Random set of the day: Single-Drum Roller
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7746 Single-Drum Roller, released during 2009. It's one of 34 City sets produced that year. It contains 208 pieces and 2 minifigs, and its retail price was US$29.99/£24.99.
It's owned by 3896 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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35 comments on this article
Pretty great Construction subtheme for City. I’m sad I was in my dark era for these.
Uh, yeah, that surface ain't gonna be flat. You guys need to get yourselves a new drum, this one's got a bunch of ridges.
This is the best use of those big wheel/drums, and a really decent set to boot.
Drum-roll please!
*cue dramatic construction vehicle acrobatics routine as a stage entrance*
That moustache minifig head still terrifies me. Great set, though.
This is one giant drum, formed of five mini drums. It’s Voldrum!
@MCLegoboy:
This one’s what they use to form speed bumps.
Last good year for construction sets. Several other great sets were also released around the same time.
Gets an A grade. Not much wasted here.
Man, we really need another construction theme, less police and fire please.
In fact, this was the last time we actually got a construction subtheme for LEGO City. Yes, there was mining in 2012 and 2018 and demolition in 2015, but not strict construction. I do appreciate how a few 'Great Vehicles' sets do line up, but I bet even a one-off like the Ski Resort would be a great seller!
I had both the cranes from this year! There were great and so was this one!
@Harmonious_Building said:
"That moustache minifig head still terrifies me. Great set, though. "
In that case, I would recommend avoiding the patient in set 7892. I thought he was the doctor originally, but that head was only in a dozen figs.
@Harmonious_Building said:
"That moustache minifig head still terrifies me. Great set, though. "
That head is Uncle Vernon's from Harry Potter. The scarier looking mustache construction worker head is the emaciated looking one from 7242. He looks like Joseph Stalin got sent to his own gulag. Even scarier if you mis-see the stache as a gaping mouth.
This brings back memories. This set was among the first Lego sets (2009 City Construction theme) I saw and played with at my friends house. I will admit I spent more time with another friends Power Miner collection, but I remember both themes fondly!
Someone stop me before I write five paragraphs about the numbering of City sets from this era.
I'll limit myself to this: Only two 2009 City sets were in the 7700's (7747). Continue the number sequence and you end up in 2009 Star Wars sets.
I always wanted and liked that hand held compacter machine. There were some great Construction sets back then.
Im very puzzled as to why we have never had a proper construction line since 2008? There have been some occasional construction related vehicles like dump trucks, cranes and cement mixers. But other than that nothing. (Im not counting demolition or mining).
Kids love construction and it goes very well with Lego. I remember the 'modular' style system they had in the 2008 Construction Site building which worked very well. Construction is also something that every kid can relate to (as opposed say the beach or even farm to an extent which can be geographically specific).
@Brickchap:
I’m pretty sure construction can be geographically specific, too. Rural life is not constantly being repaved or rebuilt. That’s without even getting into Amish/Mennonite communities, impoverished regions, or places where they may use locally traditional construction techniques like adobe.
@PurpleDave said:
"This is one giant drum, formed of five mini drums. It’s Voldrum!"
"And I'll form the... Oh, wait. "
Ah, the golden days of Lego City. Don't get me wrong, sets nowadays are very good but we don't see construction and farm anymore.
@PurpleDave Well actually I know a lot about rural life (for Australia at least) and I can tell you that there is construction. I was referring to any kind of building or demolition, especially road work which is reasonably common. True, rural life is not being constantly repaved or rebuilt but its still not unlikely to encounter a dump truck or excavator.
Now as for your other examples well to be honest I rather doubt such communities would be buying Lego in the first place so....
I do wish that you had addressed the actual point of my comment which was questioning as to why Lego refuses to make a new construction theme, or just ignored my comment if you didnt like it.
No matter how beautiful it is, it will never fit with my Town sets. Usually these machines are built to roll a single lane. And by the looks of things, this roller was larger than it should be even in 2009, where the lanes were about 10 studs wide on the road plates.
@Brickchap said:
"I always wanted and liked that hand held compacter machine. There were some great Construction sets back then.
Im very puzzled as to why we have never had a proper construction line since 2008? There have been some occasional construction related vehicles like dump trucks, cranes and cement mixers. But other than that nothing. (Im not counting demolition or mining).
