Review: 31023 Yellow Racers (Creator)

[AllTheCaffeine]

INTRODUCTION

I picked this set up while visiting the LEGO store at Downtown Disney in Orlando. I've become very interested in the Creator line recently, in particular the mid-scale models (the cars tend to be 10-studs wide). There have been several vehicles released over the years that fit well together in this scale, and this review will probably show my preference for it. This is my first review on Eurobricks, so I will try to follow the format of others' reviews on here. I apologize for the flash-heavy photography.

Set Title: Yellow Racers

Set #: 31023

Theme: Creator

Pieces: 328

Minifigures: 0

Year of Release: 2014

Price at Release: £19.99 / US$29.99

BOX

The box features the yellow trim and layout common to the Creator series. The primary model is prominently displayed with some swooshing graphics adorning the rotor, and the secondary models sit over to the right side.

The back of the box shows all three models co-existing, which must have presented a unique challenge to the box designer as most of the Creator 3-in-1 sets are "aircraft and boat" sets, or "car and truck" sets. 31023 can build a helicopter, car, and a boat, and all three are neatly displayed in good size on the back.

PARTS

Brickset

The pieces of this set come in three unnumbered bags. There is a lot of black, yellow, and bley, but the earth blue (dark blue) parts are a welcome sight. The earth blue grill tiles are new to me, and will certainly find their way into an MOC in the future. Also in earth blue are a 1x6 plate, four 1x2 plates, two 1x6 tiles, a 1x2 brick, and a 2x2 slope. There are also many special plates with grips and a good collection of SNOT angle plates in white, bley, and black. The SNOT plates certainly find good use in this set, as we'll see later.

The large tires and two of the large hubs are the only parts that have been added for a secondary model, and I am very glad that this set includes the car. The price of $30 is a good deal for the 328 pieces, and 31023 would not be a bad investment for the SNOT plates, angle plates, slopes, and earth blue bricks.

The only gripe I have with the parts is not specific to this set. The variation in the yellow parts is quite noticeable. Most egregious are the 2x3 angle plates pictured below. The difference between the left-angled plateand right-angled plate is very noticeable (and the camera doesn't even capture the magnitude of the difference). Other users have commented on this fact in other sets, and I do hope LEGO fixes this problem soon.

INSTRUCTIONS

The set comes with three instruction booklets, one for each model. The instruction booklet for the helicopter is a little bit larger than the other two, but not by much.

The instructions are clear and easy to follow. The distinction between the earth blue and black could be a little more pronounced, as it can be difficult to tell them apart in anything but bright light. However, the same parts are not duplicated in both colors so that should not be a problem.

BUILD

It seems with most of the Creator 3-in-1 sets that at least one of the three models suffers due to available parts. At least one of the secondary models is too blocky or awkwardly proportioned to add any real value to the set. 31023 Yellow Racers does not suffer from this phenomenon at all. All three models are solidly built and extremely well-done. Thanks to the extensive SNOT construction on all three models, they look fantastic and are highly playable. This fact, to me, makes up slightly for the color variation in the pieces.

Primary Model: Helicopter

The primary model, the helicopter, is quite fun to put together. It appears to be based on the Boeing Apache helicopter, albeit in a bright color and with no weapons similar to set 5892 Sonic Boom.

And while we're on it, here's a size comparison with 5892.

I had hoped from the pictures I had seen that the helicopter would be more to scale with the Sonic Boom jet. Even though a minifigure fits nicely in both cockpits, the helicopter is too small to belong next to the jet. I can't really dock any points for being "the wrong size", but I wish I had known it would look awkward between the Sonic Boom and Aviation Adventures plane.

The build incorporates several SNOT sections to achieve the contours of the helicopter body in the front and back, and even to attach the rotor.

And I really like the technique used to attach the vertical stabilizer to the tail boom.

The cockpit has a joystick and a few dials, and as noted before nicely fits a minifigure inside, although he cannot actually hold the joystick.

There are a few playable features. The rotors spin, the cockpit opens, the little wings are adjustable, and the front landing gear retracts, so it functions just as well as a toy as it does a model. The helicopter is very sturdy and looks good sitting on its landing gear and with the gear retracted. With the large number of SNOT sections and hinge pieces holding it all together, this was an excellent build.

Secondary Model: Race Car

The next model is a race car. And where many of the secondary models fall short, this one shines. The race car is built like a Formula 1 car, but with an enclosed canopy. Interesting, especially considering that Formula 1 is actually considering standardizing enclosed cockpits. I, for one, prefer the car with the canopy off.

As you can see, a minifigure fits in the driver's seat (the canopy also fits with the figure, I just prefer the canopy off). The car is actually the same size and with the same wheelbase as the 10-stud wide cars released under the Creator line (5867, 31006, 31024). Last year, Lego released a Creator set with a very similar yellow Formula 1 car. So here's a comparison to 31002 Super Racer as well.

The racecar build also incorporated SNOT construction for much of its shape. The entire side of the car is attached by right-angle plates and hinges.

All in all, I think this is also a great build. The contours around the cockpit and the techniques used to create the air scoops on the sides are brilliant. Although the car is not without its flaws. I do not expect a 100% accurate Formula 1 car, and the deviations from that design actually flow into the shape of the car very well (the thick nose and heavy rear spoiler). But there are some features that need to be revisited.

Firstly, the steering wheel is horrible. It is a 2x2 round plate attached to a turn plate. It looks horrible and doesn't even turn. The parts are already in the set to attach a steering wheel like nearly every other Creator car. All that would need to be added is a steering wheel, which could also be used in the boat build.

Also visible in that picture are the holes in the floor of the cockpit on either side. And finally, there are no rear lights. This would have also been an easy change with no addition of parts (if orange lights are okay).

