34 replies to this topic

[daoudbazaar]

INDEXED

City Runabouts
City - World's going warmer ! it's time to get a smaller car

Set #3177
Theme: City
Year Released: 2009 (2010 officially)
Piece Count: 45 (2 extras) - No new part except printed torso
Minifigs: 1
List Price: EUR 4.99

The flu is back outside, Saint-Nicolas has gone and it's snowing for the first time this winter (it's usually at the beginning of november). A great day for a review !

May be our crisis hit Legoland world ? As for real world, Lego Car Designers followed the market by issuing a pied Smart.
The box is hardly bigger than a child hand.

You got twice the same picture on the front and on the right hand side, and a picture of what seems to be a new torso (a sweater) on the top of the box.
Only hieroglyphs on the other sides.

The box is however as void as usual. Here is the content :

Good news ! No sticker ... God bless (danish) gods.

The view with a random page will close the chapter on the booklet :

Lego warehouse must be full of green 1 x 2 plates ! You may notice four of them hidden in the design of the car ...

There is something odd with the minifig. At first sight, I would have said this guy was a jogger. But he wears no cap, and he took a suitcase ?    ??
Moreover, it's a long time I haven't seen somebody with green pants. Danish fashion ?  

His back is printed too.


The car is a single seater, 8 x 4, has no seat, no side and rear windows, no ESP I guess and only a big rear stop light just under the roof.

We get a white cheesecake and a round transclear plate as extra parts (top of the picture).

Comfortable is not a word I'd would use for that car. The driver can't lean backward as his head hit the back light and it's difficult to get in the car as the
doorway is very high :


I think it's only worth for city life, traffic jams and car parks (I 've never seen any Car pack in Lego city for decades so it's must be a big issue for dwellers).


Just check where they put the engine before leaving for a long journey !


This set is cheap but not so cost effective with a ratio of 0.11 (price over parts #) but it's a very cheap way to get :
- a nice double-sided torso,
- a not so common trans black windshield
- a good base to fill your city with playable not oversized vehicules
Have fun

Edited by TheBrickster, 14 December 2009 - 07:32 AM.
Poll added

[Ras 74]

Thanks for a good review!
It is a nice little set. I like that new torso.
In the last picture, I first thought he was out of gas, and now puching it  

[Matt Dawson]

Looks a nice little car, but it looks like they only did most of a job...

But for E5.00, I suppose you can't complain too much

[Zorbas]

Thanks for the review daoudbazaar!

That's a very very nice set and a must buy of course! I bet that in the upcoming year, city layouts will be full of thse small beauties in every colour available.

The minifig is great! A new torso is always welcomed!

Good old classic town vehicle base...   

And as I've said in many posts in the past, AT LAST, smaller wheels for civilian cars! TLG was capable of using that same wheel type that uses in EVERY vehicle during the last years even in this one! At least there is some common sence.


Thanks again!

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'daoudbazaar' for a great review.
Interesting little set must buy heaps of them, but whats the deal with all the green 2x1 then, an overstock issue maybe.
Close-up of the minifig is cool, new torso excellent.
Great review for a cute little set !   

[Lordofdragonss]

This car is so tiny compared to he 2007-2009 ones!
Thanks for review- its must-buy City set like The red sport car this year!

[Alywin]

Thanks for the review!

The car itself is lovely.  The actual retail price at EUR4.99 is much more relieving than previous source indicating a price of US$9.99, though it still cannot be taken as reasonable, taking account of the number of pieces the set contains.

Edited by Alywin, 13 December 2009 - 01:57 PM.

[Zzz]

Thanks a lot for the review! This car is just super sweet, good model, looks great. What gives me shivers though is the minifg, I would run away screaming from him in real life. His style (green pants,white hoody and a brown suitcase) is terrible, and the smirk on his face makes him look insane/evil/crazy for me.

[Rick]

I really like the simplicity of it... the break light is a nice touch, but I would have preferred some tail lights as well. Nice little eco-friendly design. And the double-sided torso is a must-have. Thanks for the early review!

[DanUK]

Nice review, though I like it when we can vote on the model!

