Keep The Bad Guys Under Lock & Key At The Metropolis Police Headquarters!
Written: Mar 01 '05
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Pros: Awesome set for Lego junkies, tons of cool pieces, three floor police station.
Cons: The price might scare off most people.
The Bottom Line: Keep the bad guys under close surveillance at the Metropolis Police Headquarters!
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| Freak369's Full Review: LEGO Metropolis: Police HQ Playset |
When the Lego designers introduced the Metropolis line it was originally supposed to be an add on to the Jack Stone series, only for older kids. Lego has always promoted creative play with their sets and even though the have “good guys” and “bad guys”, the good guys always triumph in the end. Some parents didn’t like the idea of Lego having meanies in series and all this controversy started when The Brickster was introduced as a main character in video games and at the online site. Even though the criminal in this set isn’t named, he has a striking resemblance to The Brickster, but that’s just my two cents. The set promotes the idea of there being both bad and good people but at the same time they reinforce the idea that the police are always near when you need them. To me this is a great set in the series and a must have for anyone that collects Lego, but again, that’s just my two cents.
One of the best things about the Police Headquarters set is that it can easily be slid into an existing scene or city. Since the colors are basic and the scale is standard you don’t have to worry about it being too outlandish, small or large to blend in easily. There are a ton of cool accessory pieces [computer keyboard, badge, video camera, walkie talkies, recording paraphernalia etc] that can be used in a lot of different ways. Another perk is that this comes with a total of five figures, this means the place doesn’t look vacant and you can use the officers [four total] in any of the rooms or even outside to try and chase down an escaped criminal. About the only downside to this set is the price tag; at almost fifty dollars it is a pretty big chunk of change to spend on a building set. If your child has shown interest in the Metropolis series, start with the smaller sets to see if they hold his or her interest.
LEGO Metropolis: Police HQ Playset
The police head quarters is divided up into six main rooms; each of them having their own specific function. There’s a small jail cell on the second floor that has a small barred window, a surveillance room that has a small computer keyboard tile and is connected to the outside video camera. A cool little addition to the building is the carport that can house either the van or ATV but if you have spare Lego pieces laying around you can easily convert this into another room or holding cell for the bad guys. Another really nice feature to the building is the large control tower that has signaling beacons, satellite dishes and removable red light pods. There are three functional doors [two on the main floor and one that connects the jail cell to another room] but some of the coolest pieces, in my opinion, have to be the clear rounded windows that are on the front of the building. These are quarter pieces that connect together to create a rounded window, there are a total of four of them so if you wanted to modify the building and use all four of them for a clear jail cell, you could do that with no problem. These pieces are pretty delicate and will scratch easily so you will need to use a little extra care when handling them.
Building the head quarters isn’t hard but it does take some time. The instruction booklet that comes with it walks you through the stages of each section but if you are new to Lego building you may want to read through the booklet and pull out pieces for each section. Everything is anchored to a long thin base plate but if you are planning on attaching other building to this, you may want to start building this on a larger base plate. A lot of the pieces that are used for the bottom sections of the building are large and help to support the top floors, if you are planning on modifying this I really suggest that you stick with the lay out of the bottom section and play around with the top. I learned the hard way that it’s easier to change the top sections around than it is to build something completely different from the instructions and have it fall apart because the bottom sections weren’t strong enough to hold the weight.
Vehicles
This set comes with two very cool vehicles; neither of them are very large but don’t think that they aren’t able to track down the bad guys! The black van is almost identical to the one featured in the Metropolis Highway Patrol and Undercover Van but on a smaller scale. It has a fully functional back door, nice wrap around windscreen, red and blue police tiles on the top, stenciled police logo tiles on the side and room in the back for gear, ammunition and weapons. Since this a small sized vehicle you can park it inside one of the lower levels of the police station or remove the police markings to make it an undercover vehicle. One of the best things about this vehicle is that it has treaded rubber tires so it looks cool and can go over a variety of obstacles.
The ATV / all terrain vehicle looks like something you’d see in RoboCop. It’s got side cannons, awesome stenciling on the side sloped pieces, the same red and blue colored clear tiles as the van, room on the front for a smasher grill [use the black window rails if you don’t have any similar pieces from other sets] and a nice rear section that you can add a winch to if you want. About the only bad thing about this is that there’s really no room inside it to seat a figure. If you strip down some of the pieces then you can fit someone in there but it’s a tight squeeze otherwise. Both of the vehicles are easy to build and you can do a lot with them but I suggest that you build them according to the instructions before you start modifying them.
The Figures
I was really happy that the Lego designers didn’t skimp on the figures; in other sets from the series they had the bare minimum of people in the set. This one comes with four [yes, four] police officers and one crook. As much as I hate to glorify the bad guys, this one is just too cool to not go into detail about. He’s in a orange jumpsuit with a good bit of stenciling to it, but it’s his facial expression that really sets him apart from other meanies in the series. He’s got this grimace sort of look to him and that hat he’s wearing just tops off the look. The police officers vary in age range and facial expression but they all have the typical blue uniform, stenciled police logo [although one looks like he is the chief], black pants, some are wearing a shirt and tie, others have a standard uniform and the usual accessories like walkie talkies and badges.
The Series
This set can be combined with any of the other Lego World City or Metropolis sets but they are also compatible with the land based Alpha Team search and rescue, recovery units or if have already built your own city, this set can easily be mixed into it. Other sets include: Rescue Chopper, Armored Car Action, Hovercraft Hideout, Fire Command Craft, Surveillance Truck, Helicopter, Police HQ, Dune Patrol, Highway Patrol and Undercover Van, Firefighter, Coast Watch HQ.
The Bottom Line
If you are going to build a city with a strong police force then this is a great set to pick up. Some people might balk at the fifty dollar price tag but you do get some phenomenal pieces with it. This is a great add on set if you have any of the Jack Stone police sets and you can mix them together nicely. The only problem you might run in to is the scale of the vehicles from the Jack Stone series but other than that, the buildings and accessory pieces are all compatible. This is one of the biggest sets in the World City / Metropolis line and gives a child a lot to work with; if you have a Lego lover that loves to build and rebuild sets then consider this a must have!
The Stats
Set Name: Police Headquarters / Police HQ
Family Set: : Metropolis / World City / Police & Rescue
Lego Set: 7035
Number of Pieces: 418
Age Recommendation: 8 and older
Ease Of Assembly: Easy to moderate
Time Of Assembly: 20 - 30 minutes
Cost: $ 49.99
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
Related reviews …
Jack Stone Police Copter
City / Town Helicopter
Jack Stone Police Cruiser
City Rescue Team - Mini Hero Collection
Jack Stone Police HQ
Town Helicopter
Jack Stone Bank Breakout
Red Flash Station
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): =see review=
Type of Toy: Blocks
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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