6693 - Recycle Truck

Rating:
Pros: Realistic; necessary vehicle for your town setup
Cons: None noted
Contents: 103 pieces including 2 mini-figs
Price: Discontinued
Reviewed: 16-Jun-1997
Reviewed by: Joseph Gonzalez

You can tell a lot about a person by their garbage, really! Joe the garbage man has always thought the Nelson family was a little strange. An odd childless couple with pasty complexions and weird mannerisms, the husband has always been particularly distant to Joe. But the mystery has deepened even more. This morning, the Nelson trash can was stuffed to overflowing and a few items spilled out of the can upon unloading it. Joe did a quick sweep-upbut as he threw the bits of trash into the gaping truck chute, he noticed the labels on those products were like none he had ever seen before. Odd symbols and letters arranged in a backward fashion and a picture of a six legged squirrel near the bottom of a beer can.
These last clues to a possible connection with current UFO invasions in major cities is too much to ignore. With a subtle signal to Mac in the drivers seat, the truck leaves the scene with alarming abruptness. But eyes behind the Nelson house curtains (with the face's pasty complexion now flaking off to show a gelatinous epidermis beneath) have already determined that the recycling vehicle will not make it to the end of the street!

---

This truck has got to be one of the best among the medium-size town vehicles. It's useful, functions well, and stands out as a realistic model. All of this with only 103 pieces including two mini-figs and some fun elements.
It is fully functioning as a loading garbage truck. A small platform on the back of the truck holds a trash can and lifts it at an angle to dump the can's contents through a tailgate/chute into a spacious storage area. When the truck is full, the entire storage area tilts (just like a dump truck) and the hinged tailgate opens up to dump out all the stuff.
Mini-figs included with the set are two simple town figures in a blue suit and overalls (one has a hat, the other has hair). It looks like one of the figs is the driver and the other guy stands on the back to clean up any messes (clips near the chute hold a whisk broom and shovel).
My favorite elements are the trash cans (as much fun to collect as barrels); these include lids and are contoured to look just like trash cans with handles on the sides. The shovel element comes in black which is kind of neat since more recent shovels have been in grey. Other useful pieces include three different kinds of hinges. Two of the four 1x4x2 panels on the back of the truck are preprinted with the recycle-circle symbol.
The design and construction of this model are among the most satisfying I've seen in town. It would have been really cool if the Lego Group re-released this truck in different color combinations besides yellow and red (though the company never does this), and 1997 sees the release of a new garbage truck for additional city maintenance.