LEGO City 60168 Sailboat Rescue review

Sailboat Rescue is among the smaller sets in the new LEGO City Coast Guard wave, but will it float your boat or will your optimism sink? Price: £19.99 / $29.99 / €24.99  Pieces: 195 Available: Now With LEGO City returning to the Coast Guard subtheme, the range has a mix of sets from 60163 Coast Guard Starter Set at the pocket money end of the spectrum to 60167 Coast Guard Headquarters at the most expensive end. 60168 Sailboat Rescue comes in at a very reasonable £19.99, making it one of the best value sets in the wave. The set features two LEGO boats and occupants, the hapless sailor in his leisure craft and the heroic coast guard coming to his aid in the orange rescue boat. There's also a large rock outcrop and a rather unfriendly looking shark to round things out. The boats have separate instruction booklets and are contained in two separate bags. Bag One contains the leisure craft and the rocky outcrop. The build is straightforward and doesn't take long, but once complete it is a lovely looking craft, featuring a single mast with a large sail as well as a rudder which you can steer using the tiller. There's even a sun lounger on deck, for times when the minifigure does not need rescuing. The plastic sheet sail can be rotated, and also toppled giving the impression of a major mishap. As stated on the box, 'boats really float', but due to the sticker placement I don't think I'd risk giving it a dunking. The rocky outcrop is a simple build of grey slopes with a little greenery on a blue base, presumably the sea. It adds another play feature to the set, maybe an area for the stranded sailor to hope to be rescued or to wait until he is eaten by the shark. The second bag contains the rescue boat and brave coastguard. The orange hull is a new piece for 2017, having only been featured in one other set - 60165 4 x 4 Response Unit. This use of the piece leads to quite a detailed build with an enclosed cabin, rotating searchlights and twin outboard motors. Again, due to the sticker placement I wouldn't try and float it.   This set contains two minifigures, the screaming/frowning sailor and the coastguard. The sailor has a nicely printed torso which has appeared in a few previous City sets. The coast guard's torso printing is a new design for this year and is featured in three more of this wave of Coast Guard sets. Both minifigures have the option of wearing a lifejacket, unfortunately when worn they raise the head away from the body making for a strange look. The shark is the 2010 version with printed eyes and moulded gills. This is a great set, which I enjoyed building – two boats with a fair amount of detail, a unique sail and two minifigures for the price is not be sniffed at. It also has great play value, with the option of floating the boats.

This set was provided for review by the LEGO Group.

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