Set 7642 - Lego Garage

[Keith Turner]

I have got my hands on one of the new City Sets - 7642 - The New Garage (was

Edited April 30, 2009 by Keith Turner

[Asuka]

Thanks very much, Keith... but what´s that..? Somebody´s stolen all the car doors - again!

[Spyder]

Somebody

Edited April 27, 2009 by Spyder

[Svelte]

Thanks for the great pictures!

I have to say, apart from the smoke garage door pieces, there is not a lot in this set that appeals to me. I already have enough vehicles and the design of the garage itself is very much of the 'series of 1x2x5 bricks connected by plates' school. The orange and white colour scheme is a nice change, but I would have liked to have seen something more in line with the red/green/white Octan service station aesthetic. The new torso is OK> but the rest of the figs are just the same old parts that everyone has a million of.

It's a shame about the car doors too Especially since the vehicles seem to have been designed with them in mind. I wonder what happened?

[Yeow]

Even the smaller orange toy truck, 7638 has orange doors. Why couldn't they of just added those ;[

[The Green Brick Giant]

That set looks horrible.

The car and truck look blah and the building itself... can I even call it a building?

[Svelte]

It depends which windshield piece they use.

If they use the newer pieces which don't hold studs in place except at the very front, they can't use car doors.

(Older-style cars often used the windshield piece to hold the door in position).

This is why it's a little strange that the big orange hauler and the red truck don't have car doors as that large windscreen would seem perfect for them - but you can see that the windshield for the blue vehicle couldn't use them.

[Yeow]

This is why it's a little strange that the big orange hauler and the red truck don't have car doors as that large windscreen would seem perfect for them - but you can see that the windshield for the blue vehicle couldn't use them.

That, and it also looks like the wheel wells would possibly get in the way if the door were extended all the way out. I personally never liked the blue vehicle anyways. The wheels on it and 7731 Mail Van are really strange..

[Svelte]

That, and it also looks like the wheel wells would possibly get in the way if the door were extended all the way out. I personally never liked the blue vehicle anyways. The wheels on it and 7731 Mail Van are really strange..

The novelty of that piece has definitely worn off.

[CP5670]

I have mixed thoughts about this set. On one hand, the tow truck is an excellent design, and the smaller truck is nice too. The garage itself looks very bare and unfinished though. The lack of a roof on the middle section is especially glaring. Whether I get this or not will depend a lot on the price.

[ILikePi]

This set doesn't seem like a good deal for $100.

From the instruction booklets, I can see that all that is included are 3 cars, probably worth about $5, $10, and $20 each. Also, it looks like the things in the garage are:

• a lift
  
• a green () crate for recycling
  
• a security center with control panels and a drink dispenser
  
• three oil cans
  
• a satellite dish
  
• a hook
  
• two cupboards
  

The minifigure heads also are just the usual generic ones.

Not that much stuff for $100, if you ask me...

[jonwil]

Thanks for the pics. After seeing these, I definitely wont be buying this one.

[Keith Turner]

It depends which windshield piece they use.

If they use the newer pieces which don't hold studs in place except at the very front, they can't use car doors.

(Older-style cars often used the windshield piece to hold the door in position).

This is why it's a little strange that the big orange hauler and the red truck don't have car doors as that large windscreen would seem perfect for them - but you can see that the windshield for the blue vehicle couldn't use them.

The problem is the design of the trucks, because of the way the front is put on the windscreen is only held in place by the back 2 studs which would be where the doors would be, so it would be very fragile. I will try and put some more pictures up tonight. The other trucks can have the doors because the design of the front of the truck (not flat) means the windscreen is held in place by the 6 studs along the front of the windscreen. I was disapointed they did not have doors. I am reserving my judgement on the set until I have finished it.

[CP5670]

This set doesn't seem like a good deal for $100.

It's $100? I thought it would be more like $60-70. I certainly won't be buying it for $100.

[Perterz]

It's $100? I thought it would be more like $60-70. I certainly won't be buying it for $100.

Me neither, nearly as much as the MMV but the pieces in quality as quantity don't seem to be worth a 100 bucks. I'd rather buy me a third MMV instead of this set..

Edited April 28, 2009 by Perterz

[Guss]

no cars door again :/ but I' think I'll buy this one anyway, I need some parts^^

[rriggs]

I like the trucks and the little pickup. The garage has some cool features but does need a roof - but that wouldn't be hard to add!

In answer to people's criticisms:

1. No doors. I agree that this is a shame but this does seem to be the way with this style of Lego truck. Even more of a shame as these trucks are hugely detailed in every other way. However, it is not a big problem to add doors to this style truck. You can use an inboard mounted 2x1 technic brick with two holes/two half clips to secure the front of the truck leaving the outboard 1x1 spaces for the doors. The doors actually hold the windscreen in place just as well as 1x1 bricks. Here's an example of one of my MOCs built in this way:

2. Wheels on the blue pickup (and on the mail truck). I think that it's right for the wheels to vary between vehicles as this is more realistic. In this set it makes even more sense as otherwise you would have a little pickup driving round on the same wheels as the much larger trucks around it. It's a shame that the pickup doesn't have warning light and some tools though...

