8147 Bullet Run pic review

[PaulC]

I've taken loads of pics, so I'm going to divide the review into two parts.

8146 Bullet Run review: Part 1

I was quite excited when I saw the preliminary pics for this set. There has never been so many Tiny Turbo vehicles available in one set before, and I prefer it to ending up with tons of those useless plastic containers. It also gives the opportunity to produce some excellent larger vehicles. I think this set must be selling well, since the first I heard of it being available in the UK was a big space in Tesco's toy aisle marked "8147 Bullet Run: Temporarily out of stock". Fortunately within a couple of days they had some more in, so I was able to grab one.

The front of the 56 page A4 instruction booklet has the same illustration as the box front:

I like the way that the most recent sets I've got have images from the back of the box in the instruction booklet, as I don't have enough space to keep a lot of my boxes. No matter how hard I slam my slammer I cannot get the stretch limo to fly as high as in this picture!

At

[sam89]

Good review so far! I'm looking forward to part two!

[JINZONINGEN73]

The trailer bizarrely hinges in the middle! I think the idea is for the trailer to break apart when the cars to crash into it.

Yeah. I was looking at your pics and was like, "What a BAD design for the trailer!" ...but then realized it was a play feature. :-P

The green car is a bit out of place, looking kinda' lame next to the rest of the set.

All in all though, I'm likin' the parts variety in this.

Everyone who builds with Technic should snag this as accent pieces to their mocs.

(You can NEVER have too many 1x1 slopes).

Question: On the box, it looks like the smokestacks are made with super-polished chrome pieces.

But your own pics look like they cheaped out with the flat silver... am I right, or is it just how the pics turned out?

Edited September 16, 2007 by JINZONINGEN 73

[Siegfried]

Thanks very much for the review. *sweet* I love the tanker truck, I want this set mostly for the parts. In case you are interested I have two of those click winches and they both came in 4+ sets. I look forward to your crash tests! :-P

[hollisbrick]

Does it work? I'll be conducting some tests in Part 2 of my review, coming soon.

lol the suspense haha cant wait that long. :-P

Nice review so far!

[PaulC]

Question: On the box, it looks like the smokestacks are made with super-polished chrome pieces.

But your own pics look like they cheaped out with the flat silver... am I right, or is it just how the pics turned out?

You're right, the chimneys and grilles on the trucks are all flat silver.

[Asuka]

A very good review of a very nice set, thanks PaulC. Trucks on! *y*

Perhaps there

[Lasse D]

An awesome little set actually. I really like the small 4-5 studs wide trucks. It is a little expensive right now, but I will surely consider it when on sale.

So. Is anybody up for putting on the stickers? :-P

[PSPguy]

Can we have a pic of the stickers?

[PaulC]

Sorry it's taken so long to post part 2 of my review. It's coming soon, honest!

In the mean time to keep you going here is a pic of the sticker sheet. Unfortunately I used up all the stickers for the toll plaza already. I might use some of the others, but only the ones that fit on one brick (I hate STAMPS)!

[hollisbrick]

Lol can u hurru up the suspense is killing me . (I hate stickers too)

Edited September 22, 2007 by hollisbrick

[casewindu]

Nice review PaulC! I really like this set though I would get it for the pieces because there is such a great collection there! cant wait for the crash tests! ;-)

[PaulC]

Okay okay, here it is, 8147 Bullet Run Pic Review Part 2: Crash Test Dummy

The final stages in construction are:

The two bags marked "3" build the blue truck carrying steel pipes, the red racing car and the yellow 4x4 (see the first post for pics of the racing car and 4x4). I like the truck a lot, although the trailer looks a little odd as it has pivots built in to "spill" it's load when it's hit by another vehicle.

The bag marked "4" plus the un-numbered bag containing the over-large parts builds the toll plaza. This is one of my favourite parts of the set, so much so that I've used all the stickers and I am determined to somehow use it in my minifig scale city.

Now the fun part. Test 1: This is the first time that I've built the slammers in a Tiny Turbo set, and I'm quite impressed with the speed you can get out of the little cars, but you really have to whack 'em hard to do it! On the front of the box, it shows the cars breaking through the barriers of the toll plaza, so that was the first thing I tested.

