Random set of the day: Fire Response SUV
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4605 Fire Response SUV, released during 2001. It's one of 11 Jack Stone sets produced that year. It contains 28 pieces and 2 minifigs, and its retail price was US$10/£7.99.
It's owned by 949 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
38 likes
53 comments on this article
All right. Which one of you stood in front of a mirror and said Jack Stone's name 3 times?
Firefighter week from Huwbot?
OH GOSH
THOSE FIGURES
Jack Stone walked so Friends Mini-Dolls could run…
@OptimShi said:
"Jack Stone walked so Friends Mini-Dolls could run…"
The irony being Jack Stone figures had articulated legs
When I was a kid and sorting my minifigures, I always called the Jack Stone ones “stoners” because of the theme name, lol
From an epic late '70s fire boat to a Jack Stone firefighter set... I think Huwbot is sentient and has a sense of irony.
I'm pretty sure that there have been minifig-scale SUVs bigger than that...
Jack Stone/4 Juniors comprised like 90% of my collection when I was a kid, during the early years of my collection... but not because I wanted, but because it was almost the ONLY option of Lego available for an affordable price. Man, how I hate that theme. (although I still have some few fond memories from the sets 4607, 4609 and 4617)
@Sandinista said:
"When I was a kid and sorting my minifigures, I always called the Jack Stone ones “stoners” because of the theme name, lol"
That explains why the driver is disregarding all safety and opening the windshield to smell what's burning.
@sideswinger said:
"OH GOSH
THOSE FIGURES"
Burn them! Send them to hell!
Did you know? There are 30 different Jack Stones figs. 10 versions of Jack himself, 2 aviators, 3 crewmen, 2 bank robbers, 2 firemen, 1 mechanic, 4 policemen, 5 Res-Q people and 1 tractor driver (farmer I guess).
Despite its ugliness, I would assume Jack Stones sets were expensive to produce: much more complex moulds, lots more plastic per part.
I see we have reached peak “lego burning money and driving itself off a cliff” with this theme. I seem to recall in the Netflix toys documentary the bit where they held up this fire truck in a meeting and said something along the lines of “never again”.
The trans-blue “water” is the most exciting part in this set.
It's funny that I have no Jack Stone nor Clickits sets and really don't like either theme...but when Clickits shows up here, I laugh. When Jack Stone shows up here, I wish I could forget it existed.
@TheOtherMike:
7888 pretty much shames all non-minifig vehicles, aside from those driven by Technic figs. Well, some of them, at least. 18-wide, and I don't recall if it seats one minifig or two.
@Zoniax:
That's my response. Set it on fire.
@HOBBES:
Considering I know there's at least one named female, I think your list must be missing some. Maybe it's a distinction between the Jack Stone and 4 Juniors branding?
@WesterBricks:
The most exciting thing about this set is the moment when, 24 hours later, something, anything, even the most basic Clikits set, replaces it as RSotD.
This could have been good but the design problems in and around 2K is evident. I'm guessing Lego was trying to get into Playmobile territory with bigger figures but it seems the vehicle designs were severely underdeveloped. I've seen better vehicles in Fabuland sets back in 80's.
@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike:
7888 pretty much shames all non-minifig vehicles, aside from those driven by Technic figs. Well, some of them, at least. 18-wide, and I don't recall if it seats one minifig or two.
@Zoniax:
That's my response. Set it on fire.
@HOBBES:
Considering I know there's at least one named female, I think your list must be missing some. Maybe it's a distinction between the Jack Stone and 4 Juniors branding?
@WesterBricks:
The most exciting thing about this set is the moment when, 24 hours later, something, anything, even the most basic Clikits set, replaces it as RSotD."
The female character is a Res-Q people and is aptly named Res-Q - Female (JS029) (source: Bricklink). She appears in set 4618 which was RSotD on the 11th of February 2020.
@Norikins said: "That explains why the driver is disregarding all safety and opening the windshield to smell what's burning. "
Not to mention the fact that he's taking an untrained teenage boy -- wearing zero protective equipment -- into a potentially life-endangering fire emergency situation.
Maybe he didn't care much for Jack Stone either?