3. The price. I am going to wait until it hits the shelves before passing judgement on this. Lego have a history of bumping up the RRP only for retailers (like TRU, Woolworths, Tesco, etc) to actually all have them on the shelves for much less. Most recent example of this is the bulldozer. Lego RRP'd this originally at £30. However, it has never been on sale anywhere that I have seen for more than £20 - And that includes Lego Stores. Tesco and Smyths both have sold it at £15 since the day it came out. I think that the high RRP is used in some cases as a marketing tool allowing retailers to advertise at £10 off or 1/2 RRP, etc.

Cheers

Rog

[Ralph_S]

Perhaps we've been spoiled with the quality of the vehicles in recent years and don't quite appreciate that this is light years ahead of what LEGO used to do until five years ago. I rather like this. The red truck is very nice, the blue pickup truck is OK as well and the tow truck is truly excellent. You could put that in a city display at a public event without changes. What they could make of the garage has probably been limited by wanting to keep the price down, but there's a lot of useful stuff in it. The door, obviously, but take a closer look at that work bench and the office. It's all very neat. I'm not at all fussed about there not being any car doors in the trucks.

I don't know how much it is going to cost in the UK, but if the price is right I want one.

Cheers,

Ralph

[CP5670]

I do like the vehicles a lot (particularly the tow truck, which looks like the best minifig tow truck TLG has made), but they aren't worth $100 by themselves. The garage itself is lacking, especially considering the price.

[Dr. Brick]

I do like the vehicles a lot (particularly the tow truck, which looks like the best minifig tow truck TLG has made), but they aren't worth $100 by themselves. The garage itself is lacking, especially considering the price.

Thanks for the pics!

Nooo, this set is horrible! Why does it have to ruin the excellent line of city sets this year?

- The pickup is ugly!

- The building isn't a building!

- The price is unbelievable!

The only good things are the two trucks and hte green recycle box (which we might see in the advent calender anyways).

Well thanks again for the pics, I hope you will find this a good set. I suppose it's always better when you've actually got the brick in front of you.

Dr. Brick

[Freddie]

This is one of the sets that I will not be gunning for this year. While I suspect I'm one of the few that sees that the centerpiece "building" is actually a heavy-duty garage-crane, it is mostly only the two trucks and the two smaller building sections that appeal to me.

Yeah, I'll wait and see. There are better sets coming this year that I'll be wanting.

[Front]

I just built the three vehicles an hour ago. I really like the two trucks.

The building remains to be built, but complaining about the lack of a roof, is in my opinion not fair. How should a 6 year old play with the features in the middle section, if it was all covered by a roof ? I think we need to understand this as adults, and MOD sets to our likings, or stick to sets that is marked +14 or +16.

I am really surprised that this set is out in stores already.

Front

Edited April 29, 2009 by Front

[CP5670]

The structure would be quite open even with a roof, especially since there is no front wall. I don't see any issue with playability there.

[mikey]

I think we need to understand this as adults, and MOD sets to our likings, or stick to sets that is marked +14 or +16.

I have to agree with that, I think most sets that include buildings are in need of some modification if we are aiming for a 'realistic' look, in some ways that is the point (and all the fun) of Lego?

As sets with buildings go this one does not look to bad really, would be interesting to know what the RRP is?

This set never really got my hopes up, a truck design with doors would have sold it for me though!, I am waiting for the Pick Up Truck on its own which I think looks good in itself, and then multiple purchases just for the classic doors!

[Keith Turner]

Perhaps we've been spoiled with the quality of the vehicles in recent years and don't quite appreciate that this is light years ahead of what LEGO used to do until five years ago. I rather like this. The red truck is very nice, the blue pickup truck is OK as well and the tow truck is truly excellent. You could put that in a city display at a public event without changes. What they could make of the garage has probably been limited by wanting to keep the price down, but there's a lot of useful stuff in it. The door, obviously, but take a closer look at that work bench and the office. It's all very neat. I'm not at all fussed about there not being any car doors in the trucks.

I don't know how much it is going to cost in the UK, but if the price is right I want one.

Cheers,

Ralph

This cost £69.99 it TRU, so I assume £68.50 from www.lego.com

I have to agree with that, I think most sets that include buildings are in need of some modification if we are aiming for a 'realistic' look, in some ways that is the point (and all the fun) of Lego?

As sets with buildings go this one does not look to bad really, would be interesting to know what the RRP is?

This set never really got my hopes up, a truck design with doors would have sold it for me though!, I am waiting for the Pick Up Truck on its own which I think looks good in itself, and then multiple purchases just for the classic doors!

This cost me £69.99 in TRU, so assume lego price is £68.50