Bachus

Review: 8404 Public Transport

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  1. 1. How do you rate this set?

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    • 5 - Outstanding!
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Thanks for the pictures! :thumbup: I must say I'm really impressed by all the great LEGO City sets this year. It's getting my attention again, so to get back into LEGO City and building a decent tabletown.

This is the set I've anticipated most. I love everything about it (although more greenery would've been nice). The tram just shouts to be adjusted to a monorail (because a Futuron monorail in a town doesn't make sense :tongue: ). There's one thing that's holding me off... 100 EUR is indeed very much for this set, I thought of 70 euro. I still have to buy the Medieval Market Village set, so that one has priority.

Thanks again! :classic:

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Get the Emporium. It's so much more worth it than this and you will be much happier.

Exactly my thinking!

8404 is nice, but the Grand Emporium is ... GRAND! :laugh: You will surely not regret buying it.

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YESSSS, I'm buying this set ASAP,

I've been waiting for this set for ages! Especially the tram and touring buss are great!

Thanks for the nice review, love it :classic:

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But when seeing all the set assembled, I don't actually have the impression that it is a CENTER. To me, it's more kind a set of vehicles, no more.

Agreed. The vehicles are very nice, but the set lacks cohesion. There's no central structure that pulls it together.

I'm also puzzled by the inclusion of a street cleaner truck in a set named "Public Transportation." That really doesn't make any sense. The tram and the bus represent public transportation options. But a street cleaner? Where I live, the public don't ride in street cleaner trucks. And why not make the car into a taxi?

I don't know. The whole set seems like it wasn't really thought through all the way.

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Agreed. The vehicles are very nice, but the set lacks cohesion. There's no central structure that pulls it together.

...

I don't know. The whole set seems like it wasn't really thought through all the way.

My thought exactly!

It's a nice collection of vehicles, but not a "set"...

I'm still wondering if I'll buy this one, the tram is tempting though :classic:

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Thank you so very much for the review. This set looks AWESOME! I can't wait for it to arrive to the US. I am definitely buying this set.

Model On!!

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This set looks awesome :wub:

Sadly, it will be to expensive for me to buy.:cry_sad:

Anyway, sellers on eBay will probably sell parts of these set, and I might be able to get the bus or the tram. :cry_happy:

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Great review Bachus. I noticed that on the little city map, there is a "medical logo" on the map. Would that be because we will soon get a new hospital for our LEGO cities? I hope so. I will for sure buy this new set which is without a doubt for me, one of the greatest addition to the city line!

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Great review Bachus! default_thumbup.gif I must say all the elements are excellent (tram, bus, car, street sweeper, waiting shed, minifigs). I would love to have this set if not for the steep price.

This set looks awesome default_wubnew.gif

Sadly, it will be to expensive for me to buy.default_cry4.gif

Anyway, sellers on eBay will probably sell parts of these set, and I might be able to get the bus or the tram. default_cry_happy.gif

I concur. Alternatively if you are have time you could buy the parts from BL to make your own bus and tram, the parts are pretty common and won't be hard to find.

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At first I was skeptical about this set, but now I'm not too sure. If it wasn't for the price, I would definitely get it. Maybe I'll just wait till it's on sale.

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exellent review "bachus"! And please can you put a link to see the istructions? I want to make that tram.

They'll undoubtedly become available here eventually. I don't really think you can expect him to scan the instruction booklets if they'll be available officially soon.

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I'm sure I'm the only one, but personally the tram is the thing I'm interested in the least about this set. I love the street sweeper, the bus is very nice, and quite simply the way Bachus has integrated the store and tram stop into his layout has me absolutely green with envy. :sick: But for all the separate components, the tram for me is pretty low on the list, and all together I'm likely to skip this one.

I feel like I should offer a deal with someone to buy the set and split it up... maybe it wouldn't concern me as much if the entire set were cheaper, but I'm not sure it's for me.

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Thanks for the review, it's nice to see more angles on the vehicles. The tram and coach both look superb, interesting detail with the moving wheels in the middle section of the tram.

