Set Review: 40352 Vintage Taxi
Friday, January 28th, 2022 at 3:55pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager [Source: Ta-metru_defender]
Today we've got a review of the latest gift-with-purchase set from the LEGO Shop. The 40352 Vintage Taxi is added for free to any purchase over $200, which is conveniently the exact amount of the new Boutique Hotel modular - except that set is out of stock. Hear all about this set from Ta-metru_defender and decide if you need to go fill up your shopping cart!
You know that thing LEGO does, where if you spend enough money, they throw in something for free? That's happening again and if you spend $200 at LEGO.com or a LEGO Store between now and February 13th, you, in the grand tradition of gameshow winners everywhere, get a car!
But is it any good?
This Vintage Taxi is 18+, presumably because LEGO does not advise getting in a vintage taxi alone unless you're 18. The branding, a green stripe on the bottom, makes it out to be a counterpart to this year's Modular, the Boutique Hotel. Cool!
Inside are bags, instructions, you know the deal.
It's a cool build, one that makes good use of slope pieces to get some real elegant curves. That said, there's little complexity that gives it its 18+ rating. Throughout the build, I was waiting for it to have that neat spark, but outside of some clever uses of brackets, it felt very straightforward. Of course, that might be more a testament to how great the standard is for LEGO builds these days, that something like this doesn't seem exceptionally great when it would have been top-notch around a decade ago.
Anyway, there are some neat pieces in it: the new 2l bar, the 1x2 bracket, and the poop piece. All three are great pieces for three very different purposes.
When it's built, it does look like a pretty great car, to scale with most other LEGO City cars. I really like the black curves on it, especially its contrast against the main yellow body. It's all very elegant, which harkens back to older real-world cars, which were a clear inspiration.
That said, this is supposedly an 18+ set, a counterpart to the Boutique Hotel; and it really pales in that regard. Look at the cab in The Daily Bugle: that one's got a few more fun part uses (curved 1x2 plates at the end of the curves, a flintlock pistol as the exhaust pipe) that give it that little edge. How's this Vintage Taxi that much different than the City Sports Car?
Is it the sidewalk on the side? The trash can, if you're wondering, is where the poop goes. Which raises a lot of questions that we're not going to answer here.
There's space in the cab for a suitcase - and a passenger. A passenger that that's not in the set. I know it seems like I'm splitting hairs, but last year's Vintage Car had both two minifigs and a more complex build (and that one was 12+, not 18+).
The cab looks good with a passenger and fits in swell with a modular. Which is good, but I just can't help but compare it to gift-cars-with-purchases-past. Both the prior-mentioned Vintage Car and the Hot Rod had more intricate builds, two minifigs, and were available at the $85 threshold. This one's at $200. It seems like a lot more for less, which, honestly, is a bit of a bummer.
In sum, the car's a cool set in a vacuum, but as a successor to a pair of really good car gifts-with-purchase, an 18+ set, and the giveaway with at a $200 threshold? Yeah, in that case, I guess it's fine.
Many thanks to Josh for putting together this review and to The LEGO Group for sending the set - and of course we wouldn't have these opportunities without our Ambassador Tufi Piyufi! Stay tuned to BZPower for more news and set reviews soon!
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