After buying the 4438 Robbers' Hideout set a couple of weeks ago I started to look at the whole theme and what was in the sets. They're the kind of sets that I usually don't buy when they come out. They're the kind of sets that I might see on clearance at Target and think "I wonder if that is worth getting." It would be good to have an idea about them before buying. For me what increases the value and attractiveness of a set are the special pieces, certain colors, unusual minifigs and critters. In 4438 it's bears. Here's the cover of a book that goes with the theme. I'm not going to bother picking one up. I bet the bear doesn't eat the guy and the crook gets caught. Not a very interesting story in my mind.
Bricklink lists the Forest Police in Town: City: Police but not as a seperate sub-theme. Brickset lists the sets under City: Police: Forest Police and lists the Town theme seperately. Not sure what started this split. I haven't spent as much time on Brickset as I have on Bricklink. LEGO dot com has a seperate section in their City page called Forest Police but it doesn't list some of the sets that either of the other two sites list. Like this one.
4205 Off-Road Command Center
Brickset lists this $40 set under the Forest Police sub-theme. There are 403 parts which include the 3 minifigs. Bricklink lists it under the Police theme and says there are 10 extra parts. They call the minifigs Forest Police. LEGO doesn't list the set under either theme but you can find it on LEGO On-Line with the set number or in the Hard To Find items. It's a Target Exclusive in the US. Brickset has a larger number of bits of information about the set on it's site. I find some of them useful, especially for bogging. Brickset lists the set SRP in US dollars and UK pounds, number of pieces as listed on the box, the average cost per piece and a notes section for info about the set. Bricklink does a great job on the inventory, plus the whole buying stuff thing just can't be beat. I like the Brickset feature that lets you list the sets you have and then creates an inventory for you. You can even download it. It doesn't have anyway to add in loose parts but it does track your minifigs.
Those are the three guys that come in the set. I do like the tan campaign hats that the forest police wear. The crooks baseball hat looks good in the dark
red. There's a version of that curved bill baseball hat with a beaver printed on it. You can find it on top of the lumberjack in the Collectible Minifigs Series 5. The minifigs in 4205 have new life preservers. They have a lower profile than the previous version. Speaking of parts there's a good variety of them in the set. They tend to lean to the white and blue colors which aren't always ones I want first. The instructions have a couple of interesting building techniques. With the availability of instructions on line it's easy to take a look at how all the parts go together. I've been looking at the instructions for sets I don't buy for building ideas. Especially on things like trucks or cars which I'm not that prone to build. Brickset posts a link to them right with the set and you can right click and save to your hard drive really easily. This might be a set I might pick up but only if I see it for half price or less.
Here's a set that I can cast a quick look at and see that I wouldn't need one, especially if it's one of those times when you might have to pick from multiple clearance sets. 4436 Patrol Car has 97 pieces and lists at $11.99. At half price that's over 6 cents a part. I like my clearance parts to be under a nickel. Even the pair of minifigs doesn't help bring me around, especially considering the type of parts they are. Nothing much special in the lot. There's a 1x4 trans light blue tile but you can't do much with one. There's nothing in the set that someone couldn't use but I have enough of most of those parts and the rest I wouldn't use that often.
Here's another one that I know I wouldn't need. 4437 Police Pursuit has 129 parts for $17.99. That's 13.94 cents each before tax. It's got a truck and an ATV with a crook and a cop. I don't care
for vehicle sets most of the time and this one is no exception. The truck has some nice dark red parts but it makes more sense to buy them on Bricklink if I need them. The crook has a torn shirt, that red crowbar, a 100 bill and a brick of gold. Same thing with those parts, Bricklink 'em. There is a new part that I got in another set. That's it on the right side of the paragraph. It's used to mount the grill on the front of the truck using SNOT techniques. I looked it up in the instructions. Even on clearance I doubt I would pick this set up.
I already talked about 4438 Robbers' Hideout a few posts back so I don't need to talk about it as much. I sure would buy more of these on clearance. Lots of the parts that I like and a bear. Nice to get a couple of these for 50% off, huh.
I'll get to the rest of the theme in a few days.
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