27 replies to this topic

[daoudbazaar]

INDEXED

City Seaplane
City - A floatplane without water nor pontoon

Set #3178
Theme: City
Year Released: 2009 (2010 officially)
Piece Count: 107 (5 extras) - May be some new part (slopes)
Minifigs: 1
List Price: EUR 9.99

I really liked 2008's Air mail (set #7732) and bought many boxes of it for my LAMS (Lego Air mail Service) and my airport fields.
The front picture and the color scheme of this new city floatplane look quite appealing. That's certainly why I picked this one on the shelf instead of the latter release of the fire station.

That's a small box. There is no piece count on boxes in this part of the world. But it's amazingly lighter than imagined when you get it in your hand.  

The top shows the pilot, nothing really new there and only déjà vu parts. This time again, this set will help to fully use the suitcase mold. The theme this year seems to be "empty the suitcase stock" !  


The back shows the seaplane in action. You can easily open the roof to put the the pilot in (top picture). The picture in the lower left corner shows the plane from the front, hiding very cleverly the crappy way they link the floats to the fuselage. The upper right picture depicts the pilot carrying a mapple syrup can I guess on what could be a 4 x 4 golf practice. The lower right picture shows the pilot standing on the float, the back door of the plane opened, with his suitcase : In fact, it's very hard to have the minifig stand on the float as either he hits his head on the wing, or he has to stand on the grilled slope of the float.
At last, Lego realize that all of that was not fun at all so TLG add  a minifig in pilot suit, not included, shouting just to disturb our attention.


The content. That's not a joke but there are two booklets. Next time bags will be also numbered !
No comment on the sticker. Especially the Lufthansa-like fishbone logo for the rudder.


A random page of each booklet.


The build begins with ... booklet 1. That's of no interest as I can't hardly see the link of this build with the plane. I'd have prefered a pontoon, an office or something else. I think this part of the build is only piece count requirement.

Look, but the guy looks guilty. With his Canadian skirt, his sunglasses, and its black suitcase, he seems to have problems with the treasury and to convey balls of bucks to a Caribbean bank.

Here you can see extra parts on top and the emptyness of the cockpit :

Yoyu may also notice that's impossible to stand on the float except on the back slope.

Two remarks :
1) we get windows instead of panels for the walls of the hold


2) these very long slopes seems to be new, aren't they ?


Global views of the floatplane.

Argh !! The design with these technic connectors between the floats is very badly inspired. Lego has done much better by the past.   

Rear views with tail and rudder.


Side view with pilot


And without


In my opinion, it's quite cute and tiny but I have seen better design.
It's not that cheap (105 parts for 10 EUR) and it's yellow and grey. That's not the collors I'm really looking for.

Edited by TheBrickster, 14 December 2009 - 07:29 AM.
Poll added

[Alywin]

Thanks for the quick review again.

Nice small plane, but again a bit inflated price.  But still a good complement to the new aeroplane series in the coming year.

[Razgriz]

I must say I quite like the look of the plane and colour, but with the price, I think there should be something a little extra other than just a wind sock.  Like you mentioned, a pontoon or something you can add to your city/air port so the plane actually has a place to dock, other than just dumping it on the beach for anyone to run off with :p

[Rick]

I really like the color scheme of the plane. Not much else to say about it: it's not bad, but it isn't really special. I like the construction with the 2 high doors though.

And... those slopes are loooooooong... and pretty much useless.

[Zorbas]

I really love it!

Not too big, not too small, an excellent set for me! I, too love the air-mail and when I first saw this one, I was more than sure that this is going to be my first 2010 set.
Very nice colour combination and I really like how it looks in the photos that are taken from the back side.

Another good thingn is that it can be converted into a normal plane with wheels.

My only complaint is the minifig's face.   I just hate that face.


Thanks again for another 2010 review daoudbazaar!

[WhiteFang]

Another nice review once more!  

I am always a great fan of small aircrafts like this, and this is no exception with the right proportion and scale, unlike the Police Pontoon Plane which was released last year. I am looking forward to acquire this yellow seaplane, adding it to my small fleet of aircrafts. The 2 new long yellow slopes look neat, and it matched nicely with the rear of the aircraft.

Poll will be added into your review shortly.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

This review has been featured inside Classic-Town.net.

[Derek]

daoudbazaar, on Dec 13 2009, 09:58 AM, said:

At last, Lego realize that all of that was not fun at all so TLG add  a minifig in pilot suit, not included, shouting just to disturb our attention.

Hahahhahah   That is so funny and random! I think I have a new avatar...

-darthperson8

[The Green Brick Giant]

Small LEGO planes are always too much, it's why I never bought the awesome Mail Plane.  That new piece seems completely useless to me.  

I really wish LEGO would make some new City faces and torsos.  They make new torsos for all the other themese everyu year and City can't get a couple?  Even a "new" face from a different theme, anything new.  I'm sick of buying 5 different sets and they all have the same 2 minifigures.

Edited by The Green Brick Giant, 13 December 2009 - 08:13 PM.

