It’s Never A Good Sign When “The Men In Black” Show Up In Metropolis!
Written: Feb 26 '05
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Pros: Awesome vehicles, two figures, large barricade.
Cons: A little overpriced for what you get.
The Bottom Line: Is it just me or does the secret agent figure look an awful lot like Tommy Lee Jones in M.I.B.?
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Metropolis: Highway Patrol and Undercover Van |
The Metropolis / World City series is a great investment for anyone that collects Lego sets or loved the earlier City and Town sets. These crime fighting action heroes are always on the move and ready to hunt down the criminals, bank robbers and occasional jewel thief that manages to get past every one else. Like almost every other Lego series, all the sets can be combined to create one huge scene and because a majority of the elements from other sets and series can be used, there’s no telling what you could turn all of them in to if you use your imagination. When the boys started to build a complete city scene I looked for sets that they could add in to any area, the Metropolis, World / City and Town ones are the easiest ones to matriculate into a scene because they are the same scale and common pieces. This was one of the many sets that I ordered for them to add to their little city but just like a few others, I couldn’t wait for them to get home to open them and test them out.
Metropolis Highway Patrol & Undercover Van
This is a nice add on set to any of the ones that have building; point blank, this is fun for about five minutes as a solo set. That doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with it, it’s just not tremendously fun if it’s the only thing that you have to play with. The set comes with two figures, one secret agent and one police officer, two vehicles and a handful of accessories. Don’t let the 151 piece count fool you into thinking that this is a huge set because a lot of the pieces are small and are used on the two vehicles. The smaller vehicle is a patrol type car [with working doors!] that works great in tight areas, perfect for zipping around corners or pursuing the bad guys, this is a small but fun thing to add to a city scene. The front grill piece really makes this thing look tough, it is an optional piece but in my opinion it really gives it an “enforcer” feel. The chunky style rubber tires give this a lot of power for going over things like curbs and once it’s built it’s pretty sturdy and will stand up to a lot of use. There’s a good bit of detail to the vehicle; stenciled logos on the side, the police banner on the top and tons of colored tiles to add to it so it’s undeniably a police unit.
The larger vehicle is pretty slick; it’s supposed to be an undercover van but with the lights and sirens attached to it, it’s a dead giveaway so you may want to remove these pieces to make it a bit more realistic. There are a lot of different things that you can do with the van but I really suggest that you build it according to the instructions first, then start modifying it. I made the mistake of trying to do some changes to it while I was building it and messed it up so badly that I had to rip it down to the base and start over. There are some nice accessories for this vehicle; a loud speaker system, reel to reel tape / cassette tile, two antennas, nice wrap around windscreen and black rubber tires with gray rims. I was so glad that the designers gave this gray rims; white would have looked hideous and if they used black ones you wouldn’t get to see any of the detail. Building this according to the instructions takes about five minutes if you are experienced, a little longer if they are new to Lego sets.
You do get some nice accessories with this set; there is a cool computer keyboard tiles, small 1 x 1 police badge [this attaches to another tile or can be added to the front or side of a vehicle], a set of walkie talkies, tons of red, blue and yellow elements, a large double loop barricade and more. That’s part of the reason why this set has such a high piece count; these small pieces! One important thing to mention is that these pieces are very colorful and interesting, so much so that little kids can’t resist playing with them. Some of them can be potential choking hazards so they should be kept out of the reach of kids under eight. The tires are another thing to keep your eye on, even though there are small openings in the rims, if a child should happen to swallow one of these, it would certainly mean a trip to the emergency room.
The Series
The Metropolis and World City sets are completely interchangeable and share a lot of the same elements. These also work great with Jack Stone vehicles, land based Alpha Team recovery units or if you already have a city built but want to add some more stuff to it. Other sets in the series include: Rescue Chopper, Hovercraft Hideout, Armored Car Action, Fire Command Craft, Surveillance Truck, Helicopter, Police HQ, Dune Patrol, Firefighter, Coast Watch HQ. These sets go great with the older Jack Stone series, Town and City themed sets.
The Bottom Line
This makes for a great add on set for those who have others in the series or are just looking for some nifty little police vehicles for a city. While this is a pretty nice looking set with some cool accessory items, it isn’t a whole lot of fun if it’s the only thing a kid has to play with. Also the suggested retail price of $14.99 is a little steep for something that only has to vehicles and two figures but if you look at smaller online toy stores you might be able to find this for a few dollars less. I’m not sure where Lego is going with the series or if they will be adding more sets to it but from what I’ve seen of it so far, it looks like a real winner!
The Stats
Set Name: Police 4WD and Undercover Van
Family Set: World City Police & Rescue
Lego Set: 7032
Number of Pieces: 151
Age Recommendation: 8 and older
Ease Of Assembly: Easy
Time Of Assembly: 10 - 15 minutes
Suggested Retail Price: $ 14.99
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): see review
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Kids to Teens
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