21 replies to this topic

[WhiteFang]

INDEXED

Hello everyone,

It has been quite awhile since I last brought Eurobricks readers, a Classic-Town review. The last one which I have done was the 6523 Red Cross. In one of my early eBay consignment, I couldn’t resist but to get this small little set for a nifty Euro 4.20 along with many others Classic Town vehicles which will be reveal over a period of time, to be added into my comprehensive Classic Town collection. What made this vehicle so special? Find out more by reading this review.

Name: Police Car
Theme: LEGO System / Town
Year: 1983
Pieces: 40
Minifigs: 1
Price: AUS $3.25, (?) (Please provide the price if you happened to know.)
Resources: Brickset, Peeron BrickLink


An image of a 6623, Police Car



Don't mess with Classic Town Law Enforcer


When I received this set, there were only building content and instruction manuals. The original box packaging was not included. With a mere 40 piece count, inclusive of the minifig, just imagine how simple such vehicle design was in 1983. I wasn’t even born back then, so I could just imagine myself that I went back in time to purchase this set myself. Ok, I am just kidding.  

Seriously, this set simply attracts me and I really will love to have a fleet of police cars like these to be stationed inside my Classic Town police station, because this set has covered mainly what a basic police car should offer, and yet stay true to its design fundamentals.


6623 Police Car alternate designs


I can still remember those vivid alternate designs for those LEGO sets back then. It was interesting to see these alternate designs, and you could have wondered yourself back then, when you are a child without having the use of instruction manuals to construct these alternate designs. Among the 3 alternate designs, the center highway police patrol car is just so sleek.

Now, shall we have a competition to see who is able to re-create all 3 designs?  


Instruction Manual


Looking back at my past instruction manuals, I never recalled owning any instruction manual like the one I have featured. It’s one vintage instruction manual, and I am glad that it’s still in good condition even though the edges start to turn yellow.


A typical Classic Town Police Officer or Inspector


Ah ha, the typical police inspector or officer that protects the citizens of Classic Town. There were more than 20 official LEGO sets from Classic Town, starting from the very first appearance in 381-2 Police Station in 1979 till 1992, in 6533 Police 4 x 4. This police officer is one of the most distinct Classic Town figures ever released. I am sure fans of Classic Town will definitely own this piece of minifigures somehow back in your childhood days in the 1980s.


Printed parts


The key highlights of the special printed parts. I really adore doors like these to have the word police appearing at the left and right doors. It’s make the whole set looks complete, with these printed words on it, unlike the current use of stickers to depict the police representation. Just take a look at how printed parts will last over the period of years, and even though it was a used set, it’s still pretty acceptable even though there are some scratch marks at the side.

Wanted to guess how many times did the police printed doors appeared? You will be surprised that from 1979 to 1991, there were approximately 9 sets that have these printed doors based on Peeron information, and some of these sets are not very expensive to obtain. Such doors are very useful to integrate with police vehicles. Furthermore, with doors like these, it sure made your police car fleet appeared to be much complete.


Taking a sneak peek at its finished bottom


This is the bottom of the 6623 Police Car, and takes careful note of its wheels. The wheel axle is made up of a thin single metal rod, and such components nowadays are an extreme rare sight. Most of the vehicles back then incorporate such elements into their vehicle base to support the moving. However, if you don’t take good care of such parts, it can easily rust over time, causing it to be stiff and hard.


Different views of the 6623 Police Car




Key attribute of Classic Town cars


Although everyone knew this for a fact, but I still will like to point it out again that every Classic Town vehicles still revolved around opening doors on both sides and the opening roof to load the minifig inside. Such concept exists in Classic Town for many years and it’s still remembered even till this day.


No time to lose


To conclude, this vehicle with a small and affordable price tag could be easily considered as an impulse set back in the 1980s with a useful vehicle to expand your police cars and enforcing frequent patrols inside Classic Town to maintain law and order. The design was simple but yet effective with clever use of windscreens, doors and rooftop to integrate into this small little set. It’s definitely one of the wonderful Classic Town police vehicles ever released.  


Summary review
Playability: 9/10 (Every town needs to have a police car to catch criminals.)
Design: 9.5/10 (Stays true to its Classic Town design, and yet so realistic plus those printed doors.)
Price: 9/10 (Affordable pricing back then since this is a small set and for Euro 4.20 that I have bought, I think its worth it.)
Overall: 9.2/10 (Every Classic Town police station should own one of these patrol cars.)

I gave it a "5" based on my Review Score Card.   What about yours?

Hope everyone of you enjoyed reading this simple review of mine. Comments and Critics are strongly welcomed.
Pictures can be found in My Brickshelf (When moderated)

[TheBrickster]

Very nice review WF!  You know I love seeing these Classic Town sets.  This little police car looks like something from 588 Police Headquarters, released in 1979.  I don't even remember seeing it though.
Great little set with 4-studs wide frame, opening doors, trans blue 1x1s, and front & back windshield.
I really like that last picture with the hospital vehicle.

