Review: 2230 Helicopter and Raft

[JopieK]

Name: Helicopter and Raft

Set No.: 2230

Theme: LEGO > SYSTEM > Town > Promotional

Year: 2008

Pieces: 115

Minifigs: 2

Price: Not available in shops, about USD 20$ in parts on Bricklink. MISB price is over USD 40$.

Introduction:

Last saturday we went to Germany to a 1000steine event. Of course we got too much LEGO their. At an auction that was instigated by mr. Jan Beyer, there were three of those sets. The first one was auctioned of for no more than 13€. We bid on the 2nd set and we almost needed to buy it for 14€ 'cause my cousin made his bid in Dutch, and Lutz is still learning ;) Thanks to Bruno it was translated correctly and so we also got this one for only 13€. The last one was also sold for 13€ to another lucky buyer.

We should build a waterfall for our LEGOWorld town as well to be able to also show this nice set there!

The front of the box, showing the chopper and raft

The backside of the box with some suggestions on how to play with the set.

An overview of the set with the two bags, the box with the string, the two instructions and the box. One instruction is for the chopper, the other for the raft. Unfortunately the two bags are not separated in the same way.

Here a shot from the instructions in which the sets are finished by adding the last parts.

The Chopper with its pilot. Building time: approx. 5 minutes.

Here the raft with the boatsman in rough water. Building time: approx. 3,5 minutes.

After building the set these were the leftovers.

No very special parts but the accessories are nice to make a complete set. The white backpack is our first b.t.w. (mostly found in Starwars sets and we don't have a lot of those), but the Advent calender will provide us with some more I hope For some strange reason Bricklink doesn't have it in the set inventory (peeron does).

Here the two minifigs. One is the pilot, with a modern air torso. The other is a sportsman with a torso like in the sports sets.

Here you see the empty raft. It looks quite nice. I like the chains (apart from the figs probably the most valuable parts). The 1 x 4 rounded blocks are a nice solution. Too bad you see the pins of the tube ends, but it would be difficult to avoid that of course.

The right side of the chopper. There is a 'mailbox' that gives the chopper space to put something in (like the white backpack).

At the left there is a sling with an anchor. The sling can be used to put the raft under the chopper and use it in 'Chinook' mode. This is not very realistic, since normally the rotor wash of a chopper would be too much for such a light boat, but in this case the boat weights almost as much as the chopper does.

The front of the chopper. The window is put on upside down and that gives it quite a nice look I think. Under the cockpit there is a searchlight mounted.

The cockpit with the two levers when it is opened.

At the end of the tail, the chopper has a nice tail rotor attached to the tail wing this will prevent the shopper from spinning and the tail can be used to stabilize the horizontal movement even better.

This set can be found on:

Peeron

Lugnet

Brickset

Bricklink entries

Playability: 8/10 (Nice set, children can use it in quite some different ways. The chopper is of course an object with a high 'swoosh' factor)

Design: 7/10 (A nice set but I really don't like the Helicopter Sled Rails being one large part (reminds me too much of Jackstone times))

Price: -/10 (We had a bargain but they are sold for as high as 81 USD at Bricklink (MISB))

Overall: 7/10 (nice set, could see some improvements but is very complete on the other hand)

Thanks for reading the review, hope you are lucky to have the set to or obtain it soon, one way or the other, tip: probably cheaper to buy at bricklink in separate parts

[WesternOutlaw]

Nice review JopieK. Thanks for sharing. I've been looking at this set for some time hoping it will be available by LSAH. It reminds me so much of 6665 River Runners that I think was also an exclusive (not positive though).

This set (2230) really has that "classic town" look about it. It would make a great addition to the Outback or Adventure theme. I hope I have a chance to pick one of these sets up, but I doubt it.

Great find and thanks again for the review.

[WhiteFang]

JopieK, well done! I am impressed with this review of yours.

This set is hard to get by, especially for a person like me whom still have perception of buying stuff online. I love this set very much and will defintely hope to get it somehow, one day. The helicopter and the raft indeed have a classic look which Brickster has mentioned.

By the way, your pictures are great and clear. I like it, especially with some nice focal touch such as the right side of the chopper which feature a mailbox. You have done a great review, once again.

[KimT]

Is this another Airline promotional? If so, then I have to go flying soon

A nice little set with some great parts. - Though I must admit I'd rather build the heli's stand rather than have one big piece for it.

Another fine review from you - I miss the poll though

[Siegfried]

Ahh, I love these promotional sets. This one has some rare parts and I'd buy it on sight! Thanks for the great review; like WhiteFang I love the inset photo.