How many still remember Lego Town Race? Clearly not many, if the scant few reviews that appear for these sets is anything to go by. A single wave of sets, most of them sub £10 or Kabaya size, and quickly replaced by the standalone Racers theme, the most lasting impression the theme seems to have made was as the setting for the (rightfully) forgotten Stunt Rally game.

It seems to me that this theme largely gets lumped in and dismissed with the Town Jr theme in was ostensibly an offshoot of, and at a glance the similarities are there - bright, cartoonish colours, the presence of larger bricks, the 4-wide vehicles riding on elevanted 2-wide frames, with oversized tires. However, closer inspection reveals far more compelling details to these sets than initially visible — and 6617 Tough Truck Rally is the perfect example of this.

Tough Truck Rally features 3 vehicles, 4 figs, a moulded ramp and an assortment of obstacles.

The 4 minifigs constitute 2 drivers, a referee, and a mechanic. All four sport nicely printed torsos, the drivers' both being unique to this theme, and the referee's being the classic black jacket and bow tie print that appears in many classic sets of the 90s, and different face prints. I have a great fondness for the face prints for this era; they're both perfectly under-designed and strangely iconic, each feeling very distinct from the last but without feeling overly specific to just one set, and this set is no different, as we get one classic head print, two slightly modified ones (in the form of the female driver and the referee) and one drastically different print, the goatee'd and begoggled blue driver.

The titular tough trucks are wonderfully designed, each sporting a host of nice feature pieces and colourful accents, though maybe a few too many stickers. Though fairly simple builds, only differentiating on the top plate assembly, their trick suspension is a nice touch, adding a bit of dynamism to their movement when rolled around or jumped, some nice playability. They also pair very nicely with the red truck from 6584 Extreme Team Challenge, though that one unfortunately lacks the suspension. They also feel very in line with the character of their respective driver figs vehicles as presented throughout the theme — the blue 'shark' fig using more streamlined, angular pieces, while the green 'crocodile' driver having generally more rugged, utilitarian vehicles. Just generally some nice, unobtrusive characterisation to help spark the imagination, without making them too out of place within the wider Town theme. The Octan Truck is more simple a build (though I do like the use of curved pieces as side skirts), but its ability to tow the trucks is nicely thought out, and it wouldn't look out of in place in a general Town Setting.

The obstacles, the 'Rally' part of the Tough Truck Rally, are no less unique. The moulded ramp piece appears in some other Racers sets, but the moulded tire tracks is thoughtful, as is the fact that they match the tread on the tires of these Trucks. The rolling-log challenge is fun and has some unusual parts, and the falling-block jumping obstacle is neat in concept, but employs a few too many large bricks in its construction - and good luck keeping the loose blocks in place!

All considered, this is a very characterful set from what's generally considered a pretty poor time for Lego. There's a decent amount of building fun to be had, but the real value lies in the unique designs found, and the playability of all the different elements. Given the market price for this set at the time of writing, and considering the number of rare and unusual elements in the set, I would definitely recommend tracking one of these down.

Super, I like Monster Trucks and Race Sets.
The Blue Shark on shirt its VERY NICE! This is my favorite set from Race Theme.

Pros:
- Nice Minifigs
- Monster Trucks
- Best Helmet with Flame
- Octan Car

Cons
- None!

This is a great set to have and it's fun to play with as well. The build is very nice and easy and we also get a few stickers to put on. We get lot's of stuff in this set: We get two monster trucks, two ramps, a tow truck, a podium and one barrier where the trucks can crash into. The tow truck has some nice tools and a hook which can sviwel and pick the trucks up. The blue truck has a nice suspension feature and the rear wing is able to move as well. The green truck has the same suspension feature as the blue one. Both monster trucks also have a flag which can be moved. There's also a ramp in this set which has some nice looking logs which you can sviwel full 360°. I really can't complain about this set.

All in all this set is an great set and I would HIGHLY recommend you to get this. You can find this set on eBay, BrickLink and Amazon for sure. Here is the link where you can check out the full gallery I made for this set on my website: http://www.klokriecher.de


Videos I made of this set:

Stopmotion 1
Stopmotion 2
Stopmotion 3
Review