Uh
@HOBBES:
I was thinking of Tina. She's from 4 Juniors, but from the Creator line, not the Jack Stone brand. There were also Pirates and Spiderman sets released under 4 Juniors that used the same basic figure design made infamous by Jack Stone. Bricklink recognizes 55 total 4 Juniors figures, including 30 Jack Stone, 8 Creator, 7 Pirates, 5 Spiderman, and even five that aren't associated with any of the various subthemes.
I have this set.
I bought it to prove to my LUG that Jack Stone wasn't terrible.
I think my LUG won that fight.
I worked in Woolworths during the Jack Stone years and we sold loads of the sets. They were really popular yet ask an age 30 something AFOL about them and they all claim to have no memory of Jack.
But then again we sold loads of the Mega Bloks Pro Builder range too so maybe Jack ended up as the pilot of those clunky fighter planes.
A lot of times the grognards on this site scream “juniorisation!” at any old set and I just roll my eyes at the elitism of it all.
Not this set though. Everything from the Jack Stone theme deserves everything it gets
Regrettably, I have a box full of Jack Stone sets for the same reason @ao_ka mentioned. I'd like to get rid of them but I doubt anyone would ever want them.
@Zoniax said:
" @sideswinger said:
"OH GOSH
THOSE FIGURES"
Burn them! Send them to hell!"
To late: the learned how to put out fires c0.
I think they designated it wrong; clearly it's an SUX...:)
CAST THE ABOMINATION INTO THE INFERNO
"If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay."
That's very nice of you to ask Huwbot but it's going to be a NOOOOOOOO from me.
@Arnoldos said:
"Regrettably, I have a box full of Jack Stone sets for the same reason @ao_ka mentioned. I'd like to get rid of them but I doubt anyone would ever want them."
I wonder if outfits like Brick Arms accept broken or unwanted pieces to be melted down to make custom parts.
@Arnoldos said:
"Regrettably, I have a box full of Jack Stone sets for the same reason @ao_ka mentioned. I'd like to get rid of them but I doubt anyone would ever want them."
Believe it or not there are Jack Stone fanboys/girls out there. They hold their annual conference in a telephone booth.
@rahlmaclaren said:
" @Arnoldos said:
"Regrettably, I have a box full of Jack Stone sets for the same reason @ao_ka mentioned. I'd like to get rid of them but I doubt anyone would ever want them."
I wonder if outfits like Brick Arms accept broken or unwanted pieces to be melted down to make custom parts."
That's just asking for trouble. They would probably mutate into some devouring sentient monster like the Autons in Doctor Who.
Normally, I will defend the late 90s/early 2000s. However I will agree with anyone that 2001 was perhaps one of the worst years, if not THE worst year, in TLG'S history.
And here we have one prime example why.
Although I agree that Jack Stone is terrible, I must say I'm still glad I have this set and the Police Cruiser.
They were gifted to me by my grandma, and I just can't be mad at the sets because of it.
The two are veeery sturdy and this set in particular has plenty of storage space in the back and it can store the hose nozzle on top to function like a turret. For young me this was a bit like a tank. It didn't fit with anything else and had mere seconds of building experience. But it was still a toy. In the instructions both sets showed an alternate model. The police cruiser could become a 'boat', and this one a two seater. Were they great? No.
Should Lego steer clear of ever doing this again? Kind of. 4+ is pretty much the modern version, just with minifigures.
Am I glad I still own them? Yes.
I had put both on sale a few years ago. This one I never managed to sell, but the police cruiser did. This year I actually bought that one again in remembrance of my grandma. And because it's still a part of my childhood. It's now a part of my collection again. One of my ugliest, but still one I'm glad to have.
As I get older I just can't bring up vitriol for stuff like this anymore. It happened. It might happen again. But at the end of the day it's just toys. I can be completely indifferent to something without hating it.
In this case, it was lego's darkest hour. This was not okay. I like to remember that it happened in the first place. For the same reason I still have my Nick Bluetooth Deluxe and Gorm Deluxe that I bought for like one euro each in 2004. By far my least favorite sets. But still a part of history, both mine and Lego's.
