Review: 6753 Highway Transport

[Siegfried]

Welcome to my mega 6753 review! Please note that these are shown in the order I built them so I can't provide additional photos of the first two models. (Unless I have already taken it, which is possible.) First off...

Car Carrier

This is the primary model of the set and it uses the greatest percentage of parts. (No model uses all the parts.) It's sparse on details aside from the front and interior, but I think it's still a quite good looking truck.

The top opens up to provide internal access.

Inside there's the expected seats and steering wheel, as well as a coffee machine in a potentially dangerous place. I expected a sleeper cab, but the steering took up the room for that.

Steering? Yes! It works OK and it's fun to use while "parking" the trailer. The steering circle isn't best, but it's still a nice feature for a Creator model.

The "Fifth wheel" looks the part and works OK as well, but you can see here the lack of much other detail in this area.

The trailer has supports so it will stay level when disconnected. The set comes with two cars which fit on the bottom...

...or the top. As you can see the ramp isn't needed to hold up the second level; the beams in the middle do that. If you pull the pin forward...

...the top angles down allowing cars to "drive" off. TLG advertises 6743 Street Speeder as being compatible with this set.

I like the look of the cars; especially the white one. The headlights are one of my favourite parts.

I'm assuming the panel on the red car is supposed to look like an air scoop, but it doesn't really work for me.

Construction-wise the cars are pretty much squares with some front SNOT as distraction. For the most part I think it's effective.

The scale in this set is weird; I looks to be about the right size for a Technic man...

...but it's not. (I think it's mostly due to a lack of leg room.)

Walrus scale seems wrong too.

The cars are even worse! Clearly the cars are too small for the truck, mostly due I think to the trailer being too small. It's understandable why (price), but for this reason it's not an accurate model.

On the other hand, scale is a common problem with LEGO, as Speed Racer proved.

Tow Truck

It's a nice big heavy duty tow truck... so why is it paired with a sports car?

Let's get this out of the way; I messed up with the back of the car. I only realised it today. Just imagine the back SNOT plates being a stud higher.

The tow truck is probably the best detailed model of the three. The side fuel tanks in particular look great! They are actually built at a half stud offset so they align correctly.

I don't think the car (even from the front) is as successful as the smaller ones. The squareness is too pronounced due to the extra width.

Imagine a crash. Screeech! Smash! Crash! Oh look; the rear of my car is mangled. Wake up!

First we deploy the winch....

...extend the boom...

...and connect the car.

With the winch pulling...

...the car is brought up to the wheel lift...

...but we're not quite making it. I wonder why.

Oh look; the rear end is drooping. That was some crash!

We'll need to lift it higher...

...and then retract the boom.

Hurrah! You'll stop cheering when you see the bill; why you called a truck this big is quite beyond me.

Once again this has a confusing scale; the car is clearly not Technic man scale, but the truck seems to be. The roof in this model is not removable... and what's that two-gears-on-an-axel supposed to be anyway?

The boom in this model is especially nice. It extends smoothly even though it seems rather short. The boom can be set low...

...or high by moving the strut.

The boom has a locking function, like the winch, but annoyingly it slips when the rope is under tension.

When retracted the boom drops though this hole; for this reason the boom can't be much longer.

Mobile Crane

I love cranes. I love this photo too; from the thumbnail it looks like a real crane... or maybe it's just me. Anyway let's extend the boom...

...whoa; look at that bend! OK, I'm getting ahead of myself.

All things considered, I think it's a good looking crane. (Please ignore the lifted plate....) As usual TLG make the boom too short, but as an alternate model I think it's quite good.

Probably not the windshield though. Nice solution, but it just looks too weird to me. No easy access to the cabin in this model either, so I'll be skipping the scale rant. (It looks close to Fabuland scale, and I tried to fit myself in the crane cab but my bottom was too big.)

The rear looks good though.

The crane has a decent height capability. The boom doesn't lock in any way, but there is a grey pin provided which I saw as the given solution. It's clunky but it does work. (It's probably better than the 7249 lets-make-the-outer-too-small method.) The boom elevation is "locked" by two 2x4 plates which give you two settings. (Ignore the third one for now.)

The usual brush-leaning-on-a-gear method is used to brake the hook. It has stablisers too. In...

...and out. Hardly impressive or effective I know, but still! (Circular engine? Gas turbine?)

I'm not normally one to show construction photos, but this I thought was notable. There is no turntable provided with this set; so they make one from what's in the set!

The carrier has an axle which connects to the cylinder in the center...

...which is then re-enforced. Does it work well?

First of all, it's time to get back to that 2x4 plate. I wanted to be able to hold the boom lower, so I used a spare plate from the set to create an extra option! (Isn't LEGO great!)

