ImLost

INDEXED This hasn't been reviewed yet so.... 7642 Garage Pieces: 942 Build Time: Who knows Price: $99.99 (US) Why I bought it: It was on sale for $89.95 and I like orange! Front of the box: Back: Three instruction manuals. The set has nine bags and three baseplates (I accidently deleted the photo). Sticker sheet: OMG finally I get one that is not crumbled!! BAG 1: Bag 1 builds three of the set's four minifigs. As you can see, I got the trucker's and the mechnaic's pants mixed up. I really like the red hairpiece! Their backs are not printed. Bag 1 also builds the little blue truck. As you can see, there's a big hole on the back of the cab, where cargo can fall into! The reason this exists is so a yellow chair can fit inside. I don't know why the truckbed walls are resting on two 1x4 plates. The vehicle looks so much better without them. An overview of everything that Bag 1 builds, as well as the extra pieces. Verdict: I'm disappointed that the set only contains four minifigs, and non of them are very original. As for the blue truck, I feel the only reason they included it in the set is so the auto shop''s lift have something you can put on. The truck is just way too tiny to look realistic. The mudguards are too big for its wheels and the big hole on the back of the cab is really annoying. It is kind of cute though and looks like something a kid would drive in the back yard. Bag 2: This bag builds a tractor unit. Here it is along with extra pieces: Verdict: This truck is very similiar to the one found in 7633 Construction Site. I like the color scheme a lot, although I'm bothered that the stripe pattern ends abruptly towards the back of the cab instead of continuing along. There's nothing special about this truck, other than being an accessory for the set's main vehicle: the orange wrecker. Bag 3: Bag 3 builds the bottom half of the orange wrecker as well as adding another minifig. Here they are, along with extra pieces. Bag 4: Bag 4 completes the wrecker truck. Here it is along with its extra pieces. The side cabinet doors do not lead to storage areas. Instead, they allow access to the boom's hydralics. This is the maximum height that the boom can be risen to. White crate not included. The wrecker truck in action. This is how the wrecker tows another vehicle. The wheellift has two projections that fit into a gap underneath the red tractor's front bumper. Because the blue truck does not have the gap that the red tractor has, it cannot be effectively towed. With that in mind, I tried hooking the wrecker's wheellift onto the blue truck's rear bumper, as seen below. However, this was a very flimsy attachment and the blue truck frequently fell off. The wrecker's boom is surprisingly robust and stays in place quite well. It is able to lift my 8-wide fire quint, which is twice the wrecker's size! Here are all three vehicles and all minifigs together. Verdict: The wrecker truck is very cool. It looks really rugged and the boom is very robust and functional. The only thing I'm bothered about are the mudguards- I just hate how round they are! Bag 5: Bag 5 builds the small office of the garage. Here are all the printed pieces that the office contains. The office also has three tiles with stickers that are supposed to represent mechanic's manuals (I think). They don't really look like manuals though. Anyways, those "manuals" fit on a shelf next to the computer. I think this is a nice detail. Here is the completed office with extra parts. Closer angle: Verdict: I kind of like the office- it has enough detail and isn't too cramped. The one thng I don't like is the giant sticker that is supposed to represent a map of LEGO city. If TLG had instead printed the map on a tranparent piece, I would be a lot happier. Bag 6: This bag builds the first half of the auto shop, shown below with extra pieces. Bag 7: Bag 7 completes the autoshop, shown below with extra pieces The office is attached to the auto shop via a single technic pin on the bottom and a 2x2 plate on top. The connection is surprisingly sturdy. Bag 8: This bag builds the first half of the wrecker truck garage. Bag 9: This bag completes the wrecker truck garage, shown below with extra pieces. The truck garage is connected to the auto shop by two techinic pins and two 2x2 plates. The picture below shows that the connection is solid and the entire building can be lifted without anything falling apart. (Don't do it with vehicles inside!) Here are the extra pieces from all the bags together. They look quite useful. Below shows how the lift in the auto shop works. I like the lift's mechanism because it feels very smooth yet solid. You can put the red tractor unit on the lift as well, although doing so will restrict the overhead crane's movement, because the vehicle is too tall. The auto shop also contains various tools seen below. I love the table drill and saw! The photo below shows how the overhead crane is attached. It can move north, east, south, and west, as well as go up and down. The crane can cover the entire area of the auto shop and slides quite well from east to west and vise versa. However, it does not slide well from north to south and vise versa. The wrecker truck will only fit in the garage if its rear view mirrors are folded all the way in! Here are pictures of everything from the set together. First off, I feel this set is too tiny to cost $100. Sure it has a lot of pieces (942) but most of them are tiny. And only four minifigs! With that said, I think the set overall looks quite nice. I am usually not a fan of lego buildings (with the exception of the modular series) becasue they look too childish and unrealistic. But the 7642 Garage actually looks quite real. Still, I plan to tear everyting down for MOCing purposes. One of the big negatives of this set are the vehicles. Other than the wrecker truck, the rest are unoriginal and uninspired. I feel that with a flagship city set like this, TLG should have included trucks that are more unique and interesting. In terms of playability, um I'm an AFOL. I don't play with my models- I display them! But I guess this set offers a fair amount of playability to its target demographic. I can see how a 10 year old would line up his entire collection of city vehicles to be repaired at the auto shop. Plus, the wrecker truck is very functional. At first glance, this set does not seem to have many useful parts because the building seems to be composed mainly of white bricks and pillars. But upon closer inspection, the set does have many useful pieces. The three trucks contain a lot of nice elements for MOCing vehicles. Also, the auto shop itself provides a solid foundation of building a bigger and more detailed version. Overall, I give this set a grade of average. I think the building looks pretty realistic but other than the wrecker truck, the other vehicles seemed like an afterthought. Plus this set just does not have enough features to warrant a $100 price tag. Btw, I have a newfound respect for all you regular reviewers out there. Making a review was more painful than I had thought!

