Overall A great set but I do have some problems with it. Firstly I wish there could have been one more minifig. Secondly The technic is very exposed and it doesn't look too great in my opinion. Thirdly the side build isn't very inspiring but it does provide more playability for kids. Fourthly there could have been rear suspension to add more playability. One thing that did surprise me was the size, the box was small compared to the actual build which was actually quite nice.

Summary

One of the more 'normal' vehicles in the Lego Movie 2 universe is Emmet and Lucy's Escape Buggy (set 70829). The possibility to combine this set with Ultrakatty & Warrior Lucy (set 70827) makes this quite an attractive set to get as part of the duo (which is what I did).

The build is nice, there are some interesting construction techniques used, and the end result looks good. It is also well suited for play, with nice minifigures included in this set. All of this for a reasonable price, compared to other similar sets, even though $50 is quite a bit. Luckily, this set can already be found for a discount in some places.

Build experience

The build is not difficult at all, the 8+ recommended age seems perfectly reasonable to me. The first thing to be noted is the small sticker sheet: there are relatively few stickers to apply - especially when comparing it to similar vehicles from the Lego Batman Movie series. Construction is broken down in 152 steps, and the pieces are divided over 4 bags. The division is logical, though for many adults it will probably feel as if two bags would have sufficed as well.

In general, I like the construction techniques used for the bed of the truck (taken up by the engine), as well as the general core of the vehicle. There is a clever use of Technic pieces to make it extremely rigid and solid. There is also a whole lot of plate stacking involved, especially when looking at the construction of the bonnet and cabin of the truck. Overall, the build never felt tedious at any point.Highlight for me was the construction of the dashboard.

The special pieces in this set are the Technic spring and the three orange rear lights, with printed direction pointer. The three trans-orange rounded-modified 1x1 are nice as well.

The minifigures

There are four minifigures included in this set. Emmet and Lucy (of course), and Sharkira and MetalBeard.

Emmet is extremely common (found in seven sets), dressed in his common work overalls, with a badge on his legs, brown hair, and dual face print. The overall printing is nice and in register. The orange of the legs seems to bleed through the white ID-card a little.

This version of Lucy Wildstyle is only found in two sets (so far), one of them being Welcome to Apocalypseburg! (set 70840). The primary difference with other Lucy minifigures seems to be the face print. Here one side shows a smirk, where the other side shows a tight-lipped angry expression. The printing of the legs and torso (back and front) is well done, quite colourful and detailed and in register. Her legs are dual moulded. A nice addition is the brown sarfe piece. I like the colourful hair print a lot, and I can imagine many using that for dressing up 'regular' minifigures.

Sharkira is one of the two unique figures included in this set. The most notable is the 'dual-molded' legs, with one gun-metal and the other brown. She only has a single face print (I see no reason why she could not have had a second). The one face print is nicely done, with the silver band across the eyes. I like the helmet and the 'shark'-visor. The torso print is IMHO very nice in design, and quite good in execution. there is a lot going on, and a lot of decoration. Everything also seems to be in register. That excellence is in part undone by the dark brown background somewhat bleeding through the yellow belly button print. The arms do not have that problem because they are yellow plastic pieces, with brown hands/gloves. She is armed with a cross bow and a stop sign as a shield.

The other unique minifigure is MetalBeard. The construction of this minifigure is fun, and the design of his chest/body is cleverly done. There is only one face print, and a print for the head. Unfortunately, the print for the lock seems to be off-center.

The build

Overall, I think the vehicle looks very good. To me, in design and redicilousness, it reminded me a bit of the Batmobile (set 70905) and especially the Killer Croc Tail-Gator (set 70907) of the Lego Batman Movie sets. The high suspension, aggressive looks, IMHO it all works out very well. The designer has done a good job covering off-colour core pieces, and makes IMHO very good use of Technic elements for the core of the truck, and subsequently covering them up. I like the use of the sand-blue revers slopes to widen the body, as well as the construction of the exhausts. At the same time, there is quite a bit of colour variation, suggesting the bodge job that this vehicle ultimately is. The few stickers definitely add to the overall looks of the car. The front panel of the interior is also more interesting than often seen.

Emmet and Lucy can fit inside quite comfortably though - unfortunately - there is no place to stow away Lucy's crossbow and shield.

Play vs display

This set IMHO works well as a play and as a display set. It is easy to ride around, the front suspension works well, there are four minifigures, a pretend rocket-launcher... all of it IMHO good for quite a bit of fun. The separate 'pieces launcher' does not work well, but is mostly to provide spares for the merge with the very angry Ultrakatty (of which most pieces of the truck are used). On the other hand, a Star and Heart are also included to chase the buggy.

The buggy is also big enough and well designed enough to work as a display piece, IMHO. What Technic pieces are on display are not distracting enough to make it unusable as a display piece. Arguably, the vehicle combined with Ultrakatty would make a better display piece.

The verdict

Overall this is, IMHO, is a good set. The build is nice, the selection of minifigures is good, the buggy is sizable and quite ridable, and there are nice pieces included in this set. The price is also good - especially, IMHO compared to some other vehicles of this type. There are also a number of bif pieces, like wheels, the spring... The $50 price seems reasonable, even though I have seen a number of places where the set is available for a lower price. As such, this set makes for a good gift, and also worth saving for.

