I got the Creator Brick Bank about a year ago, just before I started blogging. My LEGO city also has one ATM so far, next to my semi-custom Coffee Time café (click here to read about it). With all the crooks and super villains that have arrived, crime is sadly on the rise in my LEGO city. While the Justice League generally handles the super villains, the small time crooks are often left to their own devices as I do not have many police officers yet. So, to transport money from the bank to the ATM and various businesses, I am happy to announce that my LEGO city now has an armoured truck!
Set Summary
Name: Money Transporter
Set #: 60142
Theme: City
Cost: $24.99 CDN
Brick Count: 138
Minifigures: 2
Manuals: 1
Release Date: January 2, 2017
Summary Review: 73%
VALUE: 70% (This set is going to cost you a lot, $0.17/brick.)
BUILD: 80% (Many nice features, but no cab doors, and police stickers?)
MINIFIGURES: 85% (Ok Minifigs, excellent brick-to-Minifig ratio.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 55% (REALLY expensive build time, but otherwise enjoyable.)
Review
VALUE: 70%
With 138 pieces and a price tag of $24.99, this set clocks in at $0.18 per brick. That is way over the current overall average cost per brick of $0.13, according to my review of the last LEGO catalogue (click here to read it). It is also above the already astronomical average price of a brick in the City theme ($0.17). I give this set 3.5/5 (70%) for value.
BUILD: 80%
Generally, I like the design of this car. My favorite features are probably the locking mechanism on the rear door, and the hand rails around the rear door. The little lockers on the side of the truck are cool, even if I have never seen an armoured car with locked compartments on the outside walls. There are two little safes and a dolly that fit nicely into the truck. The driver’s cab has a removable roof to allow easy access for Minifigs, and the storage area has a roof latch meant to act as a play feature allowing robbers entry. I am really happy that the latch is there for another reason: it allows me to arrange things inside the rear compartment of the truck easily. My fingers are too big to do anything other than drop items in through the back door, so the roof latch is really helpful.
Sadly, the truck suffers from the same issue as many other LEGO vehicles in that it has no doors into the driver’s cab. I also am not sure how I feel about all the police stickers on it. Armoured delivery cars are generally independent companies, not police. The police stickers make this look a little too much like a SWAT truck. Overall, this set earns a build score of 8/10.
MINIFIGURES: 85%
You get two Minifigs in this set. The first is a police officer in a blue baseball cap. I like his face with the smirk and moustache. He does not have a double-sided face or any printing on his legs. His torso has nice detailing on the front and back. He comes with handcuffs and the dolly to transport the safes. He gets 7/10.
Next, you also get a female Minifig in green overalls. She also has no double-sided face or leg printing. Like the police officer, she does have printing on the front and back of her torso. She comes with a crowbar and money sack. She also gets 7/10. Now, while she does not lose design marks for this, I do find the choice of face a little odd on this Minifig. She is smiling and looks rather friendly. That is hardly the hardened look I would expect from someone robbing an armoured truck. She looks more like a farmer or handy-woman than a thief… but, maybe that’s what she wants you to think…
Two Minifigs and 138 pieces gives this set a brick-to-Minifigure ratio of 69 to 1, which is actually excellent. The set gets 5/5 for that. When combined with the Minifig design score of 70%, the Money Transporter earns 85% for its Minifigures.
ENTERTAINMENT: 55%
This set took me about 25 minutes to build. That means that each minute of build time cost me abut $1.00. That is a really poor value in my book, and only earns this set 1/5 (20%). I do like this little truck though, and will keep it for use in my city. I have not decided if I will modify it or not. Perhaps that will be a future project, in which case I would redesign it without the police stickers. For that reason, I will give it 4.5/5 (90%) for enjoyment. Overall, the Money Transporter earns 55% for entertainment.
Overall: 73%
While the idea of this set, and its overall design are fun, the Money Transporter is really a terrible value. You are paying a lot for each individual brick as well as for each minute of build time. You do get a good brick-to-Minifigure ratio, and a nicely designed set though. I would not recommend buying this set at full price. Definitely wait for a sale of at least 20% off. That would give you a savings of $5.00, drop the cost per brick t0 $0.14, and also drop the build time cost to $0.80 per minute. Overall, that would raise the total rating for this set to 80% in my book.
Until next time,
-T.N.B.
My son got a LEGO money transporter when he was younger, but it was the DUPLO version. I remember one of the figures having a stubbly beard to make him scary – he was a robber! 😉
https://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/2017/04/a-z-blogging-challenge-fats-fun.html
I never thought of measuring the value of a set in terms of how long it takes to build it. But the building experience is a big part of the fun, so that makes a lot of sense.