Death before dismount!

I thought sets that need a better image weren't allowed on RSOTD?

So, either that's full of gasoline, or are we going full ostrich and claiming that's a giant battery?

I could’ve sworn this was a Rebrickable subset but apparently subsets aren’t counted. Weird image choice and so is the fact that it was sold like this at all, feels like it’s, again, just part of a bigger set.

I wonder who came up with the idea that a stand-alone container is called a tank but when vehicle wheels are placed under the same container it’s called a tank-er. Nobody says things like boxer truck, after all.

I like this set though. Subtle Octan colours.

glorious prints!

My own Train is sorely missed. But even so, it was decidedly very early 2000s in the desperation and 'throw something at the wall to see what sticks'.
And AFOLs dismiss that time as a bad era... Sure, a lot was going horribly wrong, but we had stuff like this theme, the SW UCS and the Legends range.
Not to mention that some regular themes were actually quite good ;)

What did you call me???

Tanker? I hardly knew ‘er! Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk!

I like the weathering on the Octan logo, but since it's not shared anywhere else, it does look a bit out of place.

I have built two of them for my train collection by buying all the parts from BrickLink. Not cheap but not so expensive either.

I was in my dark ages in 2003 otherwise I would have bought at least three of four.

Thinking of all the different tank wagons Hornby (for example) made based on the same wagon design, I wonder how many others would be possible for this? The big curved pieces seem to exist in quite a lot of colours.

One of my favorites, although many people don’t like it being 8 studs wide

While many miss the option to buy individual cars, I still feel My Own Train was the theme that *almost* killed trains for good. Think of it - if the average KFOL/parent find the concept of individual cars hard to grasp, then the process of buying a steam engine would be an utter conundrum. First you had to decide if you wanted a small or large engine and buy the according set, then you'd need to choose between tanker or tender configuration (and buy the tender set if needed), and finally add pieces for the livery of choice. Why wasn't all this a single set?

The situation is further worsened by most retail staff being totally clueless to how this is supposed to work, and to top it off you risk that the store manager arbitrarily chooses *not* to carry one of the essential sets and then wonder why no-one buys anything.

@AustinPowers said: "Thankfully other manufacturers have filled that void nowadays"

I feel people here are needlessly hostile towards "clone"/alternative brands. An no, I don't buy them myself as they're not widely available here*, but I still think the current situation where we're totally dependent on one single brand to do "the right thing" is unsustainable in the long run. Too often Lego makes dumb choices (changing/discontinuing colors, overengineered electric systems, killing 9V etc. etc.) leaving us high and dry with no real option to protest. With three or four decent-quality brands operating side-by-side we'd have far more choices when (not if) Lego drops the ball again.

*While people seems to credit Held Der Steine and similar youtubers for the popularity of clone brands in Germany, I wonder if it's more about business law. To me it appears like Lego demands that their retailers don't carry any clone brands in order for them to sell Lego, if such requirements are not allowed by German law it could explain why the clone brands are more common there. In contrast, here in Norway the Swedish tools-and-gadgets chain Claas Ohlson did until recently carry some Cobi sets - those are now gone while they've started carrying Lego instead.

I miss these small train sets.

Great one but still prefer 4537.

@axeleng : I don't think there's a law in Germany as to what brands independent stores are allowed to sell. LEGO might not like it, but lots of stores here sell alternative brands right next to LEGO nowadays. Even premium partners of TLG like Smyths.

And then there's the many smaller toy stores that specifically make a point of NOT stocking LEGO anymore but only alternative brands. These kinds of stores have surged in recent years and can now be found in abundance all over the country. In some towns there's independent stores almost right next to official LEGO stores. I was in one independent store in Dresden recently where the official LEGO store is not far away, and overheard several conversations of parents who were there with their kids saying things like "see, something like this cost three times as much from LEGO. You can have a much larger set here if you want and we still save a lot of money".

Lots of people these days have to make every Euro count, and such people are part of the reason why alternative brands are getting ever more popular here.
YouTubers such as Held der Steine are simply part of that trend, but not the reason for it. He is certainly the most well-known (surely helped by the fact that he was on national news when LEGO tried to shut him up a couple of years ago), but there's lots of similar channels now.

I'm curious to see how the resurrected Kiddicraft brand will do once it hits store shelves from January onwards since their products are targeted specifically at kids from value-conscious parents.

Too bad the Octan logo's from 6515: Stunt Copter were stickers (the only octan dedicated vehicle set I owned from Town) , the figure still looks great tho.

Do you remember that Octan does gas, but now it's electric...

@axeleng:
In the US, MOT was a Target exclusive, and Target is a big enough chain that corporate monitors their digital inventory and orders shipments to restock. The only control local management should have is if they lie about being short product to force additional shipments and then “find” it later.

As for clones, there’s never been a time when clone brands were not allowed to be sold in the same store (such things would run afoul of antitrust laws). There are, however, issues with making a successful go of it. Really, there’s only one clone brand that has been able to survive in the same market, and that’s largely due to the fact that they hold licenses that TLG either didn’t or won’t pursue, like Pokémon and Halo. Otherwise, they really only tend to find any success in the ultra-budget stores where even $0.05/pc is too expensive.

