Set Review - Airport Passenger Terminal #60104 - LEGO CITY

LEGO CITY has some recurring themes that can get old after a while and obviously are meant for younger LEGO fans.  The Fire and Police themes within CITY quickly come to mind as it seems like they have a new run each year.  The Airport theme is one of those that doesn't quite occur every year.  The last airport set was released in 2010 and was set #3182.  This year (2016) another airport was released.  #60104, Airport Passenger Terminal, was released on 1 August 2016 in the US.  It costs $99.99 in the US and contains 694 pieces or $0.144 per piece.  I picked the set up from Amazon at 20% off or $80 ($0.115 per piece).  Yay sales!  Onto the review...

HEY!  Here is what the box looks like.  It's the standard LEGO CITY box with the whole set on the front and then some details on the back with a minifigure saying "hey!"

Set contents were 8 numbered bags, a bag of BURP pieces, a bag of random parts (not sure why they weren't in the numbered bags), and an instruction package with 4 booklets and stickers.

Here are the instruction booklets.  #1 is for the workers, baggage cart, fuel cart, and stairs.  #2 and #3 is for the passenger jet.  #4 is for the terminal.  Not a ton of stickers, but a bunch nonetheless.  

Onto the build... Bags 1 and 2 are the workers and the tractor to pull the baggage cart, fuel cart, and stairs.  Bag 1 also includes a brick separator.  

Bag 3 starts the aircraft and includes 3 minifigures (2 passengers and a pilot)  The aircraft has the standard wings and fuselage sections.  I am not a fan of the giant wing piece as it limits the number of seats.  It does however help to make the aircraft more realistic.  Given the size of the aircraft, there are only 5 seats for passengers which is rather disappointing.

Bag 4 finishes the fuselage and all that is left are the engines and tail section.  You'll notice that this aircraft has a bathroom on board as well as some storage for a non-existent flight attendant.  I think this is the first time that LEGO has put some additional details into aircraft besides just seats.  Also there is only one pilot for a 2 seat cockpit in the set.  

Bag 5 has the landing gear, tail, winglets, and engines.  This is the first larger aircraft where the engines are built up versus just a big piece to strap on.  It's not really streamlined, but I like the design and how it is built.  

Bag 6 starts the airport terminal.  Like most CITY builds, they are meant for play so it's really only half a building.  It includes one minifigure and the revolving door entrance.  While the entrance is cool looking, it's about twice the height of a minifigure and there isn't enough physical space for one actually to fit through the door.  I'm not a fan of the design.

Bag 7 finished off the front facade adds in a metal detector and the baggage check-in station.  I guess you enter from the right and then maybe the revolving doors are where you can walk out to the plane.  I'm not really sure anymore.  The conveyor belt is a nice addition to the set for playability and is set up so you can pull the baggage cart right next to it.  

Bag 8 is the final bag with the roof being completed and then the control tower.  The control tower is unmanned... or maybe the one worker does everything?  I'm also not sure how a worker would actually get up to the tower.

So that's it... It's the first passenger airport set released in 6 years.  It comes with a jet, 6 minifigures, a terminal, and some equipment for servicing the aircraft.  Should you get it?  After getting it, I'm glad I got it on sale, but I'm still not sure it was worth what I paid.  I think it needs at least another terminal worker and then a pilot and flight attendant.  Also you're paying for a lot of BURPs to help smooth the aircraft out. The age range listed is 6-12 years old so clearly it is not meant for old farts like me looking for a good building experience.  However, if you're a LEGO CITY fan and you build your own MOCs to go with your city, it has some good additions.  If you're looking to build an airport terminal of your own, you'll find some useful parts to make it realistic.  We'll see if it takes another 6 years for an upgrade.

Set Review - Airport VIP Service - #60102

It's been a while since I've had the space to set up a large city scene, but I'm a fan of LEGO City and mixing in the modular buildings and LEGO Trains that I have.  While LEGO puts out a large number of fire fighter and police sets in the CITY theme yearly, they rotate through aircraft every 2 years or so.  One of them is the set I'll be reviewing today, Airport VIP Service (60102).  It was released on 22 May 2016 in the US and is priced at $39.99 with 364 pieces ($0.137 per piece).  In my opinion it is a bit overpriced, but I caught it 20% off on Amazon.com for $31.99 ($0.088 per piece).  A little better in my opinion.  I'm glad I waited 5 months for it to go on sale.

The box shows the set which includes 4 minifigures (business woman, pilot, car driver, and airport worker), business jet, limo, and airport vehicle on the front.  The back shows all of the things you can do with the set.  The set is listed for ages 5 to 12 so I am not LEGO's main customer, but it works.

The contents come in 5 bags (which are numbered), 3 instruction manuals (shoved into the box), a sticker sheet, and then the bottom of the nose of the fuselage.

Instruction manual #1 is the airport truck with the "follow me" sign on the back and the pilot and business woman.  The airport truck could stand some re-design as the worker has to keep his arms up in the air to sit in it and drive.  The worker comes with a radio.  The business woman comes with a laptop and smart phone.  The pilot does not come with anything.

Instruction booklet #2 goes with bags 2 and 3 and it makes the aircraft.  It's a simple design with a few BURPs (big, ugly, rock pieces) and the stickers definitely help to make it look better, but are a challenge to put on.  I can't see a 5 year old putting them on as listed without adult help.  Here are pictures of the aircraft with the top off and then a view with the pilot and business woman.  The aircraft comes with a glass for her to have a beverage and a croissant to eat.

Instruction booklet #3 and bags 4 and 5 are the limo.  It includes the vehicle and driver.  Below are pictures of bag 4 complete and then bag 5 complete.  There isn't anything special to the vehicle.  There's a space for the driver and the passenger.  The vehicle comes with an "ice box" that you can put a popsicle in.  It doesn't really fit in much, but again I'm not the right age range.  Also I debate whether this vehicle should be 4 studs wide or 6 studs wide.  You could easily modify it to make it a 6 wide.  I'll leave it as 4 for now.

Here's a view of the inside with the minifigs.  There's space for the business woman to put her phone and laptop.  There's also a chart sticker that she can stare at on the cooler.  You can decide whether it is pointing up or down.

From this view, the cooler is a waste of space and adding a second seat in would be better.  Or maybe you could change the design of the cooler as the minifig has to take the roof off of the car before she can take the popsicle out.  Not very convenient if you're driving.   

Here's the final set with minifigs inside.  It doesn't have a lot of interesting building techniques and the piece selection isn't all that great, but if you're a CITY and airport fan, then it's a nice new addition.  If you can catch it on sale (it was 20% off on Amazon today - 22 Oct 16), it's even better.

Happy building!