23 replies to this topic

[WhiteFang]

Hello everyone,

It has been quite a long while since I last bring you a Classic Town review and I am very pleased to bring you this small little wonder back from time right to the front of your monitor. So sit back and enjoy this fast and furious reviewing coverage all the way from 1980s.  

Name: Sprint Racer
Theme: LEGO / SYSTEM / Town / Racing
Year: 1988
Pieces: 32
Minifigs: 1 minifig
Price: USD N.A, GBP N.A, SGD N.A
Resources: Brickset, Peeron, BrickLink


An image of a 6503, Sprint Racer



Are you ready for the sensational LEGO Grand Prix Race?


This is definitely the kind of race which are made available for the Classic Town citizens in the 1980s. Without much other entertainment around, viewing car races is the lifestyle for many avid car lovers. Based on this popular 4-studs wide design, many similar racing car model like the 2535 Formula 1 Racing Car was also one of the key highlights in the line up. So what is so spectacular about this miniature version?


Building up the base of the car


This yellow car base is the main foundation part for many 4-studs wide design by using the small little white wheel together. In modern City LEGO sets, you could hardly see any of such designs anymore until quite recently where we see the new 3177 Small Car in 2010.  


Adding the sides



It is now fully assembled!



This white race car is sponsored by Shell oil company. Shell was a very distinct icon in 1980s where you are able to find Shell petrol stations in many parts of Classic Town. With the earnings, I supposed the company went ahead and assembled a team of qualified racers to compete with others. From the sleek No.1 front down to the smooth spoiler at the rear, I really admires the simplicity in this design. A superb design for any Classic Town lovers. Please don't said its simple because Classic Town is meant to be simple in the first place.


Shell printed parts


Let's put it this way. How many of these unique printed parts can we see in modern sets? I am very certain with the very same design that is re-released again, I supposed these awesome printed parts will likely be replaced with stickers. This is a small little set and could be an impulse set equivalent in 1980s, TLG is able to give us these beautiful printed parts at such a low cost. These prints are able to withstand more than 20 years and is still looking in good shape unless you decided to use your nails to scrap the prints off which is insane in my context.

I took a look at BrickLink and narrow individual parts which appeared in other official LEGO sets. The 2x2 tile with Shell Logo can be found in these 2 sets, while the 1x2 panel with Shell pattern can only be found in this set and the No.1 slope pattern can be found in 7 other sets. I supposed in the game of racing, everyone wishes to be number 1.  


The daring driver


He is not one of the popular F1 drivers like Hamilton or Alonso, but instead he is a no-body that greatly depends on his driving skills to make his way to the race track to pit his skills with many other racers below. The driver torso is very plain and I really wished he could comes with some designs on his coverall. However, given the many printed parts in this set, it's reasonable for them to just use a plain blue torso for the racer.


3... 2... 1... AND GO!!!!


This is such a very nice looking vehicle that could be added into Classic Town Race Prix like the 6381 Motor Speedway and the 6395 Victory Lap Raceway. If I could turn back time, I will definitely pick up a few more since its so much affordable, even though I don't have the past retail price, I am confident that small sets like this can't be too expensive.

I hope you have enjoyed this small little race car like I do. Don't mind the giant race car by his side, there are so much development in car racing and it will never be like before. I do miss the old simple racing prix with the baseplates racing across the town.  


Summary review
Playability: 10/10 (You can place it together with other racers from other grand prix.)
Design: 9.5/10 (Simple and nice design with loads of printed parts but the downside was the lack of print on the driver's torso.)
Price: 10/10 (It can't be too expensive for a set with less than 50 parts.)
Overall: 9.8/10 (An enjoyable memorable small race car that is part of the classic golden age.)

I gave it a "5" based on my Review Score Card.   What about yours?

I hope every one of you enjoyed reading this simple review of mine. Comments and Criticisms are strongly welcomed.
Pictures can be found in My Brickshelf (When moderated)

[Zorbas]

Wonderful review Fangy! You always make me feel nostalgic with your classic town reviews!

Beautiful little car! I too own it since my childhood and it has a special place in my heart because it was the very first set I had built after exiting my dark ages and re-opening my childhood's LEGO collection suitcases.

The great thing about this type of F1's was that you could have an entire fleet of those (there were many sets that had this same car type with different numbers) and have a great racing layout.

Thanks again for the brilliant review WF!

WhiteFang, on 19 October 2010 - 03:41 PM, said:

This is such a very nice looking vehicle that could be added into Classic Town Race Prix like the 6381 Motor Speedway and the 6395 Victory Lap Raceway.

