Random set of the day: Indy Transport
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 6335 Indy Transport, released during 1996. It's one of 24 Town sets produced that year. It contains 397 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$30.
It's owned by 2871 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
Huwbot's gonna continue with Town it seems.
I don't see Harrison Ford anywhere?
Even as Town's light was starting to fade? This was an absolute gem.
I actually liked how all six Racers were available, they were just split between three different sets (necessitating you to collect them all). Number 4 was sold separately, and the other two were in the actual racetrack set.
I remember I found number 4 in a tiny little Australian Toys R Us in 2000, on my way home from college one day. But I wish I'd bought them all.
I'm not seeing Dr. Jones
Oh yeah!
Indy Transport is my personal favourite set in an excellent year of classic Town sets: the 1996 Race sets. They are especially near and dear to me because they were the featured sets in the very first LEGO Mania Magazine I ever owned: the May-June 1996 issue, and that magazine to 9-year-old me was as important (if not more so) than the discovery of LEGO fan sites in 2004.
Under the detente between my brother and myself, where we divvied up all themes and sets into "mine" and "yours," Race was his theme, but if we were to be generous, he would get Fast Track Finish (the flagship) and this might be mine. I always thought I'd got the better deal: Indy Transport here has three cars to his two.
Of course, in reality, we each got the Slick Racer, and that was it, but Slick was a good car by itself and this has three more on an excellent truck. This is peak Town for me... not a hint of what was come in a year's time.
It's the set that gave Shadowgear his full name on the Internet!
@kazar14 said:
"I don't see Harrison Ford anywhere?"
I think he's more of an aviator.
They’ve made go-carts that look like they could take these with bald tires.
Ooooh, Octan! It's almost as evil as Blacktron!
I had Slick Racer as a kid. Its one of my oldest sets. about 9 years ago or so, I bought Fast Track Finish. Then I just needed to get this, and low and behold, a few Christmases later, I received it as a Christmas gift (It was on my list, and Bricklink exists) Now I have all 6 race cars, though some of the drivers look suspiciously the same. between the 6 cars, you get three of one guy, two of another, and one unique racer, the blue guy in this set.
@kazar14 said:
"I don't see Harrison Ford anywhere?"
Maybe the truck driver is a small, independent operator (who happens to be sponsored by Octan).
@anthony_davies:
If you’ve got corporate sponsorship, by definition you are not independent. And that would be Indie, not Indy.
Which one of you is Indiana Jones?
@PluffTed said:
"In case anyone was lookin to pick up one of these, I have one for sale on eBay right now (with box and instructions too). Have a look if you'd like :)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124715159119?epid=2092021866&hash=item1d099a4e4f:g:clQAAOSwnaRgllk5"
Wow. That price is ridiculous for the condition it's in.
My Lego Mania Magazine subscription did not automatically renew in 1996, and my family moved into our first house, so I missed the official roll-out of the RACE theme additions. However, I had seen this set and others on toy shelves, so I was aware of the awesome new slick tires that were on the race cars themselves. However, I never got the Indy Transport nor any of the other 1996 Race sets on account of my lingering Aquazone obsession from the year before finding a new home in the Time Cruisers theme (revealed to me in the July-August Mania Magazine issue that I received as a "reminder" of all the good stuff I was missing out on). Then Wild West came out, and between those two themes, that became my birthday and Christmas gifts for that year (with a dash of Exploriens from one of my grandparents).
In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't get this set back in the day because it would have undoubtedly suffered like so many of my other Town and Ice Planet sets by being on display 24/7 directly across from large windows in my bedroom that always let copious amounts of sunlight in during the day.
@PurpleDave said:
" @anthony_davies:
If you’ve got corporate sponsorship, by definition you are not independent. And that would be Indie, not Indy."
Sure, he sold out. However, it was the ‘90’s. People forget how bad the economy was back then. The guy had a wife and kids to support.
4 cars and full 3 figs! This is what 30$ could give you back in the time. Lets sink on this for a while.
Hmmm... Bike racing and then car racing?
The sets okay. But you do get three cars in different colors and the cars aren't ridiculously oversized like Speed Champions.
I give it a B grade. Nothing special but nothing really wrong with it. I'd probably have fun playing with it if I was a kid.
