Review: 4205 Off-Road Command Centre

[Klaus-Dieter]

Hello everybody!

Like promised, after the previous review of 4441 Forest Police Dog Unit here's my review of 4205:

4205 Off-Road Command Centre

Firstly the box:

The polybags, the instructions and the sticker sheet:

Bag one is for building the boat.

Bag two and three are for building the unimog.

And bag three is for building the trailer.

There is one new part in this set - the life vest:

Spare parts:

The minifigures:

The boat:

The trailer:

The unimog:

And at least the set as whole:

All in all I give this set an

Average

because of following reasons:

Pro:

-detailed interior inside the control center

-very realistic looking vehicles

Con:

-much too huge unimog (looks more like Playmobil than Lego)

-boat fits only two minifigures

-overpriced (with its 40 Euros minimum 10)

-nearly no accessory comparing the size of the set

-as a police set it looks strange

I must honestly regrettably admit that if I had again the chance to buy this set, I wouldn't do so. Don't get me wrong: The vehicles look very realistic and offer a lot of playability. But they (esp. the unimog) are much too huge (whcih I regrettably didn't get from the pictures before buying this set) and for 40 Euros this set is definately overpriced. Like grogall already mentioned, it would have fit much better as a THW set than as a forest police set.

I hope this review helped you.

What do you think?

Btw: Supposably tomorrow evening I'm adding the third and for now last review - the 4206 Recycling Truck which is imo one of the best sets of this year.

Greetings

Klaus-Dieter

Edited January 5, 2012 by Rick
Indexed

[cimddwc]

Thanks for the review!

I had this set in my hands at the Lego store these days – and in no other shops (or the normal catalog, for that matter); there seem to be quite a few unmarked exclusive/limited sets this season –, but I also thought it's a bit too expensive, and the boat trailer's too wide to nicely fit typical roads anyway. Even wider than I imagined, actually, seeing your photos now...

That being said, I don't necessarily think the Unimog is too big when seeing everything together and considering that it's supposed to be an off-road command center. :) It might have worked in a smaller version too, though.

[Stu83]

Good review, thanks!

It seems that City sets in general are getting taller. Taking police vans (because I've just got hold of the new ones), 4441 from 2012 is one plate higher than 7286 from 2011 which is in turn one plate higher than 7245 from 2005. I don't suppose you have a 7213 Off Road Firetruck & Boat or 7726 Coast Guard Truck & Boat to compare the height/size with?

I can't quite figure out whether the boat in this set is supposed to be a hovercraft or an airboat.

[ZeeK]

Many thanks, Klaus-Dieter, for sharing the review!

100% agree on the fact the truck is way too large. When image of the sets appeared i've built the truck from #4208 for myself and i've instantly realized LEGO has started to make vehicles even larger than before. These 30*14 wheels are definitely wrong. And, as far as i can see from 2012 City range, this off-scale is quite common. Moreover, the front of the boxes are designed to hide this fact - the figs are shown bigger (or the vehicles smaller).

Local russian LEGO prices have risen overcoming real overcome real inflation rate, which is approx 15% in Russia: the $20 sets were priced 729-799 RUB in 2011, now the $20 sets are 999 RUB (it's 25-30% increase), so i have to admit that almost every set is overpriced...

It seems that City sets in general are getting taller. Taking police vans (because I've just got hold of the new ones), 4441 from 2012 is one plate higher than 7286 from 2011 which is in turn one plate higher than 7245 from 2005.

The tires used in #4441 are bigger than the ones used before - i do not understand why - even the older ones used in the vans/trucks are quite big as compared to the height of the minifig. Using the standard tires for smaller cars is not the good practice, IMO. The old small tires/wheels were fine and the cars looked like those one can see in the street. In 4440 LEGO has used the new big tires for quad bike - it's not even funny to have the quad bike with man-height wheels...

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'K-D' for this review, I feel you are mean't to team it up with the dog unit set too in a way.

The boat is cool, I like it....now the truck...you think it's too big....remember the coast guard version of this kind of set with a boat eh ?

Though the crook has a paddle, but must steal the crate from the cops.....okay, it's a story line I guess !

At least the truck is brick-built with doors, 'Klaus' you love those doors.

Thanks again 'Klaus' for the review, I'll be buying it for sure....later in the year, it's going to be a mid-year toy sale exclusive at some Oz retail chain (either Kmart/Target/BigW).

Brick On Review On 'Klaus' !

[Artifex]

Thanks for the review. I really like this set. And I'm fond of a big vehicle here. The boat is also great IMHO. When I was a kid I always liked big vehicles like this one and I'd always build vehicles quite similar in size, space and detail. Looks like something from my own (child) imagination, so I guess that's why I like it. :thumbup:

[just2good]

Thanks for the review!

The I don't think the life jackets are new to this set. They came with my copy of the 4642 Fishing Boat.

[Esurient]

This set is great, it will complement with my old City police collection. The details on the van are sweet, the rear view mirrors etc. Will definitely get this set. Thank you for the review. It allows me to have a closer look into the set.

[Gryphon Ink]

Con:

-much too huge unimog (looks more like Playmobil than Lego)

Don't get me wrong: The vehicles look very realistic and offer a lot of playability. But they (esp. the unimog) are much too huge (whcih I regrettably didn't get from the pictures before buying this set)

What do you think?

Is it really oversized? People build massive things on Unimogs. To me, this looks a lot like this:

(A Global Expeditions vehicle built on an Unimog).

Or this:

(A Unicat Amerigo Unimog).

It's hard to tell exact scale from the pictures, but it seems like the Command Centre is only off by a little bit compared to those babies. And they aren't even armored, as the Command Centre probably is, because they're just expedition vehicles for rich civilians. (And you thought Lego was an expensive hobby? A Unicat Amerigo will set you back $500,000.)

I really think this is the coolest-looking vehicle in the new City lineup. Compared to last year's mobile command trailer which left me cold, I would totally buy this at the right price. The boat is awesome, too. Is it supposed to be a hovercraft? It definitely looks like one.

[JackJonespaw]

It must be awkward when you're not tall enough to reach the door. Nice pic review! I wish that they'd make the way the life vests fit on about a millimeter back, so that the head could fit, and not look quite odd....also, it could be a cool bullet vest!

[Rick]

If the back would have been 7 wide instead of 8 and if they reduced the length by a stud or so, I think it would have been very well-proportioned. But the Unimog itself isn't really the problem I think, the trailer is just way to wide.

[Brickviller]

Thanks for the review Klaus. The set looks very good and fits the forest police theme perfectly. It's quite big compared to minifigs but it would not be the first time something like that happened with a city themed set However with all those vehicles comming this year I can't see myself buy this one, or else the streets of my city will be blocked 24/7

[dr_spock]

Thanks the review. I think the trailer is too wide.