Triple Review Special: 60000 - Fire Motorcycle

[XimenaPaulina]

Fire-themed sets have been a staple of the LEGO Town and CITY themes (along with the Police subtheme), recurring in a few years interval in the past several years with updated versions of the Fire set ‘regulars’ (i.e. Fire Station, Fire Trucks, etc.). 2013 marks another year where we get a new line-up of Fire-themed sets. So how do these new sets look like? How do they compare with previous releases from the past years? Let’s take a closer look as I review three sets from this 2013 line-up in this Triple Review Special.

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Let's start things rolling with the review of the smallest of the 2013 CITY Fire product line-up, the impulse set 60000 - Fire Motorcycle. If my recollection of things are correct, I believe this is the first motorcycle unit dedicated for a CITY Fire Department. Also curiously, this set comes one the heel of last year's CITY Forest Fire's own impulse set, 4427 - Fire ATV.

Name: Fire Motorcycle

Number: 60000

Theme: CITY | Subtheme: Fire

Year: 2013

Pieces: 40

Minifigs: 1

Price: $6.99 | £4.99

Links: Brickset | Bricklink | Peeron (not yet inventoried) | LEGO Shop@Home

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The Box

The front boxart shows our good ol' fire-fighter-on-a-'cycle doing one of the simplest of fire-fighting jobs - extinguishing a mini dumpster curiously catching fire for some reason. The box maybe small but it does present all the elements of the set rather well, maximizing the limited space and blending well with the usual boxart regulars (logos, set details). This might also be the only instance in a 'boxart photoshoot' that a motorcyclist is not riding his motorcycle (try to look at other sets with motorcycles ) - your daily dose of useless but interesting facts.

It might just be me, it's been a while since I've bought one of these impulse sets, but I think this is the first time I've seen a box without any images at the back! Yep, all multi-lingual warning phrases that no body cares to read about.

As usual, the top of the box shows the 1:1 minifig panel, along with an image of the self-combusing dumpster. It's also interesting to note that the box, despite its small size, is quite stubby that its thickness matches that of the larger 60002 Fire Truck box and even 'stubbier' than the 60001 Fire Chief Car box. (no comparison images unfortunately ).

The Contents

Even for the smallest of sets, the roll-call of contents seems to be consistent with its larger set brethren: bagged LEGO (2 small ones of them in this set) + instruction booklet + sticker sheet + the ever-constant loose piece (motorcycle body).

The Instruction Booklet

The instruction booklet, bearing the same cover art as the box, came understandably folded (to fit in the small box).

Sticker Sheet

A small sticker sheet with four decal applications for the set (3 for the motorcycle and 1 for the dumpster).

The LEGO parts

One would normally expect a predominantly red parts selection for a Fire-themed set, but surprisingly not in this set. The motorcycle body is the lone red piece, while the green parts for the dumpster interestingly takes the cake for most number of same-colored pieces.

The Minifigure

Fire Motorcyclist

The lone minifig that comes in this set is the Fire Motorcyclist, sporting the new outfit design for the 2013 Firemen - black overalls, orange safety vest with light green luminous strip, and some silver reflectorized strips on the pants. The print detailing, though not overly exciting, is still commendable - the two way radio, safety vest and pants pockets, as well as the back printing with the fire logo - are all quite nicely done. One minor gripe I have is the lack of printing in the helmet, which could have made the look of the Fire Motorcyclist far more interesting. Oh and before I forget, Mr. Fire Motorcyclist seems to be the kin of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson with his patented "People's Eyebrow".

The Build

How would you know that a build is simple? Well, the build of this set is so simple that I did not even use the instructions to build it - I just looked at the box cover and Voila! Whole set is done! Am I amazing or what?

The 'main build', of course is the Fire Motorcycle, the design of which is nothing but the same old motorcycle using this familiar set-up.

I have to say, even if this motorcycle set-up is as old as fiery dooms of hell, the design never gets old on me - it's still one of the sleekest designs TLG has ever done for a vehicle (thanks largely to that <insert that tiresome argument> motorcycle body). The set number is stickered at both sides of the bike and a small fire logo in front.

A couple more quarter views of the bike from the rear. One more thing, I can't help but cringe at the sight of the fire extinguisher being attached to the bike that way - very unsafe and unrealistic really. Well kids won't care but I thought it wouldn't have hurt if they put a 1x1 clip plate on there!

Here is a comparison pic of the 60000 model with a real-life Fire Motorcycle (can't get more any realistic comparison than that. ). I believe this comes from the Hong Kong Fire Department, which describes their Fire Motorcycle as "a special fire appliance developed by Firexpress ApS in Denmark. It is built on a BMW R1100RT official motorcycle."

