REVIEW: 712 Sea Plane

[WesternOutlaw]

Sea Plane

First, I'd like you to sit back for a moment and take you back to a nostalgic Lego time frame, 30 years ago.

The year is 1978. The time is 10:00 on a Saturday night. A young boy is sitting next to the couch in front of a television, building a great Lego set that he got from "Santa".

He open's the instructions quickly to build the following blue sea plane:

He pays no attention to the alternate models pictured on the instructions:

Starting with a little motor boat, the pieces come together quickly:

Then, a few faceless red figures before the main model:

A glance at the television...

as he builds the model.

It didn't take as long as expected despite the numerous blue bricks and bottom upside-down sloped pieces:

An awesome propeller complimented with some yellow 1x1 round bricks (new pieces - yay!):

A side view of the model after lying on the floor:

And a little cockpit where one pretends the figures fly the plane:

Now it's time to re-create Fantasy Island with Set #712, the Lego Sea Plane.

SPLASH! It's time for bed. In the morning, he get's to play Sea Plane!

Set # 712 (same as 371 from 1976)

Year Released: 1977

Pieces: 230

Faceless Figs: 2

Price: Around $10 - $15 USD.

Hope you enjoyed this review! It brings back some childhood memories.

[BerndDasBrot]

only !

please keep it up!

[WesternOutlaw]

please keep it up!

There's more classics coming soon!

[BerndDasBrot]

yeah!

i really liked your memories while building.

[Tarfful]

Ahhh, you can almost taste the nostalgia...

A great review and an even better set, you get a five from me!

-Tarfful

Edited July 10, 2008 by Tarfful

[Mak]

There's more classics coming soon!

Could you please indicate in your thread title that it is a review of a classic (or simply old) set. Not everyone can convert the set number into release year automatically.

I suggest a [CLASSIC] or [VINTAGE] tag to distinguish this kind of reviews from reviews of new or contemporary sets.

[WesternOutlaw]

i really liked your memories while building.

Thanks BDB. I'm glad you enjoyed the "nostalgia".

A great review and an even better set, you get a five from me!

Thanks T. Great rating for this vintage set. It was so much fun "back in the day".

Could you please indicate in your thread title that it is a review of a classic (or simply old) set. Not everyone can convert the set number into release year automatically.

I suggest a [CLASSIC] or [VINTAGE] tag to distinguish this kind of reviews from reviews of new or contemporary sets.

Mak: as a new member of EB whose made one single post, I suggest that instead of pointing out the negative and being insultive (at least this is how I am reading your comment), you first introduce yourself and/or contribute in a positive manner. While a "classic" or "vintage" tag is not a bad idea at all, most who see a "three-digit" number realize this is early Lego. The release year is also provided in the review. At the same time, comments are more valued when a constructive tone is used.

[WhiteFang]

This Sea Plane model looks very neat and lovely, especially with its blue scheme.

Nowadays, aeroplane or sea plane are mostly made up of <insert that tiresome argument> parts. The main point which I will like to highlight about this set is, 712 Sea Plane is basically constructed using only "bricks" and no large parts that are used to do its wings, base etc. IMHO, I think this plane is wonderful. Let's take a simple comparison with the recent Police Pontoon Plane.

Police Pontoon plane is constructed by using mainly pre-constructed parts for its windscreen, fuselage, cockpit and etc. I find this quite disappointing, without demostrating what bricks can actually do. The 712 Sea Plane had actually proved this point.

The 2 faceless red figures, seemed very new to me. I believed most of the sets that are in the 1970s, was actually a turning point of LEGO, and actually envolved mini-figs in 1980s. This can be one of the milestone in LEGO history.

I give this a solid "5". My rating, is based if I am in 1978 and 2008 (Comparison of 2 distinct different LEGO era). From there, I justify my vote based on the construction of using bricks.

[WesternOutlaw]

This Sea Plane model looks very neat and lovely, especially with its blue scheme.

Nowadays, aeroplane or sea plane are mostly made up of <insert that tiresome argument> parts. The main point which I will like to highlight about this set is, 712 Sea Plane is basically constructed using only "bricks" and no large parts that are used to do its wings, base etc. IMHO, I think this plane is wonderful.

I give this a solid "5". My rating, is based if I am in 1978 and 2008 (Comparison of 2 distinct different LEGO era). From there, I justify my vote based on the construction of using bricks.

