scottwb2010 Posted January 13, 2012 Hi. This is my first go at doing a set review so go easy with the comments if you have them. Apogies for the standard of photo's but Lego's my hobby, not photography! Released - January 2012 Parts - 199 Minifigures - 3 Price - £14.99/US$19.99 Where better to start than with the box. We have seen the front now the back. There are the usual actions shots, including the cyclist wearing his helmet whilst riding the bike but when he crashes the helmet comes off exposing his hair. And also on the back is the detail of the number of bags within a pictures of what sets are in the theme line. The side shows the minifigures contained in the set. More on these later. So whats in the box? 2 x bags Instructions which start of by explaining what stage each bag leads to and ends with a photo of the sets available in this theme line. And finally the stickers. Poor quality on this model in my opinion OK bag 1 contents Within bag 1 we have the minifigures. The cyclist having the familiar check shirt seen in many sets before but the ambulance crew with equipment, have a change in uniform from the usual all white, to the red with reflective stripes and the medical badge on the rear. Also in bag 1 you get the stretcher. From the photo you can compare the difference from the new to the old one,although the same size. During the build you notice the use of 1x2 grille tiles instead of 1x2 plates And bag one complete Bag 2 conents Bag 2 done and ambulance completed plus street scene with fire hydrant, traffic light and bin Spare parts Now that the set is built lets go over it. Instructions easy to follow and it was an easy build. First impression is that it is quit a big ambulance when you compare it beside the fire engine in the pic. but it has to be this size to do its function. ie Ambulance technician/paramedic in rear with casualty It could have been better if there wasn't a gap in the bulkhead between driver and rear but thats maybe just me, but atleast driver and assistant can comunicate to each other. The equipment sits either side of the ambulance persons seat. I like the instruments on the bulkhead too, as seen in previous photo. The stickers with set to me are poor quality. More paperish than the gloss style we are use to and lowers the quality of the set. The grille is a sticker and there is a sticker for the dash board too. There is plenty of play ability with this set as the rear roof lifts up so you can get the ambulance person into the rear seat and the tailgate lifts to get the stretcher in and out. All we need now is a new hospital as this ambulance is too big to get under the canopy outside the ER/A&E dept if it could even get up the ramp!! I will probably buy 1 or 2 more of these as currently building a Modular hospital and this ambulance will go well with the anticipated hospital to be released later on in 2012. I will mod this ambulance by changing the red plates to light green and change the medics uniforms to those of the soldiers from the Toy Storey theme but have their faces from this set, only to make them and the ambulance more resemble the Scottish ambulance Service. Design 9/10 Minifigs 9/10 Only as I will be changing uniform Price 10/10 Quite alot of pieces with 3 figs for the price Playability 10/10 There is loads of medical scenarios you can have with this set Hope you enjoyed and maybe a bit photo intensive but need to justify the review. Please feel free to comment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bootz Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Good review. I agree about the ambulance seeming large. It's one of the bigger vehicles in my town. My only real issue is the grilled sticker though. I thought it looked very cheap(same with the Garbage Truck) so I changed it to 1x2 sloping grille pieces. Nice fire house too BTW. Edited January 13, 2012 by bootz Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Redhead1982 Posted January 13, 2012 Thanks for the review, scottwb2010. Well, this is another set I am hardly waiting for. The icing on the cake are the green bike and the paramedics team for me! If I am not mistaken, in the past few years the 'hospital' team has not been in the first plan in the City, and now we're getting bunch of medical related bricks and sets (the surgeon, the nurse, ambulance, vet clinic). Hopefully, it will increase a number of 'hospital'-related MOCs. The ambulance itself seems nice, but not excitingly nice when just looking at the pictures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
_bIG_fM_ Posted January 13, 2012 Thanks for the review of this great set 'scottwb2010'! The paramedics look fantastic! And it isn't so big, European ambulances are usually very tall. However the quality isn't very good, but it works for me. BTW: you wrote Preview instead of Review! Felipe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Costy Posted January 13, 2012 It looks like a great set and a great first review, and I love the paramedics, but why is one carrying a speedometer? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Not bad review 'scottwb2010'....stealling the tiger's thunder....I'm reviewing this set in the next 24 hours (hopefully tonight my time or sooner....depending on if the wife ticks me off again ! ). It's big for sure, but it has to be to be realistic for a crew of 2 and equipment too. Oh, that speedo thing 'Costy' is on about would be a heart starter unit possibly. I can't say too much here, it will spoil my review later ! Brick On Review On 'scottwb2010' ! Edited January 13, 2012 by lightningtiger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JackJonespaw Posted January 14, 2012 Good review! I love the new torsos for the paramedics! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Piranha Posted January 14, 2012 Thank you for doing this nice review. The two new paramedics are very nicely done and I like them much better than the paramedic from the 2006 Hospital theme. This ambulance is superior to the last IMO, it has a nice little street scene and a GREEN bike! Previously only available in large sets. Overall a 4/5. