From September 2 until September 15, 2019, the LEGO® Store is giving away a free Hidden Side set with purchases over $50. The set name is the Newbury Juice Bar (40336), and it is an exclusive. This week, I am putting out an extra review just in case some of you are interested in knowing more about this freebie before making a purchase. As a gift-with-purchase, I think this is a great set. Additionally, it marks my first foray into the new Hidden Side theme!
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Summary of Newbury Juice Bar (40336)
- NAME: Newbury Juice Bar
- SET #: 40336
- THEME: Hidden Side
- COST: Free with purchase ($16.99 CAD value)
- BRICK COUNT: 127
- MINIFIGURES: 2
- RELEASE DATE: September 2, 2019
Summary Review
- VALUE: 100% (Free with purchase, it’s hard to beat that!)
- BUILD: 100% (Achieves a lot with a small brick count.)
- MINIFIGURES: 93% (Nice Minifigures, very good brick:fig.)
- ENTERTAINMENT: 80% (This set is not included in the AR Hidden Side game?!?)
- OVERALL: 93%
Newbury Juice Bar (40336) Review
VALUE:100%
The Newbury Juice Bar was free with my purchase. Consequently, it earns 100% for value just on those grounds. However, the LEGO® Group advertises this set at a value of $16.99 in Canada. With 127 bricks, you get a value of $0.13/brick. That is just below my current average of $0.14/brick, which earns 84%.
BUILD: 100%
This is my first experience with a Hidden Side set. I knew going into this build that it would come with an alternate “haunted” look. All of the buildings in Hidden Side are supposed to have one. Lifting the roof of the Newbury Juice Bar makes it haunted by revealing a ghostly face. I am neither here nor there about this feature. I like the idea of hunting Minifigure ghosts, but I am not so interested in ghoulish buildings.
As a juice bar, I really like this set. It is small, but accomplishes a lot with its brick count and looks great. The haunting feature also gives you easy access to the interior for Minifigure placement. I love the look of the slush machines. Additionally, they have been cleverly employed as structural support for the roof. This set will be great as a kiosk in my LEGO® City even without alterations. It looks good on all sides, and is a stand-alone set. I give it 100%.
MINIFIGURES: 93%
The Newbury Juice Bar comes with two Minifigures, a barista and Parker Jackson (one of the main characters in the theme). The barista is a slightly odd choice since he sports the “Coffee Chain” apron seen in other themes, yet works in a juice bar. However, I like having several of these coffee employees, so I will not complain much about that.
Both he and Parker come with a hairpiece (Parker’s is new for the theme), and double sided faces. Each one has front and back torso printing, and Parker also has leg printing. I really like Parker’s ripped jeans and patch-covered denim jacket. Based on design alone, I rate these characters at 23/30 (77%). However, you also get an extra ghost head and hair, a printed tile cell phone, and a bottle. Those accessories bring us up to 27/30 (90%).
Two Minifigures in a 127-piece kit gives a brick-to-fig ratio of 64:1. That is very good, earning a score of 96%. Averaging this with the design score brings the Newbury Juice Bar to an overall Minifigure rating of 93%.
ENTERTAINMENT: 80%
I really love the Newbury Juice Bar as a set. As I mentioned earlier, it is a nice fit in my LEGO® City. Ultimately, that is one of the most important AFOL considerations for me. However, this set did disappoint me in one major way. Hidden Side boasts that it is an augmented reality theme. I was excited to try that out with my first Hidden Side set. I downloaded the app and started it up only to find that this set was not included in the game. That is unfortunate, and the set loses a point from its AFOL score as a result, earning 4/5 (80%).
Kids will enjoy the Newbury Juice Bar and its haunted play features. However, again, it is a huge let down that this set is not included in the game. Since it is not indicated anywhere in the ads that the Newbury Juice Bar is not part of the game, I can imagine many kids being upset. Similarly, parents cannot adequately prepare kids for the disappointment. Similar to the AFOL score, I give this set a KFOL score of 4/5 (80%).
Overall: 93%
As a set, I really like the Newbury Juice Bar. You can’t beat a freebie, and as far as giveaways go, this is one of the best ones that I have gotten. The set also comes with a couple of fun Minifigures. The only issue that I have with it is that it is not part of the new Hidden Side game. AR is the main selling point of this theme, and my first set was remarkably AR-deficient. Thankfully, I bought another Hidden Side set in order to qualify for this freebie. Do you want to know what that set is? Check out my un-boxing video on YouTube! As always, I would like to hear what you think of the Newbury Juice Bar in the comments below.
Until next time,
-Tom
Want to know what others think?
Brick Insights is an awesome site that collects LEGO® set reviews from around the web, and aggregates their scores. You can see what other reviewers thought of the Newbury Juice Bar below.
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