Continuing working through the backlog of posting the photo gallery for each Speed Build. I'm also continuing the new style of post, hopefully its appreciated. I might also try writing more in general. This exercise has shown me my writing skills have gotten very rusty since high school. (4 years of engineering apparently does NOT do wonders for the reading/writing muscle...)
This is also my first long form "review" (can I call it that?) of a speed champions set. I had the old format so I'll have to figure out a way to re-jigger the two separate formats together.
Link to video:
Part 1: Main Build
I think the designer did a good job capturing the character of both vehicles in these six-stud wide vehicles. The midsections of both are built similarly with the major differences in how the front of rears are attached. Both cars also feature a pretty neat building technique where a 1 x 6 plate is secured in place from the top and is actually floating in place before that step. Really neat to see that mirrored in both vehicles.
2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon
I love yellow and black scheme used here! I'd define the Demon as being made of four modules; the main body, the front section, the rear section and the hood. The Demon's front and sections are attached via some technic side-construction methods, almost the same as was used in the Race Car Camaro Speed Champions set. The pieces used to make the hood and scoop are another module that secure in place atop a 2 x 2 grey slope piece in the engine compartment.
The front wheels are the standard tire-hub-rim combination featured on most of the Speed Champions. The rear wheels use another technique lifted from the Camaro. Overlarge rims that cover the side of rubber tires are used to replicate the Demon's drag radials. A very nice and appreciated detail!
Stickers are used to represent: (...deep breathe...)
- rest of the hood section from the hood scoop to the headlights
- the headlights and grill
- the grill below the massive front bumper
- SRT and Demon pattern on the door panel (2x)
- SRT lettering on the rear spoiler
- Dodge logo in between tail lights
- details on rear bumper
1970 Dodge Charger R/T
In contrast to the Demon, I don't think the classic Charger can be easily broken up into modules. I've tried poking around it and investigating some mods and it tends to kinda fall apart if too many pieces are removed from this configuration. The only part that is easy to remove is the massive air scoop (and the hood cover used to replace it).
I tried to see if I could get the trunk's stripe to be brick built instead of a sticker, but have thus far failed. I was able to reduce the amount of parts used in the trunk to create more open area work with though. The major hang-up I have right now if figuring out a way to attach a 6 x 1 plate right above the tail light section. I just can't seem to figure out a way as there's studs-on-side construction there invalidating any connection points.
The front end is a fantastic reproduction of the source vehicle. I was really impressed that the kit had the entire hood tiled over! The headlight and air-intake sit nestled in some pretty interesting studs-on-side construction to get the shaping correct. (I messed this up pretty bad during my build and had to fix...) I also really like that the Charger uses simple 1 x 1 round tiles as hub caps on the wheels.
Stickers are used more sparingly on the Charger than the Demon. The five total are:
- the red stripe on the trunk
- HEMI logo and red strip on rear quarter panels (2x)
- Charger logo on the C pillars
Part 2: Side Build
The overall theme of this double pack is a drag race between the new Challenger Demon and old school Charger. Appropriate then that the included side build is for a Christmas Tree!
It's a fairly straight forward build process, but the included gimmick is pretty nice. Facing the drivers are a set of ten mounted lights that are free to rotate. The rear of the tree features a technic rod with a cross block on it to act as a plunger. By pushing the cross black down you are able to "flick" all ten lights up or "on".
The top of the tree features a placard with eight more lights and two stickers in the middle. One sticker is for "Pre-Stage" and another for "Stage". A final sticker is used down the main body of the tree and says "D O D G E" in yellow.
Part 3: Mini-fig
Three mini-figs come with the kit, with the standout being the Demon's driver. The other two figures are mostly nice generic figures.
Flag Girl
The non-driver figure is the Flag Girl. She has a very nice torso print of a grey hoodie and a maroon t-shirt underneath. The leg piece has no prints buts is molded in a color the evokes "worn jeans" which I appreciate very much. Her only face print sports a pair of aviators and her hair piece is a super long ponytail in red. The accessory is her titular checkered flag. See? A very nice and very generic figure!
Challenger Driver
This is our other very nice and very boring figure, the Challenger's Driver. The torso printing features a light blue jacket over a white Dodge t-shirt. The face used for him is that generic "Man-of-Action" print I pointed out in my Satellite Mission post.
Demon Charger Driver
So here's the real star! The Demon driver is in a black race suit that features pink and white highlights. Her chest and back both have Demon logos on them. The rear logo has "Demon" written underneath, which is also used on her leg prints. The driver has white gloves and a white helmet to round out her suit. This is by far the most visually striking figure of the three!
Part 4: Conclusions
Alright conclusions time! This is by far my favorite 2019 Speed Champions kit. This kit wins out almost entirely on the strength of the two vehicle builds. The side build adds some nice play features without taking up too many pieces and the three figures are also very nice. But the point of a Speed Champions kit is awesome Lego cars and by-gosh are these some awesome Lego cars!
I didn't go into too much detail during the write up but these two cars are very solid in the hand. There are minimal "fiddly" bits that get twisted around or knocked off while playing with them. The builds straddle that line of not-too-complex for younger builds but not-super-boring for older builders. Repetition is also kept to minimum here, except for the Christmas Tree. For thirty bucks I think this is a must buy kit for anyone looking to pick up a LEGOs!
Addendum: I looked at the European price and Yikes! Why is this forty Euro over there? I like the kit but I think forty is too high a price...
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