Ooops... looks like those break-away barriers don't break away that easily!

Test 2: Does the tanker truck break apart as designed?

Yes and no. Even from point blank range it won't bend in the middle, but the tank does roll off quite satisfyingly if you hit it hard enough.

Test 3: What about the same for the steel truck?

Crash! Yeah baby! This works the best out of all the action features in the set.

I did also try the ramps. These are made out of a weird lightweight plastic and don't even feel like Lego. They are so light, the cars won't really jump over them but instead push them along, making them a bit of a waste of space.

Overall, I really like this set. The parts selection and design of the vehicles is excellent, lots of stuff that can be adapted for minifig scale with very little modification, and there is some good fun to be had with the slammers for the set's target age group. I'm deducting one point as yet again we have a Lego set with some action features that don't work well at all, plus I'm unsure of marketing illegal street racing to kids. Perhaps if the set included some police cars who were promoted as the heroes they could get away with it, but when the whole idea is to crash into the petrol tanker I think it's a little dubious. Frankly they could have made a set containing the same very cool vehicles without the "racing" aspect at all. Score: 4/5.

Addendum: Note that the yellow and black stripey 1x4 tiles on front and rear of the breakdown truck are printed, not stickers (you can't see them in most of my photos). Yay! These are the only printed parts in the set.

Look out for Review Part 3: Modding for Minifigs soon!

Edited September 23, 2007 by PaulC

[iamded]

Cool! It's a shame half the action features don't work, but it still looks neat, and some small modifications could take the action features away, if you don't like them. Looking forward to seeing what you produce in part 3! *y*

[Freddie]

Seeing the pic of the tanker bending in the first part of the review, I would think that the tanker should be hit from the other side? Or did you rotate the hinge, so it still should work?

[PaulC]

Seeing the pic of the tanker bending in the first part of the review, I would think that the tanker should be hit from the other side? Or did you rotate the hinge, so it still should work?

Doh! I should have thought of that. Thanks Freddie. Further tests reveal it only works marginally better, and only at top speed and point blank range. AND even then not all the time! The hinge is just too stiff, but then again if the hinge ever gets loose the truck will fall apart whenever you move it.

[hollisbrick]

Yes the suspense is over X-D Nice reveiw!

[Cabby]

Thanks for the review. *sweet*

Looks like another great parts pack to me. ;-)

[PaulC]

Ok, now the real fun begins...

8147 Bullet Run Pic Review Part 3: Minifig Modding Masterclass!

The easiest and most obvious part to use as a minifig scale model is the Toll Plaza. As you can see it fits really well on the current roadplates:

However, to fit the larger vehicles it needs to be raised by at least two bricks, and the width of the centre baseplate needs to be reduced from 6 studs to 4. I've used grey bricks for the height adjustment so you can see what I've added:

A simple mod to the lime green sports car makes a snazzy convertible for this businessman, complete with a space for his suitcase in the back:

My limo mod somewhat loses the sleekness of the original. This is the one I'm least satisfied with. It definitely needs some more work:

Here's the breakdown truck in it's original form. I really liked the "Brad's Towing" stickers on this model, so I decided to apply them after all.

But here's the trick. I replaced the 2x2 brick at the front with two 1x2 bricks before I applied the stickers. This meant I could easily increase the width of the vehicle and keep the decals:

Here's the finished truck next to the original for a size comparison. I've increased the width of each section of the cab by one stud:

Now it's big enough to tow some of the current city vehicles!

[Holodoc]

Great job PaulC! *wub*

Your minifig conversion is the part of the set I love most.

The toll station is perfect, so is the tow truck.

I

[Freddie]

Here's the finished truck next to the original for a size comparison. I've increased the width of each section of the cab by one stud:

That truck would suit the definition of "awesome" so well it should have its picture in the dictionary.

I am tempted to do the same when my set arrives.

[Siegfried]

Ok, now the real fun begins...

8147 Bullet Run Pic Review Part 3: Minifig Modding Masterclass!

Oh! *wub* Sorry, I missed this! :-$ Great ideas; this set just turned up in my local stores and I was looking for better photos... I think I want this set even more now! :-D I never thought the Toll Gate would work so well. The tow truck is pretty cool too!

[Asuka]

That