7779 - The Batman Dragster: Catwoman Pursuit

7779 - The Batman Dragster: Catwoman Pursuit

Year: 2006

Pieces: 92

Retail Price: $10.99 ($6.99)

Theme: Superheroes (DC Universe)

 

 

This is another small set and one that I had purchased when it was on sale at the BX in Kadena. This set comes in two parts -The batmobile dragster and the catwoman's motorcycle. As far as I can tell, this set was not modeled on any batman movie and instead is styled on the imagination of the creator solely.

 

The first part is the motorcycle. The motorcycle is the same body as the one in the Captain America set (last review) only this is in purple instead of red which is again, a unique color. That's about where the goodness ends with it though. Like the Captain America bike, it also is lacking in many departments. For one, the eye stickers on the front of the bike. They're just... weird.  The fire coming out of the back "could" be cool, but the way it is mounted makes it also look odd. It makes it look attached to the bike instead of coming from the bike. The catwoman model itself is not bad. Sure the pointy ears are there, but from my memory, the catwoman always had pointy ears. Weird in the movies too, but at least the set stays true to it.  I guess I have a thing against the newer motorcycle model as the model itself is just odd. It's bulky in front and skinny in the back, very unlike any motorcycle on the road.

 

 

 

The second part of the set is the Batmobile dragster. Yes, you heard me right - batmobile dragster. The vehicle itself is built pretty flimsily and falls apart pretty easy as well. it is a cheap set so it is what it is, but there are some major design flaws to it.

 

First off, the premise behind it. A batmobile dragster??? Someone had to have been on some sort of hallucinogen when they came up with that idea. Batman apparently enjoys going down to the local dragstrip and racing with the other racers and apparently the batmobile with it's jets just isn't "quite" fast enough so he had to make a dragster. And who knows, if someone does start pulling ahead at the track, he can just light them up with the Gatling gun mounted in the front (which only turns side to side when the dragster's front wheels turn side to side... a bit of a problem when pursuing someone at high speeds).

 

Secondly, the problems with the model itself. The Gatling gun is mounted to the front wheel 9as discussed in the paragraph above).  The window for the dragster also does not cover it's sides. Given that missiles launch and fly by him, batman may want to add a few dollars in to make the window inclusive so he doesn't have to get a new batsuit whenever he launches a missile. Batman also has no chair to sit in and in order to fit into the vehicle, he has to pretty much lay back as if he were on a luge.

 

 

All together this set does have some good pieces to build other things with. It is also playable for kids because they don't care about the horrible inaccuracies of the set. Daniel didn't have much problem building the set, but the front wheel of the dragster does come off pretty easily with any amount of decent play. It also does not roll too easy an requires two hands to do so since the front wheels are on a pivot and wobble and turn on whims. there are numerous problems with the set though that would make it unfun for children, and would not make a good display set for an adult fan.

 

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.

 

 



7899 - Police Boat

7899: Police Boat

Year: 2006
Pieces: 199


Retail price: $25

Theme: City (Police)

 

This is one of the sets I purchased while in Japan. Back then I was able to justify the purchase to Kate by telling her it would eventually be for a kid we have. Lo and behind, it will eventually be just that. I kind of live vicariously through Daniel nowadays because he serves as my excuse to get new LEGOs.

The set itself is pretty fun. It's a boat with a helicopter, not too many things can go wrong, right? There is room for improvement though, as discussed later. The set instructions come in three parts. The first part is the building of the helicopter while the second and third parts construct the boat portion. It is here that I should note that the boat's hull comes in one piece which makes it floatable in bathtubs, pools, or any other body of water that you are willing to risk the loss of LEGOs in. It even comes with a powered motor that you can affix to the underside of the boat to propel it through the water (not pictured). I am too careful with my LEGOs to place them in the water though, small pieces can easily go down drains if attention is not given, so I tend to avoid bodies of water.

The first part of the set is the helicopter. It's a relatively non-descript vehicle and does serve a good role on the boat itself (its small enough to land and be transported on the back of the boat). This part is quite easy to put together and Daniel was able to do it without any issues. My criticism of the helicopter is that with no sides, the driver can easily fall out of it. The boat itself has guard rails everywhere, showing that safety is a priority, however the LEGO city police department throws caution to the wind to its helicopter pilots. They knew what they were signing up for, right? The helicopter can really only serve as a forward observation point for the boat though. It has no room for passengers and no real deterrent to criminals other than to say "I'm watching you". Not even a camera for evidence collection.

 

 The second and third parts are the boat itself. The boat is large in the LEGO scale of things and looks as if it would move through the water and a breakneck pace (and with the attached motor, does so in the LEGO world scale). The boat was also pretty easy for Daniel to put together. The inside of the boat has a crew cabin complete with storage locker and computer as well as a prisoner lockup, perfect to keep control of those bad guys the boat catches.

 

The outside of the boat has a spotlight and captains chair for piloting the boat. For it being a large boat, it is able to maintained and crewed by just one captain. Notice the guard rails and radar, everything is safety minded.

 

 

 

Now for the criticisms of the boat. First, the sticker on the side of the boat. If anyone were to put their boat in the water, the sticker would be destroyed quickly (one of the other reasons I don't put my LEGOs in the water ( the abundance of stickers).

 

My second criticism is on the design of the boat itself. It looks fantastic, however it serves no practical role in the police department. This would be a colossal waste of money for any police department to purchase. Why? It serves as no deterrent for the bad guys out there. The boat has no guns, not even a ladder to bring the baddies up to the boat with. Its great that it has a prison cell on the boat, but what good will it do if you cant get the bad guy in the boat to begin with? And why would you leave port with a bad guy in the prison cell, unless it was for a prisoner transfer to Alcatraz. If I were a bad guy being pursued by this police boat, I'd just keep going. All that can happen is the police officer on board to shake their fists in anger. If the bad guy were pursued by helicopter, he could make a sharp turn and the helicopter would either lose him or the pilot would fall out (can't make sharp turns without the pilot falling out).

I know kids don't care about any of that stuff, which is why on a kids level its an awesome set (one that Daniel always asks for). From an adult realism standpoint though, I'd hate to be a LEGO city citizen and pay the taxes for this thing =)