Rare Technic sets

[Brandon Miller]

What are some rare Technic and Model Team sets from the mid 80s to mid 90s? I have all of my old sets and was just curious. I have no desire to part with any of mine, just wondered if any were rare or not. Below is a list of some of what I have.

Model Team:

5510 Off Road 4x4

5580 Highway Rig

5590 Whirl and Wheel Super Truck

5591 Mach II Red Bird Rig

Technic:

8836 Sky Ranger

8838 Shock Cycle

8849 Tractor

8853 Excavator

8857 Street Chopper

8858 Rebel Wrecker

8862 Backhoe

8868 Air Tech Claw Rig

8880 Super Car

[Blakbird]

It's pretty hard for anyone to answer since LEGO has never released information on how many of any particular set they have made. However, judging by resale prices and availability, virtually all Model Team sets could be called rare, with 5571 being the king. For Technic sets, rarity is typically related to part count since fewer children could afford the larger sets. Of those you listed, the three largest are the most valuable and hard to obtain. There are a couple sets which were only available in a certain country (like 1972, 8847, or 8858) which are very difficult to find. Promotional sets are also relatively rare. Some of this is discussed on Technicopedia.

[Freekysch]

I do think the Model Team ones are kinda of rare, i do not know what to say about the technic ones (beside they are awesome )

[Carrera124]

Imho, I think that the following sets are a little bit rare:

1924, 1972, due to limited distribution

857, 8858-1 (motors), 8846 and 8054, due to rather short periods of availability.

E.g. 8054 has been released during summer 1989 and was replaced by 8064 only one year later.

8846 was listed only 1982 and 1983, while 857 can be found only in 1979 and 1980 catalogs.

Model Team sets don't seem to be rare to me. As long as money isn't a problem, BL and Ebay offer almost every MT set in whatever condition you like, even quite a number of MISB ones have survived so far. Ony 5563 and 5571 seem to be an exception of this rule.

And I believe that many MT sets were built only once for static display purpose, which means that a large number of used sets are in nice condition: complete with extra parts, bricks never mixed up with other sets, and original box.

[Paul B Technic]

I think it is really hard to work out what are rare sets simply because LEGO do not release sales figures :(

[nicjasno]

I'd say the rarity can be determined on the market availability. The less sets for sale on the net, the rarer it is.

[Freekysch]

I think a major factor in the rareness of a set was its popularity. For example, the 8285 Tow Trucks is somehow a rare set, because it was not a favorite of it's time, and because 2006 was not a very good year for Lego Technic in general.

[MrTekneex]

Of the ones you listed I do not know what to tell you is the rarest, but I can tell you the ones that I own: 8838 & 8868 ... and what I would like to have: 8880 & 8862

Edited November 28, 2013 by djshiver

[peter_m]

41999 will be rare soon...

[Junpei]

41999 is already rare, at least at a good price from all those resellers... I'll probably never get a 41999 now.

[edmau5]

I have the 8842 Go Kart but have no idea on the rarity of it

[LegoPanda]

41999 is already rare, at least at a good price from all those resellers... I'll probably never get a 41999 now.

it was rare when it was made, only 20000 were produced

[Erik Leppen]

I'd say the rarity can be determined on the market availability. The less sets for sale on the net, the rarer it is.

Er, yes, that's kind of the definition of rarity :D

[1974]

858 is probably the most rare set of all. There a few sets with limited worldwide release like 1924, 1972 and 8847 (those were in a two year span btw, don't know of any other non-regular releases)

1972 was US only but I do remember buying it in Denmark when I was a kid. Just got one again somehat accidently a few weeks ago. It was probably not hard to get in Denmark back then I reckon. I guess nobody (including TLG) knows ...

Every other set ever released can be found on BL/ebay etc ..

I think Technic sets ('cept that darn 41999) were made in rather significant numbers, meaning hundreds of thousands. Some might be hard to get today on BL/ebay but that is just because people are not willing to sell them

[Carrera124]

1972 has also been released in Germany, as kind of "getting started with Lego Technic" campaign. Nevertheless, you can't find it as easy as other sets from that era.

[RobNL]

It is also what you define as rare, is it just the Lego or a complete set with box and manual. For the last i can add the following as rare

- Supplemental sets 877, 878, 879. The pieces are very common, but the box of those sets i have only seen once or twice (in case of 878). I think they didn't sell much and the box is useless to store parts so most people threw it away.

- 880001, the both sets included are very common, but the package including the stopwatch i've never seen again after i bought mine.

- 1924 as mentioned (US exclusive) is quite hard to find

- 858 (motor set) this is the one i'm missing, only saw it once in an auction after it ended ... still hoping to find one to complete my collection.

- The Kabaya sets from Japan. There european countersets are common as you can get, but the Japanse versions are another story

- 1268, US version of the common 1259

- 8858 (motor set) is not that rare as there are several on Bricklink (most of the above are not there in complete condition) but is still hard to find

- Other US 'exclusives' are also more difficult to find.

- 1237, Japanse exclusive altough there are several on BL now.

41999 is not rare, it is just expensive

None of the Model Team sets is rare in my opinion, you only have to pay the premium most of the time for 5571 and 5563 because of the damn wheels ...

Edited November 29, 2013 by RobNL

[Cwetqo]

1972 was my first Technic set. I got it when we were visiting Austria, so its seem that it was available there too

[jg711]

When i bought the 8880 in christmas 2012 i bought immediately 2 mint in box for 75 euro each.

Then it wasnt rare, now it is a bit more rare.