is probably the oldest set that's been featured on Brickset so far. Moreover, it is definitely an unusual choice for me to write about, in more instances than one; given that 70% of my collection is taken up by BIONICLE, Hero Factory and Star Wars, and that having been released in 1976, this set is even older than my own parents' oldest set.
Yup, it's that old. Now the question remains, why would a 20-year-old AFOL review a 44-year-old set which is part of a theme that is far from being his favourite?
I actually stumbled upon 149 by pure serendipity in late November 2019, on French second-hand retailer Leboncoin. It came as part of a haul alongside 148 Station and 171 Train Set without Motor, all three being sets from the 70s Trains 4.5V Subtheme. It's quite a departure from the LEGO sets I usually buy, especially given that I am not fond of the modern Trains set. At all. But, somehow, these managed to catch my eye and before I knew it, there I bought myself 3 old Trains sets as a Christmas gift for the very, very fair price of 100€ (~110$).
By today's standards, 149 Fuel Refinery is a very simple set, akin to a basic build you'd find as a token model in a Classic box of regular pieces. And then again, it would still be pretty basic. It's not very detailed, disproportionate (I mean, the fuel tank is larger than the building next to it), it's got rails but nothing to go on them, and most of all, the minifigs do not fit inside either the building or the truck.
(photos from DecoToys)
And yet! And yet, it's got a certain charm to it, what in France we'd call a "désuétude", an outdated feel that brings us back to the roots of our beloved toys. Yes, the colour scheme is more than limited, but there is a kind of harmony between the classic red, yellow, black, white and grey that we all know and love. Of course the inventory is scarce but the design is still unique with this over-arching asymmetrical structure that overhangs both the road and the tracks.
The set gives us a bunch of printed pieces, like the stop sign or the front of the truck, and obviously a considerable amount of Shell bricks - 4 1x6 bricks with "Shell" written on the side and 6 1x2 bricks with the logo. Parts like the tap or the antenna feel so alien nowadays, they give the feel that we get when discovering a new part for the first time in a set, and yet were among the first special parts ever created. And last but not least, we get no less than 3 proto-minifigures,the limb-less characters that populated sets for a couple of years only before evolving into the minifigures we now know.
It appears self-evident that the main quality of the 149 Fuel Refinery is its peak vintage appeal, most notably for the fact that such a set could never be made today, both because LEGO ended its partnership with Shell and because a toy company would never sell a fuel refinery in our eco-friendly society. But it is actually way more than that. It is a remainder of simpler times, when the parts available to the designers were very limited and you could count the LEGO colours on your fingers. And it is a beautiful example that, in spite of this, people with a tremendous imagination came to design a unique set with a fascinating structure, an example of great ideas born from so little.
In the end, 149 is a testament to the art of making simple bricks more than what they are. And this is, to me, the essence of LEGO.
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23 comments on this article
This was one of the first sets I had, along with 182 train and 134 and 136. Still have them in very loved condition! Wonderful memories of blue track going all around the sitting room and off behind the sofa! I Loved the buffer parts on these trains one of the first specialised parts I had ever seen.
"and because a toy company would never sell a fuel refinery in our eco-friendly society."
Pity though, a modern fuel refinery would be a dope set. Ecological debates aside, it would make a cool set up to have some train track and a tank car with refinery buildings. I guess you could slap some flames on it and call it a "City Firefighters" set. :P
That's such a beautiful old set. Honestly, there's something great about the aesthetic of town back when the colour pallete was far more limited and most things were built up from chunky bricks. I'd love a 'vintage' line to come out at some point trying to keep in that look. Obviously that's never going to happen, but hey.
Great article. Heading to ebay as we speak......
"149 Fuel Refinery is probably the oldest set that's been featured on Brickset so far."
I just wanted to point out that an older set was already featured at the beginning of this month: https://brickset.com/article/51098/featured-set-of-the-day
@Oldsmobile said:
""149 Fuel Refinery is probably the oldest set that's been featured on Brickset so far."
