Random set of the day: Blizzard Blazer
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 6524 Blizzard Blazer, released in 1988. It's one of 21 Town sets produced that year. It contains 50 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$4/£2.5.
It's owned by 2774 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
Help me come to life! If you like the set I've chosen for you today, please pledge your support for me on LEGO Ideas so I have a chance of becoming an official LEGO set!
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52 comments on this article
Must be the brand name for the snowplow. There's at least one other company than Octan and Shell in LEGO! But also Octan supposedly owns everything so maybe it's more of a subsidiary...
As a young kid growing up in a tropical part of Australia, this set confused me greatly, as a child.
@MCLegoboy said:
"Must be the brand name for the snowplow. There's at least one other company than Octan and Shell in LEGO! But also Octan supposedly owns everything so maybe it's more of a subsidiary..."
Nah, just one of hundreds of alliterations Lego used in the 80’s and 90’s. They took Stan Lee’s lead and went with it.
A kick-ass name for such a mundane thing. I love it.
Gosh, another reminder that a lot of sets in the late 80s and early 90s had some WEIRD names in the United States! They were definitely more focused on the "cool" factor than being clear about what the set actually contains/depicts. Note that the page for this set also lists the set's much more sensible name from British catalogs, "Snow Plough"
Some of the other especially zany US set names that stick out in my memory include 6358, 1974, 6646, and 6513 (I'll bet whoever came up with that one felt REAL clever).
I suspect that the shift back to more straightforward, descriptive names for City sets was probably partly due to the rise of the Internet — which both made it needlessly confusing to use different names in different English-speaking countries, and encouraged names that more closely matched the search terms that interested buyers would likely be using.
This feels like such an obscure little Town set. It’s nice though.
Man this set is sooooooo cute.
Stats are empty for this set, but I did look into that yellow plow blade. It has been in only 5 sets between 1988 and 1999, with this set being it's first appearance. So it was unique for two years until it popped up in 1665.
An aside, today marks three full years on Brickset for me. Thanks for a great time so far!
Not to be confused with 4770 Blizzard Blaster. Both of these sound like Ice Planet 2002 set names.
That "snow" looks more like crystal meth.
Imagine if modern City sets had names like these...
Wow! This is the first System set I remember ever owning and the first that I have instructions for. My 98-year-old great-grandmother gave this to me in summer 1988. I remember it well. Right after building it, my 2-year-old sister tore the instructions and ATE the middle part. I never quite forgave her for that. Now I have to use deductive reasoning to build the set. Granted, that doesn't take much work, but it still is funny.
Blizzard Blazer? Looks more like a Cub Cadet than a Blazer. For when you need to push a couple snowballs out of the way!
@whaleyland:
Shoulda given her a Duplo brick to occupy her mouth, apparently.
What you can do with 50 pieces.
Snow not included.
Too bad that windscreen doesn't come in trans Neon green, you could make a badass Blacktron version.
I like it! I like the name too! Not as much as “Glade Runner” (thanks, @Aanchir. I never knew that one before), but still an awesome name.
@Aanchir:
Snorkel Squad doesn't even make sense, since I've never heard of a fire truck having a snorkel installed. Screaming Patriot is a name that really only makes sense in the US, and a few other much smaller nations that also feature red/white stripes and white stars on a blue field. I guarantee there was a fist-pump when Glade Runner got approved. But what's the problem with Triple Pack? It's three different sets that are bundled together into a multi-pack. Triple Pack is about as accurately descriptive as you can get with that one.
@Be_hapi:
I've done much better with 50 pieces. Which would you prefer, driving a lawn tractor with a small plow blade, or a Dodge Tomahawk?
"Mr. Plow, that's the name, that name again, is Mr. Plow"
I don't collect City besides the occasional 50% off set or the new tractor set... but I'd totally buy a new version of this set: little tractor with a plow.
@oldfan:
Kid Plow might be more accurate...
Ah, one of the few town sets I had growing up in the 80’s. Another reminder that I need to take the time and photograph the boxes and instructions for these sets and all the classic space sets I have from this time frame and submit them to brickset.
