Piranha Posted November 1, 2009 Name: Recycle Truck 7991 Theme: City Year: 2007 Piece Count: 201 Minifigs: 1 Price: $16.99 Resoruces: BrickSet BrickLink BrickShelf Peeron What happens to all those pizza boxes, soda cans and ice cream cones? Well it ends up being taken to the dump by the Recycle Truck! Now as usual I like to do set history like what has been done before by LEGO and such. I looked for something similar and found this classic set, also named Recycle Truck, yes LEGO sure is creative when making set names. What do you see different? Besides the color scheme you will notice it is 4-wide. Also it uses rope and string for dumping while the new one uses TECHNIC functions. Section 1: Instructions Here is the cover of the instruction book, basically showing the Recycle Truck and the driver doing his daily duty of collecting trash and recycling it. Random Instruction Page. However as always these are not chosen at random where I would throw the book up and see what page it lands on. This I picked because it shows that it is a modular build using numbered bags to make building as simple as possible. Also notice that if you only build the truck cab it works as a nice semi! Section 2: Minifigure and Accessories This is the lone minifig that comes with the set. Some details are that he is wearing an orange jumpsuit much like construction workers, the purpose is to be visible in the day and night so he does not get run over. The choice of green pants is who knows. This set is rich in nice accessories. All of these have a function related to collecting trash. The shovel is for large debris, the broom is for sweeping of dirt. Also I like the dolly, it has always been a useful and neat part. There is one trash bin, however I am sure you have more in your City. Here is a picture of the garbageman utilizing the dolly to carry around the trash bin. Otherwise it would take more manual labor. Random LEGO Trash. For trash LEGO gives us 5 each of dark grey, tan and brown 1x1 round bricks. I think these represent trash in a very good way. After all it is assorted and has no true definition of they could have been. What do you think? Is it food wrappers? Or maybe crumpled soda cans? Section 3: Main Model Here is our first perspective of LEGO City's new garbage truck!! The first thing you might notice is that it is orange. People often relate city sets to their town real life versions. Where I live there is orange garbage trucks! So that makes me like it even more. Rotate 360 degrees around and we get the other side. Very much the same as the other. The one difference is the storage hook on this side houses the shovel while the latter holds the broom. The green recycle logo is very nice, simple and effective. The frontal view of the Recycle Truck. The bumper is highly detailed with lights, heat vents and of course a license plate. Can you guess why LEGO picked that particular number? Well the "JM" is a mystery but the numbers "7991" are the set number. Here is the "business end" as I like to call it. This recycle truck has plenty of room for trash and just about anything you can shove in there. Notice that real life recycle trucks have a forklift type device mounted to pick up and dump dumpsters. The way this operates is more basic. As mentioned this truck does not have the lifting device that real life recycle trucks have to pick up and dump the garbage. Instead the lazy garbageman has to get out of the cab, walk to the back, use the dolly to get the trash, then put the trash on the little droid arm/hinge. There is some nice details here too, the caution sticker shows do not stand in this area obviously as you might get thrown into the truck. Then finally he can be lazy again as the next part is automated by the arm. The arm lifts of the trash bin and all the trash falls into the truck. Also there are two little bricks with handles that the garbage man can ride on. Now the best thing would be for LEGO to have given us another Garbageman, one drives, one hangs on the back and collects the trash. *Notice* Remove trash bin lid before attempting to dump into truck! How do you get all that trash out? Well this is how. The 1st step to dump the trash out. (at the designated dumping site of course) The reason why you can't just push the whole thing back is because the hinged attachment blocks it from dumping. This means you have to lift it up as shown. Step 2 which is the final step, all the trash comes falling out. This is accomplished by two TECHNIC attachments that use the axles to move up and down with ease. Section 4: Dirty Job #2 in LEGO City & Wrap Up Here is what happens when you leave the trash bin out in the rain. It becomes rusted duh" . Now our trusty garbageman must use the broom and sweep up the fallen garbage. Review Wrap Up: Playability: 9/10 (Loads of playability here, collect trash, dump trash, drive along, sweep trash, repeat.) Design: 8/10 ( This truck is nicely designed, however maybe a dumpster lifting device on the front would have been cool) Price: 7/10 ( Good price! But