Zarkan

Helicopters go with lego like peanut butter goes with jelly – they mesh perfectly, and it’s very hard to mess them up. It’s very easy to make an appealing helicopter using lego bricks, and over the years TLC has released a wide array of the whirly-birds in their Town and City lines. 7741 is one of the most recent models, and I decided to start working on a review of it as soon as I had picked it up from Wal-Mart. Let’s get soaring! Name – Police Helicopter Set Number – 7741 Year – 2008 Pieces – 94 Minifigures – 1 Age Recommendation – 5-12 years Price - $9.99 USD / Unknown EUR / Unknown GBP The Box and Instructions: Personally, the City boxes are some of my favorite lego boxes of all time. They usually have very nice and clean artwork, and 7741 is no exception. On the front, you have a great action pose with the helicopter beginning to take off and the policeman rushing to the cockpit. The back is nice as usual, since it features several panels showing what you can do with the helicopter – display it, fly it around, and store accessories in the side compartments. I’m sure kids appreciate that the box shows them this stuff. The instructions have the usual cloudy sky background, and the grays and blacks are easy to tell apart. Oh, and here’s a picture of the stickers. Notice something? That’s right – you get stickers in two languages. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice this, and now my helicopter has a combination of English and another language applied onto the pieces. The Pieces and Minifigures: A total of 94 pieces are used to build this kit, and they come in 13 shades, including 7 shades of trans colors. That’s a lot of diversity for such a small lego set. Here’s the pieces I found interesting. A printed dashboard slope, a large pin base piece, a new handcuff mold, two white mailboxes, new airplane windows that have individual panes, and the black fin pieces all add to the nice selection of parts in 7741. A shot of the new handcuff mold, compared with the older, black one only found in the Batman kits. The newer one has a shorter chain, a more accurate color, and is far more realistic overall. 7741 has a nice selection of extra pieces, including three cheese slopes and three lights. These pieces round the total amount up to the generally accepted piece-per price ratio, as opposed to the slightly lower-than-average count without them. Here’s the included figure. His torso is excellent, and I like that he has grey gloves. The policeman without his helmet on. I personally feel that the new sunglasses face is an excellent successor to the original shades face released many years ago. The sunglasses actually have a reflection now! The Build: 7741’s build is short but sweet. There are no real surprises, but the assembly of the back section and helicopter blades makes it worthwhile. Here are three random pictures of the build in progress: The Finished Model: Here’s a general view of the helicopter. As you can see, the distinctive feature is the four helicopter blades – most lego helicopters of this size only have two. Front view of the helicopter. The little details like the light underneath and the video camera add to the overall look. Back view, showing off the tail rotor. A general view of the tail rotor. It’s very simple, but the design works well. A closer view of the side. I still haven’t seen a single case where cheese slopes didn’t add to the design. Inside the cockpit. It’s very simple as well, with only a printed control panel and a seat. A control stick would have been nice, but I guess there wasn’t room. The Model in Action: This helicopter is just begging to displayed on a custom police trailer – in fact, the reason why I bought this kit was to do that very thing! Here’s the helicopter ready for travel on a trailer of my own design. Summary: Presentation – 9/10 Pieces – 8/10 Minifigs – 7/10 (it’s just another policeman, but the City cops are superb) Model – 9/10 Playability – 7/10 Price – 7/10 (very average at best) Overall Rating – 7.8/10 7741 is the definition of a run-of-the-mill City set – nothing special, and you get what you pay for. Still, this helicopter is among my favorite designs, and it blows away the mediocre and <insert that tiresome argument> Fire helicopter of 2005. If you already have several police helicopters in your town, it might be best just to skip on this kit – but if you have a hankering for a cheap vehicle kit, 7741 is an excellent choice. Other Resources: Bricklink entry for set 7741 Peeron Inventory for set 7741 Brickset entry for set 7741 Brickshelf gallery for this review (when public)

ZCerberus probably is right - I think TLC is trying to refrain from using string items in their kits as much as possible, probably because they are tough for kids to put together. Still, I don't see why they couldn't have just made a new anchor mold that had a stud attachement point - but this won't stop me from buying it. I have a couple extra anchors anyway. Woah, all because of one small missing element? I think that's a little harsh - especially since this is extremely easily modded. Unless, you were just being sarcastic...

