@Mr__Thrawn:
Where? I don't see any 1x3x2 doors on that model.

So simple, but pleasing.

I had this one as a little kid. Brings back great memories.

I had this. Great set.

I like it. Classic LEGO.
But if I’m honest, it looks kind of like somebody stuck some rotor blades and a tail on a police gondola.

The first (yeah shared with the Police HQ set of that year as well) in a long, long, LONG line of LEGO police helicopters.

This helicopter is so familiar to me because it's the same as the one from the police HQ set that my brother had. It doesn't seem that common for Lego to take part of a larger set and sell it as a standalone set.

@madforLEGO said:
"The first (yeah shared with the Police HQ set of that year as well) in a long, long, LONG line of LEGO police helicopters."

You might say there’s a “pandemic“ of police helicopters. (too soon?)
I do have an interesting question/article idea though: considering LEGO police helicopters are so plentiful (and many are quite similar), I’d be interested in seeing what everyone’s favorite is.
Is there any consensus?

My favorite police helicopter is the one from the 2017 police station. It's the usual size, but it's an elegant, unusual build that's remarkably smooth. I built a copy of the 1979 police helicopter out of spare parts a few months ago to go with my 1979 classic spaceship 918, thinking that the first single seat helicopter would complement the first single seat spaceship nicely. I found the result disappointing: while the spaceship has a certain simple elegance not seen in later versions of the concept, the helicopter is just blocky. It's also surprisingly hard to get the pilot in and out through those side doors with the fixed roof. Of course, you might have a different opinion than me if you built this out of spare parts yourself. They're all very common parts, so it's easy to do.

@CarolinaOnMyMind said:
" @madforLEGO said:
"The first (yeah shared with the Police HQ set of that year as well) in a long, long, LONG line of LEGO police helicopters."

You might say there’s a “pandemic“ of police helicopters. (too soon?)
I do have an interesting question/article idea though: considering LEGO police helicopters are so plentiful (and many are quite similar), I’d be interested in seeing what everyone’s favorite is.
Is there any consensus? "

Simple. 7741 for me.

Still better than the modern police helicopters!

@madforLEGO said:
"The first (yeah shared with the Police HQ set of that year as well) in a long, long, LONG line of LEGO police helicopters."

Maybe the first that can seat a minifigure. But there was a helicopter included in set 354

Or did you mean the first that was its own set and not part of a larger set? That would probably be 618

I've probably built this about 100 times, or the one coming with 381-2 to be more precise. I haven't tried, but I wouldn't be surprised if I still could assemble it from memory :) It has lots of nostalgia for me, but I am pretty sure there are better designs around by now. Somehow, I avoid buying police sets it seems :)

for reference, I've just gone and created a list of Police Helicopters, find it here: https://brickset.com/sets/list-37500
it is missing 6332 as a gremlin won't led me add that to lists

It is not Clikits, but still, not bad.

@PDelahanty said:
"This helicopter is so familiar to me because it's the same as the one from the police HQ set that my brother had. It doesn't seem that common for Lego to take part of a larger set and sell it as a standalone set."

The only other example I can think of is the original Anakin's Podracer.

I built this yesterday, as part of a rebuild of 381-2 !

@PDelahanty said:
"This helicopter is so familiar to me because it's the same as the one from the police HQ set that my brother had. It doesn't seem that common for Lego to take part of a larger set and sell it as a standalone set."

I thought I recognised it! I have the police station but didn’t realise the helicopter was also released separately...

@Al_S said:
"for reference, I've just gone and created a list of Police Helicopters, find it here: https://brickset.com/sets/list-37500
it is missing 6332 as a gremlin won't led me add that to lists"
Cool list. Thanks for compiling that.

I wonder if anyone has every one on the list plus 6332. Maybe someone in the US.

@Zander said:
" @Al_S said:
"for reference, I've just gone and created a list of Police Helicopters, find it here: https://brickset.com/sets/list-37500
it is missing 6332 as a gremlin won't led me add that to lists"
Cool list. Thanks for compiling that.