slightly overpriced? Yes, $15 seems more fitting but oh well) Parts: 9/10 (Great selection of accessories and I love all these orange bricks!!) Minifigures: 8/10 (Practical fig for the set, looks like well a garbageman, now maybe 2 Garbageman would be perfect as noted earlier) Overall: 8/10 (A very well designed and well built set overall! Great parts and looks aesthetically pleasing!) LEGO gives us a Recycle Truck. You might have noticed I say garbage truck or recycle truck, same thing right? Actually the main difference is after collecting the trash instead of dumping it in a landfill to sit and rot LEGO reuses the trash for other things. I really liked this set when I saw it in the catalog. It came out with the cement truck, If I had to chose between the two I would go with the Recycle truck simply because it is cooler. Everybody should have at least 1 Recycle Truck in their City, after all LEGO City is the strongest advocate for a greener tomorrow. Possible improvements would be to alter the dump feature so it would be one simple step. I would like to see the addition of a Garbage truck in Maersk blue (because they are that color here besides orange) but have the dumpster lifting function instead. Also 1 more Garbageman would be nice, one drives along but he has to get out at each stop and walk back to get the trash. With 2 the process is much easier where the second rides on the back and gets off, loads trash and gets on and moves along to the next stop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Milan Posted November 1, 2009 I like reviews like this one. Lots of infos, nice clean pictures, and plenty of nice text. Truck is nice, imo. I like the color of it. It maybe look better with addition axle at the back. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carbohydrates Posted November 1, 2009 I think this is really a great set. The colors are perfect, the shape is great, and the requisite details are all there. I only have two complaints: - The storage for the handtruck on top of the truck is clever, but odd, as he would have to climb on top of the truck to reach it. It's still better than not giving us anywhere at all to put it, though. - The click hinge at the back makes dumping a 2-step process, as Macoco showed, and also tends to nudge open now and then, spilling a bit of trash out. I still think it's a great vehicle and a great design. It's also a great source of 1x1 cheese slopes, of which it has 14 (plus 3 extras). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Piranha Posted November 1, 2009 I like reviews like this one. Lots of infos, nice clean pictures, and plenty of nice text.Truck is nice, imo. I like the color of it. It maybe look better with addition axle at the back. Thank you! This is due to the E Eurobricks reviewers academy (In case anyone would like to learn how to make great reviews) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
prateek Posted November 1, 2009 Great review! This is a great set, way better than the Camper of this year Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted November 1, 2009 Wonderful review. When I built mine there was a change I made to the tail gate. Instead of just a brake light, I removed the 1x1 white brick under the 1x1 red tr plate. So then under that I added a 1x1 clear plate for reverse, 1x1 orange tr plate for flashers and a 1x1 white plate as a gap filler. Just to be a bit more realistic. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteFang Posted November 1, 2009 Great review. Thanks for doing this, and I find this 6 studs wide recycle truck not bad, as it has relatively good playing mechanism at the rear. This could just be your jumbo recycle truck. This review has been featured in Classic-Town.net. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rufus Posted November 1, 2009 Random LEGO Trash. For trash LEGO gives us 5 each of dark grey, tan and brown 1x1 round bricks. I think these represent trash in a very good way. After all it is assorted and has no true definition of they could have been. What do you think? Is it food wrappers? Or maybe crumpled soda cans? Maybe the brown ones are Bantha droppings, as in the Lego Star Wars: Original Trilogy video game! Great review, and I agree this is a great set, although I found the opening rear didn't line up perfectly with the main body (despite very careful building). The orange colour looked fab in 2007, but now everything seems to be orange... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Posted November 1, 2009 Really nice civilian set, every town needs one. However, I would really liked it is TLG would have made green recycle bins on wheels for this set, instead of using the standard waste bins. The mechanism with the droid arm is a little flimsy. 6693 Refuse Collection Truck has a much better mechanism. It's also a much better classic town comparison, if you ask me. But TLG should really do an 6-wide version of the 6668 Recycle Truck, which you use as comparison, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
