REVIEW: 7685 Bulldozer

[Svelte]

INDEXED

Name: 7685 Dozer

Theme: CITY Construction

Year: 2009

Pieces: 355

Minifigs: 1

Price: AUD59.99/ USD39.99/ GBP 19.45/ EUR - 29.95-34.95

Resources: Brickset/ Peeron/ Lego Shop@Home

The 2009 Construction sets looked to me to be some of the most visually appealing to appear in the City theme since 2007. Compared to the 2005 sets, the new Construction sets are scaled in a happy compromise between the enormous 7249 XXL Mobile Crane and the mish-mash of small subsets that was the 7243 Construction Site. In addition, this year we have been spoiled with a host of great new vehicles such as the Crawler Crane and Dump Truck , excellent reviews of which appear elsewhere on this site. I was especially excited by the new Dozer set (as it is called at S@H) as it retains the visual beauty of 2007's Motorized Technic Bulldozer but is obviously scaled down for minifigs and more importantly, retains a classic brick-built feel.

Part 1: Box, Parts, Manual

Box front:

Box back:

Instruction booklet:

Random instruction page:

NSDSS (Not-so-dreaded sticker sheet It's only a small one)

Parts, neatly bagged - they're divided into 3 subgroups:

Parts, spreadeagled:

Nothing really new here, but there are some interesting parts including: trans-orange 1x1 plates - haven't seen these for a while; yellow geary things - the same kind that were in the 08 Mars Mission Crystal Reaper set, obviously designed to go with the large track pieces; and - NOOOOO! - the much-hated and ugly landing gear pieces from the 06 Airport line

Part 2: The minifig and the build

Our lone minifig and his warning post. This minifig is a standard dead-boring one. They even used the exact same one in one of the small Creator sets last year. I am over that face and wish TLG would create new generic face-prints every few years rather than only updating the licenced themes. If I saw as much facial hair in the real world as I do in Lego City I would think I'd time-travelled to San Francisco in the late 70s . I haven't stickered the fence post 'barrier' as I'm keeping them pristine for the Farm subtheme; I don't think the design is quite right for Construction anyway, and prefer the brick-built ones from the 05 theme - a small quibble though. The trans popsicle/ Bionicle eye things seem to be the new 'must-have' part for 09 sets, as they seem to be everywhere.

The Dozer's base is a few technic beams which will later allow wheels to attach so the tracks can sit in place:

Greebly-SNOT engine parts - this does look nice:

The cabin takes shape:

Here is a strange usage of the piece usually used in mining craft. Is it a rotor? An enormous fan-belt? A death-trap for those opposed to the current construction in their area of Lego City? This detail is featured prominently on the box art and also the S@H gallery so presumably it is important.

At least it's covered so as to avoid accidents....

...most of the time!

Track holder cogs in place:

For those that can't count to 29, the instructions provide the full length of assembled track for each side. How does yours measure up?

Below, the track is applied. At this stage, the vehicle does look kind of tractorish doesn't it? And indeed, wikipedia assures me that a bulldozer is just a big tractor with crawler tracks and an attached metal 'blade' which is the part that pushes stuff around. See here! You learn something new every day! Indeed, I think I trust wikipedia on this point... Summer 09 Lego Star Wars set lists... not so much

The next section is the assembly of the 'blade' section:

It attaches to the main body of the vehicle by the long bar pieces:

Here you can see the bars slide into the pistons from a birds'-eye vantage. The long yellow technic arm pieces click on via technic pins to hold the blade in place:

And voila! The fully assembled bulldozer!

Part 3: Showin' off the goods

I really like that S@H feature which allows you to spin the model 360 degrees so you can have a good gander at your intended purchase from all angles. To let you have a better look at the Dozer, I have decided to provide the same functionality! Except instead of a Flash animation, here you have to scroll your eyes quickly down the page Please don't tell me if this gives you a migraine

Whee! I'm dizzy!

Part 4: Features and problems

One thing that you quickly notice about this set is that, for its size, it doesn't have a large amount of features apart from the obvious primary one of, well, being a bulldozer, which it admittedly does quite well . It also has a few weaknesses that are kind of annoying. Let's take a quick tour of our newly-built vehicle.

First up, the cab section (with roof of). One standard printed control panel in black is in front of the seat and there are two levers. The double-sided doors sit at a roughly 45 degree angle to the body of the cab which is a nice touch. I know several members here probably had an accident in their pants at the very thought of the return of door vehicles, so I'll pause for a moment so you can clean yourselves up... Done? Good?

