I have long dreamt about building a super hospital for my LEGO® city. In fact, I have collected three hospital sets to amalgamate to that end already. I have reviewed two of those, 7892 and 60204, already. Getting more ideas for departments to include and equipment to build is always a priority. Consequently, the LEGO® Group’s announcement of a new hospital for 2022 created another addition to my wish list. I did not make a huge haul on January 1, but I did order the new Hospital (60330). Today, we take a closer look at the set. To read more about how scores are generated in this review, click here.
HOSPITAL (60330) SUMMARY
- NAME: Hospital
- SET #: 60330
- THEME: City
- COST: $149.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 816
- MINIFIGURES: 12
- RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2022
HOSPITAL (60330) QUICK REVIEW
- VALUE: 75% (Average value as a City set, but expensive compared to other themes.)
- BUILD: 75% (The building looks nice, but the side builds are a waste of bricks.)
- MINIFIGURES: 92% (A great, fresh selection of characters.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 80% (Okay set in terms of play value, great as an add on to older sets.)
- OVERALL SCORE: 81% (Average set.)
HOSPITAL (60330) REVIEW
VALUE: 75%
This hospital set costs $149.99 in Canada. Additionally, the set includes 816 pieces. The resulting cost-per-brick works out to $0.184. Compared to LEGO® sets in general, that is a hefty cost-per-brick. However, where City sets are concerned, the value is fairly average. City has always been an expensive theme. To give you an idea, the average cost-per-brick across all themes is around $0.138, while the City theme alone sits at $0.179. In any case, I rate the cost-per-brick for the Hospital at 72%.
The Hospital took me two and a half hours to build. At full price, each minute of build time works out to $1. For the City theme, that is slightly better than average. However, compared to LEGO® sets in general, once again that is quite expensive. At present, I spend $1.093/minute on City sets and $0.849/minute on LEGO® sets in general. Consequently, I rate the cost-per-minute of build time at 78%. Averaging this with the cost-per-brick score gives an overall value rating of 75%. The Hospital is a satisfactory set in terms of price.
BUILD: 75%
As with many City sets, the Hospital includes a couple of smaller side builds along with the main construct. You build an ambulance and a helicopter. Both are bitter disappointments in my opinion. The helicopter is weak even by City standards. Many of the larger sets in this theme come with small helicopters. However, this one is flimsy even compared to those. The main fuselage is only four studs wide at its maximum, two in most places. Additionally, the landing pad for it feels as though it was thrown onto the roof. The building has no entry point for Minifigures on the roof, and there are no stairs leading up to the elevated pad. A medevac helicopter should be a separate, detailed set like we saw with 60179.
Both vehicles in this set are a flop in my books.
The ambulance is another weak point. Back in 2018, the LEGO® City Hospital set also came with an ambulance. That one looked much nicer. I do not like the fluorescent bricks used on this newer model, and the shape of the vehicle is too boxy and lacks detail. I wish the LEGO® Group would have left both the ambulance and helicopter out of this set in favor of more detail in the hospital. As with the helicopter, the ambulance should be a separate, detailed set that you buy in addition to the hospital.
Otherwise, I like the hospital building itself. I appreciate that designers kept the color scheme similar to the two previous City hospital models. That makes it easy to combine them in a custom build. This building contains a waiting room with café and kids’ play area, a delivery room, a bathroom, and a MRI room. Personally, I wish the building did not include the maternity room since the 2018 hospital already featured one. An operating room would be nice. However, I do really like the MRI room. Once of the major highlights that made me laugh was the scan of a Minifigure brain on the wall. I also love the “wash hands” sign in the bathroom.
Check out that amazing Minifigure brain scan.
From the exterior, the shape of the building is neat. I like how the MRI room is situated in a wing that goes over the road. When I finally build my custom hospital, I will keep this feature. However, I think it will serve better as a corridor connecting two different areas of the hospital. The road plate is a little awkward in this set though. It is a full, two-lane plate, but only one lane goes through the passage. The other ends abruptly in a garden. I suppose you can imagine it as a parking space rather than lane. Ultimately, I think the 2018 hospital was a nicer set. However, I still like this one and the expansion potential it holds for the 2018 set. Overall, the design for this hospital earns 75% in my books.
MINIFIGURES: 93%
Of the 12 Minifigures included in this set, one is a stumpy child with unmoving legs. I harp on these every time the LEGO® Group includes them in a kit. I do not like that you can’t pose them. Otherwise, all of the characters have front and back torso printing, and eight feature double-sided head printing. I did not say double-sided faces because one character has new hair print on the back of his head that goes along with a new shorter hairpiece to look like a shaved haircut. On top of that, the set features a couple of new face and torso prints, as well as a number of hairpieces available in a new color. This is a great assortment of city folks.
In terms of accessories, the Hospital includes one of the new squirrel figurines. Additionally, you acquire a baby, a baby bottle, a bicycle, a broom, a wheelchair, a purse, a helmet, a cast, a two-way radio, a syringe, and three stretchers. I rate the Minifigure designs and accessories at 92%.
12 Minifigures in an 816-piece kit gives a brick-to-fig ratio of 68 bricks/fig. Simply put, that is amazing. The average ratio across all LEGO® sets I have collected is currently 171 bricks/fig. For the City theme alone, the average is 83 bricks/fig. Consequently, I rate the ratio score at 94%. You get a lot of Minifigures for a set this size. Averaging this with the design score gives an overall Minifigure grade of 93%. On a side note, I am surprised that not a single character in this set includes a face mask given that this is a medical facility released during COVID times…
ENTERTAINMENT: 80%
As a standalone set, the Hospital is okay, but not great. I feel like the 2018 version offered more as a play set. However, if you already have the 2018 Hospital, this one offers nice ideas and parts for an expansion project. When I finally get around to building a custom hospital, I will incorporate the overall look of this set into the building with few changes. I like the exterior quite a bit. As I mentioned before, I did not like the vehicles included in the set though. Looking at the pictures on the instruction books, I almost didn’t build them. The only reason I did was to offer a complete review. I think they are ugly and building them was not really enjoyable because they offered me nothing new or exciting. Overall, I rate the entertainment for this set at 80%.
OVERALL SCORE: 81%
The Hospital (60330) is an okay set, but not a great one. The highlight is all the new Minifigure parts and prints. The value is only satisfactory though. As a City set, it is fairly average, but compared to LEGO® kits in general, you do not get a lot for the price. I also wish the build focused solely on the hospital. The LEGO® Group needs to stop throwing rinky-dink helicopters into every large City set. Also, making a separate, detailed ambulance set in the same wave as a hospital is a better way to go than including a non-detailed one with the hospital. In the end, I think this set serves as a good add on to the 2018 Hospital. However, the 2018 kit was more fun. What do you think? Feel free to comment below or reach out on social media.
Until next time,
-Tom
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