I received this set for Christmas in 1978 also. I had a basic kit up to that point. The minifigs were amazing for the time. I still have the bricks mixed in with all my other sets but I found the figs: with chew marks from my dog and all. The next Christmas I received the Galaxy Cruiser.

I've recently brought out my original collection of Legos, as my kids are getting into them. This was the first set I ever received as a kid as a Christmas present. My kids of course wanted this one built ASAP because off all the vehicles. It was great re-build that brought back many memories!

Box/Instructions

I no longer have the box, but the instructions are still complete. Albeit with a little worse for the wear. Nothing a little scotch tape can't fix! Instructions are clear and concise. The structure, and the vehicles are nothing fancy.

Parts

Lots of cool parts used for the "floats" on the two boats, and used on the helicopter. I particularly loved the ladder, and the American Flag.

Minifigures

Five basic minifigs, with white pants, blue shirts, and either a white hat of white helmut. The blue shirts were enhanced by adding simple stickers that had buttons or zippers.

The build

Build is straight forward. Lots of piers to get the dock structure built, which requires careful stud counting on the all blue baseplate. Dock has stairs and easy white square for the helipad, and lots of the short yellow fences.

The completed model

I always thought the model was striking. Hefty black dock with multiple levels, flourished off with yellow fencing, and then the slender red tower with the bright yellow ladder, and radio equipment on the roof. I loved the use of the trailer hitch for the small spinning radar.

The biggest let down to this particular model, is it's lack of a playable structure. It's fully enclosed, and this was before the use of minifig sized doors. It's really just all for show, and it's all about the range of vehicles included.

Speaking of the vehicles, they're fanciful versions on no particular real life prototype, but simple and fun.

Overall opinion

This one pulls at my heart strings, as it's hold a lot of memories from childhood, but doesn't quite cut the mustard due to the lack of a playable structure. The vehicles are fun, but not realistic. However, their open tops make getting minifigs in and out simple, which is great for my little kids hands.

Fun model to build for reminiscing.

My Big brother was in the Coast Guard so it was natural that my Mom got this set for me for Christmas back in 1978. I was 6 years old, and this was only my 2nd Lego set. At the time this set was beyond awesome. A boat, a jet ski, and a helicopter. More than enough to keep my young imagination happy. This set is rare and commands a top price now. I have one that I bought from Bricklink, my original lost to the ages. I look to it as a very fond memory, a challenging build, and a great set.

Box/Instructions

It is interesting that the set is made of 2 types of boxes. The early version is the traditional 60's and 70's white box, the later version gets the 80's yellow "legoland" box. It is noticeable on the box that the helicopter pylon is not installed according to the instructions. The instruction has a date of 1977, probably the date of the design, the release was in 1978. If it's already 1978, 1-2 items in the catalog don't fit with the final version. At least the cylinder pieces are not color-correct or transparent in the catalog.

The build

The biggest advantage of today's sets is that it is made of basic bricks and does not contain special pieces. Except for the flag, antenna and door. But these are not special, then that was the standard.

Building

As a child, it triggered my imagination and creativity, mainly because of the layout of the building. The location and levels of the pier are very appealing. I also like the color. Unfortunately, the door is too small to fit a minifigure. The wind wheel / propeller was a good idea. A turntable piece could also change the direction of the wind. The ladder is also smart. It just doesn't make much sense if you can't go upstairs. It has 2 easy-to-break pieces, an antenna and a flag. These two and the door that hasn't been manufactured for 30-40 years are hard to find. The radar is pretty flimsy. The 1x4 white modified ball-joint plate only sits on the black fence hinge, does not connect to it properly because the connection of the two parts is not compatible. Fortunately, the rest of the parts is made up of basic bricks, easy to rebuild. On the roof, I could have imagined a lighting tower or lighthouse, only a 2x2 transparent brick would be needed. Two stickers were added to the building, which is the Coast Guard's logo. I would have put the red C.G. logo on the flag, I think it would be nicer. I think this set inspired designers to create the 4210 (2008) and 60167 (2017) city themed coast guard headquarters sets. Many similarities can be recognized in the layout.

Vehicles

Their colors are beautiful and realistic. To my knowledge, only this set is made with the traditional white-red coastguard color and the Canadian version. They are as few parts as today's Junior sets. The smaller boat is very weak and easy to fall apart because it has only 2 studs on the front and the back. The transparent slope brick windshield is pushed down by the hand of the minifig and therefore falls off. A jetsky would have been better instead. The larger ship could have been fitted with a red and a green transparent cylinder for marker lights. The helicopter is very funny, but rather ugly. Transparent windshield slope bricks protect only the foot of the minifigure/pilot. No winch on it. How will people be saved from the sea? If a designer had designed a winch for it, for example from early technic parts, it would have been much more usable.

