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Set Review: 75909 McLaren P1
 Saturday, September 26th, 2015 at 2:56pm by Andrew, BZPower News ManagerIt's time to jump back in to the BZPower set reviews. Today we're returning to the Speed Champions theme, which we visited earlier this year, to look at 75909 McLaren P1, one of the smaller, car-only sets in the line. Is this supercar a super-good buy, or is it a lemon you should leave on the lot? Check out our text and video reviews to find out! Presentation
The box is quite shiny, as if it was a licensed set, and that's because it is - LEGO partnered with McLaren here to build a likeness of one of their more famous cars. You can see that car front and center on a racetrack of some sort, with the LEGO and Speed Champions logos above. The bottom right has the McLaren logo, and the left side has all the information you'd expect on a North American box. Pretty simple. The back shows the set from several different angles, including one of the driver apparently changing the tire. We also get an image of the actual car, along with some impressive stats. I think LEGO chose the angle they did to make it more difficult to compare the set to the actual car, which has a lot of crazy curves. Building
With 168 pieces, the set isn't going to take you very long. A lot of the building is studs-up, but the front and rear bumpers and the sides do have some SNOT to keep it interesting. The most time consuming part of the build is probably applying the stickers though, which there are a LOT of. Some pieces even get two stickers, which isn't something you normally see. I don't feel like any of them were unnecessary per se, but it did get a bit tedious. I also think that kids in the lower end of the age range are going to need their parents' help in applying them all. Set Design
Keetorange, or, as it is also known, Flame Yellowish-Orange, is the color of the set, being the closest shade to the most common color you see the P1 in. There's quite a few unique and uncommon parts in the set, such as:
The rest of the parts are more Keetorange, black, and then some red, blue, and green that's hidden on the inside as part of the structure. If you're looking for Flame Yellowish-Orange, this is a great set for you as there's a wide variety of pieces in that color.
The minifigure is exclusive to this set by way of the unique torso print. All of the other pieces have been seen in other sets previously. The front of the torso has a pretty basic design with the McLaren mark on the left chest while the back has the complete McLaren logo. He definitely fits with the car.
The set comes with some traffic cones and another racing-type accessory whose purpose I'm not entirely clear on. They don't really add a lot to the set, but I guess they helped it reach its designated price point, so oh well. More parts for the parts bin.
The model itself is very smooth and sleek, although not nearly as smooth and sleek as the actual car. There's very few studs showing, which helps it achieve its look, with lots of curved slopes and tiles covering things up. I think it's a good middle ground between a die-cast car and a plastic glue-together model - you get all the playability of the former with the build-it-yourself of the latter. As a result you lose some accuracy, but I think as fans of LEGO we understand there are limitations of the medium when you're working at different scales. It's definitely a cool-looking model with a very sharp color scheme. Playability
There's not a whole lot of playability in this set, unfortunately. The windscreen pops off to allow you to put the driver in and out. There's no opening doors, hood, or trunk, and the wheels don't turn. You can use the cones to set up a course for the car, but without turning wheels it's only really good at rolling straight. I would have loved to see some other features in this set, as once it's built it feels like there's not much else to do. Final Thoughts
If you're a fan of supercars, the McLaren P1 may be right up your alley. It may not capture it perfectly, but it's still a sleek little model. At $15 for 168 parts, it's also not a bad Flame Yellowish-Orange parts pack, with quite a few unique and uncommon elements in the color. If you're not a fan of the car or looking for more pieces in Keetorange though, you can probably pass on it. That said, I'm not planning on taking it apart soon, and it looks great next to my Porsche 918 Spyder. Thanks everyone for reading and watching this review - with luck you found it helpful and informative. We'd love to hear your thoughts in the Talkback as well as answer any questions you might have. And of course you should stay tuned to BZPower for more set reviews and LEGO news coming up!
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