WhiteFang, on 19 October 2010 - 03:41 PM, said:

I do miss the old simple racing prix with the baseplates racing across the town.  

  

[WhiteFang]

Zorbas, on 19 October 2010 - 04:10 PM, said:

Wonderful review Fangy! You always make me feel nostalgic with your classic town reviews!

Thanks Zorbas, simply because you are also an avid Classic Town lover.  

Zorbas, on 19 October 2010 - 04:10 PM, said:

http://www.brickshel...wn-sets/abc.jpg

This brings back many fond memories! I really miss these kind of old race settings! Just see how the Sprint Racer leading in the race.  

[Zorbas]

WhiteFang, on 19 October 2010 - 04:14 PM, said:

Just see how the Sprint Racer leading in the race.  

In perfect style!

I really couldn't agree more with the comment you've made regarding the classic town racing layouts in the streets. I love(d) them and I miss them too!
(This image is still one of my favorite official LEGO catalog layouts.)

[CallMePie]

Great review for a good car. I don't know about playability, though. Any set comes through with a 10 in playability with any other set, but on its own, there's not much to do with it.

[Wout]

Great review!   
I have this set too.

I love the simpleness impulse idea about this set, that's why I'm also very happy with the new 3177 small car/smart.
The printing is also very nice indeed.

[simonwillems]

Lovely review of a great little town set. I own one copy and remember assembling it as a six year old boy back in the days...  

That catalog picture is one of my all time favourites as well, and some time ago I tried recreating some of it's beauty here. Albeit on a much smaller scale...  

[Leo-J]

Wonderful review!  

I miss my old sets ...  

[prateek]

Great review. We need a new racing theme, but not too over the top. Just a modern version of this old theme.

[Lumpy03]

I got this car too... So nice !! ^^

[WhiteFang]

Thanks guys for your kind words.  

CallMePie, on 19 October 2010 - 05:04 PM, said:

Great review for a good car. I don't know about playability, though. Any set comes through with a 10 in playability with any other set, but on its own, there's not much to do with it.

I believe the high score which I have given can be rather bias, mainly due to the fact that this was one of the most enjoyable 4-studs wide car that I used to play when I was a child. Lots of nostaligic memories whenever I seen this and I have modifed this set into an attack vehicle.  

Silly, I know. But when you are a child, anything is just possible.  

simonwillems, on 19 October 2010 - 06:26 PM, said:

That catalog picture is one of my all time favourites as well, and some time ago I tried recreating some of it's beauty here. Albeit on a much smaller scale...  

Nice race scene.  

prateek, on 19 October 2010 - 10:17 PM, said:

We need a new racing theme, but not too over the top. Just a modern version of this old theme.

Yes, of course but with the current City direction, we can't really expect race cars to be of that scale anymore. At least, I am very certain it won't be made with just less than 50 parts. Then again, I am liking the idea of having a new race theme that is completely unrelated to Formula One.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the review 'WhiteFang', nothing like the old days of simple Classic Town with it's humble figures and printed parts - ah, memories !
Keep on remembering everyone !

[CallMePie]

WhiteFang, on 20 October 2010 - 02:05 AM, said:

I believe the high score which I have given can be rather bias, mainly due to the fact that this was one of the most enjoyable 4-studs wide car that I used to play when I was a child. Lots of nostaligic memories whenever I seen this and I have modifed this set into an attack vehicle.  

Silly, I know. But when you are a child, anything is just possible.  

With that logic, shouldn't every set have a 10 in playability?  

[WhiteFang]

CallMePie, on 20 October 2010 - 05:06 AM, said:

With that logic, shouldn't every set have a 10 in playability?  

That is actually not a very right logic. In this particular review, this set holds some special meaning, in fact most CT sets tend to sway in that direction, so my rating will definitely skew towards there as well, resulting in its high score.  

There is no right and wrong answer, a matter of Reviewer's opnion. It's how we justify our thoughts.

[Galaxy Explorer]

Thank you for an excellent review! I voted "above average" simply because I'm really not that much into racing themed sets. When this set was released, it seemed the U.S. got all the racing sets, while other places were getting post offices, banks, vacation homes, and other fantastic town sets which I would have loved to add to my town. I still think that this is a great little set, and would make a nice little add-on to 6395 Victory Lap Raceway, which ironically, I own (hey, I got it for nineteen bucks, so I couldn't pass it up). I think it would have been nice to have a printed torso, but considering the amount of printed pieces already included I guess I can't complain.

