Review: 30434 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro
Posted by Huw,
Since Speed Champions transitioned to 8-wide cars in 2020, a polybag version of one of vehicles has also been produced each year. This year it's 30434 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, a smaller rendition of the lime green hypercar in the Aston Martin double-pack 76910.
Availability of the polybag is patchy, but it's now available in the UK in independent toy shops, and I am indebted to Matt at Automattic Comics in Corsham, Wiltshire for sending me a couple for my collection
Summary
30434 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro, 97 pieces.
£3.49 / $4.99 / €3.99 | 3.6p/5.1c/4.1c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
Colourful mini version of the powerful hypercar
- Intricate design
- Great parts pack
- Opaque windscreen
- Poor colour matching of a sticker
The 5-wide car is certainly recognisable as the $3.5 million hypercar, and it's incredible just how much detail has been crammed into such a small model.
Stickers are provided for the front and rear lights, and the Aston Martin logo. Unfortunately the colour match between it and the dark green piece it's adhered to is shocking.
I particularly like the use of the 38583 WINDOW ARCH at the back, whose curves match those of the 1x1 round 'polo' plate that surround the exhaust pipes.
Polybags without minifigs in them are often good value parts packs and that's certainly the case here: the 96 pieces include a variety of curved slopes, small wedge plates and other useful elements.
The three Speed Champion polybags released so far are 30342 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO, 30343 McLaren Elva and 30434 Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro.
Of the three I think the Elva is the more successful mini-renditon on account of it not having a windscreen: the opaque ones on the other two let them down somewhat.
Nevertheless, it's definitely worth seeking out from your local store.
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34 comments on this article
Ugly
These blocky sets look like unlicensed cars from one of those generic late '90s racing games on the Nintendo 64 like Top Gear Rally or MRC. There were a million of these games between like '97 and '99 and they were all bad.
It’s absolutely hideous. Why even bother?
Pretty ugly but my son has the Lambo and the McLaren and really likes both. He's 7. I grab it for him if I come across it.
My first thought: “Ugly for 8 studs wide”
My second thought: “Oh”
I saw one at the toy shop in Huddersfield (Toyland?) and they had some other polybags there, though I can't remember what. I kinda wish I'd picked it up, but after this review I'm also glad I didn't. It's a bit ugly.
The Elva set is okay but it's just so... blue? It's boring.
I absolutely love the Speed Champion series and have almost all the sets.
But these poly bag set are horrid. You literally couldn't give it to me.
I actually like this… I mean I won’t go out of my way to get it but it looks nice.
Pick it up and then use the parts on a MOC.
I don't know why everyone thinks it's ugly. I think it looks pretty good; I've always thought lime green and black was a striking color combination. If I see it, I'll have to pick it up.
I don't think it looks too bad.
However, reading this review got me thinking - stickers in polybags seem relatively rare. I'd be interested in an article about it.
Need this just to keep the Speed Champions collection complete! Last 2 were GWPs in mid June (£35 and £40 thresholds)
@TheOtherMike said:
"I've always thought lime green and black was a striking color combination."
Many years ago a friend got me to paint his Ford Corsair lime green and black. It was universally hated, but he absolutely loved it!
I think these little polybag cars have some kind of retro-feel to them, being small and blocky and undeniably LEGO. And of course they are not perfect replica models of the real cars at this scale. But they are more like the Easter eggs found for example in modular buildings, replicating another LEGO set at a smaller scale. That's how I look at them. I don't own any, but this one is the best in my eyes and if i come across one I might just pick it up just for fun and some parts.
To clarify my comment above, the ugliness comes from it being blocky. It’s very small. It’s Lego, so of course it’ll be blocky. I think it’s pretty well done for the scale.
Isn’t this much closer to minifig scale than actual speed champions sets?
Yuck. My review would have had nothing in the "Pros" column and everything in "Cons".
"Great parts pack"? More like "More useful as a parts pack".
People are entitled to their own opinions, but I seem to agree with the majority of the people here saying this is not a good set.
Looks nice! Clever detailing on the back.
And yeah of course it's blocky. It's a tiny LEGO car. Not sure what people expected. :P
I actually like it. The worst one for me was the 4-wide Lambo. 5-wide is much more successful, and this and the McLaren look pretty good.
