Review: 60092 Deep Sea Submarine
Posted by Huw,
We continue our reviews of the summer releases with 60092 Deep Sea Submarine, one of six City Deep Sea Explorers sets. It's a mid-priced set, costing $40 in the USA, and contains 274-pieces.
I have a lot of affection for underwater themes. When I emerged from my dark ages in 1995 one of the first sets I bought was Aquazone 6175 Crystal Explorer Sub. Aquazone was the first new minifigure theme to be introduced after the 'classic 4' of Town, Space, Castle and Pirates so was a big deal at the time. The theme continued for four years and was clearly successful because in 1997 LEGO released a dozen Town Divers sets which, to this day, are among the best Town/City sets ever produced.
It could be said then, that an underwater reboot is long overdue, and has a lot to live up to.
Box and contents
The box art looks stunning: the yellow of the sub really stands out from the City logo and underwater scene.
As you can see, as well as the eponymous submarine, the set also contains two divers, a small dive site and a shark.
The back of the box shows several play scenarios and advises us that the submarine does not float.
Inside, three numbered bags of parts, two instruction manuals and a sticker sheet.
Minifigures
Thee minifigs are provided: two divers and a submarine pilot. The divers have identical torsos and reuse the air tanks, flippers and visors from previous underwater themes. It's refreshing to find that one is female.
All have printed backs.
The dive site
As seems to be the case with nearly all underwater sets, a small section of sea bed is provided to give something for the divers and submarine to explore. In this case it consists of a BURP (Big Ugly Rock Piece) and the remains of a sea creature's skeleton under which there's a treasure chest full of gold coins, gold bars and a jewel.
The submarine
The sub. is built from bags two and three and doesn't take long to put together although it is in no way juniorised.
After the body is constructed, the flotation tanks, arms and canopy are fitted. The right arm is equipped with three fingers for grabbing things; the left one has an array of sensors, dishes and lights.
The propellers at the back can be rotated to facilitate diving and resurfacing.
One thing I don't like about them though, is that they don't fit in the circular housing. The tubing along the side of the tanks adds a lot to the overall look of the craft.
You will no doubt notice (and criticise) that I didn't apply the stickers. It's true that they would add some additional flourishes to the craft but I felt that it looked perfectly fine without them. Also, some of them are applied to difficult sites in terms of alignment which reduces the chance of perfect application.
Verdict
The new Deep Sea Explorers sets are very much 'more of the same': updated versions of Divers and Aquazone sets, but no real innovation. If you were a fan of them you will either love these too, or will pass on them given you have similar sets already. The submarine certainly benefits from the use of modern parts and updated building techniques but, disappointingly, there are no new parts in the set at all, not even minifig parts.
I've no idea if the submarine is realistic: a quick Google image search revealed nothing even remotely similar, but it does at least look functional.
We've come to expect a high attention to detail in the design of minifig printing recently and those in this set do not disappoint.
Overall, this set makes a good introduction to the theme and if you buy just one of them, I think this will be the one to go for.
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41 comments on this article
since this is a submarine so I think people could still play with it in the bathtub, well I guess you all know what a submarine does
I like this set a lot but two things that bother me are that this is the biggest sub in the line but you can only fit one person in and it doesn't look like they use the rest of the space at all. Where do we get a large helicopter and plane but no large sub when its an underwater line, I think this is the big miss of this line. The other thing is the logo it looks more like a tattoo than the logo of an exploration team.
BTW your toy fair report said this was a £25 set if so that's a great price compared to a lot of the other new city sets.
Huw! You're a bad influence! I'd just convinced myself I only need 60095 for the collection... Now I can't help but think this would look cute suspended over 7985... How big is that submersible roughly? 16x16-ish? I don't want to dwarf the temple!
Technically speaking this isn't a submarine but rather a submersible: difference being the fact that submersibles need to be supported by a surface vessel, while submarines are fully self-sufficient and autonomous. This submersible is certainly realistic in general shape: looks to be vaguely based on a Perry Submersible and perhaps on the Antipodes submersible.
I have to agree with SMC. I wasn't aware this was the largest submersible in the line but that is a let down, for a line which is primarily themed around underwater research.
I actually had the same thoughts as SMC. I like Lego subs, but I like it when they actually have space in them for little explorer minifigs. This sub looks gigantic, comparatively, but there's only space there for a single minfig?
I do like the sea floor (gorgeous whale skeleton section), but I think I'll pass on this one.
Nice review!
A quick Google image search using "Explorer submarine" does reveal quite a similar submarine designs.
https://www.google.no/search?q=explorer+submarine&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cfxeVYaJGYWfyAPEiIDwDg&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1173&bih=850
I like this set a lot. As Alldarker says, this is more technically a submersible, and the grey flotation tanks are probably battery pods, where all the batteries to power the sub's systems would be stored. In a real sub this saves space inside and also means the pods can be ejected or jettisoned in an emergency to reduce weight when the sub needs to surface quickly.
Thank you everyone for the links and information.
@smc, yes if £25 it will be a good buy, although that was a provisional price.
^ That is the current price on Amazon, so I would assume the RRP is £24.99.
