The Police are an important part of LEGO® City, not only was a police officer the first ever minifigures, the emergency service has inspired many different LEGO sets. Even though they have been keeping folks safe and catching crooks for over 40 years, there’s always time to brush up on those policing skills. Where better to do that than at the LEGO City Police Training Academy? This is one of the largest of the newly released LEGO City sets and features an obstacle course to put the police through their paces. Let’s see what the LEGO City Police Training Academy has to offer.
Product Details
Set Name: Police Training Academy | Set Number: 60372 | Pieces: 640 | Theme: LEGO City
RRP: £79.99/$89.99/89.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 8 (plastic) | Instructions: Paper + Builder App | Minifigures: 6 | Stickers: Sheets x 1
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & General Retail
LEGO City has given us many Police-themed sets. They have mostly been focused on vehicles, with the odd Police Station thrown in for good measure. This is still a Police-themed set but offers something totally unique. For people of a certain age, the words police and academy will instantly remind them of classic series of 80s films. This set isn’t inspired by the madcap adventures of Mahoney and co but it’s just as wacky.
A couple of years ago, the LEGO City theme introduced a new road plate system. This also expanded to include similar plates for land and the base of buildings. Those plates play a key role in this set, as they act as the foundation for every part of the set. Every section is built on either an 8×16 or 8×8 brick plate. The first of these is used to create a small horse training course. This features a trio of jumps, one of which is decorated with flames. Which does seem a little extreme for a police training course. This doesn’t physically connect to the rest of the set but if you wanted to you could tweak it to do so.
The training centre uses a combination of larger and half-sized plates to create each of building. This creates a modular construction with each room being its own separate section. Due to the configuration of the building and the various aspects of the obstacle course which are connected to them, they can’t really be connected in any other way than the one detailed in the instructions. The sections include a small entryway which features an odd-looking fold-out panel. I have to admit I have no idea what this is meant to represent.
The section directly to the right of this is actually an exterior part of the academy. One half is a stable for the horse and next to it is a small space to park the included quad bike. I do like that there is space to store the road cones and wedges to hold the quad securely. The quad bike itself includes a neat feature, with a pair of bearing bricks and suspension rods, giving it the ability to turn when the vehicle is tilted.
The second floor of the academy is a lot more detailed. The smaller section is a simple office room, complete with a coffee machine and a PC monitor. The larger space next to this is a gym. Skate wheels are repurposed as dumbbells and there’s also a weight bench. Plus a crook-themed training dummy. These all use elements in great ways to add a little detail to the set. All these sections are connected together via a pair of A joints and Technic pins.
As mentioned despite being different sections which combine to create the overall building, it cannot be connected together in any different configurations and this is solely due to the obstacle training course which runs across the entire building and onto a second platform. It begins on the left-hand side of the main building with a tall climbing wall. This has a winch at the top of it, to pull up the recruits. Although it a little chunky, I like that this uses a string with a stud on each end and the barrel it’s connected to has a connection point. It’s way easier that trying to tread the string and tie it off. After tackling the wall, there are a couple of hurdles to clamber over on the smaller roof section.
The larger rooftop section features a hanging bar climb, this is created with a single section of straight roller coaster track. This leads to a long section of string. This runs at an angle down to the end of the obstacle course. There’s even a handle which can be attached to the string to rappel a minifigure down it and it works, which is a nice touch. For me, much of the fun details are found in the largest section of the obstacle course.
The last section of the obstacle course looks like it’s been modelled on the Wipeout TV game show. The first challenge is a pair of springy platforms. These are mounted on a rubbery Technic connectors to allow them to offer a little bounce. A similar connection method is used at the opposite end of the course for the flip-out sign. This can be pushed out with a Technic axle on the back of the course. Right in the middle of the course is a punchbag-style obstacle, it’s loosely connected so can be flicked out to cause another obstacle to dodge. The final challenge offered by the course is the best and uses a couple of interesting elements. One is a large spiral pole, known as a worm gear and it’s fed through a cube-shaped brick with a hole in its middle. As the worm gear is turned it causes the cube to move along it. It’s a very smooth motion and works perfectly.
Although the characters introduced into the LEGO City sets by the LEGO City Adventures TV show seem to have ended with the 2023 sets, the minifigures are still offering something unique. The set features 6 minifigures, most of them are new recruits and are wearing the same Police-branded tracksuits. Each one has a hairpiece and a safety helmet. They also have amazing expressions. The police chief is fairly generic with both a face and torso used in other sets. But my favourite of the minifigures is the training instructor. He has 2 of the best expressions I’ve seen on a minifigure in a long time.
Overall
I like that this wave of LEGO City sets is trying something different whilst still connecting to things the core theme is known for. This set is a perfect example of how things can be switched up a little but make a big impact. There has not been a set like this in the LEGO City range before. It may not have any police cars, trucks or helicopters but it offers way more play abilities than many of those sets do. The building merely acts as a foundation for the great obstacle course. Sure it looks a little like the wacky course featured in a TV game show but that fits with the fun of nature of the LEGO City theme, largely as a result of the LEGO City Adventures TV show. It’s an interesting set for kids to play with but it’s also something so unique I could see it being incorporated into larger LEGO displays and expanded upon. The one thing I adore about the set the most is the faces on the minifigures. They aren’t just previously used generic heads, they are new and amazingly expressive.
Shop Now: UKIrelandUSCanadaGermanyDenmarkAustraliaNew Zealand
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.
