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paanjang16

Review: 6695 Shell Tanker Truck

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INDEXED

From the year 1984, one small set has been delivering high quality Shell fuel to the citizens of Lego Town and the new Lego City. Although outdated compared to another petrol tanker truck from the petroleum company Octan, dwarfed by ever larger trucks populating the streets, this venerable classic continues to faithfully supply Shell fuel to power the ever-expanding Lego Town and City.

Set Name: Tanker Truck

Set Number: 6695

Year of release : 1984

Number of parts: 106

Price: About USD 15 for used set on Bricklink.

Links

Bricklink

Brickset

Peeron

The picture of the set

6695-1.jpg

This is the picture of the set taken from the instruction manual courtesy of Peeron. As you can see it is a simple set with a prime mover, the Shell minifigure and the tanker trailer at the back.

Random instruction page

3.jpg

Compared to now, Lego used every single sq ft of instruction real estate to ensure the price is right for this set. What a great way to save paper! :thumbup: Also note that the tanker portion is using a whole lot of simple parts instead of using 1 large cylindrical piece. Picture from PICSL

The parts roll-call.

DSC_0348.jpg

There is a huge number of slope pieces to make up the tanker. Note the printed Shell door panels which is common in those days. The wheels are the old type with red wheels.

The minifigure

DSC_0347.jpg

For the minifigure, we have a Lego man with printed Shell logo, blue legs and a red police type hat. The face is classic Lego :classic:

The Shell sticker sheet

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Even in those days, there is the Dreaded Sticker Sheet! You get 2 stickers for the sides of the tanker, 1 for the rear and 2 (1 spare) for the little keypad on the tanker. Picture from Peeron.

The completed set

DSC_0330.jpg

Here is a picture of the completed set showing the prime mover, minifigure inside the cab and the tanker trailer. If there are differences with the set picture, it is the lack of the Shell sticker on the tanker. I have lost the stickers when this set was dissembled years ago. Another reason why printed bricks are better.

The tanker trailer

DSC_0333.jpg

DSC_0334.jpg

The tanker trailer is solidly built by multiple numbers of slope bricks. It has a hose compartment with nozzle on the right side to allow the tanker driver to refuel whoever who might need it. A small keypad 2 plates high is next to the hose compartment to allow the operator to discharged the right amount of fuel. Below the keypad there is a nozzle holder. It has 2 rear lights as well as 2x2 black circular plates to show the hatch into the tanker.

On the bottom of the tanker is the landing gear so that the trailer can be kept upright and level after it has been detached from the prime mover.

The prime mover

DSC_0336.jpg

DSC_0337.jpg

For the prime mover the doors on both sides have a printed Shell logo. From the front it has a 1x2 ladder plate to show the grille of the engine and normal square lights. The yellow round bricks represents the fuel tank of the prime mover.

At the rear the fifth wheel is a black turntable to connect to the trailer. This allows the truck to turn independently like an articulated truck.

Access to the cab

DSC_0338.jpg

The top hatch can be opened to allow easy access to the cab, classic Lego style. :classic:

Connection of the tanker to the prime mover

DSC_0339-1.jpg

Connecting one another is easy as both the prime mover and the tanker is level with each other. Once the tanker is on the turn-table, the landing gear can be retracted.

Another view of the full set

DSC_0341.jpg

This is a view from the left side of the tanker. The items missing include the Shell sticker and logo. As you can see, the hose and fuel nozzle is only on the right side of the tanker.

Application and playability of this set no.1: To supply fuel to racers at Victory Lap Receway

DSC_0335.jpg

It is very clear that this set is meant to compliment the other Shell sets as shown with the Shell F1 racer. Here you can see our operator going to refuel our racer at the raceway.

Application and playability of this set no.2: To supply fuel for heavy equipment

DSC_0344.jpg

Lego produced some extremely large sets recently, and the latest crawler crane is no exception. Indeed, whenever there is a huge machine, there is bound to be a need for a steady reliable supply of fuel needed to run it.

Application other than Lego?

DSC_0346.jpg

Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity to refuel a Shell Ferrari F1 car, our friend here took the trouble to go to Sepang during the recent Grand Prix!

Conclusion

Overall this is a small simple set with a lot of playability. The addition of the Shell door panels and Shell stickers for the rear tank has made this truck almost similar to its real life counterparts. Add in the fuel hose, nozzle and the keypad and nozzle holder and you have a temporary fuel station anywhere! This set is definitely classic material!

