Thoughts on 6714: Speed Dragster

    This is set 6714: Speed Dragster, and I'd like to talk about it.

Here it comes, here comes Speed Dragster.

    This is not a professional review, I am not a professional person, I am an amateur with a camera I don't entirely know how to use, so some photos will be illustrative of points, but out of proper focus.

Not quite a demon on wheels, but he tries.

    Set 6714: Speed Dragster is a set from 2000 in the Town subtheme Race. 

Not Racers, just Race. 

The theme is apparently the act of and not the participants in, which is strange seeing as two of the largest sets have apparently nothing to do with racing at all. 

Before we talk about the vehicle itself let's talk about our solo minifigure in the set, Barney, with his nice blue racing suit and his nice blue aviator helmet and his goggles-over-goggles styles, he's a great figure. In spite of how great his face print is (at least to me) it never saw use outside of the Race theme, except for a single Racers set, 4586: Stunt Race Track, in 2002.

     But now, how do we know his name is Barney? Brickset lists him as, "Race - Driver, Blue Shark," not Barney. Rebrickable goes even further than that, dubbing him, ahem, "Racer, Blue and White Outfit with Shark, Blue Hat with Goggles," and definitely not Barney. 

    Effectively the entire Race cast is nameless entities, figures in basic colors with simple animal motifs on their racing suits and vehicles. Unless you look at the single piece of supplemental media, lurking in the background... 

Optical media, what'll they think of next?

    Like it was in the background of the first picture.

   LEGO Stunt Rally is a 2000 video game developed by Intelligent Games and published by LEGO under their LEGO media brand, formed after the major success of LEGO Island, and was the developer's second LEGO title after LEGO Loco in 1998. Somehow I've held onto my childhood copy all this time, something I can't say for my original copy of LEGO Island (I got a new one later, don't worry.) 

    One trip to the PC Gaming Wiki and a download of an alternate installer later, I was more than able to get the game running and proceeded to play through it in about an hour just to talk about it here.

 Lovely main menu music in this one.

    Please engage with some appropriate mood music during this section of the discussion.

    Now I'm not here to talk about how the game plays or anything like that. It's kind of like slot cars except you can change lanes and you can slide off the road if you're not careful, which is a lot unlike slot cars which fly across the room and break if you make them take corners too fast. If you'd like to know more, look up a youtube video on it, I'm here to talk about the minutiae, not the big picture.

    But here's how we know Barney is Barney, this right here, his little profile image in the character selection. He's one of four playable characters, the three others being the only three others in the range's six sets. 

 Let's look at the rest real quick-like.

 Here's Chip, the tiger-themed racer, who's one of those unfortunate minifigures with a yellow color scheme, so he just looks like he's wearing no pants and a tank top.

He features in 6519: Turbo Tiger and 6616: Rocket Dragster, the first of which we'll discuss soon, and his face print would feature in six sets outside the theme, mostly sports but also one Racers set, 4595: Zero Tornado & Hot Rock.

And Lucky, the gator (or croc, who knows) themed racer, whose curtains match the pants. The singular lady-type in the sets and one of only three in the game.

She features in 6617: Tough Truck Rally and 6713: Grip 'n' Go Challenge, the first of which we'll discuss soon, and her face print only appears in one Racers set, an alternate head for the imaginatively named 4301: Blue LEGO Car, but also as the face for 3928: Sandy Moondust.

And Wrench, the scorpion-themed racer, with his nice red bandana and really big chin. 

He features in 6602: Scorpion Buggy and the aforementioned 6713: Grip 'n' Go Challenge, the first of which we'll discuss soon, and his face print would feature in a number of sports sets and, once again, one Racers set. But a good one this time, 4585: Nitro Pulverizer, a big fun monster truck, Wrench is the only one of the Race crew that didn't get the mini-body treatment, instead rocking a very nice sleeveless blue racing suit.

 Now, onto the vehiculars proper.

Chip's Turbo Tiger is accurate to the real deal, with appropriate decals on the side paneling (part #43337), but features a new tiger decal on the 2x3 brick at the front. For some reason the 1x2 grille pieces originally in orange have been transposed for yellow. A choice that's even odder, since the 2x3 brick behind the driver's seat is swapped from yellow to orange, we may never know why.

