City

Sky Police Air Base

The big showpiece of the Sky Police subtheme, all parachutes and swooshy planes.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 60210 · 2019

Pieces529

Minifigs6

Year2019

Set number60210

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

This was the flagship of the whole Sky Police wave, and the parachute gimmick is the thing that actually won me over.

LEGO ditched tangly string for thin plastic straps that clip onto a minifig and drop clean out of the plane's belly, and it genuinely works. It is a proper play set built for a kid at a table, not a display piece, so grown up builders looking for a satisfying evening of engineering should temper their hopes. For a City police fan aged six to ten, though, there is a lot to love here.

Best for: Kids six to ten who want a big police playset with real action features

The full review

What it is

The Sky Police Air Base was the biggest set in its little subtheme, and the parachute feature is what got me. Previous police sets leaned on string that turned into a knotted mess within about four minutes of play. Here LEGO switched to thin, stiff plastic straps that resist twisting, clip onto a minifig, and drop out of a hatch on the plane's underside when you turn a small gear that opens up a plate. It is simple and it is clever, and watching an officer float down to a rooftop is exactly the kind of thing that keeps a kid coming back to a set. Around that centerpiece you get a three level control tower with jetpack storage, a ground floor office, a tool area, and a jail cell.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the value, though. At 89.99 dollars for 529 pieces, this was never a bargain by the piece, and you feel it in the tower, which is more open framework than solid station. The jail cell is the running joke among reviewers and I have to agree with them: it has no back wall, so the crook you just arrested can simply walk around the side and wander off. For a set whose entire story is catching robbers, that is a strange thing to leave out. The overall look is a touch juniorised too, so if you came expecting the density and detail of a bigger City build, the tower in particular will feel thin.

Who it's for

Who should get this one? A City police fan roughly six to ten years old is the sweet spot. There is enough here to build over an afternoon, the vehicles all do something, and the parachute gag has real staying power in actual play. If you are an adult builder chasing an engaging construction experience or a display model, this is not your set, and you would be happier spending the money elsewhere. It is now retired, and sealed copies have climbed past their old retail price, so if you specifically want this exact playset, prices are only going one direction.

What works

The parachute drop mechanic actually works: a turning gear releases a locked plate under the plane and the minifig floats down on stiff plastic straps that never tangle
Six minifigures including two Sky Police officers and two crooks, four of them exclusive to this set
The plane has genuine swooshability plus a removable nose cone, and you get a jetpack, motorbike and a getaway car with a chain and hook too

Worth knowing

The jail cell has no back wall, so the crook can just stroll around the side and escape, which undercuts the whole cops and robbers premise
At the original 89.99 dollars for 529 pieces it was poor value per part, and the control tower feels a little hollow
The aesthetic is slightly juniorised, so older builders may find the tower underwhelming to put together

Sold? Grab it.

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

Building it is quick and breezy rather than involved, which is fair enough given the audience. The plane comes together fastest and is the most satisfying section, with a solid swooshable body and a removable nose cone. The tower is mostly plates and framework, so it goes up fast but does not give you many of those satisfying click moments a denser build offers. The getaway car with its chain and hook, the police motorbike, and the folding wing jetpack round things out and keep younger builders moving between small sub builds.

The real standout part is the parachute assembly itself, the thin plastic strap system that was fairly new to City at the time and is the whole reason the set exists. Beyond that, the interest is in the minifigures rather than exotic elements: six figures in all, two Sky Police officers, two regular police, and two crooks, with four of the six exclusive to this set at release. There are no rare printed showpiece parts to hunt for here, so parts collectors will find slim pickings, but the exclusive figures are the thing worth having.

Fun facts

01This was the largest set in the Sky Police subtheme, which built its whole identity around parachutes and jetpacks instead of the boats and helicopters of earlier City police waves.
02It retired in December 2020 after roughly two years on shelves, and sealed copies now trade around 140 dollars, up more than 50 percent from the 89.99 dollar retail price.
03Four of the six minifigures were exclusive to this set, so it was the only place to get them without hitting the aftermarket.
04LEGO deliberately engineered the parachute straps from stiff plastic rather than string specifically so kids would not spend the afternoon untangling knots.