Random set of the day: Blackmobile
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 3571 Blackmobile, released in 1998. It's one of 12 Znap sets produced that year. It contains 142 pieces, and its retail price was US$20.
It's owned by 184 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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16 comments on this article
Quick Robin, to the Blackmobile!
Znap... Not one of Lego's proudest moments.
... what?
I have this set but the motor to make the car move wasn’t that good!
This seems a very "dangable" product line...
I remember having this. Quite liked how Znap could shift and bend to turn one thing into another (as long as its a car into a hovercraft or along those lines) but I always found the motor didn't quite have the oomph to push some of my bigger models
The BLACKMOBILE???
Oh, Lego in the late 90s, going deeper down the Hershey highway by making the horrid ZNAP! line. Don't worry, I'm sure in Europe, this particular set was probably known by something more innocuous like "Village Vehicle" or "Dark Transport". And for reference, this style of building toys wasn't new. CONSTRUX cornered this design and market back in the 80s, so what was LEGO trying to achieve here? Think about this: had LEGO not gone out on a limb with this line back in 1998, they maybe could've accelerated the development of Throwbots, and we might've gotten that in 1998, a whole year early. That would lead to BIONICLE getting a worldwide launch in 2000, and possibly a saving LEGO sooner than waiting for Star Wars revenue to shore up the coffers. But things turned out the way did instead. And to think how different it would all be had ZNAP never seen the light of day. Just imagine...
I like that Lego always tries new ideas, new technologies and such, but Znap was neither of them at the time. They don't even look Lego.
The logo hurts more.
Hey, I loved this as a kid - quite possibly because it was so heavily discounted that I got a lot of it for Christmas!
I wonder if they had any legal hurdles what-so-ever to get past with that title or if it was enough of a dorky pun to work.
Now I just want to see the Blackcave.
And also, let's rename this feature Random Set of the Dang.
I remember visiting toy areas in department stores at that time:
Insectoids, Rock Raider, Technic like fire wasp and 8465 car all had very specialised parts and bits that would not go well with my old technic sets.
Eventually I bought a few of these 3571 at heavy discount (below 10 EUR) mainly for motor and battery box.
But ZNAP turned out to be fun until fingers started to hurt from seperating the parts.
Children would build fantasy models easily.
Strange theme.
I guess Lego had to come up with something as Knex was becoming more popular at the time.
The sets at a discount indeed were good for getting motors cheap (e.g. for the NXT).
I liked that it was compatible with Technic pins and beams.
I picked up a ton of ZNAP when it was a dollar or two per set at TRU. (When it flopped in Europe they sent many of the unsold sets to the US and sold them off for next to nothing at TRU.)
It can be hard to find many uses for it but some of the pieces can be useful for bridges and such.