@ElephantKnight said:
"Ooooh, Octan! It's almost as evil as Blacktron!"
But they make such great stuff! Music, dairy products, coffee, TV shows, surveillance systems, all history books, voting machines... Wait a minute!
I love this one! It’s so cool!
@lordofdragonss said:
"4 cars and full 3 figs! This is what 30$ could give you back in the time. Lets sink on this for a while."
$30 in 1996 is about $52 (= 44€) in 2021 money, just so we don't forget about inflation here.
That'll absolutely buy you a decent amount of stuff in City today.
Pretty legit
@lordofdragonss:
Very few of my minifig-scale vehicles come in below 200pcs. Mater from Pixar’s Cars movies is probably the densest build at 361pcs for a 6-wide tow truck that’s about the same size as this entire model. Looking over the design, I could probably use the six wheels/tires in the cab, but otherwise there’s nothing of interest to me.
Pretty sure these were the cars they used for the race area in Lego Island!
One of my favorite sets! I saved up for this and then bought extra 4 cars and the accessory pack with the 1 and 3 pieces so I could assemble all six cars because I couldn't afford the biggest set. This is my favorite race set. Only complaint was stickers that went across multiple bricks makes this tricky to keep in one piece.
This is golden era stuff for me. My friends and I were mostly Space kids, I had a soft spot for castle, but we went in heavy on this era of Race. My friend had this set and I had the single car, so tons of opportunity for racing. This set doesn't have a sense of AFOL pleasing authenticity, but is so amazingly playable it's absolutely a top set. The cars roll well, are solid and have a good feel in the hand, and the truck had some many accessories and things to do at minifig scale. This is on my shortlist to over pay for on Bricklink for sure..
@PluffTed said:
"In case anyone was lookin to pick up one of these, I have one for sale on eBay right now (with box and instructions too). Have a look if you'd like :)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124715159119?epid=2092021866&hash=item1d099a4e4f:g:clQAAOSwnaRgllk5"
200 USD for a set with a bunch of sun tanned parts that apparently is missing its box insert as well? Pass.
When Lego sets were actually good value... Nowadays youd get one car and a ridiculous price, maybe some random roadplates to bump up the price as well!
1996... the last year before juniorization took over Town. I'd say the last four years pre-juniorization are somewhat cohesive, with no major stylistic changes (for one thing before 1993, only traditional smiley faces were used for Town); many of those sets were features in Lego Island.
This particular line was heavily advertised. Between this set, 6337, and 6546, you'd have cars numbered 1 through 6. Unfortunately there weren't six unique driver designs.
I see these sets as modern classics. I remember many of them because, due to lack of internet, I've looked at their tiny pictures in tiny booklets that came with each set with so much admiration that they are burned into my memory.
I looked at this set in the catalog so much, back when I had a lot of time and no money. Such a cool set.
Speed Champions driver upon seeing one these on the track: "Nice Go Cart! The 'kiddie' track's over there...":)
Seriously, as much as I hate the 'scale creep' of SC; they do 'look' the vehicles that they represent, and thus, the 'role' they fulfill: Rally, Stock Car, Drag Racer, and Formula One/Indy (which I always thought was a contraction of "Indianapolis" of which one greatest races in that class is held near-annually). I know there are other classes within SC, but I'm just skimming it.
Now that I think about it: even City been doing a fair job of vehicles over time. I picked up and assembled their blue Sports Car 60285 , and only thing I didn't like on it is the headlight colors...should really change those.:)
That is one of the greatest sets of all time. It's everything you want out of it, and everything works the way it's supposed to.
My brother got that one, I think it is still mostly intact.
@Rob42 said:
" @lordofdragonss said:
"4 cars and full 3 figs! This is what 30$ could give you back in the time. Lets sink on this for a while."
$30 in 1996 is about $52 (= 44€) in 2021 money, just so we don't forget about inflation here.
That'll absolutely buy you a decent amount of stuff in City today."
Uhm, decent is subjective in this case, right? I think for 44€, you get slightly more in this set than in recent City sets.
I have this set, I remember many happy days as a 10 year old playing with it! Great set!
Still missing only this one from the 3 racing sets from that year.
