Milan Posted March 14, 2018 Posted March 14, 2018 INTRODUCTION Starting with the 42010 - Off-road Racer and 42011 - Race Car in 2013, TLG released two sets in the first half of each year, using a pull-back motor. The pull-back motor allows the model to be pulled back, followed by forward motion. Usually there's no apparent relation between the two set, other than the ability to combine them into an alternate build. This year there seems to some sort of racing scene going on, between 42072: WHACK! and 42073: BASH, two of the very similar racing machines. Makes you wonder who will be victorious, the green or the red racer. Let's find out! Note: All images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42073 Title: BASH! Theme: Technic Released: 2018 Part Count: 139 Box Weight: 299 gr Box Dimensions: 26,0 cm x 13,8 cm x 6,9 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 19,99 Price per Part: € 0,143 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box has the same dimensions as previous year's pullback motor sets. The weight of the box is approximately 299 grams. Looking at the box, it seems our racer is in a middle of a fierce race. We can see it on track covered with dirt, with audience cheering. Dominant colors are red a,d black, and, as in a case with its lime green competitor, it has a striking effect! FRONT SIDE In the lower left corner there is "pullback" marking. In the lower right corner there's a visual explanation of the model's function, more on that later. BACK SIDE The alternate model, the "WHACK! 'N' BASH!", is a combined build with 42072: WHACK!, which you can see on the upper part of the backside. The double rear-wheeled rugged formula one/truck/jeep type racer seems to be cool enough to give it a go. It seems we get two ejecting sections on this vehicle: cabin, and engine. One of the sides shows a picture of the main model, with a visual explanation of the pullback mechanism, and ejecting engine. One of the sides also shows picture of the main model, and one of the panels with sticker in actual size. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 1 Instructions Booklet 1 Sticker Sheet 2 Technic Liftarms 2 Tires 56 x 26 Balloon 2 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLET The instruction booklet for the main model. Unfortunately no booklet for the combined model. Instructions can be downloaded for free on official Lego site. EXAMPLE OF RANDOM INSTRUCTION STEP STICKER SHEET The sticker sheet shows red/blue/black details: presumably sponsors, racing number and fuel cap on side panels, and engine cover on 1x4 tile. LIFTARMS Two liftarms haven't been sealed in plastic bags. TIRES Two bigger tires (of the four tires) haven't been sealed in plastic bags. Those are Tire 56 x 26 Balloon. BAGS Two bags containing the rest of the parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new and/or otherwise interesting parts. PULLBACK MOTORPullback motor is placed in the biggest bag, and is a core part of this model. TIRES This pullback racer is a bit different than lime green one in a way that it has different looking tires on front and back. At the front of the vehicle there are smaller 43.2mm D. x 26mm Balloon Small tires. They do appear in 26 other sets. At the back of the vehicle there are bigger 56 x 26 Balloon tires. They do appear in 40 other sets. I very much like this setup: bigger tires at the back, and smaller on the front. I makes it look pretty different than 42072: WHACK!. Nice. Finally, all four tires together: PART LIST This set contains 139 parts, shown below. THE BUILD Since it's a small model, I will skip the building steps. I hereby present the finished 42073: BASH!. Red is really working here. I like how it kinda leans forward, i.e. its visual center of mass is toward the front. I think it looks more muscular that way, and more aggressive than 42072. Almost like red Batmobile. There are three stickers, which add some flashy details to the model. The model looks good without stickers, too, but I think it needs them more than 42072. Looking from this angle, we can notice flames right next to the engine, tires are spot on. The chassis is pretty basic, sporting the pullback motor in the rear axle. LEFTOVER PARTS A few common leftover parts. FUNCTIONS PULLBACK By winding up the Pullback motor, i.e. pulling the model backwards and releasing the model, you can achieve pretty good speed. If there is not enough space in front of the race car, you could easily hit the wall or some other obstacle... Which may actually be what designer had in mind all along...as the other function is... CRASH Second function is shown on the box. In front of the model there is a mechanism, in a form of red 2x4 L liftarm, which allows the engine to eject when the model hits the obstacle. Even at high speed crash, the engine does not eject itself too high, so there is no danger of engine hitting the young racer. SUMMARY Worthy competitor to 42072: WHACK!. Works great. Does it look good? Yes, it does. I like it more than 42072. Mainly for its more aggressive and tougher look. And for its tires! SCORE How do I grade the red guy in this year's duo. 7 DESIGN Looks like a muscle car. With rugged tires. Kinda like Nolan's Batmobile. Nuff said. 6 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Nothing out of the ordinary. 