When I first saw this set, I decided to get it when it's released. Looking at the pictures, I liked the look of it, as I'm a fan of powerful cars, especially with post-apocalyptic flavor. I haven't seen the Movie yet, so my review is going to be based only on my impressions of the set itself, and I can't say how accurately it represents its prototype from the Movie.

The minifigures

We get three of them, plus a little Metalbeard figure plus two smiley faces, a star and a heart. Emmet looks nice enough, nothing really special, he's in his work uniform. I do like how its print looks scratched and old, to give us the impression of an old minifig. Emmets hair has a funny curl, he must've been woken up recently, and didn't have time to look in the mirror. He has another, scared face expression.

The next one is Sharkira (he-he), with a steampunk-ish outfit. She must be obsessed with gears, because she wears a pendant, a belt and a chain with gears. Sharkira has an artificial metal leg and a helmet with printed shark mouth and a crowbar. Under the helmet we see a pretty regular face with a bit of silver gray facepaint. Unfortunately, she has no second face.

Lucy is the best minifig in this set IMO, with a nice graffiti-style print and excellent hair piece with goggles. She has a second angry face expression, better use it when aiming with a crossbow or raising a shield, made of a road sign. "Never" STOP!

Metalbeard is so tiny in this set, and is quite awkward looking. Basically, his body is a chest (with bones and sausages inside) with his head on top of it. He's got two droid arm pieces, so we are able to attach him to the side of the Buggy and drive him around. I don't like this version of Metalbeard at all, it doesn't do anything.

Lastly, not minifigures, but rather the smiley faces built with a couple of small pieces. They are a nice little addition, the prints (not stickers) are good, and we get a star-shaped piece and a heart-shaped piece for future use.

The parts

I didn't find any really special parts in this set (except already mentioned star and heart), so all other pieces are already seen in previous year's sets. Still, it's always great to get more of useful parts, and the Buggy has some amount of them, for me especially a couple of useful technic pin connectors with one axle, the curved tubes used in exhaust pipes, the grille in the front and maybe some others.

The build

Building process is enjoyable, with a bit of repetitiveness though, as the car is symmetrical. It also doesn't use any unusual building techniques, but I appreciate that the designer put effort into making the build fun by adding some variety to it. As we build the Buggy, we don't just put a brick over a brick, but more like place a couple of different pieces here and there, then assemble a small separate part and attach it, so it doesn't get boring. A very nice addition is that although the rear part of the car is practically solid with no empty spaces, there's a little bit of an engine part inside, which we absolutely can't see when the build is finished. It's very simple, just a bunch of small cone pieces, but as we build, it gives us a feeling that we do build a car, not a brickwall, and once it's assembled, we know it's there, we know it "works" as the engine "roar" when we play.

The completed model & playability

I have to admit, despite of all things being said, the set is somewhat disappointing to me, because of some small things that irritate me and its playability options.

The Buggy looks great in the pictures (it's the main reason I decided to get it), but once you build it, you start to see flaws. With that angle given on the main picture, you absolutely can't see the space between the hood and the windscreen. It's just a small 4 by 2 studs space with 2 studs occupied with the windscreen wipers, but it looks so unfinished I almost think that they forgot to put some nice covers there. And it's really visible from any other more upper angle.

Then, I guess I'm already nitpicking here, but I don't like the studs on the hood and the doors are kind of flimsy, as they hang only on one clip each, and they have gaps between the floor and the doors. It's good they can be opened though. You can also open the hood to reveal a "missile rack" I guess, since the engine is in the back.

If you don't mind all that, overall the look is still good. I like the large engine part with exhaust pipes, fuel tanks and the front grill. My favorite part of the car is the inside of it as they managed to give enough space for two minifigs to sit and also included a very good and detailed controls: we have a steering wheel, a dashboard with a sticker and a rearview "mirror". It only lacks a gear shift lever, but... you get a spare lever arm piece in this set (they are used as windscreen wipers), so you can take this spare lever arm and put it inside the car, there is a perfect place for it on a free stud near the dashboard, and your car controls will be complete!

Unfortunately, this set lacks playability IMO. It must be because of its "role" in the Movie (I'm making a guess here, as I haven't seen it yet), but it's just a small manual launcher which throws bricks and the suspension of the car, I can't even call it a "play feature". By the way, the suspension is only for the front wheels, the back wheels are fixed. I would really appreciate the suspension for them too. However, it's really good that all four wheels spin independently, so this gives you a nice 4x4 offroad car feeling. There's a small sort of a mounted harpoon gun on the side of the Buggy, it doesn't shoot, just for you to imagine or to manually take the harpoon out. I would love if this car had at least one play feature, anything, really. Even a spring/disc shooter which they like to put in modern sets. Or a catapult, I'm saying this because there's a moment at the early stage of building, when you put together some technic pieces which starts to look like a part of some action mechanism (a catapult, as I thought), and you think "oh, let it be an action feature!" but... it quickly gets fixed with an axle, and you think "oh... okay then".

Overall

I do like the set for its look and because I like cool cars, but I'm disappointed with its playability and some small exterior flaws. I do recommend it if you are a fan of cars themselves to look at, or to roll around with not really much else to do. And even if you are, I would suggest to buy this set only with a discount, it's not worth its full price right now.

Thank you for reading!