A. White. Snowplow...
City Dispatch: "Bob, are you gettin' the lot a City Hall?"
Bob: "Well...I stopped for a coffee, parked the plow next to some snowbanks...and..."
Dispatch: "...ya' can't find it...?"
This is a nice one but I'm not so sure about the color combination.
@Galaxy12_Import said:
"...it was unique for two years until it popped up in 1665."
I didn’t realise LEGO was making plastic construction toy pieces in the 17th century. Waaaay ahead of its time!
Either change the name to Blizzard Blader or slap some flamethrowers on that thing, stat!
Even though it has got a normal Town set number, I do not remember this being released in Denmark. It might have been as a limited release, but I do not recall it from the catalogues.
Nice little set that unfortunately was launched during my first dark age. A blue tractor with a white cab, not an uncommon sight in Denmark in the 70's and 80's, since Ford tractors was very popular back then. And that it is a snow plough makes perfect sense, as the winters in Denmark back in '85, '86 and '87 long and cold, possibly inspiring the designer.
@CarolinaOnMyMind said:
"I like it! I like the name too! Not as much as “Glade Runner” (thanks, @Aanchir . I never knew that one before), but still an awesome name. "
Yeah, I never made that connection either, for shame! Then again, in the Dutch catalogues this would probably have been called Moerasboot (swamp boat) or some other boring descriptive name ;-)
@oldfan said:
""Mr. Plow, that's the name, that name again, is Mr. Plow""
"There's nothing wrong with a little healthy competition" *shoots tires*
Although I never made the connection here either, must be because they look a lot bigger in the show (especially Plow King's) :-D
@LAKAbricks said:
"Even though it has got a normal Town set number, I do not remember this being released in Denmark. It might have been as a limited release, but I do not recall it from the catalogues."
Same here. Have never heard of this set or seen it in any catalogue.
Interesting how you need a hard hat to plough snow when you are in an enclosed tractor with a roof? I guess without the usual yellow workers vests that were common at the time, this is the only way to tell the driver apart from someone who just happened to find an unaccompanied tractor abandoned in the snow, hence the large smile.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Aanchir:
Snorkel Squad doesn't even make sense, since I've never heard of a fire truck having a snorkel installed. Screaming Patriot is a name that really only makes sense in the US, and a few other much smaller nations that also feature red/white stripes and white stars on a blue field. I guarantee there was a fist-pump when Glade Runner got approved. But what's the problem with Triple Pack? It's three different sets that are bundled together into a multi-pack. Triple Pack is about as accurately descriptive as you can get with that one.
@Be_hapi:
I've done much better with 50 pieces. Which would you prefer, driving a lawn tractor with a small plow blade, or a Dodge Tomahawk?"
I think the reference is to 1974-2 Flyercracker USA
@AustinPowers said:
" @LAKAbricks said:
"Even though it has got a normal Town set number, I do not remember this being released in Denmark. It might have been as a limited release, but I do not recall it from the catalogues."
Same here. Have never heard of this set or seen it in any catalogue. "
I'm very sure I saw it on shelves back then. It pops up on ebay regularly enough to assume it was a regular release.
@jkb: turns out you are correct. I just dug up my 1988 catalogue and it is indeed in it. Seeing what other great sets are on that page though, I suspect I know why I overlooked it.
:-)
Could not wish for this set more when I was a kid. Never got it.
@Kynareth:
That certainly makes more sense. It appears the combo pack got the “-1” number because the three sets are were never released separately.
It was around the time when I had to learn to tie my own shoes (a painful process - I liked getting them tied by my parents). One evening, I looked into the bread box in the kitchen and found this set. It was supposed for an upcoming friend's birthday, I was told. I was very excited by this set and within minutes figured out a deal with my parents and learned to tie my shoes. The Blizzard Blazer was mine. :-) Still have it, still love it.
This is the very first set I ever got (Duplo aside), so it has a special place in my collection.
