Featured Set of the Day: Cargo Centre
Posted by Huw,
markisnot has selected a mid-1980s set with heaps of playability today:
Growing up, my older brother and I would get a few small Lego sets from family as gifts; typically a small car/spaceship. Many times, to keep disputes down, we each got the same set.
Our first large sets were the 6930 Space Supply Station; which, since we both received it, we would either combine or build different designs. The following Christmas was a lot of castle items, 6073 Knight's Castle for me, the 6080 King's Castle for my brother (which again, were shortly turned into a mega castle).
But Space and Castles were not my favourite themes, and I had my eye on the greatest Lego set ever made: 6391 Cargo Centre.
This was a lot of money for us, and my parents were honest in explaining it to me. So I worked out a deal with them. I would earn the money myself to buy it, saving every dime and quarter from doing chores around the house. We lived in the middle of nowhere, and I was only 7, so chores were the best option.
After 6 months of work, I finally had earned enough; and my parents surprised me with a wonderful sight sitting in my bed when I woke up. Earning this set myself always made it more special to me. And besides, it is a fantastic set.
The Cargo Centre boasts 5 minifigures and 3 vehicles, one being a Helicopter. There were many parts that we had never used before: Phone printed on a slope; Garage Doors; brooms; fences; so many slopes; even the 2x10 bricks were exciting. The diverse pieces of the set had a great appeal. But this is not what was so masterful about the set overall. It was the play value.
In the default layout, all the loading docks were the proper height for the trucks to be easily accessed and items moved around. Whether loading from the interior, exterior at the cargo doors, or from the forklift, there were plenty of options. Since the cargo was simple bricks, it was easy to imagine what was being delivered around (typically to the aforementioned space and castle people).
There was plenty of space for characters to interact and move around the building, setting up great stories. There were also many access areas to each section, allowing a lot of potential package movement. And there was a large space for the supervisor to ensure everything was going smoothly. Visitors had plenty of space to park out of the way on either side, an d
And the default design also included a simple mechanic that changed the entire play space. By just hinging the set, it allowed a great new play space. This set really exemplified using space well. Now the Garage lined up with a loading deck, so cargo could move straight through. The other cargo door lined up with the office door, so the helicopter pilot could walk straight through to keep the flow moving. Even the second floor still worked where the supervisor could easily move around the entire space.
Having multiple vehicles allowed everyone to have a role when playing with the set. The ladder as a grill on the truck was not only a nice touch, but great for window cleaning. Regularly all the siblings would each take control of different aspects, moving packages around our play area. If the Knights were being difficult, the forklift’s spring action was always handy at launching packages over the walls to ensure a timely delivery. Space men had a designated landing pad for dropping off or picking up, and the Helicopter was able to land safely on their supply station.
There were a lot of great alternate builds as well. This allowed for a Police Station (which we never owned an official) to be built on one of the baseplates and the Cargo Centre to continue working on the other. Though, of all our sets, this is the one that most often returned to the original design, as it worked really well.
One of my favourite perks that was great with the set was the box it came in. There were so many individual containers to sort pieces in, it made building any set a lot easier. This was often used to build out anything we were designing as kids. Such a great way to teach good building technique. These helped me better determine what to use as an AFOL. Definitely one of the things I miss about the old sets.
I was lucky enough to find a wonderful wife who also grew up with Lego. While our family was more creative and undisciplined with our play, hers was more practical. All sets were built according to the directions, played with, then taken apart and put away in the appropriate box/bags. They also only bought her Town sets.
It was a great joy to find out (several years after being together) that she also had and loved the Cargo Centre. She remembers building out the sets with her mother, aunt and grandmother at the kitchen table, and this was a premier set in her collection.
So, now we can have a wonderful town where cargo is regularly moved from one side to the other...
101 likes
24 comments on this article
What a great set. I love the versatility; it’s like a grandfather of the Creator 3-in-1 sets, in a way.
I love these old sets. While I appreciate the creativity of the new, the old sets still have my heart.
