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WesternOutlaw

REVIEW: 6445 Emergency Evac

On a scale of 1 to 5  

30 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you rate this SET?

    • 1 - Poor
      2
    • 2 - Below Average
      2
    • 3 - Average
      4
    • 4 - Above Average
      13
    • 5- Outstanding
      9
  2. 2. How do you rate the Res-Q THEME?

    • 1 - Poor
      0
    • 2 - Below Average
      7
    • 3 - Average
      2
    • 4 - Above Average
      9
    • 5 - Outstanding
      12


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Emergency Evac

Set #: 6445

Theme: Town Res-Q

Year Released: 1998

Piece Count: 97

Minifigs: 1

List Price: $8 (USD)

In 1998, Lego introduced a new theme called Res-Q. The theme was really a quasi-Coast Guard sub-theme of Classic Town. The theme included boats, helicopters, emergency vehicles, and even a water hovercraft. Most notable was the black and yellow color combination that predominated the sets. I only picked up a couple of sets from the theme including this Emergency Evacuation vehicle that I consider a van. I never got into the theme, but looking back at these sets, I have gained a better appreciation for their value in Classic Town.

Let's take a look at 6445 in greater detail.

Starting with the box:

01box1.jpg

The back of the box providing a few alternate models:

02box2.jpg

And similar imagery on the instructions:

03instruct1.jpg

04instruct2.jpg

The set includes one small sheet of decals for the van:

05decals.jpg

6445 has one Res-Q minifig that I find pretty nice. I like the neon orange reflectors:

06fig1.jpg

He has a nice printed backside with the word RES-Q prominently displayed:

07fig2.jpg

This little set includes an abundance of tools:

08access.jpg A black walkie-talkie is not pictured

Here's the emergency van:

09veh.jpg

I like the back section that has a nice winch with turning wheel and a few hooks for tools:

10back.jpg

Here's the minifig pulling the grappling hook for some Res-Q action. This is my favorite part of this set:

11back2.jpg

The van isn't too fancy but has some neat features:

12van1.jpg

While I like the blue windshield piece for maybe space sets, I'm not really fond of its use for the van:

13front.jpg

The van has no steering wheel, but rather two levers for steering:

14front2.jpg

On the top of the vehicle are two emergency alarms and some extra lights:

15top.jpg

The back of the van has a large opening piece that allows wide access to the back section:

16back1.jpg

It comfortably fits a long gurney/stretcher:

17back2.jpg

Here's the driver resting on the gurney:

18stretch.jpg

He should never have tried to pick up the gurney without a 2nd Res-Q minifig. :laugh:

And a shot of the back section without the gurney:

19back3.jpg

Lastly, a picture of the complete set:

20set.jpg

Final Thoughts

Res-Q is really a neat theme that has great play value for kids. While it's not one of my more favorite town sub-themes, it does offer some nice pieces and an abundance of black and yellow pieces. I think a few of the Res-Q sets go nicely with the Divers theme released one year earlier in 1997. I had a chance to purchase the largest set of the theme, 6479 Emergency Response Center, at half the price, but passed back in the late 90s.

I'd be interested in finding out what other EB members think of this set and the Res-Q theme.

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I love this set. I think I have two or three copies of it. Has to be one of the best vehicles for taking a stretcher with it. The Res-Q line was pretty good. The boat was really good and the hovercraftish thing was great. The best thing, was that scene in some catalogs of that time involving a giant broken bridge with many people and cars falling.

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Res-Q is one of my favorite town subthemes, right up there with Launch Command. I always liked the slightly futuristic look of their vehicles. Their sets were all the more impressive since they came during the town junior era, at a time when most of the standard town line sucked.

I have this Emergency Evac set too and it comes with a very impressive array of tools, more than any other vehicle of its size. I might get another one for the unique parts like the black canopy extender. You can make the minifig slide down the string using one of the tools, which is fun to play around with.

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When I was younger, I loved the Res-Q sub-theme. I liked making little environmental accidents and bringing a ton of those vans in to rescue everyone and bring them to the Headquarters :tongue: . Ahh... good times :cry_happy:

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Wow!, You sir are amazing for bringing back old memories :cry_happy:.this was my first ever set :wub: . I can't believe i remember my mom bring this set home with my older sister holding the Adventurers temple. Ahh great pieces in this small set.

Thank you for reviewing this :blush:

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Res-Q theme sounded very strange to me. I had never heard of this theme before until I looked into Brickset. I find this theme quite interesting with a mixture of rescue combination of different vehicles cater to a wide arrary of emergency crisis. I find this entire Emergency Response team is pretty fun to play with, especially setting up an evacuation perimeters in danger zones which is affected by earthquakes, tsunami, tornandos and etc. They are a team of specialists, meant to deal with this particular situation.

I will rate this theme a "4" as I felt that the theme's objective is pretty good, except for some of its vehicles' design which is not really very appealing at a first glance. This may be my perception. After all, this theme was released in my dark age.

Back to the review, the 6445 Emergency Evac is a very fun vehicle to play with. The wide abundant of tools such as spade, jackhammer and etc are so useful. The minifig's torso is very nice looking. I thought it was part of Mars Mission. :tongue:

As for the Emergency van, the section at the back offer high playabilty. You have pointed out the playabilty of the grappling hook. Of course, you can't operate this without attaching it to the rear of the van. Otherwise, the entire section will fall off the cliff. From the first look of the van, I don't really like the design. It's not really very appealing. However, the large opening at the back is quite surprising to store the strencher at the back. Although the design is not very nice, but the playing functions do make up for it. If there is an additional minifig with him, I am sure it will be even better.

Overall, I could only give this set between a higher 3.5 and 4. :sweet:

Thanks Brickster, for highlighting another enriching review.

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Ugh... 1998 lego system... the dark ages... I don't care for this set at all. From the cheap head and tail-light design to the big blue canopy and levers instead of steering wheel...

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Thanks for this review TheBrickster! I got this set when it came out back then and spent many many hours playing with it, because of the fact having this wench it has got great playability. Since the first moment i loved this theme and i still do today. Allthough the sets itself are not too famous in design, i like the overall look and the colours work well together. You have to think about that these were the years where most of the other vehicles and sets from the city theme were WAY too <insert that tiresome argument>, with the exeption of a few sub-themes including Res-Q. I got this set back this year after my dark ages, along with all other sets of this theme, except the hovercraft. I'm looking forward to review some of these very soon, so stay tuned! :classic:

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Again a great review, TheBrickster! :thumbup:

I voted for:

Above average set:

The set is very, very nice and includes a lot of nice details and accessory :wub: .

Below average theme:

This RESQ theme included some really nice little sets (like e. g. this one) - but the bigger sets were :sick: .

BTW: As we've seen the great CG theme this year I hope that TLG will release some sort of mountain rescue (at the best with snowy/winter landscape) in the near future which could contain some little nice sets like this one above, too. :wink:

Klaus-Dieter

Edited by Klaus-Dieter

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Well it got all fours from me.

I do like the Res Q theme I bought the little rig and the helicopter and the boat. I really like the boat and the helicopter leaves a lot to be desired, No rotors mostly body and a Cobra/Apache seating arrangement only suites an attack helicopter.

But all in all a great little set with some great alternate building idea's. Which is one of my biggest peeves with the new sets.....

Thanks again Brickster :thumbup:

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The only thing I don't like about the 6462 helicopter are the rotors. They're utterly tiny given the size of the thing. This is trivial to fix yourself though, and it's a great model otherwise.

Interestingly, the helicopter in the older (and similar) 6545 Search and Rescue also has the same problem. :wacko:

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