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[Hobbes]

Polls seem to attract people, so I'll start a series of polls about Town/City subthemes to try to revive this forum a bit ;-)

Since the existence of LEGO Town/City there's one set we've always had over the years: a police station. That fact has led to many controversies, too. Here's a list of all the police stations I could find.

Which one is your favorite? If you vote share a few thoughts as to why you like that particular set, if you don't mind ;-)


Here are the candidates
(Click thumbs for bigger pictures)

1. 370/585 Police Headquarters
One of the first (if not the first) police stations (with minifigs) was released in 1976
and came with two set numbers, 370 and 585 (why, I don't know). It belonged to the so
called "Enviro Model" line. These models featured the pre-minifig version without movable
arms and legs. The design already set a sort-of standard for all the "Stations" to come.


2. 588 Police Headquarters/381 Police Station
The second one, also, came with two set numbers: 588 in 1977, and 381 in 1979. Note the
difference in the name. This set included the now famous minifig with movable arms and legs.


3. 6384 Police Station
The next set came in 1983. This was the era of the now classic "Town Station Design", as I
like to call it. Fire stations and police stations of that time almost only varied in color and minifigs.


4. 6386 Police Command Base
Next up is a set from 1986, which featured a slightly more modern design (at the time) and
an interesting name change.


5. 6540 Pier Police
Then came a rather long break, and in 1991 we didn't really get a new police station in the
classic sense. Nevertheless, I included this set since it is a police set, afterall.


6. 6398 Central Precinct HQ
Shortly after, in 1993, followed the next station. This set was released in the "Rescue" subtheme.
The design still is reminiscent of the classic "Station", just bigger and a bit advanced. And because
it features police vehicles and minifigs I included it in this poll.


7. 6598 Metro PD Station
In 1996 LEGO released yet another police set. If I didn't have this set I probably would have
missed it since it doesn't have "Police" in its name which was my search term. This set was listed
in the "Rescue" subtheme, too. The design is still somewhat classic, but the station's mainbuilding
was a bit smaller than its predecessor's. Instead it featured a nifty "island prison" and a boat.


After that came a long period of no new town sets whatsoever IIRC. It felt like LEGO itself was in some sort of dark ages.

8. 6636 Police Headquarters
In 2002 they then released a police station in the "Town Junior" (sub)theme. The station again got
bigger and came in a new color design, which gave it a Matrix kind of look. Vehicles all of a sudden
featured stickers for their lights again - Juniorization was the key at that time. Still, you got a lot of
accessories with this set.


9. 7035 Police HQ
Maybe due to the success of movie blockbusters that featured big cities, the "World City" theme
arrived. This theme only consisted of Police and criminals, though (OK, a rescue department also
existed). Hence, in 2003, we got another, more modern and big-city-like police station.


10. 7237 Police Station
"World City" didn't survive long, though. LEGO tried (and still tries) to go back to its roots and in
2005 resurrected "Town" and called it "City". Among the first sets was --- a police station, of course.
This one's the latest and one of the biggest station sets (thanks to its baseplate). As a "cool accessory"
it featured a light-up minifig. This minifig became increasingly popular and many got stolen straight
out of the box in many stores. Store owners complaind and LEGO reacted by releasing a set without
light-up minifigs.



Well, that was it. Feel free to vote and post your comments about the sets. I will jump in later when I have more time.

As Master Yoda would say: Vote on! X-D

[oo7]

Uhhg, I can't choose between 6598 and 7237 |-/ . But nice poll Hobbes, and great set descriptions too. *sweet*

[TheBrickster]

Nice poll Hobbes. I have to go with the all-time classic 381. This was my 2nd police station and my first to have real moveable minifigs. I loved this set! and still have it in storage. I liked a number of things about this set that include:

- Standard bricks! You could actually build other variations with a nice assortment of standard bricks.
- The windows. I've always loved the sharp contrast of the black and yellow windows w/shutters against a white building, and the yellow doors.
- The car and helicopter had the little vehicle doors that swing open. I like this piece and each said, "Police" with no stickers.
- I always loved the motorcycle. It also had 1x2 bricks that had "Police" printed on them.
- The prison/cell had a door in the back and a bench/seat for the prisoners (2x6 or 2x8 plate on two 1x2s)
- Inside the building on two desks are red telephone pieces (a 1x2 roof piece with a phone printed on them). Great detail for an older set!
- An lastly, this set was the first to use the 1x1 round translucent blue pieces (at least the 1st time I had seen them in blue).

