Preview/First Impressions of 5866, 8188 from 2010 LEGO Sets

Later today I’ll be posting reviews of two new 2010 LEGO sets – Creator 5866 Rotor Rescue and Power Miners 8188 Fire Blaster. It’s taking a little longer than expected and I thought I’d have them finished by now but it’s late, so here’s a couple of photos to give you an idea about the two sets as well as a parts listing for the 5866 (8188 Fire Blaster parts listing).

The 5866 Rotor Rescue, which also includes instructions for a biplane as well as a speed boat, both of which I’ll be assembling and posting later today is a great Creator set. I don’t necessarily agree with the ages of 6 – 12, because 5866 has a lot of small parts (click the “Read More” link below for a full parts list) and I do mean small parts – lots of 1×1 type of stuff. I definitely think it’s worth $10.99 – you get 149 pieces and being that it’s Creator, you would be hard pressed not to be able to find a use for all of them in MOCs. They are all standard pieces as well as a decent cockpit/windscreen and some transparent pieces. As mentioned, you also get instructions for three different models. It’s also a great way to teach somebody a lot of the basics when it comes to connections between the various LEGO elements – everything is reinforced well and it’s literally a very solid model, even though when you extend the back ramp, you can see all the way through from the front to the back.

As far as the 8188, I think they need to knock a few dollars off, especially since it’s an in-house line and not one of the licensed series. It’s very possible that it could be cheaper, and I don’t see how Amazon can price it at $12.99 for pre-orders at this point. It’s a really cool little buggy-style model, and the minifigs are great. Plenty of MOC opportunities as long as you don’t apply the stickers. We’ve applied stickers to other 2010 sets we’ve reviewed (and kind of wished we hadn’t on the 5981 Police Raid VPR), but the stickers in this instance are placed on parts that could easily be used elsewhere and it would prevent you from using them or being constrained as far as how you use them. The flick-fire dynamite is very lacking as well and could have been left off. Otherwise it’s a neat little set that should have been below $10. Then again, it may very well turn out to be priced below that point – we all know that retail pricing when there is no competition can vary widely.

2010 LEGO - Power Miners 8188 Fire Blaster + Creator 5866 Rotor Rescue

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Toys R Us Trip Report – Lots of New 2010 LEGO Sets

Update: Toys R Us Trip Report Part II – November 28, 2009.

Paid a trip to the Toys R Us in Cedar Park, Texas, to check out the 2010 LEGO sets that are popping up in the various Toys R US stores around the US, and came away with a couple of the cheaper sets, Creator 5866 Rotor Rescue, and Power Miners 8188 Fire Blaster, and I’ll get reviews of both up later today/tonight. I also took photos of the sets on the shelf to give you an idea of pricing and the fact that they are “official”, at least as far as Toys R Us is concerned. All had shelf stickers/price tags, and I didn’t come across any empty places. It’s in fact been a week since these have started showing up, and obviously they are not being pulled at the request of LEGO.

Here’s the list of what I saw tonight, followed by photos of each (remember, click on the images to see a bigger photo at flickr):
* 7207 City – Fire Boat ($49.99)
* 7208 City – Fire Station ($79.99)
* 5866 Creator – Helicopter ($12.99) ($16.99 at Amazon)
* 8188 Power Miners – Fire Blaster ($9.99) ($12.99 at Amazon)
* 7967 Racers – Fast (Probably $12.99) (Not at Amazon)
* 7968 Racers – Strong (Probably $12.99) (Not at Amazon)
* 8198 Racers – Ramp Crash ($14.99) (Not at Amazon)
* 8045 Technic – Mini-Telehandler ($10.99) ($12.99 at Amazon)
* 8046 Technic – Helicopter ($19.99)

That’s in addition to the ones we’ve already reviewed:
* 8056 Atlantis – Monster Crab Clash
* 8058 Atlantis – Guardian of the Deep
* 8060 Atlantis – Typhoon Turbo Sub
* 5981 Space Police – Raid VPR
* 5982 Space Police – Smash ‘n’ Grab

Besides the two I bought, I came very close to picking up the 8045 Technic Mini-Telehandler – a decent number of very usable parts for the price – 117 for $10.99, and while I could ignore the 2-in-1 conversion into a motorcycle and sidecar, that was kind of an interesting conversion. It’s interesting that Toys R Us has a lower price for the 5866 Helicopter, 8045 Mini-Telehandler, 8188 Fire Blaster. I would assume Amazon.com ends up a little cheaper at some point.

