Random set of the day: Mobile Crane
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 6361 Mobile Crane, released in 1986. It's one of 26 Town sets produced that year. It contains 163 pieces, and its retail price was US$12.75.
It's owned by 3285 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
Help me come to life! If you like the set I've chosen for you today, please pledge your support for me on LEGO Ideas so I have a chance of becoming an official LEGO set!
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29 comments on this article
This guy wishes he could grow up to be yesterday’s RSotD.
Two days of cranes!
Gotta love the container doors being window shutters
Can we take a moment just to appreciate how beautiful the old standard of 4 x 8 container freight was? Those containers were transferrable between trains and ships and trucks, and I absolutely loved how inter-compatible it all was. Not only that, but that standard lasted a long time, too, from the mid-80s all the way into the early 00s.
Parts are a reasonable amount--not too big, not too huge. Not juniorized at all.
Even at this small size, we get a winch: a boom that raises and extends; a strut that keeps boom up; outriggers. And, a crate that opens as cargo.
I have to admit, LEGO sets keep getting bigger and bloated. By the time I really got into LEGO as a TFOL, six-studs was the norm. But, 4-studs is KISS.
Well-balanced set.
Hey LEGO,
Did you ever remember sets like this?
Sincerely,
All LEGO fans.
I have vivid memories of getting this at TRU one morning, and building it that Saturday afternoon at the dining room table. But the crane 'supports' were maddening since they would pop out of their holders if the slightest pressure were put on it.
Such a fantastic looking set. It's sized right for a minifig, doesn't use too many parts, and none of the parts are too specialized.
This is a fantastic example of Lego.
Modern set design could learn a thing or two from this set.
I had this one! One of the first lego sets I was given as a child.
Great set and one of my favorite sets from my childhood!
It’s Crane Week here at Brickset!
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s random crane set of the day.
I got this set for free with a trade I did a few years ago. I don't have the hook and I didn't have the string at the time but I had it sitting on my desk for over a month because it's such a cool little set!
This worker is so relieved at the fact that they get a modicum of privacy in today's port-a-loo after the public humiliation of yesterday's.
Yesterday Building Crane, today Mobile Crane. Maybe tomorrow random set will be... Crawler Crane (7632) ?
@guachi said:
"Such a fantastic looking set. It's sized right for a minifig, doesn't use too many parts, and none of the parts are too specialized.
This is a fantastic example of Lego.
Modern set design could learn a thing or two from this set."
That boom is super specialised. I can only think of one set where it wasn't used for a crane.
@TheWackyWookiee said:
"Hey LEGO,
Did you ever remember sets like this?
Sincerely,
All LEGO fans."
+1000
Show this to the LEGO City development team for them to get an idea again as to what used to be perfection.
I had this as a kid! I loved it! The only sad thing is that the “hook” part of one of the robot arms that held the outrigger leg got weak and broke off.
But it was a fantastic set, plus the hook was metal so it didn’t jam the line up when you were lowering it.
Looks a bit odd having some plates to support the boom, rather than a hinge or piston that would allow you to adjust the height. Do you need to remove the plates to put the container on the ground?
Have this set in my childhood collection and I absolutely loved it to bits. Of all my sets, large & small, this one got played with the most by far (even more than the trains). I constantly broke it down and rebuilt it, took any opportunity to try and lift something a little heavier without toppling the crane over. And I took this set with me everywhere (think I even took it to school one time). All time favourite.
A 4-wide crane isn't wide enough to be realistic, but this is a great toy that any fan of Lego should be able to enjoy.
I got the crane and a few other pieces from a cheap batch of bricks and then completed it on Bricklink. A classic and neat design that brings back good memories of my childhood, when Lego was just a game, not a business ... The container is really superb, I agree, and the hook is metal and weighs!!!
Something tells me that Huwbot likes cranes Lately.
^Then watch him go Clikits next, not far off in the alphabet!
This is one of the earlier sets that I got with my allowance. It was either this or the fire truck with the same crane part. I had couple of fire trucks, so... It's still complete and built.
Still have this set from childhood LEGO collection. 80's Legoland sets were the best!
The funny thing about the old, four wide cars, trucks, ambulances, cranes etc. - as a child you were not in doubt when it was supposed to be a big (or small) vehicle even though the difference in size might not have been that big. I still see it that way.
I appreciate the diffences in size nowadays, and the level of details. But sometimes I think the vehicles just get way too big (the same goes with aircraft...).
@LAKAbricks said: "I appreciate the diffences in size nowadays, and the level of details. But sometimes I think the vehicles just get way too big (the same goes with aircraft...)."
I don't care much for six-wide vehicles for that reason. Like the fire pick-up truck that came out, either at the start of this year or the end of last year. It's too small for a fire-truck, but proportionately, compared to the minifigs, it looks weirdly gigantic. Not a fan.
The porta-potty looks a bit weird. But then again, the crane looks a bit runty. And bit "a bit", I mean I'm just finishing up a 1960's ice cream truck that's about the same size with nearly twice as many parts.
@cody6268:
Oh, 6-wide is the only way to go. Well, unless you're making an AC/Invacar Model 70.