Bank Robbers Beware – Jack Stone Is On The Case!
Written: May 06 '03
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Pros: 3 figures, 2 vehicles, tons of cool elements, on clearance!
Cons: Instructions are basic, bank structure is small.
The Bottom Line: If you have a child that loves the Jack Stone series, the Bank Breakout set will be a huge hit!
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Jack Stone Bank Breakout 4608 |
The Jack Stone series might be on the back burner for now with only a few new sets hitting the market over the past few months but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some great bargains to be found! I picked up this set for $5.00 at K-Mart although the boxes that were on the shelves were marked at $10.00 and $15.00, when I went to the register with the ox marked $10.00 I was pretty excited to see it ring up for $5.00. Needless to say, I went back and grabbed a few more off the shelf. We already had almost all the Jack Stone sets but I couldn’t remember if Bank Breakout was one of them so I figured even if we did have them, the boys would still put it to good use. Turns out we didn’t have this set and the boys were bouncing off the walls about finally adding it to their collection. Even though they are sort of out of the Jack Stone series, there are a ton of great pieces and elements that they plan on using with other Lego sets and the two vehicles that are included in this set are pretty cool too. If you liked the other Jack Stone sets, you’ll flip over Bank Breakout.
Jack Stone Bank Breakout
When you first open the box you’ll see three bags of Lego elements with photos on the bags. It’s helpful to try and keep the bags and pieces separate and build them one at a time so you can avoid getting them mixed together. There are several pieces that aren’t bagged [column, gate and base] so make sure that these don’t accidentally get tossed in the trash. You’ll also find the instruction booklet, a Lego 2001 product catalog and a postcard to join the Lego Club. If you never signed up to receive the free Lego Magazine, you don’t know what you are missing! The completed scene consists of the bank storefront, two vehicles, 3 Jack Stone sized Lego figures and accessories. This set should take about 10 – 20 minutes to complete depending on the age of the child and how much experience they have had building Lego sets.
The actual bank consists of a flat chunky base plate, gray gate, ‘bank’ stenciled brick, two stenciled automatic teller machine pieces, a white security gate and a few small accessory pieces like money tiles and bomb tiles. I was a little disappointed at the size of the bank and expected it to have a few more pieces to it. If you have other Jack Stone sets you can use the columns and base plates to make a larger building or add it on to other sets that you already have built. One of the best things about the bank scene are the two small white crates that the automatic teller machine tiles rest on – there are small slits on the side that you can slide the money or bomb tiles in to. I really thought that was a nice touch by the designers and almost overlooked it until my son pointed it out to me.
Vehicles
There are two vehicles in this set, the first one is the large police car that has an operational blue transparent canopy. It flips up so a driver can get in and out of the seating area but if you press it too far down on the vehicle it tends to get stuck. The ‘police’ side pieces give the car a nice touch and can be removed and turned over [used on the opposite sides] if you don’t like the look of the logo or want to turn it into a different type of vehicle. There are six wheels on this, all with rubber chunky style treads and a front grill that can be removed from the vehicle. There is also an area in the back where you can hide the money tiles or put a suspect, the back part is made of the same blue transparent material as the canopy but has stenciled bars and the police logo. The smaller vehicle is the get away car that can also double as Jack Stones personal car. The green color doesn’t really work well with the rest of the set but the stenciling on the front and rear are a nice touch. There is a blue transparent windshield, steering wheel and side pieces along with four chunky style wheels that are a little smaller than those on the police car.
Figures
The figures included with this set are larger than the normal Lego figures that appear in the standard sets however they still present a choking hazard to smaller children. Please make sure that children know not to place the elements in their mouth, even if they are larger pieces, since they can still cause damage.
Jack Stone
Jack has his usual blue uniform on complete with a highly detailed stenciled pattern on the torso and legs. If you look close enough you’ll see the Jack Stone logo on his torso as well as the pockets, utility belt and walkie talkie on the back section.
Police Officer
The officer has a little more detail than Jack Stone so he might get a little more attention from the kids. Mirrored sunglasses, a blue baseball hat, stenciled uniform detailing and the ‘police’ logo on his back are just a few of the things you will pick up on about this figure when you check him out.
Bank Robber
Maybe it’s just me, but the bank robber sort of looks devilish to me. Maybe it’s his red suit or the pointy goatee, but he just looks like one mean guy. Before we broke open this set I sort of expected him to be in a more low key outfit but hey, I just review the sets, not design them. The figure has black slicked back hair, a nicely stenciled torso and a small design on his back.
Instructions
One of the things that I really dislike about the Jack Stone sets is the fact that the instructions are pretty bad. Instead of showing you the step-by-step way to build the sections and scenes, it gives you a minimal amount of photos of how the set is supposed to be built. Smaller kids might have a little trouble trying to build some of the parts of the vehicles since it just shows the completed design with only a few directional arrows showing where the larger pieces go. Since these sets were designed for younger kids in mind, four and older, I really think that Lego should expand the instructions a little more and get rid of the pages of cartoons. Since my sons and I have built more than our share of Lego sets we didn’t have a problem understanding how the set is supposed to be built but younger kids might get frustrated. Make sure you keep the box on hand since the photos and illustrations will help your child when assembling the pieces.
The Bottom Line
Since there is a lot of things that you can do with this set it would make a great addition to any Jack Stone sets that you may already have. If a child only has a few small sets such as the Fire Response SUV or the Res-Q-Wrecker , adding this to their collection will give them a lot of replay value. The suggested retail price for this set is $19.99 but Lego World Shop has it on sale for $9.99 so if you can’t find this at K-Mart for $5.00, you can order it directly from Lego and still save some money. While you are at it you can also checkout the other Jack Stone sets that are now on sale at the site. Overall this is a great set for any Jack Stone lover and is not only easy to build, if you have a little experience that is, but a lot of fun to play with.
The Stats
Set Name: Bank Breakout
Family Set: Jack Stone
Lego Set: 4608
Number of Pieces: 65
Age Recommendation: 4+
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Time Of Assembly: 15 – 20 minutes
Cost: $ 5.00 [clearance]
As always, thanks for the visit …
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
Related Jack Stone Lego reviews …
Jack Stone Red Recon Flyer
Res-Q-Wrecker
Jack Stone Police HQ
Fire Response SUV
Res-Q Super Station
Red Flash Station
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $5.00
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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