I just wanted to point out that an older set was already featured at the beginning of this month: https://brickset.com/article/51098/featured-set-of-the-day"
Thanks so much for remembering my FSotD. And I really enjoyed the idea that someone as young as Apg1808 could appreciate a set as old as 149 Fuel Refinery. That purchase of 148, 149, and 171 for 100 Euros, seems like quite a great deal!
@xboxtravis7992
I'd definitely love to see that!
@jol
And that as well. Oh my, a big vintage homage set would be awesome!
@Schmopiesdad
Woops, my sincerest apologies for that, there goes my "probably". I did take a look at every FSotD before writing mine but might have slipped past yours, so sorry about that. And for the other part of your message, well, I actually surprised myself too by enjoying these sets much more than I would have thought. The three of them did sit on top of my primary shelf for a few months, until I recently decided to disassemble them and combine the whole into a new, larger, unique train station. And still loving it! Actually, I think I just might get my hands on a few more old Trains sets whenever I get the chance :D
This is something that needs a remake and that I need to give it a Sci Fy look.
Oh, those lovely white faucets And blue fins. Great parts.
@xboxtravis7992 said:
""and because a toy company would never sell a fuel refinery in our eco-friendly society."
Pity though, a modern fuel refinery would be a dope set. Ecological debates aside, it would make a cool set up to have some train track and a tank car with refinery buildings. I guess you could slap some flames on it and call it a "City Firefighters" set. :P "
I'm certain the Ideas Chemical Plant submission probably wasn't considered primarily because of this reason. Piece count amd complexity were up there with that submission but the same can be said about the new Pirates set. It's funny how the Service Station set is acceptable because it has a charging port for electric vehicles.
Id also love to see a modern remake of this, especially with a 1970s era truck (modern 6 wide with new parts etc but 1970s era eg International truck). The chemical plant on lego ideas was similar to this, I really wish it was a set now as it would look good in industrial/harbour/train areas of a city and since it has both road and rail in the same set has lots of play possibilities.
As for eco friendly and all that rot, I was very angry at Greenpeace I think it was who made that stupid anti-Lego video due to the Lego-Shell partnership because they didnt have the guts to take on Shell.
Toy tanker trucks or petrol stations (lego or otherwise) are not the reason we have climate change. These self righteous climate activists need to tell politicians to wake up to themselves and start investing in eco friendly options instead of blaming toy companies.
The nightmare inducing protofigs with no face and arms but fused legs.
The faceless, armless proto-minifigs are pretty rough, but a fuel refinery is a theme I'd like to see Lego revisit
It’s a shame LEGO doesn’t make any industrial/manufacturing-themed sets. We’ve had forestry and mining, but nothing farther along the supply chain. It would add some cool flavor to city offerings and layouts!
It’s not like LEGO city is too fancy to have an industrial sector, what with all the criminals it has... maybe expanded industry could even give them well-paying honest jobs!
It's fun to see that most of the parts are still in use today. So many has changed in 40 years.
Great review and and choice. I haven't seen this before. Your unique perspective on this set and excellent writing made this a very enjoyable read. Thanks for showing this set.
Lego might not do an out and out oil refinery again, but you think they might do something more futuristic, like the crystal refineries you got in the Aquanauts sets?
A nostalgic review. As has been mentioned, it's a pity that LEGO don't sets like this anymore.
Nice set. I really liked the Shell branded stuff, 621 Tanker Truck being one of my favourites. I probably would have got this set had I not recently entered my 45 year dark age!
Beautiful writing. I feel you hit the nail firmly on the head. Creativity does not always increase when the numbers of colours or of parts increases. I would be excited to see many modern sets reimagined using a palette of parts and colours from the late 70s to early 80s. I think it could be a creative treat. Thank you for posting this :-)
Lego City needs some industry asap!!!
I would really like to see a modern interpretation of this set and other industrial structures.
I didn't have this set, but I remember it from the catalog, I was 10 years old at the time.
I always really liked it but was not much into trains so I never got it.
@jol said:
"I'd love a 'vintage' line to come out at some point trying to keep in that look."
There is. It's called Minecraft.
;-P