7890 - Ambulance

7890: Ambulance

 

Year: 2006

Pieces: 118

Retail Price: $7.99 

Theme: City (Medical)

 

This set is a simple one really. 118 pieces is a quick set that holds good value in Legopolis. This was purchased back in Okinawa at the BX for 5 dollars. That BX often had clearances of LEGOs for whatever reason, so I picked up quite a few decent sets there and really that's where my LEGO collecting began again. Of course it was all "for out future kids" but we all knew the reason. Luckily we did have kids, so that excuse still holds.

 

The set comes in one part really due to it's size. The build itself is an uncomplicated feat and something Daniel had no problems accomplishing on his own. Nothing about it was difficult and he never asked for my assistance.

 

The set comes with one minifig, a stretcher with oxygen tank, and some sort of electronic monitoring thingy. Really, that device is the only fault to the set as the stretcher fits into the ambulance easily and everything else goes in smooth. The electronic device does not fit in the ambulance smoothly however, and ends up being thrown in just because. This wouldn't be so bad if one could easily figure out what it was, which I couldn't do. You can see the device on the right side of the photo here.

Outside of that, the ambulance serves a crucial role in Legopolis. I do wish LEGO would make an American style of ambulance at some point, but until then and for 8 dollars, it's hard to snub your nose at the ambulance in this set. The stretcher fits snugly into the ambulance so that unless the ambulance tips over, the stretcher will not move.

 

 



7641 - City Corner

7641 - City Corner

 

Year: 2009
Pieces: 483
Retail Price: $59.99 (paid in full)
Theme: City (Traffic)

 

This set was purchased on a whim at a store in Louisiana. The bus was unique and the buildings themselves looked fantastic which was the deciding factor. Daniel "picked" this set with string encouragement from, well, me...

 

The set comes in 4 parts - the first part is the bus stop, the second part is the bus, the third being the bike repair shop, and the last part being the pizzeria. The set holds up well to play and has a nice old town type of atmosphere.

 

The first part is the bus stop. It's a nice bus stop, but nothing that jumps out as an "OMG" moment. Really, it's hard to make a bus stop stand out. Having said that though, it does have a nice street light and a fire hydrant (for the earlier fire truck) and would look good in any city scape. It's also simple enough that it could be easily replicated throughout a LEGO city to ensure the residents have plenty of opportunity to ride on the mass transit.

 

The second part of the set it the bus. The bus looks fantastic but has some obvious faults. Given that this was one of LEGO's first attempts at a modern city bus, I'm willing to forgive them but more time should be given to the bus in future iterations. This part was somewhat complex to build for Daniel, mainly the top portion of it. The entire top row of the bus is all single studded and they are very loose. When placing the roof of the bus on, it can be difficult to line all of the sides up. Even when aligned, any big pressure placed on the pieces when trying to connect them can cause the sides to cave in. For an experienced builder it isn't too much of a problem, but for a kid it can be difficult.

 

The seating inside of the bus is awkward at best. LEGO decided the bus should keep in line with the 6 stud wide vehicles as of late, however busses are usually much wider than a normal car (thus why a bus can seat 5-6 across vs. a car which can seat 3 across). Because of this, no seats are in a row and instead the seats are just oddly spaced throughout. The doors on the bus are also slightly odd. LEGO used normal doors on the bus. Maybe they use normal doors in Europe, I don't know, but every bus I've seen in the US uses folding doors. Outside of these minor flaws, the bus itself looks great in a  city setting. Playability is moderate, mainly because it is difficult to get passengers in the bus seated properly (you have to remove the roof and maneuver them inside using two fingers). The ads on the side of the bus are also welcome and help solidify the look of the bus. The bus comes with a bus driver, complete with suit and bus cap.

