THE LEGO® MOVIE 2: The Second Part is assembling in cinemas in February 2019, and the tie-in sets have just been released in stores. 70821 Emmet and Benny's ‘Build and Fix' Workshop! is the second set we are taking a closer look at. It has 117 parts, including new Emmet and Benny minifigures, and is now available priced £17.99/ 19,99€/ US$19.99 at Amazon USA and Amazon UK as well as all usual retailers.
70821 Emmet and Benny's ‘Build and Fix' Workshop! is particularly aimed at preschoolers and young builders. Such sets were previously branded as LEGO® Juniors, now it seems they just carry a large 4+ age mark. The Juniors moniker was introduced for kids who knew they were getting too old for DUPLO and wanted "grown up LEGO"; perhaps the name was dropped as they didn't want something marked as junior either?
Conversely, it seems no grown up is too old for this set.
In the Box
There are two numbered bags, a large wedge-shaped element and a 45-page instruction booklet inside the box. There are no stickers.
New Elements
The one completely new mould in this set is a real biggie!
The rear opens to allow a little space buggy to exit the spaceship and explore.
Of the three original Classic Space ships, the heavily simplified design seems closest to 924 Space Transporter (released in USA as 487 Space Cruiser).
It's amusing to note 924 came with eight pages of instructions; as mentioned, 70821's instructions number 45 pages!
Re-Colours
Transparent Yellow [TLG]/ Trans-Yellow [BL] Windscreen 3X6, 25 Deg (6253460|35283) is of note as it is the reason many AFOLs will be interested in this 4+ set.Another Transparent Yellow element, Design ID 3939, was a very similar element but in fact it is a different mould with internal walls. This long-gone element is much sought-after on the secondary market (approx. £9-13 new) so when the initial images of this set appeared with this Classic Space windscreen, it was a source of much happiness.
Sand Green Roof Tile 2X6 45 Deg. (6254955|23949) makes an appearance as the roof of the 'lean-to' workshop. This particular element is a recent element that has only appeared in three other colours: Black, Brick Yellow [TLG]/ Tan [BL] and Dark Stone Grey [TLG]/ Dark Bluish Gray [BL].
Printed Elements
As mentioned, there are no stickers in this set. The largest printed element is Medium Stone Grey Wall Element 1x6x5, 'decorated' (6254686|59349) which has a graphic depicting a leaking grill cover, some pipes and wall that looks salvaged.
Once Sand Green Roof Tile 2X6 45 Deg.(6254955|23949) is added along with a couple of accessories including a nod to Octan, the lean-to is complete.
Two printed elements both belong to Emmet's Escape Buggy.
Firstly, Medium Stone Grey Plate W. Bow 2X4X2/3 (6254747|88930) has printed headlights, 'bullbars' with a chain and skull sign.
The bonnet is Sand Blue Plate 4X4X2/3 'WS graphics' (6254674|45677) with red print on the outer slopes of the element. Although this is Emmet's Escape Buggy, it looks like Lucy has been graffiti-ing it with her Wyldstyle tag.
Another printed element will catch the eye of those 'Spacers' out there, but is not new. Bright Blue [TLG]/ Blue [BL] Roof Tile 2x4x1 'Classic Space Logo' was in 70816 Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! released in 2014, and returns here with a new Element ID, 6254680 (previously 6078302).
Minifigures
The two minifigures included in this set are the new Emmet and Benny minifigures, which have been updated a little.
Conclusion
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To be honest I'm actually pretty impressed with that new mold. Despite obviously being designed for young builders, it seems to be simple enough in shape and have versatile enough connection points that I could see it easily becoming a useful component for larger, more complex builds as well (something that's harder to say for some of the earlier Juniors pre-fab chassis or cockpit pieces).
ReplyDeleteHmmm, those unused hole connections there might imply TLG would have larger plans for the mold...
DeleteMore likely they're just playing it safe and building in some versatility. The holes in the bottom of the cavity are for disassembly, as they allow you to push something up through the bottom to force parts free, rather than relying on brick separators (especially in situations where there's nothing for them to grip, like the tip of a slope brick). The hollow studs are, of course, just there due to mold limitations, so the two Technic holes on the back edge are the only real extra holes. If you place two of these back-to-back, you could use those to pin them together prior to adding plates or tiles to the top to strengthen the joint. They've done this sort of thing before with other half-hull designs, so I'd actually be surprised if they'd skipped them.
DeleteOf course, the "Space Slope" is also available in the "Benny's Space Squad" set.
ReplyDeleteNice that it's simultaneously being offered in two cheaper sets, after only having been released in the "Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! "
Yes, they've been using "cheats" in the 4+ theme. Mostly they've consisted of the 11650 car base, and the linkable base-bricks. Young kids aren't as dexterous as they will be later in life, and large chunky parts not only give them something big to grip, but also make the model more stable so it's less likely to explode if you apply pressure in the wrong way while trying to attach a part (I'm looking at you, Shellraiser 1.0...). This is no different. It provides a sturdy frame for the spaceship, gives them something easy to clamp their little fingers onto, but still requires an array of standard parts to complete the model. That's still very different from the Jack Stone era. And on the plus side, something like this is even easier to incorporate into an AFOL MOC than the car base is.
ReplyDelete