Random set of the day: Fantastic Flyers and Cool Cars
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 4117 Fantastic Flyers and Cool Cars, released during 2001. It's one of 22 Creator sets produced that year. It contains 257 pieces and 2 minifigs, and its retail price was US$15.
It's owned by 111 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink, where new ones sell for around $36.50, or eBay.
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24 comments on this article
Dude, this is not what I need to come back to Brickset to find after watching that absolutely phenomenal third episode of the Ahsoka series...
I'm only seeing one flyer and that barely counts as a car, for reals.
Flyers and cars?? I only see one car and one plane!!
The chrome!
I just clicked on the picture, and it doesn't have that extra zoom "+" in the lower right corner. It's like Brickset is saying, "No, seriously, you don't need to take a closer look at this. In fact, you should probably step back a bit."
I've seen cooler cars built with half that many parts.
I guess "Fantastic" and "Cool" are on a 'sliding scale'...Either that, or I don't know "Jack" about those subjects...:)
That flyer is not fantastic. Maybe fantastical. And the only cool thing about that car is the chrome piece.
It is nice to see that 111 brickset users are comfortable enough with their Lego collection to admit owning this set. I for one would just take the loss, rather than admit to an insurance company that I had owned this set.
I can't decide if I give this set a C or an F.
Fantastic: has two propeller blades that double as fans to get Max his coiffeuse.
Cool: has no roof so by the same token keeps you cool as you drive, also kind of fan-like.
And since it is LEGO, you can rebuild these into variant cars and planes.
Ugh...I mean, it is all true from a certain point of view. I think my experiment as a Jack Stone apologist is done, but to stop quoting Obi-Wan? NEVER.
@TheOtherMike said:
"I can't decide if I give this set a C or an F."
F minus minus.
Umm... No. These are not fantastic or cool. Just bad.
Wow, the Creator-line did come a long way, didn't it?
But on the plus side, chrome!
@PurpleDave said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
"I can't decide if I give this set a C or an F."
F minus minus."
I don't know. Leaving aside the Jack-Stone-ness of it all, you still had the cool chrome pieces, and the big blue window/cockpit pieces, which were lovely.
Looking at parts, it's not a bad set. I also like the Jack Stone figures. But the vehicles... They are atrocious.
Why is he carrying a giant fried egg on a stick
I appreciate how true to the matter the set name is! I'd buy it instantly!
@brick_r said:
"I guess "Fantastic" and "Cool" are on a 'sliding scale'...Either that, or I don't know "Jack" about those subjects...:)"
You might say, you need to be a bit "Stone"d to see the coolness in these models.
"Stone"d obviously being the past tense term for fans of this product line.....
ahem
To be fair: I think the “fantastic” and “cool” descriptors refer to the *possibilities* of this set, rather than the displayed build itself, which would explain them being plural despite only showing one flyer and one car. Back in 2001 Creator was more about building your own thing, rather than the specific models that it is today, so in a set like this I feel like the picture was more of an example to motivate you to create something more unique, instead of a definite “this is what you should build”.
Don't forget that ses from this era had far more than one or even three models you could build with them going by instructions alone. The parts weren't super fiddly to make the process easier for children. And in fairness it does have parts to create some nice flying machines and cars.
The thing however is: flying machines AND cars, leaving less parts for either.
That said, the 2003-2005 Designer subtheme did it better by having a set's content focus around ONE theme. The submarine set's instructions are loaded with submarines, rovers and even underwater bases. The animal sets can build a whole zoo worth.
That's what focus can bring!
In fact, I'd say today's Creator does it less well than Designer did too. 31130 Sunken Treasure Mission is a good example of a set that focusses so much on the A model that the B and C model suffer because of part specialisation. I'd even say the A model suffers, on the inside. They're great models. Just not as focussed on being the most versatile parts packs.
31132 Viking Ship vs the Midgard Serpent is a great homage to the 2005 set but flounders a bit as a multibuild. You can see that non-licensed stuff is now parted to Creator, at the detriment of Creator being able to be Creator itself.
Tl;dr: this set focusses on alternate build versatility but focusses on too much at once.
Today's Creator increasingly focusses on ONE main model (sometimes consisting of multiple subjects too), at the detriment of rebuildability.
Is that the chrome cone piece from the UCS Naboo Fighter?
I came here for the fantastic flyers and cool cars. Where are they???
@Atuin said:
"Is that the chrome cone piece from the UCS Naboo Fighter?"
One of them yes. There were two types of chrome cones used in the UCS Naboo N-1 starfighter.