Victory Lap Raceway
Set information:
Community rating:
4.8
(15 votes)
Theme:
Review's author:
 |
Place:
Poland
Joined:
2015, jan 21
Seen:
13d 6h |
|
Views: |
62926 |
|
Published: |
2016, apr 2 23:09 |
Related pages:
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BrickSet |
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Toys Period |
 |
Toys Period - instruction |
Introduction
Race cars has always occupied a special place as a toys. Every boy in his childhood played with joy on his face with such a car. No wonder that racing sets in Lego were quite frequently released. In addition, a lot of alternative racing vehicles were designed for ordinary car sets. Please take a look here. You can see how much designs are actually available for racing - not only original vehicles, but a lot of these alternatives.
I invite you to read the review of 6381-1: Motor-Speedway set first, which was released a year earlier and started the racetracks in Lego sets.
Lets get back to the set reviewed here - it is definitely spectacular. Personally, I always wanted to have it and I spent a little bit of time hunting for it. Two street plates joined with one long grandstand with the footbridge. Four racing cars and one repair-assistance truck with a trailer for towing. Add couple of street plates to it and we have a brilliant race track. This set dates from the times of reign of Shell in sets of Lego. It is even possible that this set has larger amount of promotional stickers and printings. Four large inscriptions on the stands, three marks on the truck and two mechanics with Shell logo. Definitely logo occurrences are often. This set was presented in two excellent presentations. The first from 1989 year, which can be found in a catalog and on flyers also. It represents quite a big town with several large sets of Metro Park, the police station and fire brigade. However, the key element here is the racetrack, which comes in full circle. The main plan takes the Shell racer, which was released as a separate small set in 6503-1: Sprint-Racer.
It is noteworthy that presentation from US catalogue was different, although the same effect was used as the foreground.
The second presentation is from 1990, where at the first plan is a restaurant, but race track is still main element here. Finish line however, is visible back in the distance.
Packaging
It is good to know how Lego sets were served back in the '80s. Large cardboard box with drawer and flap in size of the entire packaging. The effect was quite different when you could open the box before you bought it and see additional photos of the set, along with the contents of the box behind the transparent foil. Originally, of course, the bricks were packaged in perforated foil and there was the plastic plate with the grooves for couple of most interesting bricks, which was imposed on the smaller drawer (for that it actually was designed for). You will not see it in the picture below, because I do not have it. Full gallery is located in the third tab at the bottom of this page.
Vehicles
There are five vehicles available in the set. One truck and four racers.
Service
truck has a standard hook on the back adapted to the special blue tow trailer, which is one big element, surprisingly for 80s! It is not composed of bricks, this is one big part with old metal axle for wheels. The only thing which you can detach are the tires. The trailer has a curved entrance and a special place for two wheels so that the towed vehicle will not fall for sure. Racers are so low-profiled vehicles, that they are not able to drive independently on the tow trailer, even that it do not have high entrance. They simply block because of a long front bumper. Unfortunately, even with the use of special part, trailer still does not fully meet its function. Finally, you simply need to raise the racer by yourself and put it on the trailer or attach it to the towing hook and hope that it will be pulled into place. However, when you place the vehicle on a trailer, the grooves for the small
wheels visible at the front will effectively immobilize it. This element of the trailer is successful and it would not be able achieve using regular bricks. Probably, this was the reason why it was decided to create such a special plate for a trailer. The
truck has interesting resources, because the hook (plain small brick with a handle) on the rope wrapped on a wide
roll is available at the back. In addition, two containers on both sides. One has a spare wheel, and a fire extinguisher is located in second. Service truck can be used for mobile support on the racetrack with no problem. Quick tires exchange, putting out a small fire or finally towing away the wreckage after the crash on a trailer.
Racing cars are the main element of the
whole set. What would be the finish line, the grandstands, or pit-stops
without the most important element - the cars and drivers racing on the track! There are four race cars, each different, but constructed exactly in the same way. Pattern used here has also been used in one other set only - an independent race car 6503-1: Sprint-Racer. Nevertheless,
the structure is trivial and ordinary bricks have been used to construct it,
so there is no problem to create more of them if
necessary. One special block was used, 2x3 slope brick with number printed on the front.
You can always use an ordinary brick and it will be good as well! Four racing cars are included with inscriptions from 1 to 4 at the front. White, black, blue
or red - they are easy to distinguish from each other even though they are
exactly the same. Drivers are also dressed in different colors, even though everyone is in suit with helmet of the new type already having the glass.
There are 13 figures available in this set! It is a set with the largest number of figures in whole Town theme. Airport 6396-1: International-Jetport has 8 figures, big train like 7745-1: High-Speed-City-Express has 10 figures, even the largest sets like 6399-1: Airport-Shuttle or 6597-1: Century-Skyway have 12 figures, and here we have 13!
This is simply due to requirements which the race track had put. Each figure has its purpose and its place in here. I have already mentioned about four drivers of racing cars, in addition we have seven employees and only two viewers really. The audience is a woman dressed in a blue suit with stripes and a man in a blue cap with the logo of the car on a shirt.
