Lego 1974

Greetings Ladies and Gents, today we're going to delve into one of the most cherished Futuron sets, it's the kind of model which, when mentioned, is followed by a trail of forum posts which offer nothing but effusive praise.  Its success may be due in large part to its bundled method of release, but even on its own merits, it is a lovely little ship.  Give it up for Star Quest.

Now, since we're on the topic of bundles today, I struggled with the decision to review the bundle or just deal with Star Quest, because getting the full product is a bit fussy.  In the end, I determined to complete the remainder of the set and finished that up last week.  Here's a picture of the full collection.

See that wagon?  That little wagon easily gets $30 dollars these days, and sometimes more.
Mercifully, the helicopter only commands $8 dollars on Bricklink, though keep in mind.  This box was a $10 dollar bundle at retail.

These days Star Quest alone fetches $10, that's like infinitely more expensive than it was in the box, because the arrow helpfully tells us Star Quest comes extra for free! 

It's amusing to me that the helicopter is the cheapest set in the bundle at resale.  Just goes to show you, Danish brick fans in general hain't got no love for the town...pity, I like the old town theme.

Fortunately for me, I didn't have to buy any of these sets...sort of.  A friend of mine walked into his house and brought out his old Lego sets and bricks, and Tyco pieces (Ew!) promptly burned with fire and otherwise incinerated.  So, I got roughly 90 percent of these sets handed to me just by opening my mouth and raving about Lego too much.

This led me to a quandary.  All these incomplete sets; and the desirable 1974 was buried in the midst.  Here's the price I could get 1974 for online: $48 give or take $5. 

Using Bricklink I ended up spending something north of $30 over two years.  Space first...and the rest after overcoming my shock at how much it was going to cost when I decided to get all of it for this review.  I'm ignoring shipping; it's just a pesky byproduct of the online marketplace.
Unfortunately; I probably would have gotten a better deal buying these sets outright...and they'd have been in better overall condition...mine are 3/4 ratty and 1/4 spiffy.

Somehow, my friend lost or broke the rare and uncommon parts and minifigs, but the ordinary parts survived...WHY?  So be careful when eagerly accepting old Lego from a friend; completing them could be costly and only half as styling as buying them outright.

If you haven't heard of Bricklink yet and you have missing pieces the Lego company can't replace, (You've tried) then you are about to bust a gasket for joy...assuming you love your danish bricks as much as I do.
When you visit make sure to guard your cash...because Bricklink is an amazing resource.  You may only realize how much you've spent after it's all said and done.

First up we have Star Quest.  Here's the picture again in case you forgot what it looks like.

Star Quest comes with a unique Futuron Minifigure.  He's got a white helmet.  There's nothing special about any of his parts, although he could be turned into a black Futuron dude if you felt the need.

Like all Futuron sets Star Quest has moving parts.  The special function here is rising and lowering wings with transparent landing discs. Up front there are two transparent red lasers that enhance the scooters length, and complement its colors.

Overall Starquest has five printed parts and is one of only two Futuron sets to sport the Classic Space logo on a brick; the same brick as before, so it's not unique. 

Unique parts for Futuron include

This helmet in white.  Peeron says black, because someone made an error; deal with it.


And that's pretty much it.

Next up we have FlyerCracker U.S.A.  This helicopter sports a red white and blue color scheme.  Did I mention this three set bundle was a U.S. Exclusive?  Well I did now.  I wonder if its name has diminished its appeal overseas?  Oh well, for whatever reason this is the least expensive classic of 1974.

As helicopters go this one is actually pretty nice, it's got some cool drums behind the cockpit, and an angled hinge plate that together appear strikingly similar to a Bell 47G; as seen below.  I'll grant that the cockpits are different.

Taken from Wikipedia

Flyercracker U.S.A. has the requisite rotating blades and opening cockpit.  In a twist that I've not experienced with my other Helicopters, the sticks are mounted to the window, rather than the main body, I'm not sure I like this as it's harder to give control to the little smiling Lego guy.  But it's a cool tweak to the design.

Perhaps the best feature of this set is its oil drum and tools down on the ground.  We get a handy wrench and a 'whatever that nozzle is supposed to be' with a stand.