Okay, when I first saw the 4WD and Horse Trailer retailing for $25 at TRU, I thought they had drastically raised the price from what TLC would be selling it at. It looks like I was wrong, and this disapoints me. Oh well, it's still an awesome kit, and I'll have to get it.

Thanks for the nice review. Personally, I gave this set a three. It's decent, and has a nice color scheme, but it's also a little plain and doesn't scream "tractor" that much to me. Also, the figure doesn't really seem like a farm worker - he's basically just a construction guy.

Personally, 2008 was a mixed bag to me. One the one hand, the first half was relatively boring, with the Stormtrooper and Rebel battlepacks and the Jedi Starfighter being the most interesting kits. The AT-AP and Hailfire Droid Battlepack were fairly generic, and the Rogue Shadow is still one of my least favorite Starwars ships (although the figures are awesome). One the other hand, the summer was great. The redesigns of the RGS and AT-TE are absolutely wonderful, and many of the other kits like the Droid Gunship, Republic Fighter Tank, Spider Droid, and V-19 are excellent too. In fact, the only kit I didn't like was the Twilight - everything else was great. While I can understand being upset about the lack of PT kits, remember that the Death Star playset really makes up for that, and next year it looks like we'll be getting many other most wanted kits like an Endor playeset and a Hoth set possibly with Tauntauns. So, I think in general Starwars is doing fine. Although, personally, I've sworn off buying any Starwars sets. It's simply too pricy for me to invest in a line that releases so many huge items each year.

Well, rumored summer setlists are already out, and there's no sign of a second Pirates wave. However, I think we can be assured that we'll see more sets in 2010, which I'm personally betting will include a ship for the Imperials.

Well, I'm late to comment, but thanks for the wonderful review anyway, Brickster. This set is easily one of my favorites of the new line. The design overall is great with nice detail and some cool action features that remind me of the older Pirates line. The figures and acessories are excellent, as always, and we even get another cannon! It seems like nearly every set in this new line includes a cannon, which is great. BTW, I think we really have to understand that these higher prices are probably due to the large amount of new molds, reintroduced mold, and printed pieces in the new Pirates line. No doubt they're helping to drive the cost up.

Thanks for the nice review, Ras. Seriously, this new version of Vader's Tie Advanced is MILES better than the original. Better colors, better shape, better detail - and a better Vader fig! I won't get it, as I've decided that Starwars is far too expensive for me to invest in at all, but it's good that we've gotten a great redesign. I voted above average, as it is just that - not especially amazing, but better than normal.

While I personally thought that the Phantoka were far more win than fail, I totally agree about the Mistika. At least now we don't really have to worry as much about them messing up our favorite characters, since there's only one returning and his set is being tailored to his personality.

What I'm more shocked about that they simplified the tails of the plane and made the fuel truck far worse. The color scheme wouldn't have mattered much at all to me if they kept the design from the prototype, but there's no chance I'll even think about getting this kit now that they've, ahem... junoirized it. Pardon me for using that word, but I think it most accurately describes this set now.

It's official - 2009 is the best Bionicle year ever. I seriously can't believe how hard this year is rocking, and it's not even here yet! I think now I have faith that the Mata Nui set will be at least decent, since they are going to actually be designing a kit specifically for him, instead of designing the kit then slapping his name on the canister.

No, I'm not worried. Lego plastic generally holds up well no matter what color it's made in - the main factor in fragility seems to be the type of mold used (ie. small rectangular flags have had breakage problems for years, no matter what color they are made in). Besides, I don't really have much faith in the Transformers line's durability period, especially after I saw the latest line in stores for the first time.

No, actually they are. Every one of the 8 2009 Pirates sets has been found in at least one store. They're not widespread yet, but they are all available.

Actually, I've been wondering for some time if the Algernon here is the same as the Algernon on BZP. I remember following the Anaglyph gaming topic for a while while it was up there, and I really haven't checked it barely at all since it moved to a new forum. Algernon, are you the guy I and Sidorak are thinking of?

Woah, that's a first - someone who actually doesn't like the new minifig designs. I couldn't disagree more - I think the new pirate minifig designs are miles better than the originals, BECAUSE they have far more detail. Also, the new pirates are no more generic than the old pirates - back in the early days, there were mainly a few different basic types of shirts and faces. The new way of making pirates is very similar to the old way - several designs interchanged to make a lot of different but similar looking figures.

