dgenota: i'm new here, from england and looking for some help

dgenota

I'm trying to find a lego set that was bought by my father in the mid 80's when he came back to the philippines.

i have checked the database of different sites and could not find it. the best description i remember are:

1. space themed, as it was like a long moon rover with moving double laser/missile turret at the rear.

2. majority of it was made up of white bricks and it's either a 6 wheeler or 10 wheeler vehicle.

3. it was in a rectangular box with a moon setting in the front.

i have attached a picture of what i tried to make with what bricks i have but i dont have the white bricks needed.

hope someone can help as im trying to re-build it for my son.

thanks,
dno

DaddyDeuce

Any chance it was #6952 ?

dgenota

no, it was a whole vehicle and no trailer, also the wheels were smaller and there was no green cockpit cover. if i'm not mistaken the turret can be point up and down. thanks for your help.

jadeirene

Have you looked through the space them browser? There aren't many classic space vehicles that are mostly white.

plasmodium

#6950? #6881? #6770? #6925? There were LOT of crawley vehicles with turrets back then.
(Edit: Those links don't work, but if you put the numbers into the search box at the very top, you should find what I was meaning)

mressin

@dgenota Very interesting. I know the 80s Space theme quite well, and can tell you that there is no obvious match to either the description you give, or the model you have built.

1. This might sound like a stupid question, but are you sure it's from the Lego brand, and not another construction toy?

2. How close to the original is your rebuild in the picture?


2. Can you elaborate on the gun/missile turret? This sounds very un-Lego like, especially for the 80s.

3. What other colours beside white were in the model?

4. Do you remember any specifics, e.g. the number of

mressin

Sorry, please ignore my previous post, I hit the enter key prematurely and couldn't edit it in time. So here I go again:

@dgenota Very interesting. I know the 80s Space theme quite well, and can tell you that there is no obvious match to either the description you give, or the model you have built. Anything that there was in the Space theme is either from the wrong time, or in the wrong colour, or has the wrong number of wheels, or doesn't sport anything that might be described as "missile/gun turret", or has a trailer arrangement. Indeed, it might be best if you browsed yourself through the space theme (see link in @jadeirene 's post). There are not that many sets from the 80s to begin with, it probably wouldn't take you more than ten minutes.

Alternatively, can you narrow down your description somewhat:

1. This might sound like a stupid question, but are you sure it's from the Lego brand, and not another construction toy?

2. Are you certain your picture shows the main build, and not an alternative build, e.g. one shown on the set box?

3. How close to the original is your rebuild in the picture, especially with regards to:
- model size (length, width and height)
- number of figures, and their colour
- seating/standing arrangements
- number and arrangements of computer terminals
- gun/missile turret - rather un-Lego like for the 80s theme.

4. What other colours beside white were in the model?

5. Do you remember any particular parts which were used?

6. What were the instructions like? Were they in booklet form, or folded?

dgenota

@mressin, definite that its from lego. the picture was just a rebuild from bricks that i have to show how it resembles (from memory).

the one i just made up (picture) is a little bigger and majority of the bricks from the original was white because i cant remember any other color.

i think there were two white figures and the front windscreen is a transparent one with 4 pins on top and 45 degrees slant.

the instructions was stapled in the middle (booklet). The box was rectagular.

the turrent might not have been missiles but laser or comm dish. the vehicle was just one build and no trailer. it might had just 6 wheels and not 10.

also not sure if it had any computer terminals.

thanks,
dno

mressin

@dgenota Well, there simply is no vehicle in the databases which even remotely fits your description. Can you check the Space theme browser, as Jadeirene suggested already? Would be interesting to know if you recognise anything, and work from there.

Or if you can't be bothered to do that... England is known for its practical jokes, right? Are you pulling a prank on us? ;)

mountebank

What about this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330813101414&clk_rvr_id=408023584763&item=330813101414&lgeo=1&vectorid=229508

dgenota

@mressin, checked all the database 1975 to 1990 and still nothing. i'm sure it was during the mid 80's.

is the database worldwide?

no, i'm not pulling a practical joke. really interested if i can find it to build for my son.

thanks anyway,
dno

Huw

The database is 100% complete for all space sets ever released.

StuBoy

Are you sure it was a set? Could it have been a model from an ideas book?
http://www.peeron.com/scans/200-4

I know you said it was in a box, but there doesn't seem to be anything else in the database that fits.

mressin

It's an intriguing riddle, and in my opinion more input from @dgenota is needed to solve it.

