Number: 70808
Theme: THE LEGO® MOVIE™
Release Date: December 29, 2013
Piece Count: 514
Minifig Count: 5
Age Rating: 8-14
Cost: US $49.99 / CA $59.99 / UK £44.99 / EUR €49,99 / DK 449,00 DKK
A year ago, when we first got a glimpse of the first-ever image of a set based on the forthcoming "The LEGO Movie", the collective AFOL community stood with jaws unhinged, thinking "What in the heck could this movie possibly be about???" and also "That set looks awesome!!!"
Well, in the intervening months, The LEGO Movie may have come and gone from theaters and then been released on DVD, but the related tie-in LEGO sets are still readily available on store shelves as well as on LEGO Shop@Home. One of the sets we've yet to review is actually the one that accompanied the initial press release, what we came to know as 70808 "Super Cycle Chase". It really was a perfect introduction to the movie, featuring the two main characters in a crazy, obviously cobbled-together, enormous motorcycle and an over-sized, militarized police truck driven by robots!
Parts, Bags and Stickers
There are four bags total - three that are of a similar size, and one smaller one. The smaller bag and one of the other three are marked with a "1", then the other two bags with a "2" and "3". Additionally, there are two instruction booklets and one relatively small sticker sheet.
Each instruction booklet contains a full build - one for the motorcycle and the "spike strip" box, and one for the super-secret police truck, so you could split the set between two children building in tandem.
Bag 1
The contents of the two bags marked with a "1" are used to build the small "spike strip" speed trap and the titular "super cycle" as well as one of the three robo police officers, Emmet and Wyldstyle.
Most of the unique or rare parts in this set are those that comprise the minifigures, though there are a few surprises, such as the four 1x4 curved slopes (available in 6 sets at this time) and two 2x2 jumper plates (only available in one other set, Juniors 10671 "Fire Emergency") in bright orange. There are 34 (and one extra) of the tread chain piece, used for both the aforementioned "spike strip" as well as the rear wheel of the bike (is available in 8 other sets). I've mistakenly included the 4L bar in Medium Stone Gray here thinking it was the 3L bar
Spike Strip
The spike strip is nothing much to write home about. The action feature, activated by pushing down on the 1x3 technic bar in order to unroll the treads, is hit-and-miss. I didn't have much luck activating it. The figure accompanying this piece is very cool, featuring a printed tactical vest, blaster rifle, and night-vision goggles affixed to his aviator cap.
The super cycle itself begins with the seat, which has enough room for both Wyldstyle and Emmet to sit comfortably (well, as comfortably as one can sit with a huge "strange piece" permanently glued to your back). On either side of the seat, angled using hinge bricks, are a pair of engines.
The front wheel fork is attached via two technic pins which ends up with a rather wobbly connection, frankly. Having used a 3x3 Technic T-Beam, I would think there could have been some way to connect another technic pin at or near the top of the beam. As it is, it's only attached at the bottom.
The four 1x4 slopes are only held on by the rear-most tube, which could lead to them falling of rather easily with moderate play.
Once complete, the motorcycle looks as though it's jumped off the screen, as is the case with nearly all the LEGO Movie tie-in sets, naturally. The design is aggressive and sleek and crazy with four flaming tailpipes and an enormous rear wheel.
The stickers go a long way towards showing the cobbled-together nature of the build, with various partial words and designs.
It's funny to note that, even though it was built out of scraps, it's still relatively street-legal with brake lights, though again, the flaming tailpipes might not be so on-the-level.
The way the front wheel is built, it's slightly off-center due to the stud offset on the technic half-pin used to hold the 4L bar in place. This is something that could have been covered up somehow, but it's not a huge detraction.
bag 2
Bag 2 contains the parts necessary to begin building the Super Secret Police truck. Again, most of the unique or rare pieces are used to build the two remaining minifigures, but there were some more surprises. The two 3L bars in Medium Stone Gray are only available in this set as of this writing, and the 1x8x2 "balustrade" fence in Dark Stone Gray is only available in one other set - this year's "Inside Tour" set, 4000014 "The LEGOLAND Train" making it virtually exclusive to this set. I'm sure we'll see it in the future, but for now, this is it.
