After LEGO announced they're making a new version of safari off-road truck, it was obvious to me that I must find my old version. And so, I'm finally ready to write a review.

Model

It's a classic approach to this topic. Car is very similar to all other versions LEGO has made those years. It is only four stud wide, but still designers manage to put inside everything that is needed. So we have working doors, steering wheel and a place for a driver to seat. Hood also contain every needed part. It has a grill at the front, couple of lights and a bumper. Roof can be open, due to a hinge. On top of it there is a pair of floodlights.

Back section is also tiny. It is a typical pick-up open trunk, with a nice-looking pipe rack. It is big enough to put a second minifig in. On the back wall, between two bigger red lights, there is a pair of holders to put tools in. On the side of the trunk there are some studs, that allow to attach a spare film reel.

The best part of this model, and clearly the most interesting if it comes to playability, is suspension. The model features independent suspension on each axle, which is hardly seen nowadays.

Minifigs and animals

Safari team is very simple, similar to other figs made those days. Driver has plain blue sleeveless shirt and red pants. The best thing is his hat, that I haven't seen in other set since then. Second guy is a cameraman, which wears nice red vest with a zipper, and whit pants. He also has a classic red cap. Both figs have typical smiley face. Their equipment contains big camera with two film reels, shovel and pick axe. There is also a monkey in this set.

Parts

Though there are very few of them (67), some of them are great. It contains a couple printed parts, and great suspension axles. Rest are quite common, mostly white bricks.

Summary

It was always a great set. It shows what was important for children back in the days (30 years ago) and also that the same thing are nicely welcome today. This set could be used by LEGO as a coursebook for young designers, showing how to make a great set with a very few pieces.

At the end, I'll compare this with a new one.

Feature| old | new

size | 4x10 | 8x16+

parts | 67 | 168

figs | 2 | 2

animals| 1 monkey | 2: parrot and lion

equipment| 3+: camera, shovel, pickaxe| 4: camera, cup, binoculars, tree disguise

"zebra" parts| 3 | 11

printed parts| 5 | 0

Verdict: both are great, but old one was much simpler and that makes it better.

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Hope You like it.

Review of the new one: https://brickset.com/reviews/56311

This dinosaur is the second of new line of buildable small creatures, that LEGO adds to Jurassic World magazine. Unfortunately, it is also the last one at the moment. In the next issue there will be another one Owen minifig, but I hope, that in future LEGO will come back and make some more great set like this.

Model

Triceratops looks exactly like it should. It has its horns, this big leather collar, and nice rounded tail. Head is designed perfectly. It is a bit rounded on the corners thanks to new quarter-round tile. I also really like the way they made nose of this dino. It is so simple, yet looks fantastic. Horn on the nose is a bit to bulky, but is isn't a big mistake. Whole head can be easily turned around, and again, like in the case of T-rex, there is an awful looking grey ball joint. I wish they start making those parts in more proper colors.

Body is very simple, just some bricks stuck one on another. Colouring of this creature is much better than T-rex's, green-tan combo looks much cleaner. Tail is made well, with two cones in green, which I believe is a new color.

Legs are also designed perfectly. Front legs seem shorter due to placement of pin hole. They are nicely rounded and have cute toes done with cheese slope. Rear legs are much simpler, but still have great look. They are using fair amount of curved bricks, that make them look more natural. There are also some bricks in color other than on the rest of body, (light and dark green), that make nice looking stains on his body.But also here there are ugly grey parts.

Model is design mostly as a standing thing, but I feel like children would enjoy playing with it. It's sturdy model, I don't see any weaker parts. Legs have small range of movement, but allows dino to pose a bit (it can stand on front legs).

Parts

65 in total, no spare. Many green bricks make this set quite worthy. Some of them are unique, like 28192 in lime green, or quarter-round tile in green. Also, horns look great. It is a good parts source.

Summary

Great looking set, looks great next to recent T-rex, is quite playable and has awesome parts. Set is clearly worth its price (~$4).

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Hope it is helpful.

I love dinosaurs. And when I first saw this buddy, I known, I had to buy it.

Model

T-Rex looks great, Much better than on a packaging. It is a good representation of this kinda classical creature. I don't know in which scale it is designed, but fits very well with nanofigs. It looks sort of majestical. It has everything that good dinosaur should have. Its head can be turned side to side, as well as rotated. Jaws open up and allow him to eat a nanofig. Arms are tiny (it's good) and can be moved separately. Legs have a very muscular look. Feet are designed in this very distinguished way. I think you could make a nice footprint of them. He can be posed in many ways, which is great, cause LEGO hardly ever gives us the opportunity to do so. So he can either walk or stand. Though it's really hard and quite weird position, he is able to stand on one leg. Tail is simple, yet looks good enough. It also can be turned in every single direction.

Overall it presets surprisingly good. Its head has a great design, I couldn't expect more. Foot looks amazing as I said. Only flaw I found on this model is that it uses too much grey (for me at least). It's mostly because ball joints are produced only in light/dark grey, but still, it could have looked much better if it used for example dark tan bricks instead. Apart from this little flaw, its painting is done greatly. It uses many not so typical colors, like dark tan, dark brown etc.