The main issue with the cab is oddly one of swooshability. There's no obvious section which you can use to pick up the Dozer, so by default the cab section becomes your choice, seeing as it sticks out a bit. However it is poorly built in terms of strength and is as delicate as the nightingale's song when put to any practical use. Here we see a typical result of trying to pick the Dozer up from this end - starring Sherlock Holmes in the Case of the Exploding Cab:

The problem is that the front section (windscreen and roof) are only attached by the bottom of the window panel and the back section has no fortifications. Through trial and error you learn a sort of crab-like pincer movement to grab the Dozer in the middle but this is initially frustrating.

Another weakness is that it is very difficult for the blade to actually pick anything up as it travels across the ground (carpet only if you want the treads to work) as the angle is kind of high and there's no 'scoop' parts to hold anything in place.

On the plus side, the blade assembly looks amazing and is quite flexible. I love the studless plates and the black grillwork - a really classic Lego touch. Dropping rubbish is easy as the bottom of the blade hinges down:

There is also a commendable angle of movement of the blade apparatus itself.

Here it is in the lowered position:

And in the elevated position:

The other feature is, as noted, this weird hatch. You can't do anything with it. Its spin is not controlled by anything other than the Hand of God (ie your finger) so quite why it is prominently pictured, I have no idea. Just sit and enjoy its quiet majesty while we all contemplate its part in the infinite universe.

Part 5: Operations Manual

So you've just bought a bulldozer - now what are you going to do with it?

First, terrorise local citizens with your lax respect for local planning laws:

Fill in some gaps in the timeline of the Indiana Jones universe:

Hours of endless fun! Enjoy!

Part 6: Overall Rating

I really think this set is a good one. The vehicle has a pleasing Classic Town feel to it, as it is largely brick built. I especially like the sweet blade section and how it resembles a junior version of the motorized Technic Bulldozer. The stickers are minimal and unobtrusive; the technic construction is unobtrusive and for the most part restricted to what is necessary for the set to function; the build is generally solid and enjoyable. Yes, it does have problems - most notably the stability of the cab section - but nothing insurmountable. The fig and the fence post barrier are also a little blah, but they are minor points only. As for price - we all know the ratio of parts to price has dropped in 2009 as seen in Star Wars, Power Miners, Pirates - in fact pretty much everything apart from 10193 for the Jan releases! If I was in the UK, I would think it was a bargain for under 20 quid. In Australia $59.99 is maybe a tad high - but when you compare it to something similar like the Power Miners Thunder Driller 8960 which is $10 cheaper but a far less interesting and detailed model, I think you get your money's worth. Overall, I would rate this set 8/10.

Thanks for reading!

Edited January 23, 2010 by TheBrickster
Poll options amended.

[Marcus Aurelius Antoninus]

I was really debating getting this one. I think you pushed me over the edge, it is on my "2009 must get list" along with the farm sets.

[WesternOutlaw]

Outstanding review SC! Your images are fantastic. These new construction vehicles remind me a lot of the old metal Tonka Trucks. Thanks for sharing a fantastic review.

BLOGGED!

[WhiteFang]

Outstanding review SC! Your images are fantastic. These new construction vehicles remind me a lot of the old metal Tonka Trucks. Thanks for sharing a fantastic review.

BLOGGED!

This is also featured in Eurobricks Frontpage! Awesome review, as always. This is a realistic looking set, in terms of its scale and design. Apart from that, I am sure this could squash those small 4 studs car easily. I do love your part 5 of the review.

Edit: svelte_corps, I have switched off the poll options that allow multiple selections which could caused voters to select more than one, to prevent the poll results from being inaccurate.

TheBrickster, well done!

Edited January 8, 2009 by WhiteFang

[Bonaparte]

A fantastic review of an equally fantastic set!

Thanks Svelte Corps!!!

[Dennimator]

Nice review!

You have the 4999? I envy you.

D-did you say...

...Trans-orange 1x1 PLATES?!?

As a car MOCer I´ve been waiting for those for years!!

Finally, TLC understands what car MOCers want!

(Ok, I have sent them at least 10 mails, and I´m sure many others have done so, too. )

[Siegfried]

Thanks for the great review! I'm a bit iffy on this set; I have the Techinic Bulldozer so this is just a cuter version of it. It's too big for easy city integration too. The problem is I really like it... Thanks for making my life harder!

(While I love the Indy story, I think you should have went for Arthur Dent... )

[Svelte]

Thanks for the great review! I'm a bit iffy on this set; I have the Techinic Bulldozer so this is just a cuter version of it. It's too big for easy city integration too. The problem is I really like it... Thanks for making my life harder!