 

The third part of the set is the bike shop. The store sells bikes, skateboards, and accessories. A young child complete with a skateboard and a helmet seems to be the patron of the store and a mechanic in back is there to both sell and repair the merchandise. The store is wide open and seems to be more of a mechanic shop that happens to sell items too. On display in the store is a bike helmet, baseball cap, and skateboard. It's a small shop looks good as a storefront in a city scape. It also comes with a billboard outside and  security camera. Apparently the young hooglins that visit the store like to shoplift or cause vandalism...

 

The last part of the set is the pizzeria and is made in three floors. The first floor contains the cash register and the pizza oven. The oven is nice but isn't anything spectacular and the chef is the same. The pizza flipper is normally used in LEGO land as a canoe oar, however it apparently works well as a pizza flipper as well. Trick of the trade apparently: If you ever need to flip pizza but don't have a flipper, use a boat oar.

The second floor contains the diner portion of the restaurant. It has two tables and four chairs. I'm slightly upset about the tables due to their small size though. The pizza itself fits perfectly on the table, however the set also comes with cups, so any patrons wanting to eat pizza must hold their glasses in their hand while eating. It's a small thing, but larger tables would have helped.

 

The third floor is empty and appears to be there just for decoration. Personally, I would have preferred if the plate on the third floor was removed and a chandelier was hung from the ceiling into the diner myself. Instead, the third floor can probably be used as storage or as a secret hideout for the Italian mafia.

 

All together and despite it's misfortunes, the set is a great set and addition to Legopolis. The buildings look great and aren't connected which helps a city builder place them wherever they see fit around the city. The bus helps any city look more like a city and the set comes with 5 minifigures. One of the main problems with LEGO city sets is that unless you're a police officer, firefighter, or airport support staff, you have no where to work. This set is a great asset in that department. Even though it is not one of LEGOs modular building sets. I think it could still be placed on the same city block and hold it's own.

 

 

1906 - Majisto's Tower

1906: Majisto's Tower

 

Year: 1994

Pieces: 195

Retail price: $20 (paid in full I'm sure back in the day)

Theme: Castle (Dragon Knights)

This was one of my original LEGO sets given to me either for Christmas or for a birthday. It's survived remarkably well for being 18 years old with no missing pieces to note! This is a very small castle, really just a tower with some walls, but it still fairly well guarded. Majisto must be a high class wizard to qualify for these benefits. This tower contains the tower/fortifications itself as well as a chariot for Majisto.

The chariot is pretty nice for a chariot. It comes with a brown horse complete with a war helmet, spear, whip, and the chariot itself. I'm not sure what the wings are for in back, other than decoration, but it is a pretty nice looking thing and something any well-respecting wizard should feel comfortable driving around in.

The tower itself is also a pretty cool but simple structure. It has a tower with kitchen to make magical potions, treasure chest, secret entrances, and double doors, and torches designed to make the place look mysterious. The build itself is pretty easy, but the arch above the double doors is not very sturdy, something Daniel found as frustrating as I did back in the day. A small amount of playing will cause it to dislodge. The back side of the castle is left open for playability reasons.

When it came out originally, it came with a sturdy box that had a printed castle on the back side. One side of the box had a cut out drawbridge that connected to Majisto's tower so that you could play with the box as well. To me, this was a well designed idea and something I wish more sets would utilize nowadays.

The tower has three stories with the first story presumably used for training or just as the tower grounds with the second story being the kitchen. The third story is used only for storing the treasure within. A spiral staircase is provided to get people to the second floor and is also a pretty cool and unique feature of the set.

Finally, the rock wall on the right side of the tower grounds moves to allow a quick escape if the tower comes under siege.

The set comes with three minifigs (two knights and Majisto the wizard) and a horse.

All in all, the set has a lot of playability both as a standalone set or with other sets. Combined with all of the various castle sets produced over the years, This one does have a unique purpose and one I haven't seen fulfilled in other sets since. It still looks good by today's LEGO design standards and still has good playability with the secret door and magical tower.

