Review: 40099 Jetski (June Monthly Mini Build)

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

It's that time again! The first Tuesday of the month means that the Lego Brick-and-Mortar Stores have put out their Monthly Mini Builds for the kids. The Stores do these once a month (at least) to get you into the store and spending money. However, you do walk out with some free bricks and a possibly functional model.

I recently reviewed all of 2013's MMB's in this article. I also reviewed January's model here, February's here, March's here, April's here, and May's here. I plagiarize my opening paragraphs from my past articles, because it's after 9 p.m. and I'm also watching cartoons. If you're sad because you don't have a Lego Store near you, that's ok, because Lego publishes the instructions for each month's builds on their website. If it's not up yet, it should be soon.

This month, we're reviewing a jetski to get us ready for summer. (Sorry, Aussie EBers. Do you ever wish that seasonal sets were released in reverse order from the Northern Hemisphere?) This is the second minifigure-sized MMB that we've seen this year. Is it worth adding to your City display? Let's find out.

Set Title: Jetski

Set #: 40099-1

Theme: Monthly Mini Build

Pieces: 33

Minifigures: None

Year of Release: 2014

Price at release: Free.

To begin, you get a small card while waiting in line which is your ticket to get in. (Only 250 kids get into these builds!) The front of the card is a picture of the build with a spot to write your child's name. The back of the card has a parts inventory. The Minifigure is not incuded; I've added her here to give you a sense of scale. She'll be returning later.

When you get into the store, you're given a PB container with the parts and instructions which your kid takes to a building area. In this case, you get these 33 bricks (plus one leftover trans-yellow stud). I admit that this month's build doesn't have any spectacular or rare pieces (I guess bright green is harder to come by), but it does come together nicely in the end.

Halfway through the build. I was astonished that this was a six-wide build, as it doesn't look that big from the photos. Trust me, it comes together well in the end, but it does look unnaturally large at first. The undercarriage is two "pontoons" rather than a solid boat-like bottom.

And, uh, here's the finished product. This build is only 33 pieces, so it didn't take long to put together. The color layout looks nice, however, with the green and black offset by the white in the middle.

Front view. Sorry about the shadows, but hopefully this helps you see the "pontoons" better.

Rear view. One observation--this build reminds me more of a Florida-style airboat than a jetski. The propeller is a little small for an airboat, but the shape and concept seem similar enough to me that I wonder if it was named correctly.

And of course, a Minifigure fits inside. This seems to be an interesting trend this year--April's Helicopter build could also hold a Minifigure, and February's Micro-Manager was appropriately sized for the Movie theme. I wonder how many builds this year will be Minifig compatible? I also wonder if this isn't a sly way of the Stores getting you to buy some figures from the Build-a-Figure station.

CONCLUSION

Design: 9/10. I think this is pretty good for what it is. It doesn't quite look like any jetski I've ever seen, but it's not bad and will work well in our City scene's lake.

Parts: 7/10. No major parts here.

Build: 7/10. I'll give it a small markdown here because my daughter found it a little tricky to build. She has difficulty translating the building steps into the actual build (we've all been there) and we had to rearrange a few parts before we were done.

Minifigs: N/A. But it's minifig compatible!

Playability: 10/10. Its sole functional piece is the propeller, but come on, your kid will be zooming this around your house.

Price: 10/10. It was free!

Overall: 43/50. This was a nice little treat to represent the kickoff of summer. It's a little bit of a "brick," but it looks like a jetski and promises to be fun.

Now, on a sad note, I probably won't be reviewing next month's build. My family will be on vacation and although there are Lego Stores within an hour's distance, we likely won't get there. The next build is another 4-wide vehicle: a summer beach van. If somebody else out there in the EB community would like to review the July build, please do. I may track down the build on eBay or just Bricklink the parts, but I won't be doing a fresh review on the day of the build.

Edited June 4, 2014 by ResIpsaLoquitur

[The Fezter]

In our store (UK) the mini build is named as a Hovercraft rather than Jetski. Do they have different names for UK and US mini builds?

[ResIpsaLoquitur]

In our store (UK) the mini build is named as a Hovercraft rather than Jetski. Do they have different names for UK and US mini builds?

Hmmmm, maybe? Our store calendar says "jet ski." I'm pretty sure Brickset has it labeled as one as well. I think there's been a few instances where the U.S. had one build that was very-U.S. specific (it might have been an Independence Day or Thanksgiving thing) and the UK had something else.

[Dharkan]

Name might be Jet Ski but it is definitely not a jet ski :D