Overall opinion

Its quite a nice set, knowing that it only has 97 pieces, from the 2012 "forest police" wave. Contains a cool police car, a little barrier and a couple of minifigs, nothing too exiting, but it does the job!

Building experience

Very simple, not challenging, as it says in the age range, suitable for younger children.

Parts

I've been searching for a little, and there are 2 new parts included in this set:

- The police car's roof (98281)

- The ranger's hat (98279)

It also features some stickers and a pair of handcuffs as well.

Playability

I think it has some playability, all of the set's elements can be used to spend some time playing. Once again, nothing too exiting but does the trick.

Value for money

For around 10€ (I think) its good, just like other sets of this price, the parts count doesn't change a lot.

Set Review

Police car

Really good looking car! It can also be a good addition to a city, and not just a forest. The stickers help improving the look of it as well.

It also features a convenient sticker on the back with the set number :)

Barrier

The barrier suits the subtheme of the forest police nicely. The only things that could be improved are the colors on the base (the tan and the green could be swapped for a color that blends a little more) and the size (it could be bigger but the price range of this set can't do much). Still, a neat little addition that has some playability in it.

Minifigs

This set contains two minifigs, a thief and a police ranger.

The thief has always been kind of the same through the years: a guy with striped clothes and a cap. I think they could do something different from time to time. He's got printing only in the front as well.

The police ranger is somewhat better. He's got printing in both sides in the torso and a cool new hat (new in 2012, of course).

So... That's my opinion on this set!

Thank you!

This little set is one of smallest sets in the Forest Police theme. It's pretty cheap, and is a great way to get more patrol cars for your police force, even today when it's retired.

Box/Instructions

The box is fairly small, with the old 2005 City logo. The instructions are small as well. But never judge a package by its size!

Parts

This set has parts for a police car and what appears to be a small crossing of some sort. Most parts aren't very useful for much else, but there are some nice pieces included, like the jail bars and the various colored flat plates.

Minifigures

There are two minifigs included; a older-style crook, an a Forest Police ranger with a then-new Campaign Hat. This hat is most-famously used by the US Park Rangers, but also by the US Armed Forces, State police units, like the Illinois State Police, and various Highway Patrol units. This hat allows you to create more diverse police units; I like it.

The build

It is a very quick but still fun build. There are a lot of stickers for a set as small as this but they really help improve detail.

The completed model

The model looks OK when finished, but a small tree or some sort of foliage would make the somewhat boring crossing bit look a lot better.

Overall opinion

This set alone is OK, but it's a great set for stocking up on police cars and extra criminals. I bought five and kept the police cars but the crossings ended up in the spare parts bin. Maybe some people can find a use for the crossings, but the patrol car is easily the better part of this set.

LEGO is quite good at making small, cheap sets, targeted to a young audience. Whether they are new to LEGO, or they have been at it for a few years, this is a wonderful small set to give them as a gift, or for them to maybe buy themselves. This set, 2012's LEGO City: Forest Police Patrol Car (4436), is no exception.

The car itself is quite a simple thing to build and behold, however it is very effective in what it tries to do, which isn't much. The overall design is basic, but still manages to look good. That said, it is quite boxy, and because and the back feels rather abrupt in the way it transitions from the rear window to the back bumper. Inside, there is plenty of space for both figures included in the set and a few extra pieces as well. All in all, the car itself is good, but could be a little more detailed.

Along side the car, the set also includes a little piece of roadway with a little lift gate for added stuff. The inclusion of this extra side piece is there simply because the designers had extra money to spend when building it. That said, it's inclusion isn't disliked. Despite the fact that it doesn't really contribute much to the interest of the set, it does so much more than use up extra parts. It adds a good amount of playability for young children and enriches the set immensely. It seems kind of silly, but it's true.

As for the figures, you have two, the first being a simple police officer, the second being a simple bandit. The robber/bandit/General bad guy is nothing to write home about, and neither is the police officer. However, the police officer is technically exclusive to this set, as the combination of the head with the torso and legs has only been seen in this set. The bandit is not exclusive, however. It was first released in 2005 and had appeared in 9 sets before this one.

All in all, this is quite a nice set for the young, or for the collector who just wants every set. Priced, when it was new, at $11.99 was quite a deal, and now, as of Apr. 20, 2019, this set can be found new for around $14-20, which still isn't bad. All in all, this is quite a good set for what it is, and is still not bad today.

(Nowadays, The only reason one would buy this is to buy it from a collector's standpoint, as there are plenty of newer and better options. That said, why not Review this set seven years late, right?)

This particular model was a nice little set that I picked up at Tesco's. I had wanted this set for the barrier as I wanted it for my airport to act as a security check point.

The car is very nice as the colours used are very impressive, though it is Forest Police, I think the car is quite modern and would actually work rather well in the actual city. The barrier can be used for a multiple of uses such as security checkpoints.

Pros

• The police cars colours
• The design of the Police Officer
• The barrier
• The pieces included
• The price
• The minfigs

Cons

• The Robber could have had a bike
• Barrier could have been slightly bigger

The cons dont actually affect the model that much, but the robber could have done with a bike, as I think that would have looked quite good, also having the barrier a bit bigger with a small space for the bike to get through and tree would have looked brilliant.

So of course I highly recommend this model to add to your city or your collection.

I think LEGO gives us too many police in the City line: 45 sets out of 230 (if we don't count product collections in) - this is almost 20%! And this theme doesn't make sense in my opinion. Forest police? Why? Well, I got one, because I wanted to try it. But I have to tell that I'm truly positive about this set.

Box/Instructions

Small box with the standard City design. But there doesn't exist the text 'Designed to easy build...'. And a City policeman says 'Hey!' instead of a forest policeman. Interesting.

Parts

97 pieces, which contain two minifigs, a patrol car and a crossing with barrier isn't bad. Every type and every colour appears - all the parts will be useful in the future. My personal favourites are the road sign with the bear and the hat of the policeman. (Note: at the crossing there are two wickets used.)

Minifigures

There are two minifigs: a forest cop and a tricky crook. The policeman looks very good, his torso printing is very good and full of details! But the crook appeared in a dozen of City sets before - in the same clothing! It's a bit boring, at least LEGO should have been added another number on his torso.

The build

It takes only a few minutes. (Note: LEGO marked the black pieces in the instructions, so I won't mix them up with dark bluish grey ones - yaaay!)

The completed model

The barrier is a nice detail, lots of standard City cars fits on it. The pike works well, and the bear sign is a nice touch. (But no bear - why?) And the police car - well, it looks a bit 'City-like-odd', but I like it. The best detail is that two minifigs can fit in it. At least, but not at last, City cars can now transport two minifigs as well. But the other details, like the index, the extra light, the registration number and the rear mirror are very good points too. It's not perfect, but cool!

Summary

It's not cheap (LEGO isn't cheap as well), but you get lots of useful parts and nice details for your money. It's very playable by itself, but it's even better as an accessory. Nice set, which could be improved, but is a very cool one!