I wonder if anyone has every one on the list plus 6332. Maybe someone in the US.
"

I had stuck purely to minifig scale ones, which means there's five categories not included:
1. Pre minifig
2. "Legoland" minfig (where they "sat" in vehicles by just attaching the torso)
3. Micorscale (lots of varied sets here)
4. Jack Stone
5. Duplo

Even just sticking to the minifig scale, a history article going through (ranking?) them would be cool.

Massive leap forward in two years from 618, but not much has changed since then apart from more large single pieces for the windscreen etc.

I’m realising I was bought just about every LEGO set going from 77 to 80. Thanks mum and dad!

I love old sets, however, the design of this helicopter is weak and chunky. Meanwhile, 6691 and 6697; just a few years newer, are far better. Still not perfect, but they give strong UH-1 vibes, hold minifigs, and have plenty of capacity for cargo or passengers.

@TheOtherMike said:
" @PDelahanty said:
"This helicopter is so familiar to me because it's the same as the one from the police HQ set that my brother had. It doesn't seem that common for Lego to take part of a larger set and sell it as a standalone set."

The only other example I can think of is the original Anakin's Podracer.

"

Also Police Heliport 354 or 560, and Police Car 611 or 420. Not quite identical, though: the car that came with the Heliport uses a white 2x4 bruck for the rear of the car; the other uses a black 2x2 brick between two white 1x2 bricks. This can't be seen in the set pictures. I have 560 and 420.

There's also 926 where one of the vehicles is the same as 886

Probably my first chopper/ police set. I was... 7 :)

@Mr__Thrawn :
Those aren't doors. They're tripping hazards.

@PDelahanty :
Even if you exclude any instance where a set is released with a bonus item (something which has happened _A_LOT_), it's been done a few times, and Star Wars is probably the worst offender. The first wave of SW sets had Anakin's Podracer, which was also part of the Mos Espa Podrace set. Snowspeeders get really messy here, since they've barely changed at all since the second version, and they've been released as part of larger sets, and as standalone sets, with only very minor tweaks made to each version. There's a TIE set that appears to include an unmodified pair of an earlier TIE Fighter, and a very slightly modified version of the original TIE Advanced, with one completely exclusive TIE. There's an Ep3 set that includes three standalone models with a fourth starfighter that's unique to that set. The initial wave of SW minis included a set with an X-Wing and Vader's TIE Advanced, and the X-Wing showed up again as a Kabaya promotion with the only change being the switch from greys to bleys. It's a bit of a cheat to include them, but there have been several minifig packs that don't include anything original (though I don't know if any of them include a group of minifigs that's all available in any other single set). It's even more of a cheat to include all the combo packs they've produced over the years.

@CarolinaOnMyMind :
I'm leaning towards either 7786-1 or 76011-1 , which are piloted by a detective and his partner, respectively.

I remember saving pocket money for this one, and going on a shopping trip from my tiny village, to my nearest town (Guildford, Surrey) and getting it from W.H.Smith, who in those days did a big selection of toys!
Then a random relative gave it to me for Christmas as well.
So I had TWO !

@PDelahanty:
I forgot a couple. The very first SDCC SW set from 2008 was just two sets combined along with a selection of Clonetroopers into a new box. The 2008 SDCC Indiana Jones set included the Brickmaster Indiana Jones Jeep. And just a couple weeks ago, the RSotD was a Town set (2334-1) that basically combined a bunch of smaller sets with a bit of terrain. The most annoying one I know of, though, is the SDCC 2009 SW Brickmaster set, which included the mini AT-TE that had already been released as a regular Brickmaster set, plus an exclusive Republic Dropship to carry it.

I think we’re all forgetting the Speed Racer sets. 8159 and 8160 both use the exact same car build.

@CarolinaOnMyMind:
My favourite will always be 7741.