This set doesn't seem like great value at €100, but at the same time it is a set I really want regardless. I guess I'll hold off on buying it for a while, but probably still end up weakening and getting it at full price. I'd have preferred to see this as maybe three or four separate sets, it would probably seem like better value even if the total of all the sets added up to €100!

As regards the streetcleaner - it does seem an odd inclusion, but I do like the model a lot - it's different from previous Lego models that have been mini-sweepers like those used on pedestrian areas and looks a lot like the larger streetcleaners used on proper roads. Still a bit unrealistic that Lego use a lateral brush from the car wash, where most real streetcleaners I've seen use round brushes sweeping the road in circles.

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Yes, the set's price is astounding. I expect the U.S. price to come in at $99. But I can also see how the folks at Lego might figure it is okay.

Car: $10

Street cleaner: $20

Bus: $25

Train: $35

That gets you to $90, throw in some structures and another $10.

But I think Lego would have made more money [in a parallel universe, there is a Lego marketing person reading these posts] if we could have purchased these individually. There are people who would buy multiple buses. Others would buy multiple trains. I probably would have spent more than $100 buying a few trains. But I can't justify $100 for a set when I really only want the train. Simply put, the set has less value, not more, when everything is thrown together. It's a hodgepodge, and we aren't getting a price cut by having to purchase everything together.

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I agree completely with Mojolego and other comments on this topic. I would have several trams and busses they are great, but not the rest.

Including a street cleaner in a set about public transport is ridiculous; I just don’t see any connection.

Why include 3 structures when one better tram/bus station would do, or even just the one with the glass roof would be ok for me. What is the shop with an L shape base for exactly?

I also think the car is stretching it a bit as well. If it needs another vehicle then it should be a taxi, perhaps of the minibus variety to differentiate from the train station set.

To Lego set design – you lost the plot on this one…

To Lego marketing – don’t get so greedy…

I will buy it because I want the tram and bus, but the rest will just gather dust.

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Now what's wrong with a sports car and street sweeper truck, it's all land tranport like a tram and bus !

And besides the tram stop is perfect, like this one in my home city of Adelaide......

008_01_lg.jpg

I'm a conformist! everyone ! :sweet:

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Now what's wrong with a sports car and street sweeper truck, it's all land tranport like a tram and bus !

Well the set is called 'Public Transportation Center'. I personally don't mind the inclusion of the utility vehicle, but the sports car is so common (resembles 8402 pretty closely, but in a different color) and could have been replaced by something much more original like a taxi or a minibus (excellent suggestion).

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Thank you very much for this great review, Bachus! :classic:

I'd vote for

above average :wub: :wub:

Con:

-only six minifigs

-below average roadside structures (esp. the much too empty shop)

-expensive

-tram with walls between the different compartments

-stickers with text in english language (e. g. "city sweeper")

-bus without floor

Pro:

-awesome design of the vehicles

-first tram in a Lego set ever

-postcard pillar

Regrettably TLG didn't take that much work into designing the roadside structures a bit more precisely - esp. the shop is much too empty (a cash point and a shelf with some drinks are really missing).

The number of minifigs is much too small for how many and big vehicles we get with which they can and should go to work, into holidays etc.

The stickers in english language disturb. Everyone can clearly detect that the city sweeper is a city sweeper. And everybody knows that "55" has to be the line of the tram and not the number of the passengers or the age of its driver. Having these stickers in english language distrubs because in countries where english is not the first language spoken and written there, the most of all signs etc. (not all but the most) are in the according language. I hope that in future City sets TLG will use again self-explaining signs/stickers like they did in the past (e. g. some fruits for a vegetable shop instead of a sticker with "grocery" on it).

But all in all this is a great set with some excellent vehicles which we partly did never get before. :thumbup:

Klaus-Dieter

Edited by Klaus-Dieter

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They'll undoubtedly become available here eventually. I don't really think you can expect him to scan the instruction booklets if they'll be available officially soon.

or maybe only a picture for how to attach rhe front window to the vehicle

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How is the bus going to have the same size wheels as the car?
This is one of the key issues with current CITY theme. Actually these wheels are OK for buses, trucks etc. but these are off-scale for cars and small vans. However i don't think LEGO will return to those awesome lovely cars with small wheels from Classic town :(

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