REVIEW: 3179 Repair Truck

[Luke McAwesome]

INDEXED

After taking a several month long hiatus from the Reviewer's Academy and reviewing entirely, I am now back and refreshed.

A special thanks to Svelte, for asking me and inspiring me to do this review. You've got me back in the groove. Thanks!

3179 Repair Truck

Information

Set Name: 3179 Repair Truck

Theme: City - Transportation

Price: USD 12.99 | AUD 19.99 | CAD 17.99 | GBP 8.99

Minifigures: 1

Pieces: 118

Year: 2010

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Chapter 1: The Box

Front

The box has the typical action shot for most LEGO® sets. In this case, it has a shot of the workman, we'll call him John Doe, up in his cherry picker/work truck fixing a street light. This is like most City sets, which have a shot of the minifigures going about their business in the hustle and bustle of the City. How fun it must be to be a minifigure, huh?

Back

The back has four pictures of just about all you can do with this set. But I have a different idea. He'll go drag racing with his brother-in-law, James Doe, who drives the 7631 Dump Truck.

The gore shall flow tonight!

Top

The top shows John Doe's fancy green recycling can. Which I wish was a green Indy crate, like we get in 7642 Garage and 7208 Fire Station. But, it works. The picture also shows his neat-o white fences with sweet blinker lights. Orange is the color of men!

Chapter 2: Instructions and Stickers

Sticker Sheet

Not too bad, or "dreadful" as we like to call it. Not many stickers, and yet I still managed to goof it up. You'll see that later. I really like that in the past few years LEGO® has been adding license plate stickers to their City cars. It really gives it that detail that seals the deal for me. It makes it look more realistic; even if it is only a toy.

Instructions - Cover

Same image as the box, just without the set information. Just like almost every other modern set. Not really interesting... but I do like the upright rectangle shape. I haven't seen it in many other sets, but I'm not sure if it's just me.

Instructions - Random Page

Page 12 shows the rear bumper being built, completed, and applied. (License plates FTW!!!)

Chapter 3: The Minifigure(s)

John Doe

BLAND!

Although, I always have liked the glasses head. It suits a mini version of me very well. One thing I've noticed is LEGO® doesn't make too many glasses heads in recent years. The newest glasses heads are this one from the new 7208 Fire Station, and this one from the new Atlantis set 8075 Neptune Carrier.

But the rest of the figure are just old parts. I wish LEGO® would make a couple new construction torsos. It's like firemen and police officers. They've used the same torsos since 2005. And there's no back printing either, sadly.

Chapter 4: The Set

This is what you really want. Not a box, instructions, or a minifigure. Well, sometimes you only want a set for the minifigure(s), but that feeling mostly comes to the Star Wars fans out there.

Right! Let's move on...

Parts

Here we have all the parts except the minifigure. 114 parts. Looks like 114 parts, right?

...

That's because there is 114 parts.

POI

This is the part of the review where we'll take a look at the parts we're getting. POI stands for Pieces of Interest, for those of you who don't know. That's a term for the interesting parts you find in a set while reviewing. ... or at least, that's how I make it sound.

Stickered Parts

Like I said earlier, not too bad. But, you may notice that I applied the stickers upside down on the twin 1x2x2 yellow bricks. The arrow is supposed to point down. And I applied the stickers backwards on the 1x2 light bluish gray hinge brick. And the metal ridges sticker on the 1x4 dark bluish gray tile has been seen on sets before. Like the Power Miners 8961 Crystal Sweeper and the City Fire 7942 Off-Road Fire Rescue sets. I'm sure it was probably on other sets, too, but I don't own any more with that sticker.

Transparent Parts

We all know how much everyone loves transparent. And LEGO® doesn't disappoint with this. I wish that they wouldn't do the "tinted" trans-black windscreens as often, I really like regular transparent windows and windscreens. But I'm diggin' them trans-orange 1x2 tiles.