Other Set Features

The other element of this set aside from the motorcycle is the mini-dumpster ('mini' since it's not as huge as other dumpster units). I like the color green and basic shape and all, but I'll get nitpicky here and complain that the cover protrudes over the dumpster.

Here is a visual guide on how to create your own "Burning Dumpster". Yay! Exciting, isn't it?

Step 1: Find a dumpster with a protruding cover. Non-protruding covers are not applicable (sorry).

Step 2: Open the protruding cover.

Step 3: Light two differently-sized wood for different fire effects. Wait until the flames are alarmingly huge.

Step 4: Immediately throw both burning wood into the dumpster. Remember to keep the wood in an upright position. Keep the cover open for proper oxygen replenishment of the fire.

Step 5: Leave the scene immediately, and make sure no one saw you burn the dumpster, or else, be ready to be charged with Irresponsible Arson.

(DISCLAIMER: Kids, don't try this at home. This section is only for trying-hard-to-be-funny purposes of this review )

Looks like our Mr. Fire Motorcyclist is having the time of his life with his job...

The completed set:

Rating the Set:

Design – 7/10 While I've always liked this particular motorcycle design, there really is nothing particularly new about this set to be excited about. And how irresponsibly the fire extinguisher is attached on the bike garners negative points. The only bright side is this set gives us the first Fire Motorcycle in the history of Fire-themed sets (kindly correct me if I'm wrong on this).

Build – 5/10 If one needs no instructions to build this then its proof enough of the over-simplicity of the build.

Parts – 7/10 The two fire pieces are useful, the greens probably, but the rest are very very common.

Minifigure – 8/10 The new fire outfit design is quite nice, with some commendable printing details. I also love the unusual "eyebrow raisin' " expression of the minifig. Only downside is the aforementioned lack of helmet printing.

Playability – 7/10 For a kid, the cool-looking motorcycle itself presents countless hours of playing, never mind the burning dumpster thingy.

Price – 5/10 It's cheap relative to other sets, but against other previous impulse sets? No need to look further, last year's 50-piece Fire ATV set is $1 cheaper than this 40-piece set. Go figure. (Yeah I know the motorcycle body is a one huge piece and probably costs more, but still... it would've been nice if the price had been retained at $6)

Overall: 65%

Thanks for taking the time to read this review! You could follow the next installment of this Triple Review Special with the 60001 - Fire Chief Car Review.

As a final takeaway, which between these two Fire-themed sets do you prefer? Vote for your favorite in the poll above.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'KDM' for this review, we are still waiting in Oz for the rest of the 2013 fire series.......I need to complete my collection !

At least we have a realistic set here, well there are fire motorcycles as you have shown....though don't the real ones like mini-pumpers - note the hose reel on the back of the bike.....come on Lego some fires can't be fought with just a yellow fire extinguisher.

Anyway, I voted above average because it's the first one from Lego.

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

I'm starting to see lots and lots of these in the stores. So many, that I'm wondering if it won't be easily clearanced at some point. Ironically, I just bought the Fire ATV at the low low price of $2.50 U.S. (down from $5.99).

This set is really tempting...that dumpster looks great as a nice, realistic city element.

[XimenaPaulina]

...though don't the real ones like mini-pumpers - note the hose reel on the back of the bike.....come on Lego some fires can't be fought with just a yellow fire extinguisher.

Yes, you are right about that. The reference image I've shown above actually has a hose reel at the back (just hidden from view by the fireman). Here's a couple of better views:

Though I'm not so sure how such hose reel set-up could be squeezed in such a small space at the back of the LEGO motorcycle. Heck, they even had trouble putting a proper attachment on the fire extinguisher on the side!

[lightningtiger]

Well there's a challenge the tiger might take on 'Kiel'.....a Lego hose reel is only a 2x2 bracket assembly so I can give it a try when they land in Oz !

[XimenaPaulina]

Well there's a challenge the tiger might take on 'Kiel'.....a Lego hose reel is only a 2x2 bracket assembly so I can give it a try when they land in Oz !

I may also take a crack on it considering it seems like an easy mod to do and I had an extra fire hose reel from the 60002 fire truck.

Speaking of extra pieces, forgot to include this review:

I'm quite surprised to see relatively many extras for such a small 40-piece impulse set (it even has more extra pieces than the bigger 60001 Fire Chief car set). And an extra tire too! I don't really remember getting extra tires from sets with motorcycles, so was I just lucky?

[8BrickMario]

I'm sorry if I'm late to this, but I laughed at the "How to commit Arson" section! Hilarious! Great job once again!

[Amte]

This is my motorcycle.