Given that there is already a new LEGO City police station on the market, this review is coming a little late. I have been sitting on this one for a while. In fact, I have had this set in my room, sealed in the original box since last August. I ordered it during the LEGO Store’s surprise double points weekend, and just have not gotten around to building it. My city needs a police station, and I bought this in order to use the pieces in my own custom build. But, the set is actually a nice one that you might still be lucky enough to find on liquidation (my local Walmart still had them on my last visit). It is officially listed as a retired product on the LEGO website at the time of this writing.
Set Summary
Name: Police Station
Set: 60047
Cost: $119.99 CDN
Brick Count: 854
Minifigures: 7
Also Included: a dog and motorcycle
Manuals: 6
Release Date: January 1, 2014
Summary Review
VALUE: 80% (price per brick is a little over average, but not bad.)
BUILD: 80% (Nice details and play features, but too open and lacks stairs.)
MINIFIGURES: 80% (Good, but generic Minifigs. Great brick-to-Minifig ratio.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 80% (ok build time value, but needs some design modification.)
Review
VALUE: 80%
With 854 bricks and a price tag of $119.99 in Canada, each brick will set you back $0.14. That is just above the current average price per brick ($0.13), but well under the average for the City theme ($0.17). This earns 60047 a pretty decent score of 4/5, or 80%.
BUILD: 80%
The first manual is a short one. You assemble three Minifigures and the motorcycle. I like the motorbike. A lot of people complain LEGO does too much police and fire stuff, but I have never actually collected any of them before. So, getting a police motorbike was really nice in my opinion.
With the second manual, you assemble the crook’s tow truck and the police cruiser. Again, I did not previously have a police car, so I really like this one. It is a little odd that there is only one seat and no place to hold arrested criminals, but most LEGO cars can’t fit more than one Minifigure anyway. I suppose it is more of a first responder car. My other complaint about it is that it has no car doors. I really dislike when LEGO does that. On the plus side though, this car has a little dashboard sticker and steering wheel for more authenticity.
The tow truck is nothing special, and I will disassemble it for parts shortly. LEGO has produced several much nicer tow trucks in other sets. This one come with two lengths of chain and a grappling hook that attaches to them. This goes with the jail break play feature that I will discuss later. I like this grappling hook much more than the ones that tend to come with the Super Heroes theme since it has a hooked end that can attach to the chain.
Book three contains the instructions for the helicopter. As far as helicopters go, this one is ok. I have a number of LEGO helicopters at this point, and most of them have been disassembled. I will keep this one built though. I like the storage compartments on its sides. Plus, I need a police helicopter for the landing pad on the station roof.
The fourth manual has the instructions for building the garage module. I like the way that garage door opens. I know this is not a new feature, but again, having never collected police or fire sets before, this is my first such door. I do wish that the garage was more sealed off on the sides though. There is also what appears to be either a lookout tower or an air traffic control tower. I suppose it could serve as both given that there are holding cells and a helicopter landing pad in this set. The second floor has an equipment storage room. There are no stairs or ladders to get from floor to floor, which is a little annoying. The whole structure is open in the back for accessibility.
Book five is the instructions for the holding cells and another garage area. I am not sure why they made two garages, I guess one for the motorbike and one for the car. But, the space could have been better used for something else. I like the cells, they are spacious and contain a bed, sink, and toilet. There is also no shortage of ways to escape. Each cell features two easily removable barred walls. Both also feature trap doors under the toilets. In addition, the top cell can be accessed through a hinged plate in the roof. They are fun play features, but I will probably make my custom version a little more secure. Like with the previous section, this one is also open in the back, and has no stairs.
The final instruction manual is for my favorite part of the police station. This is probably the section that I will alter the least in my custom version. There are two floors. The first has the main lobby and reception with a waiting area and coffee machine. Upstairs you have the criminal booking area with a camera set up. I love the wall chart for determining the height of the crooks. The roof has the helicopter landing pad. But, again, there is no way to get from floor to floor. This building is also open on two sides, which is a major downer for me.
Overall, I don’t have too many huge complaints about this set. My major ones can be summed up as the set being too open and having no stairs. The details are pretty good in otherwise. The vehicles are nice too, except maybe the tow truck (which is not bad, just not that exciting either). All the play features are amusing and work very well. I like the build for this set and give it 8/10.
MINIFIGURES: 80%
You get seven Minifigures in this set. That translates into one Minifig for every 122 bricks. That is a really good brick-to-Minifigure ratio, and earns this set 4.5/5 (90%). While I don’t count it in the score, you also get a dog for added value. The set also comes with no shortage of accessories including handcuffs, money tiles, balls with chains, crowbars, walkie talkies, mugs, a broom, a shovel, and a circular saw. With all these accessories, each Minifig pretty much gets a full accessory score.
There are three criminals included. Two of them come with striped prison shirts, one with torn off sleeves, the other with full sleeves. Both have generic grey legs, and grey beanies. One has mutton-chops painted on his face, the other has a moustache and domino mask. Both have unique rear torso printing, but no double-sided faces. The third crook is the one on the outside, I guess. He has a striped shirt and leather jacket print on both the front and back of his torso. He has the same generic grey legs, but with a black beanie.
The four police officers come with two uniform variations: the motorcycle/helicopter outfit, and the regular cop uniform. All have generic, dark blue legs with no printing. The torsos have front and back print. Each officer has a different face print, which is really all you need. They are all supposed to work for the same police force after all, and should have the same uniforms. Three of the officers are male, and one is female. They are good, but generic Minifigs, great for filling out a city.
Each of the Minifigures in this set earns 7/10. Again, they are nice enough, but pretty standard issue. There is nothing wrong with that in terms of the set, but for Minifig design, it does lose them some points in terms of printing and details. When that score is combined with the brick-to-Minifigure ratio score, this set earns 80%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 80%
This set took me three hours to build. So, at $119.99 and 180 minutes of build time, each minute cost me $0.66. That is an alright value that earns a build-time score of 4/5 (80%). In terms of my feelings in general towards this set, I will end up keeping the overall feeling of a lot of it. I like the build for this set, but it was never my intention to keep it as is. I need it to be sealed on all sides and a floor by floor modular design to work with my city. So, I will try my best to preserve its better design traits, but will end up changing it significantly at the same time. That earns it a likeability score of 4/5 as well. Overall, the Police Station get 80% for its entertainment score.
Overall: 80%
This set has scored a solid 80% across the board. It is a nice, long build and a decent value. The design is fun, but lacking in realism a little (Minifigures need stairs too). The vehicles and play features are great. The Minifigs are good but generic. While this set is retired, it can still be found on the liquidation racks for a little longer if you are lucky. Buying it discounted will only make it more worthwhile. I recommend picking it up if you can find one. Until next time,
-T.N.B.
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