Technic wheels on a System set? How crazy were they back then?!
@AddictedToStyrene said:
"Technic wheels on a System set? How crazy were they back then?!"
Those wheels were perfectly common on Legoland Stadt (precursor to City) vehicles back then.
I mean, it’s not a motorised AT-AT, but okay.
Poor guy, driving in a blizzard with no windows and no gloves...
Loved this as a kid. Still have mine.
@brick_r said:
"A. White. Snowplow...
City Dispatch: "Bob, are you gettin' the lot a City Hall?"
Bob: "Well...I stopped for a coffee, parked the plow next to some snowbanks...and..."
Dispatch: "...ya' can't find it...?""
*snaps* So, THAT is why Ice Planet uses trans neon orange.
I remember when this set came out thinking how unusual it was to have a LEGO set that was set in winter. I was also so excited about the new plow part, which--I remember thinking--was a one-use part. I was amazed to see how it came to be used for radar dishes, spoilers, slides/chutes, and--when the Roller Coaster came out a few years ago--a roof!
My first ever set. Thought it was a tractor, even though it doesn't have a tow hook, then a bulldozer. I only much later learned that it was a a snowplough.
Rebuilt it in 2014, with original wheels and blade. Put it on the the 2014 City Advent calendar display.
i own this set since it came out in 1988 and from xmas 2020 it blazes the blizzards in front of my elf club house! love it
@Lordmoral said:
"Man this set is sooooooo cute."
Yup I agree. I love all of the old little town sets!
Great set , certainly has a charm to it.
Compare that to nowadays, LEGO just made a new Tractor in 2021 60287 which is obviously more detailed for sure, but I feel that vehicle size has mostly increased a lot more on average compared to building sizes (taking 3-in-1 and a few recent City buildings to compare with, not Expert Modulars).
Great set I love and I have played with many years, even if there isn't snow normally in my area!!
@kdu2814 said:
"Poor guy, driving in a blizzard with no windows and no gloves..."
Don't worry, he has the standard issue yellow gloves
@Kynareth said:
" @PurpleDave said:
" @Aanchir:
Snorkel Squad doesn't even make sense, since I've never heard of a fire truck having a snorkel installed. Screaming Patriot is a name that really only makes sense in the US, and a few other much smaller nations that also feature red/white stripes and white stars on a blue field. I guarantee there was a fist-pump when Glade Runner got approved. But what's the problem with Triple Pack? It's three different sets that are bundled together into a multi-pack. Triple Pack is about as accurately descriptive as you can get with that one.
@Be_hapi:
I've done much better with 50 pieces. Which would you prefer, driving a lawn tractor with a small plow blade, or a Dodge Tomahawk?"
I think the reference is to 1974-2 Flyercracker USA"
Correct, thank you! I copied the number off Brickset's image for the set and forgot it was part of a triple-pack that used the same number for all three sets.
@TeriXeri said:
"Great set , certainly has a charm to it.
Compare that to nowadays, LEGO just made a new Tractor in 2021 60287 which is obviously more detailed for sure, but I feel that vehicle size has mostly increased a lot more on average compared to building sizes (taking 3-in-1 and a few recent City buildings to compare with, not Expert Modulars)."
This is true, but I don't mind it so much, since vehicles often benefit more from an increased scale and level of detail than buildings. Plus, I like that modern sets allow for more clearly defined size differences between "large" vehicles (like buses, SUVs, tow trucks, big rigs, dump trucks, and cranes) and "small" vehicles (like ATVs, compact cars, beach buggies, and snowmobiles).
That said, I'm glad that tremendously oversized sets like 7244, 7249, 7344, 7636, and 7685 didn't remain the norm for the City theme! They definitely pushed the scale much further than was strictly necessary for to achieve that level of detail, and vastly exceeded the size of City buildings even in their years of release.
@Aanchir : Actually, I think 7636 is pretty accurately scaled to a minifigure! It might even be a touch small.
@560heliport:
Certainly there are dump trucks in the world that would make 7344 look undersized.