Review: #8120 Rally Sprinter

[RobExplorien]

LEGO Racers #8120 Rally Sprinter
Review by RobExplorien
 

As requested I am going to review various LEGO sets. To start of with a theme that is very fond to me, the Racers theme.
Since its release in 2001 (with the Xalax-racers), the Racers theme is still perpetuated as of 2013. From pull-back motors to just simply pushing the vehicle forward, the Racers theme maintains its popularity and has an ongoing list of sets. To highlight one in this review, it's the Rally Sprinter from the Tiny Turbos subtheme. A set from early 2009, and at a retail price of $5,00 (for my country €5,00), not very expensive for a classic racecar. As of most of these subthemes, the Rally Sprinter is part of a wave of four vehicles.

 

When you take a look at the box, you may notice that it looks familiar. Lots of other Racers sets share this box design. The recommended age should actually be 'ages 6 and up', for many teens and adults may still like this set to build and/or play with. The set features a 1:55 scale model of a blue racing car, suitable for icy terrain (as is pictured on the box).

As for many Racers sets, you can combine many sets with eachother. This set can be combined with #8124 (Ice Rally), to recreate a whole race. Below you can see that this is pictured on the back of the box as well. The cars in the #8124 set generally share the same design as the Rally Sprinter.

 

As for the contents of the box, here is a list of it:

• 46 pieces
• sticker sheet with 11 stickers
• instructions

 

About the stickers, I've never been very keen of stickers, as they can (and mostly) wear off over the years. But the LEGO Group must have its reasons for adding stickers to the set (maybe because it's hard or too expensive to add printings on the bricks, some details are better for stickers). At least the stickers do not cover 2 or more bricks, because that annoys me sometimes. So I don't have any trouble with the stickers here.

 

The instructions show you how to build the Rally Sprinter in 14 steps. The building is not hard, the instructions show you well how to build the Rally Sprinter, although putting the stickers on bricks is always a focusing job. You can also build a bigger vehicle, combining the Rally Sprinter with the #8121 (Track Marshal) set. The intructions show you the last 5 steps for building this 'icy-cool racing truck'.

 

The chassis is pretty much standard and the same for the Racers vehicles in the Tiny Turbos subtheme. To give you an image of what I'm talking about:

 

And then after a five minute job, you get this nice-looking 9cm measuring (3.5inch) racecar number 8, ready to conquer any track. It has a dark windscreen, tall spoiler, front-mounted headlights, the LEGO logo on the front and shiny rims.

 

Note that the roadplates and trees are not included in this set.  The roadplates are a nice addition to the set though. The box itself can be used as a storage for your Rally Sprinter, thus making it convenient for transport, without having it to be taken apart.

 

Having this set examined and tested, I come to the following conclusion:

• The box is fitted into the Racers theme, and can be used for storing your Rally Sprinter.
• The instructions show you well how to build the Rally Sprinter making it easy to build, no trouble should occur here.
• The stickers are acceptable in this set. Putting them on the bricks is no big deal I guess, and it may just look a little better than bricks with printings.
• The final product is the Rally Sprinter itself. With its aerodynamic design and shiny stickers and rims, the vehicle definitely shows the similarities with a real racecar.

As for the fun of playing with the car, it is not that special. Luckily LEGO offers us enough other compatible Racers sets to add to this set, to add to the fun of building and racing.

 

Rating
Design: 9
Quality: 8
Fun: 6
Price: 8