Tools

Here's the tools. They came on the circular sprue, like in previous years and sets. Sadly, I have no pictures of the sprue because I think I threw it out... But the tools can be a pain to remove. Especially the oil can, because you have to try not to bend the tube at the end.

Other POIs

Here's some more things that stood out from others. The two white construction fences, the blue steering wheel, the green trash can, which is supposed to be a recycling can, and green dish, the trans-orange() 1x2 tiles, the yellow doors, the storage cabinets, the 1x4 trans-smoke panel, and the crane basket. I haven't seen the basket since I got the 7239 Fire Truck back in 2006. But it has also been in an advent calendar set, the 2005 7240 Fire Station, and the 2007 7945 Fire Station. (There's been 3 Fire Station sets in 5 years! Yikes! Each one gets worse than the last, IMO...).

Building the Set

Okay, let's look at the set itself, now. I'm going to show you some in-build shots, just to give you the hang of how to build the set, in case you ever want to make your own.

Street Light Assembly and Recycling Can

It's very simple, but I think it makes its point. But I don't understand why there's a tan 4x4 plate. Is John Doe helping out the construction workers, who have yet to lay down concrete, or is it just proving my point that LEGO® has color-coordination issues. But I still think it's cute, in its own little way.

Comparison to 7641's Street Light

See, it's basically the same assembly, minus the dark bluish gray 1x2 grate at the bottom, and the 1x2 modified plate with the hinge. Instead of the latter, we get a dark bluish gray 1x3 modified tile with hinge. Not a big difference in the design, except some color issues. The new 2010 Airport also has a City Corner type street light.

Building the Truck

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Step 8

We start off at step 8. At this point you can see the basic design of the bottom of the truck assembly. This is where we start off, and work our way up.

Step 12

Step 12 starts to make up the middle of the truck. You can also see the black 1x4 bricks with 4 studs on the side, these will hold the front and rear bumpers in place.

Front Bumper

The front bumper is made at step 13. And yay! Dark bley and trans-clear cheese slopes! They're cheesily delicious!

Rear Bumper

The rear bumper is made at step 16. This one is a bit odd. There's a vent at the rear of the truck. I'm not sure if this is like that on real work truck, but as far as I've seen, most vents are on the front of the vehicle. I normally put tiles on the rear bumpers of my car MOCs, and not ventilation systems...

Step 18

Step 18 has us working on building the top of the truck. The cab is being assembled, and the 6x10 dark bluish gray plate is on the rear, which will basically hold everything on the back. All the magic happens here!

Step 25

A big leap, I know, but it actually didn't get us very far in those 7 steps. Just the entire assembly of the cab. From this shot, you can see the double stacked yellow modified 2x2 plates with the half-circle and Technic-pin holder.

Storage Cabinets

Inside the cabinets are two trans-yellow 1x2 plates, which are used as replacement lights for the street light. And in the other I keep the power drill, oil can, and screwdriver. The instructions tell you to just keep the screwdriver in John Doe's hand, but tell me, do you drive with one hand on a screwdriver? I do! It makes me peaceful...

Step 31

Step 31 has almost the entire truck built. There have beens yellow tiles laid out over the storage cabinets and 1x1 light bluish gray bricks with horizontal facing clips that hold tools. But I'm going to gripe about something. You see the first 1x6 yellow tile on the left and 1x2 yellow tile laid over the cabinets? Here's something I always love to complain about... Why didn't LEGO® just put down a 1x8 yellow tile? It's not like it's anything new. It could have maybe even saved them a tiny bit of plastic. Well, maybe. I don't work for the company. But like I said in my 7639 Camper review, why not have replaced the 3 lime 1x2 tiles on the back with a 1x6 lime tile, like we last saw in 2004?

Crane

And here's the crane and basket. it can reach up pretty tall if it's standing up straight. It could help if a construction worker, or John Doe, needed to get on top of the pizza shop from 7641 City Corner. Maybe he wants to be nosey and peep and see what they got in their attic. Asbestos, you say? That's unhealthy! They need to send in Jane Doe, John Doe's wife and the health inspector, to shut them down! That explains the constant food poisoning, mind you little minifigures. I'm sick of cleaning up minifigure barf...