7945 - Fire Station

7945: Fire Station

Year: 2007

Pieces: 600

Retail Price: $59.99 (paid in full)

Theme: City (fire)





This set in a traditional city set. It seems that about every 3-4 years, LEGO releases a new fire station. It's one of those things where it is what it is. It's a cash cow for LEGO but its also one of the reasons we haven't purchased a new fire station - we already have one! This set comes with a fire station, fire chief car, and fire truck, all for saving the residents of Legopolis (when the superheroes aren't present of course) and the instructions are broken up the same way - car, truck, and station.

 

The first set of instructions is the police chief's car. The chief has a silver helmet, clearly distinguishing himself from the rest of the fire fighters. It also matches his hair, I'm sure. The vehicle itself is kind of plain, but it is just supposed to be a normal car modified for the fire chief. It is kind of odd though. I can't tell if it's supposed to be a car hatchback, SUV, or minivan. If it were a production car, it would clearly be a Nissan because it is ugly and not very well designed but I digress.  The car hatch opens in back to reveal a place custom designed for the chief to stow his oxygen tank, face visor, and regulator.

The second part of the build consists of the fire truck. It is actually a very well designed ladder truck, I think. The ladder extends quite a bit of distance and allows a fire fighter to elevate themselves to probably a 5 or 6 story LEGO building. It contains two legs to keep the fire truck supported during the high elevation rescues and also contains a few fire extinguishers, a control seat to control the boom, and a hose. The truck doesn't have much room for water storage so it must pump it from fire hydrants. All together the truck looks great and is easily recognizable as a fire truck, both looking and acting the part well.

The third and last part of this build is the fire station itself. It comes in three parts - the left side, right side, and center. The left and right sides are the garages for the vehicles with the center portion being a control center of sorts.

 

The left side garage is built for the fire truck. It is taller than the right side due to the increased height of the fire truck vs. the chief's car. It has skylights, "glass" roll up doors, and a ladder hung to the side of the garage. The left side of the garage is left mostly open to allow kids to play inside and to help the truck out of the garage (despite the increased height, the truck's boom sometimes gets stuck and I think it would really be one more stud high). It comes on two base plates to allow the fire truck to fit completely inside. Even then though, the fire trucks boom extends past the end of the building which keeps the building from being placed flush against a wall. This wing also contains a bed for a fire fighter to sleep in, but only one at a time (single beds are only made for one after all) and a tool station which contains everything needed to keep the station clean (shovel, broom, brush, bucket, water faucet).

 

The right wing contains a garage for the chiefs car. It has some red and white flowers, roll up garage door, and skylights but doesn't really have anything else to it - pretty cut and dry. It does fit the chief's car nicely without any issues.

The center section joins the two wings together and serves as the control center for the fire station. This section is two stories high with the bottom floor serving as the entrance and living area and the second floor as the control center.  The first floor contains a desk with a computer and ID card checker so that unscrupulous citizens of Legopolis do not cause havoc in the fire station. It also contains a very nice looking LEGO coffee pot, a must have for fire fighters (and coffee drinkers) everywhere. Maybe that ID checker is making sure the station doesn't get overwhelmed by coffee drinkers each morning as it is the only coffee pot I've seen so far in LEGO land. The front door is also a sliding "automatic" door which I found to be a cool feature. It doesn't slide perfectly all the time but it sets the building apart from other LEGO structures.

The second floor contains the LEGO fire control center. It has a single computer console, slylights, and... a radar/weapons targeting station?  I'm not sure what the fire station is monitoring that it needs a radar station and weapons in it but perhaps it's a secret homeland security or NSA facility and that's why the extra security is needed at the front door?

And that's the 7945 fire station. Compared to other fire stations, I still like this one the best. The roll up doors and spread layout makes it look the most like any normal fire station I have seen. It could use some more livable area inside but it has the necessities... and even a weapons system for the impending zombie apocalypse.