I really enjoyed the LEGO® Group’s return to the Arctic with the City theme of 2018. The sets focused on the discovery of body fossils. As such, they brought us woolly mammoth and sabretooth cat figurines. With the Arctic Exploration Truck, we also saw the return of an old favorite: the polar bear. I already had a polar bear from the 2014 Arctic foray. Consequently, for budget reasons, I decided against acquiring this kit. However, as luck would have it, my wife found a super deal on it. She picked up the Arctic Exploration Truck for $30.00. That is an amazing savings of 62%. As a result, this week we will look at the Arctic Scout Truck review.
Click here to read about how my scores are generated.
Arctic Scout Truck Summary
- NAME: Arctic Scout Truck
- SET #: 60194
- THEME: City
- COST: $79.99 CAD
- BRICK COUNT: 322
- MINIFIGURES: 3
- OF INTEREST: a polar bear, a husky, and a “snow bike”.
- RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2018
Arctic Scout Truck Summary Review
- VALUE: 56% (Bad cost-per-brick, expensive build time.)
- BUILD: 85% (Nice build, but the cave needs a redesign.)
- MINIFIGURES: 87% (Characters lack detail, but are fun overall.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 95% (Great fun, but definitely a niche interest.)
- OVERALL: 81%
ARCTIC SCOUT TRUCK REVIEW
VALUE: 56%
The Arctic Scout Truck has a full retail price of $79.99 in Canada. Furthermore, the kit contains 322 pieces. As a result, you are looking at a cost-per-brick of $0.25. Currently, my average cost-per-brick is $0.14. I have not seen a value that bad in a long time. Oddly enough, the last set with a similar cost-per-brick was also a City set, and contained a bear figurine as well (Mountain Arrest, 60173). At full price, the Arctic Scout Truck fails in this category. I rate it at 43%.
Click here to read about Mountain Arrest (60173).
The Arctic Scout Truck took me 74 minutes to build. At $79.99, each minute of build time costs $1.08. My average cost-per-minute of build time is $0.83. Again, the value here is not very good. However, in this case, it is passable. I rate the cost-per-minute at 68%. Averaging this score with the cost-per-brick yields an overall value grade of 56%.
My wife found the Arctic Scout Truck during her travels for the amazing price of $30.00. That was 62% off the regular price. Consequently, this set actually cost me $0.09/brick and $0.41/minute. Those numbers would earn scores of 96% and 100% respectively. As a result, the overall value would be 98%. Sadly, $30 for this set is hard to come by. To get the Arctic Scout Truck at an average cost-per-brick, you need a sale of 40% off.
BUILD: 85%
The main build is the set’s namesake: the Arctic Scout Truck. As with previous sets in the Arctic sub-theme, this is a nice design. It is sleek, and believable as an arctic rover with its tracked, front wheel drive. I like it. However, no doors were included for the cab, which is a minor pet peeve of mine. It would have been so easy to do in this set as well. My other issue is the incomplete look of the truck bed in back. There is an awesome computer screen in the cab, but you can see right through it out of the truck. Again, it would have been relatively easy to close off that space. Otherwise, I love the overall look. Additionally, the interior of the cab is nicely detailed.
The “ice core” contains a dragonfly body fossil.
This set comes with two small, scenic builds in addition to the main truck. The scenery includes the façade of an icy cave, as well as a mound of frozen rock. The “cave” is a little lack luster. This sort of façade holds no appeal for me. Incidentally, combining these two scenic builds into a more substantial cave would be possible. However, I do like the play features included in the icy mound. Keeping in line with the theme of body fossils, Minifigures in this set can pull ice cores from this mound. One of the cores is a printed round, 1×1 brick. This “ice core” contains a frozen dragonfly. The science geek in me just loves that.
Overall, I rather enjoyed building this set. The truck loses a mark for the lack of doors and the incomplete back wall of the cab. These are not major issues, but small improvements that would have made this truck feel more complete. The buildable scenery is not the focus of this kit, so I will only take off half a mark from the overall score for the uninspired design of the cave. The Arctic Scout Truck earns a build score of 8.5/10 (85%).
MINIFIGURES: 87%
There are three Minifigures included with the Arctic Scout Truck. All of them come complete with the standard Minifigure parts, original face printing, as well as front and back torso printing. Sadly, none of them has double-sided faces or any leg printing. Encountering a polar bear on foot is probably terrifying. As such, at least one scared face would have been fun. Based on these design criteria alone, these Minifigures earn a score of 30/45 (67%). However, you get a few neat accessories…
Front view of Arctic Scout Truck Minifigures. 
Rear view of Arctic Scout Truck Minifigures.
The best “accessory” in this kit is the polar bear. Additionally, you get a husky, a snow bike, a handheld tracking device, a two-way radio, and a video camera. Further, I will include the ice core as an accessory. While it is really just a transparent blue brick, it has a dragonfly printed on it and serves a play function. Cumulatively, these items raise the design score to 37/45 (82%).
For the brick-to-fig ratio, I will include the polar bear in the calculation. It features two points of articulation, and is probably a big reason for many to buy this set. Therefore, with 322 bricks and 4 figurines, you have a ratio of 81:1. That is great, and earns 92%. Averaging this score with the design score gives and overall Minifigure grade of 87%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 95%
As an adult collector, I did not really need another vehicle. However, as a science buff, I really like this arctic sub-theme, and the body fossil aspect it employs. You also get a polar bear, which is great for collectors of LEGO® animals. The general display and applicability of this set for most AFOLs is probably limited, and for that reason, I will rate it at 4.5/5. I absolutely love it though.
From a kid perspective, this set expands on the fun of the others in the sub-theme. A younger version of me would have greatly enjoyed playing with this set. Consequently, I give it a KFOL score of 5/5. In conjunction with the AFOL score above, the Arctic Scout Truck earns an entertainment grade of 9.5/10 (95%).
Arctic Scout Truck Review Score: 81%
The Arctic Scout Truck is a wonderful set. The truck has a nice design and comes with fun figurines, including a polar bear. The main drawback of this kit is the price. $79.99 is far too expensive for a set of this size in my opinion. You need a 40% discount just to bring the cost-per-brick down to an average level. I would not buy this set at full price. Nevertheless, I do recommend it on sale. As I am writing this, the Arctic Scout Truck is nearing retirement. As such, many retailers will be offering it at a discount.
What are your thoughts on the Arctic Scout Truck set? Be sure to let me know in the comments below. If you like the content at True North Bricks, I would love it if you followed me here on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter for regular updates.
Until next time,
-Tom
LEGO Polar Bear 
LEGO Snow Bike
What do other think of this set?
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