REVIEW 4206 - Recycling truck

[Night City Dream]

I got this set in an onlie store in China for 350 yuan. And it came to Russia on the 26 of April 2012.

I've been waiting for this set for so long. The first reason is that it is interesting as such, I liked the idea and its implementation. Then, the set is not sold in this country (Russia). Third, the set promotes a good attitute towards the environment which is part of Sustainable development, and is a crucial topic for me.

Brief info.

4206 – Recycing truck

Year – 2012, 1st half.

Piece number – 297.

Minifigs – 3.

RRP – 29,99 USD.

Paid 350 RMB.

The ecological aspects of life are rising in people's consciousness as being environmentally friendly is an equal part of Sustainable development conception along with its economic and social component. As world manufacturing grows, so does the trade, the environment gets more charged. The conception of Sustainable development suggests favorable conditions of livong not only for present generations but for the future as well. In the developing world people sort the litter. The point is that much of that litter can be reduced, reused or recycled. The recycling needs less recources than if the same material is produced in a traditional way. Some wastes are not friendly to the environment at all. Some real pictures.

UN headquarters in Geneva. There is a labyrinth installation made off plastic bottles. It makes me think that every second 8000 bottles go into landfill in the world. I didn't put copyright on these pictures as I uploaded them directly from my smartphone.

A town of Veryer, Switzerland:

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/396828/

Lausanne. The bins for sorted litter are inside the metro:

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/452102/

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/452101/

Annecy, France:

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/399359/

Murano, Italy:

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/349661/

Upplands Vasbu, Sweden. The special bin is right in the room of the hotel I stayed in:

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/486788/

Hangzhou, China. You can see it at the background.

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/469450/

Shanghai. Metro. Xijiahui station.

http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/night-city-dream/view/472654/

In Russia, unfortunately, it's not the case.

Now. let's get back to the set. The box is relatively large but thin. When travelling, it was a bit damaged. The pieces occupy less than a half of the volume.

There's a sticker with customer information in China - for Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

The backside. You can also see 5 power items (limted edition sets) of 2012 at the lower bottom part:

What's inside? 3 large bags, each has a smaller bag inside, a dark grey 16x8 baseplate and a small stickersheet. In fact, I counted 311 pieces, not just 297.

The first bag:

Bag 2 is so huge and it contains so few pieces...

Bag 3:

The first page of the instruction book:

Today Lego is very greedy about minifigs putting sometimes just 1 in a large set. So we can say this set has a lot of minifigs - there are 3 of them here. I've noticed by the way that in 2012 the situation is getting better. The Ambulance has got 3 as well.

I found the minifigs interesting. We get the street sweeper and the girl from the first bag. There are 2 sweepers, the second will be shown below. I liked that they have different torsos which works to the advantage of the set. The girl has got Tamina's haircut. It's beautiful but lacks the functionality: you simply can't turn the head 90 degrees.

Both minifigs come from Bag 1.

The wheelbarrow! The first one in Lego history! Before opening this set I thought it would be smaller. The wheel rotates but you can leave the wheelbarrow off as a moto, it's won't go far.

I also liked the green dustbin in the set, which is a tradition since 2010.:

Actually, the "real estate" of the set consists of a corral with 3 large containers. It all is mounted on a dark grey plate. I decided to put on the stickers as this set won't be dismantled for MOCs. Interesting to see that pieces of these colours - yellow, red and blue - will be hidden later upon completion of the building. Still LEGO gives us pieces of different colours.

The left container is for paper, the middle for metals and the right one for glass.

Lego ingenuity is expressed here in the design of the fence:

The containers' desing is also simple but very ergonomic. We get by the way 6 "bus windscreens".

I especially liked the way the litter is depicted. And more especially how a glass bottle is designed:

Aluminium cans & tins and their container:

Paper & cardboard container:

All the three put together:

Now, we pass to the truck. It is quite typical for City line but has some features. Previous trucks didn't usually have stickers at the front. I didn't like that it has only 4 wheels.

Standard parts are used to build the chassis:

Now again, lots of bright coloured parts that will be hidden:

Like that it gets more robust:

Some shots of the rear bumper and fuel tanks. The registration number is sticked onto a black double cheese:

Some parts of the cabin. No chair:

The fronatl part is very important as it creates the whole look of the truck:

New design of rear-view mirrors, quite realistic:

The truck is now built, some views:

All in all, a good looking truck but not very special. I'd like to see it have 6 wheels. But none of the LEGO CITY garbage trucks features 6 wheels.

Finally, the front-end loader. It doesn't have a spring device, which makes is special.

The third minifigure comes from the third bag:

All staff of the set:

Some peculiarities of the loader.

Special wings:

Front bumper:

Now, how it works. The axis blocks the arm. So, the arm can have only 2 positions

The fork is assemled like that:

The driver's cab is mounted separately and then is simply put on the chassis:

Extra parts:

It is complete now:

And general view of the set. The set is good for making scenes.

A small bonus.

After hard working day, 2 sweepers sat down near the truck to drink some alcohol.

As they got drunk, they started to sing loudly.

A woman came out in a nearby block and told them to stop:

The reaction was not polite. So the girl took what she could take at that moment, it was a swab and told the guys to go.

They rushed away.

Conclusion.

The set is simply great. When I was assembling it and taking pictures, I thought of 7733, there was also a truck and a forklift there. But it was not about litter and it had 2 minifigures. But it was much much cheaper in Russia. Still, I like 4206 very much as is it well designed, has 2 vehicles, some property, 3 people. Lots of useful parts.

Pros:

- 3 minifigs and their look;

- conception;

- truck design;

- forklift design;

- promotion of garbage sorting;

- litter itself, is amount and variety as well as amount ob containers;

- wheelbarrow;

- 2 shovels;

- letter;

- green dustbin.

Cons:

- no sales in Russia;

- limited edition (it SHOULD be regular set);

- price;

- the box is too large.

If you come across this set, I recommend you to pick it up as it is not a POLICE or FIRE-related set and it promotes ideas for a better future.

[lightningtiger]

Highly detailed review 'NCD', though I do feel information overload but thanks for your hard work compiling those photos.

I own one of these sets and find it hard to fault....except on price (but I brought it on sale 39 bucks instead of 49).

Brick On Review On Recycle On 'Night City Dream' !

[lego_legis_legere]

You made an awesome compilation of pictures : what kind of white background do you use? I made only 2 reviews with the back of the Heroica boardgame.

[Aanchir]

Good review! I really like this set, although as you mention there are some drawbacks like the telehandler/forklift's limited positions. Still, I think this was a pretty brilliant idea for a set and it was carried out quite well. The recycling bins and assorted recyclables add both realism and play value.

[LegoJalex]

I like the review, very clear and a funny ending as well :)

[just2good]

Great review, 'Night City Dream'!

The beginning of the review was very unique. I really like this set, as it is really the first City recycling truck. The price is pretty good, too.

[Artifex]

Great review, thanks a lot!

I agree that this is one of the best sets of 2012! It's not only colorful and looks pretty, but it's also relevant and right -- I think every city today is (or should be) going green, with recycling cotainers, trucks and stuff like that.

[The Blue Brick]

Yes, thank you for this awesome review. This is my favorite set from the new city theme.

I love all the colors and overall design of the whole thing, especially the bins.