Review: Bean There, Donut That

Back in 2018, Target stores in the United States started selling an exclusive little coffee stand set called Bean There, Donut That. I liked the look of this set from the get-go, however there are no Target stores in Canada. Recently, I went to Atlanta for work-related reasons, and ended up scoping out the LEGO® scene (click here to read more). I came across a Target, and as luck would have it, they had this set. I picked one up, and now here we are, ready to review!

SET SUMMARY

NAME: Bean There, Donut That
SET #: 40358
THEME: Store Exclusive
COST: $14.99 USD ($20.03 CAD at current conversion rate)
BRICK COUNT: 146
MINIFIGURES: 4
OF INTEREST: dalmatian and bicycle
RELEASE DATE: September 2018

SUMMARY REVIEW: 89%

VALUE: 81% (Good cost-per-brick, okay build time.)

BUILD: 85% (Nicely designed, realistic set, but I can always nit-pick.)

MINIFIGURES: 100% (Great assortment, great accessories, great brick:fig.)

ENTERTAINMENT: 90% (Great AFOL city prop, don’t know about play…)

REVIEW

VALUE: 81%

Bean There, Donut That costs $14.99 at Target in the United States. Based on the conversion rate at the time that I bought this, we are looking at a price tag of $20.03 for Canadians to acquire this set. Considering that you get 146 pieces in this kit, the cost-per-brick is $0.14. That is right on my current average, based on all of the sets that I have bought in the last couple of years. So, this is not a bad value at all. Based on the cost per brick, I would rate Bean There, Donut That at 83%.

I spent about 25 minutes putting Bean There, Donut That together. At $20.03, that means that each minute of build time translates into $0.80. That is okay, and I give that 78%. Averaging this with the cost-per-brick gives Bean There, Donut That an overall value of 81%.

BUILD: 85%

This set looks good. It is small and simple, but well designed and aesthetically pleasing at the same time. There are two small builds, a street sign and a table. The table is a little high for Minifigures without chairs, but the sign is a neat design. The main build is the coffee stand, which features two sides. On one side, you have access the the coffee machine, on the other there is the cash register. The back of the coffee machine is a little bland on the register side, and I feel like something else could have been placed there. But, there is also a rotating pastry stand next to the coffee machine which I really like. I was not expecting this piece to move based on the box picture, so that was a pleasant surprise.

In terms of the build, I would rate Bean There Donut That at 8.5/10. It loses 1.5 out of 5 points because there are a few little details that I am not so fond of. They are not major issues and can easily be customized though, so I will not take off a full mark for any of them:

• The back of the coffee machine isn’t that nice looking for a double sided set (-0.5)
• The back of the sign has a random empty space (-0.5)
• The table is a little high for Minifigure scale (-0.5)

What I do like is:

• This set looks good (+1)
• It is believable as a coffee stand on the street or in a mall (+1)
• Overall, it has been designed well (+1)
• The street sign is neat (+1)
• The rotating pastry stand in awesome (+1)

MINIFIGURES: 100%

There are four Minifigures in this set. Each of them comes with some kind of head covering, and all of them have front and back printed torsos. They are pretty generic townsfolk, so none of them have leg printing. Only the barista has a double sided face. I quite like this assortment of characters, as they are the types you expect to see at a coffee stand on the street. I also like that we get another “Coffee Chain” employee here with the barista. Based on design alone, I would rate these characters at 41/60 (68%). However you also get a dog, a bicycle, a helmet, 4 cups, a trash can, a banana, and assorted printed pastry tiles. I love the little pastry tiles, so counting all of them as well as the accessories, you are easily up at 100% for design.

Four Minifigures in a kit containing 146 bricks gives you a brick-to-Minifigure ratio of 37:1. That is really amazing, and earns 100%. There is no reason to average the scores here, this set earns a perfect overall Minifigure score.

ENTERTAINMENT: 90%

As an adult collector, I really like this set. I can easily incorporate it into many different areas of my city for some added detail. It gets a full 5/5 there. However, as a kid, I don’t know how much I would like this. I don’t think that I would have hated it. I had a beach club set when I was young that was essentially a drink stand, and I used it in my tiny town when playing. But, it didn’t get the same amount of use as a castle, or pirate ship. From a play perspective, I more likely to rate this at 4/5 (80%). Overall, that puts Bean There, Donut That at 9/10 for entertainment.

OVERALL: 89%

Bean There, Donut That is a great little set. It comes at a decent value, but full to the brim with fun accessories, and a good assortment of Minifigures. It really is a shame that this set was not made available in Canada through another retailer. But, if you find yourself in the States near a Target, I definitely recommend picking one up. What are your thoughts on this little set? Feel free to comment below.

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Until next time,

-Tom