Random set of the day: Nitro Pulverizer
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4585 Nitro Pulverizer, released during 2002. It's one of 27 Racers sets produced that year. It contains 60 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$10/£7.99.
It's owned by 1,789 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
53 likes
26 comments on this article
How exactly does one pulverize a nitro? It’s slang for nitrous oxide, which is a gas at any temperature that this vehicle is likely to operate in.
Not bad for a set from Lego’s dark age.
A pullback motor that goes into 5th gear? That's nuts!
@PurpleDave said:
"How exactly does one pulverize a nitro? It’s slang for nitrous oxide, which is a gas at any temperature that this vehicle is likely to operate in."
Could be Nitroglycerin....
@Murdoch17:
If you try to pulverize nitroglycerin, nitroglycerin pulverizes you.
@Murdoch17 said: "Could be Nitroglycerin...."
I'm not a chemist, but I'm fairly sure that isn't something you should be pulverising, either.
That's a cool print on the windscreen for sure.
Brickset doesn't show a print in the image of the piece, but bricklink does.
@PurpleDave said:
" @Murdoch17:
If you try to pulverize nitroglycerin, nitroglycerin pulverizes you."
Crash Bandicoot likes your post.
Dude’s chin already got pulverised.
By a meat tenderiser.
After the primitive weirdness of the Racers from 2001 (also known as the Xalax Racers in non-USA markets), I was relieved to see the "Racers" branding return for a new theme that was more in line with the "Race" subtheme of Town that I discovered as a little boy. At the age of 13 in December 2001, this was one of the few non-Star Wars sets put out early on the Wal-Mart shelves to garner my attention. I think it was really the combination of the two shades of blue combined with that new windscreen piece that really caught my eye. I loved the $10 price tag even more! So before 2002 even started, I had this bad boy.
The pull-back motor integrated into a single brick was a novelty to me. Though I later came to understand all the "Drome" racers had different types of pull-back motors, the number 5 version included in this one seemed to give the monster truck way more speed than one would expect for such a hefty vehicle. So I must admit, I actually played quite a lot with this thing. I also appreciated the details, such as the engine block in the back and the patterns printed on the windscreen. The minifigure I thought was cool, too, and even a little reminiscent of my first minifigure ever, the blue driver of 1991's Mud Runner ( 6510 ).
As encouraged as I was with this first foray into the Racers theme, it did not last. Soon, the Bohrok sets were revealed, as well as the first hints of the Star Wars sets rolling out for Attack of the Clones. I went absolutely mad for the Bohrok, exacerbated by the fact they were released in the Spring of 2002, and my parents put a strict spending moratorium on LEGO sets once I returned to classes in January 2002. It was agonizing, and my budget for the rest of the year focused exclusively on BIONICLE and Star Wars. But I never forgot the Nitro Pulverizer, and I hold it as fondly in my heart and memories as many sets triple its size.
@VintageDude:
Comments on RSOTD, RPOTD, VSOTW, and Advent Calendars close when the next post goes live. For the Advent Calendars, posts are manually added, so they’re roughly 24 hours apart, but I don’t think they’re on a strict schedule. RPOTD posts automatically at the same time every day (1am, UK time). RSOTD and VSOTW both post one hour later. VSOTW posts Saturday for the Eastern Hemisphere, and Friday night for most of the Western Hemisphere. RSOTD posts the other six days of the week. Because VSOTW posts once a week, comments stay open for a full week, and comments from the Friday RSOTD stay open two days until Sunday’s post goes up.
This and the Tiger dragster were quite good sets.
@Lego_Lord_Mayorca said:
"After the primitive weirdness of the Racers from 2001 (also known as the Xyglax Racers in non-USA markets)"
Would you mind sharing a source (e.g. a catalog) where "Xyglax Racers" is used? They're well-known as "Xalax" among LEGO fans due to their planet in LEGO Racers 2, which is actually referencing the story in UK and German catalogs. I'm always fascinated by how LEGO names and storylines differ across regions, so I'd love to see where "Xyglax" comes from!
@SJPlego said:
" @Lego_Lord_Mayorca said:
"After the primitive weirdness of the Racers from 2001 (also known as the Xyglax Racers in non-USA markets)"
Would you mind sharing a source (e.g. a catalog) where "Xyglax Racers" is used? They're well-known as "Xalax" among LEGO fans due to their planet in LEGO Racers 2, which is actually referencing the story in UK and German catalogs. I'm always fascinated by how LEGO names and storylines differ across regions, so I'd love to see where "Xyglax" comes from!"