But despite these issues, I still think this is an excellent build and will actually be displaying this set as the racecar.

Secondary Model: Speedboat

And the last model of 31023 is the speedboat. Once again, I am impressed with the sleekness of the boat considering it is the "quick build".

The helicopter parts lend themselves well to the sleek curves of a speedboat. I can just imagine some flames shooting out of those angled exhausts. The colors also work well here. I wish there had been more use of the earth blue elements here, and the different shade of yellow on the front slopes stands out, but the dual pontoons look cool, and the angled tiles definitely give it a race-y feel.

I've never seen a fan-powered speedboat, points go to the designer for creativity. Some SNOT construction holds the rear fan cowling together nicely.

And yes, again, a minifigure will fit nicely at the controls. The horrible steering wheel from the car has been replaced by a wheel hub here. Admittedly it looks better, but still not nearly as well as if they had just included an actual steering wheel.

CONCLUSION

When I picked up this set, I was hoping it would complete my display of the 5892 Sonic Boom and 31011 Aviation Adventures aircrafts. However, the helicopter proved too small to look appropriate in between the large planes. I cannot really dock any points from the set for being the "wrong size" because the helicopter would look very nice in any Lego airport and the construction is excellent. More SNOT construction than I have seen on a set this size makes the build interesting and entertaining. The secondary models are also impressive and would not look out of place on the cover of their own boxes. This is everything a Creator 3-in-1 set should be.

Stealing Rufus's rating system here:

Design/Build: 10 The creative construction of the heli's rotor body really put this one over the top for me. I only wish there were enough pieces to build all three models at the same time!

Parts: 9 Even though there aren't a lot of them, the earth blue parts are always good to have, and the SNOT angle plates will add a level of depth to any build.

Playability: 7 Helicopters are never going to be as fun to swoosh as planes, and the couple of playable features of the chopper won't quite live up to a kid's expectations. The excellent secondary models save a point here.

Price: 10 At 9 cents (US) per piece, 31023 rates pretty well in the price category. Plus, considering the quality of the models this is a definite buy for me.

Overall: 90%.

My Score: 10/10. If you're a fan of Creator, go buy this set.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Bricken

[Fritzy]

Nice job on this review.

For me, the secondary models grab my interest more, but it was nice to learn about some of the techniques that go into the creation of the helicopter and its defining features.

I'm curious about those steering wheels, though, as to why they went for a plate in lieu of an actual wheel attachment. Do you know if any other Creator sets do this, perhaps models from years back?

[AllTheCaffeine]

I think the plate was used to avoid having to add another piece to the set. The point of the 3-in-1 sets is that the same pieces can be rearranged into something totally different. Most of the other Creator sets that have an aircraft as the primary build do not include a car as a secondary build, and the sets that are cars or trucks as the primary build are almost exclusively cars and trucks in the secondary builds as well. This is the first set that I know of that is designed to be both.

And while boats need steering wheels, too, the "aircraft/boat" sets usually accomplish this with a wheel hub (as the boat does here). It's not always ideal, but better than a round plate in most cases.

The set already includes the tires and hubs for the car model, so I guess the designer didn't want to add yet another piece that is not used in the helicopter. It's a small detail that is easily fixed with this red plate and the joystick from the heli and a steering wheel from another set. Heck, this attachment even looks presentable with the round plate. No new pieces required!

Edited June 17, 2014 by Bricken

[GregoryBrick]

Thanks for the review, I always like to see what's new in Creator sets.

I did a double-take on that stabilizer connection. At first I thought "oh, of course that works" and the more I thought about it the more I realized how un-obvious a connection it is, even though it's based on a 3-4-5 triangle.

[Gnac]

Nice review, it's reassuring to see that I'm not the only one to notice the awful colour variances in yellow parts. I've already ordered this set from S@H (along with 31024 Roaring Power), and I'll no doubt have to "blind buy" some replacements on Bricklink in the hope that I get some better quality bits.

One gripe though: the spoiler for the Race Car is on back-to-front!

[Fritzy]

Heck, this attachment even looks presentable with the round plate.

I'm inclined to agree.

[AllTheCaffeine]

One gripe though: the spoiler for the Race Car is on back-to-front!

Oh wow. It sure is! I actually built that model twice to retake a bunch of pictures and apparently I put the top half backwards in my hurry. Will be swapping out those pics when I get a chance.

EDIT: New pictures are up.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Bricken

[Gnac]

So I got back from holiday to find - inside a few fat envelopes on my doormat - the last of the yellow bits I needed to "complete" my 31023. Pictured below are the old, badly-hued ones, making up a good chunk of the yellow parts. Luckily I had most of the common stuff already in my stash, and some of the parts I expected to be dodgy were actually good.

This is really the only bad mark against an otherwise brilliant set. It gets the rare honour of having alternate models that I enjoy more than the main build; I totally agree that the B model (race car) is a fantastic thing.

Also! Do you have any plans to review 31024 Roaring Power? Even though I already own the set, I have no photography skills, and my writing style is too erratic to come up with anything useful.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Gnac

[AllTheCaffeine]

Nice to see you were able to find suitable replacement parts! I've been meaning to sort through my bins to replace the off-color pieces in mine.

I wouldn't even call my photography that good, but passable. 31024 is the next set on my list to purchase, and I will likely do a review if there isn't one here already. I would have already done it, but I found 5767: Cool Cruiser on the shelf in a rural Wal-Mart and am trying to limit my Lego intake (difficult!).

[Tomik]

Great review! I plan to buy this set and build some custom alternative models out of it. It looks like excellent set for building anything. I think it should be possible to build even creature out of this set due to big amnout of plates for hinges.