Random set of the day: Cargo Carrier
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4030 Cargo Carrier, released during 1987. It's one of 3 Boats sets produced that year. It contains 323 pieces and 3 minifigs, and its retail price was US$44.
It's owned by 1,283 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
107 likes
40 comments on this article
New LEGO sets!
Oh man, the one that got away! This one is still on my wish list--I got the Police and Fire boats when I was a kid (4010 and 4020) but still haven't gotten this one. The two smaller sets were pretty great, I loved the sleek design of the the Police boat, and the Fire boat had some great functionality.
So many stickers…
I always love it when LEGO features LEGO products in their sets. If I remember right there was a semi set around 2009-ish that came with a smaller box print of the exact same semi set. I wonder how many layers down that would go?
This one hits me right in the childhood.
What a beauty! Wasn’t familiar with it (had forgotten seeing it in catalogs as a child!), but now it’s on my want list….. SO expensive now!
:(
I want a cargo ship. Maybe Lego will release one again soon as I can't justify after market for an old one.
@GSR_MataNui said:
"I always love it when LEGO features LEGO products in their sets. If I remember right there was a semi set around 2009-ish that came with a smaller box print of the exact same semi set. I wonder how many layers down that would go? "
It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea.
@Cooliocdawg said: "It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea."
InLegoception?
InLegotion?
No, there's no easy way to make that work.
@ra226 said:
"Oh man, the one that got away! This one is still on my wish list--I got the Police and Fire boats when I was a kid (4010 and 4020) but still haven't gotten this one. The two smaller sets were pretty great, I loved the sleek design of the the Police boat, and the Fire boat had some great functionality."
I’m with you! I only had/have the Police boat, and this one doesn’t even seem to be available from any US Bricklink stores.
Love this ship
@MeisterDad said:
"So many stickers…"
But they last. No issues with degradation those days.
Love this set and the cargo containers that also would work with train sets or the era as well as well.
@GSR_MataNui:
https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3221stk01&idColor=0T=C&C=0
One. It has an image of the truck, but it doesn’t match the box art:
Box - truck angled down to the left, side door open with boxes visible, driver has blue pants, dock worker pushing cart to the left, pile of boxes behind dock worker.
Sticker - truck horizontal, side door closed, driver has black pants and red mug, dock worker pushing cart down with black boxes, empty ground behind dock worker.
Hmm... a toy boat with some Lego parts stored in it.
For all the charm of 4030, I would say 7994 is a better value and works better with today's 6-wide vehicles. You also get a crane, a truck and the boat is significantly bigger. The most recent hull is not good as it has a big hole in it and the front is not very 'aerodynamic' (hydrodynamic?) set 60266 is made of two such hull pieces attached back to back.
Now that we have the hospital, the school (lame, because it's ridiculously small) and the grocery store; I suppose that we are due for a port/boat/cargo terminal soon.
I had this as a kid. I was so pumped when the remake appeared a few years ago. I eagerly snatched it up.
Sadly the stickers on the “new” one have already deteriorated so badly that they’re flaking off. But the boat itself and its cargo and dock are still a wonderful homage to this set.
Wait, this isn't Rock Raiders.
@Zordboy said:
" @Cooliocdawg said: "It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea."
InLegoception?
InLegotion?
No, there's no easy way to make that work."
Brickception maybe?
I have this - decided late on that I had to have it, or in other words after it was no longer listed in the catalogue, but my local shops had long sold out. On trips away I hunted extensively for it wherever I travelled, to no avail.
Until a school trip to northern France took us to a Hypermarche that fortuitously had just one example on the shelf, battered box and most probably overpriced, but this was mid 1992 and beggars couldn't be choosers. I eagerly exchanged several hundred French francs for the only copy of 4030 I'd seen for years.
A fantastic set and perfect addition to 6542 which joined my town the year before. I think the stickers were never applied and are still on the sheet.
@scottd said:
" @MeisterDad said:
"So many stickers…"
But they last. No issues with degradation those days."
Exactly.
All of the LEGO stickers from my childhood in the Eighties still stick like hell to the parts they were affixed to. Seemed like some sort of vinyl material back then. Completely different quality to modern stickers, let alone those awful ones from the early 2000s.
Can’t help but feel like if this came out today we’d have the usual cries of “juniorisation!” for that big single hull piece.
Speaking of, was this one of the “actually floats in water!” variety?
@Brickalili said:
"Can’t help but feel like if this came out today we’d have the usual cries of “juniorisation!” for that big single hull piece.
Speaking of, was this one of the “actually floats in water!” variety?"
Yup--hence the one big hull! They also had a slot in the back where you could attach a wind-up motor. I never saw that motor, but supposedly it existed. These boats also had ballast bricks--big 2x6x2 blocks with a metal slug in them to keep the boat from tipping. Really great sets back in their day.
@ra226 said:
" @Brickalili said:
"Can’t help but feel like if this came out today we’d have the usual cries of “juniorisation!” for that big single hull piece.
Speaking of, was this one of the “actually floats in water!” variety?"
Yup--hence the one big hull! They also had a slot in the back where you could attach a wind-up motor. I never saw that motor, but supposedly it existed. These boats also had ballast bricks--big 2x6x2 blocks with a metal slug in them to keep the boat from tipping. Really great sets back in their day."
