3 Cars, 1 Question
Most Important LEGO Cars from 2021
As DriveTribe’s to meet its maker, we’ve started planning the future of LEGO Tribe, which led to the decision to start out with a FULL REVIEW on one set CHOSEN BY YOU!
3 Candidates, 1 Winner
Last year was tough, but it didn’t keep LEGO from bringing smiles to the faces of our inner 5-year-olds with their colourful ABS bricks wrapped in delicate boxes. Of all 803 sets released in 2021, we picked out 3 most important cars produced by the Danish company, put together some short previews, and would like to know which one is your favourite!
To take part in the survey, simply tell us what you’d like us to review in the comments, and we shall present the most voted one for you.
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1. Creator Expert 10295 Porsche 911
Three most famous digits ever stencilled on a bonnet
Let’s start with LEGO’s take on immortalising one of the greatest classics in automotive history — Porsche 911. And not just any Porsche 911, it’s a two-in-one package with a wide-bodied 930 911 Turbo with an unmistakable whale-tail, and an elegant, French Riviera-ready 911 Targa. The perfect choice for a two car garage.
The 10295 Porsche 911 is incontestably a new height for LEGO’s Creator Expert Vintage Car design. Aided by the newly introduced slope parts, the smooth curves of the sports car’s rear end are rendered impeccably. The doors close neatly without leaving unnecessary gaps ruining the car’s profile, and its sturdy build with working steering make it not just a decent display, but a great toy to ‘vroom’ with as well.
Through this kit, LEGO brings back the alternate build feature to larger sets, now called the ‘dual building routes’. On page 181 of the instruction manual, you are given a choice between making your Porsche 911 a Turbo for petrol pumping track days, or a Targa for holidays sipping lemonades down the Promenade in the sunny Côte d’Azur. We suggest that you play Don’t Stop Me Now whilst building the former, and On Days Like These for the latter.
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2. Creator 40468 Yellow Taxi
Where to?
New York City. The city that never sleeps. A metropolis known for many treasures including its striking skyline, giant climbing monkey, friendly neighbourhood super heroes and the ever vibrant streets. And in those streets, other than the steam-blowing manholes and the air smelling like a mixture of petrol, hotdogs, ammonia and sometimes marijuana, one universally recognised NYC icon would be the long strings of tailgating, horn-abusing yellow taxis pumping through the avenues during rush hours.
Before Bloomberg decided that taxis should go eco-friendly with the dreary, anti-septic hybrids in the early 2000s, the New York City Taxi’s vehicle of choice was the Ford Crown Victoria saloon, which had been serving the Empire State since the 1990s, probably the most definitive yellow taxi ever. At last, all Crown Victoria yellow taxis were retired in 2011, and the cultural icon of yesteryear was gone forever. Or was it?
It’s not hard to see why LEGO would reminisce the good old days and make a small contribution in preserving the Crown Victoria taxi in a form even more accessible to everyone around the world, especially when travelling has become the luxury on a dare. With only 124 pieces, the design is smart and simple, consisting of many parts that could be easily found in various sets across all themes. It was such a great model that’s instantly recognisable.
This sweet little car is by far the smallest and the most affordable set on this list, and it’s here for a reason. LEGOs are essentially toys that are designed to be played with by children. And now adults. With more and more large, sophisticated and pricey sets now labelled with ‘18+’ age recommendation signs, the market is lured and beguiled by all the fancy kits that actually aren’t children-friendly. Why would that a problem? Well, since it’s easier for LEGO to make money from adults who could buy the big, expensive sets for themselves anytime them want, why focusing on making more of the small, cheap sets that adults would buy for their children only for birthdays or Christmas? Choosing to focus on producing more 18+ sets would be a no-brainer to any heartless corporations. Thankfully, the 40468 Yellow Taxi is one of the examples showing that LEGO hasn’t lost its touch in being a toy company, which earns from the adults but serves the children.
3. DC Batman 76240 Batmobile Tumbler
‘Does it come in black?’
Some 17 years ago, we saw Christopher Nolan’s Tumbler conquering the Gotham for the first time in Batman Begins of the Dark Knight Trilogy. Thanks to its bizarre, angular and tank-ish appearance, so radically different from any of the previous Batmobiles, it still has a mixed reception.
Its controversial styling gave the LEGO designers a great challenge. 9 years later, in the summer of 2014, the 76023 Tumbler was released, causing quite a sensation at the time. With its gigantic scale (5”x15”x9”, or 16*45*25cm, bigger than most medium-sized tortoises, if that helps…) and the accurately captured silhouette of body armours, it was one of the hottest collectables ever in the world made from a pile of black bricks. Its exclusivity and low availability made it next to impossible to secure a unit whilst still on sale. After LEGO’s announcement of the set’s retirement, only less than a year after its initial release, a brand new 76023 in a sealed box would set you back at nearly two times the list price. For plastic bricks, that was quite a good business.
Albeit being an ultra rare item, the 76023 Tumbler has a huge flaw — its fragile bodywork. Some armour layers attached to the car’s roof could be quite flimsy. If not holding properly whilst playing, they would just fall off, which Lucius Fox would never approve.
Last year, following LEGO’s re-issue campaign, this all-time-great was resurrected, redesigned and reinforced. The new 76240 Batmobile Tumbler comes with a sturdier bodywork, new armour panels, even more bonkers rear wheels and rotating plinth. Unlike the 10295 Porsche 911, there aren’t many playing functions on the Tumbler, which makes it more of a centrepiece of a showroom, rather than a toy to embark on the caped vigilante’s imaginary adventures on the carpet. But if one’s looking for a serious model and a true collectable, this will be it.
And yes, it does come in black.
WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
One last bit, as in the future, LEGO Tribe will longer rigidly dedicate itself to motoring-themed contents solely, we would like to know what themes you’d like to read about the most (e.g. Star Wars, Pirate, SpongeBob, Marvel, Architectures etc). Please feel free to comment below!
Stay tuned, more to come.
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Originally published at https://drivetribe.com on January 14, 2022.
