Random set of the day: Police Command Centre
Posted by Huwbot,
Today's random set is 7743 Police Command Centre, released in 2008. It's one of 45 City sets produced that year. It contains 524 pieces and 4 minifigs, and its retail price was US$44.99/£39.99.
It's owned by 6660 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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36 comments on this article
I own the police semi-trailer that came out, in the early 90s.
But after a while, they all sort of blur together into the same set, don't they?
They’ve made like 30 of these...
2+3+4= 37 if my education hasn’t failed me...
Wait a second
I had a later incarnation of this one. Pretty decent set. Good play value.
I've never even seen this done in a movie, but so many LEGO sets do this, would there ever be an entire side of a trailer lift up on a mobile command center for police crew to access the interior? Seems like a lot of sensitive material would be exposed to prying eyes.
@MCLegoboy said:
"I've never even seen this done in a movie, but so many LEGO sets do this, would there ever be an entire side of a trailer lift up on a mobile command center for police crew to access the interior? Seems like a lot of sensitive material would be exposed to prying eyes."
I'd also imagine there aren't many police stations with absolutely no rear walls (7744) but these are the conceits of the genre
@MCLegoboy:
Actually...
In the LEGO set, it opens so you can HOG the minifigs around. In a movie set, it opens so you can poke a camera through and film the interior. You just won't see it unless it's part of a Deadpool movie. Or maybe a Wayne's World movie.
Really like the looks of this set. It's a vehicle that's not absurdly sized for a minifig and also isn't over-designed.
This is a very good Lego set.
Not shown on this instruction picture, this set also came with a very substantial side build of a police outpost control tower. And a less substantial ATV.
I never got this set but I think it's the best police mobile base set. Of course though, mobile bases from other themes blow the police ones out of the water. My memory with this set actually is 10 years after it released: in 2018 I was playing the Tt Lego Videogame Lego City Undercover. The previous year it was finally ported off of the Wii U as many other Wii U games were at the time. I have no idea how I missed the news but I bought it on Steam as soon as I saw a trailer for it as an ad. I had already had the big twist of the plot somewhat spoiled as it came out ages ago, but being spoiled back then in 2013 wasn't a big deal because people without a Wii U never thought they were going to be able to play it.
This set, in game called "M.O.V." (mobile operations vehicle?) appears in an early memorable chase scene. You need to drive it to the police station before time runs out, and it can get damaged, losing bricks off of it and incrementally exposing the interior if you aren't careful. I was surprised the game would put me behind the wheel of this behemoth, since when Lego games started having open worlds sizes of controllable vehicles were restricted probably because they had to be spawned in on a vehicle pad. But they nailed the M.O.V. It feels powerful to control, has trailed physics, and the sirens can be turned on and off. I thought it was for the story mission only, like lots of potential gamebreaking content in games is, but was overjoyed later that it was unlockable. And being LCU, it could be customized in any color from Medium Azur to Pink.
If you like driving and smashing Lego vehicles in videogames, I would recommend Brick Rigs, on Steam Early Access. You can build land and air vehicles (although sadly not boats) out of non-branded bricks (which are not necessarily plastic - they can be made of materials like wood, steel, and glass as well to affect the vehicle's physics and structural integrity) There are some interesting SNOT elements, like a tiny stud that connects 2 antistuds together flush. Even though most Bricks are generic enough or made-up novelties, Lego Part 6583 railing shows up for some reason. Functional parts like shooting weapons and motors which can be set to control wheels, propellers, hinges or turntables anywhere on the model.
@The_Byzantine_Knight:
In large cities, it's not uncommon to have something like this. Our LUG does a few outdoor shows, and at one of those, I think the local police set up a mobile command center to coordinate all of the on-site patrols. They're not a regular presence there year-round, but in a crowded outdoor setting, with everyone on foot, and the closest police station not being immediately adjacent, it can make providing on-site security (especially overnight) a lot easier.
Some police departments also use stuff like this for mobile education centers. They can just drive it in, and feed people through from one end to the other, walking past exhibits on various items (usually felonious) that have been seized.
@PurpleDave said:
" @The_Byzantine_Knight:
In large cities, it's not uncommon to have something like this. Our LUG does a few outdoor shows, and at one of those, I think the local police set up a mobile command center to coordinate all of the on-site patrols. They're not a regular presence there year-round, but in a crowded outdoor setting, with everyone on foot, and the closest police station not being immediately adjacent, it can make providing on-site security (especially overnight) a lot easier.
Some police departments also use stuff like this for mobile education centers. They can just drive it in, and feed people through from one end to the other, walking past exhibits on various items (usually felonious) that have been seized."
It sounds like your LUG attracts a rough crowd.
I think this set became a bit more pricey because of the needles side builds. Playwise I don't think I need a police "cottage" when I have a larger mobile command center.
My best friend from my primary school days had this. This was a good command centre, much better than the ones that came after.
The best part, however, was the police outpost side build. Not in the image, though.
At this point we've gotten so many "truck with a base inside" builds that they've gotten stale, but this was one of the first few when it was still fresh and cool. I'm glad LEGO's starting to liven up the concept with things like Monkie Kid being on a boat. Would love to see a base trailer hooked up to something like a monster truck to spice things up more!
