Review: 75549 Unstoppable Bike Chase
Posted by CapnRex101,
Despicable Me and the associated Minions have proven exceedingly popular during recent years and LEGO has therefore introduced various new sets inspired by Minions: The Rise of Gru! These include 75549 Unstoppable Bike Chase which is among the smaller products.
Nevertheless, the set contains an exclusive Gru minifigure and two adorable Minions, both of whom are unique. I have been looking forward to assembling these fun characters, although Gru's jet-powered motorcycle appears slightly disappointing when compared with the trailer.
Minifigures
LEGO has produced some wonderful miniature characters during recent years and I originally expected that certain elements from those figures might return for the Minions. Bob and Stuart consist entirely of new parts though and they look fantastic, capturing the diminutive proportions of the Minions while also maintaining influence from standard minifigures.
Round tiles form the eyes on each character and these are both exclusive, differing from any other Minions sets. I am particularly impressed with Bob's heterochromatic eyes which reflect the original character. These designs convey considerable personality and the accompanying mouth on each figure looks excellent too. Stuart also features some printed hair.
These two Minions wear identical blue overalls which look marvellous. Blue, yellow and black plastic is moulded together here while the goggle straps around their heads are dual-moulded as well. The arms and hands are individually articulated which is useful and you could reorient the Minions' heads for looking towards either side, although they cannot actually rotate.
Recreating animated human characters as minifigures is notoriously challenging, given their frequently unusual proportions. Gru exemplifies some of those problems, especially since the designer has chosen to use standard legs rather than the articulated medium legs which were introduced during 2018. I think those would have been more suitable as Gru remains young in the upcoming movie.
However, the black hair piece looks splendid and this component is relatively uncommon. I like the cunning and nervous expressions on the double-sided head too, although Gru seems less recognisable without his distinctive nose! The dark blue jacket and striped scarf look accurate when compared with the film though.
The Completed Model
Gru's jet-powered motorcycle appears prominently during the official trailer for Minions: The Rise of Gru and certainly resembles this model, albeit only loosely. This vehicle looks notably powerful which is appropriate and its forward rake seems fittingly aggressive but the onscreen bike is spindlier, more closely resembling a traditional chopper with an oversized jet engine!
Unfortunately, the exposed Technic elements on each flank look awkward in my opinion. The blue pins appear particularly out of place but I like the small gears which are situated on each side. Furthermore, the frame feels absolutely sturdy which is important, although the front fork has been omitted and I think an alternative solution may have been found to achieve accuracy and rigidity.
The elaborate headlights and handlebars look excellent though, incorporating black rear view mirrors and capturing the shape of the original motorcycle. The mudguard above the front tyre also seems quite accurate and provides room for a Minion to stand. However, the 1x2 slope at the tip looks odd, hence I would be inclined to turn this component around or remove it.
Red and dark red pieces distinguish the seat from the surrounding bodywork and these stand out nicely, although I believe the clips behind the headrest should have been light bluish grey. There is adequate room for Gru to sit but he cannot hold the handlebars, even when they are angled inwards, so scope for improvement remains.
The aforementioned trailer shows four Minions clinging desperately to Gru's motorcycle. The designer has therefore included several studs behind the driver where two Minions can stand. These hinged plates fold neatly against the motorcycle and I love the decorative skull emblem above them. Stickers are required for that design and those on each side of the rear wheel.
Further to riding behind Gru, the Minions can also climb aboard their own buggy. This simple vehicle features two rocket engines, although they are presumably unreliable as a pearl silver chain can connect to Gru's bike for towing! Personally, I would rather more attention and detail had been focused upon the motorcycle but more vehicles are certainly welcome for play.
Overall
As anticipated, Bob and Stuart are definitely my favourite aspect of 75549 Unstoppable Bike Chase. These characters strike an appealing balance between LEGO styling and authenticity when compared with the source material. Gru also looks reasonable, although I think medium legs would have improved this minifigure substantially.
The motorcycle is rather disappointing though. Certain compromises are inevitable to improve play value but this model scarcely resembles the onscreen vehicle and the Technic parts along either side look dreadful. Moreover, the price of £17.99 or $19.99 seems expensive and I would therefore recommend focusing upon other Minions: The Rise of Gru sets above this example.
I hope you have found this review informative. Let us know by liking this article and share your opinion of the set in the comments.
57 likes
19 comments on this article
Not a very good set in my opinion but it could work with kids.