(While I love the Indy story, I think you should have went for Arthur Dent... )

As soon as I thought bypass I thought Arthur Dent too

Yes, it's cuteness factor is difficult to resist. You could also build a micro version and have 'Russian Doll' bulldozers where the Technic one picks up the City one in its blade which then picks up the micro scale one in its blade...

[Ballast]

Thanks for the great review! Very nice written

[Sammael]

Great review. I've come to realize, however, that the bulldozer is a bit too big for my taste - looks to be 22 studs wide and longer than that, which means it's more than twice the width of the newer planes, which I already consider oversized! Oh well. Off my want list it goes...

Edited January 8, 2009 by Sammael

[Siegfried]

You could also build a micro version and have 'Russian Doll' bulldozers where the Technic one picks up the City one in its blade which then picks up the micro scale one in its blade...

Like this one?

[Zorbas]

Great and very detailed review svelte_corps!

Although this set looks very nice and detailed enough, i think that it should have been just a liiiiitle smaller. When the first pictures were released i didn't realize that this would be that big.

One question: Is it moving in a smooth way? (both carpet and flat surface?)

On the other hand, this is a great opportunity to buy it as a gift for my nephew. That means i 'll have an excuse of buying it and still be able to co-build it and hold it in my hands.

About the minifig, i started having a lot of these orange workers myself, so the solution was simple. I hired them to work as harbor workers. Container handling needs men with gloves.

Loved that Indy teaser!

Became angry with the Vestas cruelty . If it really is a thorn in your City expansion, donate it!

[metalandi]

Very good review, i loved this set from the first moment i saw it, and now i like it even more. By the way, i assume the turning park on the front is part of the cooler.

I cannot agree with everybody sayying that it is too big. Well yes, it definitely doen't fit on the normal road plates, but then on the other hand it isn't made to drive on normal streets. It's made for construction grounds where big masses of earth have to be moved. Just look at this picture from a real bulldozer:

It's about the same scale as the lego one (allthough this one is even bigger i think).

[legotrainfan]

Nice review, thanks! And this set also looks very nice! I voted "above average."

Metalandi, I was just going to say that this set is too big when I spotted the pic you posted! Anyway, since I have got 4-stud-wide vehicles only, I still find it too big to be placed among my cars. But thanks for that pic, metalandi! I didn't know that such big caterpillars were produced! That thing is really impressive!

[Siegfried]

Just look at this picture from a real bulldozer:

Nice bulldozer... but you're not being fair. Bulldozers come in all shapes and sizes. Like this one...

...or even this one!

TLG chose to use the newer tracks, and thus it ended up this big. They could have used the old tracks and made it half the size and just as realistic.

[Joebot]

I cannot agree with everybody sayying that it is too big. Well yes, it definitely doen't fit on the normal road plates, but then on the other hand it isn't made to drive on normal streets. It's made for construction grounds where big masses of earth have to be moved. Just look at this picture from a real bulldozer:

The set's ginormous size is definitely not unrealistic. My concern with it is that I don't have space in my town to have construction grounds big enough to display this monstrosity! It's a beautiful set, but with the roughly 30% price increase on all Lego sets this year, I have to be a bit more discerning in my purchases. This set neither fits in my budget nor in my town!

Great review though. Wow, Indy has been working out. The dude's ripped!

[Algernon]

I don't collect Town/City, but I gotta admit this set is really detailed and beautiful. I won't get it, since I'm saving money for the Space Police, but this is a wonderful set.

[slimninj4]

I glad I will get grey treads when I buy this. I have the black ones from the crystal reaper and tons of the smaller old ones but i want some grey ones to make tanks. I do wonder why the engine fan was so much pictured on the box too. I thought it would move with the treads. That would of been easy to do and only a few more parts.

[CP5670]

Very in-depth review. I think that fan is just part of the engine's cooling system, although the Bionicle piece they used for it looks somewhat strange. I love the last picture with the crazy Indy.

I may get this set later in the year, if and when the yellow brick quality improves (as TLG claims it will). I have the big Technic bulldozer but this one is nice in its own way.

As that picture suggests, there are some huge bulldozers out there used for mining and excavation, so the scale is not necessarily too big. It depends on what their concept for the model was.

[kidcharm]

great review and really attractive set. ...I like the est number being on the side of the dozer. Convenient!

[iamded]

Awesome review, awesome set reviewer! Love the little comics at the end, and that tractor fact was very interesting. The mysterious blade of death is indeed intriguing...

Great pics and great content, what more could anyone ask? Great job, svelte_corps! :thumbup:

~Peace

[Svelte]

Thanks for all your responses!