WF: I really appreciate your comments and comparison of this great classic with the new police plane. Some people forget that this set is 30 years old. While I myself did not give this set a five (rather a four), it's great to see that others (like yourself) can appreciate the value of a vintage set. I agree completely with your point about this set being completely made of bricks vs. "<insert that tiresome argument>" pieces used in newer sets. Further, specialized pieces did not exist in the late 70s making sets like this even more difficult to look realistic. Considering all of the above (age, design, brick-built, color, and playability, I rated this set a four.

While I think the new Police Plane looks awesome, it does use the large "duplo-like" pieces to give it the sleek look that it has. I own the last passenger plane set that also has some of these pieces with decals. They look good, but aren't too much fun when it comes to building, plus one is pretty much stuck with building an airplane with the specialized pieces.

In any case, I thank you again for making some very good points and critical review of the Sea Plane. I hope that others can appreciate the value of this set. It appears that the majority of the comments have been very positive. I did think that many would rate this set lower based on comparison with modern standards. It's great to see that you can see the quality of vintage sets like this one.

[5150 Lego]

While I think the new Police Plane looks awesome, it does use the large "duplo-like" pieces to give it the sleek look that it has. I own the last passenger plane set that also has some of these pieces with decals. They look good, but aren't too much fun when it comes to building, plus one is pretty much stuck with building an airplane with the specialized pieces.

Not true. There have been plently of mocs using the hull pieces of the new passenger planes to make everything from tanker trucks, bullet trains, helicopters (as evident in the new Coast Guard helicopter) and even Mars mission has used the one piece wings.

While they may not be as versatile as the the classic lego brick, they still offer plenty in the mocing department. You just have to use your imagination.

As for the review on the classic sea plane, i think its a great little set. Very classic in its design (obviously ), and reminds me greatly of little lego sets i built in front of the Tv as a kid! great review!

[WhiteFang]

Not true. There have been plently of mocs using the hull pieces of the new passenger planes to make everything from tanker trucks, bullet trains, helicopters (as evident in the new Coast Guard helicopter) and even Mars mission has used the one piece wings.

While they may not be as versatile as the the classic lego brick, they still offer plenty in the mocing department. You just have to use your imagination.

I agreed with you that these "pre-constructed" parts or "hull pieces" are cool and added greater clarity and reference to our real world. Otherwise, how could the new Passenger plane looks so nice and great. I do own these big planes, except for the Police Pontoon Plane.

Brickster and I aren't really faulting on the new designs badly. It just that we missed the "LEGO Building Experience". And, Bricks is always the foundation of any typical LEGO sets. We progressed over time, even LEGO improve and offer better designs with new parts.

The point we bring across is not how great we can use these parts to construct a better MOC. But, how important is the experience. As for me, the building experience counts a lot, especially when it comes to bricks and pieces.

[Zarkan]

I gave it a five. Today it's nothing special design wise at all, but back in 1978 this probably was state of the art lego. The plane is extremely realistic, and it even comes with two figures and a boat!

I agreed with you that these "pre-constructed" parts or "hull pieces" are cool and added greater clarity and reference to our real world. Otherwise, how could the new Passenger plane looks so nice and great. I do own these big planes, except for the Police Pontoon Plane.

I agree. I really never got using those small, four seater planes as standard passenger planes in the 90's and 80's. As private planes they work great, but the new City planes work far better as standard airport owned passenger planes. And as you said, the pieces actually aren't useless - TLC itself has shown how they can be used creatively.

Edited July 11, 2008 by Grevious

[5150 Lego]

Brickster and I aren't really faulting on the new designs badly. It just that we missed the "LEGO Building Experience". And, Bricks is always the foundation of any typical LEGO sets. We progressed over time, even LEGO improve and offer better designs with new parts.

I'll agree that the bigger parts don't offer the same building experiance as when building with "classic" lego bricks. No argument there. But thats not to say that the new peies don't offer a good building experinace, just a differnt type of build so to speak.

The point we bring across is not how great we can use these parts to construct a better MOC. But, how important is the experience. As for me, the building experience counts a lot, especially when it comes to bricks and pieces.

Well to be honest, i think thats all in the builder. Not everyone will have the same building experaince, nor will they nessasarly look for the same in the build as others might. I think this is the one of the main problems for the critisism of the bigger parts. For me, if i can use a certain part that really brings my moc,(or even an offical lego set) together, then that adds to the building experaince rather than trying to make somthing work. It doesn't matter if ithat part is a plane hull, or a 1x1 plate.