REVIEW: 846 Lighting Bricks

[Section8]

Name - Lighting Bricks

Theme - Basic

Year - 1992

Pieces - 37

Price - $18.00 USD

Here is my first review, set #846 Lighting Bricks. I picked this up MISB a few years ago for more than twice its original price, if I remember correctly. It is technically in the Basic theme, not System Town, but since the unique pieces are largely of interest to Town fans, I am posting the review here. This set was basically an accessory pack for the L&S system and did not come with any generic bricks or even a battery box. Since this was released in 1992, during the heyday of the 9V L&S system, battery boxes were not in short supply and could be found in Basic, Town, Space, Train and Technic sets.

Box and Instructions

Front of Box

A nice layout of the parts, with the old 9V logo and Basic logos.

Back of Box

A few basic style models along with a disclaimer in many languages stating the bricks to build these models are not included.

Side of Box

Since this is a supplemental/Basic set, the part inventory is printed on the side of the box. Note: you actually get three of each colored globe except yellow, which you get seven. The bricks are all transparent and the plates are all the electric conductive plates with their ingenious design (you could never short-circuit the system no matter which way you attached them).

Inner Flap

I don't recall seeing this set in stores ever in the United States, so I find the inclusion of a flap and display tray odd. Perhaps those in other countries can verify whether it was available in stores there? I only remember seeing it in S@H catalogues. Nevertheless, it contains more information about the 9V system, stating that a battery and battery box is required to use this set, and shows how to assemble the bricks. The tray also shows off some of the more unique bricks, including the eight signs.

Instructions

The set comes with a single double-sided page of 'instructions'. One side has a very Basic-esque town in the dark to show the bricks in use; the other side has close-ups of the bricks in the set and diagrams showing how to assemble them and change from steady to flashing lights. (Both images from Peeron)

The set also came with the ad flyer from 1992. Peeron says the set is 1993, other sources say 1992, I'm going with the flyer, which highlights the sets new in 1992.

Parts

The pieces were listed above so you have a general idea of what's in the set. Most of the parts are transparent bricks to cover the lights. The real gems of the set are the eight printed sign bricks. They are all town themed and, except for the construction and arrow signs, available only in this set. Those two signs are found in the 6481 Construction Crew set. The light bars are also in 6481 as well as three other sets. They consist of a white brick with a clear, inseparable insert that transmits light to the three studs on the front.

The signs are composed of two parts, a standard-white back and a translucent-white front with the sign printed on it.

The base of the signs, as well as the 1x8 light bar, have multiple holes to allow for placement over both the 1x2 brick with single light and the 1x4 brick with two lights, as shown below.

Action Shots

Now for the fun part!

Auto Repair and Octan signs

Arrow and Construction signs (same two found in 6481)

Fire and Police station signs

Do Not Enter and Parking signs

Trans-Red and Trans-Blue 1x2 bricks on bulbs, these give off a lot of light!

Light bar with globes, you can see it gets dimmer the further from the bulb the globe is. You could mitigate this by adding a second light at the other end, but I'd rather use it for a whole other light bar

Conclusion

I obviously liked this set enough to buy it on the secondary market; the Octan sign was what basically sold me on it. The other signs are useful to me, except the Fire station ones (my town currently lacks a fire station set). I look forward to picking up a few older sets that would go well with them (Metro Park and Service Tower for the Parking one, for instance). The light bars have many uses including in non-town sets as their appearance in some space sets show. They give off a more diffuse light while uncovered, making them good for interior lighting. The trans-bricks are a bit harder to use than the globes for giving off colored light, but they are welcome additions to the set.

There was definitely room for improvement. A 1x4 brick with 2 bulbs would have been welcome, and a siren would have increased its usefulness to space fans. I would have liked to see some signs for the space theme. A light up M-Tron or Blacktron II logo would have been great, especially since L&S was used in the latter theme.

Overall score 4/5

EDIT: rebuilt review with pictures hosted on MOCpages; minor revisions.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Section8

[Rick]

Thanks for the extensive review. Too bad it only contains two light bricks. Looks like a fun set nonetheless.

[CP5670]

I always wanted this set as a kid. It appears in many catalogs from that time, although I never saw it in stores either. The parking and car/wrench signs are from 6394, and the Octan and blue arrow signs come in a number of sets.

The reflector brick with 3 lights is a cool piece. I have several of them from space sets, but as you say the furthest light is noticeably dimmer than the closest one.

I hope TLG makes PF versions of these things eventually. The lights themselves are especially nice, as they have a convenient brick-like profile (unlike the current PF lights) and flash if you flip them over.

Edited September 17, 2009 by CP5670

[Milan]

Very good first review!

And nice set. It looks like it can add lots of fun to our Towns!

[Big Cam]

I never knew LEGO did anything like this, and it's really impressive actually. Great review too, I like how you got pics of the signs lit up. That's usually challenging. I'm jealous.