Question: are the minions' goggles a separate piece, or are they moulded onto their heads? Thanks in advance ^^
Might just be me, but I think Gru would look more screen-accurate with short legs, being still pretty tiny, and this hairpiece: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=99930&idColor=11
I'm not that interested, honestly. I thought I might be in this set, out of all of them, since it has Gru - and I like the human characters far more than the minions - but it doesn't appeal much in the end. Still, thanks for the detailed review, as always! ^^
@BionicleJedi - The black goggle straps are moulded onto the Minions' heads but their eyes are separate 1x1 round tiles.
Love Stuart and Bob too. The rest is very average
Table scraps.
I really couldn’t tell that was Gru, let alone his younger self.
Thanks for the review.
The two things that annoy me about this set:
1). Gru needs his infamous nose. The minifig just doesn't convey his image correctly. His height doesn't bother me as Gru needs to be taller than his minions.
2). The noticeable piece line between the upper and lower parts of the minion's body. I understand there's specialized molds for both upper and lower but it just bugs me to no end how I can see the blank piece line in between a bright yellow body.
@LegoLitten27 said:
"Where’s the “chase” part of it? It’s just a scaled down version of the bike from the movie, there’s no stone and nothing to chase the bike. Quite a let down."
Yeah, I think it's a shame Lego/the licensors didn't think any of the villains were worth making into sets. Especially since—if the trailer is any indication—there were some really creative vehicle designs to draw upon.
I actually got my nickname from a girl with heterochromatic eyes. They weren't quite that distinctive, being two very different shades of brown.
Anyways, there's still 75548 which we haven't seen images of, so it's possible that one or more of these eyes might be repeated there. Or maybe not. I can't say for sure if any of the eye tiles are repeated, but there sure are quite a few of them that are easy to call as unique.
One thing I found disappointing about these is that they have the same body and different heads. I was looking forward to being able to customize a whole pile of different Minions, but while there's some potential there, it's a bit more limited than I would have liked.
@Mister_Jonny:
They did the same thing with Incredibles 2. You got a full set of the Parr family, a second version of Mrs. Incredible/Elastigirl (but _not_ her alternate costume), and all of three villains (one of whom isn't even really a villain). There's still five other aspiring superheroes from I2, plus Bomb Voyage and a huge pile of former superheroes from the first movie, plus we had to wait until CMF Disney 2 to get a Frozone minifig.
Which minions are best
Bike's awful, Gru looks nothing like Gru. Minions're ok, but what's the point if there are tons of minis merch.
Those Minions are so... mignons ! (That means "cute" in French) But Gru deserved a better rendition as a minifig. Maybe a big fig or so. And most of all : I miss his long nose, which happens to be his most distinctive sign to me.
As for the theme, I am more and more excited by the builable version of the minions characters. Thanks for the review.
@PurpleDave said:
"I actually got my nickname from a girl with heterochromatic eyes. They weren't quite that distinctive, being two very different shades of brown.
I really like that Purple Dave got his nickname from his brown eyes. Round these parts you’d be known as Davo
@Kynareth said: "I really like that Purple Dave got his nickname from his brown eyes. Round these parts you’d be known as Davo"
The good old Australian habit of abbreviating everything and then adding an "o" to the end.
Mark me as underwhelmed. The build is cluttered and ugly. Yes it’s a cheap set with two minions. The minions look ok’ish. But something about them feels off. I almost hate to voice this blasphemy, but Megabloks might have actually produced better minions. (Provided you didn’t main yourself trying to socket the arms).
@Kynareth:
Uh...no...you got that mixed up. The girl who came up with my nickname is the one with heterochromatic eyes. Mine are also brown, but not different shades of brown like hers. What actually earned me that nickname was a purple baja that I bought in high school (and wore _a_lot_ my first semester at college) that was so bright that it could peel the color right off of your irises.
@Faefrost said:
"Mark me as underwhelmed. The build is cluttered and ugly. Yes it’s a cheap set with two minions. The minions look ok’ish. But something about them feels off. I almost hate to voice this blasphemy, but Megabloks might have actually produced better minions. (Provided you didn’t main yourself trying to socket the arms). "
Completely agree. I have several of those sets and their figures are an almost perfect representation of the characters. Can't see how something as proportionally extreme in design as Gru could translate well into a standard minifig.
It’s not as bad as people are making it out to be. Cheap set for 2 minions figs.