Mountain Arrest was on my shortlist of sets to buy way back in January. I really wanted the black bear that comes with it. However, the set did not end up making my top five picks at the time because of its terrible value. Not too long ago, the LEGO® Store discounted Mountain Arrest by 20%. I also had a load of VIP points saved up, so in the end, this set cost me $4.99. But, just for fun, let’s take a look at how Mountain Arrest measures up if it had cost me full price. As always, if you are curious about how I come up with my scores, you can read about my rating system by clicking here.
SET SUMMARY
NAME: Mountain Arrest
SET #: 60173
THEME: City
COST: $79.99 CAD
BRICK COUNT: 303
MINIFIGURES: 4
OF INTEREST: 1 black bear & a bees’ nest
RELEASE DATE: November 26, 2017
SUMMARY REVIEW: 63%
VALUE: 40% (At full price, you are paying an astronomical $0.26/brick.)
BUILD: 70% (Nice helicopter, but the rest is a little bland.)
MINIFIGURES: 93% (Nicely designed characters, excellent brick:fig.)
ENTERTAINMENT: 50% (Really bad build-time value, but generally fun set.)
REVIEW
VALUE: 40%
At full price, Mountain Arrest costs $79.99 in Canada. With 303 pieces, each brick costs $0.26. That price is really high, and earns a score of 2/5 (40%) for value. When I bought this set, it was 20% off. So, at a price of $63.99, you are looking at $0.21/brick, which is still bad, but passable. If you pick this up on sale, I would rate it at 3/5 (60%). City sets tend to have really bad value in my experience, but this one is bad even when looking at the theme as a whole.
BUILD: 70%
Mountain Arrest comes with three builds. The first is a buggy for the criminals to off-road in. There is nothing wrong with this build, but there is nothing really special about it either. It is not really the focus the of the set though. The main builds are the police helicopter and the criminals’ hideout.
The helicopter is a nice build, and part of the reason that I bought this set to begin with. I am tired of the dinky little helicopters that come with many City theme sets. I wanted something with a little more substance to land on the roof of the MOC police station I have been working on. This helicopter actually turned out to be bigger than I anticipated, but that is by no means a bad thing. I like the open sides which allow Minifigs access to the net launcher and the winch. The interior of the helicopter is, however, a little hard to access if you want to put multiple passengers inside. The cockpit also has no controls, just a printed tile with two gauges. That is an easy fix, but a missing detail none-the-less. I do like how the rear of the helicopter lowers into a ramp, but that feature would have been made better if a motorcycle or ATV could fit inside.
The criminals’ hideout is okay, but again, nothing to really write home about. There is a hidden cave room on the lower level, and a small, empty shack on the top floor. There is also a balcony with a wooden barrel for taking a bath. Under the balcony hangs the bees’ nest, which is a new piece that came out in this Mountain Police wave of City sets. I am not against this build, but I am not really for it either, just like with the buggy. The little bath makes for a funny scene, so I guess I could throw a point its way for that.
Overall, in terms of design, I do like the helicopter, but a couple of more details (like pilot controls and the ability to fit stuff in the rear) would have made it better. Rating it on its own, I would give it 8/10. The hideout doesn’t lose any points, but I would only give it one extra for the humor factor, landing it 6/10. The buggy is just a buggy… I wouldn’t take off points, but I wouldn’t add any either, earning it 5/10. Since the buggy is the smallest build, I won’t weight it quite so heavily, and I will give Mountain Arrest an overall build score of 7/10 (70%).
MINIFIGURES: 93%
Mountain Arrest comes with four Minifigures, as well as a black bear. There are two police officers, and two criminals. The police officers come with helmets, but no hair. The criminals each have a hairpiece. Only one of the criminals comes with a double-sided face, and it is the same as the one seen in the tree trunk costumed character from Mountain Police Headquarters (click here to read my review). All of the characters have front and back printed torsos, and only one has no leg printing. Based on my rating system, I would give these characters a design score of 45/60 (75%). However, you also get a net, a sack, two printed money tiles, a bee-hive, and a shower brush as accessories. Those bring the score up to 51/60 (85%).
Of these Minifigures, my favorite is the criminal in his boxers. The legs are two toned to give the impression of boxer shorts. I really am a fan of when LEGO® makes two-toned legs as opposed to just printing one side. The character’s torso also has claw marks on it, presumably from the bear.
In terms of the brick-to-Minifigure ratio, you are getting four characters in a 303 piece kit. That translates to one Minifigure for every 76 bricks. Already, that is really good. But, you also get the black bear (which is the main reason that I wanted this set). I didn’t give it a design score since it is not a traditional Minifigure. However, it certainly does count towards the ratio score. Adding the bear in brings the ratio down to one Minifigure for every 61 bricks. Either way, this set gets 100% for its ratio score. Averaging that with the design score gives Mountain Arrest an over Minifigure grade of 93%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 50%
This set took me 51 minutes to build. At full price, that would mean that each minute of build time cost $1.57. That is a terrible build-time value. Even at 20% off, you are still looking at $1.25 per minute. In both cases, you are still getting a pretty bad score of 1/5 (20%). This is not uncommon, in my experience, with the City theme.
I like aspects of this set. I will not be keeping the buggy or the hideout built. Those builds will be completely re-purposed for parts in my collection. I really like the helicopter though. As I mentioned earlier, it is bigger than I anticipated, but it is nice. I will redesign the helicopter, but only because it is too big for my MOC police station roof. In general, the set is fun, and I will rate it at 4/5 (80%). Averaging this with the build-time score gives this set an overall entertainment rating of 50%.
OVERALL: 63%
If you want a LEGO® black bear, this is probably the cheapest way to get one. The only other set it comes in is the Mining Experts Site (60188) which costs $129.99 in Canada. But, Mountain Arrest is a really bad value, even at 20% off. I love the black bear, and I quite like the police helicopter. But, you are paying an atrocious price per brick, and you don’t get much build time for that price. The Minifigures are, however, excellent, and you get the aforementioned bear. If you like to collect LEGO® animals, I would suggest waiting for a sale. You might want to wait for one that is better than 20% though. Or, like me, you can save up your VIP points and buy this set for $4.99.
How do you feel about Mountain Arrest? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Until next time,
-Tom
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