Review: Lego City Fire Starter Set (60106)

Smoooke on the water – fire on the pier: that’s clearly a clearly a case for the Lego City coastal firefighter squad.

Being a starter set, it follows the current fashion of providing pleny of Minifigures (three firefighters and a harbour worker), with a healthy amount of accessories and two small builds that clearly set themselves up for some firefighting play interaction.

The first build is a little firefighter hovercraft. It does its job, but is maybe a bit on the simply side. It works quite well for itself though, even if the design is a bit uneven, with its angular front and smooth rounded shapes at the rear half. But for the low price the set asks for, I feel more like I’m nitpicking really.

The hovercraft may be simple, but is absolutely fine. And the water-hose is sturdy and works like a treat!

The pier is very simple as well and at a bigger, more pricey set, I would have criticised its rather rudimentary base, but for a starter set it is totally fine – and the pump is a really nifty piece of building that looks just great! Also a fun idea is the little brick-build piece of fire that can be placed on top of it. Or anywhere else really. Simply but certainly effective.

Build 2: A pier – on fire!

 

Not anymore!

The Minifigure-lineup is nicely strong and diverse. Each of the firefighters has their individual look and set of accessories, which I highly appreciate. It just makes them appear quite realistic and professional – just as they should be. The worker is the most plain and generic looking of the set. But that’s actually not a bad thing: he looks perfectly suitable for what he is supposed to be and will fit fine in all sorts of scenarios. He is certainly not tied to any particular theme or situation.

The personnel: a grumpy harbour worker, and three specialist firefighters/rescue diver. They are clearly set up for a variety of scenarios.

All in all the set clearly has its appeal. I appreciate that is more in the classical style of Lego sets, without any adversaries or crime, as many other sets do. As a set by itself it is very convincing: it does a lot with its 90 pieces, doesn’t has any obvious weaknesses or omissions, and while it’s maybe not as flashy as the Jungle Starter Set, it is – thanks to its subject matter – probably more versatile and in any case a very solid little addition to city layouts.

 

Pieces: 90

 

Pro:

Plenty of Minifigures

Nifty designed pump

Price

Nice assortment of accessories

 

Con:

Hovercraft looks a bit crude

very small base for the pier