Bucket List

It seems that many AFOLs have taken a leave of absence from LEGO between childhood and adulthood - their so-called Dark Ages - and I'm no exception. On returning to the fray, my delight at rediscovering the joys of LEGO was perhaps slightly tempered by the realisation that a lot of wonderful sets had come and gone while I'd been away. While "wonderful" is clearly a subjective term, and my definition of a wonderful set isn't necessarily the same as yours, it's a sad fact of life that many of the retired sets that I look upon with wonderment and desire seem to be coveted by many other people as well. At least if the cost of getting hold of them now is anything to go by....

So below, in no particular order, are five of the sets on my LEGO bucket list - sets that came and went while I was away and which I made it my business to track down and add to my collection before I expire. Five this week, and another 5 next week, some of which I've now managed to get hold of, and others which still elude me.

1. Set 10019 Rebel Blockade Runner

There are certainly sleeker, more beautiful ships in the Star Wars universe than the Rebel Blockade Runner. And yet, from the first moment I saw pictures of this set I just loved it - a big, beefy, uncompromising brute of a model in the best "take no prisoners" UCS tradition. Unfortunately, it's been out of production for almost 10 years, and a decision to buy it nowadays really cannot be taken lightly. I managed to source a complete, boxed example from eBay in February 2009 for £260. It seemed very expensive at the time, but I suspect I'd have to pay even more now for a boxed one in similar condition. Sure, you can take the easy way out and content yourself with the newer version, Set 10198 Tantive IV, but per my comments in a previous blog post, the newer version is puny in comparison and just doesn't cut the mustard. IMHO, of course....

2. Set 10020 Santa Fe Super Chief

Having been a fan of LEGO trains in my youth, I was astonished to see how far they had evolved when I spied this one for the first time. Even now, when we have a variety of excellent trains currently available at retail, this locomotive still looks beautiful to me, and I can only guess at the wonderment that train fans must have felt when this one first appeared in 2002. You can read more about the set and see more pictures of it here in a previous blog post.

I'm pleased to report that unlike the expensive Rebel Blockade Runner above, this beautiful locomotive isn't (yet) out of reach of the average collector; while it's likely to cost more to secure one now than the £39.99 I paid in June 2009 for a complete, boxed example, you should be able to get one from eBay for between £50 and £100 depending on condition.

3. Set 3450 Statue of Liberty

For some the appeal of this set is the mountain of uber-rare sand green bricks you get with it; for me it's just a love of LEGO sculptures and the interesting subject matter. I've lost count of the number of eBay auctions for this set that I've lost on account of not bidding high enough, and I'm not optimistic of ever finding a boxed example for what I'd consider to be a 'reasonable' amount. Still, we live in hope.....


4. Set 918 One Man Space Ship

Anybody who regularly visits this blog must be sick and tired of reading about how much I love the classic space sets of the late 70's and early 80's - I'm always going on about them. Set 928 Galaxy Explorer was one of my most cherished sets when I was a child, and I still have it to this day. I never owned its baby brother, however - Set 918 One Man Space Ship - and few LEGO purchases on eBay have given me more pleasure than the immaculate boxed example I snagged in January 2009 for a little under £30.  They aren't too hard to find on eBay, although if you're looking for one in good condition with box and instructions you might have to be patient. Alternatively, head over to Bricklink where you can get one with a box for not much more than £50 right now.

5. Set 4558 Metroliner

Released in 1991, the Metroliner has become one of the most coveted of all the LEGO trains, so much so that it was re-released in 2001 under the 'Legends' banner. It's a classic - one of the earliest LEGO trains to actually look reasonably realistic, and with livery highly reminiscent of the Amtrak trains I've seen during trips to the US. In addition to the train itself, the set comes with a 9 volt motor and track to run it on as well as a station platform and 11 minifigures, although strangely no voltage regulator or transformer.

I'm delighted to report that thanks to eBay, my quest for Set 4558 Metroliner finally ended just last week with the arrival of a pristine, boxed example for a little over £100. Now to try and find a club car (below) to go with it......

I'll share 5 more sets from my bucket list next time.  In the meanwhile, I'd be interested to know which sets you missed when you were off doing something else and now just have to find at all costs - feel free to post a comment below.

And if anyone's got a boxed Statue of Liberty going cheap, you know where to come.....

:-)

                                                                                          Bucket List sets 6 - 10 -->

Favourite Set #3 : Ultimate Collector Series Rebel Blockade Runner

Any ship appearing in the opening scene of Star Wars : A New Hope has surely got to be worthy of the LEGO Ultimate Collector Series treatment, and Set 10019 Rebel Blockade Runner doesn't disappoint. Released in 2001 and consisting of 1748 pieces, it comprehensively blows the more recent version (Set 10198 Tantive IV released in 2009 and shown below right) out of the water. In my humble opinion, naturally....

                                  

As well as looking great and nicely approximating the Rebel Blockade Runner ship from the Star Wars movies, I just think that the older set has more substance and presence than the slightly anorexic recent version. I mean, compare their engines, for a start.

I took the pictures below when I had finished building my set; click on the images to enlarge them. I generally don't leave models built for more than a few months as I only have limited display space and therefore need to free up space for other models after a while, but this set stayed built and on display for more than a year because it just looks so fantastic.....

In addition to the chunky design, I love the subtle use of standard red and dark red pieces, including the "go faster" stripe which runs the length of the ship, the restrained but effective use of greebles, and the massive engines. According to the excellent "LEGO Star Wars : The Visual Dictionary" by Simon Beecroft, this was one of the first sets ever to include dark red pieces.

The downsides ? Well, the engine section is quite fragile - be careful how you carry it - and heaven help you if you knock one of the engines off because they can be a right pain to reattach. There are also a couple of large stickers which cover multiple pieces, a pet peeve of mine. Finally, it's getting quite pricey these days - expect to pay between £200 and £300 for a used, boxed example in reasonable condition, and more for a MISB one. 

Pricey it may be, but in my opinion it's well worth the money if you can afford it - an interesting build using some cool pieces and colours, and the final result is excellent. Sure, you can certainly save yourself some cash and buy the more recent version, but it's false economy I reckon - this is one instance where I think the remake just doesn't reach the heights of the original.