As much as this set (& all Jack Stone sets!) are hideous and REALLY crappy, in terms of the figures from this and other similar lines - I’ve actually bought a few off Bricklink, because I think a couple of them are pretty great!
Check out Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, and the aviator from Jack Stone, before judging / criticising!
I also got the large 4 Juniors Pirate Ship in a bulk purchase, and have populated it with about 10 of the funky looking pirates!
... is it weird that I'm actually tempted to go to Bricklink and buy one of these, now, just for the morbid curiosity of it all?
@PurpleDave said:
" @HOBBES:
I was thinking of Tina. She's from 4 Juniors, but from the Creator line, not the Jack Stone brand. There were also Pirates and Spiderman sets released under 4 Juniors that used the same basic figure design made infamous by Jack Stone. Bricklink recognizes 55 total 4 Juniors figures, including 30 Jack Stone, 8 Creator, 7 Pirates, 5 Spiderman, and even five that aren't associated with any of the various subthemes."
That's true! Lego even made a movie with her. I stand corrected: 55 it is then.
Original price: US$10.
Today’s price: US$7.
Say what you will about Jack Stone, but at least he is an active proponent of deflation in these shrinkflation times.
The most 90s hair that ever existed.
Also, maybe it's just me, but the hands and arms being the same color is a really awkward look. Even more so in the logo image where the arms are a different color from the shirt.
Were the arms and hands a single molded piece, or separate?
I have a couple of Jack Stone figures, but only because I bought them together with other stuff I was actually looking for on Bricklink, and was surprised that they only cost 5 cents each. Had never heard of Jack Stone before, since that theme happened during my dark ages.
Now I know that I haven't missed anything...
@AustinPowers:
You never missed those nickels?
Can Do.
Will Do.
Done!
- Jack Stone
@Binnekamp said:
"Although I agree that Jack Stone is terrible, I must say I'm still glad I have this set and the Police Cruiser.
They were gifted to me by my grandma, and I just can't be mad at the sets because of it.
The two are veeery sturdy and this set in particular has plenty of storage space in the back and it can store the hose nozzle on top to function like a turret. For young me this was a bit like a tank. It didn't fit with anything else and had mere seconds of building experience. But it was still a toy. In the instructions both sets showed an alternate model. The police cruiser could become a 'boat', and this one a two seater. Were they great? No.
Should Lego steer clear of ever doing this again? Kind of. 4+ is pretty much the modern version, just with minifigures.
Am I glad I still own them? Yes.
I had put both on sale a few years ago. This one I never managed to sell, but the police cruiser did. This year I actually bought that one again in remembrance of my grandma. And because it's still a part of my childhood. It's now a part of my collection again. One of my ugliest, but still one I'm glad to have.
As I get older I just can't bring up vitriol for stuff like this anymore. It happened. It might happen again. But at the end of the day it's just toys. I can be completely indifferent to something without hating it.
In this case, it was lego's darkest hour. This was not okay. I like to remember that it happened in the first place. For the same reason I still have my Nick Bluetooth Deluxe and Gorm Deluxe that I bought for like one euro each in 2004. By far my least favorite sets. But still a part of history, both mine and Lego's."
I'm guessing that, to whomever thought of this Jack Stone series, this was the thought process: Appeal to young builders, because Lego IS for young children, and give the something that isn't complicated to build, within their allowance budgets and – once built in a matter of minutes – is both sturdy and makes a fun toy to play with, with hours of play possibilities ... even if the vehicle itself is something you'd only see in the cartoons.
@Briguy52748 you're right on the money! These and the late 90s juniors themes were made because lego wanted to cater to children that didn't have the patience for building. The reason was failing sales due to decreasing interest that they attributed to increasing video game market share on the toy market. So they threw some stuff on the wall to see what stuck and fired the old guard for new designers... who didn't have much background in construction toys. The resultant models used fancy new super-specialized parts instead of more practical brick-built solutions. These large parts were meant to streamline the building process. And the resultant sets were often okay at best. But lego shot itself in the foot by stretching itself too thin and trying to compete on multiple markets they had no business trying to compete on.
