Review: 70805 Trash Chomper
Posted by Huw,
We're slowly getting our reviews posted of The LEGO Movie sets that LEGO kindly sent us. I hope you're not feeling overwhelmed by them all!
Today I'm going to be looking at set 70805-1, Trash Chomper which is a mid-priced (£24.99 / $29.99) two-in-one set that can be made into something fairly normal, or something that's far from normal!
I was initially attracted to this particular TLM set because the 'fairly normal' model is a rubbish/garbage truck that might look good alongside City 'great vehicles' of which I am a fan.
Let's see if it lives up to expectations...
The box is another very glossy one which shows the far-from-normal model, the trash chomper, chasing a chef for reasons that I'm sure will become clear when we've seen the movie.
On the back there are pictures of both models and the minifigs included.
Inside, four bags, three instruction manuals and a sticker sheet. The bags are not numbered which is not surprising given it's a 2-in-1 set.
The minifigs are (L to R): Gordon Zola, Garbage Man Grant and Garbage Man Dan. Dan's wearing a very nice baseball cap.
The garbage men's torsos have dirty stains, front and back.
Following the instructions for the Trash Chomper, the first thing built is this Micro Manager. They obviously have some significance in the movies because they appear in many of the sets. This one has a couple of arms, 'jet engines' underneath and...
...hinged sides that open to reveal flick-missiles.
Here's the finished model. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No -- it's a chomping garbage truck!
It looks absurd but I guess if you asked a kid to draw something that eats rubbish and flies it would probably look a lot like this.
The absurd touches continue round the back: wheels for engines and dustbins for exhausts or something.
The best part of the model is the jaws which open and close via the gear on the side with a very smooth and satisfying 'chomp'
Here's a view staring into the jaws of the beast:
Not only is it a trash chomper, but a flying one at that, with wings and guns.
And, underneath propulsion units to facilitate VTOL operations.
So, chomper disassembled (but not the micro manager) I set to work on the garbage truck:
Note how it uses 'non-optimal' parts in quite a few places, but it was never a problem in terms of compromising the truck's aesthetics.
The finished truck looks pretty much as a garbage truck should. The dustbins are now used for their intended purpose!
From the front it looks pretty good, although perhaps a bit short and stubby.
Round the back, the aesthetic starts to fall apart somewhat. The 6-wide at-the-front vehicle has a 10+ wide back so the proportions look all wrong.
The back does however raise via the gear on the side, but not by very much.
Dan and Grant enjoy a natter between jobs. I forgot to put the red mugs in their hands, which seem to be a standard accessory in City sets containing workers these days!
A couple of points worth mentioning are that the Micro Manager does not need to be dismantled to build the garbage truck, and the level of parts re-used in the two models is very impressive. The only spares when building the chomper are a couple of 2 x 3 plates and a tooth. After building the truck, all that's left are a few technic pins and axles. That must have taken a lot of design work to achieve.
I built the chomper first because I thought I'd prefer the truck and would leave it assembled for a while but actually, the chomper is the more impressive model of the two, the chomp action being particularly satisfying.
Overall then, it's a neat set that makes a pair of impressive models, although IMO one is much better than the other. Although the truck is okay as a fictional work, I don't think it looks particularly good lined up with City 'great vehicles' due to the proportions being a bit out.
Parts - 4 - Nothing new but plenty of useful parts, particularly given green has fallen out of favour with designers lately and to find this much of it in a set is uncommon.
Playability - 5 - The chomper is swooshable and has an awesome chomping action: minifigs can be swallowed whole!
Building experience - 4 - SNOT and a touch of Technic, but not too much, combine with traditional techniques to make this a satisfying build.
Value for money - 4 - Pretty good, just under 400-pieces for £25, and not loads of tiny 1 x 1 pieces, either.
Overall - 4 - I reckon LEGO could be on to something with these TLM sets and this, I would say, is among the best; weird and whacky, but 'normal-ish' if you want it to be.
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18 comments on this article
Love that 'chomping' feature!
Great reveiw Huw! Looks like a pretty good set, I'll try and pick it up. :)
Thanks for the really great review Huw. I'm certainly not feeling overwhelmed by them, but then you might have noticed I'm on here most of the time all through the day!
How the great vehicle is compromised by the double build is what I've been really interested to see in these sets and the build pics you've done show how the different parts mix affects the model really well. It seems a real shame that the back is overly bulky and the front is disappointingly weedy. How hard do you think it would be to thin out and beef up for someone that wanted a normal City bin lorry?
(I've just noticed you missed the word "with" out of your final sentence between "something" and "these" by the way. I reckon the garbage masher is chasing the black cube that's chasing the chef too.)
It's nice to see the garbage truck build, which I thought was a lot better (based on box art) till this, not feeling that build at all. But I can't help to think both models really lose something without the stickers on it. Kinda reminds me of an old set ...2161 Aqua Dozer, just needs some eyes lol.
^^ The limiting factor is the two curved 4-wide panels. You could use just the one, dispense with the mechanism and fill the gaps at the sides, I suspect, to make it 6 wide.
I think this set or the Ice Cream Truck will be my next purchase. They look to be the pick of the 2 in 1 sets and the Micro Managers are quite fun as well!
Thanks for the review Huw.
^^I wondered that, it looks like the same curve as a 1 stud wide curve that I know is made. Would the mechanism definitely not fit if you did that? The front seems like it would just take a different windscreen and some extra bricks or plates.
Still, with the good bin lorry from not that long ago I can't imagine it's worth the effort either way.
I agree Cap'n, the ice cream truck is the one I've been waiting to see most.
Huw, when reviewing, could you please apply the stickers? I don't know what's so bad about them, I've applied them to every single model I have, so it shouldn't be so hard for you to.
I really like the chomping feature on this and chopper as weird as it looks seems the Better model. The garbage truck still looks good though, I really want this one.
Looks like a great set, I might get it, this or the ice cream truck or bad cops pursuit :D
I am with you on that @CapnRex101
I will buy those 2 sets only for the city display.
My god, alternate builds are finally back. Great pictures, Huw. Looking forward to buying these "double build" sets.
i know this is a little OT, but does anyone know about the flying flusher set? i haven't seen it in store or listed anywhere other than LEGO.com. is it a retailer exclusive?
i think im going to pickup the ice cream truck, this trash compactor truck and the flying flusher....that is if i can find it.
Only interested in the cye chase and the one that features the Bad Cop.
I really like this set, the only complaint is that the mechanism to snap the jaws requires a little effort to turn and eventually the toothed gear chafes into your skin...
On the box cover, I think the Micro-manager is chasing the chef, and the Chomper is about to chomp the Micro-manager.
I don't mind this one, but I definitely prefer the look of the ice-cream van. I'm not so keen on the chomping/flying model, but the truck-mode looks great.
I agree with MrSeatle above. It seems to me that the chef is amongst the good guys. But maybe the movie will change my views...