Kids love construction and it goes very well with Lego. I remember the 'modular' style system they had in the 2008 Construction Site building which worked very well. Construction is also something that every kid can relate to (as opposed say the beach or even farm to an extent which can be geographically specific)."
It could something that's just fallen between the cracks. The subthemes do tend to lean into the exciting and exotic - jungles, savannahs, space - which does leave construction looking a little mundane in comparison.
@Snazzy101 Fair point. With that argument Id hope for a return of Adventurers! Orient Expedition would be a cool theme, since people thesedays love exploring other cultures. Id still be down for a Egyptian Adventurers line though.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Brickchap:
I’m pretty sure construction can be geographically specific, too. Rural life is not constantly being repaved or rebuilt. That’s without even getting into Amish/Mennonite communities, impoverished regions, or places where they may use locally traditional construction techniques like adobe."
You have a good point there. This drum roller will be more suited to asphalt. A grader was something alien I only knew from Lego, until I went to South America for the first time, to see where they are actually used for (i.e. freeing unpaved roads from rocks, creating a flat road surface and/or gutters along the road).
@Brickchap Bit after my time - beyond looking through catalogues - but I can definitely see the appeal and the potential for a theme (and naturally a show) about adventuring around the globe. The only real hurdle I foresee is whether LEGO wishes to spotlight a knockoff Indiana Jones when they have access to the real one.
That said they had no such concerns with their knockoff TMNT, and that's done well for them.
I don't know, why Lego hasn't had a proper construction subtheme for pretty much a decade now, but it clearly shows, that they don't know what they are doing. Construction was such a good performer.
(Also it lends itself very well to building with Lego, especially if you have a large crane, it's like the most obvious thing)
Missed this out for the dozer 7685 which looked better, was more playable, and had more pieces which could be more easily used in other builds.
If it was released now it would be $45.
Yes now only police copters
Miss construction based sets *shiffs*
@Harmonious_Building said:
"That moustache minifig head still terrifies me. Great set, though. "
It's Uncle Vernon! Of Harry Potter fame... those eyes with visibly wide eyelids were common in the early years of Harry Potter minifigure designs. It's also one of the few times I'm aware of that a licensed character head from the yellow era was used with some frequency in non-licensed contexts; while it was originally exclusive to Vernon in 2002, from 2006 - 2009 it suddenly reappeared in several City sets of varying contexts (and also one castle).
Another great set from 2009. Like I observed on the random set four days ago, I enjoyed the sets of this time period more than any time since the mid 90s.
Great set, it's a shame that I missed out on a lot of sets like this in my life.
This is a really cool set. I’ve either never seen it, or the memory has fallen off the pile of my remaining brain cells. And then it was run over by one of these.
@TheWackyWookiee said:
"Man, we really need another construction theme, less police and fire please.
..."
And in a long time there's no Backhoe! It would be great to see construction truck Dumper with trailer and on Backhoe. Maybe as Creator set, if only one set not construction line sets
@Norikins @ThatBionicleGuy the depth of knowledge of this community never ceases to amaze. Although I am still terrified, your explanations were edifying. Cheers.
I've always loved that compactor. This is one of my favourite sets. Just perfect.
@Brickchap:
There’s a Rolling Stones song that feels appropriate here. It has a line in the chorus that goes, “You can’t always get what you want.” Post something, and people are free to respond to whatever part of it they like. I grew up in a small resort town on Lake Michigan, with an annual population of 6000. My dad grew up in Metro Detroit, but my mom grew up on a farm outside a blink-and-you-miss-it, two-road village. I, too, am familiar with various forms of rural life. There were less pockets to tax, and less voters to appease, so construction work happened as infrequently, as fast, and as efficiently as possible. The only time I recall them resurfacing the roads in town, they did the entire project in less time than a construction project near where I currently live has taken to crawl one mile. I saw a lot more of the fire engines, and that’s only because we had parades on Memorial Day and July 4th.
But let’s look at the topic you wanted a response about. There are current construction sets. There’s 60252 and 60284. Before you say anything, I’m going to refer you back to that Stones song. In my experience, construction equipment, trains, and dinosaurs are three things that play really well with toddlers, and interest tapers off fairly rapidly as they grow older. On a guess, they’ve decided that construction sets play better with the younger crowd.