I have this set. I never knew what to do with it as a kid, as it wasn't minifig scale. And that "bird" looks half insect.

Those few black parts are useful for Blacktron, like that 1x4 plate hinge

Of the three years I went to NYTF, this was the only year I got a cool invite. In 2002, my “invite” was being asked eight days before if I was coming. In 2004, it was just printed cardstock. But in 2003, they sent little brick-built 2x4 bricks that were 12x24, and had a 2x2 flag hanging off one side. Pull the flag, and a drawer on the brick would open. Inside was a bunch of loose parts and a little pamphlet asking, “What Will You Build?” My selection of parts were clearly destined to be a helicopter. Not a great helicopter, but the only thing I could think of that made sense and used up every part from the drawer.

@Mr__Thrawn said:
"That fish has a severe underbite. Needs to go to the orthodontist."
Ever seen a picture of a Piranha?

And @MCLegoboy: so just like me then?
;-)

“17 creations”? I guess it means those are ones it gave instructions or ideas for, not that the set will implode if you try to make an 18th :D

Oh, I had this. Maybe still have if I'm not missing any pieces. I wasn't much for Creator sets, but I have fond memories of playing with different models in this set. I didn't like that I had to disassemble every model I built to build the next one. That did contribute to these bricks getting worn out rather quickly.

I don't know why, but this set never appealed to me quite the way any of the other Designer Sets did. Plus, I already had 4101.

But what stood out to me the most about this set was its unusual number.

@ElephantKnight said:
"I have this set. I never knew what to do with it as a kid, as it wasn't minifig scale. And that "bird" looks half insect.

Those few black parts are useful for Blacktron, like that 1x4 plateBlacktron is in space, they could have been alien monsters to fight.
Blacktron are space pirates; the alien bird could have also been the captain's Ployphase Avarton ; )"

Ah, the designer sets. I keep coming back to them every once in awhile because the instructions were just so extra. So many suggestions, and so many models with instructions. The theme was great for fans of trying to build alternate models from individual sets :)

What does it say about this set that a 2x8 brick is getting more comments than a set full of parts?

@MCLegoboy said:
" [...] I don't get much Creator sets these days, but of the ones I get, while the models are great, I still wish extra models were displayed and there were multiples that could be built at the same time. [...] "

We can thank the people who'd call Lego's customer service asking for instructions (which did not exist and could not reasonably be produced), and the sorts who will get really annoyed when given a bit of inspiration with their Lego.

I'd heard of the former: Apparently the time (and cost) these calls were taking up and how often CS had to disappoint callers (i.e. parents) were major factors in discontinuing alternate build suggestions on the back of boxes.
The latter I wouldn't have thought existed, until I saw a post of someone getting super hacked off that the Bonsai Tree instructions included images of customised and altered versions of the tree, because how dare Lego show us these models without providing instructions. They'd have preferred not having the images there at all over having them and not knowing how to build them.

@MCLegoboy:
Not great things, considering most days the RPotD comments are really only active for the one hour between when it posts and the next RSotD posts.

@Rob42:
To be fair, they kinda shot themselves in the foot when they started putting numbers on these boxes telling you how many models you could build...and then only giving you instructions for not even half of them. I think for Bonsai they at least told you that they were inspirational pictures involving parts that were not included (and you have to buy the set before you see them, so no claims of false advertising). The alt builds shown on the packaging of old never used parts that weren’t included, but they also never told you the kit builds X number of models

For these, people probably expect one kit to have parts and instructions to build the 17 advertised models simultaneously, but after you get over your disappointment in the lack of viable instructions, you find out how many of the parts need to be reused to build just what they did print. It would not surprise me at all to find out complaints about Designer led directly to Creator 3-in-1 being established as a format. At least then you do get instructions for all advertised models (plus sometimes bonus models they post online), and it’s made pretty clear on the packaging that you can only build one at a time.

Imagine using ALL the pieces to build a big creation! Wouldnt you ever feel special?

The fish’s fin only bends in one way. Can you say creepy?

Technically, that was my first Creator set...

The modern Creator 3 in 1 sets originated from the 2003 Designer sets, that at the time were seeming to replace the original Creator line from 2001 (that used Jack Stone style figures called Max and Tina as well as using the original Creator logo, that dates back to the 1998 video game LEGO Creator and it's few follow ups).

The 2001 Creator sets did in turn replace Basic (EU)/Classic (US) from 1998, which also had the first advent calendars ever (not counting the no bricks ones from the mid '90s). Basic ('98) in turn replaced FreeStyle from 1995 (which even had exclusive minifig prints and colors).

FreeStyle succeeded the original Basic line, which ran from ca. 1980-1994 with at least 3 major phases, the last one being the 1990-1994 era, that introduced the old brick separator. That Basic line also had the '7+' sub-theme, that came closest to modern day Creator, with (at the time) complex builds, but lacking a clear main model.

Before 1980, these sets were called Universal sets, which were among the first sets ever alongside Town Plan...

Back to Designer Sets, they lasted up until 2004, then the next year they changed the branding to 'Creator' and slowly removed the number of alternate models pictured, due to consumer complaints, as was claimed, since having no instructions to a suggested model was a problem to some... So they changed the name again to Creator 3 in 1.