Review

My second beach themed review from Costa Rica is People Pack – Fun at the Beach! Is there a LEGO® set on the market right now with a more beachy vibe? I actually picked this set up quite some time ago when I found it for 20% off. I saved it unopened for this trip after I decided to review some beach themed sets from the beach. I will not be reviewing this set using the same criteria as I normally use. Since it is mostly Minifigures, I will review it by comparing it more to the Minifigure series than to other sets. Let’s see how Fun at the Beach holds up!

DSC_0135web — Fun at the Beach box art. Photo taken on the shower floor in my villa at the Banana Azul Hotel in Costa Rica.

SET SUMMARY

NAME: People Pack – Fun at the Beach
SET #: 60153
THEME: City
COST: $49.99 CAD
BRICK COUNT: 169
MINIFIGURES: 15
OF INTEREST: a dolphin, a dog, a lobster, a fish
RELEASE DATE: May 29, 2017

DSC_0169web — Fun at the beach comes with a lobster. This photo was taken in the Caribbean sea at Puerto Veijo, Costa Rica.

SUMMARY REVIEW: 87%

VALUE: 80% (Better value than individual Minifigs, but still expensive.)
BUILD: 80% (Not much to build, and what you get is hit and miss.)
MINIFIGURES: 89% (Generic, but fun townsfolk, amazing brick:fig.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 100% (Lots of fun.)

DSC_0136web — Ape-children (stumpy legs, yet with regular length arms) at play… Photo taken on the beach by the reef outside Puerto Veijo, Costa Rica.

VALUE: 80%
If we look at Fun at the Beach as a typical LEGO® set, then you are not getting a very good deal by buying it. It is expensive at $49.99 in Canada, and you only get 169 pieces in the kit. At that price, each brick will set you back $0.30. The current average for a LEGO® set based on the last catalog that I got in the mail was $0.12. However, it is not really fair to rate Fun at the Beach as a regular set, because it is labeled as a “People Pack”. You are essentially buying this to get 15 Minifigures. If you buy the Minifigure series blind-bags, you are paying $3.99 per Minifig. 15 characters would cost you $59.85, so this set gets you the same number of Minifigures for about 16% less of a cost. These are not as detailed as some of the characters you might get in the Minifigure series, but the value is decent when compared to cost of 15 individual blind-bags. I still felt this box was pricey, so I waited for a sale, and got mine for $40. The people packs are fun, but I wish they were a better savings than just 16%. For that reason, I will deduct a mark, and give Fun at the Beach 4/5 (80%) for value.

DSC_0139web — Diver Minifigure from the Fun at the Beach set. Photo taken on the beach by the reef outside Puerto Veijo, Costa Rica

BUILD: 80%
There is not much to build in Fun at the Beach. Most of your time will probably go to assembling the Minifigures. With that said, you do build a sand castle, a hammock swinging between palm trees, a lifeguard stand, a volleyball net, an ice cream stand, as well as a beach chair and table with umbrella. I like the hammock and volleyball net. The sand castle is simple, but not bad. I have seen much nicer ice cream stands and beach chairs though. The life guard stand that came with the Coast Guard Starter Set (click here to read my review) was also nicer than the one seen in Fun at the Beach. If I was to rate these builds out of 10, I would take off a full mark for the ice cream stand, and half a mark each for the chair and life guard stand. That would give this set 8/10 (80%).

DSC_0182web — Beach chair and table from the Fun at the Beach set. Photo taken at Playa Negra, outside the Banana Azul Hotel in Costa Rica.

MINIFIGURES: 89%
Given that Fun at the Beach is a “People Pack”, the main reason to purchase it is for the Minifigures. You get 15 of them in the set. They are fairly generic townsfolk, but that is not a bad thing. It’s great to get some more bathing suits and beach attire for my city. These people will look great on a LEGO® beach, once I finally make one. In terms of their design, they do lose some points right off the bat for the four child Minifigs. I know I have harped on this before, but I hate those ape-kids, as I have come to call them. The stumpy legs and regular length arms really bother me. I also don’t like that the legs don’t bend. These stump legs are only appropriate on mythical characters, like dwarves, in my opinion. None of the characters have double sided faces, but a number of them have either printing on the legs, or two-tone legs (shorts). All have front and back torso printing, and some kind of hair or head covering. Based on my rating system, I would give these characters 68% for design.

DSC_0157web — You get a dolphin in the Fun at the Beach set. This photo was taken in a tide pool at Playa Negra outside of Puerto Veijo in Costa Rica.

Fun at the Beach does come with a ton of accessories though. You get a kayak with paddle, a windsurfing board, a fish, a dolphin, a lobster, a bucket, a shovel, a metal detector, a $100 bill, a cellphone, a dog, a parrot, a ball, a radio, a camera, a broom, a banana, a trash can, a megaphone, and binoculars. 21 accessories in total brings the score up to 78% (175 out of a total of 225 points). Again, these are generic people, not the ultra-detailed Minifigures seen in some licenced sets and the Minifigure series.

DSC_0158web — Windsurfing outside Puerto Veijo, Costa Rica.

Since Fun at the Beach is basically almost all Minifigures, it understandably has an amazing brick-to-fig ratio. 1 Minifigure for every 11 parts to be precise. That earns a ratio score of 100%. Averaging this with the design score gives Fun at the Beach an overall Minifigure score of 89%.

DSC_0186web — Searching for treasure on Playa Negra in Costa Rica.

ENTERTAINMENT: 100%
I spent 29 minutes assembling the contents of this set. Most of that time went to putting the Minifigures together. If this was a standard LEGO® set, each minute of build time would cost $1.72. That is a terrible value. But, again, this set is essentially a collection of Minifigures, and not really a buildable set. For that reason, I will not be counting the build-time rating in this review. It is not really representative of the set.

DSC_0198web — Ice cream on the boardwalk. This photo was taken in the private garden on my villa at the Banana Azul Hotel in Costa Rica.

I enjoy this set quite a bit. I can see myself keeping many of the characters as is in my city. But, they also provide lots of great pieces for customizing people as well. For that reason, I will give Fun at the Beach a full 100% as my enjoyment score.

DSC_0202web — Someone’s gotta clean up after these messy tourists. Photo taken in the private garden of my villa at the Banana Azul Hotel in Costa Rica.

OVERALL: 87%

Fun at the Beach is a great way to expand your Minifigure collection, especially where beachwear is concerned. Buying this pack is cheaper than purchasing individual Minifigures, but a bit on the pricey side when considering the number of parts in the box. While I did not include the build-time score for this set in my review (since it not meant to be a typical set), you also pay a lot for the amount of assembly time that you get. Overall, the characters are fun though, and you get loads of accessories. I would probably wait to buy this on sale, but it is worth getting in my opinion.

What are your thoughts on Fun at the Beach? Feel free to comment below. Until next time,

-Tom