Set Review: 70800 Getaway Glider
Sunday, December 29th, 2013 at 6:35pm by Andrew, BZPower News Manager
LEGO has kindly sent BZPower a whole bunch of sets from the upcoming LEGO Movie, which premiers on February 7th. Of course, when given new sets, we're going to review them. Today I take a look at 70800 Getaway Glider, the smallest set in the line. Read on to see my thoughts and to check out our video review of the set.
Presentation
From the design of the box to the instruction manual, these are the first things you see before building the set.
My first thought when I saw the box was, 'shiny!' I'm not sure what dictates whether a theme gets glossy boxes or not, but if ever there was a theme that deserved it, it's The LEGO Movie. Apart from that, we see the movie's logo top and center, while the background art indicates some sort of wild west town. The core of the box art is of course taken up by the set, where Emmet is trying to escape from Sheriff Not-a-robot and Deputron with his ad-hoc glider. An inset in the lower right clearly indicates which minifigures come in this set.
The back of the box shows Emmet getting away, a smirk replacing his earlier scream. Below that we see how Emmet attaches to the glider and that the weather vane can spin, along with an ad for the upcoming LEGO Movie videogame.
Building
Half the fun is had building the set. How fun is it to build and how easy or challenging is it?
With only 104 pieces, this set goes together in no time at all. The cactus is a snap and is probably easier to assemble than the minifigures. The glider is actually a bit interesting though, since the wings are not symmetrical. There's also a few cool techniques hidden here and there. Overall though, it's nothing to get too excited about and you'll have it done in no time.
Set Design
Now that the set is complete, we can critique how it looks from every angle. New or interesting pieces can also be examined here.
There's a wide variety of pieces here. You get a bunch of clip and bar hinge plates, a few different brackets, and bars of varying lengths. The colors are all over the place with light and dark tans, browns, and greys, with a little green thrown in for good measure. It's certainly a hodgepodge, and while the pieces are definitely useful, the only common theme is perhaps a wild west vibe.
Here's some of the pieces that jumped out at me while looking through the pile. I believe the only new ones are the gun and the 1x1x2 red brick with a hole in the side, both of which are nice additions. I hope we see the latter in a variety of colors down the line. The rest are all recolors, and maybe not unique, but cool or useful. I like the silver chicken and the mustache especially, but they're all nice.
The cactus is a cactus. It helps add to the wild west feel, but is nothing to write home about.
The glider is pretty nifty and features a wide variety of parts. It definitely has the look of something Emmet threw together in the nick of time in order to escape. Despite the chaos, it has a cohesion you wouldn't expect and captures the wild west feel. The stickers work well and further that vibe - they also seem like they might even have some reuse.
You also get a horse, which is nice, although I believe the printing is the same as we saw in the Lone Ranger line last year. All in all, while it's well designed, it feels a little lacking for $12.99.
Emmet obviously appears in many sets, but Sheriff Not-a-robot and Deputron are unique here.
Emmet is wearing his construction worker's outfit, which is nicely printed on the front and back the torso. He's got a passive face and a screaming face, both of which look useful. His hair piece appears to be brand new and has a little cowlick sticking up in the back. Finally, Emmet's backpack is a new piece - a 1x1x2 red brick with a hole in the side. It looks like it'll be really useful and hopefully we'll see it in more colors.
The robots are pretty nice figures too. The sheriff and his deputy both have great printing on the front and back of their torsos and their legs. There's no grey 'skin' on them, which means if you swap out the head and hands you can easily reuse them for western MOCs. Not-a-robot's mustache would also be super-useful for that. The heads are only printed on the front but look pretty cool anyway. Deputron's single eye makes me think of the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, and that's not a bad thing. The sheriff looks suitably angry with his big red eyes and robotic eyebrows. Finally, the hats aren't new, but the black one has a gold star printed on it.
Playability
The other half of the fun is in playing with the set. How well does the set function and is it enjoyable to play with?
The only real play feature of this set is that the wings can flap. Oh and the weather vane spins too.
Aside from that, everything else here is roleplaying fun. You have the movie's hero and a couple of villains. Where you go from there is up to you. Is Emmet really trying to get away or is he going to use the harpoon on the weather vane to fight back? Maybe he'll take apart his glider and build something else to help ease his predicament. So many possibilities with LEGO!
Final Thoughts
Once it's all said and done, how does the set stack up? Should I get it?
Pros
What's to like?
- Cool minifigures
- Asymmetrical design
- Pieces for your wild west MOCs
Cons
What's not to like?
- Seems a little lackluster for the price
I like the concept of this set and think the glider is really nice and well-done. But I can't really recommend it at $12.99 - maybe if they got rid of Deputron and/or the cactus and made it $9.99 it would have worked better. I think if you're shopping at this price point you might be better off with 70801 Melting Room which not only features Emmet, but also Wyldstyle, and more pieces too. Wait for the Getaway Glider to go on sale.
Thanks everyone for reading and watching - I hope you enjoyed the review. And of course thanks to LEGO for the set! Please be sure to leave any questions or comments you may have in the Talkback. This is just the beginning of our LEGO Movie reviews, so keep checking back for more, right here on BZPower!
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