In my opinion, this is the best police station ever made by Lego. If any of you can find this set, I would highly recommend buying. They don't make sets like this anymore!

[Kahgarak]

The newest one.The one at the bottom.

[snefroe]

i went for the 1983 police station. the earlier stations were a bit before my time, even tho the second police station is probably the actual legend of the entire family. in only discovered the older police station just a few weeks back. at first i thought it was only an alternative model...

6384 is the classic Legoland police station, with a great garage door, a car, a chopper and a motorcycle... just a brilliant combination! 8-°

6386 was not bad either, i'd say a second generation of a minifig police station.

i think the changing of the numbers has something to do with the launch of 'Legoland' system. perhaps they renumbered the catalog at that point.

[Hobbes]

Well, I voted for 381. "It wasn't an easy choice, believe me."

It was the time I grew up with LEGO and I started browsing through the catalogs. It was the first police station I really "noticed". And I agree with basically everything Brickster said. I like the color scheme and it has a few special pieces you won't get that easily today. I wouldn't mind getting one and modifying it to a more modern style, but keeping the old color scheme.

What I noticed, though, while browsing through the pictures: The older models don't have backdrops in their product pictures. This makes them look kinda plain compared to the newer models.
To me this is most noticable with the Metro PD station, which I own. The city in the background, obviously evening or night time and the water next to the station look really cool. But you know what? It looks pretty "normal" in reality without all that.

I do like the product picture of 6540, too. I'm a harbor/marina fan and always liked the backdrops of the sets of that time, for example the two cargo harbors (6541, 6542) and the marina.

I also own the latest set, 7237, which apart from the hideous baseplate, does look cool, I think. They use less different colors than in the past and emphasize on black and white which gives it kind of a "mean" look.

6636 and 7035 don't appeal to me at all.

[xwingyoda]

Great poll here Mayor ;-)

Tks for putting those great description with the pics *y*

I went for the 6386 because I think it kinds of make the "perfect" set ;-)
Its a little bit more modern than the 6384 without getting into the nowadays high tech crap !!
It has the perfect amount of vehicles: 2 bikes, a small SUV and a copter 8-°
I like how the copter is placed on the roof, it takes less base place hehe
I really miss those garage door mechanism (simple and brilliant).
The building itself is greatly proportioned and can fit into any town !!

The "marina" ones could have been great but the boats do not appeal to me at all (like the building itself) !!

Hobbes, now I'm waiting for your firefighter station poll :-P

Vote On !! (I had to say that :-D )

*yoda*

[Morten]

No question about it, 6384 is my favorite. It was the police station around when I was a kid, so after my dark ages, this was the police station I bought for my LEGO collection. It wasn´t that expensive on Bricklink, compared to the firestation 6381.

Nice poll.
Morten

[KimT]

My vote is for 381. The greatest police station ever!!
Mostly because it's the one I have, but also because it doesn't have that 90's look and design :-X .

KimT

[TheBrickster]

Hobbes, on Jul 5 2006, 12:39 AM, said:

It was the time I grew up with LEGO and I started browsing through the catalogs. It was the first police station I really "noticed". And I agree with basically everything Brickster said. I like the color scheme and it has a few special pieces you won't get that easily today. I wouldn't mind getting one and modifying it to a more modern style, but keeping the old color scheme.

I can remember doing the same. We're the old men on Eurobricks Hobbes!

[phoinix]

voted for 6386..reminds me of my childhood!! :-$

this is a great poll!cant wait to see one about fire stations!!(and maybe hospitals!)

phoinix :-)

[alex54]

I hesitated between 6398 and 6598 (that I have). But I choose the 6398 because it was the police station that I wanted to have when I was younger, and a friend had it, so I have played with sometimes. But I couldn't have all the sets I wanted, so I bought the next generation, the 6598! and It is cool too, with the separeted prison. One think not so great it is that the copter doesn't have a place to go down! But it is so better than the 6636!

[Hobbes]

Thanks for voting everybody! :'-)

Well, seems like we have a tie: 381 and 6598 share first place with 4 votes each. Before I go on to the next poll I'd like to see a "winner", though. So, please, everybody who hasn't voted yet, join in :-)


For those who haven't seen the poll yet, the thumbnails I linked from LUGNET sometimes don't work, but the links do.


Vote on! X-D

[Kikuichimonji]

6386 was the first 'large' Lego set I ever got. I must've build it dozens of times, and everytime I build it, I'm amazed by the playability. It gets my vote without a doubt.

[xwingyoda]

GO 6386 !! one vote and there is a Tri Tie :-D

*yoda*