Impressed in the 3D view at 6335 how all 3 karts could fit in the truck. I really like the chrome truck exhausts, curious how the front is 4 stud wide but the back is 6 stud wide with the wheels sticking out, like someone spliced two different truck sets together.
Ah yes reminds me of the Lego Island days.
This set came out when I hit puberty, so it did not interest me enough anymore at the time. My loss! Such a neat and compact construction. And chrome pieces! This set has aged tremendously well.
@Paski said:
"This set has aged tremendously well."
You should see the one PluffTed is selling...
Had this set as a kid and one of my absolute all time favourites.
I loved how it had all the tools and accessories that tucked away neatly and the extra ramps to properly load and unload the cars. For me it's a perfect set.
@maaboo35 said:
" @Paski said:
"This set has aged tremendously well."
You should see the one PluffTed is selling..."
Haha, I stand corrected!
It's a shame that all the Octan stickers are some of the worst examples of STAMP (Stickers Across Multiple Parts), otherwise I echo those above who enjoy the racing theme from this year. I have all 3 sets on display together right now, looks great!
Ah, fond memories of looking at this set in catalogs back in the day. I always loved how everything you need can be tucked in the truck whilst it can still hold three(!) race cars. I like how the back of the cabin is offset at 5 studs wide. I believe that was done more often for trucks in the era, but it's still rare to see jumper plates used like that in the 90s era.
That STAMP though.
Also, I have to concede that the one sold by PluffTed isn't the best priced for its condition. At that price I'd expect a sealed one in mint condition. But if PluffTed manages to sell it for that price... who am I to judge?
@maaboo35 said:
" @Paski said:
"This set has aged tremendously well."
You should see the one PluffTed is selling..."
To be fair, according to the description his set does contain 6 unique hand held tools. I’d find it more tempting if they were included in the photos though.
2021 got 2 Car transporters actually
31113: Race Car Transporter reminded me of this more so then the City version.
60305: Car Transporter
@ambr:
It’s probably a weak attempt to fake the look of duallies under the fifth wheel.
@PluffTed said:
"In case anyone was lookin to pick up one of these, I have one for sale on eBay right now (with box and instructions too). Have a look if you'd like :)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124715159119?epid=2092021866&hash=item1d099a4e4f:g:clQAAOSwnaRgllk5"
That’s really overpriced. Most of the white parts are yellowed. The stickers are in bad condition. Here is some advice. If you want to sell that set, You’re going to have to lower the price down.
@Lego_mini_fan said:
" @PluffTed said:
"In case anyone was lookin to pick up one of these, I have one for sale on eBay right now (with box and instructions too). Have a look if you'd like :)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/124715159119?epid=2092021866&hash=item1d099a4e4f:g:clQAAOSwnaRgllk5"
That’s really overpriced. Most of the white parts are yellowed. The stickers are in bad condition. Here is some advice. If you want to sell that set, You’re going to have to lower the price down."
Yeah this is MISB level pricing, especially when bricklink has this (used) for a quarter of the price… and probably less yellowing
Love this set, it was one of my dream sets when I was little. Finally got to pick one up a few years ago.
@jkb said:
" @Rob42 said:
" @lordofdragonss said:
"4 cars and full 3 figs! This is what 30$ could give you back in the time. Lets sink on this for a while."
$30 in 1996 is about $52 (= 44€) in 2021 money, just so we don't forget about inflation here.
That'll absolutely buy you a decent amount of stuff in City today."
Uhm, decent is subjective in this case, right? I think for 44€, you get slightly more in this set than in recent City sets."
Really, the Euro figure is just for convenience and comparison. We'd have to know how many DM (or other European currency) the set retailed for back in the day to make a fair assessment. The relationship between US and European Lego prices is (sadly, for us on this side of the pond) not just a simple currency conversion.
Going with US prices though, $50 in this year's City lineup would for example cover 60288 and 60289: More parts, one extra minifig, and four vehicles. Granted, those are sets with pretty good value, but even something like 60308 doesn't look too bad on account of the volume of stuff it comes with.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @ElephantKnight said:
"Ooooh, Octan! It's almost as evil as Blacktron!"
But they make such great stuff! Music, dairy products, coffee, TV shows, surveillance systems, all history books, voting machines... Wait a minute! "
LOL! XD