@dgenota, maybe it helps to leaf through Lego catalogues from the 80s. www.brickfactory.info has catalogues.

The idea with the picture of an approximate build from memory is a nice one, but in my view, nothing Lego has ever released looks even remotely like that. I suspect that there is just too much compromise with existing parts, fogged memory, etc. Maybe a drawing instead could help?

As for an actual answer to the riddle:

An obvious answer would be that the database is incomplete. But I find that hard to believe. Lego Space is one of the classic themes and has lots of fans. It seems rather improbable that an as-of-yet unknown/undiscovered set is the answer to this riddle. I believe the reason why we haven't found this set is probably the lack of information. The funny thing is that if we assume the basic information given by @dgenota as cornerstones for our search:

- significant portion of white bricks
- windscreen
- wheels, at least two figures
- at least mid-sized because of square, stapled manual
- from the 80s

only a few sets are potential candidates anyway:

#6927 (as described by @mountebank) is in my eyes the most likely candidate: It has a windscreen with studs, two figures, moon background, six wheels, it has a lot of white bricks, and it has an installation at the rear which might be remembered as "turret". The only trouble is that I find it hard to imagine that the functionality of a detachable lab is forgotten, even after 25 years.

#6892 only has a very small amount of white and not enough wheels. The hidden-wheel arrangement also is quite memorable.

#6925 is mostly white, but a bit late to be described as "mid-80s". It has the wrong number of wheels, and also a trailer arrangement which @dgenota said is not in the set he's looking for. It has, however, a front light arrangement similar to the one in @dgenota's model.

#6885 is mostly white, but late and too small. No windscreen.

#6893 is not a wheeled vehicle, but has a rear installation, includes a wheeled vehicle, and has the two-windscreen arrangement (front and in "turret") from @dgenota's model.

#6770 is completely out of the question because the Light-and-Sound functionality should be pretty memorable.

Not to forget, there are a couple of sets that one might classify as "Space", but which aren't part of the Space theme as displayed by Brickset:
#9355
#10191
#10192

But @dgenota's vehicle can't be seen in them either.

Or maybe @dgenota's set was a MOC by the father, build out of more than one set? Or maybe it wasn't a space set after all? Or maybe it just wasn't Lego?

It would be interesting to have more information. Other forum members have suggested a range of "answers" further above. @dgenota, did you check those sets out?

DaddyDeuce

Did LEGO include instructions for alternate builds in that line/time frame? Could it have been an alternate of another set?

Amberyl

@dgenota's description reminds me not of a Lego set, but of Playmobil Space sets from the early to mid 80s.

See http://figure-archive.net/toyline.aspx?toylineID=2649
Also http://www.jomitoys.com/2010/05/playmospace-3534-space-shuttle.html

Playmobil 3534 and 3535 both fit the general description -- white wheeled vehicles with a windscreen and a double-"missile" turret, two figures, and a moon theme on the box. 3534 even has a moon image taking up half the front of the box.

I know he remembers it as a Lego set, but still...

dgenota

thanks guys, i have have checked the brickfactory catalogs and still no luck.

@amberyl, definite that it was a boxed (rectangular) lego set.

the picture on the box is the vehicle i'm searching for, it was not an alternative build from the set.

@mressin, checked all lego sets from the 80's as this may have not been from the space theme but still could not find it. a transparent 3037 sloped brick was its windscreen or the front of the vehicle. i'm also definite that it was mainly white, a single vehicle (no trailer), and has a double laser/missile turret at the back.

i had built it myself as it was sent to me by my father who was working in the middle east that time. also definite that it was before 1990 as i started college that year.

i've attached a couple of pictures of the re-built vehicle which again is just a representation and some bits are just added on, but the over all design is generally the same.

thanks again for all your help in trying to find this model.

plasmodium

@dgenota: Could the 'white' have actually been the lightest shade of grey? What colour was the windscreen? Translucent blue? translucent yellow? How were the wheels arranged: Were they evenly spaced, or where they two at the front, four at the back, like the picture above? What size were the wheels? Where they smaller ones like the reconstructions or were they bigger? Can you remember any more details about the minifigs (colour, number)? I know you said you thought there were two white ones, but looking at this http://www.brickset.com/ajax/getSetsForMinifig.aspx?m=sp006&aid=hslsp006 (a list of every set with the white spaceman) it doesn't seem that there were all that many which had 2 of them.
Finally, do you have any of the original pieces left from the set? That might make it easier to identify.

