Tractor Trailer 6692 And LEGO® City Truck 3221

A father and son timeline here (click on images to enlarge). Ironically the "big daddy" here is the smaller set - the Tractor Trailer 6692 - which Lego released in 1983. The 6692 model you see here, though complete in terms of bricks, has the all important stickers missing. If applied it would be like seeing a mini-me version of the larger LEGO® City Truck 3221 which has only just been released. Attempts to pick up an original sticker sheet have so far proved fruitless though it is possible to buy the original model from private sellers with the stickers applied. Who knows? When I have the spare cash floating about I might go for it.

The original 1983 model was a great favourite when I was a kid. Unlike it's much larger progeny it comes without cargo so I, as a budding pre-teen, had to make my own. The larger model comes with about 9 crates which all feature decals giving them the look of mini Lege sets. This set is going to be a classic I'm sure so was a must have - even without the orginal 6692 set in my collection begging for its new counterpart.

Although both sets feature hinged "cockpits" the larger model benefits from new Lego technology in terms of spaciousness and features. 3221 comes complete with driver's seat, mug, bed and wall mounted TV / computer. Just the thing for those long cross country hauls. At 15 inches long, LEGO® City Truck3 221 is one of the longest Lego vehicles available. Cornering on those Lego City baseplate roads is going to be a real nightmare...

"10-4 Bandit - I got Smokey all over me!"

Thanks To My Benefactress - Hypno Cruiser 6492

Yours truly has been the humble beneficiary of yet more free Lego. Once more Lunarossa has proven herself to be a Lego friend of the highest order and has passed on an old Lego set to me rather than see it fall into the anonymous hands of a second hand shop salesperson. I can only gratefully accept with much hearty thanks and reiterate my promise to buy said beneficiary a coffee of magnificent proportions should our paths every cross in the real world.

This set came from Lego's 1996 range "Time Cruisers" which I don't think ran for very long. It's a very quirky series and I don't think it ever really caught on which is a great shame... but, of course, these were the days before Lego saw the advantages of the TV tie-in theme. Attempting to generate fanatical interest in your own made-up themes is always going to be a dicy marketing strategy and one that, in the case of Time Cruisers, didn't really pay off.

Hence I did not previously own any models from this series. I was in fact largely unaware of its existence - this despite my regular poring over the contents of the Ultimate Lego Collector book that contains details of every set Lego have any released. Naturally I have gravitated my investigations to eras and models that I loved as a kid and those new lines that attract my interest now.

Hence the 6492 Hyno Cruiser is an unexpected gift in every sense of the phrase. It's a really charming model that utilizes a very simple elastic band "motor" to spin the propellor blades and the swirly patterned discs on the side of the vehicle. It has bags of humour and character and makes for a very tongue in cheek counterpart to the Death Star 10188 beneath which it currently resides...!

The Force is strong in this one... be it only a lacky-band!

Shanghai Chase 7682

It's not often that I stray away from my favourite Lego themes and sample the delights of others but these vehicles from Lego's Indianna Jones range were just too gorgeous to pass up.

I'm sure the detailing isn't absolutely accurate and the sense of scale is a little off but given the restrictions forced on the designers by the palette of bricks they had at their disposal they are amazing. Restriction, after all, breeds creativity.

Many of you I'm sure will recognize these vehicles from the chase scene in the openign vignette of Indianna Jones And The Temple Of Doom. Don't they just make you want to push them around a tabletop making car noises and emulating gun noises?

Nope? Ah well. Just me, I guess.