[Dadster]

Nice review.

I was a little surprised when I saw these yesterday in the local TRU, but then again, I hadn't been in there in awhile...

Cool little set!

[sens1992]

This new plane is okay I guess.  There is always a few sets where you scratch your head and wonder where they came from.  The 3178 Seaplane and the Fire Truck with boat (7213) are two of them in my opinion.  Its a great little plane but the Air Mail 7732 was a better model.  It is somehow a great addition to a LEGO city but in my opinion, we could have got something more city like as opposed to a water plane for cottage country.  I am just being difficult here.  I will buy it anyway.  

[Legoliner Pilot]

Damn TLG, stop stealing my sigfig! Just kidding.

The plane is great, but the pilot is not. I agree with Green here, that plaid shirt and sunglass face have been over used-- it's really tiring.

Edited by Legoliner Pilot, 13 December 2009 - 08:31 PM.

[lightningtiger]

Thankyou 'Legoliner Pilot' for a great review of this cute little seaplane.   
I agree with you on the colour, I guess they were trying a tropical feel for the plane.
They miss on the pilot, a better torso they could have chosen. Also that's clever, but also cheeky way to attach the floats to the plane, at least if the pins break you always get a spare in all the sets that use them.
The Anemometer is quite simple, but effective. The fuel can is missing it's 1x2 antenna as a pump handle, I guess you can really use the refuel pump comming with the tanker to base it at the planes moorings.
Thanks again 'Legoliner Pilot'.

[Zorbas]

lightningtiger, on Dec 13 2009, 10:01 PM, said:

Thankyou 'Legoliner Pilot' for a great review of this cute little seaplane.   
Thanks again 'Legoliner Pilot'.

Just for the record, I think you meant daoudbazaar.

Then again, seaplane-Legoliner Pilot, I can see the reason behind the small mistake.

[Piranha]

Great, entertaining and fun to read review!!   
The commentary was very good and the jokes made me laugh.
Especially the random screaming pilot box art  

Now about the Sea Plane.
I am undecided about this set. I am not really a plane fan but this has a nice shape and looks nice.
The opening yellow doors where you store the suitcase is a nice touch.
As for the Minifigure he is really generic, they need to  make some new torsos designs for City  

The little add on, what is the pole thing? I know the container is for gasoline.

Edited by Macoco, 14 December 2009 - 03:47 AM.

[The Green Brick Giant]

Macoco, on Dec 13 2009, 10:46 PM, said:

The little add on, what is the pole thing? I know the container is for gasoline.

It's so you know what direction the wind is coming from.

[SpaceMonkey]

daoudbazaar, on Dec 14 2009, 12:58 AM, said:

2) these very long slopes seems to be new, aren't they ?

Nope, they were used in the 2009 8169 Lamborghini Gallardo Racers set.

Nice review. The set looks good, except for that shallow-steep-shallow inverted sloping on the rear underside. I would definitely change that.

[green dewback]

Im quite interested in this set, its piececount, propellers and wingspan is slightly bigger than 2008's Air Mail set.
Air Mail's wheels and printed control slope is better than this set though.

[chris_austin]

I like the look of this set. It's reminds of sets from when I was younger and not the very forgettable period from a few years ago.

So, thanks for the review. I actually like the little wind sock accessory but i'm not liking the extra long curved slope piece. Do we need one piece that's so long?

[CommanderFox]

A Great review daoudbazaar.
This looks like another Great City set for 2010.
I like the parts in this set. It is a nice sized plane.
Nice job with the review!

CommanderFox

[Klaus-Dieter]

Thank you very much for this great review, daoudbazaar!

I voted for
Average
since it is indeed a great set - but could have been done better:

Cons:
-only very common minifig
-no peer
-no doors for the pilot to get in and out

Pros:
-good price ratio performance
-awesome designed plane


Klaus-Dieter

[Brickus]

Good review, also is that hat/cap a new piece?

[legomaniac83]

Thanks for the review.
I have had this set in my hands ready to buy many times and know I just might go for it.
I think the price is a little steep as well. Its $15 here in Canada. Might wait for a sale to happen.
Cheers.

[jonwil]

The baseball cap is a new version of the piece that was first seen last year in sets like the City Corner.

[henryhotspurs]

I don't buy the planes.  After your review I was convinced I was doing the right thing.  Then I got three new plane sets as gifts.  The sea plane was one.  I built it and discovered your review was spot on!  Now the plane will be relegated to the parts bin and the minifig gets a quick makeover.  Mr. Pilot went back to school where he learned to be a stockbroker.  His new office is the 15th floor of my lego city stock exchange...

Thanks for the review

[Svelte]

I think this review is way too harsh!

This was one of my faves of the City Jan/ Feb releases - classically styled plane, useful pieces (large doors and even 2 2x2 black windows!) and a clever but brilliantly simple attachment system for the pontoons! It kicks the mail plane and most other small planes of the last few years right out of the water! The quality of yellow seemed better than last year, too.