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The 9-Volt Light & Sound system was rarely used well in Lego Town kits. It fitted more smoothly into Space designs, or something big like the Airport Shuttle monorail. For the smaller L&S kits, we were often left with fire or police trucks and inexplicably had a giant white box on the back, losing half of the functions a model that size should really have had. This, aside from the possibility of the monorail (I don't have a house to mortgage so I can afford the thing), is the only time Town got Light & Sound right. The answer is remarkably simple - instead of the then-standard width of four studs, this is made six studs wide, and the battery unit is hidden away in the back. It's still accessible, but it's not obvious. The whole design is a masterstroke, and this is probably the best Lego fire engine full stop. Unlike most of the L&S models, the designers haven't simply decided flashing lights and sirens are enough, and there's cool extras like the foam gun turret and, best of all, the hidden foam cannon at the front. It looks marvellous - the only problem is if you stick it next to another fire engine, the others just look puny by comparison. Plus Airport firemen? How cool is that? "Very!" is the answer. There are some interesting parts on this one - the transparent red slopes, six-stud wide windscreen and four-stud wide radiator, and that's before you get onto the printed/stickered part. I put mine together piecemeal thanks to Bricklink, and nothing gave me massive trouble, but there are a lot of pieces on this one that, while not rare, aren't common as much either, and it's a bit frustrating, and fairly expensive - though still a lot cheaper than buying the kit from ebay. It would also be quite easy to do without light and sound as well - just use white bricks to take the shape of the battery unit and you're there. That said, the L&S pieces are used properly, and this thing's so damn cool it's actually worth getting them for. An absolutely splendid model that rounds off any airport scene nicely. It's packed with things to do and really looks like a decent fire truck. While it's not the cheapest out there, you'll be hard pressed to find a better-looking emergency vehicle from the range. Review
Written: 04/07/2006 |