Earth based version of the Blacktron's sworn enemies. More easy pickings.
@LegoRobo said:
"LEGO seems to have tried a new age requirement for this one. 9+ seems a little high for an age requirement though...
Yeah, I’ll show myself out."
2+3+4 are the bag numbers, back then it showed you what bags the manual did.
“Yeah, we’re putting out an APB on anyone in Lego city wearing a white and black striped shirt. Repeat, arrest all minfigs wearing a white and black striped shirt.”
In one of the set images they actually have the minifigs heaving the side up and around, effectively breaking the fourth wall or confirming that this is less of a command center and more of a vacation with direct beachfront access.
LOL I was randomly looking at this set earlier today.
This is the only police command truck I own, and it's pretty decent. Some of the later ones were a bit overdesigned, too large or too small.
I remember when this set came out and seeing it in the LEGO catalog. Boy, do I feel old now.
I got half of this used. Nice to see where it came from.
I feel like this was made to respond to Avengers level threats
That's funny! I actually bought this set on this excact day 12 years ago - a birthday present for myself.
Later trucks like 60044 included a cell to place the prisoner, which is missing here and in the side build, unless you are meant to place them sideways into one of the end cupboards? The police must have realized their mistake and created a multi-pack version 66246 which included a police van with a cell. I'm sure most sets are in the spares bin now with the trailer going back to its original function as a train container wagon. I never actually saw this set as the 7744 Police Headquarters was so fantastic that this one was easily missed.
There have been so many of these that I don't have them all but I did get the one from the 1990s 6348 which is probably the first set of this type and from the early 2000s 7034 before I got this one.
My bricklists with this set:
Top 35 City Sets - https://brickset.com/sets/list-36283 (7th place)
Top 20 City Police sets - https://brickset.com/sets/list-35247 (3rd place)
Top 10 Truck HQ - https://brickset.com/sets/list-36660 (3rd place)
Wasn't this set in the Lego Batman video game? Or at least, a very similar one. I seem to remember, in one of the villain levels, something like three of these pull up and start spawning an infinite number of armed police officers until you shoot the trailers apart with your giant robot... was that this set?
I feel like it would have been this one, given that it's from the same year as several of the Batman sets seen in the game; but I never looked that closely at it, so I don't know for sure.
@CAC101 said:
"LOL I was randomly looking at this set earlier today."
You are Huwbot and I claim my £5.
@anthony_davies:
I’ll be sure to let them know you said that the next time we do a Christmas layout at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra...
Seriously, though, it’s a lot less Hollywood than it sounds. The two places we’ve regularly seen uniformed police where we’ve displayed are the Henry Ford Museum (they pay for a few officers to patrol the museum, in addition to their private security team, due to the high value of the displays, which includes everything from one-of-kind historical cars to a pair of Stradivarius violins), and at outdoor festivals. For the latter, their presence is two-fold. First, you can’t lock cloth tents, so they patrol the grounds overnight to keep honest people honest. Second, accidents happen, so they patrol during the day, usually in high-vis uniforms (neon-yellow t-shirts are pretty common), where most of what they do is help lost kids find their parents, or assist EMTs in cases where someone needs medical attention. There aren’t a lot of armed bank robberies at outdoor community festivals.
@PurpleDave said:
" @MCLegoboy:
Actually...
In the LEGO set, it opens so you can HOG the minifigs around. In a movie set, it opens so you can poke a camera through and film the interior. You just won't see it unless it's part of a Deadpool movie. Or maybe a Wayne's World movie."
Or, if you want to go arthouse, a Charlie Kaufman movie. Or a Francois Truffaut movie; Day for Night has a few scenes where they film using vehicles. Wes Anderson also does it with a boat in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou.
I used this, with minor modifications and rail wheels, as a train police car.
@Mr__Thrawn:
I watched Life Aquatic once. All I remember is Bill Murray was looking for a fictional shark that’s named after African wildlife, and that when they were introducing the crew of the boat and said “script girl”, everyone in the audience except me apparently misheard “strip girl”. I don’t remember them pulling the camera back to show that the boat was actually a gimbal rig on a Hollywood set, but maybe I just forgot (I think I saw it opening day).
And having had more time to think on it, you probably wouldn’t see it in a Deadpool movie. Wade knows he’s in a movie, but none of the other characters do. Showing a movie set would break the 4th Wall for everyone. Wayne’s World 2, on the other hand, had a famous scene where he’s making fun of Hollywood films for product placement deals as he walks around sampling every major brand they could cram into the scene, and I’m pretty sure one of the two films shows one of the camera rigs on-screen.
pretty sure this was the set that was pictured on the back of all the instruction booklets during my childhood years
This is a very fun set. My little brother had it and the large trailer plate was great for alot of fun builds.
@PineRoots said:
"pretty sure this was the set that was pictured on the back of all the instruction booklets during my childhood years"
Yes, as the win a set from a contest in 2008-2009, then it was replaced with many different boxes for 2010- mid-2014, then the current version we have still today.
This type of set must be popular, as the 60139 from winter 2016-2017, yes 4 years ago, is still being sold at LEGO.com