I am becoming gradually more interested in the Deep Sea Exploration theme and this looks like a great mid-sized set. However, I think my only purchase will be 60095 Deep Sea Exploration Vessel as that offers pretty much everything that the rest of the theme does in one package.
I didn't know, even Huw did have a dark age. ;)
Great little overpriced sub. I just wish the theme was more Aqua Raiders and less City helicopters and planes. The subs are too small and the attention is on the typical City stuff.
Nice review! Side view has a similar profile and reminds of a Technic MOC I did sometime ago:
http://rebrickable.com/mocs/zux/sporty-snow-tracker
6175 was my first Aquazone set, too, albeit around fifteen years later.
Just wondering, but what is your all-time favorite "underwater" set, Huw?
Hah, the first thing this sub reminded me of was the sub in GTA V. I'm sure that's loosely based on some real model too of course.
Also, why does the box say "Submarine does not float"? Shouldn't it be saying "Submarine does not SINK"? :P
Too hard to choose between them :)
I love the extra detail of the tubular framework.
These are some nice-looking sets and not actually too badly priced for LEGO at the moment. There's certainly a lot more care gone into these than anything in the Pirates line.
What I think is long-overdue from LEGO is a hairpiece, with maybe a moulded headband, that can take goggles and facemask visor attachments, because sticking a helmet on every diver gets a bit boring.
These sets have some great looking features but I'm more interested in the new space sets.
it looks more like a submersible pod than an actual submarine, which is longer and has a periscope. If that's what they call a submarine these days, I guess I'm fine with it. lol!
I was planning to get this from the moment I saw it, and I will probably go ahead and buy it. Wonderful parts, wonderful minifigures = a win for me.
Picked up the 4 smaller sets in the deep sea range in toyshops in Suffolk yesterday. That's my bank holiday monday sorted!
I think you kids need to watch James Cameron's The Abyss if these submersibles don't look familiar.
It's the first thing that popped in my mind, and one of the major reasons I was originally interested in the Aquazone line back in the day.
Love the way the sub pilot's hat matches those worn in the film "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou".
Think about it, the main set of the theme is obviously a rip off of the titanic film. The ship deck is the titanic and the ship is the ship they use to explore it. The small sub's in the set are the sub's the use to find the safe all at the start of the film. Also this is my favourite set out of the wave
One of my earliest sets was http://brickset.com/sets/6442-1/Sting-Ray-Explorer and this looks like a nice modern version of that!
Is it bad to want this set JUST to put in my fishtank? Because I do!
I'm definitely getting this one.
This is a very nice submarine, very Aqua Raiders-ish only more realistic. I would buy if not for a few things:
1) The price. $40 for 274 pieces? This isn't a helicopter made of huge juniorised pieces.
2) The interior. ONE SEAT?! And this is the biggest sub in the line. Why do we have to have huge, ugly, juniorised planes and choppers in every single subtheme?
3) The design is way too cluttered.
Dedgecko is dead on. I also immediately think of The Abyss whenever I see LEGO's yellow submarines.
The other thing that pops in my head is Ringo Starr.
Half off topic: applying stickers
I strongly suggest to apply stickers wet. Take a cup of water with a few drops of soap. Wet the brick and place the sticker. You can now move the sticker in the right position or remove it for another try. Use a cleanex to dry everything when the sticker is in place. Only drawback: it takes 2-3 days until they sit as firm as applied dry but then there is no difference. So be careful while completing a model with fresh applied stickers.
HTH
J.
Great review here, provides enough detail without being too short or overlong. I appreciate the pics of the sub from all sides--including the bottom.
Set itself looks pretty good--those air tanks/power cells in particular finish the look. The propellers on the back is an issue, though.
Oh, and the rock piece is technically a LURP--if, of course there are actual technical terms for this sort of thing. :)
Funny Huw, the Crystal Explorer Sub was the last set I got as a kid BEFORE I went into my dark ages...
@ Huw.
I feel the same way- they all have their strengths. Well, most of them. :P
Just wondering, with all these set reviews, where do you fit them all?
Pretty cool. We all live in a Yellow Submarine! XD
This set looks pretty cool. I love the line as a whole, especially the two biggest sets. That anchor logo is darn awesome too...
@ simon
Hmm, almost all LEGO subs are yellow, aren't they...
Can people explain how they think this is a good price? I can't think of a licensed set I have bought that was more expensive per piece than this. Even Elsa's castle was slightly cheaper per part. Heck, Lonely mountain was even slightly cheaper per part and you get a friggin dragon. Get rid of the shark, a diver, and the rock configuration and call it good at $25-28 and it is a great set. Superfluous stuff to make it $40 makes it bad.
Ugh...Price, pieces, playability... Horrible.
When I heard about diver theme I hoped they will bring back those cool wall pieces with round windows but with new clip. Instead we get oversized cluttered machines
Let's Hope Lt. Cofffey isn't piloting that submersible.
Submarine in GTA5!
This submarine looks pretty similar: http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/technology/subs/clelia/clelia_launch_600.jpg
So does this one:
http://www.plasticoceans.net/wp-content/uploads/DSC_7333.jpg
and last of all this one:
http://gta5.co/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/boat-submersible-gta5.jpg
although it is from a video game.
(feel free to use these in your review)