What's up with boys and trucks? My son has been eyeing the LEGO® CITY Mobile Police Unit 60044 and it's semi-trailer offering for sometime now so here's a look at this high-tech surveillance unit.
Mobile Police Unit 60044 Theme & Concept
The LEGO® 60044 is a 375 piece CITY Police set release in 2014, it was the predecessor of the 2011 LEGO® Mobile Police Unit 7288 which had a piece count of 408. One can still find the previous iteration of this set but since the 60044 is more easily available we decided to get this newer even though it had less pieces.
The concept for the 2014 LEGO® Mobile Police Unit is relatively the same; high-tech surveillance, catch the crook and lock him up. Though the 7288 set had the same idea it did include extra features such as a police bike and getaway car. So if you are looking for more cops and robbers action then the 7288 would have been a better set, my son was only interested in the trailer so we got what we needed. Less pieces to store anyway:)
Design
Overall this a well sized set, in its entirety the truck and it's articulated trailer measures 30cm, this length makes the set pretty prominent in terms of it's designed. Nonetheless while it looks pretty neat and minimal the details are all within.
So before we get into the core feature of the 60044 let's take a look at the truck. To be honest I know my son probably doesn't care but I prefer the look of the 60044 truck vs the 7288 version, in fact I feel the latest set seems more streamlined in terms of design. For instance the 7288 featured a bulky sleeper cab which no doubt made the truck seem taller but I felt it was rather ugly and pointless.
The 60044 definitely has less bells doing away with the vertical exhaust and side flood lights but with the way my son enjoys his LEGO® the less small parts to potentially loose the better.
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Playability
The core feature of the 60044 Mobile Police Unit no doubt falls upon the Trailer portion of the set.Once detached it looks pretty unassuming, with it's standard CITY Police markings, antenna and satellite dish. The 7288 featured an oversized satellite dish so again things were toned down on this 2014 surveillance trailer unit.
So while the 60044 has less parts and extra vehicles I do like the fact that whatever came with the set could be neatly packed up. Unlike the 7288 you would have to find extra external storage for the police bike and getaway car.
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| With a nice compartment for equipment everything can be organized and unloaded with ease. |
Once fully setup and opened up inside you get the Control Room and Lock-up with tonnes of stickers and some hidden surprises.
Starting from the front side of the trailer you get nice holders for the walkie-takie and handcuff, spread around the 60044 you get a whole range of stickers, on the back wall of this portion you get a city map with marked locations.
The mentioned cool feature is the hidden coffee machine and yet another map.
One can slide them out via the 2 levers on the front side of the roof just by the satellite dish.
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| The hidden map and all important coffee machine for the long hour stakeouts. |
As we move towards the back of the trailer you get control room with the 3 surveillance monitors, and right at the back is the mobile jail.
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| Yes, just leave the crowbar right there please. |
The whole playability of this set is really to apprehend the crook and get him locked up so the mobile jail is really where the fun ends. (For the crook at least)
The back wall on this side features a wanted posters and a handy torch light holder.
Located right at the rear of the trailer is barred window, convenient for the inevitable prison break.
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Conclusion
Overall this is a nice set with descent playability and as mentioned this is one of the fews sets that my son has consistently asked for. I'm not sure what it is but I think kids naturally like the whole open and close container concept with control room. He's only frustration is that the bars are a little tight and hard to remove with the crowbar so I usually have to assist with the prison breaks.
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| The LEGO® Mobile Police Unit 60044 next to the Police Patrol 60045 Truck |
Naturally the LEGO® Mobile Police Unit 60044 fits perfectly if you have a growing CITY Police collection. We don't own very many CITY Police sets, in fact the other Police unit we own is the LEGO® Police Patrol 60045 which I guess is a perfect companion for the 60044.
To date the 60045 police truck is still one of my sons favorite so it was nice to have this big brother as part of his CITY Police collection. As a parent I like the fact that everything that came with this set can be neatly stored together.
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