Random set of the day: The Motel
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 3672 The Motel, released during 1982. It's one of 18 Fabuland sets produced that year. It contains 60 pieces and 3 minifigs.
It's owned by 190 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you should find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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33 comments on this article
Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?!
And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?
Looks absolutely diabolical. The Bates Motel is more inviting than this place.
Why is a bed outside? Did the motel owner try to squeeze as many people into there as he could to maximise profit?
That must explain why David is cooking on the lawn.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?! "
Better than in the soup.
"And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?"
He is the only one who can climb up there.
Also, that aerial is new to me!
@MeisterDad said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?! "
Better than in the soup.
"And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?"
He is the only one who can climb up there.
Also, that aerial is new to me!
"
I still think he's a slave. Fabuland has a lot of sinister things going on behind the scenes...
What looks odder mixing with the few Lego bricks that survive to this day, the characters or the or the Duplo houses?
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?!
And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?
Why is a bed outside? Did the motel owner try to squeeze as many people into there as he could to maximise profit?
That must explain why David is cooking on the lawn."
Damn. Fabuland has even darker implications than Chima could ever aspire for.
@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?!
And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?
Why is a bed outside? Did the motel owner try to squeeze as many people into there as he could to maximise profit?
That must explain why David is cooking on the lawn."
Damn. Fabuland has even darker implications than Chima could ever aspire for."
Fabuland was the Utopia before the Fall. Chima is the system that society eventually stabilised into. As gritty as a dystopia is, they are often straightforward and honest. The underbelly of a utopia is often a lot darker because of the amount of work that is needed to keep it out of sight of the populace.
Wow. I didn't know Fabuland had any Stephen King references. Or Alfred Hitchcock references, either.
And yet the biggest thing I'm bumping on is the sticker of the sun creepily watching you sleep.
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?!
And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?"
I think one of my favorite songs best sums up the demonic goings-on
"And out of this old hotel, but can't tell if I've been
Breathin' or sleepin' or screamin' or waitin' for the man to call
And maybe all of the above, 'cause mostly, I've been
Sprawled on these cathedral steps while spitting out the blood and screaming
"Someone, save us!""
Why is the cat dropping a bowl on the dogs head?
@AidenBurrett said:
"Why is the cat dropping a bowl on the dogs head?"
Easier than going after the monkey.
Most sets make me think I need this or that but this one… there’s not a part here I wish I had.
I just realised that Mike the monkey is the reason @TheOtherMike called himself 'The Other Mike' for!
Excusing the tongue-in-cheek stuff …..
So much critical commentary! - it’s a fun and cute set, from a magical theme from LEGO’s orginal golden age!
I loved these as a young child - and my daughters played with Fabuland characters too!
Although it lacks some details (naturally), it's a lovely set when you look from a certain perspective. There is fresh loaf of bread, with newly cooked soup in the garden on a shiny day. Nice...
Spending on what kind of monkey, those could all be predatory animals, so I do hope smaller prey animals weren’t used to lure them into the place: a Baits Motel sounds like a bad idea for some reason…
Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn?
It's so cute. The fence between the two 'rooms' makes it look larger than it is, like a walkway between them. And te seating outside is less motel and more hotel if you ask me :)
I just wonder what Docter Dog is doing here. Surely he'd be too busy with medical stuff. Unless this is somehow helping his cause...
@Maxbricks14 said:
"Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?!
And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?"
Looks more like its gonna be emptied into the soup pot position wise. Guess thats how they cut corners on food costs.
Ah the motel, the place where a good amount of little fabulanimals were made
Lucky there aren't any Eagles there, or you'd never be able to leave.
@MCLegoboy said:
"Looks absolutely diabolical. The Bates Motel is more inviting than this place."
Makes hotel Rwanda look like hotel california
@Maxbricks14 said:
" @MeisterDad said:
" @Maxbricks14 said:
"Is Catherine the cat about to empty a chamber pot on David the dog's head!?! "
Better than in the soup.
"And why is Mike the monkey cleaning the chimney? Was he a guest but was enslaved and now has to work?"
He is the only one who can climb up there.
Also, that aerial is new to me!
"
I still think he's a slave. Fabuland has a lot of sinister things going on behind the scenes..."
I might have never grown up in this era but I simply can not stop laughing at this XD
@Maxbricks14 said:
"I just realised that Mike the monkey is the reason @TheOtherMike called himself 'The Other Mike' for!"
No, I'd been using that username since long before I looked through Brickset's Fabuland database. But, 3644 and 3713 are on my wanted list not only because the figure shares my name, but because I was born in a Year of the Monkey, 1980. (3604 is on there because my brother's name happens to be Mark, although he was born two years later, in a Year of the Dog.)
No wonder there are no motel guests with a cook who uses a cauldron, maintenance who monkey around and room service who just throw the wash bucket over the balcony, or maybe they are just getting rid of the evidence of any guest and still need to dispose of the bed.
Looking at this I just ponder why I did't get or did not wanted Fabuland sets. But I also can't remember seeing them in the stores back then. And yes I am already old enough to have seen them back then.
I do remember a cousin having a couple of Fabuland sets.
Intriguing. The motel is two-thirds motel and one-third eatery.
The "ice cream" wagon is actually carrying baguettes to pair nicely with a savory stew.
The eatery staff are carnivores.
The monkey (actually a gorilla, a faction we have previously determined is in league with the carnivores) looks innocent enough on the roof posing as a chimney sweep, but actually has a guard-tower view and is wielding a blunt instrument.
This seems to be one of those lodging establishments where one can check out any time one likes, but can never actually leave.
Yikes. This is 42 (forty-two!) years old.
@AllenSmith said:
"Intriguing. The motel is two-thirds motel and one-third eatery.
The "ice cream" wagon is actually carrying baguettes to pair nicely with a savory stew.
The eatery staff are carnivores.
The monkey (actually a gorilla, a faction we have previously determined is in league with the carnivores) looks innocent enough on the roof posing as a chimney sweep, but actually has a guard-tower view and is wielding a blunt instrument.
This seems to be one of those lodging establishments where one can check out any time one likes, but can never actually leave."
"Welcome to the Motel Fabulandia! Such a lovely place (such a lovely place) such a lovely face... plenty of room at the Motel Fabulandia! Any time of year, (any time of year), you can find it here..."
I never knew the baguette was this old. I was never interested in Fabuland as a child and the first set I got it in was 10223 Kingdoms Joust. I always assumed that it was a relatively new part at that time.
@lemish34 said:
"Excusing the tongue-in-cheek stuff …..
So much critical commentary! - it’s a fun and cute set, from a magical theme from LEGO’s orginal golden age!
I loved these as a young child - and my daughters played with Fabuland characters too!"
Whenever Fabuland is Random Set of the Day, the dark humor/horror cadre comes out to play…