Twenty-six floors??!! You won't stop until it touches the room's ceiling, will you? BTW, I know I said this before but... love that UPS truck!

Your trucks look great, benny. However, I think gray truck's hood is too thick and the ramp of the cow lorry is a little too steep. Those minor things aside, you've done a great job!

Darn it!! Okay, so I made one last teenie tiny revision- fenders using upside-down cheese slopes. Okay, now I promise no more changes!

I own the first three sets on your list and my favorite is the Fire Truck with Boat. That set serves as a great parts pack for MOCing. Also, although I've never built any of the three models in the set (all the pieces were used for my MOCs), I feel the vehicles will look good as part of a layout or as individual display pieces. I do like the helicopter set too though- the copter itself looks real good. However, I feel the jeep that comes with the set is very plain, unoriginal and only serves to jack up the price. Also, the bucket and fake "water" that comes with the helicopter are pretty useless as well- they offer no play value and are awkward to use for display. The beach house is cute and offer a good amount of detail. But it is very small and difficult to provide any furnishings. It may also look awkward in a town layout without a beach. As for the alternative builds, the cafe is nice but the three-story apartment is terrible. Truth be told, I like all three sets. It all just depends on what you intend to do with your sets (MOC or collect) and what your town is missing.

That was real cool, Davey. You gave some good soundbites! I actually work as a tv news reporter and I would love to cover a LEGO event one day.

What a busy place. Love the giant clover! Your town is so packed with activity and colorful characters, it reminds me of Mardi Gras (especially with all the people on the rooftops).

Thanks for the blog, Rick! Thanks. MetroiD. Although I said this is the final version, right now, I'm resisting the urge to revise it even more! I'm just never satisfied!

Beautiful! I can't think of a single flaw! Love the way you made the back sun roof.

You get to build LEGO for a class??!! Wow, I should have gone to school in Canada!

I think this is a cool concept having a motorized cable car running through your city. But I feel your MOC will look so much better if you use matching colors. Anyways, look forward to see the finished product!