These new construction vehicles remind me a lot of the old metal Tonka Trucks.

TheBrickster, you know, that was exactly my thought on building this set! I had a steel Tonka tipping truck as a kid and maybe that was why I was expecting it to be super solid

Like this one?

Sinner, that's probably what I was subconsciously thinking of Now you have an excuse to buy both the smaller ones! Don't think of it as filling up your office to breaking point; think of it as an art installation reflecting on the waste products of consumerism consuming themselves

I cannot agree with everybody sayying that it is too big. Well yes, it definitely doen't fit on the normal road plates, but then on the other hand it isn't made to drive on normal streets. It's made for construction grounds where big masses of earth have to be moved. Just look at this picture from a real bulldozer:

Thanks for the pic, metalandi. To be honest, people can argue about scale all day - and often do. For me, I don't have any particular fondness or preference for 4 or 6 wide cars etc and to me it is really what works in your town. I accept that these sets are made for kids to have fun with and for that size matters. However I do think Lego has downsized a bit and the worst excesses of the supersized models seem to have gone. Yes, vehicles are big but in Lego towns the buildings themselves are often miniscule compared to 'real' cities! As you point out, vehicles do come in lots of shapes and sizes (especially construction machinery) and I think this set is a pretty good compromise - it's impressive but not gargantuan.

One question: Is it moving in a smooth way? (both carpet and flat surface?)

Zorbas, these tracks move very well on carpet but not at all on a flat surface (like my kitchen table). I haven't tried it on a series of studded baseplates, they may provide enough friction to let the track move smoothly.

I may get this set later in the year, if and when the yellow brick quality improves (as TLG claims it will). I have the big Technic bulldozer but this one is nice in its own way.

CP5670, the part quality was pretty good in this set. The colours seemed nicely consistent (compared to something like Aquaraiders 07, which was a bit all over the place). The only issues I noticed was (a) slight transparency on the thinner parts of the cab roof (b) the technic clip-on pieces either side of the cab (with the stickers on) are made of the cheaper plastic common to these kinds of parts and they look worse in yellow than they do in white - a noticeably softer and more buttery tone - this doesn't show up well in photographs though.

Edited January 8, 2009 by svelte_corps

[Zorbas]

Thanks for the excellent and useful feedback svelte_corps!

You really are an Awesome Set Reviewer!

[CP5670]

CP5670, the part quality was pretty good in this set. The colours seemed nicely consistent (compared to something like Aquaraiders 07, which was a bit all over the place). The only issues I noticed was (a) slight transparency on the thinner parts of the cab roof (b) the technic clip-on pieces either side of the cab (with the stickers on) are made of the cheaper plastic common to these kinds of parts and they look worse in yellow than they do in white - a noticeably softer and more buttery tone - this doesn't show up well in photographs though.

It's good to see some first-hand evidence on this. TLG claimed to have fixed yellow a few months ago, so maybe the new yellow is starting to show up in sets now. Do you know how the bricks compare to the ones from, say, five or six years ago? (see this for an example)

Certain types of non-ABS parts have always looked slightly different in color, but for the last two years or so the main ABS bricks have had problems as well. I have skipped or held off buying a lot of sets due to that.

[5150 Lego]

Nice bulldozer... but you're not being fair. Bulldozers come in all shapes and sizes.

TLG chose to use the newer tracks, and thus it ended up this big. They could have used the old tracks and made it half the size and just as realistic.

Your right. They do come in all shapes and sizes, and in this case, TLC decided to use the larger tracks and mimic the scale of the larger Cat D11 Tractor. They could have used the smaller tracks but it wouldn't have fit the size of the current Lego construction sets. Its nice to get somthing different for a change.

Thanks for the pic, metalandi. To be honest, people can argue about scale all day - and often do. For me, I don't have any particular fondness or preference for 4 or 6 wide cars etc and to me it is really what works in your town. I accept that these sets are made for kids to have fun with and for that size matters. However I do think Lego has downsized a bit and the worst excesses of the supersized models seem to have gone. Yes, vehicles are big but in Lego towns the buildings themselves are often miniscule compared to 'real' cities! As you point out, vehicles do come in lots of shapes and sizes (especially construction machinery) and I think this set is a pretty good compromise - it's impressive but not gargantuan.

Yes. People need to realise that these are first and formost childrens toys, so what they prefer will always come first than the wants of the average AFOL. I also find it funny that people want large realistic building structures such as cafe corner and Green grocer, but not realistic properly proportioned vehicles to go with them!