dgenota

@plasmodium, i'm not even sure if there were minifigs. i think the wheels are the same number and size but they may have been plastic ones.

windscreen was transparent (3037), i'm pretty deifinite on the white color theme for the vehicle.

unfortunately, they have long been missed in a flood or some have been just thrown away.

mressin

Funnily, there is a certain similarity to #70704 Vermin Vaporizer: Two astronauts, mainly white wheeled vehicle, and with the mech stored in the back, it really looks like there is a gun turret on the rear. Of course, in that case, your father'd need a time machine. ;)

cheshirecat

Sounds remarkably like #6927, with that lab attached on the back to me.

mressin

... which reminded me that there was one last thing I wanted to do in connection with this mystery. And because I actually have something else to do and am a terrible procrastinator, I did it right now.

@dgenota, is this the set you are looking for?
(see also second link further down)

As you probably realised yourself by now, neither the combined knowledge of bricksetters nor any Lego database (brickset, bricklink, brickfactory etc.) could come up with your set. Huw claims the brickset database on Lego space is complete, yet you yourself said your set is not in it.

It is conceivable, but very unlikely, that there is a Lego space set from the 80s that the community is unaware of. Since you mention a box and instructions, it's probably not a custom Lego build or prototype, either.
At this point, let's allow for the possibility that your set was not genuine Lego. I looked through other building block brands which were in business in the 80s and offered space-themed sets. Alas! There is what looks like a very close fit. It's called Tente.

Tente offered a line called "Exin Astro", space-themed sets which apparently were sold from 1975 to 1982. Here are two examples:

- Astro-Laser (see also above)
- 0657 Unidad Teledetectora

These two alone tick more features from your description than any Lego set:
- mainly white
- six wheels
- two white figures
- double gun turret / communications dish
- has windscreen
- no trailer arrangement
- stapled instructions (not seen here, but can be seen in other images on the web)

Tente sets were sold in the US by Hasbro, but what's more, it was a Spanish brand, which makes availability in the Philippines plausible (at least to me, but I don't know anything about Spanish-Philippine trade connections during the 80s...)

I didn't find a comprehensive list of all Tente sets ever produced, but check out these links:
http://tenteando.blogspot.co.uk/
Tente flickr group
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157623306358222/
Tente Astro buggy on eBay
Tente Astro super set
Lego Alien Conquest Earth Defense HQ... erm, I mean, Tente Transcomputer ;)
Hilarious: Tente Astro Robodog MOC

Also look for "tente cosmic" and "tente titanium" to see more space-themed sets.

Dread_Pirate

@dgenota Dont feel too bad I have the memory of a set from the late 80's that was Space Police in nature and I didnt like how it was built, it didnt stay together very well. I have the parts I remember from the set, I have parts that dont fit with anything on the list of sets I have seen but I dont have parts that I should have if I had the sets in the catalog. It has been driving me nuts for a few months now. Also this set came into my posession when I was in my teens and I didnt "play" with legos much back then but I did build things quite a bit, so losing major components is highly unlikely. So I feel your frustration!

StuBoy

^ When I first came out of my dark ages I was certain I had 6066 Camouflaged Outpost as a kid, I even printed out the instructions because I thought I'd just lost them. I had hardly any of the pieces to build it and only 1 forestman, so it most likely was my friends set.

So, I guess what I'm saying is childhood memories can be somewhat unreliable when it comes to this sort of thing.

dgenota

@mressin, definite on it being lego made. I've gotten a few more white pieces and did it again. I'm also looking at ebay, maybe i will see it there or even just the instructions. thanks for the help.

Dread_Pirate

Can't remember ever seeing anything like that. Some of the pieces you are using are newer and were not available in the 80's. I also cannot ever remember a space set using the clear wind screen in a space theme. Usually back then they were tr. yellow, tr. green or tr. blue.

Rocketbilly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2nL5sSSvd0

Watch this video, I believe the "set" you are referring to appears in it about thirty three seconds in.

coachie

^Isn't that just an oversized classic space #897 ?

plasmodium

Cor, it says "Sets from 82p to £26.85". Those were the days...