 Lucky's Mud Monster (it has no official name in its home set so I took the one from the game manual) is, again, accurate to the real deal but features similarly strange color replacements. Simple gator emblems on the side panels replace the real set's scale pattern decals, the yellow Technic beams have been swapped for orange and the flag has been changed from red to yellow. 

Otherwise it's spot-on, though the exposed engine lacks some detail. 

Easily the most accurate of the lot is Wrench's Scorpion Buggy, which has no color swaps, accurate decal on the front, and even features the rubberbands that give the real set its suspension, it's perfect... except for the wheels, which are grey instead of yellow.

I won't dock it points just for that, though, the rest is stellar.

And we're back to Barney's Speed Dragster, which is both reasonably accurate and completely different at the same time. The massive 2x16 plate that makes up the majority of the length of the thing has been replaced with a much more modest 2x10 plate, and for whatever reason there appears to be a roof ridge piece, part #3300, in light grey, which as far as my research can glean, doesn't even exist. 

Besides that, the air intake in front of the engine is missing and there's some pretty neat sharky decals on either side of the pull-back motor box, otherwise it's the same.

Barney actually has two vehicles, the lucky swine, though it's owned by one of the boss racers in the game proper, this vehicle is his in 6617: Tough Truck Rally, and like the Mud Monster isn't named in its set but is referred to as the Ice Monster in the manual. 

Reasonably close to the original in Barney's color scheme, the Technic beams are black instead of red and the bars connecting them to the wheels are red instead of yellow, the decal headlights are a completely different design and the windscreen features only the middle part of the three stickered design found in the set. Strangely the flag isn't even included, and the rear spoiler isn't at any kind of angle. A mixed bag.

    But why don't we talk about the characters and vehicles that aren't in the sets? We'll start in order of appearance.

Mega Hurtz is described in the manual as a "slightly haywire robot that wants to be human." Featuring arm pieces with studs that obviously don't exist, his design is extremely plain otherwise, paling in comparison to something this Exploriens droid.

But his personal vehicle, just called the Moon Buggy is a little better, featuring a nice transparent green canopy and part #30211 from the Insectoids range on either side, it even features some chrome dishes, part #71128 on the back.

Interestingly all the parts featured, even the transparent green Insectoids legs (though they are only in one set, 6977: Arachnoid Star Base) are available and it's entirely possible to build this vehicle in Mega Hurtz's color scheme. 

If you wanted to spend that much money, anyway.

Sandy Surf is described in the manual as a, "hippy beach girl." Really went the extra mile on that description. She features a twintail hair piece that doesn't exist, but its closest equivalent is part #3625 which obviously never released in orange, despite its tenure lasting from before the minifigure all the way until 2012 when it was featured in Toys'R'Us minifigure pack, set 5000439: Vintage Minifigure Collection Vol. 3. 

 A very impressive run for a hairpiece.

An okay not-real minifigure.

Sandy's car, just called the Beach Buggy in the manual, has nothing at all in common with 1999's 6437: Beach Buggy, which to me is just a pale, chunky-pieced imitation of 6518: Baja Buggy (but I'll get into that a lot more later.)

It's a nice enough car, good light bar in the front and big rear spoiler, the hourglass shape is unique, and I like the big headlights.

Sid Vacant is actually kind of a returning character, the generic punk citizen featured in LEGO Loco, also developed by Intelligent Games as mentioned before, shares most of his design elements, sleeveless skull shirt and the bright purple mohawk that isn't actually a piece, only swapping out his patched jeans for a pair of grey pants.

But even weirder than that?  This guy has what is essentially an official minifigure in Series 4 of the Collectable Minifigures series, 8804-4: Punk Rocker. 

Tell me that ain't the same dude, I'll call you a smelly liar.
There's apparently a big LEGO Loco fan doing design work for minifigures, or at least there was in 2011.

Now his car doesn't have an official equivalent but I wish it did, the V8 Eliminator is a great design, the huge exposed engine block looks great and you can bet if this had been a set the grille pieces and the side exhausts would be chrome, and they'd be beautiful.

Brad Speedo is referred to as an All American Racer and I appreciate that, like I appreciate all Evil Knievel types, and Brad here just stole the man's look wholesale. From the star-studded stripes to the belt buckle with his initial on it, he's only missing a cape to really hit the mark, but we'll assume he just doesn't wear one in his car for safety reasons.