[CP5670]

Nice, another EB review of my first ever Lego set.

The rare printed parts are easily the highlight of this set. The car design is quite generic, but as you said, the printed pieces are unlike anything we would get today. Almost everything was printed in that late 80s/early 90s time period.

[CarrollFilms]

I remember when I was 4 or 5, I would go into a Shell gas station every couple of weeks and buy some of these, what were they like $3 or $5, I have at least 7.

[Milargo]

CP5670, on 20 October 2010 - 09:07 AM, said:

Nice, another EB review of my first ever Lego set.

The rare printed parts are easily the highlight of this set. The car design is quite generic, but as you said, the printed pieces are unlike anything we would get today. Almost everything was printed in that late 80s/early 90s time period.

The golden age of the Printed Brick.
Sure do miss that age, now we have the age of stickers.
Review some of the new racer sets in twenty two years WhiteFang, and tell us how those stickers are holding up.

Fantastic review to go along with a great little set, adore these awesome old school racer sets.

They've got, that 1980s cool.

Edited by Milargo, 21 October 2010 - 01:44 AM.

[WhiteFang]

Galaxy Explorer, on 20 October 2010 - 08:28 AM, said:

When this set was released, it seemed the U.S. got all the racing sets, while other places were getting post offices, banks, vacation homes, and other fantastic town sets which I would have loved to add to my town. I still think that this is a great little set, and would make a nice little add-on to 6395 Victory Lap Raceway, which ironically, I own (hey, I got it for nineteen bucks, so I couldn't pass it up).

I thought during the 1980s, the US has quite alot of rare Classic Town sets which only made available there. While, the Racing sets are very much available all over the place as it was part of the regular theme.  

Galaxy Explorer, on 20 October 2010 - 08:28 AM, said:

I think it would have been nice to have a printed torso, but considering the amount of printed pieces already included I guess I can't complain.

Especially, considering the fact that in recent sets, what are the probability that you can get a plain simple torso these days.  

CP5670, on 20 October 2010 - 09:07 AM, said:

Nice, another EB review of my first ever Lego set.

It seems this set was one of the first few sets that were owned by many Town AFOLs. I am also one of them too. I supposed this is because of its low price tag which allows us to own it in an affordable manner.  

CP5670, on 20 October 2010 - 09:07 AM, said:

The rare printed parts are easily the highlight of this set. The car design is quite generic, but as you said, the printed pieces are unlike anything we would get today. Almost everything was printed in that late 80s/early 90s time period.

I fully agreed and that time period will always be remembered, knowing its almost impossible to see new sets with printed bricks due to costs.

CarrollFilms, on 21 October 2010 - 12:48 AM, said:

I remember when I was 4 or 5, I would go into a Shell gas station every couple of weeks and buy some of these, what were they like $3 or $5, I have at least 7.

I went to look around and done some late research and it's actually cost a merely USD$2.

Milargo, on 21 October 2010 - 01:43 AM, said:

Review some of the new racer sets in twenty two years WhiteFang, and tell us how those stickers are holding up.

The last time that I applied a LEGO set with stickers were in 2006, and they are now beginning to show signs of peeling at the side.  

I never really applied anymore stickers unless I think its necessary. I never even bother to apply stickers on the F1 Racers and it will probably ends up in a drastic state given the large amount of small stickers.

[bpwilly3]

I used to have this set when I was a child.
When I broke into the professional music industry as a trumpet player I sold away all my leges for a sum of about $5000.  I never thought I would want them again but I did.  Now I have tried to buy them back but that is nearly impossible.
Oh, how I long for the days when the Santa Fe Super Chief or the BNSF engines were only $40 brand new, not $400 brand new.  

[Man with a hat]

That's a really nice review. I love that car. I got the 6604 myself which is great, but I must admit that I like this one better.

Edited by Man with a hat, 15 March 2011 - 05:53 PM.

[Big Cam]

As long as this got bumped, I totally agree with the rating, I own this set and one of my last memories of LEGO before my dark ages was playing with this and a few others I created, its such a simple design that all you need is a chassis and the rest of the pieces are very easy to come by.  This is the kind of set I'd buy in the double digits today.

Great review WF

[Rumble Strike]

Great review, I remember having that set.  The printed "1" piece is especially lovely.

[Deeks]

I have this one, there was another one with a 4 on it as well. I also had 6381 which came with a #2 & #3. The funny thing is, after nearly 20 years in a box, I busted them all out with my nephews just a few months ago and they still rock!