16 replies to this topic

[Zorbas]

INDEXED

Hello to all!

This is the review of one of the most memorable sets during the late 80's, the 6675 Road & Trail 4 x 4. It was one of my favorite sets back then and it came out along with one of the best Town sets wave TLG had ever released. Click here for the 1988 Town sets. A great year!

Why memorable set you ask? The shape, the size....oh, why not start reading this review for a closer look?

Let's begin with some infos about the set:

Name:  Road & Trail 4 x 4
Set Nr: 6675
Year: 1988
Theme: Town
Pieces: 77
Minifigs: 1
Price: Little difficult to remember the original price. Prices in Bricklink vary from $8.00 to $15.00 for a used set.

Useful Links: Brickset Bricklink Peeron

Box photo (Taken from Bricklink.com)

Good old Legoland boxes.   One minor difference when it comes to the box is that the phrase "Town System" and the small age recommendation frame was never used on the sets that were imported to Greece.

Instructions

First page

Wrinkles... I know...

Random steps from the instruction manual.

The instructions are just a two paged long piece of paper. A common thing for a set with this size back then.

The minifig

Although a little faded, -it is 21 years old after all-, it still is a  nice minifig. The typical classic head, red legs, a red cap and a very nice torso. This minifig appears only in this set. The torso on the other hand is present in 10 more sets. Check the sets here!





The Black BigFoot

Here it is! This vehicle was quite an innovation back then due to its size, height, and of course width.
Although that the main body is a 4-wide pick-up truck, the whole structure measures almost 9(!) studs on the road!

The main body

Nothing too fancy here. The doors (yes, Classic Town=doors ) have a beautiful red and yellow pattern and the roof can be opened for the minifig to get in.
The fence piece with the levers in the back give a more "bad to the bone" touch.

The wheels

Here is the cause of the mutation!   A small pick-up truck for agricultural purposes yesterday, a massive 4-wheel frightener tomorrow!
There are four wheels  in each side, connected together with a technic axle, making the total of 8 wheels. Not bad!
As you can see, the left pair has the exhaust attached on it and also has one 2x4 plate more. This is for the vehicle to lean a little forward for a more aggressive look.

Time to start the engine

The height of the vehicle is exactly what it should be for a truck of this style. A small climb on the tires is needed in order to get in.


All aboard!


See the slight lean forward! Aren't you scared?

The exhausts can be adjusted to be placed horizontally or diagonally.


The front

From here you can clearly see the wideness in all its glory. The two small pipes popping out from the front are part of the engine. I really like the contrast between the main body and the way the wheels are attached on it. It gives the feeling of an actual customized -not Legowise- car.


The front from another angle. This is what a minifig sees. (...and runs away... )

The back

The exhausts are simple but sure can give an impression of the horse power.

The bed

Not much space left for loading.

On the road

You can see that it hardly fits the road! Being 9 studs wide isn't exactly the most city-friendly vehicle!


Getting wild

It's the Wild West all over again!


Time for the show
You can reach high speeds  with your Porsche, you can carry heavy things with your Wind Turbine Transporter. What exactly can you do with this one?
Easy...


Gee, what a show-off...


Somebody heard that there is a monster truck in the city and wanted to check:

I had always considered the Container Stacker as the "beast" among my collection of vehicles due to its size and strange looks. I guess the definition of big and monstrous has changed after 20 years comparing the two sets.

"Ha, and you call yourself a monster!"



Bonus pic

This picture is in a small 1988 catalogue I have (the one that folds in four). You can see the truck trying to move on the road.
Btw, this is one of my favorite town scenes!


Conclusion

This set is still in my all-time favorites when it comes to classic town vehicles. Although that it's not the typical classic town car, it still has this '80s touch we all loved. Standing out from the rest of the cars but not being extremely huge is a big advantage for me. I think that TLG's concept wasn't just a monster truck causing chaos but considering that the 6357  Stunt 'Copter N' Truck which was also released the same year had the same door pattern, TLG probably wanted to create a fleet of special duty vehicles. The only change I would love to see is to have suspensions on the wheels. That would have been an excellent addition!   
If there is any any chance of purchasing it, don't hesitate!

Playability: 9.5/10 (An all-terrain vehicle that can move on litterally anything? What else can you ask for?)
Design: 8/10 (Innovative design with the wheels being the highlight.Only thing that could have been added is suspensions. that would have been a 10/10.)
Minifig: 8/10 (Beautiful torso and not very common.)
Parts: 7/10 (Nothing really mentionable. The 8 wheels and the doors are the highlights for me. )
Price: ?/10 (Original price is not available. A 8/10 for the used price. Good deal for $10.)
Overall: 8.5/10 (A true classic era presence.)


Thanks for reading! See you around!