Thanks for this awesome article, Brickster. It gets a 5/5 from me. Honestly, I'm really getting tired of people comparing this new Pirates line to the 4+ line released in 2004. Seriously, that's wrong - there is virtually no simililarities between the two lines in design, and the 4+ line has probably at least 3 times as many big pieces as the old line. Also, for people who are complaining about the new sand baseplate, it's really no different than other raised baseplates that have been used in classic pirates kits - including the magnificent Elorado Fortress. Having said that, I agree that the prices are a big high on these kits - but from what I can tell, this is a general characteristic shared with most of the lego kits being released in 2009. Lego prices are going up next year, it seems, and there's nothing we can really do about it. Still, I don't get the reaction of some of the fans here. This new pirates line may certainly not be perfect, but it's far closer to the original line than any of TLC's previous remakes, like the Castle, CITY, and Mars Mission/Space lines. Instead of supporting TLC's decision to bring back the line, many of you are just passing it off. Would you rather we go back to the years where we didn't have any Pirates? If you want TLC to make more Pirates, than you need to support them, not refuse to buy them just because they aren't exactly like Classic Pirates.

Wrong. He has a background, which we learned about in Bionicle Legends 4. He also did have a large role in 2006, so he wasn't without reason. And personally, I find Vezon very funny. Insane characters are always fun to me, and Greg is excellent at writing them. So, I wouldn't call his sense of humor devastatingly bad - just not the kind of humor you like. Then again, you said you don't even like villians having humor, so I guess this won't really go anywhere.

Totally agree.

Well, Black Friday this year seems to be the time when TRU is getting rid of the Aquaraiders sets, so the super low prices might be an incentive to pick a few up before they dissapear.

Oh, you mean THAT Vakama. I agree - the closeup was excellent. It's the horribly skewered Vakama shot after the closeup that looks so horible, IMO.

Are you serious? His mask looked like a flat cardboard cutout, his staff was nothing more than a few red scribbles, and he just looked plain rushed. Just like basically everything else about his 2007 comic. Seriously, I loved some of what he did in 2006, but by 2007 he was just getting lazy. I prefer the art style from 2008 way over his style.

Okay, seriously, don't bring the grey/bley argument into this topic - the BB has basically no grey. Secondly, the colors on BB are no more uncommon today than the colors of the BSB were when it was first released. Brown and black are certainly not uncommon, dark red has been in tons of recent sets, and the new gold has been being used a lot more recently. Besides, if they were uncommon, what is wrong with that? Wouldn't you rather have a more original color scheme than the same old schemes we had in the original line? Thirdly, this has already been mentioned, but the price tag is no more expensive than other ships. The BSB did have more pieces, but it also cost more than 100 dollars, so there's no use trying to fault the BB for that. That's a fallacy. The newer pirate sets have no more bigger pieces than the older ones, and this applies to many other themes as well. Even the classic pirate ships had huge pieces, because there is no other way to do solid masts and hulls that can withstand playability. Big pieces have been around for years and years, and I get really tired of people claiming that this is only a modern problem. Seriously, I think possibly the biggest problem here is that a lot of people just don't want new content at all! Many here would just rather TLC release old kits and not make any new designs, no matter what the new designs may look like. This strikes me as nothing more than excess nostalgism, which is disapointing to me. Although, I can't be sure on this, so correct me if I'm wrong.

That new art is awesome. Very detailed and has extremely dramatic angles. Sure, it has a few minor porportion and detail mistakes, but they're nothing compared to the errors Sayger made. I'll never forget his butchering of Turaga Vakama in "Death of a Hero."

Things have generally been fine for me. I've only made about 7 orders from Bricklink since I joined years ago, but they've all been done right. The only exception is when one of my orders had a few round lego trees - when I got the order, I found two real lego trees inside and one from a CLONE toy that looked fairly different. I'm not normally against clone brands, but in this case I specifically ordered LEGO, which accounts to false advertising. Still, I like bricklink. It's often far cheaper than the online lego Pick a Brick, and you can find just about anything lego related on there. I got 234 1x1 yellow bricks for half a cent each in my last order, which is 12 times cheaper than what they are priced for on the official lego site.

Well, this was the first review I did for the academy, so it's subpar compared to the other two. Strange that the teachers didn't notice that mistake...