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.





7622 - Race for the Stolen Treasure

7822: Race for the Stolen Treasure

 

 

Year: 2008

Pieces: 272

Retail Price: $29.99 (paid $19.99)

Theme: Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

 

This is a set in the Indiana Jones Theme, the first set of a movie theme reviewed on this blog. The set is a decently fun set. I wouldn't say it is as fun as the sets in the world racers theme, but fun nonetheless. The set mimics the chase scene in the movie where the treasure is on the back of the truck and Indiana Jones races alongside on his horse to steal it, all the while being shot at by the following jeep.

 

The set comes with a truck, jeep, and Indiana Jones on a horse as well as a golden treasure chest. Despite having 270 pieces, the set is not very difficult to put together. Daniel was able to do it with minimal assistance. The only help he needed was to put the cloth top on the truck.

 

The set is split up into three parts: Minifigs and the horse, the jeep, and the truck.

 

The jeep build is strait forward and I think the end result looks pretty authentic to the time period. The machine gun on the back is also a favorite. It isn't very often that LEGO embraces modern weaponry in their sets - most often it is revolvers and rifles, so to have a heavy caliber automatic, mounted weapon is not a common sight.  

 

The truck is also fairly easy to build and looks a lot like modern day "deuce and a half"'s that are still used in the military on occasion. Like the jeep, it also looks fairly authentic to the time period and is a good representation of the truck seen on the movie.

 

Overall, the set is a decent representation of that movie scene, as compared below. Yes, the truck is a little more streamlined in the LEGO version, however I think it looks better that way personally. When not in use as the Indiana Jones theme, the set can easily be placed on a LEGO military base and would fit decently well there.

8896 - Snake Canyon

8896: Jagged Jaws Reef

Year: 2010

Pieces: 57

Retail Price: $9.99 (Paid 5 dollars at the BX)

Theme: World Racers

 

 

 

This set is another fun one in the world racers theme. Like Jagged Jaws Reef, the premise is that there is a cutthroat race where it seems there are no rules but to win. The teams are still green/white and red/black. This set is the motorcycle leg of the race, set in the desert. 2 minifigs are in the set and I love the helmet on the green/white guy. Its not new, no, but the goggles with that type of helmet is a fantastic choice and looks quite realistic to me. The minifigs themselves are pretty nice with well printed bodies.  The set also comes with a podium, trophy, and a red snake.

 

The builds are pretty easy really. With 57 pieces it isn't anything spectacular, but it's still a pretty fun set. The red motorcycle is a typical street bike frame with its weapon of choice being a stick of dynamite.

 

The green and white bike is a little bit more complicated because of its sidecar, but in reality Daniel still had no problems putting it together. The bike is more of an off-road dirt bike versus the street bike earlier and comes with a sidecar that shoots missiles, courtesy of a rubber spring included in the set.

 

Overall, the set is another fun one in the series and I only wish I jumped at the chance to have bought more of the series back then (it's no longer made). But regrets are a dime a dozen and at least we picked these two sets up on clearance. Daniel has a blast with both of these sets (high speed vehicles / weapons and explosives, who wouldn't?) and continues to play with them quite often.

8897 - Jagged Jaws Reef



8897: Jagged Jaws Reef

 

 

Year: 2010

Pieces: 191

Retail Price: $19.99 (price paid - 10.00 on sale at the BX)

Theme: World Racers

 

This is a fun little set and after building the police boat, Daniel wanted some more boats to go with it. He picked well, considering these boats precisely show what is wrong with the police boat. These boats are armed to the teeth, presumably for some death race the LEGO city people enjoy watching *shrugs* The boats weren't too hard to put together but Daniel did have some problems with the green and white boat. He was also exhausted when we built this, so that may have had something to do with it.

The set is divided into two parts, although technically it isn't since it is all one instruction book. There are two boats, one is red and blank and the other is green and white. These colors go throughout the theme which are all racing themed in different vehicles (cars, boats, motorcycles, and hovercraft). The boat is the first leg of the race.

 

The set comes with the two boats, two minifig racers, a shark, and a trophy buoy.

People with seasickness should not race boats...

New Sport: Shark Surfing

Both boats look fantastic, I have to say, but the white boat is my favorite. It looks nice with the pontoons on the side and its weapon is a fish missile (shown below in the barrel). The weapon is put together with a rubber piece that flings the fish missile forward when you press the lever in back. The police boat has no chance against ruffians like these guys...

 

The red boat is also a good build. While the white boat is more like a hydroplane, the red boat is more like a typical speedboat. It's weapon is nothing fancy, but probably more reliable and feasible. it's weapon is a harpoon that launches off of its bow.

 

Overall it is a fun set and Daniel has had many hours of fun with them. Along with the motorcycle race (in the next review), he has ultimate races with a lot of destruction. I only wish I could have gotten the other sets of this series back in 2010/2011 when they were still being sold. Now they are sold for substantially more. Ah well.

 

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 =)