I hope they release more in this scale! (That Elva needs it's stickers tho)
Edit: I just noticed there's a small hair on the front of the car in the main picture
Also I think it's a good set, I like the part usage
To be honest, they're all a bit rubbish on their own, but paired with their larger counterparts they're quite neat. Same as the mini Mini, mini VW Beetle, and mini VW Campervan.
@TheOtherMike said:
"I don't know why everyone thinks it's ugly. I think it looks pretty good; I've always thought lime green and black was a striking color combination. If I see it, I'll have to pick it up."
agreed
Polybags just aren't as easily available as they should be. It's pocket money LEGO, a complete model for a few pounds. Imagine being a kid: you get a car model to build and a car to play with for about the same price as one CMF. A whole car for less than most of the tacky, crappy "collectible" blind bag rubbish that dominates low priced toys at the moment.
I would never buy this but I don't think it's bad for what it is. I recently found 30581 in Sainsbury's (a supermarket chain in the UK) and it's a charming little set. It's not the best ever parrot made from LEGO but for its price it's great. The box of polybags was well picked over though and they do seem to get dominated by one or two sets that aren't as popular.
I like it, it's exactly what Lego is about. If you want an exact scale model, buy a Hotwheel.
It's recognizable, fun, playable, a toy. For a kid. AFOLs seem to keep forgetting Lego is primarily a toy and want 100% accurate display models with no Legoh-studs visible whatsoever.
I think it looks perfectly normal for a 'tiny turbos' scale vehicle, with some great miniature details! The colors are a bit bright, sure. But it's as good as they can get at this scale and color scheme.
In fact, I'm glad they made Speed Champions pocket money sets at all. We need more sets at this price range to be readily available again.
Another cute SC polybag, but please, may the next be a Ferrari to go with older Shell ones !
@Zoniax said:
"You literally couldn't give it to me."
can't pass up free lego! well unless it's in wretched condition, and even then hmmm ;)
Is it a transformer?
These are pretty cool for what they are…simplified polybag builds.
I got a Speed Champions question unrelated to polybags…why is there only one release “wave” per year? I want more, I need more…
@blogzilly said:
"I got a Speed Champions question unrelated to polybags…why is there only one release “wave” per year? I want more, I need more…"
Well there are a couple more coming!
(76911 & 76912)
@CCC said:
" @Koentinius said:
"I like it, it's exactly what Lego is about. If you want an exact scale model, buy a Hotwheel.
It's recognizable, fun, playable, a toy. For a kid. AFOLs seem to keep forgetting Lego is primarily a toy and want 100% accurate display models with no Legoh-studs visible whatsoever."
If this was next to 30585 in a box, I reckon most kids would choose that one instead."
And arguably, I would too. Cheapest way to get the new firefighter's helmet in fire safety yellow. Currently, I'd likely just buy the helmet on Bricks and Pieces, but if this set shows up at Walmart, I'd buy several. Currently, the cheapest regular set it's in is $40.
@sjr60 said:
" @blogzilly said:
"I got a Speed Champions question unrelated to polybags…why is there only one release “wave” per year? I want more, I need more…"
Well there are a couple more coming!
(76911 & 76912)"
Oooo…did not know this. Thanks!
Of course, now I want…even MORE!!! LOL
There are no stickers for the rear lights, there are stickers on the side of the car.
Also, your hood emblem sticker has to be wrong, it looks nearly black in your photos.
The set I built has a green sticker that matches exceptionally well, better than the headlight stickers on the arches even.
At the 0:47 mark you can see the stickers go on and they match:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-OSIcMZfn0
@UsernameTaken said:
"There are no stickers for the rear lights, there are stickers on the side of the car.
Also, your hood emblem sticker has to be wrong, it looks nearly black in your photos.
The set I built has a green sticker that matches exceptionally well, better than the headlight stickers on the arches even.
At the 0:47 mark you can see the stickers go on and they match:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-OSIcMZfn0 "
Agree with UsernameTaken - I just picked up this set and my dark green sticker matches extremely well. You must have gotten a poorly colored sheet.
My opinion of the set quickly - its ok. But it almost looks as if somebody stepped on it! Its so visually FLAT. I will give the designer credit - its actually a complicated little build for nearly 100 pieces. I appreciate that greatly.