Just a misremembering. I corrected it in my comment.
Some of the racers sets were hard to look at, but this one actually looks good. And lots of good parts to build some nice MOCs. I love those balloon tires...
@MCLegoboy said:
"A pullback motor that goes into 5th gear? That's nuts!"
Racers came out with a whole range of pullback motors with 1 being the slowest amd weakest (also smallest). Idk how high it went. Maybe 8 or 9.
@Chrisaw That's not the same subtheme though. It's from 2000. Technically both are Racers, bit it has little in common with the theme from 2002 and beyond (in this case Drome Racers) which was notable for featuring all sorts of cars with many sizes and a wide spectrum between system and technic.
i suspect it's called the Pulveriser because those wheels look like they came off the grinding machine from Temple of Doom
Always liked this one, has very nice shaping despite being so basic.
Nitro in this case is the team itself while pulverizer is the model. Source is the official Drone racers comic and the video game.
Looks very much like a Tamiya Command-Saurus!
https://mini-4wd.fandom.com/wiki/Dash-CBW_Command_Saurus
These little racers seem to draw influence from a range of sources (a previous one was clearly a Tamiya Avante 4949 . Someone in the office was a Tamiya fan, I think.
That cockpit would look great on a spaceship! Does anyone know how this version 32283c02 of the pull back motor compares to the current Technic version as only lasted 1 year, appearing in 5 racer sets.
I remember being utterly pumped for Drome Racers - I picked up this set along with the Slammer G-Force, Slammer Raptor and Power Crusher, and it was the first one I built. It has two alternate models as well, one of which appeared in the Drome Racers comic. In the comic, the Pulverizer was the first car Max Axel drove for Team Nitro after losing his own truck.
And, oh yeah, I still have it. And the comics as well.
Oof. The box art shows a decent angle of this set; but I saw one on sale on eBay a while ago and, in the photos from side view, the way the car's top just ends abruptly behind the back of the windscreen piece seemed incredibly awkward. I know eBay photos often end up showing sets in a non-flattering light, but it just didn't look good to me.
On a different note, strangely the minifigure here isn't based on Max Axel, despite him being the driver of this car in the comics and the Legoland 4D show. I was never quite sure why that is; I can only guess that the sets were designed first, and when the storyline came afterwards it disregarded the minifigure drivers... the story material always depicted the Drome drivers as standard humans, after all, so I guess they just decided to make up completely new drivers rather than adapting the minifigures to the style.
Interestingly enough, while Max is the player character of the Drome Racers video game (14559), and this being his signature car in most other media, it doesn't show up even once in the game; the only sets that can be driven are the ones built of technic parts such as 8468, 8469 and 8470.
What, Drome Racers had comics?
Are the scans online somewhere?
@Binnekamp said:
"What, Drome Racers had comics?
Are the scans online somewhere?"
I haven't seen some yet, but to be honest I haven't searched that much as well. As far as I know there were 4 (?) issues. I have issues 1,2 and 4 lying around somewhere... When I find the time, I could scan them, but unfortunately my To-Do-List on such things is already a bit long, so don't expect it to happen too soon.
There was also some contest along with the comics, where you had to collect 8 holofoil stickers of the same color and put it on a small card (the stickers came in blindbags found at toy stores in 2002, as did the comics). I don't remember the winning prize, though I think it was not a Lego set. I have a few unfinished ones of these cards too...
The comics kind of were in-canon with both the Drome Racers video game from 2002 and the cereal promo CDs that came out in summer 2002. All sources gave names to otherwise unnamed Vehicles of the line and sometimes mentioned the racing team they belonged to or names of drivers and crew members. However most named Drome characters never appeared in minifigure form (unless you are very imaginative...), although I'm pretty sure that the guy from this set is Max Axle (with the RC Nitro Flash featuring an updated version of him).
I really liked the alternate models of this set, however my box is heavily damaged, because the store I ordered it from in 2002 just crumpled it in the parcel between in other stuff very recklessly >:(
Were the early 2000s really such a black spot in LEGO's history that anytime a set from that era is actually decent, it's always a surprise? It's not like nearly every single theme wound up an abject failure at the time.
@Binnekamp said:
"What, Drome Racers had comics?
Are the scans online somewhere?"
Drome Racers was ALL about the comics. At least, the online ones. The print version was much rarer, but yes, (incomplete) scans exist: https://rockraidersunited.com/topic/8688-drome-comics/