Speaking of his car, the F1 Speedster is a big angular American beast. It looks like the cousin of Rocket Racer's redesigned car in LEGO Racers 2, from the big windscreen to the color scheme. 

It's a little fun but a little generic, but I really appreciate the air intake on the back being made with the 1x3 slope on top of three studs so it can sit comfortably in the middle. That's good design work you don't usually see in completely virtual builds, not in 2000.

That's all the playable characters and all the regular competitors done, let's take a look at the boss characters and their vehicles.

Radium, according to the manual, is a former Rock Raiders scientist, Ray Dium, who performed "politically incorrect pollution experiments," and is now forced to wear a hazmat suit to contain his radiation. Let's try and ignore the exceptionally lame pun name (didn't even try, F--) and focus on the good stuff.

Unlike Chip, Radium's yellow clothes look like clothes thanks to his black gloves and belt, along with his big Aquazone helmet, consisting of parts #6090 and #6089, though the former never did appear in yellow. Lots of personality here and a great face print, even if he's all digital.

And rejoice, because Radium's car, the Rad Truck is based completely on a real set! 

Down to the virtual brick, this is 2148: LEGO Truck from 1997, a catalog and online exclusive set that I drooled over as a wee man but never did work up the courage to ask for. Things was different back then, a five dollar set at the store was a surer deal than a set that needed a credit card or money order to nab.
But it was a set so nice they sold it twice, as 10156: LEGO Truck in 2004, which gave me a second chance to want it and not have it. Someday, someday...

Worth noting that the middle set of wheels is raised above the plate in the rear, a real thing that these trucks can do, but likely done to not have to program in three sets of wheels rotating just for one car.

Baron Flambo is described in the manual as a dastardly man. 

Well, yeah. He's got a hat.

He's also wearing a red onesie with the flammable label on it, that's pretty dastardly.

He looks like the mascot on the most regular hot sauce you've ever tried that gets talked up entirely because it's locally made, and it being locally made means it's 100% than Tabasco, just trust me.

The Baron's car, the Hot Rod (so creative!) fares quite a bit better.

Not based on any specific set, it has notes of 6538: Rebel Roadster and particularly the red rod in 6561: Hot Rod Club, both just exquisite vehicles, but it features an elongated front end and double-sized engine block, along with the dedicated radiator grille piece from the Adventurers series, part #30147, which sadly never appeared in red. 

Of special note is the wheelie bar in the back, made out of two of part #2880 and connected to part #4715, an incredibly clever and compact design.

Snake likely takes his name from the animal, and not from any Solids or Plisskens, and while I kinda like his disgrunted, face-painted version of the classic smile head, his clothes just don't do anything for the look.

Not helping is his army helmet that features what appears to be some kind of scaled down and truncated part #30239 on top.

Easily the weakest of the boss designs, and I'd say the same for his car.

Just called Jeep in the manual, it's definitely one of those.

Very jeeply styling all around, it doesn't really have much to say beyond that, there's no spice, no pizzazz, it's just a big green jeep with chunky wheels.

Of note is the Adventurers two-seat cabin piece, part #30149 and its often-paired windscreen, part #30161, giving the Jeep just a little flair.

Not enough, but a little.

Glacia features the then-new Arctic hood piece, part #30287pr0005 but with much more fur and in teal. 

She's reported to be a "heartless ice maiden" in the manual, but seeing as she's the final champion before the big Mr. X finale, you only race her once and you only race her alone.

At least the Arctic construction theme is nice, really nice.

Glacia's Ice Monster is a case of stolen valor, it's not your car, Glacia, it's Barney's and you know it.

But somehow her color scheme is more accurate to the real set, featuring the proper red Technic beams and the right color of part #2432 behind the seat, all that's wrong is the windscreen decal and the connectors being red instead of yellow, just like in Barney's colors. 

It's a shame you get this right before unlocking the best car in the game, it cleans up the final race easily but doesn't get a chance to shine unless you're really into the singleplayer races.

Finally, the onesie-est man of them all, the mustachioed and domino-masked Mr. X, owner of Stunt Island and champion the world over, mostly thanks to his car that has perfect stats. 