The entire tanker design follows the corporate color scheme of Shell whereby the bottom part is yellow with red outline and white at the top. Even without the Shell stickers at the back it is clear it is a Shell tanker from the color scheme. Side by side with the Shell F1 racer, and it is as if both are on the same team (which they are:P)

If you have noticed, my white bricks have yellowed quite a bit. That is after years of play and even more years in storage. But the good news is that all still interlock with each other and the wheels can still turn. :cry_happy:

So in a nutshell:-

Playability: 10/10 Bring it to the city to resupply the petrol station! Refuel Shumi's Ferrari F1 at the Grand Prix! Deliver fuel to the construction site/farm/garage, the possibilities are endless!

Design: 9/10 It has a great simplistic design with articulated trailer, hose compartment and many more, but the need for stickers has made it lose a point.

Minifigure: 8/10 A simple Legoman with a Shell Red hat, classic Lego smile, blue legs and a white shirt with printed Shell logo at the front.

Price: 9/10 At 15 bucks for a used set, it could be a useful addition to any Town or City.

Overall: 9/10 A timeless classic. Could have been better without any stickers, as my set has lost the stickers, but still a great set!

More pictures at my photobucket

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A good set for its time period. They definitely got better at making semis later on, especially in regards to the hitch. The big stickers are a negative point, though, and I believe STAMPs were quite rare at this time. I will definitely get this set at some point in the future; with some updating to the wheels, it'll fit right into my town.

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Application and playability of this set no.2: To supply fuel for heavy equipment

DSC_0344.jpg

This picture makes me smile. Old lego still looks good near new one... How TLC do this?!

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Great little set! A true and wonderful classic tanker truck! Surprisingly, the trailer has only got one axle in contrast to the Octan gas truck 6594. And I like this Shell tanker because it has doors with print. The Octan truck has only got stickers and no print at all.

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I've never manged to got one...back then BL did not exist.

I just had Lego catalogs which I carefully absorbed!

This seems so tiny and cute, back than it was really huge in my eyes :classic:

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Thanks for the good review. Seeing this sure brings back memory. Sadly I lost my set when we moved to New Zealand. Its good to see the photos of the new and old sets. It will be nice if Lego will do an update of this classic.

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That is a beautiful little tanker. Unfortunately, the only tanker I own is 6594, but an updated version of 6695 (or more probable, a MOC inspired by it) would rock... I'm still working on unpacking after my move, but let's see if I can through something together in the next week or so.

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There is something special about these early 80's sets, they remind us all of simple times as a child. Not like the silly TownJr of the late 90's, but purely a humble 4 wide truck with big wheels and it did look like a petrol tanker. When this came out I had left Lego behind for electronics as a hobby, so I missed out on this cool set. Would worked well with my old 377 Shell servo from 1978, but by 1984 that was long gone.

Anyway, thanks for the review 'paanjang16'. :thumbup:

I must say to at least back then a DSS was small and only carried what was required, it was not over done. Says alot for printed parts doesn't it.

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This set really brings me back. I love the old shell sets, its a brand I wish LEGO never parted from. I have a few shell sets from my childhood, that I need to dig up.

Great review, just the way we teach them.

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Even in those days, there is the Dreaded Sticker Sheet! You get 2 stickers for the sides of the tanker, 1 for the rear and 2 (1 spare) for the little keypad on the tanker. Picture from Peeron.

Here is a picture of the completed set showing the prime mover, minifigure inside the cab and the tanker trailer. If there are differences with the set picture, it is the lack of the Shell sticker on the tanker. I have lost the stickers when this set was dissembled years ago. Another reason why printed bricks are better.

I own this set's predecessor (671) and the stickers got lost along the way for me as well. Most of the other stickers from my childhood survived (some in not too good condition, another reason for preferring printed bricks), so I guess the fact that the stickers on 671 but also on 6995 stretch across multiple bricks is the main reason for their loss. TLG has done better in that respect in recent years, although 10184 Town Plan still features stickers across multiple bricks.

Nice review of a classic little town set.

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Great set for the time period, I wish Lego would make more sets like these simple yet able to fit into ones layout. I know there is a tanker coming out in 2010 but a lot of the semi's have been HUGE lately.

Great Set I had the Exxon version

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Here's the North-American version of the 6695 Shell Tanker, the 6696 Exxon Tanker:

6696-1.jpg

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