Fun fact: the attachment points work perfectly for Playmobil boat motors that were available back then and that interestingly enough are still produced to this day.
The instructions even mention that possibility (to attach propellor motors "not made by LEGO"). Guess they didn't want to mention their direct competitor by name, yet created a method to directly connect a LEGO and a Playmobil piece via a legal building technique.
I miss cargo boats. Even the smaller ones. I miss boats in general when they don't appear for a while.
Lovely set!
It's cool that it even has a working crane and anchor on board!
@Brickodillo said: "Brickception maybe?"
Oooh, I like that.
@Brickalili said:
"Can’t help but feel like if this came out today we’d have the usual cries of “juniorisation!” for that big single hull piece.
Speaking of, was this one of the “actually floats in water!” variety?"
It floats, therefore big piece assembly.
This ship looks great. Fun fact: the containers can be used in 6542 on that cargo ship and the truck as well.
Simple and effective, like most of the Town sets from the 80s and early 90s.
@Cooliocdawg said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
"I always love it when LEGO features LEGO products in their sets. If I remember right there was a semi set around 2009-ish that came with a smaller box print of the exact same semi set. I wonder how many layers down that would go? "
It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea."
What would be the English name for this? In Dutch we have the "Droste-effect", where a lady on a cocoa tin is carrying the same cocoa tin on a serving tray with herself portrayed on the tin, and so on. https://historiek.net/droste-effect-cacaoblik/79241/
@jkb said:
" @Brickalili said:
"Can’t help but feel like if this came out today we’d have the usual cries of “juniorisation!” for that big single hull piece.
Speaking of, was this one of the “actually floats in water!” variety?"
It floats, therefore big piece assembly.
This ship looks great. Fun fact: the containers can be used in 6542 on that cargo ship and the truck as well."
Many sets used 4x8 container as well : https://brickset.com/sets/tag-4X8-Container has most of them.
I do think the 4x8 format is quite nice as it allows cranes/forklifts not to be enormous in size, the 2022 60336 : Freight Train
containers are a lot bigger and need a much bigger stacker vehicle included.
Not saying that big stacker vehicles are unrealistic, the cargo train stacker seems somewhat based on a Swetruck stacker , color scheme wise at least.
@Wrecknbuild said:
" @Cooliocdawg said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
"I always love it when LEGO features LEGO products in their sets. If I remember right there was a semi set around 2009-ish that came with a smaller box print of the exact same semi set. I wonder how many layers down that would go? "
It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea."
What would be the English name for this? In Dutch we have the "Droste-effect", where a lady on a cocoa tin is carrying the same cocoa tin on a serving tray with herself portrayed on the tin, and so on. https://historiek.net/droste-effect-cacaoblik/79241/ "
Oh I don’t know if we have a name for it in English. We certainly have examples of it, like the Morton Salt girl. I wonder if there is a term.
EDIT: I guess generically it’s an example of recursion. But I’ve never heard anyone call it that. I’m just going to call it Droste-effect.
OMG I have this one still and its one of my favorites. I wish lego would bring back these classic sets, there was something very amazing about them at the time.
@Brickodillo said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @Cooliocdawg said: "It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea."
InLegoception?
InLegotion?
No, there's no easy way to make that work."
Brickception maybe?"
Lego set's have layers?
It's an onion, then. A Lego onion.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @Brickodillo said:
" @Zordboy said:
" @Cooliocdawg said: "It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea."
InLegoception?
InLegotion?
No, there's no easy way to make that work."
Brickception maybe?"
Lego set's have layers?
It's an onion, then. A Lego onion."
A Legonion
I have this one. One my favorites from my childhood. Used the boat hull to make so many things.
@peterlmorris said:
" @Wrecknbuild said:
" @Cooliocdawg said:
" @GSR_MataNui said:
"I always love it when LEGO features LEGO products in their sets. If I remember right there was a semi set around 2009-ish that came with a smaller box print of the exact same semi set. I wonder how many layers down that would go? "
It would go down forever. A set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing a set containing— I think you get the idea."
What would be the English name for this? In Dutch we have the "Droste-effect", where a lady on a cocoa tin is carrying the same cocoa tin on a serving tray with herself portrayed on the tin, and so on. https://historiek.net/droste-effect-cacaoblik/79241/ "
Oh I don’t know if we have a name for it in English. We certainly have examples of it, like the Morton Salt girl. I wonder if there is a term.
EDIT: I guess generically it’s an example of recursion. But I’ve never heard anyone call it that. I’m just going to call it Droste-effect."
I once used the effect designing a catalog for my old job--the cover was a picture of a little character delivering something in a mailbox. I made our catalog that something. Fun photoshop project. According to the interwebs, ther term is called "mise en abyme" ("placed in an abyss").
We now return to your regularly scheduled program.
Wow..Love this! It looks kind of simple but the few details it has evoke totally the ship it represents. Look at those lovely little details near the bow, including the hole in the hull for the anchor line to go through!
There were so many great sets from the late '80s early '90s. This one stands the test of time in that it looks just as good in a modern Modular harbor today.
The hull was printed for those worried about stickers. Got this along with El Dorado Fortress one year for Christmas. What a great year that was.
Man, Town sets from the 80s are even more unknown to me than City sets from the 2020s... but I like what I see. I don't know if it's from THIS set, but I definitely have a boat-hull like this, which makes me tempted to try building this set with what I have available.