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'Zorbas' for another review, cool set.......and NO parking problems...just drive over the top !
For it's time a 9 wide wheel base, even these days it's not that common (up to 8 wide is), which make this a very nice 80's monster truck.
Keep on bricking !

[Badsneaker]

This is a cool set, I picked one up on eBay a few years ago. Its heavily modified from original though. I don't like the doubled up tires.

Thanks for the review!

[CP5670]

I've wanted this set for a while now but haven't been able to find a good deal on it. I have the special doors though so maybe I could just try to get the other parts individually.

As you said, it could use some actual suspension. There were the red suspension parts that were used on a few City sets back then, which might work here if there was a way to connect these wheels to them.

[simonwillems]

Thanks for the review of this cool set.
I own almost every little car from 1985 to about 1997 but this was one of the more special ones, I had endless fun with it in the late eighties. Especially with those eight big wheels.
I always liked the way TLC put on the 1x3 plate for the exhaust on a half stud offset, something that was rarely done in those days.

One small thing though: You forgot to include the spanner in your lovely review, it can be seen if you take a closer look at the back of the vehicle on the box-art. I don't think it's even mentioned in the instructions.

[Brick & Mortimer]

Ah! What a beautiful set  
I always wanted that set, just because of the colour scheme, as a kid, I just   it!

Shame I never got it, it would look soooo nice next to my Stunt 'copter N' Truck. I always thought them to be part of the same daredevil "stunt team".

[prateek]

Wow. What a great set. I've never seen this before, but now it's a favourite

[legomaniac83]

Thanks for the review. I was able to scratch this off my wanted list a few years back. Won it on eBay for around $2 I think.
It's definately a great classic add to the collection!

[dr_spock]

Thanks for the review.     I love classic 4 wides.

[Thee Pirate]

Zorbas, on Feb 1 2010, 10:16 AM, said:

Do you also own the set that camera is from or did you just assemble it using pieces you had on hand? That TV van was one of my first sets. I only have about half the pieces to it, I need to BL some of the missing ones so I can reassemble it.

Oh, and this 4X4 is one of those sets I always wanted but never got when I was younger.

[Rick]

I remember looking at the catalog and wanting this set, but it came out after my active (kid) town collecting days (I had moved on into castle by this time).

[no_skill]

I was lucky enough to have two copies of an almost identical set, 6641 , as a kid.  Even more lucky, I still have them today.  I played with these incessantly over 20 years ago and they still look great in my City today.  My kids love them too!  Both sets have stood the test of time, and are truly outstanding!

[Big Cam]

I own this set and I specifically remember it from my childhood, thanks for the great review!!

[Ralph_S]

I too had this set as a child and bought another 2nd hand copy not too long ago. It's probably one of the best classic cars with a four-wide body they made. Looking back at that 1988 catalogue I'd have to say that most city sets back then were brilliant. The parts I loved most were the tyres. There weren't many sets back then where you'd get 8 of those for as little money.

I love the pictures where you can see it crushing cars BTW.

Cheers,
Ralph

[Dennimator]

Great review! I unfortunately never owned this set as a kid, but by the looks I can easily tell I would´ve loved it. And it´s also a great partspack! Now you made me want one...

There´s one thing I´d like to comment on, though:

Zorbas, on Feb 1 2010, 06:16 PM, said:

Price: Little difficult to remember the original price. Prices in Bricklink vary from $8.00 to $15.00 for a used set.

Box photo (Taken from Bricklink.com)

Check that box pic again.. (Yeah, I know it looks discounted, but still.)

Edited by Dennimator, 02 February 2010 - 08:51 PM.

[Zorbas]

simonwillems, on Feb 1 2010, 11:49 PM, said:

One small thing though: You forgot to include the spanner in your lovely review

You're right simonwillems! Only when I read your post I remembered that a spanner was also included. Thanks for the reminder!
This took me back to my childhood...

Thee Pirate, on Feb 2 2010, 05:30 AM, said:

Do you also own the set that camera is from or did you just assemble it using pieces you had on hand?

I own that set and it was also one of my favorites during my childhood. And still is.

Ralph_S, on Feb 2 2010, 03:41 PM, said:

I love the pictures where you can see it crushing cars BTW.

Typical '80s scene .  Great times!   

Dennimator, on Feb 2 2010, 09:51 PM, said:

Check that box pic again.. (Yeah, I know it looks discounted, but still.)

I know what you mean Dennimator.
I 've seen the price tag but I couldn't rely on it since I had no evidence of the price being the original one or even the release price. That's why I didn't put it in the data list.
Thanks for the point though.

Edited by Zorbas, 02 February 2010 - 09:06 PM.

[Drexlore]

Great review! I've never seen this set before and now I want it for my Table Town that I have.