[WesternOutlaw]

Excellent review Section8! I had never seen this set before, so it's a real treat to do so. I love the light-up signs.

This review deserves a BLOG!

[Section8]

I always wanted this set as a kid. It appears in many catalogs from that time, although I never saw it in stores either. The parking and car/wrench signs are from 6394, and the Octan and blue arrow signs come in a number of sets.

Yes, printed parts with those designs are fairly common. However, I was referring to the actual sign part with the translucent front and not just the printed design itself. The light-up bricks with these designs are not found anywhere else, as those sets you mentioned are not L&S. The two light-up bricks in 6481 are the exact same pieces because it is a L&S set.

I never knew LEGO did anything like this, and it's really impressive actually. Great review too, I like how you got pics of the signs lit up. That's usually challenging. I'm jealous.

Thanks! I found that a nearly dark room (left my computer monitor on) worked so long as the camera was a decent distance from the light up parts. The pictures of the signs were cropped down from 1024 x 768, that's how far away the camera was from the bricks. It also helps that the light from them is somewhat diffuse. Compare the shot of the translucent bricks to the the ones of the signs.

Excellent review Section8! I had never seen this set before, so it's a real treat to do so. I love the light-up signs.

This review deserves a BLOG!

Thanks!

[CP5670]

Yes, printed parts with those designs are fairly common. However, I was referring to the actual sign part with the translucent front and not just the printed design itself. The light-up bricks with these designs are not found anywhere else, as those sets you mentioned are not L&S. The two light-up bricks in 6481 are the exact same pieces because it is a L&S set.

Yeah, I was just referring to the printed graphics, not the pieces themselves. They could probably be used as straight replacements for the equivalent printed tiles in those sets. (although they aren't the same shape as the tiles so it would take a bit of work to rig them up)

Edited September 17, 2009 by CP5670

[Klaus-Dieter]

Thank you very much for this great review, Section8!

I didn't know that there was a set that containes only light bricks - and even that many and in that many different sizes, colors and designs!

They look really awesome!

Klaus-Dieter

[steele]

I never knew a tubeless 1x2 brick fit over a bulb brick like that---will have to try that with my XT Starship.

[prateek]

Great review, but I'm also disappointed that it only comes with 2 light bricks

[Section8]

They could probably be used as straight replacements for the equivalent printed tiles in those sets. (although they aren't the same shape as the tiles so it would take a bit of work to rig them up)

Right, they are not a standard height, and I'm pretty sure when you add the light and connector plate to the bottom they still aren't an even number of bricks tall.

Great review, but I'm also disappointed that it only comes with 2 light bricks

Same here. Not having a 1x4 light brick seems like a glaring omission, but I guess those were the most common version at the time of the set, while the 1x2 were less common. According to Peeron, the 1x2 light brick appeared in 6 System sets: 2 Basic sets (including 846), and 2 replacement parts packs, or 10 sets total, all in white. The 1 x 4 light brick with 2 lamps appeared in 18 sets, with 3 appearances in black; 2 appearances were just a parts pack. A few occurrences of each type were in the same sets (6481 L&S Construction Crew for one).

Also, a question to a mod or anyone else: why doesn't this topic come up in search results for '846'? Other set reviews do when you search for just the set number. It was the lack of hits in a search for 846 that led me to create this review, as I thought it had not been reviewed.

Edited November 28, 2009 by Section8

[lightningtiger]

Right, they are not a standard height, and I'm pretty sure when you add the light and connector plate to the bottom they still aren't an even number of bricks tall.

Same here. Not having a 1x4 light brick seems like a glaring omission, but I guess those were the most common version at the time of the set, while the 1x2 were less common. Peeron is currently down so I can't confirm this, though I have 3 L&S town sets plus the last 2 monorails released and none of them had a 1x2 light brick.

Also, a question to a mod or anyone else: why doesn't this topic come up in search results for '846'? Other set reviews do when you search for just the set number. It was the lack of hits in a search for 846 that led me to create this review, as I thought it had not been reviewed.

I suspect the wired connector be 1 plate thickness, the globe brick looks like double plate thickness, hence together 1 brick in total height. So I believe it would even out.

By the way Peeron is running as I write this (I popped over quickly to check) and it's okay.

[Section8]

I suspect the wired connector be 1 plate thickness, the globe brick looks like double plate thickness, hence together 1 brick in total height. So I believe it would even out.

Your post intrigued me enough to dig out the set and check the heights. For the lighting bricks, the base is 2 plates high, and the lamp is 2 plates high. With a colored globe on top it is over 4 but less than 5 plates tall. The sign bricks are 5 plates high (1 - 2/3 bricks). With the light and a connector plate in it, it is 8 plates (2 - 2/3 bricks) tall. If you attached a 9V wire to the lamp instead of a single plate, it would be exactly 3 bricks tall as the 9V wired connector is 2 plates tall. You could also use one of the 1x2 electric plates to make it even. Hope this clears things up!