Thanks for the article. I never knew of its existence. Did this set come out in Europe as well? It looks like a great playset, and i wish i had it as a kid. Those garage doors are superb as well. I’m a bit jealous now :-)
Amazing history and set. Unfortunately it was never available in Spain.
Thanks for sharing those sweet memories
I loved this set! It was my first large Town set, and I loved the way it could be reconfigured. I remember wishing Beta-1 had the same feature, but I never got another large space base set.
I really love this set either. Playability is incredible! I built each of the alternate models and made detailled pitures of them, this is a set where all the alternte buildings are great, especially the windmill and the farm. I put the pictures on my Bricksafe gallery.
6377 is nice too, but very different, and not as funny as this one.
That's a lot of play value for the size of set. Plus the fact that it's mostly made from standard bricks (and some lovely baseplates!) makes it so much easier to just go off and build your own stuff out of it. Most new sets may look more detailed and have more features, but they really aren't as versatile. If only we could have both!
Base plates add so much to sets. It's extremely disappointing that Lego no longer includes them in sets.
I never owned this set nor looked at it until this post but it's a fantastic set. The truck has DOORS that open. The vehicles are sized more appropriately for minifigs. The builds are simple enough that any kid could recreate them. The cargo is simple 2x2 white bricks. What do they represent? Whatever!
What a beautiful set. Even the alternative builds are fantastic.
I saw this in catalogs as a kid and always wanted it. It was no Main Street, but still one of the Town sets that I wanted added to my city.
@evvdu95 said:
"6377 is nice too, but very different, and not as funny as this one."
I actually had that set too. Really helped expand my package delivery stories. It was a nice set as well. Worked well with all the vehicles.
What a brilliant Playset!
I've always thought that this set had a weird color scheme. It came very unusual to me. I can see the merit in design though. I loved how you can transform the building in one step. Colors still bother me but It's fine, it's probably just me.
They are so happy because of the baseplates
Awesome set that I never got as a kid (I got the 6377 instead, which was wonderful in its own right) . As soon as I was out of my dark ages, and could afford old sets, this was one of the first I hunted down.
This set looks great! And alternative builds are awesome too!
Lego should redesign it and make new set!
Edit: I'm happy for you that you find a wife that loves Lego and love this set too
Thank you for this stroll down memory lane. I remember receiving my Cargo Center for Christmas as a gift from my aunt and uncle. That Christmas Eve party I hurried away to my room and feverishly built this set. It was an exciting build. Two unique baseplates (which you are hard pressed to find in any set today) and lots of versatility with, as mentioned before, the alternate builds. I even searched my photo albums to find the picture of me and my finished creation - if I only knew how to get it uploaded LOL. If I remember reading somewhere, I believe this set had a limited release, so it may have not been available in all areas or countries. This set, along with the 6392 Airport, would be for me the last large LEGO town sets I would receive before I entered my very long dark age.
This, along with the 6383 Public Works, were my absolute favorites as a kid. So much playability!
Great set. Pity that it was a US exclusive. Strangely enough the set details page says it was available in Germany as well. I wonder where that might have been. It's not in the consumer catalog and there were no official LEGO stores back then. Perhaps a Vedes or Spielzeugring exclusive.
@roygal said:
"This, along with the 6383 Public Works, were my absolute favorites as a kid. So much playability!"
Can’t remember seeing this set in our country as well :-(
I Love this set too! Literally just built it a few days ago, for no reason other than to see it again.
I cannot image turning a parcel delivery depot into a ferry with the more specialist pieces in today's modern sets. I don't remember this set in the shops, but would have made a break from the police and fire station re-runs. I think it would have also worked well with say a 1980s cargo train set as the rear of the buildings are about the correct height. The only thing I'm not sure about is why a cargo center has a helicopter? Possibly, superfast express premium delivery.
I got this one for Christmas one year. Hours of my youth were spent playing with that forklift and those slide up doors. The set has been dismantled and absorbed into the rest of our collection but my 6 and 8 year old boys still love playing with that spring forklift piece on all of their creations.
Is this the last Featured Set? I've not seen any for a couple of days.
I love this line in the review: “I had my eye on the greatest Lego set ever made: 6391 Cargo Centre.“