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    Discuss This Story ReviewSunday, October 14th, 2012 at 12:08pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager

    City sets don't usually get much attention on BZPower, but variety is the spice of life, right? A copy of 4427 Fire ATV was handed to me at BrickFair earlier this year, and I figured why not. To see if this little guy is worth adding to your town diorama, read on!

    Presentation
    From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.

    4427 Fire ATV Review 01 4427 Fire ATV Review 02

    There's nothing too extraordinary about the box at first glance, but then you notice that there's a tile taped to the front that says "BF '12." I won this little guy as a door prize at BrickFair this year, and the tile seems to be a vanity license plate of sorts. Anyway, on the front we see our heroic fireman about to put out a forest fire with a handheld extinguisher as his ATV remains parked behind him. The back shows off his chainsaw and our hero riding through the woods on his quad.

    4427 Fire ATV Review 03

    Once you open up the box, you find two bags of parts, an instructions booklet, and an advertisement for the LEGO Magazine. It's nice to see those making a return.

    Building
    Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?

    4427 Fire ATV Review 06 4427 Fire ATV Review 09 4427 Fire ATV Review 10 4427 Fire ATV Review 11 4427 Fire ATV Review 12 4427 Fire ATV Review 13 4427 Fire ATV Review 14 4427 Fire ATV Review 15 4427 Fire ATV Review 16

    The Fire ATV is a pretty standard build. You start off with the minifig and then move on to the vehicle. No unusual or fun techniques here. Near the end though, you get to build the chainsaw, which looks cool and is probably the most original part. At the end I of course couldn't forget to put my vanity plate on. This minifig is an AFOL too!

    Set Design
    Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.

    4427 Fire ATV Review 17 4427 Fire ATV Review 18 4427 Fire ATV Review 19 4427 Fire ATV Review 20 4427 Fire ATV Review 21

    Honestly I'm not very impressed. The ATV is built around a dark grey 2x6 brick, which clearly shows through the frame. It gives it a very simple, blocky look, and seems to lack any sense of realism. The 1x2 cheese slope on the front looks out of place too, especially with the gap between it and the 1x2 tile (or the original 1x2 grill plate).

    4427 Fire ATV Review 07 4427 Fire ATV Review 08

    I do like the minifig - he's got a gruff look, with a bruise and a five-o-clock shadow to compliment his smirk. The front and back printing looks very nice and it's a shame the back is generally hidden by his oxygen tanks.

    4427 Fire ATV Review 04 4427 Fire ATV Review 05

    There is an interesting variety of parts here, from basic bricks to wheels to jumper plates to cheese slopes. I don't think anything here is new, but the dark red fireman's helmet, the 1x2 dark grey cheese slope, and the hose nozzle stood out. And of course there's the 1x2 engraved BrickFair tile, which is my favorite part of the set. But obviously you're not going to find that on store shelves.

    Playability
    The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?

    4427 Fire ATV Review 22 4427 Fire ATV Review 23 4427 Fire ATV Review 24

    There's no fires to fight or cats to rescue inside the box, so you'll have to use your imagination or the rest of your LEGO collection to come up with adventures for the fireman. He's got a chainsaw, an axe, and a fire extinguisher, making him ready for many scenarios.

    4427 Fire ATV Review 25

    I greatly enjoyed making him drive around recklessly chopping things up with his chainsaw. He seems pretty well prepared for a zombie outbreak!

    Final Thoughts
    Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?

    Pros
    What's to like?

    • Engraved BrickFair 2012 tile
    • Cool minifig
    • Nice chainsaw design

    Cons
    What's not to like?

    • Simple build
    • Unpleasing vehicle aesthetic

    I'm not super familiar with the City lineup this year, but I have to imagine there's better sets to get the minifig in. He's the only really reason I could see someone wanting this set, so for the few bucks it might be worth it, or just get a larger and cooler firefighter set.

    Thanks for reading this far, I hope you enjoyed the review. As per usual, any questions or comments can be directed to the Talkback topic. And please keep checking back for more set reviews and LEGO news right here on BZPower!

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