The Completed Set

A shot like on the box, with John Doe working on a street light. I totally agree with him that it so isn't worth $10.00 USD an hour to get electricuted, and occasionally falling out of his crane basket.

But wait! Where are the crane controls? How does he get down? How did he even get up in the first place? Not so much as a control stick in sight... but maybe it's an imaginary control stick. Yeah, let's go with that.

Other Angles

____________________________________________________________

Summary

Playability: 9/10 - You can do a lot with it, fix the street lights, have a city-wide blackout and send him to the rescue, etc. And if you don't like playing, or "vrooming", it can always make a good addition to any City display.

Price: 10/10 - 118 parts for $12.99 USD is pretty good. 12 more parts would have made it a perfect 10 parts per dollar. I think it was totally worth it.

Design: 8/10 - There are some things that could have stood to be designed differently, but I can't really argue with the overall design of the truck. The other things are little details are just a couple of small pieces.

Parts: 7/10 - You don't get many new parts, but thing like the fences, windshield, wheels, and tools can come in handy soemtimes. It depends what you'd use the parts for, and if you even want to take the set apart.

Minifigures: 5/10 - There's nothing special about the figure at all. John Doe just recycles parts from years ago. But the construction hat's from the late '70s, whereas the glasses head and construction torso are from 2005. So not anything new on this minifigure, sorry.

Overall - 39/50

A typical City set, and a great idea at that. Every town needs a maintenance truck or two. And when those street lights go out, who ya gonna call? Bill Murray! John Doe! If it's parts you're looking for, it's okay, it has cabinets, transparent parts, yellow, and vehicle parts. And doors! And a green trash can! Don't you just love those doors? And tools! And can't forget those doors! Did I mention I love doors?

So, if you're a City fan, this is probably a must have if you're building a table town. He's the one you need when there's a distress call from a pole!

---

Here's a couple bonus photos.

"What do you mean that the road's closed? You're just hitting a metal pole with a hammer!" exclaimed sweatshirt guy.

"Yeah! The dude in the sweatshirt's right! It's just a big round metal pole! We have a vacation to go on!" Yelled Mr. LittleCouple.

"Don't make me use this fish!" Mrs. LittleCouple said to John Doe.

"For safety purposes, the road has to be shut down in case of an accident. If the pole were to break and fall while I'm working on it..." said John Doe.

"Forget this, I want to go to Florida right now!" she screamed.

"Ma'am, please understan-"

Mrs. LittleCouple shrieked a battle cry, and jumped John Doe, whacking him with a fish like a Hinckley with a paddle.

Mr. LittleCouple and sweatshirt guy cheered as the menace was taken down.

By a fish.

"How embarassment!" - I Scream Clone

---

And so the drag race between John and James Doe was looming...

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I hope you all enjoyed reading this review, and I hope it was helpful and informative.

Thanks for reading.

-Striker

Edited January 11, 2010 by TheBrickster

[SeaKing61]

Now that's how reviews should be done! Excellent review of a nice little set. I'm gonna have a read of some of your older reviews now I think, I loved this one.

Laurie

[prateek]

Awesome review! I love the drag race at the end

[Luke McAwesome]

Thanks, guys.

And SeaKing61, thanks, that really means a lot. I worked hard, and getting comments like that make it all worthwhile.

[Artahn]

Great review, O magnificent overlord!

Another review that makes me want to buy system. Too bad I suck at MOCing with them... (last time I felt I could, I spent... $250+ in sets that my little brother ended up getting)

[sok117]

very nice intresting and informative review. I always love bonus pics, they can be quite hilarious

[Tereglith]

I'm not interested in city in the least, but your review made it interesting. Great job!

You might want to tell Mr. and Mrs. Littlecouple that they should wait a month or two on that trip to Florida, as it's about twenty eight degrees right now here...

[The Green Brick Giant]

Yay for yellow doors!

