Random set of the day: Airplane Mechanic
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7901 Airplane Mechanic, released during 2006. It's one of 34 City sets produced that year. It contains 26 pieces and 1 minifig, and its retail price was US$3.49/£2.99.
It's owned by 3,734 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
91 likes
33 comments on this article
*Airplane not included
"Say I wonder if the feller who just took off needs this thingamahoo...ah well too late now"
Of all the tools he has, I don't think any of them are going to be of much use with these parts. I imagine him just smacking it with a wrench and hoping it gets better.
Honestly, this set seemed more like an airport parts pack than it did an actual set that stood by itself.
Really cute little set in all honesty. Perfect add on to an Airport set.
Speaking of which I hope we get a decent Airport subtheme again at some point. The recent terminal and weird bulbous aircraft were disappointing.
I didn't know they'd done a set like this. Very nice idea.
Now, a remake as a 5000 piece Icons set with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine when you're ready please Lego!
@MCLegoboy said:
"Of all the tools he has, I don't think any of them are going to be of much use with these parts. I imagine him just smacking it with a wrench and hoping it gets better."
Gotta water your 9,000-pound jet engines to keep 'em healthy, y'know
@MCLegoboy: I'm reminded of the Lego Indiana Jones game where the repair animation was, n fact, the character whacking the thing to be repaired with the wrench
I bought this set for my wife (2006) when she got her job with the FAA, it sits on her desk still to this day. I was a helicopter engine mechanic in the U.S. Army, and she says it reminds her of me. This is one of my favorite sets!
@Tony_D said:
"I bought this set for my wife (2006) when she got her job with the FAA, it sits on her desk still to this day. I was a helicopter engine mechanic in the U.S. Army, and she says it reminds her of me. This is one of my favorite sets! "
I signed in just to like your comment. That is so sweet. That an otherwise esoteric set has such meaning for you and your wife is so beautiful.
“Now where did I put that 2847?”
@TheOtherMike:
“Every tool is a hammer, except a chisel, because that’s a screwdriver.”
- My former boss
The most common set in the stores when I was a kid around 2006~08. It was impossible to enter any store or market and not find at least three copies of it in the shelves. The other small sets sold out sometimes, but not this little fella. To me it was understandable, always found it an incredibly boring set.
"*SIGH*...'Nother Wensedsday, 'nother day of scraping some kid outta' an intake..."...Sorry, too dark...:)
@Librarian1976 said:
" @Tony_D said:
"I bought this set for my wife (2006) when she got her job with the FAA, it sits on her desk still to this day. I was a helicopter engine mechanic in the U.S. Army, and she says it reminds her of me. This is one of my favorite sets! "
I signed in just to like your comment. That is so sweet. That an otherwise esoteric set has such meaning for you and your wife is so beautiful.
"
Agreed! And glad you did not use a comma, oh how 1 would change everything LOL
'That an otherwise esoteric set has such meaning for you, and your wife is so beautiful.'
I liked this set so much I constructed it out of spare parts. I ended up getting a copy later.
I wish we had more sets like this. Not specifically engine repair set but small ancillary sets. This set makes sense because when it was released, there were also 7894, 7891 and 7893. Like when they release street vendors to go with a modular. Lego sets are moving to ever larger (and more expensive) items. I miss the time when you could buy just a small set as an 'add-on' to a scenery - be it City, Castle or Pirates or Space even! (Of course we can still buy those smaller sets from time to time but it seems there were more before - in proportion)
@MeisterDad:
I hear they were hoarding them down in Brazil…
Love those small sets with tools, instead of just a hammer / wrench in most City sets of recent.
Tool packs have been in sets even this year but most of the recent sets have been larger sets, at least in 2020-2022.
https://brickset.com/parts/design-11402
The last €10 set with a tool pack seems to be 41307 : Olivia's Creative Lab , and then 41348 : Service & Care Truck or 70821 : Emmet and Benny's 'Build and Fix' Workshop! in the €20 segment.
I mean, even back in the dreaded Town Jr era, sets like 6422: Telephone Repair were redeemed by the tools, and some printed parts.
He's totally wondering how to turn that turbine into a jetpack
The only Airport set I've ever had, which was kinda useless without an airplane.
It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime City sets, and therefore memorable. Makes me regretting not having an Airport setup.
This set was so cheap when I saw it. I thought I could use the piecces for a good MOC with that jet engine and all. To this day, I'm still waiting for inspiration. Wow, it has been 16 years... Yep, I don't think it's coming anytime soon...
@chrisaw said:
"Really cute little set in all honesty. Perfect add on to an Airport set.
Speaking of which I hope we get a decent Airport subtheme again at some point. The recent terminal and weird bulbous aircraft were disappointing. "
Those planes from 2008 - 2016 with 'Top Curved 8 x 16 x 5' were great, looking great, not as passenger planes but as private jets!
Love all the tools, don't see too many hexagon spanners and oil cans! I remember at the time thinking it would be more useful if the crane was attached to the trolley, as it looks more difficult to move the crane than the engine, unless there was a 2nd crane at the other end of the trolley push?
"Good bit o' WD40 and a wack with a massive hammer and we should be good to go!" ;)
I bought this set back in '06 alongside the massive 7709 Sentai Fortress. It works well as a mechanic add-on for most modern or sci-fi sets because it's just a crane, tool rack, slider board and mechanic. Even the jet engine can be a part of a spaceship or mech or whatever with enough imagination!
I've sold the few City sets I had around 2015 (and this year I've finally collected all of those back!). But this one? I never sold this one. It's just too strangely charming.
Less is more!
By the way, it still blows my mind that this jet engine part and the rotor are Jack Stone parts! It's been used for so long afterwards and back when I got this set I didn't really put two and two together because I wasn't too exposed to the 2002 Jack Stone Airport range.
It just goes to show how even the worst themes can leave their mark on lego's building system in their own way. Another Jack Stone part still in recent use is the steering wheel. Oh, and the whol ratchet hinge for mechs debuted in Galidor, then Knights Kindom II. The KKII parts are still in use today.
Fletch: "I'm gonna need some pliers, and a set of 30-weight ball bearings."
Mechanic: "What do you need ball bearings for?"
Fletch: "It's all ball bearings nowadays!"
@TeriXeri: One of the reasons I bought 3933 was to get the old tool wheel in purple.
Weird. The mechanic's arms are regular blue in the picture, but the arms are normally medium blue for that torso, and the Minifigs tab of 7901 indicates that the arms are medium blue. Looks like they used the wrong arms for the photograph of the set.
I miss these little impulse boxes.
@MCLegoboy said:
"Of all the tools he has, I don't think any of them are going to be of much use with these parts. I imagine him just smacking it with a wrench and hoping it gets better."
The technical term is “percussive maintenance.”
This. is LEGO. I really miss sets like these..
@Bricknave said:
"Weird. The mechanic's arms are regular blue in the picture, but the arms are normally medium blue for that torso, and the Minifigs tab of 7901 indicates that the arms are medium blue. Looks like they used the wrong arms for the photograph of the set."
In all my time of seeing this set's picture, I never noticed that.