Random set of the day: Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 10177 Boeing 787 Dreamliner, released during 2006. It's one of 2 Creator Expert sets produced that year. It contains 1197 pieces, and its retail price was US$79.99/£49.99.
It's owned by 1,478 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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54 comments on this article
So blocky. It looks like a Mega Bloks Pro Builder set !!!
I never had an interest in this set, but I was always amazed by its build in LEGO Magezine. Just the way they went about the details and the scale of it all were just really impressive.
Those stamps though... So many bricks lost forever...
Book 2!
I’m surprised they haven’t done an updated version of an airliner like this as they have done for space shuttles etc.
Just looking at the picture, it just screamed, to me, of a mid-00s set. I'll give them props for attempting the curved fuselage, but I don't think it quite worked.
It still looks great even after 16 years (except for the STAMPs). But I really wished that set got a new version. Or even better, a 747 set...
Also, thank heavens Lego rarely divides instructions into two or three books nowadays, only when it is REALLY necessary.
This set is worth a lot of money right now.
What a studly plane you are.
My dream set as a kid. Finally got a copy 2 years. Sadly don't have space for it.
Never even seen this one before!
1197 pieces for 80$ American. Thats extremely cheap, and even cheaper compared to its price these days.
@lynels:
If they ever did a 747, the first thing I’d expect someone to do with it is convert it to NASA’s Space Shuttle taxi.
Man I thought this was more expensive.
And bigger.
That's a face only a mother could love
@PurpleDave said:
" @lynels:
If they ever did a 747, the first thing I’d expect someone to do with it is convert it to NASA’s Space Shuttle taxi."
Transcon II! My fav set
@chrisaw said:
"I’m surprised they haven’t done an updated version of an airliner like this as they have done for space shuttles etc. "
I mean the Osprey was allegedly pulled for the fact Boeing does work in military contracts (although the design fault of the Osprey may have been the main issue leading to its cancellation). But since the Dreamliners are well civilian aircraft through and through and people may have had a chance to ride one in their life, its hard to make the argument its some pro-military statement just to have 787 again in Lego form.
The build is primitive, but it's huge, and the price was amazingly low. I think it would be fairly simple to convert the mostly hollow interior for minifig occupancy, but I haven't actually tried to do it yet.
Love to see one of these built real-life minifig-scale (yes, yes: I'm well aware of 'Big Planes' work)...in fact, I had a thought about a mod for an existing part: the large wing/s that Lego make for the plane 60262. If that wing were 'split' into a left wing and a right one; and not connected in the center, bigger bodies/fuselages could be built easier...just a thought...
But can Octan fuel melt steel beams?!?!?
@xboxtravis7992 said:
" @chrisaw said:
"I’m surprised they haven’t done an updated version of an airliner like this as they have done for space shuttles etc. "
I mean the Osprey was allegedly pulled for the fact Boeing does work in military contracts (although the design fault of the Osprey may have been the main issue leading to its cancellation). But since the Dreamliners are well civilian aircraft through and through and people may have had a chance to ride one in their life, its hard to make the argument its some pro-military statement just to have 787 again in Lego form. "
The cancellation wasn't because of Boeing specifically, it was because the Osprey is exclusively military at the moment. If it had civilian versions (and the civilian use was primary) then it would have been released normally. All of Boeing passenger planes are fine.
@PurpleDave: With 10283? That would be a huge 747 set.
@xboxtravis7992:
No, the Osprey was pulled because, currently, the only operators are the US Marine Corps, the US Navy, the US Air Force, and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. If even a single non-military organization had adopted it, they could have claimed it wasn’t a military vehicle.
The only other potential operators who seriously considered buying them were India’s Intelligence Bureau and Navy, and Israeli Air Force, with Indonesia’s military being the only possible sale that’s currently on the books.
@lynels:
I think Australian LCP Ryan McNaught has built a 747 MOC that would require a significantly larger orbiter to be the same scale.
@lynels said:
"Also, thank heavens Lego rarely divides instructions into two or three books nowadays, only when it is REALLY necessary."
The big downside is that the bigger instruction books are glued now which means that they will always look used after you finish building. The stapled instructions can still look like new if you are careful with them.
This thing seems to be coming straight from the 80s except for some parts. This feels weird.
Nope, not for me thanks.
This is an awesome and impressive set, and the largest plane LEGO has ever sold retail, I believe!
It looks great on display, gets lots of comments, and is actually swooshable too!
I like it so much, I bought two of them!! (at great prices) over the past 3 years, including one just recently!
The nosecone direction reversal is still noteworthy, the shaping with sloped bricks is very dated now.
I wasn’t expecting something that looks so classic to be from 2006, I wonder why they didn’t bother using smoother sloping
This would look much better with tiles on top instead of so many studs. I also think the plate transition to the nose is pretty rough and would be better suited with wedge bricks. Aside from that, it's not horrible? I'm always a fan of a brick-built pattern, and the one here looks pretty cool.
Imagine how much Lego would charge for this now!?
I actually saw one of these boxed (didn't check if sealed) at a Half-Price Books recently. I recalled seeing it a lot in Lego Magazines as a child, but didn't inquire about the price figuring it would be a lot. I wonder if it's still there?