[WhiteFang]

TheBrickster, on Nov 6 2009, 11:12 AM, said:

Very nice review WF!  You know I love seeing these Classic Town sets.  This little police car looks like something from 588 Police Headquarters, released in 1979.  I don't even remember seeing it though.
Great little set with 4-studs wide frame, opening doors, trans blue 1x1s, and front & back windshield.
I really like that last picture with the hospital vehicle.

Thanks Brickster!  

I agreed that the little police car looks similar to the one in 1979. In fact, I noticed many other Police Station sets during Classic Town era, have similar variations. Just that I feel this is one of the easy way to build a good amount of patrol cars with a decent design like this.

[TheBrickster]

How about a front-page?

[Clone O'Patra]

Crankin' em out, eh WhiteFang?

I have to love those old looking cars, thanks for your nice review of the cutie.

[WhiteFang]

TheBrickster, on Nov 6 2009, 11:27 AM, said:

How about a front-page?

Wow! Thanks Brickster! That was very unexpected.  

Clone O'Patra, on Nov 6 2009, 11:35 AM, said:

Crankin' em out, eh WhiteFang?

I have to love those old looking cars, thanks for your nice review of the cutie.

Eh, I am sure you teachers didn't expect this coming, don't you?  

Thanks for your kind words.

[CommanderFox]

Great Review WF
It's good to have a review of this little set, I personally love mine!
Great job and feel free to "crank" (as Clone O'Patra says ) afew more of these classic town reviews out   

CommanderFox

Edited by CommanderFox, 06 November 2009 - 05:15 AM.

[Rick]

My wife and myself actually both own a copy from our childhood collections. The very blueprint for a classic town car: a car chassis, two mudguards, two car doors, some headlight bricks, two car windows, and a hinge roof. Throw in some plates and small bricks and there's your classic town car.

[simonwillems]

Thanks for a nice review of a wonderful little set.

WhiteFang, on Nov 6 2009, 04:36 AM, said:

Seriously, this set simply attracts me and I really will love to have a fleet of police cars like these to be stationed inside my Classic Town police station, because this set has covered mainly what a basic police car should offer, and yet stay true to its design fundamentals.

This car also came in set 6384, slightly more advanced with black plates in the front and rear, and that is the car I did make a fleet of for my town.
The doors were easy to obtain through Bricklink and the car is easily mass-produced because of the limited amount of parts and the maximum amount of fun.
I made four, so with this set I have a fleet of five little cars, together with sets like 6684 and 6676 and a few old motorbikes the policeforce is complete.
Link to the force, may the force be with the police...

[GovernmentGuy]

Wonderful Rewiew WF~

I love the printed door part.

I am wondering about why there's so many police sets in Lego City Theme.

Seems like there were always few police sets in every year.

Is there a lot of criminals in Lego city?

Edited by GovernmentGuy, 06 November 2009 - 11:16 AM.

[WhiteFang]

Thanks guys for all of your kind words!  

CommanderFox, on Nov 6 2009, 12:15 PM, said:

Great job and feel free to "crank" (as Clone O'Patra says ) a few more of these classic town reviews out   

Hopefully, I am able to do up more Classic Town reviews soon.

Rick, on Nov 6 2009, 03:37 PM, said:

The very blueprint for a classic town car: a car chassis, two mudguards, two car doors, some headlight bricks, two car windows, and a hinge roof. Throw in some plates and small bricks and there's your classic town car.

This is a great way to describe a Classic Town car design!  

simonwillems, on Nov 6 2009, 06:01 PM, said:

This car also came in set 6384, slightly more advanced with black plates in the front and rear, and that is the car I did make a fleet of for my town.

Thanks for pointing it out. I didn't notice there were so much similarities between these 2 designs. I own the other Police Station, which is the 6386 Police Command Base.

simonwillems, on Nov 6 2009, 06:01 PM, said:

The doors were easy to obtain through Bricklink and the car is easily mass-produced because of the limited amount of parts and the maximum amount of fun.
I made four, so with this set I have a fleet of five little cars, together with sets like 6684 and 6676 and a few old motorbikes the policeforce is complete.
Link to the force, may the force be with the police...

That's a very nice way to build up your forces. It appears the other picture is showing the citizens rioting and police being deployed onto the scene. A nice way of illustrating these Classic Town police force in action.  

GovernmentGuy, on Nov 6 2009, 06:15 PM, said:

I am wondering about why there's so many police sets in Lego City Theme.
Seems like there were always few police sets in every year.
Is there a lot of criminals in Lego city?

I believe, likewise with the Fire theme. Police and Fire seemed to be very popular among children since in the 1970s till this very day. There are always new Police Station designs coming out once in every 2 to 3 years average. Although City is considered one of the evergreen themes, but I am very certain that among the City sub themes, Police is certainly one of the most repeated theme, not because there are a lot of criminals inside LEGO City, instead creating more imaginary scenarios such as "Police and Thief" setting it up in town. Therefore, no matter what year you born, as a child, you still have a chance to play out that scenario. It's not backed by any evidence, but merely my observation.  

