... However I actually have to wait a couple of months before I can open it for my bday.
Anyway, if you're a frequent reader of my blog, then you would know about my acquired taste for experimental LEGO® oddities such as this one. As with most sets I write about, this one has been on my radar back when it came out in 2003, but I was unable to purchase it at the time.
I missed out on a couple of sealed boxes on Bricklink in the past couple of years, but that was by choice as I didn't feel like getting it until this year. While every set on my wishlist are sets that I truly want to own one day, it's best when you purchase them when you are in the mood for it. That and someone hoarded all of the damn Droideka's last year so I have to wait longer until I can get my sealed copy at a not-so-outrageous price point. Still waiting for Kardas, too.
That said, "what's this ridiculously large and heavy box all about?"
LEGO® Drome Racers was a lineup done in the early 2000s that lasted several years. Drome Racers was all about a futuristic racing theme set in a country-sized coliseum where several teams competed against each other in various elemental biomes. It ticks all the good stuff from a late 90s/early 2000s LEGO® theme.
The lineup spawned a pretty solid amount of products, a bunch of cool merchandise and arguably the best LEGO® racing game to date. But what makes Drome Racers stand out from the other Racers themes is its excellent variety of good toys with a coherent theming. The lineup produced sets for both System and Technic that (re)introduced us to (surprisingly powerful) pullback motors, remote control and vehicle launchers. But what is possibly the most interesting among the Drome Racers products is that one thing LEGO® never tried again to the same extent: the Track System.
The Track System is basically a track builder where you build a layout from prefab road pieces. There were only three dedicated sets that came at three different sizes. Most of the smaller Drome Racers sets (and even the Xalax that came out the year before it) are compatible with these tracks, but each of these Track System sets are supplied with their own vehicles nonetheless. The pullback motors included in these small vehicles would allow one to use it on these tracks, in which the corresponding play features for these sets are designed around.
Pullback motors are only good for up to a couple of seconds, so the other two sets were designed accordingly with a clear starting point and finish line. However, this set elevates that concept to an entirely different height: by introducing rechargeable batteries for the same vehicle build, complete with a dedicated charger that functions as a separate road piece, specifically designed for the Track System. Thus, enter the Multi Challenge Race Track, set #8364.
Although there isn't much to be found about this particular set since it somewhat fell into obscurity, from the little you can find online: the execution of this particular idea (or Track System in general) isn't flawless. Recharging the vehicles (depending on its age) is only good enough for a couple of laps on the suggested track layout, and having steep slopes on the track drains a lot of battery power. Aside from that: when it runs, it's definitely something like no other.
And that's pretty much the essence of my interest and love in these kind of LEGO® sets as an acquired taste of niches: it's never about judging a LEGO® product for what it is not - it's about what it is, the unique experience only a select few sets can deliver, and what it means to stand out as a timeless milestone in LEGO®'s history of strange oddities in almost a century worth of products. There's nothing like it, and that's why I want it.
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