Such as... y'know. Trying to mainly target kids that don't care about building much. With building toys.
That's basically the 1997-2003 era. Wild experimentation. At least we got constraction and then Bionicle out of it! Oh, and licensed themes. Those too :/
And if you ask me, we also got a lot of fun in-house themes with regular old building in that era. Alpha Team, Adventurers, Life on Mars, Studios, Racers...
@Zordboy said:
"... is it weird that I'm actually tempted to go to Bricklink and buy one of these, now, just for the morbid curiosity of it all?"
The ratio of "real" bricks to specialized jumbo pieces is exceedingly low in this set...
Weirdly enough, this is among the most historically-significant Lego sets ever produced. As @christopher94 mentioned, this specific set was cited internally as the quintessence of everything that was destroying the company. Designers were admonished to avoid everything about it. 7239 was made as its antithesis, intended to lead the company back to its core customers. It did, and the rest is history.
A lot of people on Brickset like to try to rehabilitate this era, and write off the criticisms as elitism, or resistance to change or novelty. They're wrong. Lego's products in this period were objectively bad. They misunderstood customers so severely that they drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy. Lego's owners were literally anticipating its liquidation within a few months.
Anyone interested in this story in-depth should read the book "Brick by Brick," by David Robertson. It lays out in well-researched detail what Lego was thinking back then, how it went so horribly wrong, and how the company recovered.
Jack was warned to not make his trendy firefighting SUV resemble a Cobra HISS tank while in a combat zone, a warning which he scoffed at. A predictable friendly fire incident involving a Skystriker XP-14F resulted and Jack's body was never recovered due to hazardous levels of depleted uranium dust.
Hey now, this is a historic set. This set marks the official lowest point of Lego. This is the set that soon to be new CEO Jorgensen gig Knudscorp held up and famously questioned what they were doing. “This is not our Fire Truck”. This is the set that led directly to Lego going back to its Brick Building roots, and to the legendary 7239. “This IS our Fire Truck”.
When I think of Fire SUV, I think of a Range Rover TACR or a Carmichael Commando. Not whatever the heck this thing is.
@AllenSmith said:
"Weirdly enough, this is among the most historically-significant Lego sets ever produced. As @christopher94 mentioned, this specific set was cited internally as the quintessence of everything that was destroying the company. Designers were admonished to avoid everything about it. 7239 was made as its antithesis, intended to lead the company back to its core customers. It did, and the rest is history.
A lot of people on Brickset like to try to rehabilitate this era, and write off the criticisms as elitism, or resistance to change or novelty. They're wrong. Lego's products in this period were objectively bad. They misunderstood customers so severely that they drove the company to the brink of bankruptcy. Lego's owners were literally anticipating its liquidation within a few months.
Anyone interested in this story in-depth should read the book "Brick by Brick," by David Robertson. It lays out in well-researched detail what Lego was thinking back then, how it went so horribly wrong, and how the company recovered."
Yes, 'Brick by Brick' has an account of that 2004 presentation, in which this was shown alongside 6486 (as one to avoid) and the prototype for 7239. All three have now been random sets!
Interesting that fire fighting vehicles are so significant in LEGO history.
@Bornin1980something said:
" Interesting that fire fighting vehicles are so significant in LEGO history. "
Well, the wooden toys factory burned down like four times, so....
;-)
@bookmum:
Based on some of the historical context that’s been posted here, I don’t think you could have possibly picked a worse set to prove your point.
@AllenSmith:
I consider 2001-2002 to be peak Bionicle, and that theme saved the company. Star Wars may not have been as refined as it would become, but for people who prefer a dose of Classic Space in their Star Wars, this was still part of that era. Harry Potter looked a bit rough by my standards back then, and time has not been kind, but the sets sold well enough to land the theme in fourth place for sales. Then there was Creator. I have no idea what that theme was like back then, but it still outsold Year One Harry Potter, which is impressive. After that, I don’t have many kind words I can offer off the top of my head, but those four themes in particular did objectively earn their keep.
Ay, thought I recognized this set. Yup, another Jack Stone set that I own.
OMG the set that killed lego lol