REVIEW: 6656 Tow Truck

[legofan]

INDEXED

1. LEGO Set No/Name

6656 Tow Truck, released in 1985 containing 53 pieces

2. Where you got/bought it from

Ebay

3. Offical Retail Price

RSP ? (i've checked Peeron and Brickset but no available infomation..)

4. No of Minifigs (if any), name them if you know the names

Just one, a mechanic dressed in blue overall with classic smiley face

5. List of parts (if possible), especially the interesting or rare parts, please highlight them

This set doesnt really comes with alot of parts, being only 53 and majority of the parts are rather generic.. So it probably loses out on the pieces portion...

6. Your "building" experience - which you can do a step by step to show it with photos

Ok. I just got this wonderful nostagic little classic blue tow truck from Ebay and almost immediately, i was filled with nostagic feelings and turned into a child ~~ This set is full of memories for me, it may even well be one of my first few Lego sets! Without further ado, our blue mechanic guy, Bob (can we fix it? Yes we can!) will run you through the building of his trusty tow truck:

The layout of the set. I was kinda amazed at the quality of the instructional booklet, being 2nd hand that i got off ebay. It looks almost new!

Here is our mechanic hero Bob in his working blue mechanic coverall and his most important tools. Back then, there were only the spanner and hammer for mechanic tools, unlike modern sets with drills, oil cans and even screwdrivers... How did Bob open them screws back then??

As a really small set back then, the pieces are very generic and i do believe almost any AFOL can copy and build one immediately. Worth mentioning are the classic 'cabin-base' piece, the red 'tow'truck' piece, two numbers of 'hinges' and a old grey minifig chair~

We start by first fixing up the chassis of the truck. It's about 10-studs long, which is rather nice for a tow truck of that era ~

Next, Bob starts by building the wheel guards and the classic 'cabin-base' piece for his tow truck.

The base of the tow truck is almost complete, with the rear having two numbers of hinges for lowering and hoisting the tow! Very simple, effective and attention to detail working rear winch to tow the borken down cars back to the garage!

The tow truck cabin has a minifig chair in it, so Bob wont get piles for sitting on the hot engine all day long...

The classic doors are present here too, and Bob making sure the winch is working well. Two side guards with holes for placing tools in it and a rollover bar on top makes it looks so much better!

Almost done here! The yellow beacon light warns others of a tow truck approaching and Bob here found another use for the rear working winch in case he gets a tire puncture...

As mentioned before, the tools can be placed either on the sides or at the top of the rollover bars. Neat!

Ta-Da! All done! Bob is now ready to go 'rescue' poor cars stuck on the road! Our favourite road hero!

Here we see a poor minifig stuck on his way to work because he forgotten to check his radiator and it blew on him... Luckily for him, Bob happens to be passing by so...

With a little switch of the 'imaginary' lever, the winch goes down and hooks up onto the front of the SUV. (seen this SUV somewhere before?? )

And he's on his way to the garage! Thanks Bob!

Bob can help almost any of the 4-studs cars/ trucks/ suv/ pickups, so long it can hook its winch onto. Here, Bob helps out another stuck pickup on his way to the spaceport for the shuttle launch... HOWEVER..

Bob has his limitations...

7. Your overall rating based on fun, playable, value for $$$, part, minifigs, etc (on a scale of 0-10 where 10 is SUPER-DUPER-SET!)

FUN: 9/10

This truck is so ready for any towing work with it's working rear winch! Go around town towing almost any vehicle! (Except see above)

PLAYABLE: 8/10

Tow trucks are always playable, towing vehicles around~~

VALUE FOR $$$: -_-

Cant coment on this as i don't have it's RSP, but for the price which i got it used from Ebay, it was downright worthy!

8. Your name as the reviewer.

Sammy Oh

Hope you like my review! C & C most welcomed! Cheers!!

[lightningtiger]

Great review 'legofan' - classic town is so cute isn't ?

By the way that is not a spanner, but a spanner/screwdriver - one end an open end spanner, the opposite end a standard flat blade screwdriver !

Perfect little set, dam came out tool late I had already entered my dark times - aw well at least I'm back into the light !

Thanks again and I'm a conformist! !

[dr_spock]

Thanks for the review. More 4 wide goodies. I want to build one.

[Artifex]

Thanks so much for this review! This was my very first Lego back in the day! It's so... I odn't even have words to say how much I loved finding a review on one of my favorite Legos ever! Thanks so much for this review! :thumbup:

[charlieboy]

I bought this set in Dieppe,France on a family daytrip in 1985. I built it on the way home aboard a cross channel ferry,i was 7 i believe lol!

Edited June 9, 2010 by charlieboy

[Hey75]

Wow that was nice, reminds me of my childhood.

Just to share 1 of my collection.

[Drexlore]

A nice little piece that is perfect for any Table Town. I mean every Town needs a tow truck. Also a great review.

[Artifex]

EDIT: Please delete this post.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Artifex

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Great review of a great old Lego legofan. I bought one of these last year for like $5 bucks plus a few to ship off eBay too! I think the RSP was $3.99 or $4.99 at the time. I can't remember what the sticker on the box that came with it. Its buried in my attic with all the other Lego boxes If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay?