Review: 4999 Vestas Power Plant promo set

[Lasse D]

Set: 4999 City, Vestas Power Plant

Price:$10 - $2000, depending on how lucky you are!

Year: 2008

Pieces: 795

I finally got my hands on a set, which I had the honor of building, reviewing and borrow for a while.

The box

The box is massive!

But the wind mill even more so

Instructions

Two A4 booklets in the usual LEGO quality.

Minifigs

You get 3 minifigs and a dog, the Vestas logos are stickers.

Van

One might expect a generic vehicle, but the Vestas van is surprisingly detailed with a nice front and a back full of tools.

There is only room for a single minifig, though.

House

The house is like all the good old classics: small, but furnished and with other details to add playability: mailbox, kitchen with oven, sink and drawers and a nice terrace.

The LEDs light up when the mill runs.

Take a look at how the chairs are made!

Hill

Green BURPs and a cute bench among the green makes for a fine hill that hides the battery box.

Tower

Being made out of the huge airplane parts, one could suspect the tower to be a bit lacking in the details department, but it works perfectly in the city set.

The cables are all PF-adapters, so you can use an old 9V transformer to power the creation.

The level of details in this set is incredible. There even is a small door behind the tower.

Turbine

Inside the turbine there is a motor and some gears. A clutch gear prevents you from driving the motor using the wings.

The wings are connected to the tower at an odd angle.

The stickers on the tower take some time to apply, and LEGO didn't hold back on the details here either.

Overall

Conclusion

For a collectible promo set, this one has blown me away. The built has a minimum of repetitions and is varied with everything from a vehicle to Technic. The high level of details makes it a great display model for home and office, but the current price is a tough one to swallow if you only know Vestas employees through Ebay.

The turbine is not completely silent, but drives for many hours on a single charge of batteries and the lights are perfect using only little power and giving lots of light in the dark.

Make sure to do everything in your might to make LEGO release this set for the public next year. It is by far one of the best City sets from 2008.

Built: 10/10. Varied with almost no repetitions.

Price: ??/10. It is a huge set and could support a price in line with the police HQ.

Playability: 10/10. Motor, Light, the turbine turns, there's a lot of interior and even the car has tons of playability!

Parts: 7/10. There are some unique parts (long adapter cables and green BURPs), but the rest of them are relatively ordinary.

Final score: 9/10.

Brickshelf Gallery

Edit: Added parts count thanks to KimT

Edited November 3, 2011 by Rick
Indexed

[Skipper 24]

Sweet review for a sweet set . You are so lucky to get this set, who did you borrow it from ( I need to break into there house and rob them ) ? I love the hill how it hides the battery box stopping the turbine from being bulky. I din't get the part with the LED in which bit was it? The turbines also sort of look like mini versions of the ones in miniland in Lego land Windsor.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Skipper 24

[Captain Green Hair]

Excellent review of an excellent set Lasse!

The mill itself looks surprisingly better then i had imagined, and seeing it turn slowly in the video was great.

Too bad the torso's are stickers though.

Thanks!

[Siegfried]

Thanks for the great review! I'll buy this... if I could.

I din't get the part with the LED in which bit was it?

They go behind the transparent pieces by the front door.

[Buttons]

Coulden't have done it better ... well mabey you could have sent us all a copy of the set

[AgentRick]

Nice review and all but the real question is...

Where can we get one for ourselves?

[Buttons]

Nice review and all but the real question is...

Where can we get one for ourselves?

Ebay buy it now £300

[AgentRick]

Ouch, Pounds aren't my taste, plus I don't really like shipping from Europe. Too expensive. Plus I'll probably wait for the domestic release.

[commanderbly42]

Wow, an incredible review for such an amazing set! But, I really don't want to put my trust in ebay and I'm going through a dark-ish spell at the moment. But it's still a great set! Thanks for the review!

[Erdbeereis]

Thank you so much for reviewing this set LasseD!

I seriously hope that the rumors that we might get this set without the house are true, as it looks fantastic! I didn't realize exactly how big the turbine is and the little cottage has a wonderful european village feel to it.

The way it moves is much smoother than I though it would be for such a large thing and the LEDs are a very good idea.

Thanks again for the great review!

[ProducePrincess]

wonderful reveiw i have one problem with it though i drooled over my keyborad and now i need to clean it. so is there any hope of this set being released as an exclusive to the public also is there a more detailed video of this in action including the lights?.

[5150 Lego]

Wow. This is a great set! Ilike the use of the airplane hulls to make the wind mill shaft. Very clever! I like that were finding more and more uses for the large Airplane pieces every year!

[Dragonator]

Thanks for a great review, now I want this set even more! Even if it does come available, it is very unlikely it will ever reach NZ...

Ah well, I can always hope.

[WhiteFang]

I thought this set belongs to you? However, it's still a fun building experience and more importantly sharing such an in-depth review with us.

I never expect this set to be that tall. In fact the turbine and the box is so tall, just to store its wings and engine inside. The truck is a very nice realistic addition which can be included in any tabletop town set up. The cottage is lovely. It reminds me of the Classic Town design in the 1980s. It do resemble a one level structure of Holiday Beach House from the Creator series. The hilltop is just so amazing. I love to get my hands on those green BURPS and do a forest scene with my forestmen.

The windmill is just so amazing. The details are incredible. Great job!

Check out Classic Town.net. You are featured!

[Guss]

that's a really nice review of a nice set, that's sad that we can't buy it at a normal price, but I think there will be a similar set soon, seeing how many people wants it ^^ so we just have to wait !

[legotrainfan]

Thanks for the review! I suppose that many among us have been waiting for such a nice review! It's really an amazing set. There's nothing about it I really dislike... apart from the stickers for the torsos. I really love all those details in the house or outside of it; I'm thinking about the chairs here. The wind mill is also excellent. I'd love to have own, but the prices on ebay go up like crazy. I cannot afford this set.

wonderful reveiw i have one problem with it though i drooled over my keyborad and now i need to clean it. so is there any hope of this set being released as an exclusive to the public also is there a more detailed video of this in action including the lights?.

Black Rabbit, there is a thread where people discuss whether it's going to be released for the public or not. Couldn't find the thread quickly; if I had found it, I'd have posted a link. The thread must be either in this forum or in the news and general discussions forum. I hope this helps.

[astra]

Nice review! Sounds like a good set to own... Now let's hope Lego will eventually give in to the community and release the set as a normal one...

Then I will absolutely go out and buy one. On Ebay the prices vary from 250 to almost 400 euro, to much if you ask me.

One question though. Can you tell me why the box is that big? I mean, the pieces are not so big (per piece) that you need such a big box. Or am I overseeing something?

[KimT]

Pieces: No one has a count yet?

Bricklink has one stating 795 bricks and 3 minifigs.

Bricklink Catalog on 4999

Thanks for the review Lasse D.

A great set, but wastly overpriced in my opinion.

It's just 795 pieces and a motor.

I'd rather buy me 3 Motorized AT-AT's instead of this.

[JopieK]

Hey Lasse, nice review man! You are a lucky guy to have that nice set. Maybe you should join the academy and also become a review expert apart from moc expert.

Greetings Johan

Update:

you can also part it out at bricklink. Result:

- no stickers (did I know someone that had them somewhere 'en grosse'? )

- no Dark Bluish Gray Electric, Power Functions Extension Wire (length 50cm) 2x

- no Green Rock Panel Rectangular (BURP) (4x)

- no Light Bluish Gray Technic, Plate Rotor 3 Blade with Toothed Ends and 3 Studs (Propeller) 2x (but there in not so bluish light gray)

- no Trans-Black Glass for Window 1 x 4 x 6

- no White Technic, Plate 1 x 5 with Smooth Ends, 4 Studs and Center Axle Hole

- and then the figs and box+instructions but the figs are very common.

After setting al those items to 1$ (except the stickers to 5$), I found out that the new parts are $260.11

Most expensive other parts:

White Tile, Modified 6 x 12 with Studs on Edges (2,60)

White Technic, Gear 24 Tooth Clutch (1,81)

Tan Technic, Gear 20 Tooth Double Bevel (0,94)

Light Bluish Gray Electric 9V Power Functions Battery Box 4 x 11 x 7 with Orange Switch and Dk Bluish Gray Covers Complete Assembly (7,70)

Light Bluish Gray Electric, Motor 9V Power Functions Small with Dk Bluish Gray Bottom (12,16)

Green Baseplate 32 x 32 (6,38)

Black Electric, Light Unit Power Functions with Black PF Connector Lead (12,18)

Edited October 27, 2008 by JopieK

[Gouns]

A really nice review !

Thank you very much !

[Lasse D]

(...) Can you tell me why the box is that big? I mean, the pieces are not so big (per piece) that you need such a big box. Or am I overseeing something?

The set is quite big, and the box matches LEGO's policy of matching the sizes of boxes with the models (except for some Factory sets), but the pieces only fill out half of the space inside.

Bricklink has one stating 795 bricks and 3 minifigs.

(...)

Thanks. The first post has been updated.

Hey Lasse, nice review man! You are a lucky guy to have that nice set. Maybe you should join the academy and also become a review expert apart from moc expert.

Greetings Johan

(...)

Thanks Johan.

As you can see in the first post, I do not own this set, so no parting out or enjoying ownership here.

With this being my 13. or so, review on EB, I would rather be told what could be improved than go through the academy.

I realize now that I don't have any pics or videos where the lights are properly seen! I had a crash that erased all videos from Saturday, and the one with all 3 mills running was among those.

The only video of mine with working LEDs is this one around 0:08. You can see the projectors flashing right before I open the hood. They light up, but it is also clear that they don't provide much light in daylight. I would claim the LEDs are about as powerful as the old 9V lamps, while consuming considerably less power.

For a still picture comparison. Old 9V lamps vs. new Power Function LEDs (click to enlarge):

Edited October 27, 2008 by Lasse D

[Nannan]

Excellent review. Thanks for bringing the details on this hard-to obtain set.

-Nannan

[Eilif]

Great reveiw. I appreciate your attention to the smaller details in your pictures. They are especially helpfull for those of us like myself who may never be able to purchase this set, but want to MOC a similar structure on our own.

Thanks!

[CopMike]

Hi Lasse & a great review !

I´m currently scrapping up parts for my own build. As much as I agree with your thoughts Lasse, I still have some small things I´ll modify for my own build.

One is the grey 1x16 brick at the back, another one the white 2x6 plate on top of the Burp under the green 4x10 plate to the left seen from behind. Check out this picture:

The end of the 1x16 brick can be seen from the front and the white on the 2x6 is visible from above. So I´m putting a green 1x16 brick & 2x6 plate in there.

Also note that the inventory on Bricklink is wrong.

The Black Technic, Gear 20 Tooth Double Bevel should be Black Technic, Gear 12 Tooth Double Bevel

The Light Bluish Gray Technic, Liftarm 1 x 7 Thick should be Light Bluish Gray Technic, Liftarm 1 x 7 Thin

The Light Bluish Gray Plate 2 x 4 should be Light Bluish Gray Plate 4 x 10

Here´s a pretty cool diagram over the sizes that the Windmills come in!

CopMike

[Dr. Brick]

Thanks for the great review Lasse D.

I am one of the many who love to have this set, so I am building it myself. I allready have sortoff half of all the parts I need.

If you are building it yourself get the Power Functions Set, you will get all the PF components (only the long wires) plus a few off the cogs. (including the white one with clutch)

Dr. Brick