Parts

Beside interesting colors, there are also some extremely useful bricks. There is a lot of curved bricks, especially worthy are cut 1x2. Also very useful is 1x2 slope with tile (28192) and new 1x1 bracket.

Summary

It's a great set, with useful parts. Very few flaws, many pros. Presents itself really majestical. Worth its price (~$4.5).

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Hope it's helpful.

This set was one of this year must-have for me, mostly because I was playing underwater stuff like submarines and other when I was a child.

Model I: Robot

I love robots just for themselves, and this is no exception. I looks great. Has many moving parts, even though elbows and knees are still. whole body can be rotated, model is fairly stable. Hands are designed pretty well, has nice amount of "grability". The drill attached to center of hand is weird but works good. I like they add two bottles of oxygen at his back. They are great, especially with flex tubes attached to them. Canopy with one eye is perfect and adds a lot. For me it looks just funny.

I like the really subtle details they put on this sweet robot. It has small radiator(?) on his chest, as well as plate with some clock. Dark gray plates on his legs and arms are pretty simple, but great. Also, foot are made great. Usage of window panels gave them interesting shape, and black grill slopes break the color nicely.

As a side build we got seaweed and some gold nuggets, which is ok, and great manta. This small creature looks quite astonishing. Has a great colors, with white belly and dark blue back, its fins made of flags are superb and a claw at the back of its tail looks great. Also its eyes seems pretty cool.

When you remove an eye of a robot, you will be able to fit a minifig inside.

Model II: Submarine

This model is even better. It feels more classic and nostalgic to me, is designed very carefully. To be honest there is nothing really special, but overall it is perfect. Engine at its back looks good, and can spin. Arms with some grabber and pipes attached to them are great. Canopy is really simple, lights over it are nice. The best thing about it is that you can put a minifig inside, and really play with it. Only weak point for me are windows without any glass, but is a trifle. Overall, one of the best models this year.

Model III: Underwater station

I don't what lego has done here. This model looks exactly like nothing. It is neither a crane, nor an excavator, neither robot, nor machine operated by man. It is something between all those things. Base looks weird and somehow unfinished. Legs are simple and identical, but quite nice with rounded end. Upper part can rotate, long arm has a nice range of movement, pipes attached to it adds a lot. Canopy is not so good, especially because it is to small to fit a minifig, and too open to pretend it is a robot, even though light over it seems to be eyes. This model is a downgrade compare to ret of the set.

Parts

They are quite nice. Lot of yellow bricks, lot of curve bricks. Gold nugget are nice, but quite useless. Canopy and flexi tubes are great. There are also many brackets, the best being a new 1x1 in medium azure.

Summary

• Great underwater set
• Robot is cute
• Submarine is overall great model
• Station looks odd
• Parts are great
• Many curves bricks
• Flexi Tubes!
• Good part to price ratio.

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Hope it's helpful.

More photos -> https://photos.app.goo.gl/PFzVBhr4gVYncfUEA

This set was one of my musthave from this line of Creator. On images it was looking great and in real life it also looks so.

Model I - futuristic plane

First model is some kind of plane with wing angled to the front and big fire coming out from engine. On a box it is placed in the space, so we could assume it is not only a plane, but also a spacecraft.

Model looks pretty great. Angled forward wings looks brilliant and add a lot of futuristic vibe to it. Plane has also two big rudders and some small winglets, that can be moved up and down. Nose at the front is simple but looks nice, as well as canopy build out of old canopy pieces. Engine at the back is extremely big, which looks ok. I don't usually like landing gears that cannot be hide, but in here they match the model really well.

Color scheme used in this model is fantastic. I like models in dark red, and in this set we get a lot of parts in this color. Details in white match perfectly to gray and red body. Model is very sleek, looks very much aerodynamic, like it could exist in real world, in near future.

Model II - spacecraft

For the first glance this craft looks weird, especially when you look at the image on instruction manual. But when you built it, it become a great spaceship model. Again landing gears are not the best, but don't disturbed look of model. Two long spikes at the front look great, I like usage of rudder parts as a wings. Jumper part used as some details on a fuselage looks amazing. Back section with engines also is designed pretty good.

Model III - robot

Version of robot given as a third model is not the best. It looks so bulky and fat. Backpack with wings and engines is lot too big. But luckily it is easy to remove. Without it robot looks great. It is very poseable, and very stable. I like the way they designed head and small emblem made out of silver teeth part. Though it is the smallest and the weakest model of this set, it still is nice.

Buildings

Building process was rather straight forward, with some details and panel mounted on side. But there is one interesting building technic that allow to make wings in first model - they are attached on ball joints.

Parts

As I said there are lot of dark red parts, but most valuable in this set are wings. Many types and many length. Also worth noticing are rudders, cut curved bricks and inverted curves.

Summary

• Model I and II look great. They are designed carefully. Also this designs are good to recreate in bigger scale.
• Model III isn't great, but after small upgrades become really nice.
• Lot of dark red parts
• Huge amount of wedged plates
• Nice price ($15)

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Hope it is helpful.

More Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1V9zrwEsQxTDv7Yc6