This set was really not a planned purchase… it was something of an impulse buy actually. I have been working on a MOC vehicle (the Jurassic Park Explorer, click here to see it), and needed some special parts that were in short supply in my own brick collection. You see, I don’t normally collect LEGO cars. I was browsing the LEGO Store with the intent of spending $75 (to get the Minifigure Factory freebie, click here for that review), and noticed that this set had some of the unique pieces that I was searching for, and they were even in the correct color. So, I picked one up. Now, before I disassemble it for pieces, let’s see how it holds up.
SET SUMMARY
NAME: Rocket Rally Car
SET #: 31074
THEME: Creator 3-in-1
COST: $24.99 CAD
BRICK COUNT: 241
MINIFIGURES: None
RELEASE DATE: January 1, 2018
SUMMARY REVIEW: 90%
VALUE: 90% ($0.10 per brick is a pretty good value.)
BUILD: 80% (Nice, sleek look, but has some design flaws.)
MINIFIGURES: N/A (This set does not include Minifigs.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 100% (Excellent build-time value, and I like the set.)
REVIEW
VALUE: 90%
The Rocket Rally Car costs $24.99 in Canada. With 241 pieces, each brick in this kit will cost you $0.10. That is a really good value, which sits well below the average for the January 2018 LEGO catalog (click here to read my review). I give the Rocket Rally Car 4.5/5 (90%) in this category.
BUILD: 80%
The Rocket Rally Car has a really nice overall look. I like the sleek design. I am also a fan of the door design. Since I don’t normally buy LEGO car sets, I don’t know if this is a design seen often in other sets, but it has given me some ideas for my own projects. One of my favorite things about this set is that it can actually fit two Minifigures sitting side by side. The car does look a little large when a Minifig is standing next to it, but they look really nice inside of it. The roof also comes off easily to allow you to put the Minifigs in. I don’t really like how the hatchback opens by folding down. That would be a terrible feature in a real car. My other issue with the Rocket Rally Car is the gaping holes in the floor. Anything you put in the trunk will fall right through the street below. While this is an easy enough fix, for a set that is solely composed of a car, I don’t feel like there should be flaws like that. The car also has a play feature in which the supercharger can rise out of the hood. I give the Rocket Rally Car 8/10 (80%) for build.
MINIFIGURES: N/A
The Rocket Rally Car does not come with any Minifigures, which is a bit disappointing. But, it is also one of those sets that was not meant to. So, I will simply leave this section as “non-applicable” for this review. The car does fit Minifigures nicely though.
ENTERTAINMENT: 100%
The Rocket Rally Car took me 44 minutes to build. With a price tag of $24.99, each minute of build time cost me $0.57. The Rocket Rally Car is also a 3-in-1 set, so you get the instructions for two alternate builds, which I have not yet assembled. That is a really good build-time value, and I give it 5/5 in that category. As for my personal enjoyment of the car, I do like it for the most part. I would not say that it is one of my favorite sets, but if I did not have other plans for the parts in this kit, I would keep it built and put it in my city. There was also a number of new pieces that I had not seen before (though again, I don’t know if they are more common in race car sets, since I don’t collect cars). I’ll give it 5/5 for enjoyment, meaning an overall entertainment score of 5/5.
OVERALL: 90%
The Rocket Rally Car is a nice LEGO set. It is a great value, both in terms of the cost-per-brick, as well as in build-time. The car looks really nice, and I love that it can fit two Minifigures sitting side by side. The car looks a little large when Minifigs are placed outside of it, but that doesn’t bother me very much. I wish the set had included Minfigures, and that the hatchback raised upwards instead of folding down. For a set that I had not initially intended to buy, I was pleasantly surprised with this one.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this set in the comments below. Until next time,
-Tom
I’m not really big on car sets either, but they do include some neat parts. I mostly build spaceship MOCs, and I’ve found these kinds of cars to be pretty useful parts packs.
Cool. Do you post photos of your MOCs somewhere? Maybe you should start a Planet Pailly fleet.
I posted something about a custom Mars rover a while back. Otherwise I haven’t built anything I felt was worthy of sharing online. But my MOCs are getting better, so maybe I’ll start posting them. We’ll see.