The employees are:
Three mechanics - two individuals with red caps and Shell logo on the chest and one person in black worker apron. They operate two pit stops and drive the service truck.
They can be properly replaced. In my presentation, mechanic in a black apron supports one pit-stop, where mechanics with Shell logo are handling second pit-stop and the service truck.
Cameraman - operates professional camera recording the course of the race.
Control tower operator - the person steering the course of the race from the control tower through the scoreboard hanging on the footbridge
The judge - a person in a red jacket and white cap, which holds the end of the race flag. If you need, you can also use it to start the race, as I did in the gallery below. Nevertheless checkered flag in black and white means the end of the race.
Medic - the last employee who has stretcher available and is invaluable in an emergency. He can not be mistaken, because he have a medical coat with a red cross - the standard for 80s. He is the only one with a red narrow peaked cap. Everyone on the race track feel definitely safer when there is a specialist at the place.
Structure
Most striking in this set are definitely grandstands and footbridge over the racetrack. A big red plates can accommodate up dozens of viewers willing to watch the race. The boards are wide for 6 studs, of which four are practically available for the audience. This is definitely a lot. The whole structure is based on two 32x32 plates, both with the same printing of the finish line and with depot. Big board hangs on the footbridge to control the race and display some results.
The board has a movable element in the form of arrows. You can dynamically change the direction of the race. You simply need to move up the part to the top and there are two arrows directing to the left instead of up. Array of LEDs are also present on the board for start countdown along with two timers to display some results. This brick with time decoration is a standard one to display current time, although in this case I suspect that it was not about to display time of the best lap for example. At the top, however, it is rotatable ball with four numbers for each raqcer which pass the finish line. Interesting solution and and easy to use.
The main grandstands are partially covered and have standing spots, if we can call it like that. There are certainly no seats available.
Control tower is present at the end of the stands, where the operator has a rather rare yellow telephone and ordinary blue computer to manage and control the race through display board. He sit on yellow rotatable chair. It is all what we can find on the upper floor. It is worth mentioning about stairs, which are built using ordinary bricks and are analogous to those included in the 6399-1: Airport-Shuttle set at the entrance to the railway station from the city section.
The great thing is that you can do normal stairs with usage of ordinary bricks. No need to use one big part, as it unfortunately started to appear in newer sets like LEGO-7937-1 for example.
Pit-stop - at the bottom, under the stands, you can find even more curiosities.
Two pit stops for quick repairs and wheels exchanging are available. Four places are designated, two for one pit-stop. Nothing stands in the way to exchange a tire in the formula in one place and to make quick repairs at the second place. Mechanic has full range of assortment.
The first station has a rack in yellow color, which includes the hammer, wrench, shortwave and a fire extinguisher.
Car jack is available albo along with the fuel tank. That's not all, because the mechanic has a cart with two tires available.
In the 80s there was no special small wheels under the carts, which were created later and can be found in 6397-1: Gas-N-Wash-Express set from 1992. In this case, the wheels are made using small round flat bricks. Nothing fancy. Although wheels were not rotating, the desired effect was achieved - a small cart on small wheels.
The second pit-stop is analogous with a slight difference, rack and the cart is blue. Behind the racks with tools is an additional axle on which you can attach two wheels, specially designed for these additional four pieces,
which is better to have them placed the carts during the race. However, after you've finished playing, it is possible to attach those wheels on the axles behind the racks. Very good idea, so that you can avoid getting them lost in the abyss of the room, where eventually may turn out that they got swallowed by crazy vacuum cleaner.
Cameraman - that's not all, because on the other side, just behind the stairs a professional stand for the cameraman is located. In this case, you can do with the camera literally everything. Turn, drop down or even move. The whole structure is based on a flat plate with a length of 12 studs composed of four bricks, of which gives you 10 studs wide movement of the cameraman stand. The entire stand can be rotated 360 degrees and the cameraman can drop down the camera using the lever available at the right side. Large round film protruding from the professional camera will record full race with no doubt. It seems that there is almost everything you need to finish the race track. You only need to buy a few street plates to create a closed circle and race track is ready! Endless hours of fun for a kid or a brilliant part of the scenery for AFOL like me.
Summary
It is one of the most playable sets in Town series. From the perspective of the 80s, when a kid had a few more racers and a dozen street plates, he usually was in seventh heaven playing countless hours racing in various ways. This set simply offers plenty of possibilities. Scoreboard, pit-stops, service truck - it is all you need. As AFOL I can say that it was one of these sets that I wanted to have and I will probably build more sceneries with its use, in addition to the reconstruction of the scene called by me Scene-GPrexCircuit - one of the most brilliant presentation available in catalogs from 80s.
I invite you to check out the gallery presenting the building process of this great finish line with grand stands here!
Interesting presentation can be found in the US catalogue, where the race track's finish line is present in the background.
Alternative constructions
Alternative proposals, of course, are available as befits for a set of 80s. Lots of bricks are available giving quite big range of possibilities. Interesting design is a duel for the remote-controlled aircrafts, where we have three pieces of medium-sized airplanes. The second design that deserves attention is the rig of oil with the Shell logo. Using special bricks for support used originally under the grandstands, you can build a column under the platform. The effect is pretty cool, and the building in its own way is unique. The only drilling rig I've ever seen it was released before the era of Town theme and it was LEGO-373-1 exactly of the Legoland theme from 70s. The proportions were not yet fully preserved and the set looked a little strange.