As you can see, the turntable lifts. This is because of the lack of counterweight (in a real crane, or a good model, the black part will be heavier), and to a lesser degree due to the weakness of the turntable. So it works OK, but not as good.

Pushing on the boom just a bit makes it worse. Maybe that's why there isn't normally a plate there?

So is it a good crane? Let's compare! Enter 8288 Crawler Crane. It seems to have about the same height.

Well at first anyway!

Next; radius! Looks close!

Close enough I think.

Weight? I'd rather not; chance of part damage is too great, especially outside. But I will do the Domo test! Setting the weight over the center of the chassis as much as possible 6753 takes the load!

It is clear though that the turntable will fail soon.

Up goes Domo again!

No problem this time.

Time to let Domo rest I think.

Ratings

Functions:

Car Carrier: Steering, opening door, removable roof, removable trailer, ramps move on trailer

Tow Truck: Boom elevation, braked boom extension (geared), opening doors, braked winch

Mobile Crane: Boom elevation, boom extension, braked winch, crane slew without turntable piece

This set is a perfect example of the flexibility of LEGO. 10/10

Parts:

Nothing hugely exciting, but it's a great mix. 9/10

Price:

At $149.99 AUD for 1294 parts it's a good deal. Not as good as some prices of yesteryear, but that's life! (I got mine for $100.) 9/10

Looks:

All of the models look quite good, but they all have their flaws. 7/10

Fudge:

Creator sets are a masterpiece. This set in particular contained special parts (such as the rope) especially for the alternate models. I like that. These sets are always a great buy as you know that they are good for more than just one model. However this set has one major defect; the yellow. I'm not one to go on about this too much, but the consistency of the colour wasn't good. The mudguard pieces seemed semi transparent. 8/10

Overall: Buy! 8/10

Notes: I've been working on this since last year; I was delayed due to a house move. I ended up restarting so photos would be consistent thus this review is a lot later than I wanted. The set is still available, but I wanted this done last year. Sorry...

Edited September 30, 2010 by Siegfried
Indexed

[CP5670]

Great review. Despite the odd scales, all three models seem to have had quite a bit of thought put into them, which is rare to see. I especially like the tow truck, as the level of detail on it is comparable to Model Team.

However this set has one major defect; the yellow. I'm not one to go on about this too much, but the consistency of the colour wasn't good. The mudguard pieces seemed semi transparent.

I was planning to get this set for sure when I first saw the previews, but this is why I eventually ended up passing on it. There was another review that complained about it too.

[prateek]

Very cool! I was unaware at how awesome the alternate models are!

[Plastic Nurak]

The crane is an interesting mix of Model Team style with early Technic school (1977-80).

[Skafte]

I knew I should have tried the alternate builds instead of just sorting the pieces into my spares collection.

Great review with beautiful outdoor pics!

[Rufus]

Thanks for the entertaining and informative review Sieggy!

I too didn't know how great the alternative models are. This set has been on my radar for a while but there's always been something more demanding of my cash. You might just have made it a must-buy!

As regards the colour consistency: I've found yellow to be a particular offender here. My 6745 Propeller Power has two 2x4 bricks that seem a quite dirty shade of lemon yellow compared to the rest of the bricks which are more orangey.

BTW I think you have the same picture twice! This one.

[Siegfried]

Great review. Despite the odd scales, all three models seem to have had quite a bit of thought put into them, which is rare to see. I especially like the tow truck, as the level of detail on it is comparable to Model Team.

I agree. I must admit that it impressed me less after I made it!

Very cool! I was unaware at how awesome the alternate models are!

I think TLG should re-consider the way they advertise these sets as a lot often say the same.

The crane is an interesting mix of Model Team style with early Technic school (1977-80).

Yes, I was quite impressed with the crane actually. In many ways I think they should have made it the primary.

Great review with beautiful outdoor pics!

Thanks, it's my new hobby! With larger models it's too hard to get good light inside so I've been cheating more and more. As an added bonus you can try to make things look "real".

BTW I think you have the same picture twice! This one.

Err... thanks. I'm surprised I missed that one. I've fixed it now.

[WhiteFang]

This is a very nice looking outdoor review!

Thanks for sharing all of the 3 different built. To be honest, I don't really fancy the mega highway transport trailer but instead I prefer those sleek looking sports cars including the Tow Truck alternate sports car. I am very sure you have taken quite a long time to assemble and disassemble the entire set.

[Lasse D]

Great review as always.

You say the vehicles have some scale problems, but I think the cars are in almost the same scale as the truck. It is the seats that hare a bit too small in the cars, where leg room has been sacrificed.

[Avenger]

Great review, I think I need to get this set, looks good!

[TheRedGuy]

Nice review!I guess I will be getting this set mostly for parts,because I have a bunch of mocs that isn't even completed because of the lack of parts.By the way,nice Domo!