I personally think single carriages like this one, would actually sell well now if the price was around £20-£25 per carriage. I think it's more the time when Lego were trying to sell this my own train range and if I recall, they were only really available in the UK via Lego direct, I don't recall them being on the shelves in toy shops, I think it was just the wrong time, but they got burnt and because of this they are unlikely to go down this route again. I purchased 5 originally and another 5 when they were in the clearance bin and I was probably not the only one to do this.

@axeleng said:
"I feel people here are needlessly hostile towards "clone"/alternative brands. An no, I don't buy them myself as they're not widely available here*, but I still think the current situation where we're totally dependent on one single brand to do "the right thing" is unsustainable in the long run. Too often Lego makes dumb choices (changing/discontinuing colors, overengineered electric systems, killing 9V etc. etc.) leaving us high and dry with no real option to protest. With three or four decent-quality brands operating side-by-side we'd have far more choices when (not if) Lego drops the ball again."

Listen I'm a pretty hardcore LEGO purist by a lot of standards... but as somebody who sits in both the LEGO Trains and the Bionicle fan camps I am noticing a need for at least some steady third party parts.

In Trains' case, continued 9V support, track curves that aren't super tight, a variety of steam train wheel diameters, etc. is all being filled with third parties.

In Bionicle's case there are a lot of fans already resin casting masks. With the amount of broken sockets lately and LEGO not offering modern replacement parts for most of them, I see a need soon for new injection molded replica parts to keep Bionicle collections from snapping into pieces.

I hesitate with brands that knock-off entire sets, or even competitors with original sets since I worry the piece quality might be all over the place; and if the pieces have direct LEGO equivalents I overall think the LEGO part will be better built. BUT... the need for third party part supplements be it replacing parts LEGO has long retired or introducing something as simple as track geometry that LEGO has never done is obvious.

@Ridgeheart said:
" @BaconKing said:
"Do you remember that Octan does gas, but now it's electric..."

Sign of the times. Kind of a good sign. Octan may be (or may have been, as of TLM2) incredibly evil, but even they know better than to saw through the branch they're sitting on.

I don't want to say those nice people at Shell and BP and the likes are too fabulously stupid to stop their fervent and enthusiastic sawing, but I just have."

Or... Octan is very good at Greenwashing. I could totally see the Octan of the LEGO Movie world putting in Octan branded charger stations while ramping up production of fossil fuels. THAT might actually be a more important lesson to tell children than just "electric car good" but that is a topic with more nuance and real world political junk that is beyond the scope of this website to really discuss.

@domboy said:
"But what's really funny to me is the Octan logo tile seems to have been made the prior year for a ramp included with 6602-2 Scorpion Buggy, hence the dirt and/or scuff marks on it."

Thank you for solving that long-time mystery for me! The scuffs on the tile in this tank car never made any sense to me, and I wasn't aware of the other set. It's far more rational that Lego Direct was saving money by using existing pieces.

nice set for trains

@xboxtravis7992
Lego actually has recently done such a business model successfully with digital Mario. Though, you could put the plumbers name on any product and it would sell. So don't hold your breath; I don't think they'll try it with trains again until trains become as popular with kids as Mario.

@axelang
Don't forget road baseplates. I really hate how Lego stabbed them in the back. They had 7280 and 7281 available for 14 years, repackaged them in 2019 as 60236 and 60237, then pulled the trigger on the reprints a month BEFORE 60304 was launched. It's like LEGO wanted to force consumers to choose the new system, and purged the old rather than have them coexist for a bit and see which consumers preferred. I'd be much more willing to let go of the past and accept the juniorized, bulky, shiny, gappy new order if it didn't use skulduggery to take power. I would never have used knockoff road plates four years ago, but now I would be happy to. If I had the space, that is.

@Paul_DLH:
I do a lot of displays at train shows, and model railroading in general is a dying hobby in the US. Most clubs are evenly split between grey and white hair, with the exception of LUGs/LTCs. However, I don't think there's enough volume to support a retail-level theme anymore.

@xboxtravis7992:
Presently, it's more a promise of impending 9v support, outside of rails and wheels. The motors are the key component, and still over a year out, from what I hear.

As for Bionicle, I know there were a few problem years, and one problem color, but I hadn't heard that sockets outside of those two limited ranges were having problems. I've only ever had one break, and it was from an original Throwbot set...and I'd used it in an incredibly illegal manner (I've done so with probably around 100, and not had any others break, but I don't repeatedly disassemble and rebuild my MOCs or sets, either).

And as for Octan, it's worth noting that electric vehicles are greenwashing in general, given how most of the rare earth minerals used to make the batteries have traditionally been acquired by strip-mining, _no_ viable recycling system is currently in place, and it's been documented that an EV will likely generate more carbon over its entire lifetime (including manufacture) than the average IC vehicle.

@Norikins:
The new road system seems perfectly fine for the average home layout that's going to be set up and just sit there for years without a major overhaul. It's public displays where such a complex road system would be a huge liability. My LUG stocked up on roadplates before they went away, after accumulating the final style for several years. I know others who don't do quite as many displays annually, who already have or will be switching to fully brick-built roads under the MILS system that make even the new ones seem clunky. Established groups will figure out a way to adapt, but it's hard to get started as a new LUG without a lot of financing, and a conveniently-timed windfall of someone dumping all their old roads to fund a switch to MILS.