When I first saw the Lego Movie sets I knew right away that I wanted this set, if only because I wanted the Dr. McScrubs minifig and the port-a-potty.

Not a lot of unique parts, but lots of good snot bricks.

Like I said in the beginning, I really wanted Dr. McScrubs. His scrub's color, stethoscope and name tag together are much more realistic than figures in other sets with the exception of the new doctor in 4429: Helicopter Rescue. I hope this is a trend they continue with new health care sets.

The plumbers are a great addition to any City theme collection as well, keeping the pipes flowing.

The micro manager is an easy build, but not very stable for play or display because the little fold out legs are so narrow and small. I like the look of it though and the fold out idea is a nice touch.

I built the flying flusher variant first, and it was a quick build. Some of the construction is a little awkward such as the ladder tail and the plunger launcher on the roof which I had a really tough time disassembling for the van build because the rods in the gear piece were stuck tight. I felt I was going to break it pushing and pulling on the rods. The van looks great with places for tools and room for both plumbers (one driving and the other standing in the back). I really like the random pipes and the ladder on the roof.

The port-a-potty was my favorite part though. While I was building I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, but it looks great with the detailed toiled with seat and lid and a roll of toilet paper right there too.

A great set overall, easy to build, good details, great minifigures.

With The LEGO Movie due to be released in a few days as of this review, only time will tell if LEGO's big screen outing has a major impact on the continuing evolution of our favourite toy; and, in the meantime, we have a slew of tie-in sets available to whet our appetites before the big show. Although all of these are nebulously lumped underneath "The LEGO Movie" subtheme, a cursory examination will reveal that there are really two subcategories going on here: sets that recreate some major scene or plot point in the movie and include some of its star characters, and sets that feature more generic townies battling strange black robots. It goes without saying that the Flying Flusher belongs in the latter category.

Now before we get too much further, I will confess that I don't have much interest in the "original" model, a pseudo-biplane-type thing that launches plungers of doom at unsuspecting foes. My primary interest in this set was twofold: first, I like LEGO vehicles, especially ones that offer actual services and are not just roaming Black Marias, and second, part of its "alternate" build is an outdoor toilet. I can think of a grand total of one other set that has a toilet, and that is the Pet Shop (10218). MINIFIGS NEED TOILETS OKAY.

Three Minifigs are available to populate this scene, and while they aren't particularly memorable, they are unique and make for great additions to your city, assuming you have one. Plumber Joe and Alfie the Apprentice make up the staff of (Octan's (?!!)) Joe's Plumbing Company, and if they're not generic enough to serve as backdrop extras, then I don't know what will suffice. There's a bit of a wasted opportunity here since neither of them comes equipped with the plunger that comes with the Plumber CMF (71000-16), which I think is a shame. Both of these guys are infinitely more interesting than the painfully bland Plumber Minifig anyway, so if you happen to already have him, steal his plunger and give it to Joe.

The third Minifig is Dr. McScrubs, a bizarre addition to this duo. The box art features him escaping from a toilet mishap in the alternate model, but why is a medical professional using an outdoor toilet in the first place? And how is it that I can never "unsee" those trans-blue pieces as being anything else but flames, which means the toilet appears like it's on fire to me? Anyway, McScrubs is a cool little guy with a fairly rare headpiece and a two-sided face, though he sadly comes with nothing else by way of accessories.

The black robot thing is apparently a Micro Manager, and, again, his worthiness is an antagonist is sort of lost on me, having not seen the movie yet. He has a pair of fold-out legs, but it's incredibly difficult to balance him on them and I suspect he'll probably spend most of his time on his back if you attempt to display him as such. I guess it's a sinister enough model, and the nice part is that none of his parts are required for the truck/Flying Flusher model, so he can be cannibalised for parts if you choose to do so--and he is made out of some really useful parts.

As I said earlier, I did not bother building the actual Flying Flusher because I knew I wanted the truck/toilet combo. It's a very fun build overall, and at risk of being accused of bathroom fixation, the port-a-potty is actually very cleverly constructed and can easily serve as an inspiration for any construction site/outdoor concert where one might conceivably need such a thing. The truck is nicely coloured and just as fun to build, but here's my complaint: it sits way too high for my liking. Not counting the ladder/pipes resting on the top of the truck, the finished model sits a good brick height taller than the armoured truck in Bank and Money Transfer (3661), which to me is an example of a near-perfect LEGO truck. Fortunately, this is LEGO, after all, and I was able to successfully "lower" Joe's truck to match the armoured truck with minimal compromises or use of other pieces, though I confess that I was obliged to use this part as a base, which may or may not be easily available to you. I regret not having a "before" picture, but here is my version with the armoured truck for comparison:

At US$30, I can see this set as being a hard sell, particularly since there are so many other very attractive options in this price range. If you're looking to sink your teeth into LEGO Movie sets, I would say that there are probably better sets that you can pick. On the other hand, if you like trucks with a little bit of quirky humour, you'll be entertained by Joe's antics. Who else are you going to call if your toilet catches fire? Not the cops, surely.

[Incidentally, Joe's van appears at the beginning of the film when Emmet is first leaving his apartment, and the "Flying Flusher" is later seen squirting a couple of Micro Managers out of the sky.]

Like Castle Cavalry (70806), this is a 2 in 1 set where on build looks and feels like your standard high quality Lego set, while the other build is very much inspired by how children play with their bricks.

Likes:

- Truck is fantastic and packed full of details. Plungers, stairs, pipes, valves, some weird machine inside it (pipe bender or something similar).

- Mobile restroom is always a great build, also full of character (toilet paper, seat, seat cover, etc)

- Both truck and restroom are very solid builds and highly playable

Dislike:

- Plane: while I think I understood what the designers were aiming for (something that looks like it was built by children with bits and pieces from a traditional set), it's still not something for my taste

- The plungers in the plane fall off incredibly easily

- It's a bit fragile. My son broke it 2-3 chunks in about 2 seconds (by just picking it up slightly of center)

Mini selection: Very unimpressive with secondary characters at best

Note for late collectors: consider buying this second hand if you are looking to complete your collection. There are better options in this series to spend money on overpriced out of print Legos.