Wow, what a beauty! When I was a child, I was a WWll fanatic and this model really brings back memories. Love the turret and torpedo. The only things I feel are missing are emblems on the wings. But then again, adding them may involve drastic restructuring of the wings. That small nitpick aside, great work! But I'm wondering, when is your deadline for building the few dozen aircraft required for Ed's ship? On that note, when does he plan to finish it? If I have to tackle a collaborative project of that scale, I would feel a little.. overwhelmed (to put it lightly ).

Wow, incredible work, Ryan. Just... wow. Two questions- How long does it take you to build one of these? And, if you don't mind me asking, how much do they pay you for it? Anyways, you are a great builder; keep it up!

Very nice! I love the way you made the waste basket!

Great work, lightlingtiger! The orginal 7633 excavator was cute, but maybe a little too cute for a construction site. Your additions definately made it more capable of some heavy lifting! You know, the 7633 set was the first set I bought since coming out of my dark ages earlier this year. In fact, I loved it so much, I bought two! So now, I have a pair of those mini escavators. After seeing your adjustments, I'm tempted to mod mine!

Great MOC, lightlingtiger! When I had a lung infection a couple of years ago, I had to get a lot of CT scans and xrays so I'm no stranger to these clinics. Everything in our model is very realistic. I have one suggestion: you should add one of those backlit screens that doctors place the x-ray pictures against in order to view the images with detail. I've been to several clinics and they all have it. Anyways, excellent work!

Thanks ACCURATEin. Don't neglect your pumper. From what I saw, it looks quite promising! Anyways, I am now FINALLY done with my fire truck: See this topic's first post for the rest of my updated pictures. Some of my changes since the last update: 1. I have now added dial-print tiles onto my pump control panel. 2. The outriggers have been repositioned to make it closer to the rear axle. 3. My storage lockers used to be just empty space. Now I have added clips, hooks, and shelves. 4. The ladder basket has been shrunk and lights have been added. 5. Redesigned the back of my truck based on Steven Asbury's models. Finally, I can get on with my next project (most likely another vehicle for my fire fleet). This truck has been such a huge pain!

What an incredible MOC, DHCP1121! Just realistic beyond belief. That shop is incredible! In fact, those tranparant green cones are giving me a strong urge to go buy some Sprite or Mountain Dew. Wow, I'm getting real thirsty. Great work!

Your final product looks great, Ricecracker. The station and van looks very realistic. My favorite is your truck- its great to see all the improvements you've made to it since your initial version. Now it is an absolute beauty. Love the saw aand mobile generator too.

Beautiful MOC, georgivar! You included everything a real office building has (other than restrooms ). The elevator looks very realistic and all the details, from the projector to the water cooler, look great! I do agree with wooootles that there are too many white furnitures inside the building. Adding furnitures with other colors besides white will make your interior look more intricate and your details more noticible. Also, I think you should cover the green baseplate on your first floor. Right, it looks like you have an indoor lawn. Overall, very nice work!

Thanks Ralph. I did what you suggested and ordered more dial-print tiles from PaB. They should be here by next week. I also tried adding another axle to the truck but it seemed too long for an 8-wide. Anyways, here is an updated version of my truck, with working outriggers. The outtriggers still need refining, because they are flimsy as hell! But at least it's a start!

Good work, georgivar. Can't wait to see an interior! But I do suggest you add another garage though. A station that big can't have just one garage.

Great progress, ACCURATEin! I've never seen a black cab on an American-style fire engine before. Very interesting! I suggest you add some more cabinets and lockers in the back though. That ice cream truck is very cute. Nice work. I like the color scheme of the bus. But I think the wheels are too small. That Ferrari garage is just sweet! Keep up the good work!

I like it. Compared with the the reference photos, your model has less rounded lines, which makes it look more modern and more powerful. This makes your MOC even better than the real-life truck you based it on. Well done!

Wow! I've never seen a vehicle like this captured in LEGO and you've done it perfectly. I was stunned when I saw the photograph of the real-life version and saw how closely it resembled your own model. I am also impressed that you are able to capture such a complex design using some of the most basic LEGO elements. Well done!