Review: 4429 Helicopter Rescue

[legitimatealex]

The hospital is so poor that they can't even afford floors! This wouldn't fly around me. Sorry for your poor minifigure printing : | Otherwise I think the doctor looks fantastic and realistic. I'm also digging that guys' sweater. Helicopter looks really weird though. Ambulance also seems far too small for what it should be.

[kasmca]

Thanks for the review. I'm a bit disappointed. I'm hoping Lego will come out with a modular Hospital, similar to what Fire Brigade did for Fire stations.

Here's one someone made on Cuusoo: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/12410

and another: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=35999

Edited May 4, 2012 by kasmca

[EM5CZ]

4429 nothing special, I've seen better

[Faefrost]

Couldn't agree with you more Big T. I think most people are dissapointed in this hospital and feel that TLG have to give the medical theme the Police theme treatment ie a big Police station sized Hospital that has plenty of rooms, ie operating theatre, ER/A&E, recovery ward etc etc, seperate Helicopter, Paramedic motorcyle and Ambulance.

Scottwb is 100% correct. They are trying to shoehorn what is not essentially a "vehicle" centric play theme into a Garage and heliport. Yeah a Hospital needs an ambulance and a place for a helicopter. But more key it needs places to play doctor and fix patients. It needs an ER. It needs an OR. It needs an X-ray or ct machine. There is a better "hospital" feel in the back half of the back of the Alien Conquest HQ then there is in this set. What little interior there is is relegated to a waiting room and registration desk. Ooooo! Can I role play a government health care services bureacrat?

Can we all pray for a gargantuan old school $200 modular series 3 story hospital?

Oh and a quick edit to ask, what is it with the use of the "Star of Life" symbol all over the hospital? Is that common in Europe? In the US and Canada that blue star symbol almost exclusively means EMS ( emergency medical services, ie Ambulances) and Rescue services. It is similar to how a Maltese Cross designates Fire Services and a Shield Police. It would never ever be found on a hospital building except to designate where the Ambulances park or enter. I know it's a minor thing, but it still makes the whole thing feel wrong.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Faefrost

[Kliq]

I can understand the disappointment with the limited 'hospital' design, but I think it doesn't look too bad. I wish they would have renamed it more appropriatly as more of a 'clinic' then a full fledged hospital. I still want one, though! It might not be what people wanted, but it isn't as disasterous to me as some claim.

Edit: I was given one of these http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=9364-1 maybe 15 years ago. This was an awesome set.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Kliq

[Venunder]

This is more like a small emergency response building.

A true hospital would be at least 6 times the size and the set price would match.

I'll probably buy one or two of these and Modify it to a reasonable size to fit the Helicopter and the new £15 city Ambulance.

The small 4 wide ambulance will probably convert into a fast response medic's car.

[Cwetqo]

Set name edited. Could moderator also change topic name?

[Rick]

Set name edited. Could moderator also change topic name?

Done.

[Piranha]

Thank you for sharing with us this nice review.

I owned the previous Hospital that was released in 2006, and from these pictures it is definitely an improvement. The minifigures in general are much nicer, especially that new doctor, which is the star of the set. The helicopter is vastly improved from the previous rendition. I still like the larger ambulance but the small one included is alright. The interior of the building is a bit lacking but that can be fixed. As for the exterior, I think it is solid, somewhat reminiscent of Classic Town.

Overall I would rate this set at 4/5.

[Darth Lurtz]

Does the Doctor minifigure have back printing?

[lightningtiger]

Does the Doctor minifigure have back printing?

Good question.....I'll check later this morning when I get home.

The one thing I noticed with this is the sign out the front of it points in different directions meaning you would just have to be creative and build similar style buildings as wards, operating rooms, etc., and I guess that is the reason behind the plates being used instead of the standard base plates.

After building it, my mind was changed a little to the positive on this set....worth buying and worth expanding.

[LegoDad]

Is there any chance with this being named "Helicopter Rescue" and not being named "Hospital", that there will be an actual hospital at some time? It is probably just semantics, but I have to keep my hopes up somehow, because this is not acceptable.

[just2good]

Is there any chance with this being named "Helicopter Rescue" and not being named "Hospital", that there will be an actual hospital at some time? It is probably just semantics, but I have to keep my hopes up somehow, because this is not acceptable.

Here is my response from an older post...

So the English name is helicopter rescue, eh? That's a great name to illustrate a set about a hospital.

Maybe they knew people would think it's too small for a hospital, so they didn't include hospital in the name.

I doughnut think they will release a new Hospital anytime soon though. So we'll have to make do with what we have now.

[kasmca]

This item is now on the Canadian and US Lego shop. I'm very disappointed that they priced it at $74.99 CDN for 425 pieces.

[AllanSmith]

Just made the set up. I like it even if the building is too small compared to the helicopter. I just wish LEGO would pack the instructions and sticker sheet in a cardboard backed bag like they have done on some other sets.

to LEGO.

[meyerc13]

When you complain, they'll apologize profusely and send you new stickers, but I've had this happen several times now. Sometimes the stickers can be flattened and used, but other times they are badly mangled as in your photo and that isn't going to work. In one case I used the stickers, only to have them start peeling up later in the direction the sheet had been folded.

For those of us who know we can complain and get new stickers, this isn't a big deal. But how many parents don't know that and are turned of of LEGO when something like this happens? Seriously LEGO, dip into your record profits and get this problem fixed, at least for all sets that have stickers.

[Holodoc]

... and doctor, which is new. It has printed legs, which should continue body print, but is totaly different colour. I guess that they will correct this in later batches, but for now it pretty much ruins complete minifigure.

Update on this matter:

I ordered 3 of those torso's and legs. All of the legs had light blue printings instead of white.

I complained and asked for better printing instead of a refund, but I got the latter, because they couldn't tell me if the color problem will be solved at all!