Catalog entry
I invite you to read the review of 6381-1: Motor-Speedway set first, which was released a year earlier and started the racetracks in Lego sets.
Lets get back to the set reviewed here - it is definitely spectacular. Personally, I always wanted to have it and I spent a little bit of time hunting for it. Two street plates joined with one long grandstand with the footbridge. Four racing cars and one repair-assistance truck with a trailer for towing. Add couple of street plates to it and we have a brilliant race track. This set dates from the times of reign of Shell in sets of Lego. It is even possible that this set has larger amount of promotional stickers and printings. Four large inscriptions on the stands, three marks on the truck and two mechanics with Shell logo. Definitely logo occurrences are often. This set was presented in two excellent presentations. The first from 1989 year, which can be found in a catalog and on flyers also. It represents quite a big town with several large sets of Metro Park, the police station and fire brigade. However, the key element here is the racetrack, which comes in full circle. The main plan takes the Shell racer, which was released as a separate small set in 6503-1: Sprint-Racer.
Packaging
Packaging from the front
It is good to know how Lego sets were served back in the '80s. Large cardboard box with drawer and flap in size of the entire packaging. The effect was quite different when you could open the box before you bought it and see additional photos of the set, along with the contents of the box behind the transparent foil. Originally, of course, the bricks were packaged in perforated foil and there was the plastic plate with the grooves for couple of most interesting bricks, which was imposed on the smaller drawer (for that it actually was designed for). You will not see it in the picture below, because I do not have it. Full gallery is located in the third tab at the bottom of this page.
Packaging after opening
Vehicles
There are five vehicles available in the set. One truck and four racers.
Service truck
Racers
Drivers
Employees
Viewers
The employees are:
Three mechanics - two individuals with red caps and Shell logo on the chest and one person in black worker apron. They operate two pit stops and drive the service truck.
Judge in action
Cameraman - operates professional camera recording the course of the race.
Control tower operator - the person steering the course of the race from the control tower through the scoreboard hanging on the footbridge
The judge - a person in a red jacket and white cap, which holds the end of the race flag. If you need, you can also use it to start the race, as I did in the gallery below. Nevertheless checkered flag in black and white means the end of the race.
Medic - the last employee who has stretcher available and is invaluable in an emergency. He can not be mistaken, because he have a medical coat with a red cross - the standard for 80s. He is the only one with a red narrow peaked cap. Everyone on the race track feel definitely safer when there is a specialist at the place.
Structure
Grandstands
Control board
Grandstands
Control tower
Stairs
Pit-stop - at the bottom, under the stands, you can find even more curiosities.
Repair spots
The first station has a rack in yellow color, which includes the hammer, wrench, shortwave and a fire extinguisher.
First pit-stop
Second pit-stop
The second pit-stop is analogous with a slight difference, rack and the cart is blue. Behind the racks with tools is an additional axle on which you can attach two wheels, specially designed for these additional four pieces,
The cameraman
Cameraman - that's not all, because on the other side, just behind the stairs a professional stand for the cameraman is located. In this case, you can do with the camera literally everything. Turn, drop down or even move. The whole structure is based on a flat plate with a length of 12 studs composed of four bricks, of which gives you 10 studs wide movement of the cameraman stand. The entire stand can be rotated 360 degrees and the cameraman can drop down the camera using the lever available at the right side. Large round film protruding from the professional camera will record full race with no doubt. It seems that there is almost everything you need to finish the race track. You only need to buy a few street plates to create a closed circle and race track is ready! Endless hours of fun for a kid or a brilliant part of the scenery for AFOL like me.
Summary
It is one of the most playable sets in Town series. From the perspective of the 80s, when a kid had a few more racers and a dozen street plates, he usually was in seventh heaven playing countless hours racing in various ways. This set simply offers plenty of possibilities. Scoreboard, pit-stops, service truck - it is all you need. As AFOL I can say that it was one of these sets that I wanted to have and I will probably build more sceneries with its use, in addition to the reconstruction of the scene called by me Scene-GPrexCircuit - one of the most brilliant presentation available in catalogs from 80s.
G-Prex Circuit
Mounting plates
Alternative constructions
Alternative airplanes
Packaging
Front
Front
Upside down
Front
Interior
Interior
Flap from inside
Cardboard drawers
Drawers with bricks
Bricks inside
Back
Back
Bottom side
Front and bottom
Instruction
Instruction (back)
Alternative sets:
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6395-3 |
Linked sets:
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6381-1 |
|
6503-1 |
Sceneries with this set included:
Comments
2016, mar 27 13:55
Fantasic! Firs, I realy like the way the reviews are now made. Second, the building process is really good! All the setting is interesting, the vehicles are placed brillantely. Very good setting.
This is a very good set, with, obviously a lot of play functions and details. I only have its small brother, the 6381 set. |
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6394
Metro Park & Service Tower
2015, sep 13 |
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International Jetport
2015, may 13 |