It’s common knowledge that the LEGO® City range has a liking for sets based on the police and fire rescue. Even with the theme branching out to include plenty of interesting new things, there’s still room for fire engines and police vans. Now, in what could be a cost-cutting measure by the emergency services or merely an experiment in streamlining them, Fire Rescue, Paramedics and the Police have combined to share resources in the Emergency HQ. It’s a unique concept and one which finally offers another medical-themed vehicle. For the next of my LEGO City set reviews, here’s a look at the Emergency Vehicles HQ.
Product Details
Set Name: Emergency Vehicles HQ | Set Number: 60371 | Pieces: 706 | Theme: LEGO City
RRP: £59.99/$69.99/69.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 5 (plastic) | Instructions: Paper + Builder App | Minifigures: 5 | Stickers: Sheets x 1
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail
In most countries, the various emergency services are deployed from their own bases. Fire Rescue operate from Fire Stations, Police from Police Station and Ambulances have an obvious connection to hospitals but are often based at ambulance stations. So the idea of having them all contained and operating from one building is quite unusual. But it does mean the set provides plenty of variety. For those who like to ‘Build Together’ the set has 4 separate instruction booklets, so up to 4 people can build the set at the same time. The build experience is also enhanced using the LEGO Builder app which offers 3D instructions. This is something almost every single one of the new 2023 sets has and certainly another possible nail in the coffin of in-box instructions.
As mentioned, the set features all 3 of the main emergency services in a single base of operations. But they all still have their own ‘branded’ vehicles. The police are represented by a small 4×4 vehicle. It has a much better colour scheme compared to some of the past police vehicles. So it’s largely blue in colour with a strip of the new vibrant yellow, a great new colour which is perfect for the emergency services. Despite the different colouring, the design of the 4×4 is similar to previous police cars. But I like that it’s compact, although the roof is only connected by a couple of studs so feels a little loose.
Fire Rescue has the air covered with their own helicopter. In a similar fashion to the police 4×4, the helicopter’s design is very similar to the many other LEGO City helicopters. As expected it’s mainly red in colour, but also includes a splash of a vibrant yellow. The use of the fairly new colour does tie the various vehicles together, even though they are all very different builds.
Police and Fire Rescue have been the subject of numerous LEGO City sets. Some of my first sets as a kid were a police station and a fire station, with both emergency services also featuring yearly updates. Yet those who provide medical care aren’t as prevalent. In the last 10 years, there have only been 2 LEGO City hospitals and they have been released in the last year years. The Paramedic is unsurprisingly the operator of an ambulance. This van-like vehicle continues with the medical colour scheme introduced by the 2022 LEGO City hospital. I think the white, bright blueish green and vibrant yellow colours work nicely for the ambulance. Although I do miss the classic red and white colouring from my childhood sets.
Although each emergency service has its own unique vehicle, you will notice they all share a similar trait in the form of a pair of 1×2 shaft bricks. These are used to add various contraptions to the sides of each vehicle. They include ‘water’ cannons, cameras, lights, boxes and medical equipment. The idea is that each of these small accessories can be shared across all three vehicles. In principle, this is a fun play feature however all of the accessories are pretty much tied to the relevant service. I can’t see why an ambulance would need stud-shooting cannons nor would a fire helicopter make use of a speed camera. It would have been fun to have a few extra of these little builds to give more customisation options.
As is often the case with sets featuring the police and fire rescue, they need something to put out, rescue or arrest. For this set, there is a small grassy area, which includes a tree and BBQ. It will be of little surprise to learn the BBQ, which has been set up directly under the tree, has burst into flames and caused the tree to catch fire. It’s possibly a distraction technique from the set’s criminal minifigure. This gets a bonus point for the burnt black sausage element.
Although the three vehicles are a major part of the set, much of the build is focused on the hybrid HQ building. I have to say the idea of having 3 services in one building is interesting but it also results in an odd-looking building. Normally when a building is focused on just the police for example, then it would be coloured accordingly. The Emergency HQ tries to blend the colours and I’m not sure it works. The lower section of the building features blue accents for police and the upper section red for fire, there’s also a tall column in blueish green which ties it to the ambulance. They all feel unnecessarily at odds with each other. The vibrant yellow colour alone could have been used to link the services. At the front of the building there are spaces for each of the vehicles to be parked, so the road vehicles can be parked on the road plate fixed to the front of the building. There’s also a helipad on the higher roof section.
As is the case with many of the recent LEGO City sets, the inclusion of a road plate often means the interior is quite small. The ground floor section features a simple break room, with a chair and a TV that’s showing a familiar-looking space shuttle launch. The upper section is a little more exciting with a bank of 3 computer monitors. These feature 3 screens related to each of the emergency services, it must be a nightmare for whoever monitors them to keep up with everything going on.
Due to the way, the building is pieced together, the different sections can be moved around and connected in a different ways. Don’t expect endless combinations as it’s really just the 2 rooms which can be moved around. I quite like how this combination looks, even though the blueish green column doesn’t line up, it still works.
The minifigures of the LEGO City sets aren’t always that exciting. They mostly inhabit sets to give them story elements and give kids an avatar to play through. There are 5 minifigures featured in this set and they are mostly made up of widely used parts. All but one of them does have a brand new head print and of all the torsos, only the robber and paramedic could be considered rare. I did like the masked variant of the paramedic and the shocked old lady face is quite unusual.
Overall
It’s an interesting concept for a set but I’d much prefer a set which is focused on the medical side of things. Not a hospital but maybe an ambulance station or health centre. Still, I’d take the set as it is instead of another fire or police station. I would say the building didn’t need the blue and red colouring on it and the column with the three symbols on it could have been done a little better, the police and fire logos get lost against the bright blueish green background. I like the concept of the interchangeable equipment but I think there could have been a few extra pieces of the buildable accessories to make it a little more fun to mix and match them. Despite slight niggles, I like that the set is trying something new.
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This set was provided BricksFanz and provided by the LEGO Group for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are that of BricksFanz and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing a set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