The truck is built upon a large, tall, boxy frame atop a technic brick chassis in a relatively stark black, white and gray palette with a smattering of red.
At the end of Bag 2, we have a complete passenger cabin sans roof, front-end featuring headlights, fog lamps and bull-bar, and the beginnings of the trunk.
bag 3
There are really no rare/unique pieces in bag 3. The final leg of the build was so fast, in fact, that I have no in-progress pics. The end result is a very aggressive, militaristic looking truck, evocative of a cross between a Humvee and a Toyota FJ Cruiser. The large balloon wheels, wide stance and low-profile windows make it look very modern/cyberpunk.
The rear features four tailpipes attached to a hinged trunk (I didn't get a pic of the open trunk with dynamite inside).
In addition to the opening trunk, each side features a swing-out flick-fire missile launcher.
Side-view:
Front-view:
Rear-view
Top-view:
Minifigures
This set has a wealth of minifigures, featuring five in all - the two protagonists and three antagonists. It's interesting to note that the three robo police officers are each relatively unique. The driver of the truck has a head with a single red cylon-like slit for an eye and a knit cap and handcuff accessory, while the other two share the same head but have different helmets and visors. Both have the same gun but one has a red globe attached while the other has a scope made out of a lightsaber handle.
All five feature printing on the front of their torsos and legs. The three robo police officers have a badge printed on the front of their tactical vests, while Wyldstyle has her signature hair printing and the robo police officer with crash helmet has a badge on the helmet.
Both Emmet and Wyldstyle feature printing on the back of their heads, while none of the robo police officers do. All five characters have printing on the rear of their torsos. The tactical vests have "Super Secret Police" printed on the back.
The Whole Package
Over-all, compared to other "Battle in a box" sets, this one has a rather evenly-sided conflict, with two relatively equal vehicles. Maybe the Super Secret Police has a slight edge in firepower and armor, but the Super Cycle makes up for it in speed and agility. If anything, the slight imbalance evokes the feeling of the underdog nature of our protagonists.
The futuristic/technological design of both pieces gives the set a cyber-punk feel, augmented by the colors of the motorcycle and Wyldstyle's over-all design.
Ratings
Design: 6/10
A split-decision based on the relative fragility of the motorcycle and the more robust and strong frame of the Super Secret Police truck. While the fragility evokes the cobbled-together nature of the motorcycle, this can affect play when bits start falling off. The truck is obviously very well designed to evoke their imperious nature, while the colors and stickers of the motorcycle give it a very intriguing look.
Build: 6/10
The build is relatively straight-forward, particularly for the police truck. There are a few angled areas of the motorcycle and the rear wheel is an interesting design.
Minifigures: 8/10
Featuring the two main characters from the movie and three robo police officers chasing them, this set is a fully-featured conflict. The fact that the three robots each have unique features is a bonus, as they could have easily been identical.
Playability: 8/10
Being a battle-in-a-box, this set is ready for play as soon as it's finished. The motorcycle doesn't have much play value other than racing it around. The tailpipes can swivel forward as they did in the movie to pretend to fire upon the truck, while the truck has the flick-fire missile launchers, removable roof and opening trunk. The spike-strip is effective in look, but not in action.
Parts: 8/10
A smattering of unique pieces, supported by old standards make this a good set of parts.
Price: 9/10
510 pieces and 5 minifigures for $49.99 is easily considered a good value.
Authenticity: 10/10
Naturally, this set looks like it's escaped the screen.
Overall rating: 7.8/10
As an introduction to the world of The LEGO Movie, this set was a perfect choice. Featuring the two main characters in a crazy over-the-top motorcycle being chased by three robot police officers in a huge truck boiled the entire movie down into one bite-sized chunk.
Let us know what you think!
