Lego Advent: Day 11

Categories Lego Advent

Nothing runs like a Deere. In space.

Santa has visited early this year, and has brought a Lego Advent calendar. There are 24 little numbered doors, each containing a dime bag of Legos. There’s a new toy or doodad to build every day, which, in turn, builds anticipation for Christmas.

I will build these and attempt to discern what they are.

December 11: Space Tractor

On Earth, tractors are bound by gravity, and therefore need four wheels to pull plows or steer around obstacles. Typically, they have large wheels on the aft end that provide power and small wheels near the bow to support the front of the vehicle and turn. In deep space, however, far from the limitations of gravity, two wheels are plenty.

Rating

Fun ★★★★☆

Space tractors are pretty fun. Space agriculture, space hayrides, slowly creeping over to Space Wawa for a cup of coffee. I’m down.

Ease of Build ★★☆☆☆

The miniature instructions for this one kind of stumped me for a bit, mostly because I thought that I must have been misinterpreting the orientation of the front wheels. I was initially imagining it as a land tractor though, or a land tractor that ran into the world’s worst gopher burrow and had its front wheels flattened. Once I realized that it was a space tractor, it went together fairly easily, although there were some unusual pieces (and some absolutely classic pieces, like the steering wheel, which dislodged some long forgotten memories of making Lego things as a kid.)

Comprehensibility ★★★☆☆

If we have the flying saucer technology for the front wheels, why wouldn’t we also use it for the rear wheels? Perhaps it’s a hybrid thing where the wheels are superfluous in space, but when returning the planet’s surfaces they provide a more energy-efficient means of propulsion than supporting the entire weight of the tractor with flying saucer power. I also considered that this was a purely terrestrial lawn tractor, like the industrial kind used on golf courses or school fields, but then it would be notably lacking front wheels. Part of me wanted it to be a Zamboni for Snorks, but Zambonis don’t have floor polishers in the front, as far as I know. I think that the Zamboni idea was heavily influenced by the fact that I expected this to have something to do with Punk Rock Curler. So far, the items immediately following a person seem to have some thematic relationship to the person. Some of the colors are so her, but I can’t yet find the Rosetta Stone that would allow me to link space farming to brushing the ice in front of moving rocks to Bikini Kill.

Extra Parts ★★★☆☆

There are no extra parts. I give that three stars, because it’s better than bad extra parts and less to clean up.

Overall ★★★★☆

I’m down with space tractor. The lack of obvious purpose for the trailer hitch and two grabby things on the back of it are cause for concern, but the whole point of this exercise is taking it one day at a time.

"Prepare to fend off the bridge abutment."