Like with Starquest, the Helicopter operator is a unique build.

Since this is not a Futuron set I'll just mention some noteworthy parts.

This shirt is featured in 9 sets, and it had 11 copies available all told.

 

 This bar is the hollow stud variant in white, it showed up in 8 sets and 15 were available.

Flyercracker U.S.A. has two, and as it happens they are complementary to the Futuron theme.

Flyercracker contains 1 of these blue hinge plates, available across 5 sets with 6 parts available.

That's it, no super duper rare parts, but there are some nice additions to your Lego collection, and the handful of white parts will blend in with the Futuron collection if needed.  Perhaps its low price is just an indicator that its parts are easy to find.

Finally, the gem of the 3 pack, Smuggler's Hayride

While restoring my 1974 pack with Bricklink this Castle set took most of the necessary funds.  Somehow all the cool parts had been lost or destroyed. 

The Smuggler's Hayride is from the venerated Forestmen subtheme, and it's basically a horse and cart with a treasure chest, and hay.  There's a nice forest-man who can either guard the disguised cart, or demand the cart owner to show that he hides nothing...and pay the penalty if his ruse is discovered.  For some reason the whip is green...okay?

An attempt to replicate the box art sunset with Lego

The cart comes with some nice extras.  There's a pitchfork, a spear, a bow and quiver, and a saddle with one clip, not two.  The spare feathers were also included on a wheel, but if you don't get them from the reseller, there's a reason for that.

The wagon features rickety swaying bars, and the horse's head swings up and down.  The wagon wheels roll; well, that's a given.

Compared to the other two sets this one has a lot of figures; 3 counting the horse.  Assembling them from bricklink set me back just over $10.  The peasant and forestman are unique builds, and some of their parts are not common.  Even worse...a significant number of people like Castle themes more than other series, so they drive up prices for a Spacer like me; who just wants a complete pack.
Like with all Horses, this one has a plate and brick to fill in its body; extra bricks are always a good thing.

Special parts include this old brown pitchfork.  5 were available in 5 sets.  It has recently been released in reddish brown, but if you want the old brown prepare to pay for it.  I got mine for $4

The other special parts come from a feather wheel.  You get 3 special black feathers; available in four sets.  Their rarity is compounded by their small size, as they were easy to lose.  I paid $20 to get my wheel...so now you know where the money went when I restored this set to 100%.  I have never paid so much for so little.  :(  Unfortunately resellers typically substitute the color when they're being stingy, or only provide the small feather; when they're being polite.  If you see this set for a reasonable price with all the feathers the seller's being generous, or they have no idea what they're giving you.

 

 

Overall the heavy use of black helps to combine Smuggler's Hayride into the Futuron theme as needed.

For what it's worth, I consider 1974 to be one of the best multipacks Lego has ever produced.  And yes, Robin Hood is about to steal a helicopter; Because that's just how he rolls.

Well, that's the bundle, and now I'm ready to build some alternates.

After a hard day of battling Black-tron the Futuron forces send up the 

Boombox Scooter so everyone can chill out to Starman

Do your carrots keep getting eaten?  No worries, because now the Laser guided horse will get you where you need to go in this futuristic new conveyance.

Brick Wars...this is what I did with my Lego as a kid.
I happen to really like Robin hood's laser field cannon.

I had a motley brick collection as a kid, which is partially to blame for my fixation on themes these days...The picture above is indicative of everything that is wonderful and frustrating about Danish multipacks.  There's no need for restraint with creativity, but sometimes too much variety can restrict attempts to finesse things.

Despite the excellent models contained in this collection, it was sold as a sampler pack for new Lego buyers, and cash strapped kids.  It offered a great entry point into three themes and yet it stood the test of time much better than many other multi packs.  No one at the time could have known that the black feathers were going out of production, although they might have guessed Futuron was about to be decommissioned.  In the end 1974 turned out to be a keeper.

Final Score:A-
Pros: Excellent Futuron set, Unique Spaceman, 4 unique minifigs, rare parts
Cons: Pricey, Motley part mix