Here's a small impulse set my parents bought for me back in 88; 6503 Shell Sprint Racer.
Lego set number : 6503
Name of set : Sprint Racer
Theme : Classic Town
Year released : 1988
Number of parts (according to Peeron) : 27
Price : On Bricklink it is about $2.50 dollars.
Anyway, here is the box art of the set courtesy of Peeron
The instructions from what I can see online I believe is 1 long piece of paper with double sided printing. Here is a random instruction page (from PICSL)
Even for such a small impulse set, Lego thought of alternate models!! I wonder if the new impulse sets have alternate models nowadays (pic from PICSL)
As for parts, rare parts include the printed Shell tiles for the rear wing and number 1 on the slope. The yellow vehicle base I saw is only available in the sets that have small F1 cars (such as Victory raceway). The red 4x4 plate on the yellow vehicle base, could not get it off :hmpf_bad: Also there is 1 1x2 black plate under the handle tile which I forgot to remove. My tires look worn after years in storage and play.
Once built, the number 1 and the Shell wing stands out. The front wing has a smooth 1x2 tile to represent the nose of the car.
From the side, the racer looks abit aerodynamic with the slopes rising from the front to the rear. The handle tile acts like a backrest for the driver and the tile with grille shows where the engine is.
For the minifigure, it is a standard Lego blue torso with no decals or patterns whatsoever. The head is classic smiley :classic: and the legs are blue. Also have a white helmat with blue visor
This set came out in 1988, at the time where Lego produced Shell petrol stations, Shell oil tankers and with this, Shell F1 car. The Shell motif is everywhere on this car, from the yellow vehicle base with red trim in the middle and white on top, to the Shell printed tiles on the wing. Its too bad such a car don't exist anymore and even if it does, it will have a HUGE DSS as seen in the new Lego Ferraris. Sure they are big, but they are more to collectors with little play value and I highly doubt it can last 20 years of play by a child and in storage with pieces all over the place. Marketing possibilities? During F1 races, Lego can sell these small impulse sets in the Ferrari booth or at the circuit or at the petrol station (buy petrol, buy impulse set at discounted rate?). Since it is so cheap Ferrari fans will buy them.
Side by side comparison with a Shell Ferrari F2008 (coincidentally 20 years after this sprint racer was released). The the F1 Ferrari was bought during the Shell Ferrari promotion, where if you pump roughly RM 40 of Petrol you can buy this car with some gimmick for roughly RM 8.
This review was originally posted on Eurobricks forum at
http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30409