Really easy to be the best when you have all the money and the power and the best car that's the best at everything.

He is, for all his hat and cane and cape and stupid name, a gracious loser at least. 

There's a joke about Twitter to be made here, but I don't feel like it.

And the final vehicle of the game, the best and brightest, the one with all the best stuff, the X Car. 

With its big rocket boosters, gigantic back tires, elongated canopy and front... forks? It's a formidable looking machine, and it's the absolute best car in the game, and in the classic way of things you get it for beating the game, meaning you either have to take a victory lap of the campaign or really dig into those singleplayer races to really enjoy it. I've never liked game completion rewards that are just "the best" thing, best car, best weapon, best armor, they always feel hollow knowing there's no more game left to flex on with it. 

Even when I played this game as a kid I preferred the Ice Monster, anyway, it looks cooler.

    So that's every character and car in LEGO Stunt Rally, and with the end of this digression you know, as I have known, that the minifigure in Speed Dragster is named Barney, conclusively and irrefutably, he is Barney. And we should probably get back to him and his set, shouldn't we?

You've just been waiting like that, this whole time? Here, how about we get you in the Speed Dragster?

Better? Better. 

Now we can look at the very lovely printed 2x4 slope brick on the front, featuring some nice scary eyes. Mine may be just a bit faded, as is what happens with a set from more than twenty years ago, but the white edge around the print is very much supposed to be there, just a little frosting on top. 

In lieu of any rigid canopy, the Speed Dragster makes do with piece #30191, a flexible piece effectively masquerading as a solid roll cage, and set just so that Barney can see out from under the bar linking the two halves.

Behind the seat is the enormous engine to pump out those ridiculous horsepowers, with all the valves and the pistons and the blowers and that kind of thing. A grey megaphone makes for a nice air intake and the angled build for most of the engine block gives it a lot of presence, even if it's mostly hollow. 

Piece #4476b makes up the support for the rear wing, I'll assume the holes in it are good for aerodynamics.

    And here's the biggest bit of the set, the pull-back motor, piece #32283c01, an almost completely theme-exclusive element only shared with 6616: Rocket Dragster, and the supplemental Technic set, 5223: Wind-Up Motor. This piece was later replaced by #32283c02 in 2002 and #32283c03 in 2003, both featuring more connection points along the top of the lower black piece.

My motor, being more than twenty years old, doesn't quite have as much kick as it would have when the set was new, and I'm not about to open it up and tinker around to try and restore it back to proper zippiness. I haven't really dealt with the urge to send any cars zooming across the kitchen floor in a while, anyway.

Now you might have noticed the lump of bricks sitting out of focus in a few shots, let's bring that forward.

    Your first question is probably, "what the heck is this?" and your second might be, "who chewed on that red 2x2 slope brick?" and your third, like mine, is "is that element #30043 there?" in which case you'd be right, that is element #30043, a part I have genuinely never come across before or since this set. But what's it used for? What's this hodgepodge of shapes and slopes all about?

The basic idea is that you tip back the hinge, roll the Dragster back a few times to get its motor primed, then back it into place and drop the #30043 into the #3176 at the rear, holding it in place until you're ready to race. 

Now it's not heavy enough to hold the car back on its own once it's been wound up a few times, so you've gotta hold it, but once you move the bar out of the way...

Off it goes, likely skittering across the floor and into the front of the fridge. 

It's a fairly effective set-up but it's ugly, the giant wad of bricks that makes up 21 of the set's included 80 pieces is easily my least favorite part. It doesn't work as well as it could and it doesn't even factor into the supplied alternate build in the instructions, it's left exactly the same. 

Function over form, maybe, but if I have this set on display, this thing stays in storage.

    So that's the long (both the car and this post about it) and short of 6714: Speed Dragster, a cool car in a short-lived theme of cool cars and cool figures with a pretty cool associated video game. Race might not have gotten more than six proper sets and never had a second wave to keep it going, but it laid the groundwork for loads of other racing-themed sets, like the Drome era of LEGO Racers, countless City sets and even the recent City subtheme Stuntz. 

    Terrible name, though, Race, I can't say I'm gonna post more Race content somewhere down the line, that sounds horrible. 

Should have just called the theme Stunt Rally, honestly.