LEGO 2010 Sets Spotted at Toys R Us - Technic 8045 - Mini-Telehandler

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Review: LEGO 2010 Space Police 5982 Smash ‘n’ Grab

Finally, our last review of the 2010 sets (for now). It’s been kind of crazy the amount of traffic we’ve drawn, and I’m glad we were lucky enough to be among the first to review the 2010 sets. Hopefully we’ve helped people make up their minds one way or the other about these sets, and if you have any questions or want us to take additional photos, please feel free to contact us.

For those of you who were big fans of of the heavily purple 4755-1 or 4695 Knight Bus (Brick link) from the Harry Potter line, your (space)ship has arrived, in the form of the Space Police 5982-1 Smash ‘n’ Grab. It’s an interesting theme – a purple and black spaceship that is shaped like an old pickup/tow truck whose purpose is apparently to steal ATM machines that hover around in space. The ATM machine is labeled “Asteroid Bank”. If you are curious, from what we can tell, the purple is consistent across the parts that have a glossy finish. The minifig Squidtron is a nice reference to Blacktron.

By the Numbers:
Set: 5982-1 Space Police Smash ‘n’ Grab
Type: Vehicle in the Space Police line
# of Pieces: 188
# of Extra pieces: 10 (see photo below)
# of Minifigs and what kind: 2, human with spacesuit, weapon, double-printed head, alien “Squidtron” with strange head.
Stickers? Yes, but kept to a minimum and most are not required.
Price: $19.99 USD at Official LEGO Shop, also at Amazon.com (price may vary)

LEGO Space Police 2010 5982 Smash 'n' Grab - Completed 1

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Review: LEGO Space Police 5981 Raid VPR

This is a brief, but image-heavy review of LEGO Space Police # 5981 Raid VPR from 2010. It’s a fairly simple and elegant set – only 69 pieces, and 6 of those are extra. It really is reminiscent of some of the older space sets, not just Space Police 2, and would probably be right at home at Neo Classic Space. This set and 5982 Smash ‘n’ Grab, are actually the first two Space Police 3 sets I own, and I like the Raid VPR a lot. I think it has potential to inspire quite a few MOCs, especially since we are seeing a lot of people trying simpler vehicles.

On a side note, Toys R Us refers to this as a “Space Police Interceptor” and you’ll notice the white balance is off on a lot of the photos – that’s what happens when you are photographing a white vehicle against a white background.

By the Numbers:
Set: LEGO Space Police 5981-1
Type: Vehicle in the Space Police Line
# of Pieces: 69
# of Extra pieces: 6 (see photo below)
# of Minifigs and what kind: 2 – A human with a space suit (and a double-printed head), and “Rench” an alien with a rocket launcher
Stickers? Yes, 5, very minimal.
Price: $9.99 at the Official LEGO Online Shop, also available at Amazon.com (price may vary).

LEGO Space Police 5981 - Raid VPR - Completed - 6

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Guess What? LEGO Space Police 5981 and 5982

Update:
* LEGO Space Police 5981 Raid VPR Review

After reading around, I found out that a few people had been successful in finding LEGO 2010 Atlantis sets at Toys R Us here in the US. I went out and found LEGO Atlantis sets 8056, 8058, and 8060 (more information and reviews of LEGO Atlantis) at the Toys R Us in Cedar Park, Texas which is just north of Austin. While the Atlantis.LEGO.com website said 2010, and while most major retailers said 2010, BrickMaster magazine had a large ad stating November 24, 2009 and so it wasn’t too surprising that some sets leaked out a little early.

Then there was this Eurobricks thread where somebody has a posted a review of the 7208 Fire Station from 2010, and they mentioned they found the 7207-1 Fire Boat (BrickSet image/information), and rumors started flying that other sets had popped up.

I went back to the original Toys R Us I had found the Atlantis sets at and found out there was a completely different LEGO section in addition to the one at the front of the store.

Guess what? There was the LEGO Space Police 5981 Raid VPR and LEGO Space Police 5982 Smash ‘n’ Grab sitting there on a shelf. We checked all over, and unfortunately couldn’t find any of the City sets or any other 2010 sets.

Numbers and Prices:
* LEGO Space Police 5981 – Raid VPR – SKU: 673419129916, Price: $9.99
* LEGO Space Police 5982 – Smash ‘n’ Grab – SKU: 673419129923, Price: $19.99

Interestingly enough, the Raid VPR was listed as “Space Police Interceptor” on the receipt.

Click on the photos for a higher resolution image (at flickr)

LEGO Space Police 5981 - RAID VPR - Front of Box

LEGO Space Police 5982 - Smash 'n' Grab - Box Front

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