Received this and 7784 for Christmas 2008, which brought me out of my dark ages and turned me into an AFOL. While an impressive model, it has no moving parts and takes up a large amount of space, more than two feet in length and width. 10226 (which I got next) is a more reasonable size and has turning wheels and propeller AND moving wingflaps controlled in the cockpit.
10177 became the first set I parted with as I acknowledge I don't have space for everything. Made a nice profit--aided by the unused sticker sheet as I didn't want to deal with STAMPs and have always thought it looked just fine without them. I used the Dreamliner money on a used 10234 which I later replaced with a 10253, and I continue to rotate/replace. I get the build and temporary display experience, but such static sets don't need to take up permanent shelf space. However, 7784 isn't going anywhere.
Square windows. You'd think they'd have learned from the De Havilland Comet.
@FuddRuckus: That's funny, I just moved on a used 7784 because I couldn't face building an entirely black and dark grey set from mid 2006s era instructions. Ambiguous doesn't even begin to cover it.
2 Creator Expert sets in 2006. And how many did we get last year?
I've always thought this was the most impressive passenger liner Lego has ever produced. The ones from the City line are always too juniorized for my liking, being made mostly of those giant BURP-style pieces.
This model doesn't shy away from the fact that it's Lego with all those exposed studs, yet somehow it still manages to feel extremely streamlined, despite using relatively few sloped or curved parts. It has the sort of build style you would expect from a Legoland miniland model, and it works surprisingly well.
@MisterBrickster:
I built it when it first came out, and didn’t have any difficulty that I recall. But the design is a lot chunkier than I expected, like a rough-sculpted 76139. I was also disappointed to find that the giant bathead on the front entirely blocks the driver’s forward view, whether it’s up or down.
@MrBob:
Earhart’s plane (40450) is the only one I know of that is actually true minifig-scale, though the build is so small that not even one minifig fits inside (the real thing could seat six passengers plus the pilot, but I think I determined the set is less than 1/4 stud off). I haven’t checked the numbers, but 7628 might be true minifig scale as well, and is widely regarded (by those who are aware of its existence) as one of the best planes they’ve ever released.
This absolutely a set that @Lego needs to update. Big planes on Youtube has built some amazing models and even submitted one to Lego Ideas, so since Lego didn't pick it my only guess they will update this. This set was an abomination, so let's get an update soon!
There's a charm to all of these blocky large sets from the 2000s, while a new set of a similar scale could look good it won't have as much of that Lego look.
Awesome display piece - hangs from my ceiling at home. What a bargoon at the time!
Unusually the main wings are left until the end of the instructions and then each is just connected with two 30 degree angled Technic connectors. This does leave the main cabin empty, but unsure if you could sit mini-figs as the roof seems a little low with cross-plate bracing? The rear wings are also swept back using a hinge plate at a near 45 degree angle on top of tiles but only seems to attach onto a few studs, which doesn't seem as secure?
I remember visiting a "Flight Simulation Center" years ago and seeing this model on one of the shelves in the lobby. Pretty cool!
@ambr:
Considering the size, it’s not that unusual. I built the first UCS X-Wing, and you added the wings in matched pairs only after you’d built the entire fuselage. For something that’s only about one foot in the longest dimension, starting with the wings isn’t that big a deal. Once you hit two feet or more, it becomes cumbersome to have them attached while you’re still building the model, and the weight may make it impossible to actually finish building them. For the X-Wing, you absolutely had to finish the Technic assembly that the wings connect to because the lower wing mounts sit horizontal, the upper wing mounts stick up at a 45° angle, and the weight of the wings when you add them causes these to sag into the correct angle. There’s a lot of stress on those mounts that will explode the Technic assembly if it’s not complete when you add them.
My goodness I miss when big sets like this still had the Lego toy aesthetic and weren't smoothed into oblivion.
@PurpleDave said:
" @MisterBrickster:
I built it when it first came out, and didn’t have any difficulty that I recall. But the design is a lot chunkier than I expected, like a rough-sculpted 76139. I was also disappointed to find that the giant bathead on the front entirely blocks the driver’s forward view, whether it’s up or down."
Pfft, as if Batman needs to see to drive.
Got this at a garage sale, loose, for $10 many years ago. Just missing 1 slope and all the stickers. Still an amazing set all these years later.
With no minifigs and not many play features, this is a very Boeing set
Wish the sticker sheet for this was affordable. I got a half built copy last year at a garage sale. Had all the parts, but no instructions or stickers.
I have this set, I bought it at the gift shop for the Boeing factory tour in Seattle. It was NOT fun trying to put that in my luggage on the way home. This is the only set I've ever had where the blue plates became greatly discolored, brittle and broke. Very odd.
Looks like very few special parts. Someone could easily re-create this using today's bricks and likely not have to change much. I wonder what the cost would be via a large Bricks & Pieces order.
@PDelahanty:
If you order from B&P, you’re not going to get authentic Brittle-Blue parts!
I just liked the set enough at the time to buy the instructions from BrickLink.
Should have bought this set used when I had the chance. It’s worth 30% more now. Huh, that was a “rapid ascent…”
Look out, the door fell off tomorrow! It’s gonna crash!
@PurpleDave said:
"Look out, the door fell off tomorrow! It’s gonna crash!"
Lego City breaking news: A door has fallen off the boeing 737 and a lot of people went flying in the air. United airline is now looking into the issue.