Hot Rod (40409) Review

The first week of June 2020 was one of those amazing weeks where two freebies overlap at the LEGO® Store. I spent the better part of the morning on June 1 shopping online. I filled my cart with a bunch of odds and ends needed for upcoming projects. In the end, I reached the $85 limit needed to get the free Hot Rod (40409) set. Additionally, I earned the other freebie as well, but that is a topic for another post. Interestingly, this Hot Rod is an of a set from 25 years ago. The Blue Fury Hot Rod (5541) came out in 1995. While not identical, this new set still resembles its predecessor. Since this freebie is a limited time offer, I decided to do an extra review this week in case anyone out there is on the fence about spending $85 to get this.

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HOT ROD (40409) SUMMARY

• NAME: Hot Rod
• SET #: 40409
• THEME: Gift with Purchase
• COST: $16.99 CAD value (free with purchase over $85)
• BRICK COUNT: 142
• MINIFIGURES: 2
• RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2020

HOT ROD (40409) QUICK REVIEW

• VALUE: 100% (It was free, and you cannot beat that.)
• BUILD: 85% (Nice car overall, but a couple of areas need more detail.)
• MINIFIGURES: 89% (Good character design, excellent brick:fig.)
• ENTERTAINMENT: 90% (Great as a freebie, but I would not buy it.)
• OVERALL SCORE: 91%

HOT ROD (40409) REVIEW

VALUE: 100%

Being a gift-with-purchase, the Hot Rod automatically earns 100%. You cannot beat a free set. However, the LEGO® Group advertises the value of this kit at $16.99 CAD. At that price, each brick costs $0.12. That is a good value. Consequently, as a purchase I rate this set at 86%. Unfortunately, the only way to get it is by dishing out $85 on other sets though.

I spent 38 minutes putting this set together. Again, I did not pay for it, so that was 38 minutes of extra build time that I would not get if I made my $85 purchase at another time. Therefore, I rate this category at 100% as well. However, had I spent $16.99 for this set it would cost $0.45 per minute of build time. That is excellent and earns 99%. Therefore, rated as a freebie, I give this set 100% for value. Based on its $16.99 value, I rate the overall value at 93%.

BUILD: 85%

From the side, the Hot Rod looks great. It is employs standard bricks in clever fashion, attaining a detailed look. Looking at it straight on from the front or back is a bit different. It does not look bad. However, it looks a little bland. It is what I expect a side-build car to look like in a large City set. Additionally, the engine uses stickers on tiles to achieve the look. Actual bricks would look nicer. Overall, I rate the build for the Hot Rod at 85%.

MINIFIGURES: 89%

Two Minifigures come in the Hot Rod kit. Each one is complete with all the standard parts. Additionally, both have front and back torso printing. Only the female mechanic has a double-sided face, while only the male driver has leg printing. The set includes a wrench and hammer as accessories. Based on these criteria, I rate the Minifigure design at 24/30 (80%).

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Two Minifigures in a 142-piece kit yields a brick-to-fig ratio of 71:1. I wish Speed Champions sets were comparable. This Hot Rod comes with an excellent number of Minifigures for a set this size. I rate that at 97%. Averaging the design and ratio scores gives an overall Minifigure grade of 89%.

ENTERTAINMENT: 90%

I am happy to have this set. Additionally, I will find a place for it in my LEGO® city. However, I would not rush to buy this. For that reason, I rate the entertainment score at 90%. I raced to get this freebie because I had purchases to make anyway, and a free set is always welcome. I also see potential for this in a MOC idea I have.

OVERALL SCORE: 91%

A lot of the appeal Hot Rod has for me comes from the fact that it is a freebie with purchase. I would not buy this as a standalone set. I do like it, and it looks good in my city. However, there are nicer LEGO® cars out there. I imagine this Hot Rod looks good outside the City Tuning Workshop if you have it. Additionally, I really like that the set includes two Minifigures. If you have $85 worth of LEGO® on your wish list in June 2020, this is a good freebie to pick up.

Until next time,

-Tom

What do others think?

Brick Insights is an awesome site that aggregates LEGO® set review scores from around the web. Based on their statistics, you can see what other reviewers think of the Hot Rod (40409) below.

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