Minifigures

5 minifigures are added to the set. The torso was not painted yet, but a sticker was used instead. All 5 are the same except for the diver and the pilot. They have white old style helmets and the diver has an airtank. At least 1 of the 5 minifugs could have been civilian to save the crew. The white sailor's trousers look funny to the pilot and the diver. It would have been better for them to have a simple dress, such as a diver black, and a pilot blue. At least one yellow life jacket could have been added to the set, for example the one used in the visibility vest in contemporary sets.

Overall opinion

The biggest problem with this set is that this 369 set, only has a different color and new minifigures. But the 369 set was not designed for traditional minifigures, but for its predecessor, which did not require large vehicles and buildings. Sadly, the new minifigures have not built buildings and vehicles that fit them in size. The figures on the vehicles look creepy and funny. Not at all realistic like the later Coast Guard sets. Unfortunately, there are few things to play with, and minifigures can't be put inside the building. It is a pity that they have saved the design work. Otherwise, due to the large amount of bricks, there is a lot of remodeling potential.

My mod

These parts already existed in 1977-1978. Let's start with the minifigures. I changed his pants for the pilot and the diver because the sailor’s uniform is not waterproof. 1 life jacket is also needed, especially for the person driving the jet ski. I took this from the 605 set, I just replaced the sticker that comes from the original 369 set. I also put this sticker on the diver, because they don't usually dive in jackets. And as a sign, I also put a sticker on the pilot’s helmet.

The vehicles. There were a lot of problems here. I threw out the little hovercraft, specifically useless, easily falling apart, and leaning back. And even ugly. I built a 1974 Kawasaki JS 400 Jet Ski instead. With 2 parts still less than the original watercraft. And much more usable. The handlebar also comes from the 605 set.

The original yellow helicopter was not scaled up, it was 2 bricks higher than its predecessor to fit the minifigure head from the propeller, but did not change over the length of the fuselage. First I took off the unnecessary parts from it, it got a slightly cleaner look. I put the top of a 2x2 turntable plate under the pylons so that if someone stepped on it, it wouldn’t break. I put a black 1x1 round brick into a white 1x2 technic brick to make a engine detail. But unfortunately, even so, the windshield isn't high enough, the pilot is comically big compared to a helicopter, as it wasn't originally designed for that either.

However, a helicopter that is too large cannot be built either because there is not enough space on the small helipad. I built a small UH1 and a Sea King type helicopter, that is only 2 bricks wide but at least fits on the helipad and has a winch! And now the minifigure fits comfortably in any vehicle. I also used the stickers of the original 369 set for the vehicles.

There wasn't much trouble with the larger hovercraft. I put 2 marker lights on it, (green, red) and took two 2x4 white plates out of it because the pylon was high.

The building was not left out of the minimal renovation either. Most importantly, I replaced the door with a larger one that is at least 5 bricks high to fit the minifigure in the building as well.

To do this, I put an extra 1 row of red bricks on the bottom of the building to be high enough. The door comes from the 590 set. Since there is not much space inside, I could only place a small yellow desk and a transceiver. The sticker on the 1x2 black brick is the torso sticker of the minifigure in the set, I just put it laid on the brick. So it's like having channel buttons.

I put the same sticker in the cockpit of the helicopter.

I placed a reflector made of 2x2 transparent bricks on top of the tower like that at the lighthouses. I put it under a 2x2 turntable plate. On the 2nd floor, two red arches were not on the same level. If the Coast Guard sticker is missing, all that remains is a red boring ghostly building. So I put the sticker on the back of the building, which is also boring, and put a light in place at the front and a marker strip of white brick. I replaced the second step of the front staircase with a black inverted slope brick instead of a 2x4 black brick so it is not as square.

I replaced the 1x1 black bricks between the yellow fence elements, with round bricks. I placed 2 fixed beacons on the helipad, replacing the many 1x2 white tiles with seven 2x2 yellow tiles in an H shape. I replaced the 4 black bricks of the pillars of the helipad with white as a water level indicator. To make the back of the building not so boring, I replaced the black 1x6 pillar at the bottom with two 1x2 brick pillars. I changed back the windows to original white ones.

I mentioned earlier that the radar is constantly falling out of place because it just sits on the black gate hinge, not connected, so I put a cylinder brick on a 2x2 turntable, put a technic brick and a 1x4 white plate on it.