Review: 4543 Railroad Tractor Flatbed

[jd5775]

Hi everyone this is my first review at Eurobricks, hope you like it.

Basic info:

Set name: Railroad Tractor Flatbed

Set number: 4543

Year released: 1991 (Europe) / 1993 (US)

Number of pieces: 173

Theme: Train/9v

Minifigs: 1

Price: $22.00?

About my set: My mom bought this sometime in the mid 90's from a toy store, I didn't open it until about 2002 and due to lack of space have not pulled it out of its box until recently. All the parts except a few black tiles are the originals to this set.

onto the review

Box:

Front

Back

Side1

Side2

Instructions:

Cover

Random page for tractor

Random page for train flatbed

Catalog:

The front page of the include catalog

The trains page in that catalog, notice how this set doesn't even get acknowledged. You can only see a part of it in the picture.

Pieces:

A few things of note on the pieces are the large variety of wheels and the rare gray train base. The tractor and trailer themselves give you three pairs of different wheels and the train adds four more train wheels.

The gray train base with six holes was only used in this set and the 4558 metroliner and is rather hard to come by.

Also 14 red hinges and 14 red doors.

Minifig:

A simple blue overall worker minifig, nothing special. He gets a broom and a shovel to work with as well as his tractor.

Build:

Tractor:

The build starts with the tractor, shown above is the base. The holes are used for the back wheels which have a technic axle.

A little farther into the build. The technic axle is secured in place, the front spring axle is attached, and the two supports are added at the back.

The beginning of the articulated arm. It uses two turntables on top of each other in order to move freely.

The backhoe articulated arm is finished and attached.

Construction continues, the front loader is attached.

Almost finished with the tractor

The complete tractor, without the trailer.

Trailer:

The trailer is a simple build and only takes up one page in the instruction manual.

The finished trailer.

Finished tractor and trailer together.

Flatbed:

The base

Early on in the building process the hinges and doors are attached.

Wait wait hold the camera, something's wrong!

The bottom of the flatbed

The finished set

Playability:

Relaxing after a long day of work in the tractor

Flatbeds are good for more than just tractors!

Fits 3 intermodal containers!

Pirates use trains too! (Doesn't it look like the tractor is flipping the bird?)

Planes

Wait a minute where did my tractor go?

Oh there it is!

More efficient than the metroliner for carrying passengers!

Can carry both cargo and passengers at the same time!

Hey look its Bob coming to say hi!

Bob is stealing all the tractor jobs in Lego city, he must be dealt with!

The original tractor and the stolen tractor.

Rating:

Based on design, minifigs, playability, price, and parts.

Design: 9/10, I love the design of the tractor and trailer, but the flatbed car is basic and those doors are almost impossible to keep straight!

Minifigs: 5/10, One basic common minifig, boring.

Playability: 10/10, So many possibilities. For a small set it has quite a lot of variety: Construction and trains all in one!

Price: 10/10, $22.00 for this? I think that is a great deal.

Parts: 10/10, 4 different types of wheels, technic and spring axle, lots of hinges and colors. Gray train base.

Overall: 54/60, I feel that this is a really great set to add to not only train but also town layouts.

Thanks for reading!!!

[lightningtiger]

Thanks for the review 'jd5775' of such a handy set for either trains or city !

The back hoe front end loader is so COOL with a cute trailer on the back !

Man, I wouldn't mind adding one of these sets to my train accessory collection.

I'm a conformist! !

[legotrainfan]

Thanks for this review, which was partly hilarous, putting almost everything on the waggon!

The waggon is quite simple in style. Nevertheless, this set offers high playability because of the tractor, and the colour scheme - waggon in red, tractor in yellow - is also great! However, I've always wondered how the tractor gets onto the waggon.

[pinioncorp]

One of the few sets that would actually be improved by the use of the new click hinges. Keeping the sides straight is a real pain! Great indepth review.

[Brickaroo]

Top review, it made me piss myself on several occasions.

Challenge:

Get one of these onto that flatbed and I'll owe you a beer if you're ever in Melbourne

Edited August 30, 2010 by Brickaroo

[The Yellow Brick]

Great review jd5775 ,Shame lego don't release more rolling stock

[vgsprites]

Nice Review jd5775!

This is one of the top 9 volt sets that are on my wish list.

Mainly for the muti-functionality you outlined in the review.

It's a must need for the construction and trains of my city.

I love the effort you put in to the variety of cargo possibilities.

[BillytheKid]

Nice review.

This was mine first long wagon, when I was a child. Only sold it a few years ago. It's a great set see again, but I'm not gonna buy this one again. I have too many wagons already .

[MTM]

Hi,

that was a nice review. The 4543 is my favorite waggon. I own him five times. But the tractor only two times - thats enough. I use the tractor trailer with the 6257 tipper truck. its apart from the wheels the same design.

the beste use for the 4543 is to charge him with bulk, like round plates 1x1 (it fit over 400 on it), but for this you should close the little 1x2 holes in the middle of the bottom.

Greetings MTM

[WesternOutlaw]

that was a nice review.

Hi MTM - welcome to EB. You do realize this is a two-year old review, right? We generally frown on "bumping" old topics but looking at these old sets and reviews is always enjoyable. Just check out the post-dates as many members are not active after posting from a few years back. It is certainly a great set though.

[funkdis]

I own one of this set, however after yesterdays bump I hit up BL and purchsed aprts to make another 4 in light gray color.

[Ferrik]

Thank you for this excellent review. I especially loved the hilarious pictures at the end.

[PsyKater]

Great review, I loved the funny pix at the end!

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Fantastic review!

The tractor is very well made, I like also the trailer!

Great set!

[JopieK]

very nice set, funny review!!! I think those days were better for train enthusiasts.