"TLG is constantly equipping its fire department with the latest toys its designers churn out year after year. One of the new toys the local fire department receive this year is the new off-road fire truck with on board fireboat. The truck is the largest ever manufactured for the fire service, dwarfing even the typical ladder firetruck used in all fire-stations. It was designed to be able to go over the rockiest terrain with its large wheels and high ground clearance as well as able to lift a fully equipped dinghy onto its large flatbed.
A typical deployment of this beast is for emergencies close to or areas only accessible by water. The truck shall get as close as possible by land and then deploy the dinghy into the water. The dinghy, equipped with a large water cannon, shall then go closer to the emergency at great speed due to its twin water jets.
There have been reports that some smaller vehicles have been run-over by the truck. Its large size make it extremely difficult to steer around the narrow streets of Lego City, raising questions over why such a large vehicle was made in the first place."
Set Name: Off-road Fire Truck & Fireboat
Set Number: 7213
Theme: City
Year Released: 2010
Number of pieces: 388 (from Brickset)
Price: RM 244.90
BoxOnce again, TLG made the box art larger than life. Sometimes the stuff shown is more than twice the size of the real thing!! What a waste of box materials and shelf space.
The back of the box showing all the functions of the set. At the top right is the annoying firefighter trying to get your attention.
An advert for the upcoming Lego movie Clutch Powers is on the side of the box. Hmmm where to get the DVD?
InstructionsThere are 2 booklets for this set, 1 for the fire truck and the other for the fire boat, minifigures and buggy.
It's hard to believe, but the truck is made up of 3 separate sections and 3 different numbered bags!! I am sure kids can make the whole truck from 1 un-numbered bag so such a move is not necessary. (If kids those days can assemble a 1000+ Classic Town set like Launch and Load Seaport minus the numbered bags, I am sure kids nowadays can do it)
A random instruction page showing how the wheels with suspension is installed.
MinifigureWe get 3 firefighters with a standard fire-fighter torso and legs. Only the front of the torso is printed. All 3 have different facial expressions but no second face at the back. Two of them wears the fire-fighter hat while the another wears a helmet.
A side and back view of the fire-fighters hat.
The little buggyFor some unknown reason, we get a little buggy that comes with a single minifigure. In the official set description the buggy is used to scout where the fire is before the fire boat is deployed. Makes you wonder if this buggy can float on water.....
The off-road fire truckNow onto the star of the set; the off-road fire truck. The thing that hits you when you see it is that IT IS HUGE. At 8 studs wide it is larger than all the other 6 stud wide vehicles in Lego City. Only the large 12 stud Agent's Command Center is longer and wider than this beast.
It's so big, all the other 4-5 stud vehicles of the Classic Town era is totally outclassed. I wonder how the other road users feel driving next to the fire-truck.
Integrating the truck with other road vehicles might not be a good idea since....err..... oopsss. Kinda hard to see other vehicles when you are THAT big. No wonder it is called an off-roader.
Now that we are off the road, let's look at the front of the truck. At front of the truck has lots of highlights installed to allow the truck to go anywhere no matter how dark the area is. Binocular pieces are used to create the horns and sirens at the top of the cab.
Inside the cab are 2 seats for 2 fire-fighters with a steering wheel for 1 of them. In between is a console with a radar screen. It's good that TLG used the old door piece to allow our fire-fighters easy access into the cab.
The crane is a simple crane arm connected to a turn-able. The boom cannot be extended that far since it is using a 1x7 technic bar, but is sufficient to lift our fireboat into the water.
At the base is a grooved turn-table plate that allows the crane to rotate and lock in any position.
The problem with the crane is that it will
always come off the base every time you play with it. I wonder why TLG never strengthen the base with a technic beam etc. So expect frustrating moments when using the crane.
The flat bed of the truck is large enough to place the fireboat on it. The side handle bars are used to tie and secure the boat. Since the bed is so large, the truck can be used to place whatever you want to put on it.
The rear of the truck have rear taillights and a number plate (a sticker I did not stick yet). The yellow piece at the rear of the truck is to hold the fire boat in position and prevent it from sliding the back of the truck.
FireboatThe fireboat consists of a large rubber raft piece with a water cannon at the front, a 2 seater cockpit and twin jet engines at the rear.
Another view showing the twin jet engine. The jet engine detail and the life-jacket holder is a nice touch. There is a seat for the pilot and another for the co-pilot. The co-pilot controls the water cannon using the joystick.
Deploying the fireboatWhen it is time to deploy the fireboat, the first thing the crew do is to deploy the outriggers. No automatic outriggers like in the 8258 Crane Truck, everything have to be done manually here.
After pulling out the outriggers, the foot of the outriggers is attached. Clever use of the megaphone and small steering wheel as the footing.
Next is to turn the footing down to the ground...
... and the outriggers are fully deployed. Go do the other one on the other side guys!
It's to time to lift the fireboat. First, attached the hook to the handle on the fireboat.
Then lift the boat up slowly. Not shown is the extra effort needed to hold down on the base of the crane to prevent it from detaching itself from the base.
The boom is extended slightly to allow the fireboat to be dropped some distance away from truck and outriggers.
With the boat in the water, the firemen detach the hook while another pulls the crane back to the truck.
Now everyone is ready for action! Head over to the fire guys!... and dun forget to wear your life jacket!
ConclusionDesign: 9/10 If it looks familiar, it is because is is almost similar to the 8258 crane truck albeit at a smaller scale. The designers obviously wanted it to be a large heavy duty truck and it excels at that. The fireboat is simple yet detailed enough with its twin props and cockpit.
Minifigure: 7/10 Nothing to shout about, but there is 3 is sufficient for this set. Detail wise is average as with all firemen sets.
Playability: 9/10 Besides extinguishing fires above water, the only other use for this truck is as a destruction derby truck, crushing all smaller City and town vehicles.
Parts: 8/10 Great parts for building 8 stud wide vehicles. Can be modified for other uses.
Conclusion: 8/10 A good set to supplement any fire force. Kids (and AFOLs) will love the large truck (who does not?) Worth getting.
Did you know it is based on a real-life vehicle?
