6556 - Scuba Squad

Rating:
Pros: The neat logo; the harpoon gun; the cool torso on the diver; nice diving tank and mask
Cons: The one-piece boat
Contents: 72 pieces including 2 mini-figs and 1 boat
Price: $7.99 - Discontinued
Reviewed: 9-Dec-1996
Reviewed by: Patrick Delahanty

It's Frank and Jon's day off from police duty. What better way for them to spend it than SCUBA diving?
Jon enjoys sitting in the boat and getting some sun while Frank straps himself into the diving gear and dives under the surface of the water. To warn oncoming boaters, a buoy and flag is floated on the surface. Luckily, today's a quiet day. Frank won't even have to use his harpoon against any threatening sharks.
When Frank returns to the surface, he holds onto the side of the boat while Jon takes some of his gear. Finally, Frank pulls himself into the boat. They fire up the small motor and head back to shore.
After pulling the boat back up on the trailer, Frank and Jon climb in the van and head out...refreshed after a nice quiet day on the water.

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This is really a neat little set. There's just one thing I want to point out first: "NOT FOR USE IN WATER". This is printed on the top of the box. It made me chuckle and wonder, "Why not? It's not like it's going to rust."
The box itself got me by suprise. I thought it was your typical town set in a blue box...but that it was crushed. It looked like there were wrinkles on the side. Then I noticed those weren't wrinkles, they were ripples! I grabbed it and was immediately taken in on how neat the set looked.
Upon opening, the first thing most people will notice about this set is that it has a one-piece boat. I didn't like this at all. From the photo, I figured the sides would be similar to the Aquazone pipe pieces. There are studs in the center of the boat, one on the front, two on each side, and two on the back. Each side has two hand-holds to make it easy for mini-figs to carry the boat or keep from floating away from it. The bottom of the boat isn't completely flat; you can stick bricks under it.
The trailer is a simple construction made mainly of a wing piece. I don't really have much to say about it.
The truck looks like your typical Lego truck which they've been making for years. Only a couple things make this different. One is the cool logo on the side. It's also on the diver's shirt. I like it a lot! The truck is also constructed differently than most. The red bottom is actually two special pieces. They've been used before, but they're hard to describe. They're 5x4 and have a 2x2 hole towards one end. There is also a 2x1 raised part on each side for the wheel wells. The final difference between this truck and other Lego trucks is that the front has a slope-piece instead of being flat.
The thing I like best about this set is that the diver figure is so cool! He has a new type of oxygen tank. It's just one tank and has an air hose that sticks out around his head. The tank is held on by the same type of neck-loop as the space tanks. The torso, as I said before, has the cool logo which is on the side of the truck. Also, the diving mask is pretty neat. It even has a built in snorkel. I didn't care for the face on the diver, but that's easily remedied by exchanging it with other sets. He also carries a harpoon gun. That will come in handy with all those sharks and giant squid Lego has produced since Aquazone came out.
The other figure isn't too special. He's got sunglasses and a hat. His shirt has a little fishy on it that looks pretty neat. There's a life preserver included in case he goes out on the boat with his buddy. (Kids, never go boating without a life preserver!)
If your diver's done for the day, he doesn't have to walk around town in his helmet and mask all day. Lego was kind enough to include an extra blue hat for him. His flippers and harpoon gun can be stowed in the truck.
My only complaint, other than the one-piece boat, is that the set is named incorrectly...SCUBA is an acronym and is supposed to always be spelled in capital letters. (On the other hand, "Lego" is NOT a letter-for-letter acronym, it's a proper noun. Therefore, I never spell it with capital letters...no matter what other people say. Besides, reading a paragraph about a Lego set with every third word in ALL CAPS is really annoying.)