Boo at you for liking the 2005 fire station set.

[CELESTRIAL]

I think it is a great little addition to any town, and one that i must get my hands on !

thank you very much for that very detailed review ! love the drag racing, you never know what those mini-figs get up to after dark

[WesternOutlaw]

Outstanding review with some very nice quality images. Thanks for taking the time do this high-quality review. Indexed.

[Luke McAwesome]

Thanks to everyone for the kind feedback, and a VERY special thank you to Svelte, whom made my day by frontpaging this. Thank you, Svelte!

[wooootles]

Nice set. nice review.

I think the truck can still be a bit better, as I find it a bit stubby---I'm thinking about using the same truck design used in the Tow Truck.

[Laureano]

Congratulations for your new set!

thank you very much for this amazing review! it helps me a lot with my wish list

Before this post i won't by this set, now is a , must have!

regards

[Piranha]

Great review

At first when I heard the news about this truck I didn't think it would be anything special but when I saw the pictures I was surprised,

The truck is very nicely done, the side cabins for tool storage are great and the entire truck is visually appealing.

Another nice feature is the street lamp and green recycle can

If only Lego could find sometime to design some new torsos

[WhiteFang]

Terrific review! I am glad you have done this review and motivated yourself to finish it over the weekends. This set, is definitely useful and will add into your collection pretty neatly. Since when is the last time we have ever seen such nice utility repair vehicle around, fixing your lamp post. As far as I can remembered, I only knew of the 6671 Utility Repair Lift, other than that, maybe some other town fans could enlighten me on this.

Personally, this set is wonderful, and I don't having a 2 or 3 of these, roaming around the streets to maintain the lights. I couldn't want to use the word "repair", as it will claim your town to have poor utilities infrastructure.

This will be my must get City set in 2010.

Thanks for sharing this with us, and this review has been featured in Classic-Town.net.

[Lorentzen]

Wow - what an excellent review. I am amazed at how much information you can squeeze out of such a small set. I guess if I tried that, my review of the Skull's Eye Schooner would be two pages long.

Excellent review and as mentioned by somebody else, I think I'm going to read some of your other reviews now.

Edited January 11, 2010 by Lorentzen

[Fistach]

Good review although you attached the stickers upside down

[lightningtiger]

Ah, this set brings out the electro-maniac out of me !

Thanks 'Striker' (not Ted Striker) for your review, man I love a detailed review.

I agree a screwdriver is handy to hold on to while driving - er not really !

I put Mr. Screwdriver where the hammer goes and the hammer in with the oil can, an oil can for changing a light fitting, oh boy !

I dying to get hold of one or more of these trucks, this and the tanker would be my favorite city sets of the year so far !

[GoldenMic]

This is a excellent set with great details!

I would get one!

[Commander_Rob]

Very nice review, looks like this is a nice little City set. I might even buy it, the design kind of gets to me.

[Holodoc]

Great review and a nice little set!

One thing I can't follow: You call a blue steering wheel a POI?

I've got so many of them I could stone you...

[Big Cam]

Good looking review if I do say so myself.

Great to see it out in the open, and hey, even a frontpage.

[shackleton]

Great review and a great set. I had to buy this one when I saw it. I do agree with eveyone though, new constrution torsos are needed. We do not all dress the same!! Are you listening TLC??? And glad to see doors coming back into more sets. I would like to think our MOC's don't all drive in Hazard county where doors don't open.

[Luke McAwesome]

Thanks for sharing this with us, and this review has been featured in Classic-Town.net.

Thanks, WhiteFang!

One thing I can't follow: You call a blue steering wheel a POI?

I put the POI there, not just because they'd make an excellent addition to a collection if you purchase the set, but to point out the parts that stick out among the others. In a yellow set, a blue steering wheel will stick out with all the yellow. That, and some people can never get enough steering wheels, including myself.

Thanks to everyone else for the very kind comments and feedback.

[SeaKing61]

The blue steering wheel is the only reason I liked the review, it's wheeltastic.

Laurie