7 FEATURES Pull-back and ejecting engine. 9 PLAYABILITY Combined with the 42072: WHACK!, kids (and I) will love it! 6 PARTS This set does not have any new parts, nor parts in new colors, except for stickers. 8 VALUE FOR MONEY Pullback sets always deliver a certain value. 7,2 WHO WILL BE VICTORIOUS? We can't really measure the looks (BASH! is better looking ), but we can compare their speed and acceleration. We can easily notice that 42073: BASH! has bigger back tires. So, in theory, it should be faster. But it's not. It is slower. Having bigger tires also means the pullback motor will be less winded up, compared to 42072: WHACK!, on a same stretch of the road. And, of course, it accelerates slower. On my 8 metres tiled floor/race track, up to 3 meters (one floor tile used for winding up), the results were clear, green guy always wins. When I tried to use length of two floor tiles for winding up the motors, shape of the tires started to be a problem. Namely, big tires of 42073 have so little contact with the ground, that they spin in place after i release the model, and after they lose some of the power by spinning, the racer barely makes half the way 42072 has done. I could not find the sweet spot where it could beat the 42072. Let's see how people around the world rate them: On Brickset site, at the moment of posting this review, here are some numbers: 42072: WHACK!: 211 people own this set, and 276 want it. 42073: BASH!: 208 own this set, and 281 want it. On Bricklink site, at the moment of posting this review, here are some numbers: 42072: WHACK!: Times Sold: 6, Total Qty: 13, Total Qty for sale: 348 42073: BASH!: Times Sold: 4, Total Qty: 8, Total Qty for sale: 296 Which one is your favorite? Thank you for reading. I hope you will find it useful! Quote
Aventador2004 Posted March 15, 2018 Posted March 15, 2018 Knew it, whack is better . I think I will buy whack soon. Thanks for review! Quote
Void_S Posted March 15, 2018 Posted March 15, 2018 (edited) 15 hours ago, Milan said: I could not find the sweet spot where it could beat the 42072. Thank you for a great review (again!). Maybe it would be correct to test them on some dirty/sandy surface? Since "Whack!" is painted on a road track, and "Bash!" on a sand one, I think that there are no doubts that 42072 wins on his "home" surface. Is there any way to compare them at Bash's track? Edited March 15, 2018 by Void_S Freaking "Invision" editor... Quote
Milan Posted March 15, 2018 Author Posted March 15, 2018 41 minutes ago, Void_S said: Thank you for a great review (again!). Maybe it would be correct to test them on some dirty/sandy surface? Since "Whack!" is painted on a road track, and "Bash!" on a sand one, I think that there are no doubts that 42072 wins on his "home" surface. Is there any way to compare them at Bash's track? You're welcome! Very true. Will do just that. I have a small park outside my building, hopefully it have some nice flat-ish surface for me to test these two. I was also thinking about the idea to make them all wheel drive via chain, or rubber band, or via two Pullback motors, and to test them outside on a rough terrain once. This specific test would be unofficial, ofc. Quote
1gor Posted March 15, 2018 Posted March 15, 2018 this pullback is more appealing to me, but I buy this kind of sets only when I need some parts extra and bricklink shops here do not have them. this set is a bit different because it has dogbone, tire 56 X 26, short curved black panel and seven axle pin long connectors which are very useful for every moc, so reviews like this one are always welcome Quote
Void_S Posted March 15, 2018 Posted March 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Milan said: I was also thinking about the idea to make them all wheel drive via chain, or rubber band, or via two Pullback motors, and to test them outside on a rough terrain once. This specific test would be unofficial, ofc. Well, keeping the same "unofficial research" idea, I believe that 42073 with two pull-back motors (one per axle) without a hard link, may show the best result: you know, two different wheel sizes, two torque moments etc... It should come as two-stage gearbox (smaller wheels provide a better acceleration, and than bigger ones will keep increasing the speed). Sorry for offtop if I am... Quote
JLiu15 Posted March 16, 2018 Posted March 16, 2018 In my opinion, this set is better from a parts standpoint, as I mostly make MOCs. It has more interesting tires, the red will compliment your collection better than lime (as red is a more common color) and it also has the newer 7x11 curved panel. Quote
Saberwing40k Posted March 16, 2018 Posted March 16, 2018 For this set, I rate it as solidly mediocre. Not particularly interesting in terms of parts, poor styling, but it is good for kids and Technic beginners, so there is that. Quote
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