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scottwb2010 Posted January 14, 2012 Hi. Many thanks for the kind comments everyone. I enjoyed doing this first review even though it took me a while and a few goes before I got it to upload. Bootz - Thanks also for the comment on the Fire House. Its the first of a couple of mod's I am doing on that set Redhead 1982 - You would think with all the minifigs there are that lego would put more importance towards their health these days. I will be building a hopital soon. _biG_fM_ - Yeh I noticed just aftet I uploaded it that I had put a P infront of review. I have asked a Moderator if they can change it as I can't in edit. costy - As the 'tiger' says, the speedo thing is meant to be a defibrillator. lightningtiger - You probably noticed that I have copied your style of review. Hope you don't mind. Why re-invent the wheel JackJonespaw - I am only changing may medics to look more like my local ambulance crews. The set minifigs will end up working in the control room/dispatch centre beside the fire control/despatch operators Macoco - I too like this ambulance compared to the previous one. Thanks again people. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lightningtiger Posted January 14, 2012 The tiger doesn't mind you copying my style....though I have applied to the reviewers academy on 'Phred's suggestion. I forgot to say it looks great driving out of the station....same happens here in Adelaide....many ambulances are based in fire stations since they disbanded the police accident rescue trucks years ago...hence the fire service gets called out to accidents instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aanchir Posted January 14, 2012 Personally, I don't understand how the stickers can be more "papery" than usual if they have transparent backing rather than solid-colored backing. I don't plan to get this set, but if I get another set with transparent-back stickers I'll perhaps be able to see what you mean by that. As for the actual content of the stickers, I'm mostly impressed. The LEGO City grille sticker looks extremely stylish IMO, as does the "dashboard" sticker. Some might have preferred a printed piece for this, and I agree it's a part for which a printed piece could have worked well since it would fit most six-wide vehicles and not just ambulances, but a sticker is still OK in my book. The one sticker I really don't like is the one on the hood reading "AMBULANCE", and that's for one reason: at least the ambulances I'm familiar with here in the United States tend to have the word "AMBULANCE" reversed so they can be easily read in a rear-view mirror! I'm a bit surprised that they included both a hairpiece and a helmet for the civilian fig, but I guess it makes sense-- they wouldn't be putting him on a stretcher and into the ambulance with his helmet still on, would they? Great review overall. I'm very fond of this set's design partly because we've had so few ambulance sets, and so this one had a lot of room for improvement over its predecessor. I just hope we continue getting "emergency" sets that measure up! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bootz Posted January 14, 2012 Was 7890 really as bad as some of you say? I personally think I prefer that vehicle to this one, though I like the inclusion of a female fig in this set. This ambulance is a bit too big IMHO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aanchir Posted January 14, 2012 Was 7890 really as bad as some of you say? I personally think I prefer that vehicle to this one, though I like the inclusion of a female fig in this set. This ambulance is a bit too big IMHO. I wouldn't say it was awful (it looks decent, although I didn't own it), but I prefer this one as it better resembles the ambulances I'm used to in real life. The new one is not too tremendously large IMO, as it seems mostly to scale with attempts I've made to build SUVs (which are around the same size as an ambulance or smaller). My attempts at making a Ford Excursion usually end up 19 studs long, while this is (if I'm not mistaken) just over 21 studs long. Perhaps it could be made one or two studs shorter, but for the most part it seems to be to that same scale (1:36) I usually prefer for road vehicles. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bootz Posted January 14, 2012 I wouldn't say it was awful (it looks decent, although I didn't own it), but I prefer this one as it better resembles the ambulances I'm used to in real life. The new one is not too tremendously large IMO, as it seems mostly to scale with attempts I've made to build SUVs (which are around the same size as an ambulance or smaller). My attempts at making a Ford Excursion usually end up 19 studs long, while this is (if I'm not mistaken) just over 21 studs long. Perhaps it could be made one or two studs shorter, but for the most part it seems to be to that same scale (1:36) I usually prefer for road vehicles. Yes, I guess they are pretty darn big in real life. Still, I prefer the more compact size of the original, but I do like the ability to carry more paramedics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scottwb2010 Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks to the Mod who got rid of the P in front of review for me. Aanchir re the stickers, the transparent ones on the window are ok. Its just the rest that are paperish. In that I mean it's like they have forgotten to put the gloss cover over them and appear matt/bland compared to other stickers on sets. I got the previous ambulance a while back as I really liked it and need an ambulance. It is still a good set but this new one is much better. The previous one is 14 studs long where as this one is 20 studs. Here they are for you all to compare. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Piranha Posted January 15, 2012 yes I owned the 2006 one and I did like it, not a bad set but this one is a nice improvement, I like the certain building style they used on it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jonwil Posted January 16, 2012 Interesting to note that unlike most recent sets with the bike part, this one actually has a helmet for the rider. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted February 14, 2012 I can't say too much here, it will spoil my review later ! Brick On Review On 'scottwb2010' ! This is funny LT! Nice review Scottwb2010! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brickmamba Posted February 15, 2012 Nice review, the ambulance looks right at home in the FB Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
