Hyggebygge

We’ve now posted all the 1986 releases here on the Hyggebygge blog, and it’s time to move on to the sets released in ’85. This year has the most releases in my childhood LEGO collection, with 12 sets in total, so I guess we’re gonna be here for a while. The Swedish LEGO catalogue from 1985 may help you get into the mood!

However, for some reason #1972 Go-Kart, the set in focus of this post, is not present in the above LEGO catalogue. It’s listed at Brickset with availability "Retail - limited", which makes me wonder where this set...

I got the #6698 RV with Speedboat for Christmas ’86, it had been released earlier that same year. This is a set I clearly remember building multiple times as a kid, and I still recall details from the instructions.

As usual, the instructions start off with building the minifigure, which is completely red, legs, torso and arms. I guess the reason for this is to enable playing with the minifigure configured for diving while still looking reasonable when driving. At least the cap is white for...

Next up is #6634 Stock Car, released in 1986. I probably got this set in the autumn of ’87, but I don’t know on what occasion or from whom, it must have been before my birthday that year.

I still have all the pieces for this set, albeit a couple of the stickers have been lost and the remaining ones are in pretty bad shape. Fortunately I can place both sticker-less pieces on the same side of the car, and take pictures from the other side pretending it’s complete…

Replacement stickers are available from Brickstickershop, but to me it’s not really worth...

I got the #6361 Mobile Crane in February of ’89, but it had been released by LEGO already in 1986. Back in those days the sets were available for so much longer compared to now.

Instructions start with the minifig and a six step sub-build for the container…

…quickly followed by the main build of the truck itself. The wheels are not meant to be added until step 10, but I couldn't be bothered to remove them all.

It turns out to be really hard getting the white-balance and contrast of black LEGO bricks right when...

On Sunday, 22 May 1988 my family went on a day cruise to the Åland Islands in the Baltic Sea on the ferry MS Svea. Among the merchandise in the onboard tax-free shop I stumbled upon the LEGO box #1554 Silja Line Ferry and I was lucky my parents let me have it.

The set had been released a couple of years earlier in ’86 and I guess this kind of promotional sets that LEGO produced between ’77 and ’99 could usually only be purchased onboard the ferries themselves.

The bottom of the ship is just...