Toy Review: LEGO City: Police Pontoon Plane

Manufacturer: LEGO
Price: $51.50
Buy this Toy at: Amazon for $51.50

LEGO generally tops most boys’ must-have lists every year be it at Christmastime or not. Some of the best building sets come with the LEGO name. In fact, every year, I see a few that make me wish that I was a kid again. Then again, that’s the nice thing about being a reviewer. I get to play with toys like LEGOs and justify it by claiming I am reviewing them. In the case of this set, I was thrilled to be able to review the Police Pontoon. We have reviewed the City Line of LEGOs before. Last time, we reviewed the Police Helicopter.

There are a few things that make this set different than the last set we reviewed. The Pontoon is much bigger than the standard Helicopter. It offers a higher level of detail, too. There is a difference in the price, though that would be expected when you see the differences in size. The other major difference, which I was rather surprised about, was that the Helicopter actually came with more in the way of accessories.

The Helicopter comes with a good set of accessories including things like handcuffs and other items that are not found with the Pontoon boat. If you already own other LEGO City sets this may not be a problem for you. However, if you’re going in buying this as your first City Set you might want to be aware that many of the things that will make the set more fun for the kids will be missing and need to be purchased either separately or in another set.

Positives & Negatives:
Pros:
Great Addition to the City Line of LEGOs
Kids will Love the Detailed Look of the Plane
Works Perfectly with Other LEGO Sets Especially in the City Line
Promotes Independent and Group Play
Fun for Anyone that Likes LEGOs/Building
Good for a Wide Range of Kids
Detailed Set

Cons:
Despite Being a Pontoon it Does Not Float
Relatively Expensive
Lacks Accessories you Might Expect to See Here

Pricing & Availability:
The Amazon price is just over $50, which is a bit much for this set, in my opinion. This is available at many other stores though. Walmart offers the Police Pontoon for just under $40. You can also pick this up at just about any toy store, discount store, or online at numerous stores including the LEGO site.

If you’re looking for this set I highly recommend doing some price checking due to the ready availability. There is no sense in paying more if you don’t have to. The set is worth owning because kids that like the City Line will love this Pontoon Plane. Still, if you can save a few bucks it’s worth doing because there are a few vital elements missing from this set that make it slightly disappointing.

Requirements & Instructions:
No matter how much skill you have with LEGOs you should be fine with this set. We built it together as a family with a teenager and two adults. Still, I could easily see a five or six year old handling this with little help thanks to the instructions that are included. Pictures and basic common sense when it comes to building blocks makes it pretty easy to put this set together. We had a harder time weeding through some of the pieces to find what we were looking for rather than actually building the entire thing.

Durability:
How durable this is really depends on how rough your children are on their toys. No matter what it looks like all done up, the Pontoon Plane is still made by LEGOs. That being said, the LEGOs themselves are nearly indestructible. Unfortunately, the set when it is put together is not.

If you put it together you are going to want to make sure the kids are reasonable in their pursuits when playing with the Pontoon Plane. It won’t break from touching it, but if they are hard on it, pieces will come undone and it will need to be put together again. So, it’s durable in the sense that you cannot really break LEGOs (unless you’re seriously trying), but it may need to be put together more than once especially if it will be seeing some heavy action during playtime.

Fun Factor & Overall Appeal:
If you have another set that you can use the handcuffs, bad guys, and other accessories with, then this set is tons of fun. If you’re going just off of this set it’s more of a show piece. You can fly the Pontoon around with the guy inside it, but without the added features and accessories there isn’t much to make use of.

We had the Helicopter, which came with the added extras so we were able to play for hours and when we tired out our son was able to enjoy it on his own. Our nephew will be coming over and though he is too young to build this on his own (he’s 4) I am sure that he will love it as he is a certified LEGO fanatic.

The level of detail makes it great fun on it’s own. The two main downsides are the bar that sits in the middle where things could be stored behind the front of the cockpit and the fact that this doesn’t actually float. Had it actually been able to float I would have said that it’s worth every penny. I am still glad it’s part of our LEGO collection though and would recommend it to parents that have already begun collecting the City sets.

Kids will enjoy their time playing with the Police Pontoon Plane and even though it can be challenging to get it put together for some of them, I never heard a single complaint, other than the two minor annoyances that were previously mentioned.

Bottom Line:
LEGO has created an awesomely detailed Pontoon Plane that kids are sure to love. While this doesn’t float and would work even better with some more accessories and the bar missing from the back for storage purposes, the set is definitely worth owning. That being said I would make sure to pick up other City sets either with it or before it to ensure that you have enough accessories to make this truly enjoyable for the kids.

If you’re older and just love LEGOs this will work great on its own. Also, the Amazon price is a little much so you might want to make sure to price check before taking the first price you find. No point in spending more than necessary for this or any set.

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Technorati Tags: LEGO, Police, City, Pontoon Plane, Building, Toy, Kids, Fun

Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn is in her early 30s. She is a mother, writer, college student, and music lover. Ashtyn has had a successful career as a writer since 2003. She turned to blogging in 2005. Ashtyn attends Wright State where she is getting a degree in Psychology. She has extensive knowledge in SEO and Social Media Development.