Piranha Posted October 23, 2009 INDEXED Name: Street Sweeper 7242 Theme: City Year: 2005 Pieces 63 Minifigs: 1 Price: $7.99 Resources: Brickset Bricklink Brickshelf Peeron What do you need to keep your roadplates clean in LEGO city? A city sweeper of course! LEGO loves doing these Street Sweepers. However like the camper they only appear so often. The most recent before 2005 was 1995 so about 10 years. Also LEGO sure is original all of the Street Sweepers have had the exact same name However I think the 2005 one bears a stronger resemblance to the one from 1991. What do you think? Section 1: Instructions The instruction booklet cover. Not much change in the City Graphics from current City sets. Random Instruction Page. Here the minifig driver is getting placed in his sweeper. Section 2: Minifigs and Accessories This set comes with one minifigure. He has an orange jacket for bright colors so he is visible in the night and day. He doesn't shave much it seems. No special uniform here, maybe LEGO should have a different one, maybe in different colors? This set has 2 accessories. A broom and a shovel. The broom is used for manual labor sweeping on the sidewalk. The shovel is used to pick up large debris. No other accessories, none that I can think of. However if this set had a park bench, tree and civilian fig littering, that would have added much more playability and details. Here is a picture of the sweeper brushes. These are some cool parts! There made of soft plastic and can easily rotate on the road. Also good for car washes. Section 3: Model Side view of the Street Sweeper. Some details visible here are the hinge part for holding the shovel. There is also a red pressure tank on the rear. The pressure tank must be used to heat up water to clean the road. I really don't know though I am not an expert on street cleaners. Front view of the sweeper. The brushes spin easy enough. There is also a light on the vehicle for night time sweeping. Here is another angle of view. There is a vent on top for ventilation, since no conditioning. The other side view of the sweeper. Not only does this vehicle brush the road but it has some side attachment for large debris. This has a nice shape, for a city cleaner at least. I can't think of any improvements to the overlal model. Section 4: Street Sweeping is a Dirty Job & Wrap Up So you think your City isn't that dirty? You don't need a sweeper? Hah think again! Those recycle trucks aren't so reliable all the time! Here it is polluting the "green" LEGO City. This is where the helpful Street Sweeper is most useful. He can busily follow along and clean up the garbage that is falling off the garbage truck. A Street Sweepers job is never done. He continues to keep LEGO city clean. Review Wrap Up: Playability: 6/10 (sweeping up trash doesn't seem like much fun ) Design: 7/10 ( doesn't look appealing or sleek, solid design for a street sweeper) Price: 4/10 ( ridiculously overpriced at $8, only worth about $5) Parts: 7/10 ( some interesting parts like the brushes) Minifigures: 8/10 ( standard worker fig. Good to have a civilian eating a candy bar would be a nice compliment ) Overall: 7/10 ( Good set and everyone City needs a street cleaner!) LEGO has once again made another Street Sweeper. I am grateful to have one after all it did take 10 years to get another. However it was quite high prices for everything you get. Possible improvements could have been a tree and a civilian fig that is sitting on a bench littering. The actual sweeper is nice and looks like well a sweeper. The model doesn't have any possible improvements, maybe a trans light blue windshield, just because it looks more classic to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikey Posted October 23, 2009 A nice review of a great little set I think. I remember playing with 6645 for hours as a kid, and think this is a fitting revisit of the set, the only possible criticism I could make is that the Red Pressure Tank is hollow, but this could be fixed in seconds with a Round 2 x 2 plate. I like it because it looks cute, and has a MiniFig head with so much character, although maybe a specific Street Cleaner/ Garbage Services Torso would have been a nice addition, I could live with the standard Orange Construction Torso. I was surprised to see this still for sale at Tesco last month, I made a mental note to get it next time I was their, but every time I visit that store it is out of stock (although the Ticket remains, which gives me hope that they might restock this again?). If I see it again, I will not hesitate to buy! I rate it Above Average, it is a cute and quite realistic little model, and you get a nice MiniFig head! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peterab Posted October 23, 2009 LEGO has once again made another Street Sweeper. I am grateful to have one after all it did take 10 years to get another. I like the older ones myself, I'm not sure about the pressure tank on the back, and don't like the wide wheels on the new one. Thanks for the great review, especially for the pictures of the older sets. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Milan Posted October 23, 2009 Excellent review! I have 6645 and it is really nice little sweeper. It looks much more Lego than new one. 7242 has great modern look and sharper lines. It has its qualities and nice appearance. I would not mind having both old and new one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Cam Posted October 23, 2009 Great review, I like how you used the garbage truck to help out your street sweeper. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JayDuck Posted October 24, 2009 I like the older ones myself, I'm not sure about the pressure tank on the back... I'd imagine it's supposed to be a propane tank. That way your toy sweeper has some pretend fuel to run on. I'd say the main flaw of the new sweeper compared to the older ones is that it's too monochromatic. The others had a stripe to break up the yellow. Thanks for the review! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doctordark Posted October 24, 2009 Nice review the only thing that was wrong was the light,it's on the wrong way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Posted October 24, 2009 I only own this one and its a neat little set. The only 'problem' with it is that the placement of the black tube does not allow the yellow dish to fully reach the street level. Furthermore, I have to agree with the color and wheel issues (compared to the older versions) raised earlier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peterab Posted October 25, 2009 I'd imagine it's supposed to be a propane tank. That way your toy sweeper has some pretend fuel to run on. Yeah but it looks like its tacked on. I can't imagine a designer making plans for a vehicle and forgetting to include space for the fuel tank inside the body. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JayDuck Posted October 25, 2009 Nah, lots of propane powered equipment has the propane cylinder mounted externally. A quick Google Image search for stuff like "propane sweeper" or "propane forklift" (aka fork truck) will show you what I mean. Not that I'm saying you're wrong about it looking tacked on, just dangling off of the back there. Usually tanks like that are mounted on top of something. I wouldn't want to back in to something with a real version of that setup! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peterab Posted October 26, 2009 Nah, lots of propane powered equipment has the propane cylinder mounted externally. A quick Google Image search for stuff like "propane sweeper" or "propane forklift" (aka fork truck) will show you what I mean.Not that I'm saying you're wrong about it looking tacked on, just dangling off of the back there. Usually tanks like that are mounted on top of something. I wouldn't want to back in to something with a real version of that setup! Fair enough, it's proabably just that I'm unfamiliar with propane powered equipment. I'd guess thats because we don't have them in Australia much. We do have LPG (liquid petroleum gas) powered stuff, often converted from petrol engines, but given the explosive nature of that, all conversions must have the tank within the frame of the vehicle, behind the crumple zones. That tacked on tank looks like an explosion waiting to happen to me Our tanks are often slung low behind the rear axle, or mounted in the boot. Forklifts and such are not often converted here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CommanderFox Posted October 26, 2009 Great Review Macoco This is a nice set and is a good size. Good job! CommanderFox Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted October 28, 2009 Great review. Now I have built one these a while back and found a problem with the fuel tank, it can spin around or sit at a funny angle. What I did was to remove the 2x2 black plate (re. step 4 in instructions) and fit a single 2x1 black plate and a 2x1 black plate mod. with door rail. Of which sits between the the red tr. 1x1 plates, the door rail sits under the tank body keeping it straight and still. I wonder if anybody else has had this problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LOTRfan Posted April 26, 2014 I remember playing with 6645 for hours as a kid Same here! But I always used to think the moustache was a huge open mouth... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
