Fire Fighter Boats Part 2

There was a gap of over a decade until the next fire fighter boat was released by Lego in 2004, set 7046:  Fire Command Craft.

Unlike other sets, this one contains both a regular boat and a smaller Zodiac style fire fighting vessel.  Additionally, the glass for the control room is now facing to the aft, instead of forwards.  It's definitely a smaller boat compared to past offereings, and is somewhat boring in general.

In 2007 7906:  Fireboat was released with a style much different from past offerings.

Again we see a cockpit with the glass slated to the back, but more importantly the set itself looks more like a speed boat than a fire fighting vessel.  While the inclusion of a motor at the bottom is an awesome feature, the boat itself looks sloppy.  It's missing the green and red lights (used for navigation so that other boats can tell where and in which direction another boat is moving in the dark) that any boat should have, and does not even have a roof for the captain.  This set also has a small craft that can be detached, another nice feature, but it doesn't make up for the other flaws of this set.  While I enjoy the design of it overall, it just doesn't work as a fire fighting vessel.

Finally, in 2010 Lego released 7207:  Fire Boat (note that the previous set was called 'Fireboat'.  The difference in the naming between the sets is a single space!).  This is a set that really does it right, that really captures that aesthetic of what a fireboat is and harkens back to the sets released in the 1980s.

What is there not to love about this set?  The hull is very similar to those released in the 1980s, being somewhat short and very tall.  It has a full functioning cabin with a windshield that leans forward, just as many real fireboats are designed.  Like the older sets, it also has an elevated fire fighting crane device, but also manages to include the small inflatable boat that appears in the newer sets, ultimately combining new and old beautifully.  And it includes four figures, a rare sight today.  One last homage to the older sets is the inclusion of a water line on the side of the hull, indicating how low in the water the vessel is riding.  Whoever designed this set clearly had an affinity for the older models, and was able to recreate that aesthetic while adding new elements and ideas.

Those are the major fire boats released from 1982 to 2010, nearly two decades of fire fighting vessels.  If you enjoyed this sort of post, please check out my series on The Evolution of the Lego Castle.