[Big Cam]

Great review, the old school red wheels really give this away for me.  I was 1 at the time of this release so I wasn't quite into LEGO's yet.


I bet this originally cost like $2 back in the day when everything wasn't ridiculously priced, and for only 40 pieces, I'd love to have seen this in a store.

[Milan]

What a cute little set!
Police cars are always welcomed by me!
I really like how the flashlights are mounted.
Excellent review!

[pedro]

Lovely little review Whitefang! This set holds a lot of nostalgia for me along with all the other LEGO sets I got as a child

There's a purity of form and function that comes with the sets of yesteryear. It's great you're taking the time to review 'em and show us them once again - mine are long since gone, sadly!

[Lord_Bloodwort]

I didn't have this specific set, though i do recall having an Ambulance set (still have the EMT minifig, minus hands, head and left leg LOL) I also have most of the cars from a later city road race set that used the same design for the cars. They really need to make more sets like this...sets where you can use your imagination instead of just putting together a model kit, as the Star Wars sets have become mostly.

Great review, and a great little slice of nostalgia! :)

Edited by Lord_Bloodwort, 07 November 2009 - 07:54 AM.

[Aussie Ben]

Nice review of a reasonable set from this era...Just some further information that may be of interest...

WhiteFang, on Nov 6 2009, 02:36 PM, said:

Price: (?) (Please provide the price if you happened to know.)

Australia (1985) $3.25

Quote

To conclude, this vehicle with a small and affordable price tag could be easily considered as an impulse set back in the 1980s with a useful vehicle to expand your police cars and enforcing frequent patrols inside Classic Town to maintain law and order. The design was simple but yet effective with clever use of windscreens, doors and rooftop to integrate into this small little set. It’s definitely one of the wonderful Classic Town police vehicles ever released.  

Minor disagreement here...I'd say the set was a step up from an "impulse" set.

From the same catalogue as the price for this set was retrieved, the following town sets were also available (and were also available when set first appeared, but no prices in earlier catalogues that I can easily access) at $2.25:
6605
6606
6607
6609

This would point to the set being closer to one of the following in equivalent price/prestige (i.e. not an impulse, but rather an "entry level" set):
7235
7241
7736

I hope this information is of use.

[Zorbas]

Very nice review WF!

My older brother used to own this set and he gave it to me when I started playing with LEGO back in 85-86.
I really loved it and when I got the 6386 Police Command Base which was a more modern high-tech police force to my eyes, I named it the "experienced older detective car" due to its looks.   
Lego+8-year old kid=Imagination to the max.


I don't know if I still have all the pieces but now that I've seen the parts list I am a bit confused. I have a pair of white car doors with a "POLICE" sticker on them and I always thought that these doors belong to this set. Seeing that the doors are printed makes me wonder from which set these doors ended up my collection.

Anyway, great little set and  a very nice trip to the past for once more!

[WhiteFang]

Thanks guys for your kind words! Great to know that you guys enjoy viewing this classical review. I enjoyed viewing and making this reviews from those sets that are many decades back. It's great to look back those sets that we used to see in those catalogs.  

Aussie Ben, on Nov 7 2009, 06:02 PM, said:

Australia (1985) $3.25

From the same catalogue as the price for this set was retrieved, the following town sets were also available (and were also available when set first appeared, but no prices in earlier catalogues that I can easily access) at $2.25:
6605
6606
6607
6609

Thanks for this piece of useful info. I will include and update on the first post.  

Aussie Ben, on Nov 7 2009, 06:02 PM, said:

Minor disagreement here...I'd say the set was a step up from an "impulse" set.

This would point to the set being closer to one of the following in equivalent price/prestige (i.e. not an impulse, but rather an "entry level" set):
7235
7241
7736

It makes sense, and I get your point instead of seeing it as an impulse set. I do agreed that its much suitable for a rather small entry set instead of the very small, impulse set.

Zorbas, on Nov 7 2009, 06:53 PM, said:

I don't know if I still have all the pieces but now that I've seen the parts list I am a bit confused. I have a pair of white car doors with a "POLICE" sticker on them and I always thought that these doors belong to this set. Seeing that the doors are printed makes me wonder from which set these doors ended up my collection.

I am pretty sure, one of your printed doors come from one of these sets. Back then, there wasn't many sets that made use of stickers. Mostly, printed parts.

[harrysnapperorgans]

Nice! I just brought a MISB 6634, Stock car. Exactly the same design, couple of different stickers. Now I have one to use and one to collect. I'm a big fan of classic town!

[MetroiD]

Nice review WF :)
(Reminds me I still need to finish my review of the 6506 Precinct Cruiser... )

Regarding those wheels utilizing steel elements - I really did love them, and the sound they make! I've got a few of those stashed in my collection and I've just made use of a couple of them!

[adik_sa_lego]

i got this set in the early 90's. some kid in school stole it :( it went well with my police helicopter at that time.

[marvinblue]

When I was little, we had two of these, they had red and blue lights on top and had a grey antenna on the back left to communicate back to base! Dad still has them in "the Lego cupboard" at home! Thanks for the review, this is a cool little car.