Hmmm, My views are mixed on this one, especially as my wife owns a Smart ForTwo convertible (You can't put your head back in that either!!!)

Where are the rear lights???!!!   I see the brakelight but some taillights are seriously missing on this car! I would have prefered more parts for the B pillar and seen some lights incoporated!

I will get some, a black bonnet/roof section, more slanted type of tinted screen and more minifig pieces make it a must. Price, £3.99 here in the UK?

[Topsy Cret]

Thanks a lot for the review! It seems like a cute little car, and the minifigure is nice. Other than that, not to interesting of a set.

[BlueBard]

Back to the roots, indeed!   At last a more or less decent car design from TLC with a nice prize and as I already said easy to modify in order to have a little squadron of them in our Lego streets   Thanks for the review daoudbazaar!  

[WhiteFang]

Back to the basics!  

It has been an awful long time since we last saw the Classic Town vehicular base. This set is great in my opnion, and I will love to get them even though the color scheme looks abit odd. Nevertheless, the 4-studs wide principle still remains, and with the doors intact, I couldn't said "no" to this beautiful looking set. In fact, I find this car much better than the 8402 Sportscar.

I will add a poll as well.

[prateek]

Good review. This set isn't even that good, but the charm makes it better

[Milan]

I actually like this little car.
It really looks like a Smart.
Paintjob is also good.
Price...5e is good I think!

[Piranha]

Another great review!

I was never a fan of this set from the first time I saw it. Smart Cars in real life I don't like, so I would not like a LEGO version  
However I am going to buy this set, just for the Minifigure...
The minifigure is a huge selling point for this set as he has a new torso and head  
Brings us much needed diversity among City Figs!
Also this set is so cheap, why not buy it?

[Svelte]

Macoco, on Dec 15 2009, 12:17 PM, said:

The minifigure is a huge selling point for this set as he has a new torso and head  
Brings us much needed diversity among City Figs!

I'm glad for once they put the new fig in a cheap set, rather than burying it amongst rehashes in the $US50+ ones which I'm not so interested in

Thanks for the review!

[Klaus-Dieter]

Thank you very much for this great review, daoudbazaar!

I voted for
Outstanding
since this set is imo really outstanding:
-awesome designed small 4 wide stud car
-nice minifigure
-and even a suitcase
-good price ratio performance

It's an absolutely perfect small City set!


Klaus-Dieter

[yoshy]

Thanks for the review daoudbazaar!
I'm with Klaus-Dieter on this one. Great set in my opinion - can't really wish for more out of a small set like this.

[Big Cam]

What a great cheap set.

I love his face and the hoodie, that's great!

[The Cobra]

I rate it "average".
Great fig, not so great car, a bit overpriced IMHO. I'll wait for some interesting offer.

[gormadoc]

I probably will buy this set, it's a good size and will fit nicely in my Town/City collection.
I like the fact its a small car, it can easily be extended by the looks of it.
It somewhat reminds me of a Smartcar.  

Edited by gormadoc, 19 December 2009 - 08:42 PM.

[wooootles]

Funny, it rang up on a Toys R Us cashier as $7 when I bought a couple.  Of course, I argue that the tag in the shelf says they're $5 a pop, so that's that.  But since my TRU recently upped the Camper's MSRP $17 to $20, I have no doubts that this one won't sit in TRU for $5 too long.  

By the way, this is one of those sets that you just *need* if you plan to build a town setting.  A very nice filler.  Sure, price/part ratio is not so up there, but once you get something like a Green Grocer, Cafe Corner and even City Corner plus a bunch of vehicles, what's a $5 smart car?  

It's small.  Yes, very small... my red sports car and police cars dwarf it.  But, the Smart car is extremely minuscule in real life anyways, so it looks just fine parallel-parked next to the Green grocer or something.

Edited by wooootles, 19 December 2009 - 09:26 PM.

[The Green Brick Giant]

I picture this guy working at Google or Pixar, a big kid.

[Rick]

The Green Brick Giant, on Dec 20 2009, 07:49 AM, said:

I picture this guy working at Google or Pixar, a big kid.

Or a junior TLG set designer. I assume the senior designers arrive by helicopter and limo.