Set Review: Farm

[Bruce N H]

Join the weekly Classic Cattle set review discussion. Please post your opinions on the set play ability, piece selection, design, etc. Which sets earn a "Holy Cow!" and which should be put out to pasture!

This week’s set is 7637 Farm.



While cow elements have long existed in the Duplo theme, System builders finally got their wish in 2009, when minifig-scale cows were released in set 7637 and also in 10193 Medieval Market Village. Unfortunately, we have yet to get a cow in a set cheap enough to easily build up our herds, but with an upcoming pig impulse set we can hold out hope. In addition to tractors and a silo, set 7637 includes a barn and, most importantly, two holstein cows with comfortable stalls to live in.

[JoshWedin]

Needs more cowbell. 'Nuff said.

Josh

[Jojo]

Oh, it’s April already? Anyway, hello!


Being blessed with ”Farmer“ as my middle name (no, my first name actually) I have been waiting for Lego to release some farm-related sets for more than 25 years. Farms other than Duplo, of course. And other than bigfig set 190 which wasn’t available this side of the pond anyway. And other than Technic tractors, even though I like all of those. For minifigs all that there ever was, is this sad excuse of a tractor: 6608. In 1986 I even was desperate enough to scrape all my pocket money together and buy this slightly girlie-ish pony yard. But no cows nowhere.

But then, in the Year of the Lord MMIX, Lego remembered being settled in Billund, within a mostly rural environment, and finally released this Farm 7637. And hm, I’m not all too excited about it. We get several posts with low-piececount roofs on them, a silo and a tractor, which, granted, is quite good. The tractor. And cows, yeahh!
Unfortunately I have to criticise these cows, though. Other than the long established minifig horses the cows are not made of ABS, the usual material most Lego elements are made of. This leads to a different surface texture than the 1×2 dorsal brick has, making it stand out like a sore thumb. Also there are noticeable gaps between the dorsal brick and the cow. Not nice. That could have been done better.

So I am glad they finally came up with a farm, but the fact that they came up with one for me is not enough to give the set itself a high rating. Sorry.


Bye
Jojo

[architect]

I have to agree with Jojo. It is wonderful that TLG finally decided to make a farm line after all of these years. The vehicles were designed well but the larger buildings (ie: Barn) are lacking the traditional farm quality captured by other toy manufacturers. I think the set must have been designed around the tractor instead of the barn. That is a major flaw in my opinion.

Ben

[Bruce N H]

Thanks for pointing out set 190, Jojo. I did some digging looking for old sets with a cow twist, and didn't know of these brick-built cows (also sheep and a dog).

I have to agree with Ben's point. The designers of the Farm subtheme did a great job on vehicles - with tractors ranging from that small promo set all the way up to the combine, and even the horse trailer - but the buildings in set 7637, and the little shed in the pig farm, are really just afterthoughts. It's a bit like so many of the Star Wars sets - you get a great shapeship, and then a little thrown together set of bricks to represent the hangar, or Yoda's hut or whatever.

It's too bad, too. They could do a few building-centric sets and do them really well - a barn, a chicken coop, a farmhouse - and those would really round out the Farm subtheme. They've done fairly well with Duplo, given the limitations inherent to using big prefabricated walls etc. We've got set 4665 for my daughter and it's a lot of fun:

There are a lot of other sets in the Duplo lines over the years that are building (and animal) centered, not just vehicle centered.

The sad thing about set 7637 is that they did a system set, but stuck to the building limitations of a Duplo set - big prefab pieces, pillars rather than walls, etc.

Bruce

[Athos]

The buildings are terrible. The barn looks half finished (where are the Amish when you need them?) and its full of giant pieces I'd never use again. The only things that really interest me about this set are the cows and the tan hat. Though the tractor isn't bad.

Maybe I'll find it on clearance someday?

Steve